JPH08339452A - Device and method for image processing - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To provide a processor and method for image processing which can perform optimum compression of object image data by varying compressibility according to the object image data. CONSTITUTION: For image data stored in an image file in a step S401, plural resolution values are set in a step S402 and a preview display processing is performed, so that optimum resolution is selected. Similarly, an optimum quantization table is determined in steps S404 and S405 as to parameters of subsampling in a step S403, a compression/expansion processing is performed according to respective parameters determined in a step S406, and the resulting image is confirmed through preview display.

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 and method thereof, for example, an image processing apparatus and method for image communication.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a communication system in which a plurality of image processing apparatuses are connected by a communication line and image data is transmitted and received between them has been widely used.

FIG. 9 shows an example of the configuration of a conventional communication system. In FIG. 9, the image processing apparatuses 1 and 3 can send and receive image data to and from each other via the communication line 2. Here, for example, from the image processing apparatus 1 to the image processing apparatus 3
Consider the case of sending image data to. First, document image data is obtained by optically scanning a document image in the image processing apparatus 1, the image data is compressed to reduce the amount of information, and then transmitted to the communication line 2 together with the destination address. Then, the image processing device 3 receives the compressed information and decompresses it to the original image data. As a result, the image data received by the image processing device 3 can be printed out, for example.

Further, when it is necessary to hold the image data received by the image processing apparatus 3, the received compressed data is not expanded but is held as the compressed data (filing) to save the memory. Used efficiently.

As described above, when image data is communicated in the conventional image processing apparatus or when image data is filed, compression of the image data has been an essential technique.

[0006]

However, in the conventional image processing apparatus, the compression rate when compressing the image data is fixed. Therefore, depending on the image, if the image is compressed and then expanded again, the deterioration from the original image is unexpectedly large, and the expanded image data may be unusable after all.

Further, when it is desired to further reduce the amount of compressed information to be communicated or the amount of compressed information to be filed, and there is sufficient room for compression of the image data, that is, image deterioration due to further compression may occur. Even if it did not happen, the compression ratio could not be changed.

The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-mentioned problems, and by changing the compression rate according to the image data to be compressed, image processing that enables optimum compression of the image data. An object is to provide an apparatus and a method thereof.

[0009]

As one means for achieving the above object, the image processing apparatus of the present invention has the following configuration.

That is, a parameter setting means for setting a plurality of predetermined parameters relating to image data compression processing, and a preview for visualizing a plurality of image data processed based on the plurality of parameters set by the setting means. Means, selecting means for selecting one from a plurality of image data visualized by the preview means, and compression means for compressing the image data according to a parameter corresponding to the image data selected by the selecting means. It is characterized by having.

Further, the image forming apparatus further comprises an expanding unit for expanding the image data compressed by the compressing unit, and the preview unit further visualizes the image data expanded by the expanding unit.

For example, the preview means is a display means for displaying image data.

For example, the display means is characterized in that, when displaying the image data, the data amount of the image data is also displayed.

For example, the preview means visualizes a predetermined region of the image data.

For example, the parameter is a parameter relating to resolution.

For example, the parameter is a parameter related to subsampling.

For example, the parameter is a parameter relating to quantization.

For example, the parameters are parameters relating to resolution, parameters relating to sub-sampling, and parameters relating to quantization, and are processed based on the setting of a plurality of parameters by the parameter setting means and the parameters by the preview means. The visualization of the image data and the selection of the image data by the selection means are performed in the order of a parameter regarding resolution, a parameter regarding subsampling, and a parameter regarding quantization.

For example, the preview means is a printing means for printing out image data.

Also, parameter setting means for setting a predetermined parameter relating to image data compression processing, preview means for visualizing image data processed based on the parameters set by the setting means, and the preview Selecting means for selecting the image data visualized by the means, compressing means for compressing the image data with a parameter corresponding to the image data selected by the selecting means, and image data compressed by the compressing means And output means for outputting.

Further, it is characterized in that it has a decompression means for decompressing the image data compressed by the compression means, and the preview means further visualizes the image data expanded by the decompression means.

As one method for achieving the above-mentioned object, the image processing method of the present invention comprises the following steps.

That is, a plurality of predetermined parameters relating to image data compression processing are set, a plurality of image data processed based on the set plurality of parameters are visualized, and a plurality of the visualized image data are processed. 1 from the image data of
One of them is selected, and the image data is compressed by a parameter corresponding to the selected image data.

For example, the visualization of the image data is characterized by displaying the image data.

Further, the compressed image data is expanded, and the expanded image data is visualized to be confirmed by an operator.

Further, when the image data is displayed, the data amount of the image data is also displayed.

For example, it is characterized in that a predetermined area of the image data is visualized at the time of the visualization.

For example, the parameter is a parameter relating to resolution.

For example, the parameter is a parameter related to sub-sampling.

For example, the parameter is a parameter relating to quantization.

For example, the parameters are parameters related to resolution, parameters related to sub-sampling, and parameters related to quantization. Setting of the plurality of parameters and visualization of image data processed based on the parameters. And the selection of the image data,
Each of them is characterized in that the parameters related to resolution, the parameters related to subsampling, and the parameters related to quantization are performed in this order.

Further, a predetermined parameter relating to the compression processing of the image data is set, the processed image data is visualized based on the set parameter, and the visualized image data is selected, The image data is compressed by a parameter corresponding to the selected image data, and the compressed image data is output.

Further, the compressed image data is expanded, and the expanded image data is visualized.

[0034]

With the above configuration, the optimum image data can be selected by changing the parameters relating to the compression of the image data and visualizing the image data processed based on the plurality of parameters. That is, a unique effect that the optimum parameter for compression can be set is obtained.

[0035]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment according to the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings.

<Outline of Image Processing Apparatus> FIG. 1 shows a block configuration of the image processing apparatus of this embodiment. In FIG. 1, 1
Is an image processing device, and 2 is a communication line. Image processing device 1
In the figure, 4 is an operation display unit such as an operation panel, and 5 is a control unit that controls the entire image processing apparatus 1. The control unit 5
In addition to the CPU that actually controls the CP,
A processing program executed by U (see FIG.
A ROM for holding fixed variables and the like, a RAM for functioning as a work area of the CPU, and the like are included. Reference numeral 6 is a scanner unit that optically scans a document image to obtain image data, 7 is a printer unit that visualizes the image data on a recording medium, and 8 is an image file unit that stores and holds the image data. Further, 9 is a data processing unit for performing various image processing, 1
0 is a communication line I / that controls the interface with the communication line 2
The F section, 11 is an image memory that temporarily holds image data, and 12 is an image monitor that displays the image data in the image memory 11.

A case where an original image is transmitted in the image processing apparatus having the above configuration will be described.

First, the scanner unit 6 optically reads a document image, converts it into an RGB electrical signal, and temporarily stores it in the image file 8 via the data processing unit 9. Then, the image signal from the image file 8 is subjected to signal processing such as image compression processing in order to be transmitted to the communication line 2 in the data processing unit 9. Then, the communication line I / F unit 10 manages the protocol according to the communication line 2, and the compressed image data is transmitted to the communication line 2.

Next, the case of receiving compressed image data will be described.

The communication line I / F unit 10 receives the transmission data from the communication partner, and the data processing unit 9 subjects the received data to signal processing, such as decompression processing, which is the reverse of the transmission processing.
Then, the decompressed received image is printed out on the recording medium by the printer unit 7.

<Compression Processing> Next, regarding the compression processing performed by the data processing unit 9 at the time of transmission, the compression method is JPEG.
The case will be described as an example. FIG. 2 shows a configuration for performing compression processing in the data processing unit 9.

In FIG. 2, the RGB signals of the original image read from the image file 8 are first shown in the matrix section 15.
By performing a predetermined matrix operation in
Color conversion is performed into a YCbCr signal. Next, the thinning (subsampling) unit 16 thins out the Cb and Cr signals from the Y signal, and the DCT unit 17 two-dimensionally (8
* 8) Perform DCT conversion.

Then, the obtained two-dimensional DCT coefficient is zigzag scanned by the zigzag scanning section 18 to be converted into one-dimensional continuous data, and then quantized by the quantizer 19.

Here, FIG. 3 shows an example of the quantization table of the DCT coefficient for the Y signal (luminance signal). For the quantization of the DCT coefficient, different tables are used for the Y signal and the CbCr signal (color difference signal). Two-dimensional D
In the CT coefficient, one coefficient in the upper left corner represents a DC component, and the remaining 63 coefficients represent an AC component. The horizontal direction is the horizontal spatial frequency, and the vertical direction is the vertical spatial frequency.

The two-dimensional DCT coefficient is quantized using a quantization table shown in FIG. 3 with a different step size for each coefficient position. For example, for the DC component, the value (16) in the quantization table is used as one step to quantize 2047 values. Also, the AC component is 10
The 23 values are quantized by using the value at each coefficient position in the quantization table as one step.

DCT quantized in the quantizer 19
Of the coefficients, the AC component is input to the Huffman encoder 21 and Huffman coded. What is Huffman coding?
It is a lossless coding method that shortens the average codeword by allocating shorter codewords to data having a high occurrence frequency. On the other hand, the quantized DC component is input to the DPCM unit 20, a difference value from the DC component of the preceding block is obtained, and the difference value is encoded by the Huffman encoder 21. As a result, compressed data in this embodiment is obtained.

The image quality and the compression rate of the compressed data obtained as described above are the original image data (RGB data).
, The Cb / Cr signal decimation ratio in the decimation unit 16, and Y, CbCr in the quantizer 19.
It is determined by the step size of each signal.

<Preview Processing> The preview processing, which is a feature of this embodiment, will be described below. In this embodiment, before performing image data communication or filing, an operator arbitrarily changes a parameter that affects the image data amount such as a compression rate and displays a compressed / decompressed image according to the parameter on a monitor (preview). The parameters such as the appropriate compression rate can be set by performing the processing and confirming. Then, communication and filing are performed using the determined parameters. In this embodiment, the operation mode in which this preview processing is performed is called the preview mode.

FIG. 4 shows a flow chart of an outline of processing in the preview mode of this embodiment, which will be described.

When a preview mode setting operation is performed by the operator on the operation display unit 4, the preview process of this embodiment is started. First, in S401, the scanner unit 6 reads an original image, converts it into an electrical signal of RGB, and temporarily stores it in the image file 8 via the data processing unit 9. Next, in S402, a desired image is selected from all the images stored in the image file 8 and a parameter indicating the resolution is set. Then, resolution conversion according to the set resolution is performed on a part of the selected image data, and the resulting image is previewed on the image monitor 12. By repeating this process by changing the parameter indicating the resolution a plurality of times, the operator confirms each previewed image and selects the optimum image. That is, the parameter of the optimum resolution is selected.

Next, in step S403, subsampling parameters are set for a part of the image selected in step S402 to perform subsampling, and the resulting image is previewed on the image monitor 12. By repeating this processing by changing the sub-sampling parameter a plurality of times, the operator confirms each previewed image and selects the optimum image. That is, optimum sub-sampling parameters are selected.

Then, in step S404, a parameter indicating a luminance quantization table is set for a part of the image selected in step S402, quantization is performed by the quantization table, and the resulting image is displayed. Is previewed on the image monitor 12. By repeating this processing by changing the parameter indicating the quantization table a plurality of times, the operator confirms each previewed image and selects the optimum image. That is, the parameter indicating the optimum luminance quantization table is selected.

Then, in step S405, a parameter indicating a color quantization table is set for a part of the image selected in step S402, quantization is performed by the quantization table, and the resulting image is displayed. Is previewed on the image monitor 12. By repeating this process by changing the parameter indicating the quantization table multiple times,
The operator checks each previewed image and selects the most suitable image. That is, the parameter indicating the optimum color quantization table is selected.

Then, the process proceeds to step S406, and based on all the parameters set up to step S405 described above, resolution conversion, subsampling, luminance quantization, color quantization are performed on the image selected in step S402. Apply processing. Then, the obtained whole image and its data amount are previewed on the image monitor 12.
The operator confirms the image and the data amount, and if it is determined that the communication or filing may be performed as it is, the preview process is ended. On the other hand, if it is determined that the preview image and the data amount are inappropriate, the process proceeds to step S
Returning to 402, resetting is performed from the parameter indicating the resolution. Then, the processes of steps S402 to S406 are repeated until the desired combination of parameters is obtained.

<Resolution setting process> FIG.
A flow chart of the resolution setting process of step S402 shown in FIG.

When the process of setting the parameter indicating the resolution is started, first, in step S501, the operation display unit 4 waits for the designation input of a partial area of the image data to be compressed which is to be previewed. When the partial area is designated, the process proceeds to step S502, and only the image data of the designated partial area of the image data in the image file 8 is read by the data processing unit 9. Here, it is effective to specify a high resolution portion or an edge portion, which is likely to cause image deterioration when the resolution is changed, as a preview area.

Next, in step S503, "n = 1" is set in the register in the control unit 5. And step S
At 504, the operator sets the nth resolution (for example, 400 DPI) from the operation display unit 4. Then step S
In step 505, the image area read in step S502 is subjected to resolution conversion with the nth resolution set in step S504, and the obtained conversion result is stored in the image memory 11. Then, in step S506, the image in the image memory 11 is displayed on the image monitor 12 as a small screen (the display surface of the image monitor 12 is divided into four sizes at the maximum). At this time, the data amount is also displayed at the same time.

Next, in step S507, it is determined whether or not the value of n is 4. If n = 4, the process advances to step S508 to add 1 to n, and in step S504, a new resolution for n (for example, 350 DPI).
Is set, and the above processing is repeated.

On the other hand, if n = 4 in step S508, the operation proceeds to step S509, in which the operator operates the image monitor 1
4 images displayed in 2 (for example, 400 DPI, 3
Of 50 DPI, 300 DPI, and 250 DPI respectively), refer to the degree of image deterioration and the amount of data,
Choose the one that seems best. Then, in step S510, the resolution corresponding to the image selected in step S509 is set as the optimum resolution for the image, and the resolution setting process ends.

<Subsampling Setting Process> FIG. 6 shows a flowchart of the subsampling setting process of step S403 shown in FIG. 4 described above, and will be described below.

When the subsampling parameter setting process is started, first in step S601, the operation display unit 4 is operated.
At, in the image data to be compressed, the process waits for designation input of a partial area to be previewed. When the partial area is designated, the process proceeds to step S602, and only the image data of the designated partial area of the image data in the image file 8 is read by the data processing unit 9. here,
It is effective to specify, as the preview area, a high-resolution portion of a color that easily causes image deterioration when the sub-sampling parameter is changed, or an edge portion or a character portion of the color that easily causes color fringing.

Next, in step S603, "n = 1" is set in the register in the control unit 5. And step S
At 604, the operator sets the parameters of the nth sub-sampling (for example, Y: Cr: Cb = 1: 1: 1) from the operation display unit 4. Subsequently, in step S605, the image region specified in step S601 is subjected to subsampling by the nth subsampling parameter set in step S604, and the obtained conversion result is stored in the image memory 11. And step S606
Then, the image in the image memory 11 is displayed on the image monitor 12 in a small screen (the display surface of the image monitor 12 is displayed in a size divided into four at the maximum). At this time, the data amount is also displayed at the same time.

Next, in step S607, it is determined whether or not the value of n is 4. If n = 4 is not satisfied, the process proceeds to step S608, and 1 is added to n. In step S604, a new parameter for n (for example, Y: Cr: C
b = 2: 1: 1), and the above-described processing is repeated.

On the other hand, if n = 4 in step S608, the operation proceeds to step S609, in which the operator displays four images (for example, Y: Cr: Cb) displayed on the image monitor 12.
= 1: 1: 1,2: 1: 1,4: 1: 1,8: 1: 1), which is considered to be optimal by referring to the degree of image deterioration and the amount of data. Select. Then, in step S610, the parameter corresponding to the image selected in step S609 is set as the optimum subsampling parameter for the image, and the subsampling setting process ends.

<Quantization Table Setting Process> The luminance quantization table setting process of step S404 and the color quantization table setting process of step S405 shown in FIG. 4 will be described below. Note that the processing in steps S404 and S405 differs depending on whether the quantization table to be set is for luminance or for color difference, and the detailed flow of processing is the same. 10 is a flow chart of a process of setting a conversion table).

When the quantization table setting process is started, first, in step S701, the operation display unit 4 waits for a designation input of a partial area to be previewed in the image data to be compressed. Then, when a partial area is designated, the process proceeds to step S702, and of the image data in the image file 8, only the image data of the designated partial area is read by the data processing unit 9. Here, it is effective to specify as the preview area a high-resolution portion where deterioration of the image is likely to occur when the quantization table is changed, an edge portion where the quantization error is noticeable, or a portion where the level changes smoothly.

Next, in step 703, "n = 1" is set in the register in the control unit 5. And step S7
In 04, the operator sets the nth quantization table from the operation display unit 4. Subsequently, in step S705, step S7 is performed on the image area specified in step S702.
Using the nth quantization table set in 04,
The compression is performed by the procedure shown in FIG. 2 described above. Then, the obtained compression result (encoded data) is decompressed and stored in the image memory 11.

Then, in step S706, the image memory 1
The decompressed image in 1 is displayed on the image monitor 12 in a small screen. At this time, the data amount is also displayed at the same time.

Next, in step S707, it is determined whether or not the value of n is 9. If n = 9, the process proceeds to step S708, 1 is added to n, and a new quantization table for n is set in step S704.
The above process is repeated.

On the other hand, if n = 9 in step S708, the operation proceeds to step S709, in which the operator operates the image monitor 1
Of the nine images displayed in No. 2, the most suitable one is selected with reference to the degree of image deterioration and the amount of data. Here, FIG. 8 shows a preview screen of the image monitor 12 in the quantization table setting process. According to FIG. 8, the quantized and compressed / decompressed images by the nine kinds of quantization tables are displayed on the image monitor 12 at once. In step S709, the optimum image is selected with reference to the 9 screens displayed as shown in FIG.

Then, in step S710, the quantization table corresponding to the image selected in step S709 is set as the optimum quantization table for the image, and the quantization table setting process ends.

Since the compression / expansion process in step S705 is performed to confirm the degree of image quality deterioration due to quantization, for example, as shown in FIG.
It is also possible to perform the quantization by the quantizer 19 without performing all the compression processing up to the Huffman encoding in the Huffman encoder 21, and perform the inverse quantization processing in the subsequent decompression processing. By doing so, it is possible to reduce the processing time in the quantization table setting process.

As described above, according to this embodiment, the optimum parameters for each of the resolution, sampling, and quantization table are set by previewing,
Further, by previewing and confirming the image finally obtained by the parameter, it is possible to surely set the optimum parameter for the image to be processed.

In the present embodiment, an example in which a preview image is displayed on the image monitor 12 has been described, but the present embodiment is not limited to this example. For example, the printer unit 7 displays it on a recording medium. The same effect can be obtained by forming and outputting an image.

Further, in the present embodiment, in each preview process for determining each parameter, the preview area is described as an independent area. However, it is of course possible to perform a preview process for setting resolution, sub-sampling, a quantization table, etc. for the same region, and in this case, it is not necessary to individually set the preview region, so that the process Speed is improved. However, it cannot be denied that the processing accuracy will drop somewhat.

Further, in order to further improve the preview processing speed, even if the confirmation processing of the whole image shown in step S406 in FIG. 4 is omitted, the image quality is guaranteed to some extent by appropriately performing the preview area instruction. To be done.

Further, in the preview processing in the present embodiment, the number of preview images displayed on the image monitor 12 has been described as four or nine, respectively.
Of course, the number is not limited to this, and may be set individually in the image processing apparatus, or may be changed by the operator according to the image to be processed.

The parameters set in this embodiment are not necessarily limited to those related to resolution, subsampling and quantization, and may be other parameters.

The present invention may be applied to a system composed of a plurality of devices or an apparatus composed of one device. Further, it goes without saying that the present invention can be applied to the case where it is achieved by supplying a program to a system or an apparatus.

[0080]

As described above, according to the present invention, the parameters relating to the compression are changed and the operator confirms the resulting image before the image data is compressed for communication or filing. , The optimum parameters can be set. That is, it is possible to set the optimum compression rate.

Therefore, it is possible to avoid such a problem that the decompressed image data is deteriorated unexpectedly by compression and becomes unusable. Further, it is possible to perform compression at a higher compression rate on an image in which image deterioration due to compression does not occur.

[0082]

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an image processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration for performing image compression processing in this embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a quantization table in this embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a preview process in this embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a resolution setting process in the present embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a sub-sampling setting process in this embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a quantization table setting process in this embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of a preview screen in the present embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a configuration of an image communication system using a conventional image processing apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

 4 Operation Display Section 5 Control Section 6 Scanner Section 7 Printer Section 8 Image File 9 Data Processing Section 10 Communication Line I / F Section 11 Image Memory 12 Image Monitor

Claims (23)

[Claims] 1. A parameter setting means for setting a plurality of predetermined parameters for image data compression processing, and a preview for visualizing a plurality of image data processed based on the plurality of parameters set by the setting means. Means, selecting means for selecting one from a plurality of image data visualized by the preview means, and compression means for compressing the image data according to a parameter corresponding to the image data selected by the selecting means. An image processing apparatus comprising: 2. The image forming apparatus further comprises expansion means for expanding the image data compressed by the compression means, wherein the preview means further visualizes the image data expanded by the expansion means. The image processing device according to claim 1. 3. The preview means is a display means for displaying image data.
The image processing device described. 4. The image processing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the display means also displays the data amount of the image data when displaying the image data. 5. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the preview means visualizes a predetermined area of the image data. 6. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the parameter is a parameter relating to resolution. 7. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the parameter is a parameter related to subsampling. 8. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the parameter is a parameter relating to quantization. 9. The parameter is a parameter related to resolution, a parameter related to sub-sampling, and a parameter related to quantization, and is processed based on the setting of a plurality of parameters by the parameter setting means and the parameter by the preview means. 2. The visualization of the image data and the selection of the image data by the selection means are performed in the order of a parameter regarding resolution, a parameter regarding subsampling, and a parameter regarding quantization, respectively. Image processing device. 10. The preview unit is a printing unit that prints out image data.
The image processing device described. 11. A plurality of predetermined parameters relating to a compression process of image data are set, a plurality of image data processed based on the set plurality of parameters are visualized, and the plurality of visible images are visualized. The image processing method, wherein the operator selects one of the image data and compresses the image data according to a parameter corresponding to the selected image data. 12. The image processing method according to claim 11, further comprising decompressing the compressed image data and visualizing the decompressed image data for confirmation by an operator. 13. The image processing method according to claim 11, wherein the visualizing of the image data is performed by displaying the image data. 14. The image processing method according to claim 13, further comprising displaying a data amount of the image data when displaying the image data. 15. The predetermined area of the image data is visualized at the time of the visualization.
The described image processing method. 16. The image processing method according to claim 11, wherein the parameter is a parameter relating to resolution. 17. The parameter according to claim 11, wherein the parameter is a parameter related to subsampling.
The described image processing method. 18. The image processing method according to claim 11, wherein the parameter is a parameter relating to quantization. 19. The parameter is a parameter regarding resolution, a parameter regarding subsampling,
It is a parameter related to quantization, the setting of the plurality of parameters, the visualization of image data processed based on the parameters, and the selection of the image data, respectively, parameters related to resolution,
12. The sub-sampling parameter and the quantization parameter are performed in this order.
The described image processing method. 20. Parameter setting means for setting a predetermined parameter relating to image data compression processing, preview means for visualizing image data processed based on the parameters set by the setting means, and the preview Selecting means for selecting the image data visualized by the means, compression means for compressing the image data with a parameter corresponding to the image data selected by the selecting means, and image data compressed by the compressing means And an output unit for outputting the image processing apparatus. 21. A decompressing unit for decompressing the image data compressed by the compressing unit, wherein the preview unit further visualizes the image data decompressed by the decompressing unit. 21. The image processing device according to claim 20. 22. Setting a predetermined parameter relating to image data compression processing, visualizing the processed image data based on the set parameter, selecting the visualized image data, An image processing method comprising compressing the image data with a parameter corresponding to the selected image data, and outputting the compressed image data. 23. The image processing method according to claim 22, further comprising decompressing the compressed image data and visualizing the decompressed image data.