JPH06178080A - Facsimile equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To select transmission resolution suitable for suppressing picture quality degradation when there are many kinds of resolution at present and opposite equipments. CONSTITUTION:A priority table storage part 16 stores a table containing distance data decided based on the degree of agreement for each kind of resolution or a table added priority different for each unit system. A resolution decision part 18 reads the image information storage resolution and unit system of the present equipment and the resolution ability of the opposite equipment inputted from an opposite equipment ability storage part 17. Based on these kinds of information, the transmission resolution is decided by referring to the table. The decided resolution is supplied to a conversion part 19, and the image information read from an image information memory 2 is sent through a communication control part 4 (5) to a line after the resolution is converted as needed.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a facsimile machine, and more particularly to a facsimile machine suitable for reducing deterioration of image quality due to resolution conversion during image information transmission.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Currently, as a facsimile apparatus, G3
Communication mode standard (hereinafter referred to as G3 machine) and G4
Communication mode standards (hereinafter referred to as G4 machines) are often used. The G3 machine has a millimeter system, and the G4 machine has an inch system, and their resolutions are specified. Therefore, when performing communication between facsimile apparatuses having different communication mode standards, it is necessary to perform resolution conversion according to the resolution capability of the partner machine and then transmit the image information. For example, the image information of an original read at an inch resolution is
When transmitting to three devices, that is, a millimeter system device, resolution conversion from inch system to millimeter system is performed.

By the way, there is a problem that image quality is deteriorated due to thinning or insertion of dots by resolution conversion between millimeter system and inch system.

As a remedy for this problem, it is decided which of inch system or millimeter system image information is to be stored according to the communication mode, and the resolution conversion between different unit systems is avoided. Has been proposed (JP-A-1-
321777).

In this apparatus, since the G3 communication mode corresponds to the millimeter system resolution and the G4 communication mode corresponds to the inch system resolution, the original is read at the unit system resolution corresponding to each communication mode. .

[0006]

The above-mentioned conventional facsimile machine has the following problems. That is, although the current device supports millimeter resolution in the G3 communication mode and inch resolution in the G4 communication mode, respectively, in the protocols of the G3 and G4 communication modes,
In the procedure that can handle millimeter system and inch system equally, the above simple selection criterion is not sufficient.

Although it is possible that more resolutions will be added as capabilities in the future, in the conventional facsimile apparatus, a program for selecting the optimum resolution is
There was also the problem that it had to be changed according to the capabilities of the other aircraft.

The object of the present invention is to solve the above problems,
It is an object of the present invention to provide a facsimile apparatus which can easily select an optimum resolution from a large number of resolutions.

[0009]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention for solving the above problems and achieving the object is to give priority to a plurality of resolutions, and to the plurality of resolutions based on the intelligibility in advance. A resolution priority table provided with distance data from the set adjacent resolution is provided, and the transmission resolution is determined by checking the image information storage resolution of the own machine and the resolution capability of the partner machine with the resolution priority table. The first feature is that it is configured as described above.

Further, the present invention is provided with a resolution priority table having different priorities for each unit system, and from the table, one which corresponds to the unit system of the image information storage resolution of the own device is selected and A second feature is that the transmission resolution is determined by collating the image information storage resolution and the resolution capability of the partner device with the selected resolution priority table.

[0011]

According to the present invention having the above-mentioned first characteristic, the prepared resolution priority table is not simply scanned in the order of its priority, but based on the distance data, the image information storage resolution of the own device and the partner. The optimum resolution capability can be selected as the transmission resolution depending on the resolution capability of the machine.

Further, according to the present invention having the second feature, since the transmission resolution can be determined by referring to the resolution priority table prepared for each unit system, the single resolution priority table is referred to. It is possible to select the optimum resolution for preventing deterioration of image quality, as compared with the case of determining the transmission resolution.

[0013]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 2 is a principal block diagram showing the hardware structure of the facsimile apparatus according to the present invention. In the figure, the reading apparatus 1 reads a transmission document and converts it into an electric signal, that is, image information. The image information read by the reading device 1 and the image information received from the outside are stored in an image information storage device (hereinafter, referred to as image information memory) 2. In the image processing device 3, the transmission image information is encoded and the reception image information is decoded. The received image information is recorded by the printer 12.

The G3 communication control unit 4 performs control for performing facsimile communication in the G3 communication mode.
The communication control unit 5 controls the facsimile communication in the G4 communication mode. Further, the G3 communication control unit 4 is connected to an analog line via the modem 6 and the analog network control device 7. On the other hand, the G4 communication control unit 5 is connected to the digital line via the digital network control device 8.

The operation / display device 9 includes operation switches for an operator to give an instruction to the facsimile device.
And a panel such as a liquid crystal display system for displaying the operating state. The ROM 10 stores a program for controlling the facsimile apparatus as a whole and a program for controlling the communication control units 4 and 5, the modem 6, and the network control apparatuses 7 and 8. The RAM 11 is a work area used for executing the program.

The CPU 13 has the ROM 10 and RA.
According to the program and control data stored in M11, and the instruction input from the operation / display device 9, the control process and the transmission control procedure process of the entire facsimile device are executed. Data exchange between the above-mentioned components is performed via the system bus 14.

In the facsimile apparatus having the above structure, the image information read by the reading device 1 is temporarily stored in the image information memory 2 and sent to the line in accordance with a transmission instruction input from the operation / display device 9. On the other hand, the image information received from the outside is decoded by the image processing device 3, accumulated in the image information memory 2, and recorded by the printing device 12. The facsimile communication is performed in either the G3 or G4 communication mode according to the instruction input from the operation / display device 9.

The resolution selecting operation in the facsimile apparatus having the above hardware structure will be described. First, a first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

In the first embodiment, the priority table is constructed by adding distance data to the higher resolutions to the resolution capability (resolution) of the own device. FIG. 4 is an example of the priority table. In the figure, the distance between the inch system resolution 400 × 400 pixels / inch (ppi) and the millimeter system resolution 16 × 15.4 lines / mm is “1”, and the millimeter system resolution 16 × 15.4 lines / mm, Inch system resolution 300
Distance from x300 ppi is "3", inch system resolution 30
0 × 300 ppi and millimeter resolution 8 × 15.4 lines / m
Distance data is given such that the distance from m is "2".

The distance data is determined based on the result of the recognition test, that is, the intelligibility when the expected character chart is read.

Here, the reading resolution of the own machine is 16 × 15.4 lines / mm, and the other machine has a resolution capability of 4
00 x 400 ppi, 200 x 200 ppi, 200 x
The description will be given on the assumption that it is 100 ppi. Also,
In the priority table of FIG. 4, the resolutions are arranged in descending order.

FIG. 3 showing the resolution determining process of the first embodiment.
In step S1, the resolution of the stored document is detected and used as the parameter A in step S1. That is, the parameter A has a resolution of 16 × 15.4 lines / mm.

In step S2, it is determined whether the resolution capability of the partner machine is equal to the parameter A. If this determination is affirmative, the process proceeds to step S10 and the resolution indicated by the parameter A is determined as the transmission resolution.

However, here, the resolution capability of the other device is set to 400 × 400 ppi, 200 × 200 ppi, 200
Since the value is × 100 ppi, the determination in step S2 is negative and the process proceeds to step S3.

In step S3, the resolution capability of the other device in the direction of higher resolution than the resolution represented by the parameter A, that is, 400 × 400 ppi here is set as the parameter B. In step S4, the resolution capability of the partner device (200 × 200 ppi) in the direction of lower resolution than the resolution represented by the parameter A is set as the parameter C.

In step S5, the sum of the distance data between the parameters A and B is calculated and set as the parameter d1. In this embodiment, the resolution represented by the parameters A and B is 16 × 1.
Since 5.4 lines / mm and the resolution of 400 × 400 ppi are adjacent to each other, the distance data “1” between them is the parameter d1 as it is.

In step S6, the sum of the distance data between the parameters A and C is calculated and set as the parameter d2. The parameter d2 is the sum of the distance data "3", "2", "2", that is, "7".

In step S7, the parameters d1 and d2 are compared. As a result of the comparison, the parameter d2 is d1.
When it is equal to or larger than, the process proceeds to step S8, and the resolution indicated by the parameter B is determined as the transmission resolution.

On the other hand, when the parameter d2 is smaller than d1, the determination in step S7 is negative, the process proceeds to step S9, and the resolution indicated by the parameter C is determined as the transmission resolution.

Under the above premise, the determination in step S7 is affirmative, and the resolution indicated by the parameter B, that is, 400 × 400 ppi is the transmission resolution.

The resolution of the image information is converted according to the transmission resolution determined by the above procedure, and the image information is transmitted to the partner machine. The communication mode and the number of the transmission partner are input by the operator from the operation / display device 9 together with the instruction of the reading resolution.

As described above, according to the first embodiment, the optimum resolution is selected according to the reading resolution of the own device and the resolution capability of the other device, not by the simple scanning of the priority table. That is, in the simple scanning of the priority order table, the resolution capability of the partner machine to which a priority order lower than the accumulated resolution is assigned is selected. In the first embodiment, however, the distance data is also used, so It is possible to select the resolution capability of the other device that is similar to the resolution.

Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described. In the second embodiment, for unit systems of two types of resolutions, each unit system is provided with a priority table in which a higher priority is given than the other, and the priority table is stored according to the unit system of the accumulated image information. I try to use them properly.

FIG. 6 is an example of a priority order table in which the priority is different for each unit system. FIG. 6A is a table (hereinafter referred to as an inch table) in which the inch resolution has a higher priority than the millimeter resolution at the same resolution, and FIG. 6B shows the same resolution. A table (hereinafter referred to as a millimeter table) having a higher priority than the inch resolution is shown.

In the flowchart of FIG. 5, in step S20, it is determined whether or not the unit system of the resolution of the stored document is the inch system. This judgment is input by the operator's operation from the operation / display device 9 at the time of reading the original, and is stored in the RAM.
This is performed based on the data indicating the unit system stored in 11.

If the unit system of the image information stored in the image information memory 2 is the inch system, the process proceeds to step S21 and the inch table is selected. On the other hand, when the unit system of the stored document is not the inch system, that is, in the case of the millimeter system here,
In step S22, the millimeter table is selected.

If any one of the two types of tables is selected, the process proceeds to step S23, and it is determined whether the resolution of the stored document is equal to the resolution capability of the other device. If the resolution of the stored original is equal to the resolution capability of the other machine, the process proceeds to step S27, the accumulated resolution is set to the parameter E, and then the process proceeds to step S26.

On the other hand, if the resolution of the stored original document and the resolution capability of the other device are different, the process proceeds to step S24, and FIG.
The resolution having the lower priority is read from the table of FIG. For example, the resolution of the stored document is 16 × 1
In the case of 5.4 lines / mm, the millitable is selected, and the resolution of 400 × 400 ppi, which is lower than the millitable, is read.

In step S25, it is determined whether or not the resolution capability of the partner machine has a resolution corresponding to the parameter E, that is, a resolution of 400 × 400 ppi here. If the determination in step S25 is negative, step S
Returning to step 24, a further lower resolution is selected from the millitable and set as the parameter E.

If the determination in step S25 is affirmative, the process proceeds to step S26, and the resolution indicated by the parameter E is set as the transmission resolution actually used for the communication.

As described above, according to the second embodiment, since the priority table which is different for each unit system is provided, even if the partner machine does not have a resolution corresponding to the accumulated resolution, among the capabilities of the partner machine, You can select the highest resolution possible and convert stored documents to this resolution.

For example, the partner machine is 400 × 400 ppi,
It has a resolution capability of 200 × 200 ppi and 200 × 100 ppi, and its own accumulated resolution is 16 × 15.4.
Consider the case of books / mm. In this case, if the table type is an inch table, and the facsimile is prepared, and the table is simply scanned, 16 × 1
A resolution lower than 5.4 lines / mm and a resolution of 200 × 200 ppi of the partner machine is selected. On the other hand, in the second embodiment, it is possible to select a resolution similar to the storage resolution, that is, 400 × 400 ppi.

In the above-described first and second embodiments, the resolution capability of the partner machine is input from the information separately obtained by the operator and registered in the RAM 11 and the telephone number of the partner machine is selected. May be read as a search parameter, or may be determined based on the resolution capability information of the partner device included in the protocol information.

Next, the main function of the facsimile apparatus of this embodiment will be described with reference to the block diagram of FIG. In the figure, the same reference numerals as those in FIG. 2 indicate the same or equivalent parts.

The image information of the original read by the reading device 1 is stored in the image information memory 2. The management data such as the reading resolution and the unit system of the image information accumulated in the image information memory 2 is stored in the image information memory management unit 15.

The priority table storage unit 16 stores the table shown in FIG. 4 or 6. The partner capability storage unit 17 stores the resolution capability information of the partner machine obtained by the protocol. The partner functional capacity storage unit 17 is not limited to one that stores information obtained by the protocol, but may be one that stores the partner functional capacity input by the operator as described above.

In the resolution determining unit 18, the priority order information read from the priority order table storage unit 16, the resolution capability information of the partner machine read from the partner capability storage unit 17, and the image information memory management unit 15 The transmission resolution is determined by the accumulated resolution and the unit system read from. The resolution determining unit 18 performs processing according to the procedure shown in the flowcharts of FIGS.

The resolution determined by the resolution determining section 18 is supplied to the converting section 19. Image information memory 2 to conversion unit 19
The image information read out is converted to the above resolution, supplied to the communication control unit 4 or 5, and sent to the line. Needless to say, when the resolution determined by the resolution determining unit 18 and the accumulated resolution match, the resolution conversion of the image information is not performed.

[0049]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the present invention as set forth in claim 1, a priority table for resolution selection including distance data between resolutions is used,
The optimum transmission resolution can be determined based on the information in this table, the resolution capability information of the other device, and the accumulated resolution of the own device, and the deterioration of the image quality due to the resolution conversion can be minimized.

Further, according to the present invention as set forth in claim 2, since it is possible to select the priority table for resolution selection by the unit system of the accumulated resolution in the own device, the priority table of the selected priority table is selected. The optimum transmission resolution can be determined based on the information, the resolution capability information of the other device, and the accumulated resolution of the own device, and the deterioration of the image quality due to the resolution conversion can be minimized.

Further, according to the present invention as set forth in claims 1 and 2, by only modifying the configuration of the priority table,
You can easily select the newly added resolution.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a main function of a facsimile apparatus.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a hardware configuration of a facsimile apparatus.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the operation of the first embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a priority order table.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the operation of the second embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing another example of priorities.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Reading device, 2 ... Image information memory, 4, 5 ... Communication control part, 15 ... Image information memory management part, 16 ... Priority order table, 17 ... Opposite function memory part, 18 ... Resolution determination part, 19 ... Conversion Department

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A facsimile apparatus configured to transmit image information stored in an image information memory, wherein priority is given to a plurality of resolutions, and the plurality of resolutions are preliminarily based on intelligibility. It has a resolution priority table with distance data to the set adjacent resolution.
A facsimile machine, characterized in that the transmission resolution is determined by comparing the image information storage resolution of the own machine and the resolution capability of the partner machine with the resolution priority table. 2. A facsimile apparatus configured to transmit image information stored in an image information memory, comprising a resolution priority table having a different priority for each unit system, and the image information of its own machine is provided from the table. In addition to selecting a unit corresponding to the unit system of storage resolution, the transmission resolution is determined by checking the image information storage resolution of the own device and the resolution capability of the partner device with the selected resolution priority table. A facsimile device characterized by the above.