JPH08287273A - Document preparation device and color image processing method - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To obtain an output result of high quality at all times when plural different out media are used optionally selectively by determining the dither method corresponding to the kind of an output medium and performing image processing (binarization) for color image dath by using the dither method when the color image data are outputted. CONSTITUTION: A CPU 11 confirms the kind of a form currently set on a printer device 18 on the basis of print format information stored in a print format area 13C and determines the dither method for the binarization of the color image data (multi-valued image) for obtaining resolution matching the form. Then the CPU 11 binarizes the color image data (multi-valued image) stored in a color image buffer 13c by using the dither method and expands the obtained print data in a print buffer 20 through a printer controller 19. The printer controller 19 outputs the print data, expanded in the print buffer 20, to the printer device 18 under the control of the CPU 11.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a document preparation device such as a Japanese word processor, and more particularly to a document preparation device having a color printing / display function and a color image processing method.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, some document creating apparatuses such as Japanese word processors have a color printing / display function. Color printing is realized, for example, by using an ink ribbon called a full-color ribbon. The color display is
For example, it is realized by using a color LCD (Liquid Crystal Display).

A document creating apparatus having such a color printing / display function can capture a color image read by a color scanner or the like into a document and display or print the color image as required.

[0004]

By the way, as an output medium used for printing, for example, in addition to general plain paper, thermal transfer paper, CD master (original plate used in the print Gocco (registered trademark) function), OHP ( Overhead projector) Various types of paper such as film can be considered.

These papers have different required resolutions. That is, for example, plain paper can be expressed with high resolution, whereas the CD master is vulnerable to heat due to its nature, and therefore can be expressed only with low resolution. When this is printed with high resolution, each dot spreads due to heat, which warps and deteriorates the print quality.

However, conventionally, when printing a color image, print data is always created and printed by the same dither method regardless of the type of paper. Therefore, the resolution may not match depending on the printing paper, and as a result, there is a problem that the print quality is deteriorated.

Further, conventionally, even when printing is performed using an external printer, print data is created and printed using the same dither method as that of the internal printer. Therefore, there is a problem that the print quality is deteriorated when the resolutions of the both are different.

A first object of the present invention is that when a plurality of different output media are optionally used, a dither method suitable for these output media can be used to always obtain a high quality output result. An object is to provide a document creation device and a color image processing method.

A second object of the present invention is, when an external output device is used, a document preparation device and a color image which can always obtain a high quality output result by using a dither method suitable for the external output device. It is to provide a processing method.

[0010]

[Means for Solving the Problems]

(1) The document creation apparatus of the present invention determines the type of output medium used for outputting the input means for inputting color image data and the output of the color image data input by the input means. Determining means, a dither determining means for determining a dither method for image processing the color image data according to the type of the output medium determined by the determining means, and a dither method determined by the dither method determining means. An image processing means for image-processing the color image data by using a method, and an output means for outputting the color image data image-processed by the image processing means.

(2) The document creating apparatus of the present invention determines whether or not an external output device is used when inputting color image data and outputting the color image data input by the input unit. And the image processing for image-processing the color image data by using the dither method previously determined for the external output device when the use of the external output device determined by the determining device is confirmed. Means and an output means for outputting the color image data image-processed by the image processing means through the external output device.

[0012]

According to the above configuration (1), the type of the output medium is determined when the color image data is output, and the dither method is determined according to the type. Therefore, by performing image processing (binarization processing) on the color image data using the determined dither method, it is possible to always obtain a high-quality output result.

According to the above configuration (2), it is determined whether or not the external output device is used, and the dither method previously determined for the external output device is used according to the result. Therefore, when an external output device is used, high-quality output results can always be obtained by performing image processing (binarization processing) on the color image data using this determined dither method.

[0014]

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the arrangement of a document creating apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, 11 is a microprocessor (hereinafter referred to as CPU), and 12 and 13 are memories (RO
M, RAM).

A CPU 11 controls the entire apparatus, and includes a ROM (Read Only Memory) 12 and a RAM (Random).
m Access Memory) 13 is executed to start a program according to an input instruction, and in addition to a document creation process, a color image printing process described later is executed here.

The ROM 12 has a program area 1 in which various processing programs for determining the operation of the CPU 11 are stored.
2a, a character pattern area 12b in which font data is stored, a dictionary area 12c in which a standard dictionary for converting reading information input in kana or romaji into kanji information is provided.

In the RAM 13, in addition to the document buffer 13a for storing the created document information, here, a color image buffer 13b for storing color image data and a print format area 13c for storing print format information. Etc. are provided.

Reference numeral 14 is a keyboard (KB), 15 is a keyboard controller (KB-CNT), 16 is a floppy disk device (FDD), 17 is an FDD controller (FDD-CNT), and 18 is a printer device (PR).
T), 19 is a printer controller (PRT-controller), and 20 is a print buffer.

The keyboard 14 is an input device for inputting data and giving a specific instruction. This keyboard 14
In addition to the "character" key and the "numerical value" key, in addition to the "cursor" key and the "select / execute" key, here, the "print" key 14a for instructing the print function and the image function are instructed. "Image" key 14b is provided.

The floppy disk device 16 is, for example, for 3.5 inch type high density recording and stores / recalls a created document or the like. The FDD controller 17 is the CPU 1
1 controls the input / output of data between 1 and the floppy disk device 16.

The printer device 18 is, for example, a thermal / thermal transfer type dot printer, and prints a created document or the like. Further, the printer device 18 has a structure capable of color printing by using a color ribbon (full color ribbon / single color ribbon). Printer controller 19
Develops print data in the print buffer 20 under the control of the CPU 11 and outputs it to the printer device 18.

Further, 21 is a display, 22 is a display controller (display-CNT), and 23 is a VRAM (Video RAM).
), 24 are synthesizers. The display 21 is, for example, 40 characters 2
It consists of a 0-line backlit liquid crystal display, and the bottom row (20th row) is set as an area (guide row) dedicated to guide display. Also, this display 21 is a color L
It is composed of a CD and has a structure capable of color display. The display controller 22 controls the VRAM 2 under the control of the CPU 10.
The display data is expanded to 3 and is output to the display 18 via the synthesizer 24.

Here, in this apparatus, a video image or T
It has a structure capable of inputting a V image, and can display such image information on the display 21 (color LCD). The video device 25 and the TV tuner 26 are connected to a dedicated connector provided on the device body. The video input interface (video input I / F) 28 controls the input of the image information of the video device 25 or the TV tuner 26, expands the input image information in the frame memory 27, and outputs it to the synthesizer 24. Output.

In the synthesizer 24, the frame memory 27
Image information (video image or TV image) and VRAM
The image information (document image) 23 is combined, and the combined image information is output to the display 21. Thereby, the video image or the TV image and the document image can be simultaneously displayed on the display 21. Since the specific configuration and processing method of this simultaneous display are not directly related to the present invention, the description thereof will be omitted here.

Further, in this device, various information such as document information can be displayed on the monitor device 29. The monitor device 29 is connected to a dedicated connector provided on the device body. Video output interface (video output I / F) 3
0 controls the output of image information to the monitor device 29.

Further, in this apparatus, the color scanner 31
The image information read in can be incorporated into the document information. The color scanner 31 is connected to a dedicated connector provided on the apparatus body. A scanner interface (scanner I / F) 32 controls input of image information by the color scanner 31.

Further, in the embodiment, printing can be performed by using an external printer device (external PRT) 33 in addition to the printer device 18 built in the main body of the device. The external printer device 33 is connected to a dedicated connector provided on the device body.

FIG. 2 is a view showing a menu screen of the image function in the embodiment. "Image" key 14b (function 1 + "TV / video") provided on the keyboard 14
When you instruct the image function by operating the (key), first,
A menu screen as shown in FIG. 2 is displayed.

This menu screen is provided with selection items for selecting "paste to document" or "read color image", and these are selected by the cursor. “Paste to document” is an item for calling an image already stored in the main body and pasting it to the document. "Read color image"
Is an item for reading a TV / video image or a scanner image and storing it in the main body.

FIG. 3 is a view showing an image reading message screen in the embodiment. When the "color image read" is selected on the menu screen of FIG. 2 and the color scanner 31 is not connected to the apparatus main body, an image read message screen as shown in FIG. 3A is displayed. . Further, when the color scanner 31 is connected to the apparatus main body, an image reading message screen as shown in FIG. 3B is displayed.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a startup screen when reading a color image in the embodiment. When the "select / execute" key is pressed while the color scanner 31 or the video device 25 / TV tuner 26 is connected according to the image reading message screen of FIG. 3, the color image reading function is started, and the start screen as shown in FIG. Is displayed. By instructing to input an image on this startup screen, the color scanner 31 or the video device 25 / TV tuner 2
The color image read by 6 can be loaded into the main body.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an image editing screen in the embodiment. When "Paste to document" is selected on the menu screen of FIG. 2, an image editing screen as shown in FIG. 5 is displayed. On this image editing screen, various editing functions such as deleting, moving, copying, resetting, enlargement / reduction, color designation, and confirmation display can be instructed in addition to calling an image.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a print format setting screen in the embodiment. "Print" provided on the keyboard 14
When the print function is instructed by operating the key 14a, a print format setting screen as shown in FIG. 6 is displayed. This print format setting screen is provided with various print-related setting items such as print range, font type, number of dots, print speed, and the like.

Further, here, a setting item 41 for selecting the type of paper is provided, and the type of paper used for printing is selected with a cursor. In addition,
In this example, there are three types of selection such as "thermal transfer paper", "heat sensitive paper", and "CD master B6". However, for example, by adding "OHP film" or the like, it is possible to select more types. You can also The print format information set here is stored in the print format area 13c of the RAM 13 shown in FIG.

Before explaining the operation of this embodiment, the color image processing of this apparatus will be briefly described with reference to FIGS. (A) Printing In this device, color image data is 200 dpi.
And the printer has a resolution of 400 dpi. Therefore, when printing color image data, first, as shown in FIG. 7, resolution conversion processing for converting 200 dpi color image data to 400 dpi is performed.

When actually printing, the multivalued image is binarized to create print data.
At that time, dither processing is performed. The dither processing is a general method used when converting a multi-valued image into a binary image, and by passing the multi-valued image through a minute filter (called a dither matrix) having gradation, A value is used alone to represent a multi-valued image in a pseudo manner. FIG. 8 shows a general dithering method.

Here, the gradation of the color data is R, G, B.
There are 16 gradations for each (the same for C, M, and Y), and the dither matrix also has 16 gradations. However, in this apparatus, considering the characteristics of the thermal transfer printer, the gradation is 15 gradations as shown in FIG. . In color image printing, dither processing is performed for each of C (cyan), M (magenta), and Y (yellow) components, and 4096 colors are pseudo-expressed by a print result obtained by overlapping the respective components.

(B) Display Basically, a color palette is used to display on the LCD. Here, the display capacity of the LCD is 256 out of 512 colors.
Colors can be developed simultaneously. The 512 colors have a display capability of 3 bits (8 gradations) for each R, G, B in terms of hardware, and therefore 8 × 8 × 8 = 8 × 8 × 8 =
512 colors. In addition, the simultaneous color development of 256 colors means VRA.
Since the M configuration is 8 planes, there are 256 colors that can be output simultaneously.

The pallet number can be determined by either R, G, B or C, M, Y. FIG. 10 shows a method of determining a palette number when displaying a color image on this apparatus.

That is, first, R, G, and B data of 16 gradations are converted into 5 gradations by a predetermined table (step S11). Next, the converted R, G, B data of 5 gradations are substituted into a predetermined calculation formula to obtain a palette number (step S12). Then, the color corresponding to the palette number thus obtained is displayed on the LCD (step S13).

Next, the operation of the embodiment will be described. Here, description will be made on the assumption that color image data is printed by optionally using various papers such as a thermal transfer paper, a CD master (a master used in the print gocco function), and an OHP film.

The color image data is already stored in the color scanner 31 or the video device 25 / TV tuner 2.
6 is taken into the main body and stored in the color image buffer 13b of the RAM 13.

FIG. 11 is a flow chart showing the operation of the color image printing process in this embodiment. When the print function is instructed by operating the "print" key 14a provided on the keyboard 14, a print format setting screen as shown in FIG. 6 is displayed on the display 21. When printing, first set the print format on this print format setting screen (step A1).
1). In this case, in addition to the print range, the font type, the number of dots, the print speed, etc., here, the paper type is selected with the cursor using the setting item 41 provided on the print format setting screen.

When the print format is set, the CPU 11 stores the print format information in the print format area 13c of the RAM 13 and waits for a print start instruction. Here, when the print start is instructed by the operation of the "select / execute" key (step A1
3, Yes), the CPU 11 is based on the print format information stored in the print format area 13c, and the current printer device 18
Check the type of paper loaded in (A)
14). Then, the CPU 11 converts the color image data (multi-valued image) into 2 in order to obtain the resolution suitable for the sheet.
Determine the dither method when performing the binarization process (step A1)
5).

In this case, depending on the type of output medium,
(1) A method of changing the dither method itself, (2) A method of changing various parameter values in the dither method without changing the dither method itself, (3) A method of changing the dither method itself and its parameter values without changing There are three methods of changing the resolution in the dither method.

In the above method (1), for example, the tissue dither method and the error diffusion method are used properly depending on the type of the output medium, so that the resolution can be changed and output can be performed.

In the above method (2), depending on the type of the output medium, for example, in the case of the tissue dither method, the shape of the dither matrix, the screen angle, etc. are changed so that the resolution can be changed and output can be performed. To do.

In the above method (3), the resolution as the dither method is changed depending on the type of the output medium, so that the resolution can be changed and output can be performed.
Then, the CPU 11 binarizes the color image data (multi-valued image) stored in the color image buffer 13b by using the dither method suitable for the paper type, and prints the resulting print data.
9 to the print buffer 20 (step A1)
6).

The printer controller 19 includes the CPU 11
Under the control of, the print data expanded in the print buffer 20 is output to the printer device 18. As a result, the printer device 18 performs color printing by using the full-color ribbon (step A17).

In this way, print data is created by the dither method suitable for the type of paper. Therefore, when the color image data is printed, by changing the dither method between the paper capable of expressing with high resolution such as plain paper and the paper capable of expressing only with low resolution such as CD master, it is possible to always obtain high quality. The print result can be obtained.

Next, the operation of the printing process when using the internal / external printer will be described. With the external printer connected to the main body of the device, start the external printer application software (hereinafter referred to as "app")
Printing by an external printer can be performed.

Here, when an image is printed by an external printer, there is a difference in the printing environment (printing method, ink, etc.) from the internal printer, so the dither method determined for the internal printer causes deterioration of print quality. There's a problem.

Therefore, as shown in FIG. 12, an external printer application is provided with a binarization module using a dither method suitable for the external printer, and when the external printer is used, the image printing module is used. To call from. This makes it possible to obtain a highly accurate binarized image by the dither method suitable for the external printer.

FIG. 13 is a flow chart showing the operation of the print processing when the internal / copier printer is used in this embodiment. To print color image data using the printer device 18 which is an internal printer (step B1)
1), the CPU 11 creates a print data using the dither method suitable for the paper type as described above (steps B12 and B13), and prints it through the printer device 18 (step B14).

On the other hand, when printing color image data using the external printer device 33 which is an external printer (No in step B11), the CPU 11 first
It is determined whether or not the external printer application is installed in the apparatus main body. When the external printer application is installed (Yes in step B15), the CPU 11 determines that the printing is performed by the external printer, and performs dither processing for the external printer under the activation of the application (step B1).
6). Then, the CPU 11 prints the print data obtained by this dither processing through the external printer device 33 (step B18).

As described above, when the color image data is printed using the external printer device 33, the dither method suitable for the external printer device 33 is used. Therefore, for example, the printer device 18 and the external printer device 3
Even if the resolutions are different in No. 3, it is possible to always obtain high-quality printing results.

In the above embodiment, the image printing has been described as an example, but the display quality can be improved by changing the dither method according to the display target.

[0058]

As described above, according to the present invention, when the color image data is output, the type of the output medium is judged and the dithering method according to the kind is decided. By performing image processing (binarization processing) on the color image data using the method, it is possible to always obtain a high-quality output result.

Further, since it is determined whether or not the external output device is used, and the dither method which is previously determined for the external output device is used according to the result, this determination is made when the external output device is used. By subjecting the color image data to image processing (binarization processing) using the dither method, it is possible to always obtain a high-quality output result.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a document creation device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a menu screen of an image function in the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is an image reading message screen in the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a startup screen at the time of reading a color image in the embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an image editing screen in the embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a print format setting screen in the embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a diagram for explaining resolution conversion processing during color printing.

FIG. 8 is a diagram for explaining dither processing during color printing.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a dither matrix of C, M, and Y components.

FIG. 10 is a diagram for explaining a method of determining a palette number when displaying in color.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing an operation of color image printing processing in the embodiment.

FIG. 12 is a diagram for explaining the difference in dither processing when using an internal / external printer in the same embodiment.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing an operation of print processing when using an internal / printer according to the embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

11 ... CPU, 12 ... ROM, 13 ... RAM, 13a ...
Document buffer, 13b ... Color image buffer, 13
c ... Print format area, 14 ... Keyboard, 14a ... "Print" key, 14b ... "Image" key, 16 ... Floppy disk device, 18 ... Printer device, 19 ... Printer controller, 20 ... Print buffer, 21 ... Display unit, Two
5 ... video device, 26 ... TV tuner, 29 ... monitor device, 31 ... color scanner, 33 ... external printer device,
41 ... Paper type setting item.

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁶ Identification number Office reference number FI Technical display location H04N 1/46 H04N 1/46 Z

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. Input means for inputting color image data, determining means for determining the type of output medium used for outputting the color image data input by the input means, and this determining means. A dither determining means for determining a dither method for image processing the color image data according to the type of the output medium determined by the means, and the dither method using the dither method determined by the dither method determining means. A document creating apparatus comprising: an image processing means for performing image processing on image data; and an output means for outputting the color image data processed by the image processing means. 2. An input means for inputting color image data, a determining means for determining whether or not an external output device is used when outputting the color image data input by the input means, and the determining means When it is confirmed that the external output device is used, the image processing means for image-processing the color image data by using the dither method previously determined for the external output device, and the image processing means. An output device for outputting the processed color image data through the external output device. 3. A color image processing method for a document creating apparatus having a color image data input function, wherein when outputting the color image data, the type of output medium used for the output is determined, and the type of the output medium is used. According to the above, a dither method for image processing the color image data is determined, the color image data is image-processed using the determined dither method, and the image-processed color image data is output. A color image processing method characterized by the above. 4. A color image processing method for a document preparation device having a color image data input function, wherein it is determined whether or not an external output device is used when outputting the color image data, and the external output device is used. When it is confirmed, the color image data is image-processed by using the dither method previously determined for the external output device, and the image-processed color image data is output through the external output device. A color image processing method characterized by the above.