JPH064644A - Method and device for retrieving image - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide an image retrieving device which can quickly execute continuous page turning display. CONSTITUTION:A magneto-optical disk device 4 stores compression data. An image compression/extension part 3 generates an extension image data list by executing an image extension processing to compression data stored in the magneto-optical disk device 4. A display memory 7 stores display data and the display device 8 displays an image based on display data stored in a display memory 7. An image data thinning control part 11 generates display data by thinning the extension image data list from the image compression/ extension part 3 at regular intervals and transfers the piece of display data directly to the display memory 7.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image search method and an image search apparatus for registering and searching image information.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, image information such as a document is read by a scanner, the image information is stored in a large-capacity storage device such as a magneto-optical disk, and arbitrary image information is read out and displayed on a liquid crystal display or the like. 2. Description of the Related Art An image retrieval device that displays the image on a device and, when necessary, prints the image information on paper by a printer and outputs the image information has been put into practical use.

In this image retrieval apparatus, in order to visually retrieve a required page from stored image information, successive pages are displayed one after another as if to turn a book (hereinafter referred to as "continuous page turning display"). It is necessary to be able to Such a conventional image retrieval apparatus includes, for example, as shown in FIG. 7, a CPU 51, a scanner 52, an image compression / decompression unit 53, a magneto-optical disk device 54, a compressed data memory 55, an image data memory 56, and It includes a display memory 57, a display device 58, a system bus 59, an image bus 60, and an image reduction circuit 61. CPU
Reference numeral 51 performs various controls for storing, retrieving and editing image information. The scanner 52 converts image information on paper into image data by a sensor and reads the image data. The image compression / decompression unit 53 performs generation of compressed data with reduced redundancy of image data and restoration of the compressed data to image data, that is, two processes of image compression processing and image expansion processing. The magneto-optical disk device 54 stores compressed data and various kinds of information associated with the compressed data. Compressed data memory 5
5 stores the compressed data. Image data memory 56
Stores image data. The display memory 57 stores display data. The display device 58 actually displays the display data. The system bus 59 is for transferring compressed data, various control information, and numerical data. The image bus 60 is for transferring image data. The image reduction circuit 61 generates display data from the image data stored in the image data memory 56.

In this conventional image retrieval apparatus, first, the compressed data of the corresponding page stored in the magneto-optical disk device 54 is stored in the compressed data memory 55 and the system bus 59.
Transfer through. Then, the compressed data transferred to the compressed data memory 55 is transferred to the image compression / decompression unit 53 via the system bus 59. Then, the image compression / decompression unit 53 subjects the compressed data to image decompression processing to generate a decompressed image data series, which is transferred to the image data memory 56 via the image bus 60. Then, the expanded image data stored in the image data memory 56 is transferred to the image reducing circuit 61 via the image bus 60. Then, the image reduction circuit 61 generates display data and transfers it to the image data memory 56 via the image bus 60. And the image data memory 5
The display data stored in 6 is transferred to the display memory 57 via the image bus 60. Then, the contents of the display memory 57 are displayed on the display device 58. Hereinafter, the same procedure is used to sequentially display.

[0005]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional configuration, when continuous page turning display is performed, a large amount of decompressed image data series for one page output as a result of decompression operation from the image compression / decompression unit 53 is generated. Since the display data is once generated by using the image reduction circuit 61 after being transferred to the image data memory 56 and is transferred to the display memory 57 for display, the image data memory 56 is frequently accessed and
There is a problem that it takes a long processing time to display a page, and it is difficult to perform a continuous page turning display at high speed for searching.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide an image retrieval apparatus capable of performing continuous page turning display at high speed.

[0007]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, a decompressed image data series obtained by subjecting compressed data to image decompression processing using a display memory for storing display data to be displayed is provided at regular intervals. It is characterized in that the image data thinning-out control step of performing thinning out to generate display data and directly transferring the display data to the display memory is performed.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, a display memory for storing display data to be displayed and a decompressed image data series obtained by subjecting the compressed data to an image decompression process are thinned out at regular intervals to generate display data. An image data thinning control unit for directly transferring the display data to the display memory is provided. According to a third aspect of the present invention, a large-capacity storage device for storing compressed data, an image compression / expansion unit for performing an image expansion process on the compressed data stored in the storage device, and generating an expanded image data sequence, a display A display memory that stores data, a display device that displays an image based on the display data stored in the display memory, and a display data that is obtained by thinning out the expanded image data series from the image compression / expansion unit at regular intervals. An image data thinning control unit for generating and directly transferring the display data to the display memory is provided.

According to a fourth aspect of the invention, a predetermined portion in one scanning line is added to a decompressed image data series obtained by subjecting the compressed data to an image decompression process using a display memory for storing display data to be displayed. While skipping the data of
An image data cutout thinning control step of repeating the operation of thinning out the remaining portion of data at regular intervals and directly transferring the resulting display data to the display memory is performed.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, a display memory for storing display data to be displayed and a decompressed image data series obtained by subjecting the compressed data to an image decompressing process are used for data of a predetermined portion in one scanning line. And an image data cutout thinning control unit that repeats the operation of skipping the remaining part of the data at regular intervals and transferring the resulting display data directly to the display memory for the number of display lines. It is characterized by that.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, a large-capacity storage device for storing compressed data and an image compression / expansion unit for performing an image expansion process on the compressed data stored in this storage device to generate an expanded image data sequence. A display memory for storing display data, a display device for displaying an image based on the display data stored in the display memory, and one scanning line for the expanded image data series from the image compression / expansion unit. While skipping the data of a predetermined portion of the inside, thinning out the data of the remaining portion at a constant interval, the operation of directly transferring the resulting display data to the display memory,
An image data cutout thinning control unit that repeats the number of display lines is provided.

[0012]

According to the present invention, in the image data thinning control step, the expanded image data series obtained by performing the image expansion processing on the compressed data is thinned out at a constant interval to generate display data, and the display data is Transfer directly to display memory. In the invention of claim 2, the display memory stores display data to be displayed. The image data thinning-out control unit thins out the expanded image data series obtained by subjecting the compressed data to the image expansion processing at regular intervals to generate display data, and transfers the display data directly to the display memory.

In the invention of claim 3, the storage device stores the compressed data. The image compression / decompression unit performs an image decompression process on the compressed data stored in the storage device to generate a decompressed image data series. The display memory stores display data. The display device displays an image based on the display data stored in the display memory. The image data thinning-out control unit thins out the expanded image data series from the image compression / expansion unit at regular intervals to generate display data, and transfers the display data directly to the display memory.

According to the fourth aspect of the invention, in the image data cutout thinning control step, the data of a predetermined portion in one scanning line is skipped for the expanded image data series obtained by performing the image expansion processing on the compressed data. At the same time, the operation of thinning out the remaining part of the data at regular intervals and directly transferring the resulting display data to the display memory is repeated for the number of display lines.

In the invention of claim 5, the display memory is
The display data to be displayed is stored. The image data cutout thinning-out control unit skips the data of a predetermined part in one scanning line from the expanded image data series obtained by applying the image expansion processing to the compressed data, and at the same time sets the data of the remaining part at a constant interval. The operation of thinning out and transferring the resulting display data directly to the display memory is repeated for the number of display lines.

In the invention of claim 6, the storage device stores the compressed data. The image compression / decompression unit performs an image decompression process on the compressed data stored in the storage device to generate a decompressed image data series. The display memory stores display data. The display device displays an image based on the display data stored in the display memory. The image data cut-out thinning control unit skips the data of a predetermined portion in one scanning line from the expanded image data series from the image compression / expansion unit, and thins out the data of the remaining portion at a constant interval. The operation of directly transferring the obtained display data to the display memory is repeated for the number of display lines.

[0017]

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the drawings. (Embodiment 1) FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the overall configuration of an image search apparatus according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. This image search apparatus includes a CPU 1, a scanner 2, and an image compression / expansion unit 3.
A magneto-optical disk device 4, a compressed data memory 5,
Image data memory 6, display memory 7, and display device 8
1, a system bus 9, an image bus 10, and an image data thinning control unit 11. The CPU 1 performs various controls for storing, retrieving and editing image information. The scanner 2 converts image information on paper into image data by a sensor and reads the image data. The image compression / expansion unit 3 performs two processes, that is, generation of compressed data with reduced redundancy of image data and restoration of the compressed data to image data, that is, an image compression process and an image expansion process. The magneto-optical disk device 4 stores compressed data and various kinds of information accompanying it. The compressed data memory 5 stores compressed data. The image data memory 6 stores image data. The display memory 7 stores display data. The display device 8 is
The display data is actually displayed. The system bus 9 is for transferring compressed data, various control information, and numerical data. The image bus 10 is for transferring image data. The image data thinning control unit 11 simply thins the input data series at regular intervals to generate display data, and transfers the display data directly to the display memory 7.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the arrangement of the main parts of the image compression / expansion unit 3 and the image data thinning control unit 11. The image data thinning control unit 11 includes a thinning coefficient setting unit 13
A data holding circuit 14 and a data holding circuit controller 15
And a display memory address generator 16. The data holding circuit 14 is connected to the data bus 17,
The display memory address generator 16 is connected to the address bus 18. The image compression / decompression unit 3 has a decompression image data output unit 19, and the decompression image data output unit 19 is connected to the data holding circuit 14. The thinning coefficient setting unit 13 sets a thinning ratio for the input data series. The data holding circuit 14 holds display data obtained as a result of thinning. The data holding circuit controller 15 controls the data holding circuit 1 according to the contents of the thinning coefficient setting unit 13.
4 is controlled to hold the display data. The display memory address generator 16 generates an address of the display memory 7 which is a transfer destination of the display data. The data bus 17 constitutes the image bus 10 together with the address bus 18, and is for transferring data. The address bus 18 constitutes the image bus 10 together with the data bus 17, and is for transferring an address. The expanded image data output unit 19 outputs expanded image data.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing the relationship between the decompressed image data series and the display data that is actually displayed during continuous page turning display in the image retrieval apparatus of this embodiment. One bit is thinned out to generate display data. Next, the operation at the time of continuous page turning display will be described. First, the compressed data of the corresponding page stored in the magneto-optical disk device 4 is transferred to the compressed data memory 5 via the system bus 9. Then, the compressed data transferred to the compressed data memory 5 is transferred to the image compression / decompression unit 3 via the system bus 9. Then, the image compression / decompression unit 3 subjects the compressed data to image decompression processing to generate a decompressed image data series, and the decompressed image data output unit 1
9 to the image data thinning control unit 11 sequentially. Then, the image data thinning control unit 11 holds the input decompressed image data series in the data holding circuit 14 at regular intervals in accordance with the contents of the thinning coefficient setting unit 13. The data held in the data holding circuit 14 becomes the display data. That is, as shown in FIG. 3, thinning is performed for each bit in the decompressed image data series. The display data held in the data holding circuit 14 is stored in the display memory address generation unit 16
Is transferred via the image bus 10 to the address of the display memory 7 generated by. Then, the contents of the display memory 7 are displayed by the display device 8. Thereafter, the display is sequentially performed by the same procedure.

As described above, since the image data thinning control unit 11 is connected to the expanded image data output unit 19 of the image compression / expansion unit 3 and the display data is directly transferred to the display memory 7,
The processing time per page can be shortened, and as a result, continuous page turning display can be performed at high speed. (Embodiment 2) FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing the overall configuration of an image retrieval apparatus according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention. A device 24, a compressed data memory 25, an image data memory 26, a display memory 27,
Display device 28, system bus 29, and image bus 30
And an image data cutout thinning control unit 31. The CPU 21 performs various controls for storing, retrieving and editing image information. The scanner 22 converts image information on paper into image data by a sensor and reads the image data. The image compression / decompression unit 23 performs generation of compressed data with reduced redundancy of image data and restoration of the compressed data to image data, that is, two processes of image compression processing and image expansion processing. The magneto-optical disk device 24 stores compressed data and various kinds of information accompanying it. The compressed data memory 25 stores compressed data. The image data memory 26 stores image data. The display memory 27 is
Store display data. The display device 28 actually displays the display data. The system bus 29 is for transferring compressed data, various control information, and numerical data.
The image bus 30 is for transferring image data. The image data cutout thinning control unit 31 simply thins out the input data series at the first part and the last part of the scanning line, that is, the left and right end images of the page to generate display data at fixed intervals, Display it 27
Transfer directly to.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the main parts of the image compression / expansion unit 23 and the image data cutout thinning control unit 31. The image data cutout thinning control unit 31 includes a cutout area setting unit 33 and a thinning coefficient setting unit. 34, a data holding circuit 35, a data holding circuit controller 36, and a display memory address generator 37. The data holding circuit 35 is connected to the data bus 38, and the display memory address generator 37 is connected to the address bus 39. The image compression / expansion unit 23 includes an expanded image data output unit 40.
The expanded image data output unit 40 is connected to the data holding circuit 35. Cutout area setting unit 33
Sets three parameters in total, which are the length of the scan line and the number of data to be read at the beginning and end of the scan line. The thinning-out coefficient setting unit 34 sets the thinning-out ratio for the input data series. The data holding circuit 35 holds display data obtained as a result of being cut out and thinned. The data holding circuit control unit 36 controls the data holding circuit 35 according to the contents of the thinning coefficient setting unit 34 and the cutout region setting unit 33, and holds the display data. The display memory address generator 37 generates an address of the display memory 27, which is a transfer destination of the display data. The data bus 38 constitutes the image bus 30 together with the address bus 39, and is for transferring data. Address bus 39
The image bus 30 together with the data bus 38 are for transferring addresses. The decompressed image data output unit 40 outputs decompressed image data.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing the relationship between the decompressed image data series and the display data that is actually displayed in the continuous page turning display retrieval in the image retrieval apparatus of this embodiment. The first and last 4 bits in the line are excluded from the display target, and the display data is created by thinning out 1 bit out of the 2 bits of the display target data series.

Next, the operation of the continuous page turning display search will be described. First, the compressed data of the corresponding page stored in the magneto-optical disk device 24 is transferred to the compressed data memory 25 via the system bus 29. Then, the compressed data stored in the compressed data memory 25 is transferred to the image compression / expansion unit 2
3 via the system bus 29. Then, the image compression / expansion unit 23 performs image expansion processing on the compressed data to generate an expanded image data series, and transfers the expanded image data output unit 40 to the image data cutout thinning control unit 31. Then, the image data cutout thinning-out control unit 31 skips the first part in the scan line in the expanded image data series without holding it in the data holding circuit 35 according to the contents of the cutout area setting unit 33, and continues reading a fixed number of expanded image data. The series is held in the data holding circuit 35 at fixed intervals according to the contents of the thinning coefficient setting unit 34, and then the last part in the scan line is skipped without being held in the data holding circuit 35. The above operation is repeated for the number of display lines, and only the display data to be displayed is held in the data holding circuit 35. That is, as shown in FIG. 6, in the decompressed image data series, the left and right 4 bits of the scanning line are skipped, and thinning is performed for each 1 bit of the inside data. Then, the display data held in the data holding circuit 35 is transferred to the address of the display memory 27 generated by the display memory address generator 37 via the image bus 30. And the display memory 27
Is displayed on the display device 28. Thereafter, the display is sequentially performed by the same procedure.

As described above, the decompressed image data output unit 40 of the image compression / decompression unit 23 is controlled by the image data cutout thinning control unit 3.
Connect 1 to exclude the left and right edge images of the page that are considered unnecessary when specifying page contents in a visual image search, and display only display data in an area sufficient to specify page contents Since the data is directly transferred to 27, the processing time per page can be shortened, and as a result, continuous page turning display can be performed at high speed for searching.

Although the left and right edge images of the page are not displayed in the second embodiment, only the left edge or the right edge may be excluded from display objects depending on the nature of the image information to be searched.

[0026]

As described above, according to the present invention, a series of decompressed image data obtained by subjecting compressed data to image decompression processing is thinned out at regular intervals to generate display data, and the display data is stored in the display memory. Since it is transferred directly to, you can perform continuous page turning display at high speed.

Further, the data of a predetermined portion in one scanning line is skipped from the decompressed image data series obtained by subjecting the compressed data to the image decompression processing, and the data of the remaining portion is thinned out at regular intervals. By repeating the operation of directly transferring the resulting display data to the display memory for the number of display lines, only the area necessary for specifying the page contents can be displayed in any rectangular display area within the entire display area. It is possible to quickly search and display continuous pages in the area.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an overall configuration of an image search device according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of main parts of an image compression / decompression unit and an image data thinning-out control unit.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing a relationship between a decompressed image data series and display data actually displayed during continuous page turning display.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing an overall configuration of an image search device according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a configuration of main parts of an image compression / decompression unit and an image data thinning-out control unit.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing a relationship between a decompressed image data series and display data that is actually displayed during continuous page turning display.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing an overall configuration of a conventional image search device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 3 image compression / expansion unit 4 magneto-optical disk device 7 display memory 8 display device 11 image data thinning control unit 23 image compression / expansion unit 24 magneto-optical disk device 27 display memory 28 display device 31 image data cutout thinning control unit

Claims (9)

[Claims] 1. A display memory for storing display data to be displayed is used to generate a display data by thinning out a decompressed image data series obtained by subjecting the compressed data to an image decompression process at regular intervals.
An image retrieval method comprising performing an image data thinning control step of directly transferring the display data to the display memory. 2. A display memory for storing display data to be displayed, and decompressed decompressed image data series obtained by subjecting compressed data to image decompression processing to generate display data,
And an image data thinning control unit for directly transferring the display data to the display memory. 3. A large-capacity storage device for storing compressed data, an image compression / expansion unit for performing image expansion processing on the compressed data stored in the storage device to generate an expanded image data sequence, and display data. A display memory for storing, a display device for displaying an image based on the display data stored in the display memory, and a display data is generated by thinning out the expanded image data series from the image compression / expansion unit at regular intervals. And an image data thinning control unit for directly transferring the display data to the display memory. 4. A display memory for storing display data to be displayed is used to skip data of a predetermined portion in one scanning line with respect to an expanded image data series obtained by performing image expansion processing on compressed data. At the same time, the image data cutout thinning control step of repeating the operation of thinning out the remaining part of the data at a constant interval and directly transferring the resulting display data to the display memory is performed. How to search for images. 5. A display memory for storing display data to be displayed, and data of a predetermined portion in one scanning line is skipped for a decompressed image data series obtained by subjecting compressed data to an image decompression process, An image data cutout thinning-out control unit for repeating the operation of thinning out the remaining data at regular intervals and directly transferring the resulting display data to the display memory by the number of display lines. Image retrieval device. 6. A large-capacity storage device for storing compressed data, an image compression / expansion unit for performing image expansion processing on the compressed data stored in the storage device, and generating an expanded image data sequence, and display data. A display memory that stores the image, a display device that displays an image based on the display data stored in the display memory, and a decompressed image data series from the image compression / decompression unit, of a predetermined portion in one scanning line. An image data cutout thinning control unit that repeats the operation of skipping the data, thinning out the remaining data at regular intervals, and directly transferring the resulting display data to the display memory is provided for the number of display lines. An image retrieval device characterized by the above. 7. The image data cutout thinning control unit is configured to skip the first predetermined number of data in one scanning line of the expanded image data series. Image retrieval device. 8. The image data cutout thinning control unit is configured to skip the last predetermined number of data in one scanning line of the expanded image data series. Image retrieval device. 9. The image data cutout thinning-out control unit is configured to skip a predetermined number of each of the first and last data in one scanning line of the expanded image data series. The described image retrieval device.