JPH05328099A - Image processor - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To make a marker color detection without fail by performing the image processing of color pictures inputted according to the detection result of a 1st color detection means which detects the 1st color of the inputted color picture and a 2nd color detection means which detects the 2nd color and enabling the detection of the 3rd color. CONSTITUTION:Color data RGB to be inputted are 8-bit data, having the total 2<24> color information. The data are inputted to a max/mid/min detection section 130 making the size discrimination and the maximum, middle, and minimum values are outputted by a comparator, which are converted into the two-dimensional color space by means of a hue detection section 133 being a lookup table consisting of ROMs to obtain the corresponding hue. Then, comparators 135, 136 discriminate whether the hue values match with the colors to be detected or not. When the output of the hue detection section 133 is red, for example, it is discriminated by a window comparator 139. But the values of registers 134, 137 set by the CPU makes it to be used for the other color.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image processing apparatus capable of recognizing a color image.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Recently, in an image processing apparatus, for example, a digital copying machine, by surrounding a part of a document with a fluorescent color called a marker, a marker capable of performing different processing in the surrounded area and other areas. There is processing called processing.

An image processing apparatus of this type will be described with reference to FIGS.

FIG. 10 shows an example of the entire circuit configuration of the image processing apparatus. The original is exposed by an exposure lamp (not shown), the reflected image is captured by a CCD line sensor, the obtained analog image signal is digitized by an A / D converter, etc., and the digitized image signal is processed and processed. The image is obtained by outputting to a laser beam printer or the like.

The color information of the original 1100 is transferred to the CCD sensor 11 via the lens 1101a of the image reading section 1101.
The image is formed on 01b, and the CCD sensor scans each line
(Red) and C (Cyan) are read at 400 dpi. The read signal becomes an analog signal and A / D
It is input to the A / D converter 1101c that performs conversion.
The signal after A / D conversion is input to the image processing unit 1102,
In the image processing unit 1102, the shading correction circuit 11
Shading correction is performed at 02a to generate image data of 8 bits for each of R and C. Data processing unit 110
Reference numeral 2b identifies the color of the read image data and converts it into a specific density signal corresponding to it, and further, the Log converter 110
In 2c, the brightness data is converted into density data to generate output data. The printer 1103 includes a control circuit such as a motor that conveys the transfer paper, a laser recording unit that writes the output data output from the Log conversion unit 1102c onto the photosensitive drum, and a development control circuit that performs development. Also, CP
The U circuit unit 1104 includes a CPU 1104a and a ROM 110.
4b and RAM 1104c, the image reading unit 110
1, the image processing unit 1102, the printer 1103, and the like, and collectively controls the sequence control of the present apparatus.

FIG. 11 shows the configuration of the data processing unit 1102b.

An R signal and a C signal are provided for each pixel by the color discrimination unit.
A predetermined color (by a marker or the like that draws a closed loop for discriminating an area) and a black level are discriminated from the signal difference component. Here, the description will be continued assuming that the predetermined color is red.
If the difference component obtained by subtracting the C signal from the R signal is larger than the constant r, it is determined that the pixel is red, and the signal 3 shown in FIG.
00 becomes "1". The luminance signal generation unit 1200 produces an image over the entire wavelength region that is not color-separated, that is, a black-and-white image, from the color-separated image image read by the color CCD image sensor 1101b. This is because the printer 1103 can form an image of only a single color. Luminance signal generator 1200
In, the R signal and the C signal are input, but only the C signal is selected and output.

Next, the red signal 300 is detected by the area discrimination unit 1203.
Entered in. The area discriminating unit 1203 discriminates the area, and the area discriminating signal 3 obtained from the area discriminating unit 1203.
01 and the data set in the register 1205 by the CPU are operated by the EXOR 1206. Register 12
When "0" is set in 05, masking processing is performed, and when "1" is set, trimming processing is performed. Next, in the selector 1207,
The luminance signal generated by the luminance signal generation unit 1200 and the white data signal set in the register 1204 are selected. Through the above processing, processing such as trimming for outputting only the inside of the marker and masking for outputting only the outside of the marker can be performed.

Next, the area discrimination by the predetermined color performed by the area discrimination circuit 1203 will be described in detail with reference to FIG. The red signal 300 (hereinafter referred to as the D signal) color-discriminated by the color discrimination unit 1201, the area discrimination signal (A signal) of the front line, and the inner area signal (B) of the front line.
Signal) and a region end signal (C signal) of the previous line to discriminate regions.

First, a latch data enable signal 510 is obtained by ORing the change point signals 507, 508, and 509 of the A signal, C signal, and D signal by the change point extraction unit and the four signals of the signal issued by the sending circuit 517. can get.

The sending-out circuit 517 stores the latch data, which can be found in the pattern matching section and the discrimination signal generating circuit after the video enable is turned off, in the FiFo memory (F
(first in first out memory) 530,
In order to send the data to 531 and 532, signals are output by the number of data corresponding to the delay.

By the latch data transfer clock 511 obtained by ANDing the data enable signal 510 and the inversion signal of the video transfer clock 505, the flip-flop 52 is used to determine the change points of the A signal, the B signal, the C signal and the D signal.
Latch at 0, 521, 522, 523.

Each of the change point signals is subjected to pattern matching by a 5 × 4 matrix obtained by the flip-flops in the first half of the pattern matching section.

Next, the pattern matching algorithm will be described. In FIG. 13, the attention line m,
The area discrimination of n, o, and p will be described.

The area discrimination on the m line is shown in FIG. Am-1 (5 in FIG. 12) showing the discrimination area one line before from the top
(Corresponding to 01), Bm-1 indicating a discrimination area that does not include a red portion one line before, and Bm-1 one line before (5 in FIG. 12).
(Corresponding to 02) Cm-1 (see FIG.
503), and Dm indicating the red part of the line of interest (Fig. 1).
The area is discriminated using four lines (corresponding to 504 of 2).

When there is only one change point of the data of Am-1, Cm-1, and Dm, the data (Am-1, Bm-1, Cm-1, Dm) immediately after the conversion point is latched. I will do it. Then, the data for three pixels is shifted while being searched, and a part thereof is shown below. However, x is indefinite.

Am-1 111 Bm-1 xxx Am 111 Cm-1000 → Bm x1x Dm 101 Cm x0x

As described above, Am-1 is 111 and Cm-
When 1 is 000 and Dm is 101, Am obtained by converting 0 of Dm into 1 is set to Am, and Bm is set to 1 when the converted data is set to 0. Am determined here
(Corresponding to 513 in FIG. 12), Bm (corresponding to 514 in FIG. 12), and Cm (corresponding to 515 in FIG. 12) correspond to (A), (B), and (C) shown in FIG. In some cases, it may be necessary to view 4 pixels and 5 pixels at the same time as shown below.

Am-1 '1111 Bm-1' xxxxx Am '1111 Cm-1' 0000 → Bm 'x11x Dm' 1001 Cm 'x00x Am-1 "11111 Bm-1" xxxxx Am' 11111 Cm-1 "0000 → Bm 'x111x Dm "10001 Cm' x000x

Next, the area discrimination on the n line in FIG. 13 will be described in the same manner as above with reference to FIG. Basically,
As shown in FIG. 15 while filling the determined area, (C)
The operation of searching for is repeated.

Similarly to the above, the data immediately after the change points of An-1, Cn-1, and Dn are respectively latched. Then, similarly to the above, the search is performed while shifting the data for three pixels, and a part thereof is shown below.

An-1 111 Bn-1 x11 An x1x Cn-1 xxx → Bn x0x Dn 010 Cn x1x

This is a signal obtained by converting the above-mentioned conversion and discriminating the convex portion of the red signal (D) inscribed in (B) shown in FIG. 15 (C).
It shows the detection of the starting point of.

Next, the area discrimination on the o line in FIG. 13 will be described with reference to FIG. Basically,
The operation of searching (C) shown in FIG. 15 is repeated while filling the determined area. As above, An-1, Cn
The data immediately after the conversion points of −1 and Dn are respectively latched. Then, similarly to the above, the search is performed while shifting the data for three pixels, and a part thereof is shown below.

Ao-1 xxx Bo-1 xxx Ao x1x Co-1 111 → Bo xxx Do x1x Co x1x

After conversion as described above, the (C) signal shown in FIG. 15 is detected. However, for Co-1, it is sufficient that at least one of the three pixels has one.

Further, the discrimination for detecting the end of the (C) signal is shown below. The area discrimination on the p-line in FIG. 13 will be described in the same manner as above with reference to FIG. Similar to the above, while searching for data for 3 pixels,
The detection of the central part is shown below.

Ap-1 111 Bp-1 xxx Ap 101 Cp-1 111 → Bp xxx Dp 101 Cp x0x

As shown above, since Cp-1 is not 000 here, Dp 101 → 111 conversion is not performed. By this operation, in the case of double area designation as shown in FIG. 13, the inside is excluded without being discriminated as the (B) signal or the (A) signal. This makes it possible to perform the area discrimination shown in FIG.

Returning to FIG. 12 again, the (A) signal 513, the (B) signal 514, and the (C) signal 51 of the target line are converted by the signal 512 obtained by the pattern matching.
5 are created, and FiFo (530, 531,
532).

At this time, in order not to write unnecessary data remaining in the pattern matching unit and the discrimination signal generating circuit to FiFo from the latch enable signal, the unnecessary portion mask circuit 518 outputs signals corresponding to the number of unnecessary data at the video enable head. It outputs and only the necessary touch data is written by the write enable signal 519.

At the same time, the latch enable signal is FiFo5.
516 which was written to 33 and read with one line delay
Is used as a read enable signal for restoring the latch data written at the timing of the change point written in the FiFo 530, 531, 532.

The area signal 501 read from the FiFo 530 is shaped by a flip-flop and output as an area discrimination signal.

In this way, the area surrounded by the red marker can be identified, and the area surrounded by the red marker can be used for trimming (extraction).
It is possible to do or mask (erase).

[0035]

However, in the above-described image processing apparatus, there are markers in the original other than the detection color red, for example, a portion surrounded by red, green and yellow markers and a portion surrounded by red. In some cases, the marker processing is performed on the portion surrounded by the red marker, but the processing surrounded by the green or yellow portion is not performed. Further, it is impossible to change so that only the area surrounded by green is subjected to marker processing.

[0036]

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention provides a first color detecting means for detecting a first color in an input color image and a second color detecting means for detecting a second color in the input color image. A second color detecting means for detecting a color; and an image processing means for performing image processing on a color image input according to the detection result of the first color detecting means or the second color detecting means, The first color detecting means and the second color detecting means are the third
The present invention provides an image processing device characterized by being capable of detecting the color of.

[0037]

With the above arrangement, the third color in the input color image
Is detected by both the first color detecting means and the second color detecting means, and is surely detected.

[0038]

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

(Structure of Copying Machine) First, the structure and operation of a copying machine equipped with the image processing apparatus of this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. Reference numeral 1 denotes a document feeder, which feeds the placed documents one by one or continuously to a predetermined position on the platen glass surface 2. Reference numeral 4 denotes a scanner including a lamp 3, a scanning mirror 5, and the like. When the document feeding device 1 places the scanner 3 on the document table glass surface 2, the scanner is reciprocally scanned in a predetermined direction to scan the reflected light of the document. An image is formed on the image sensor unit 101 through the lens 8 through 5 to 7. Reference numeral 10 denotes an exposure control unit including a laser scanner, which irradiates the photoconductor 11 with a light beam modulated based on image data output from the image signal control unit of the controller unit CONT. A red developing device 12 and a black developing device 13 visualize the electrostatic latent image formed on the photoconductor 11 with a predetermined developer (toner). By the developing device switching device 30, one of the developing devices 12 and 13 is disposed close to the photosensitive drum 11, and the other is retracted from the photosensitive drum 11 by the developing device switching device 30. When performing multiple development, the controller unit CONT controls the developing device switching device 30. Transfer paper stacking units 14 and 15 stack and store standard size transfer papers. The transfer paper is driven by the feed roller to register roller 2
The sheet is fed to the position of No. 5 and is fed at the timing of aligning the image front end with the image formed on the photoconductor 11.

Reference numeral 16 denotes a transfer separation charger, which transfers the toner image developed on the photoconductor 11 onto the transfer paper, and then the transfer paper is separated from the photoconductor 11 and fixed by a fixing belt 17 via a conveyor belt.
Is transported to and fixed. A paper discharge roller 18 discharges the image-formed transfer paper onto the tray 20. A direction flapper 21 switches the conveyance direction of the transfer sheet on which the image is formed, to the discharge port or the internal conveyance path direction.

During double-sided recording, after the transfer paper passes through the paper discharge sensor 19, the paper discharge section roller 18 is rotated in the direction opposite to the paper discharge direction. At the same time, the flapper 20 is raised upward to store the image-formed transfer sheet in the intermediate tray 24 via the transport paths 22 and 23. At the time of next back surface recording, the transfer paper stored in the intermediate tray 24 is fed and the back surface is transferred.

Further, at the time of multiple recording, the flapper 21 is raised upward and the transfer sheet on which the image is formed is stored in the intermediate tray 24 via the conveyance paths 22 and 23. In the next multiple recording, the transfer paper stored in the intermediate tray 24 is fed and the multiple transfer is performed.

(Operation Unit) With reference to FIGS. 2 and 3, an operation procedure for designating a marker color according to the present embodiment will be described.

FIG. 3 is a view showing a part of the operating section in this embodiment.

Reference numeral 301 is an LCD display portion, and 302 is O
This is the K key and is pressed when the setting is OK. Reference numeral 303 denotes a function key, which is pressed to perform the item displayed in the lower right of the display section. 304 is a left arrow key which is pressed when the cursor is to be moved to the left. An up arrow key 305 is pressed when the cursor is to be moved up. A down arrow key 306 is pressed to move the cursor downward.
A right arrow key 307 is pressed when the cursor is to be moved to the right. 308 is pressed when the user wants to clear what has been set with the clear key.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a display on the LCD display unit 301 when setting a marker color.

First, when changing the marker color,
When the display is 201, when the cursor 204 is at the place where the marker color is changed, the OK key 302 is pressed. OK key 3
When 02 is pressed, the display becomes 202. In the display example of 202, there is a select bar above "yellow", and only yellow is set as the marker color. If a color other than yellow is desired to be set as the marker color, the cursor 204 is moved with the left / right keys 304 and 307, and the OK key 302 is pressed at the desired color. Reference numeral 203 indicates a display in a state where red is set.

When it is desired to clear the color once set, the left and right keys 304 and 307 are used to move the cursor 204 to the color to be cleared and the clear key 308 is pressed. When cleared, the select bar 205 disappears.

(Data Processing Unit) FIG. 4 shows a block diagram of the entire circuit configuration of the image processing apparatus. The full-color original is exposed by the exposure lamp 3 and the reflected color image is color CC
An image is obtained by the D image sensor 101, the obtained analog image signal is digitized by an A / D converter, etc., and the digitized full-color image signal is processed and processed and output to a laser beam printer or the like to obtain an image. It is like this.

The color information of the original 100 is obtained by the image reading unit 1.
The image is formed on the CCD sensor 101b through the lens 101a of No. 01, and each line is R (Red), G (Gre
en) and B (Blue) are read at 400 dpi. The read signal becomes an analog signal and is input to the A / D converter 101c that performs A / D conversion. A / D
The converted signal is input to the image processing unit 102, and in the image processing unit 102, shading correction is performed by the shading correction circuit 102a, and R, G, and B are each 8 bits.
Image data is generated. The data processing unit 102b determines the color of the read image data and converts it into a specific density signal corresponding to it, and further, the Log conversion unit 102c converts the brightness data into density data to generate output data. The printer 103 has a control circuit such as a motor that conveys the transfer paper, a laser recording unit that writes the output data output from the Log conversion unit 102c onto the photosensitive drum, and a development control circuit that performs development. In addition, the CPU circuit unit 104
Is a CPU 104a, a ROM 104b, a RAM 104c
It controls the image reading unit 101, the image processing unit 102, the printer 103, and the like, and controls the sequence control of the present device as a whole.

FIG. 5 shows a detailed block diagram of the data processing unit 102b.

In the luminance signal generator 120, the color CCD
An image over the entire wavelength region that is not color-separated, that is, a black-and-white image is created from the image image that is color-separated and read by the image sensor 101b. This is because the output means of this embodiment has only a monochromatic output means. The luminance signal generation unit 110 calculates an average value for each input R, G, B data to generate a luminance signal, and performs an operation of (R + G + B) / 3 using an adder and a multiplier. ing.

The R, G, and B data are simultaneously input to the color discrimination section 121.

When the color discriminating unit 121 discriminates the marker color, the signal 300 becomes "1".

Next, the red signal 300 is detected by the area discrimination unit 1203.
And the marker color area is determined. The processing after the area discriminating unit 1203 is the same as the processing described in FIGS. 11 to 19, so description thereof will be omitted.

The structure of the color discriminating section 121 is shown in FIG. Thirteen
The color discrimination unit 121 is configured by 0 to 140. This is for detecting a color component on a document for image processing. Each data of R, G, B is max, mid, mi
It is input to the n detector 120.

The hue signal is used for the color detecting method in the color discriminating units 130 to 140. This is to enable accurate determination even when the vividness and brightness of the same color are different (correctly, although it is different from the hue normally represented, the following description will be given). Then it will be explained as "hue".).

First, an outline of the color detection method will be described.

Each of the R, G, and B data that is input is 8-bit data, and has information for a total of 2 ²⁴ colors. Therefore, it is expensive in terms of its scale. In the present description, in consideration of the above points, the following processing is performed using the hue described above.

The R, G, B data to be input are first detected by the max / mid / min detection section 130 for discriminating the magnitude.
Entered in. This is because the maximum value (maximum value), mi, is calculated by comparing each input data with a comparator.
The d value (intermediate value) and the min value (minimum value) are calculated and each value is output. In addition, each output value of the comparator is simultaneously output as a ranking signal.

It is known that the color space is represented by saturation, lightness, and hue, as is known in Munsell's solid and the like. Then, first, it is necessary to convert each of the R, G, and B data into a plane, that is, two-dimensional data. In this description, the common part of R, G, and B, that is, the minimum value of R, G, B, min (R, G, B), is an achromatic component. , B) is subtracted from each R, G, B data, and the remaining information is used as a chromatic color component. This achieves conversion into a two-dimensional input color space with a simple configuration.

As shown in FIG. 7, the plane converted in this manner is divided into 6 from 0 ° to 359 °, and the order of the sizes of R, G and B to be input, that is, R> G. > B,
R>B> G, G>B> R, G>R> B, B>G> R, B
>R> G.

Due to the above conversion processing, the output max
In order to subtract the achromatic color components by the subtractors 131 and 132 from the value and the mid value, the minimum value min value is subtracted from the max value and mid, and is input to the hue detection unit 133 together with the rank signal. The hue detection unit 133 is preferably configured by a randomly accessible storage element such as a RAM or a ROM, and is configured by a look-up table using a ROM in this description.

A value corresponding to the angle of the plane shown in FIG. 7 is stored in advance in the hue detecting section 133, which is a look-up table constituted by the ROM or the like, and the input order signal and (max- min) value, (mid-min)
And the corresponding hue value is output.

As a result, an LUT (look-up table) or the like is used based on the order of the sizes of R, G, and B to be input and the maximum value and the intermediate value of R, G, and B to be input. With such a simple configuration, the three-dimensional input color space is converted into a two-dimensional color space, and the corresponding hue is obtained.

The hue value thus output is then input to the comparators 135 and 136. The inputted hue value is judged by the comparators 135 and 136 (referred to as a window comparator) to be a color to be detected. Although the number of judgment colors is four in this embodiment, it goes without saying that the number of detection colors will be increased by further increasing the number of window comparators. This comparator 135,
Registers 134 and 137 are connected to 136, respectively, and the CPU 104 sets the lower and upper limits of the hue value to be detected.

The comparator 135 has a setting reference value of a1.
Then, when the input hue data is (input hue data) ≧ (a1), “1” is output.

Similarly, when the setting reference value is a2, the comparator 136 is configured to output "1" when (input hue data) <(a2) for the input hue data.

Therefore, (a1) ≦ (input hue data) <
At the time of (a2), “1” is output from the AND gate 138 in the subsequent stage, and the area discrimination unit 12 is output via the OR gate 143.
It is input to 03.

(Designation and Determination of Marker Color) Next, FIG. 8 shows the relationship between the hue value output from the hue detection unit 133 and the hue.

As can be seen from FIG. 8, when the output of the hue detection unit 133 is within the range of a1 to a2, it is red, and the output of a3 to
When within the range of a4, yellow, a5 to a6 green, a7 to
It is blue within the range of 359 and 0 to a8. Also, there are areas where the two color ranges overlap. this is,
For example, even a green marker has a hue close to yellow depending on the manufacturer and a marker close to blue. Therefore, the specified marker color is always processed by expanding the range of hues to be processed. Depending on the hue, the marker process may be performed even if a certain color is designated, and the marker process may be performed even when another color is designated, but the above method is adopted in order to eliminate the case where it is not determined.

Returning to FIG. 6, the window comparator 139 composed of 134 to 138 discriminates red, the window comparator 140 discriminates yellow, the window comparator 141 discriminates green, and the window comparator 142 discriminates blue. There is.

When the marker color is designated from the operation unit, the CPU sets the value in the register according to the designated marker color. The values set in the register by the CPU are shown in FIG. In FIG. 9, the register 13 of the red color discriminating unit 139
5 is R1, the register 136 is R2, the yellow discriminator 140 registers are R3 and R4, the green discriminator 141 registers are R5 and R6, and the blue discriminator 142 registers are R7 and R8.
And

In FIG. 9, for example, when red and yellow are designated, a1 is set in the register R1 and a4 is set in R2, and a4 is set in all other registers.
In the register indicated by ← in the figure, the same value as the previous register is set. At this time, if the same value (x) is set in the paired registers, x
Since there is no hue satisfying ≦ (hue) <x, an unspecified marker color will not be detected.

In this manner, even when the original has an area surrounded by a plurality of colors (not limited to the marker colors), it is possible to process only the color designated by the operator.

As described above, according to the present invention,
Since the first color detecting means and the second color detecting means can detect the third color, the color can be surely detected.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a copying machine according to the present embodiment,

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a marker color setting procedure,

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a part of an operation unit,

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing an image processing apparatus according to the present invention,

5 is a diagram showing a configuration of a data processing unit 102b shown in FIG.

6 is a diagram showing a configuration of a color discrimination unit 121 shown in FIG.

7 is an explanatory diagram showing the operation of the hue detection unit 133 shown in FIG.

8 is a diagram showing the relationship between the output of the hue detection unit 133 shown in FIG. 6 and the hue;

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a marker color designated by an operation unit and register setting values;

FIG. 10 is a block diagram showing a conventional image processing apparatus,

11 is a diagram showing a configuration of a data processing unit 1102b shown in FIG.

12 is a diagram showing a configuration of an area discrimination unit 1203 shown in FIG. 11,

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a region discriminating operation,

FIG. 14 is a timing chart showing an area discrimination operation,

FIG. 15 is a diagram showing an area discriminating operation,

FIG. 16 is a timing chart showing an area discrimination operation,

FIG. 17 is a timing chart showing an area discrimination operation,

FIG. 18 is a timing chart showing an area discrimination operation,

FIG. 19 is a diagram showing a region discriminating operation.

[Explanation of symbols]

101 Image Reading Unit 102 Image Processing Unit 103 Printer 104 CPU 121 Color Discrimination Unit 130 max / mid / min Detection Unit 133 Hue Detection Unit 139, 140, 141, 142 Window Comparator 134, 137 Latch 135, 136 Comparator

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A first color detecting means for detecting a first color in an input color image, a second color detecting means for detecting a second color in an input color image, and the first color detecting means. Means or image processing means for performing image processing on the color image input according to the detection result of the second color detecting means, wherein the first color detecting means and the second color detecting means are third An image processing apparatus, which is capable of detecting a color.