JPH0459366A - Density gradation regulator of video printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To obtain a density gradation regulator of a video printer capable of printing based on a data from a density gradation signal part by a method wherein a data of standard application time of a heating current which is preliminarily stored and is established for each color gradation is read to be corrected, and the heating current based on this corrected data is electrified to a printer. CONSTITUTION:Though a control part outputs a strobe signal every time each gradation data has been written in a line memory of a printer part 5, a length of this strobe signal is based on a standard strobe time data read from a memory part 6, or a standard strobe time data corrected by operation of a gradation operation part 7, etc., which corresponds to a number of gradation of each image data to be outputted from a density gradation signal conversion part 4. That is, the standard strobe time data read from the memory part 6 is once transcribed, with the gradation operation part 7 is corrected, the control part 8 comes to output a strobe signal to be based on said corrected strobe time data.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a video printer device, and more particularly to a device for adjusting the gradation of print density of an image.

[Prior Art] A video printer device that prints television images, etc. on paper divides the video signal of the television image into each color if it is a color image, converts it into digital data, and converts the video signal of the television image into digital data for each color. This current is applied to the printer's thermal head, etc., and the Joule heat generated by the heating resistor of the thermal head sublimates the dye ink on the ink ribbon.
In such devices, which transfer dye to paper and print (sublimation type thermal transfer printing), the tone or print density of the image is determined by the amount of sublimation of each color of dye ink, that is, the amount of sublimation of each color when printing each color. depends on the temperature of the thermal head. For this reason, for example, a program or the like is set to control the length of time for applying current to the thermal head depending on the color or gradation to obtain the desired color tone or print density. This program is usually set to obtain an appropriate image for a typical boat fishing image, or has several models that combine color tone, density gradation, etc. Although there are programs that allow the user to select a program that is close to his or her desire, it is difficult to modify these set programs according to the user's preferences.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] In view of these points, the present invention reads out and reads out the data of the reference application time of the heating current set for each color and each gradation, which is stored in advance in the device. Provided is a density gradation adjustment device for a video printer, which corrects data, applies a heating current to the printer based on the corrected data, and performs printing based on data from a density gradation signal converter. It is something to do.

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention provides a video printer that converts an analog video signal into digital data and prints it on paper or the like via a printer, and a memory for storing the digital data. density 1@-, which determines the gradation of the data read from the storage unit and outputs data corresponding to the number of gradations.
A W signal converting section, a printer section that prints on paper or the like using a thermal head or the like using a current based on data from the density gradation signal converting section, and a memory section that stores data such as the standard application time of the current to the printer section. and a gradation operation unit that corrects the reference application time data read out from the memory unit and outputs it to the printer unit, and the storage unit, the density gradation signal conversion unit, the printer unit, the memory unit and the gradation operation unit. The present invention provides a density gradation adjustment device for a video printer configured with a control section for controlling the video printer.

[Function] With the above-described structure, the density gradation adjustment device for a video printer according to the present invention reads out the reference application time data stored in the memory section and corrects the read data by performing necessary operations. Then, a heating current based on the corrected data is applied to the printer, and printing is performed based on the data of each gradation input from the density gradation signal converter.

[Embodiment] Hereinafter, an embodiment of the density gradation adjustment device for a video printer according to the present invention will be described in detail based on the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of essential parts of an embodiment of a density gradation adjusting device for a video printer according to the present invention.

In the figure, reference numeral 1 denotes a video signal processing unit that divides an input analog video signal such as a television image into three colors of red, green, and blue if it is a color image, and adjusts it to a required signal level. 2 is an A/D converter that converts the analog video signal from the video signal processor 1 into digital data. 3 is a storage unit that writes the digital image data input from the A/D converter 2 into a frame memory that can record one screen using, for example, DRAM (dynamic random access memory); 4 is a density level; The tone signal conversion unit determines the tone of the image data read from the storage unit 3 for each color, and depending on the tone, for example, if the printer prints 64 tones, each tone is converted up to 64 times. Outputs key data. Reference numeral 5 denotes a printer section, which writes the data of each gradation from the density gradation signal converter 4 into a built-in line memory one gradation at a time, and then reads out the data from this line memory to a control section 8, which will be described later. Each strobe signal (command signal for energizing the thermal head) is AND-processed, and based on the processed data (current is applied to a group of thermal heads lined up in one line, and the current is applied to each heating resistor). Electricity is applied to generate Joule heat.Then, this heat is applied to the heat-sensitive sublimation type ink ribbon, the dye ink is sublimated and colored, and the dye is transferred to paper etc. for printing.6 is a memory unit that controls this device. It stores a program for setting the reference strobe time and data of the reference strobe time set for each gradation. 7 is a gradation operation unit which reads out the data of the reference strobe time stored in the memory unit 6 by a predetermined operation, and - Write to RAM etc.

Then, the data of each color and each gradation written in this RAM etc. is corrected by necessary operations and replaced with the original data. A control section 9 controls each section within the apparatus and outputs a strobe signal based on data from the memory section 6 or the gradation operation section 7.

Next, the operation of the density gradation adjusting device for a video printer according to the present invention will be explained. Video signals such as television images are
For example, the information is input to the video signal processing section 1 by operating a "memory" button or the like. In the video signal processing section 1, if the input signal is a color image, it is divided into three colors of red, green and blue, adjusted to a required signal level, and applied to the A/D conversion section 2.

The A/D converter 2 converts the input analog video signal into digital image data. The digital image data from the A/D conversion section 2 is input to the storage section 3, and one screen worth of image data is written into a frame memory, etc. This written data is used for the next image data input or when the clear key is pressed. It is deleted by operation etc. The data written in the storage section 3 is sequentially read out one line at a time by a command signal from the control section 8 based on the operation of a "print" button or the like, for example, and inputted to the density gradation signal conversion section 4.

The density gradation signal converter 4 determines the gradation of the input image data, and if the printer prints 64 gradations, for example, the density gradation signal converter 4 determines the gradation of the input image data.
(If there are 4 gradations) Data for each gradation is sequentially output and transferred to the printer section 5. The printer section 5 writes the data of each gradation from the density gradation signal conversion section 4 into a built-in line memory. After writing the 1wI scale data, these data are read from the line memory, ANDed with a strobe signal via the control unit 8, which will be described later, and a current based on the processed data is sent to the thermal head from the heating power source. energize each heating resistor. After the data processing for the first gradation opening is completed, the data for the second gradation opening and thereafter up to the 64th gradation are processed in the same manner. After processing the first line of data,
Furthermore, data from the second line onwards are processed in the same way. In this way, all the lines required for one image, for example, 64
This process is repeated for the 0 line. Heat generated in the thermal head by the 0 current applied is applied to, for example, a heat-sensitive sublimation type ink ribbon, sublimates the dye ink, and transfers the dye to paper or the like for printing. If the image is a color image, printing will be performed based on data converted from the image data of the field, green, and blue into yellow, magenta, and cyan, which are complementary colors of each of the three primary colors. Printing is performed using an ink ribbon coated with dye ink of each color of cyan and cyan.

The control section 8 outputs a strobe signal each time it finishes writing data of each gradation to the line memory of the printer section 5, and the length of time of this strobe signal is equal to the reference strobe time read from the memory section 6. Data of,
Alternatively, it is based on strobe time data etc. corrected by operation of the gradation operation unit 7, and corresponds to the number of gradations of each image data output from the density gradation signal conversion unit 4. That is, when the "print mode changeover" switch of this video printer device is set to "standard", the control section 8 outputs a strobe signal based on the reference strobe time data read from the memory section 6, and this switch When switched to "manual", a strobe signal based on the strobe time data read from the RAM of the floor 1ui creation section 7 is output. In other words, this "
By switching to "Manual", the reference strobe time data read from the memory section 6 is transferred to the RA of the gradation operation section 7.
M etc., and the control unit 8 reads the data from there. Therefore, if the transcribed data is corrected in the gradation operation unit 7 after the "manual" operation, the control unit 8 will read the data from there. A strobe signal based on the strobe time data is output.

For example, the data shown in FIG. 2(A) is stored as standard data in the memory unit 6, and the gradation versus density characteristic of an image printed based on this data is expressed by the curve shown in FIG. 3(A).
Standard curve), the density gradation of the bright areas of this image is emphasized and the warm colors are strengthened for printing. We made corrections such as making a difference in the number of data between the gradations of the parts, reducing the difference in the number of data between the gradations in the middle and high gradations, and making the yellow data larger and the magenta data a little larger. 2
If the data is as shown in Figure (B), the printed image will be the third one.
As shown in Figure (B), the difference in density between gradations widens at low gradations, and decreases at medium and high gradations (Figure 3 shows the density gradation of three colors as a whole). Note that the data recorded in the RAM, etc. of this gradation operation section 7 is displayed on the monitor screen via the control section 8, so the above correction can be made by viewing this monitor screen. It can be done while In addition, the relationship between each data in Figure 2 and the strobe time is strobe time = unit time x number of data. For example, if the unit time is 12 microseconds (μS), the 4 gradations in Figure (B) The strobe time for yellow at the mouth is 12×15=180 μs, etc.

[Effects of the Invention] As explained above, in the density gradation adjustment device for a video printer according to the present invention, data can be corrected based on data stored in the device in advance. In the case of a bright image covered in white, if you want to make the slight difference in shading of the petals more obvious, add a difference between gradations to the low gradation part of the original data, and add warm color data to the data. You can easily do things like emphasize things,
Moreover, if the printing results are not as desired, the corrected data can be re-corrected, or the original data can be read out and corrected again, allowing the user to make corrections and print the image according to the purpose or preference. It is a convenient thing.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a main part of an embodiment of the density gradation adjustment device for a video printer according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a block diagram for explaining correction of density gradation data by the density gradation adjustment device for the video printer. The data table, FIG. 3, is an example of a density gradation characteristic curve. In the figure, ■ is a video signal processing section, 2 is an A/D conversion ridge, 3 is a storage section, 4 is a density gradation signal conversion section, 5 is a printer section, 6 is a memory section, 7 is a gradation operation section, and 8 is a This is the control section. Patent applicant Fujitsu General Ltd. Figure 1 Figure 2 Figure 3 Gradation - 11

Claims (1)

[Claims] In a video printer that converts an analog video signal into digital data and prints it on paper etc. via a printer, a storage unit that stores the digital data and a gradation level of data read from the storage unit are determined and correspond to the number of gradation levels. a density gradation signal converter that outputs data to be output, a printer unit that prints on paper using a thermal head or the like using current based on the data from the density gradation signal converter, and a printer unit that outputs data based on the data from the density gradation signal converter; a memory section that stores data, etc.; a gradation operation section that corrects the reference application time data read out from the memory section and outputs it to the printer section; the storage section, the density gradation signal conversion section, the printer section, and the memory. 1. A density gradation adjustment device for a video printer, comprising: a control section for controlling a gradation operation section; and a control section for controlling a gradation operation section.