JPH1141446A - Device and method for processing image and recording medium - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enable the application of identification information based on the optimum formation pattern corresponding to the kind or characteristic of a recording medium by discriminating the kind of the recording medium to be supplied, selecting any pattern based on the discriminated result and adding the identification information to image information data to be inputted by the selected pattern. SOLUTION: A processing sequence for adding the identification information for chasing forgery to an image is executed by a CPU 309. Corresponding to the recording medium to be supplied, this information is embedded in threshold value information to be used for pseudo gradation processing. The identification information is added by modulating the image signal of the most difficult color component to visual confirmation in the color components of the output image for adding a prescribed value. It is investigated whether chrominance data to be processed are the data of the color component to add the identification information or not and when these data are not such data, the pseudo gradation processing is performed by ordinary dither processing but when these data show such a color component, the suitable method for adding the identification information is selected by investigating the kind of the recording medium to be supplied.

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, and a recording medium, for example, an image processing apparatus and method for adding identification information to image data.
Also, it relates to a recording medium.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a device for outputting a color image, a color printer, a color copying machine, a color facsimile machine and the like have been put to practical use. In recent years, as the performance of these color image output devices has been improved and the quality of output images has been improved, originals for which copying is prohibited such as banknotes and securities (hereinafter referred to as “specific originals”) have been forged. Problem arises.

In order to prevent such forgery, an image pattern of a specific document is registered in a color image output device, the specific document is identified by image recognition, and an image matching the image pattern of the specific document is not output. Has been made. However, even when registering the image pattern of the specific document, the image pattern of the specific document that can be actually registered is limited, and it is impossible to register the image patterns of all the specific documents.

Further, in order to track a forgery action, that is, to identify a forged person or an image output device used for forgery, a technique of adding various kinds of identification information to an output image is being studied. In this technique, for example, identification information is added by adding predetermined data to an image signal of a color that is most difficult to visually recognize among output color components (for example, CMYK) of an image output device, for example, a yellow component.

In the technique of adding identification information to an output image in order to track a counterfeiting action, an extra signal is added to an image signal even if the identification information is added in a color which is most invisible. . Therefore, there is a problem that the added signal acts as noise on the original image signal, and the image quality of the output image is reduced. In particular, in an apparatus such as an ink-jet printer that performs image formation using each color binary, that is, an apparatus that outputs an image based on a pseudo halftone processed image signal such as a dither method or an error diffusion method, the image quality is remarkably reduced. Appears in The applicant has made various proposals to solve these problems.

[0006]

However, the above technique has the following problems.

[0007] When the identification information is added, the quality of the output image is degraded or the ease of detecting the identification information is reduced depending on the characteristics of the recording medium. Therefore, for example, in the case of a recording medium having a low toner fixing property, it is desirable to add identification information with a density or a pattern size as high as possible in order to maintain the ease of detection of identification information. Also, in the case of a recording medium with a high transmittance, to prevent the image quality from deteriorating,
I want to add identification information with the lowest possible density or small pattern size. That is, it is desired to appropriately balance the image quality of the output image with the ease of detecting the identification information according to the characteristics of the recording medium.

An object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems, and an image processing apparatus and method capable of adding identification information by an optimum formation pattern according to the type or characteristics of a recording medium, and a method thereof. It is intended to provide a recording medium.

[0009]

The present invention has the following configuration as one means for achieving the above object.

[0010] An image processing apparatus according to the present invention comprises a judging means for judging the type of recording medium to be supplied, a selecting means for selecting a pattern based on the judgment result, and an image inputted by the selected pattern. Adding means for adding identification information to the data.

An analyzing means for analyzing the characteristics of the supplied recording medium, a setting means for setting an additional condition of the identification information based on the analysis result, and an image data to be inputted based on the set additional condition. And an adding means for adding identification information.

According to the image processing method of the present invention, a type of a recording medium to be supplied is determined, a pattern is selected based on the determination result, and identification information is added to input image data according to the selected pattern. It is characterized by the following.

[0013] It is also preferable that the characteristics of the supplied recording medium are analyzed, an additional condition of the identification information is set based on the analysis result, and the additional information is added to the input image data according to the set additional condition. Features.

[0014]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, an image processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

[0015]

First Embodiment In a first embodiment, an example in which the present invention is applied to a laser beam printer (LBP) will be described. The present invention is not limited to the LBP, but can be applied to other types of output devices such as an inkjet printer and a thermal printer.

[Configuration] FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an LBP according to an embodiment of the present invention.

In FIG. 1, an LBP 102 capable of outputting a color image receives print data including color multivalued information described in a predetermined page description language (PDL) from an external device 101 such as a host computer. Is done. The printer controller 103 generates image data by analyzing the input print data. Printer engine 10
5 prints an image indicated by the image data generated by the printer controller 103 on a recording sheet. Also, the operation panel 104, which is an interface with the user, is
Keys and switches for instructing the BP 102 to perform a desired operation, and an LCD for displaying operating conditions and operating states of the LBP 102
And indicators such as LEDs are arranged.

[Structure of LBP] FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing an example of the structure of the LBP 102.

In FIG. 2, a housing 201 of the LBP 102 includes various mechanisms for configuring the printer engine 105, an engine control unit (not shown) for controlling a printing process by each mechanism, and a printer controller 103. And a storage unit 203 for storing the completed control board.

As mechanisms constituting the printer engine 105, an electrostatic latent image is formed on the photosensitive drum 205 by scanning with a laser beam, the electrostatic latent image is visualized, and the visualized image is transferred to recording paper. Processing mechanism, a fixing processing mechanism for fixing the toner image transferred to the recording paper, a recording paper supply processing mechanism, a recording paper conveyance processing mechanism, and the like.

A laser driver 206 of the optical processing mechanism turns on and off the output light of a semiconductor laser element (not shown) based on image data supplied from the printer controller 103. The laser light output from the semiconductor laser element is scanned by the rotating polygon mirror 207 in the axial direction (main scanning direction) of the photosensitive drum 205. The laser light reflected by the rotating polygon mirror is guided to the photosensitive drum 205 via the reflecting mirror 208, and exposes the surface of the photosensitive drum 205. An electrostatic latent image is formed on the photosensitive drum 205 by scanning exposure with laser light, and the latent image is visualized as a toner image by toner supplied from the developing device 220. Y (yellow), M (magenta), C (cyan), K (black) from developing unit 220
Are supplied. The toner image on the photosensitive drum 205 is transferred to a recording sheet conveyed in the sub-scanning direction in synchronization with the formation of each color component image by a sheet supply processing mechanism.

The photosensitive drum 205 and the developing device 220 are housed in a detachable cartridge 204. Further, the reflection mirror 208 is formed of a semi-transmissive mirror, and a beam detector 209 is disposed on the back surface side. The beam detector 209 detects the laser beam, and the detection signal is supplied to the printer controller 103. The printer controller 103 generates a horizontal synchronization signal for determining the exposure timing based on the detection signal of the beam detector 209, and the horizontal synchronization signal is supplied to each unit of the printer engine 105 as a synchronization signal.

The fixing device 216 of the fixing processing mechanism heats and pressurizes the toner image transferred onto the recording paper to fix it on the recording paper. The heater for heating the toner image is controlled by the engine control unit so as to obtain a predetermined fixing temperature.

The recording paper supply processing mechanism has a cassette 210 for storing recording paper and a manual feed tray 219.
It is configured to selectively supply zero recording paper or recording paper in the manual feed tray 219. The cassette 210 mounted in the housing 201 is provided with a recording paper size detection mechanism that detects the size of the printing recording paper according to the movement position of a partition plate (not shown). The recording paper stored in the cassette 210 is conveyed to the paper feed roller 212 by rotating the cassette paper feed clutch 211 one by one. The cassette paper feed clutch 211 is composed of a cam that is intermittently driven to rotate by a drive unit (not shown) every time the recording paper is supplied, and one recording paper is supplied to the paper feed roller 212 each time the cam rotates once. Is done.

The paper feed roller 212 conveys the recording paper to a position where the leading edge of the recording paper reaches the registration shutter 214.
The registration shutter 214 is for making the leading end of the toner image formed on the photosensitive drum 205 coincide with the vicinity of the leading end of the supplied recording paper. On the other hand, the recording paper on the manual feed tray 219 is supplied to the registration shutter 214 by the paper feed roller 215.

The recording paper transport processing mechanism includes a transport roller 213 for transporting the recording paper released from the registration shutter 214 to the photosensitive drum 205 and a recording paper discharged from the fixing unit 216 formed on the upper portion of the housing 201. Transport roller 217 leading to the output tray
And 218, and a drive unit (not shown) for driving the transport rollers 213, 217 and 218.

[Configuration of Printer Controller] FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of the printer controller 103.

The printer controller 103 includes an external device 101
The host interface 302 includes an input buffer (not shown) for holding print data input from the printer and an output buffer (not shown) for temporarily holding a signal to be sent to the external device 101. The host interface 302 is connected to the external device 10
It configures an input / output unit for signals exchanged with the device 1 and controls communication with the external device 101.

The print data input via the host interface 302 is provided to an image data generator 303. The image data generator 303 analyzes the print data based on a predetermined analysis procedure. This analysis includes, for example, PDL analysis processing. Then, based on the analysis result, the image data generation unit 303
05 creates image data that can be processed.

Specifically, the PDL analysis processing analyzes print data and creates object information based on the analysis result. In parallel with the creation of the object information, a rasterizing process, a pseudo gradation process, and the like are sequentially performed. The rasterizing process converts RGB data included in the print data into YMCK data that can be processed by the printer engine 105, and converts character codes included in the print data into pre-stored bit patterns and font data such as outline fonts. The conversion process is included. Further, in the rasterizing process, bitmap data is created in band units of a predetermined width, and pseudo gradation processing such as dither processing or error diffusion processing is performed on the bitmap data in band units to generate printable image data.

The image data thus generated is stored in the image memory 305. The image data stored in the image memory 305 is read by the DMA control unit 308 according to the instruction of the CPU 309.

The image data read from the image memory 305 is transferred as a video signal to the printer engine 105 via the engine interface 306. An engine interface 306 includes an output buffer (not shown) that temporarily holds a video signal to be sent to the printer engine 105,
An input buffer (not shown) for temporarily holding a signal sent from the printer engine 105 is provided. Also, the engine interface 306 constitutes an input / output unit for signals exchanged with the printer engine 105,
Communication control with the printer engine 105 is performed.

The panel interface 301 is an operation panel 1
The interface between the CPU 04 and the CPU 309 is configured. A setting instruction or the like regarding the operation mode of the printer input from the operation panel 104 is input to the CPU 309 via the panel interface 301 and the system bus 311.

The CPU 309 includes the operation panel 104 and the external device 1
Based on the instruction from 01, each block is controlled according to the control program stored in the ROM 304. The control program stored in the ROM 304 includes an operating system (OS) for performing time-division control in units of load modules called tasks by a system clock, and a plurality of load modules that are executed and controlled in functional units by the OS. It is composed of The control program including the load module is stored in a nonvolatile memory 310 such as an EEPROM as needed. Further, the CPU 309 uses the RAM 307 as a work area for the arithmetic processing.

Each block including the CPU 309 described above includes a system bus 31 composed of an address bus and a data bus.
Interconnected through one.

[Control] FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an example of a procedure for generating a video signal by the printer controller 103 and transferring the video signal.

When print data is input from the external device 101 to the printer controller 103, processing is executed to generate object information for drawing. As long as there is input data, continue the PDL analysis process and continue to generate objects.

In parallel with this object generation processing,
The rasterizing process shown in FIG. 4 is performed. Before performing the rasterizing process, a preparation process for transferring data to the printer engine 105 is performed in step S401. In this preparation process, designation of the formation color (MCYK), designation of the toner density, and other designations are performed for the printer engine 105. In this embodiment, the colors to be formed are specified in the order of MCYK. Note that the order in which the formation colors are specified is the printer engine 1.
05.

Next, in step S402, a rasterizing process is performed on the formed color based on the generated object information, and band data for a predetermined line width is generated. In step S403, when the generation of band data for one band is confirmed, in step S404, pseudo gradation processing using a dither pattern corresponding to the formation color is performed, and in step S405, the video signal of the formation color is Engine 105
Sent to

Next, in step S406, it is determined whether the data processing of the formed color for one page is completed. If not completed, the process returns to step S402, and the processing from step S402 to S405 is performed for one page. This processing is repeated until the data processing of the formation color is completed.

If the data processing of the formed color for one page has been completed, it is determined in step S407 whether or not the data processing of all the colors of MCYK has been completed. If not completed, the flow returns to step S401. The processing of steps S401 to S406 is repeated until the data processing for four colors ends. When the data processing for the four colors is completed, the processing ends.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an example of a processing procedure for adding identification information for tracking forgery to an image, which corresponds to the processing in step S404 in FIG. 4 and is executed by the CPU 309.

In the present embodiment, the identification information is embedded by switching the threshold table used for the pseudo gradation processing according to the type of the recording medium supplied. In addition, identification information is added by performing a modulation for adding a predetermined value to an image signal of a color component (for example, Y) which is the least visible among color components (for example, CMYK) of an output image.

In step S501 of FIG. 5, it is checked whether or not the color data to be processed is data of a color component to which identification information is added. If not, a pseudo-gradation process in a normal dither process is performed in step S503. .

In the case of color component data to which identification information is added, in step S502, the type of recording medium to be supplied is checked, and if the data is OHT (Overhead transparency), which is a transparent recording medium for an overhead projector. In step S504, in order to prevent the identification information from being conspicuous, pseudo gradation processing is performed using two types of threshold tables in order to express the identification information. If the supplied recording medium is not OHT, a normal pseudo gradation process is performed in step S503.
Subsequently, in step S506, the output image is modulated by adding a predetermined value to the output image to add identification information. Here, step S503 and step S505 are the same pseudo gradation processing.

As described above, the CPU 309 selects an appropriate method of adding the identification information according to the type of the recording medium supplied. Note that the type of recording medium is determined by the registration shutter.
What is necessary is just to perform by the output signal of the light transmission type or light reflection type sensor (not shown) provided in the vicinity of 214.

[Threshold Value Table] A technique of performing pseudo gradation processing using two types of threshold tables to embed the above-described identification information, that is, a technique of embedding identification information by information expression by switching between the two types of threshold tables. Explain to the specific enemy. In the halftone process, a pixel block consisting of 8 × 8 pixels is used as a processing unit, and gradation values of 0 to 2 are used.
55 shall be input.

In the present embodiment, a method of switching a threshold table for generating a pseudo halftone image is used as additional information. That is, by switching the threshold tables of FIGS. 6 and 7 for generating a pseudo halftone image (image after dither processing) so as to indicate additional information, pseudo halftone images having different pixel growth patterns are formed. . This allows
The switching method of the threshold table is analyzed from the pseudo halftone image, and the additional information embedded in the image can be extracted.

The threshold tables in FIGS. 6 and 7 are 8 × 8.
It is assumed that a pixel size is set and dither processing is performed on input image data. In the present embodiment, “0” is indicated when the threshold table of FIG. 6 is used, and “1” when the threshold table of FIG. 7 is used. This makes it possible to embed 1-bit additional information in each 8 × 8 pixel area in the image. In the present embodiment, assuming that the additional information to be added is 16 bits, the threshold table 1
Six areas are required. Note that the way of representing the additional information is not limited to this, and the 1-bit information of “0” or “1” represented by the threshold tables of FIGS. 6 and 7 is not directly used as a part of the additional information, but “0”. Alternatively, the additional information may be represented by a run length using “1” and “1”. On the other hand, in the present embodiment, the area in which the additional information is embedded in the image of one screen is not the entire image, and the additional area (the area for switching the threshold tables in FIGS. 6 and 7) is allocated at a fixed cycle. I do. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the additional area may be assigned to the entire image.

Next, FIG. 8 shows how the additional area is allocated according to the present embodiment. In FIG. 8, a hatched area is an additional area, that is, an area in which additional information (16 bits in the present embodiment) is embedded by switching between the threshold tables of FIGS. This additional area has a size including j × k (j = 4, k = 4 in the present embodiment) threshold value tables. Therefore, each additional area can represent j × k bits of additional information. In addition, the positional relationship between the additional regions is assumed to have a length (8 × 16 pixels) that includes 16 threshold tables, in both cases m and n in the figure.

FIG. 9A shows the state of a bit string indicating the coordinates of each pixel in the image in the image processing unit. By setting each parameter to a power of two as described above, it is easy to handle binary coordinate values as shown in the figure. In the figure,
The least significant three bits (c2, c1, c0) are coordinates indicating a position in each of the threshold tables, and the next four bits (n3, n)
A threshold table indicating 16-bit additional information when the upper two bits (n3, n2) of (2, n1, n0) correspond to a specific value (n3 = 1, n2 = 1 in this embodiment). , It is possible to perform high-speed processing. Note that, in the present embodiment, the threshold table of FIG. 6 is used unconditionally for regions other than the hatched portions (additional regions) in FIG.

FIG. 9B shows the state of the threshold tables Q0.0 to Q3.3 in each of the additional areas and the values of q0.0 to
The following shows how the additional information is represented by the alignment of q3.3. Threshold tables Q0.0 to Q3.3 are assigned to each additional area as shown in the figure, and the threshold tables of FIG. 6 or FIG. 7 are used for these Q0.0 to Q3.3. Therefore, the threshold tables Q0.0 to Q
The additional information is represented by aligning “0” or “1” of q0.0 to q3.3 indicated by 3.3 as illustrated.

FIG. 10 shows a procedure for performing pseudo halftone processing on pixels at the X and Y coordinates. In step a2, it is determined whether or not n3 and n2 are both 1 for the coordinate value X. If both n3 and n2 are not 1, the process proceeds to step a7. If both n3 and n2 are 1, the process proceeds to step a3. Next, in step a3, it is determined whether or not n3 and n2 are both 1 for the coordinate value Y. If both n3 and n2 are not 1, the process proceeds to step a7. If both n3 and n2 are 1, the process proceeds to step a4. In step a4, one of bit information q0.0 to q3.3 corresponding to the numerical values of n1 and n0 of the coordinate values X and Y is read. In step a5, it is determined whether or not the read bit information q0.0 to q3.3 is 1. If the result of the judgment is not 1, step a
Go to 7. If the result of the determination is 1, the process proceeds to step a6.

In step a6, it is set so that the pseudo halftone processing is performed using the threshold table of FIG. 7, that is, the threshold table indicating "1". On the other hand, in step a7, the pseudo-halftone processing is set to be performed using the threshold table of FIG. 6, that is, the threshold table indicating "0". In step a8, density information (pixel values) of the coordinate values X and Y and c indicating the coordinate values
The thresholds corresponding to the numerical values of 2, c1 and c0 are compared. In step a9, if the result of step a8 is threshold <density information, the process proceeds to step a10. If the threshold is not density information, the coordinates X and Y are not determined as pixels to be drawn. The process ends at step a11. In step a10,
After setting the coordinate values X and Y as pixels to be drawn, the process ends in step a11.

In this embodiment, one bit of additional information is embedded in an area corresponding to one threshold table by switching between two threshold tables.
The present invention is not limited to this. For example, the present invention includes a case where two or more bits of additional information are embedded in an area corresponding to one threshold table by switching four or more threshold tables.

In the above description, in order to increase the speed,
The power of 2 is used for various parameters so that various judgments can be made only by cutting out bits, but any positive integer value can be used for these numerical values as long as the calculation processing takes time. it can.

Further, in the above description, an example has been described in which only two types of threshold tables are prepared for use in the pseudo gradation processing. However, by shifting the growth points of the pixels in different directions, the identification information of the identification information can be obtained. Embedding becomes possible.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, for example,
When forming an image on a recording medium such as OHT, pay attention to halftone processing of pseudo-gradation expression and add identification information by embedding the identification information by switching the threshold table showing the growth pattern of halftone dots Accordingly, the identification information can be added by a method corresponding to the type of the recording medium, and the quality of the output image can be prevented from deteriorating while maintaining the ease of detection of the identification information.

[0059]

Second Embodiment Hereinafter, an image processing apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention will be described. Note that, in the present embodiment,
Components that are substantially the same as those in the first embodiment are given the same reference numerals, and detailed descriptions thereof are omitted.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing an example of a procedure relating to the generation and transfer of a video signal by the printer controller 103 in the second embodiment. Note that the same processing steps as those in the flowchart shown in FIG. 4 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and detailed description thereof will be omitted. After performing the pseudo gradation process in step S404, the process proceeds to step S701.
It is determined whether or not the color is the formation color to which the identification information is added. In the case of the formation color, the formation pattern of the identification information is selected in S702, and in step S703, the processing of adding the identification information based on the selected formation pattern is performed . If it is determined in step S701 that the color is not a formation color to which identification information is added, step S701 is performed.
Execute S405.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing an example of the procedure for selecting the identification information according to the characteristics of the recording medium, and corresponds to the processing in step S702 in FIG.

In step S501, the sheet cassette 210
Alternatively, the characteristics of the recording medium supplied from the manual feed tray 219 are analyzed. That is, in FIG.
As shown in an example, a table in which data indicating the characteristics of the recording medium is registered is stored, and by comparing the data stored in this table with the output of the sensor, the characteristics of the recording medium are changed. Can be analyzed. For example, to explain the fixing property, there are various types of recording media such as “plain paper”, “dedicated recording paper”, “second base paper”, and “thick paper”, and the fixing property of the toner differs depending on the surface characteristics and the like. In addition, since the reflection of light differs depending on the characteristics of the surface, if data indicating the reflection state of light is stored in a table, the characteristics of the supplied recording medium can be analyzed based on the output signal of the sensor described above. become.

Then, based on the characteristics of the recording medium analyzed in step S501, the type of the recording medium supplied in step S502 is determined. For example, when it is determined that the recording medium is “thick paper”, the supplied recording medium has poor toner fixability, and thus it may be difficult to detect identification information for tracking forgery. Therefore, in order to maintain the ease of detection, it is necessary to select a formation pattern of conspicuous identification information. Thus, in step S503, an optimum identification information formation pattern is selected according to the determined type of recording medium.

FIGS. 14 and 15 are diagrams showing examples of correspondence between the type of recording medium and the formation pattern of identification information. For example,
In the case of “thick paper”, as shown in FIG.
Corresponds to “3”, and the formation pattern of the identification information of F_pattern 3 corresponding to the same level is selected. In other words, on a recording medium having poor fixability such as thick paper, the formation pattern of the identification information for tracking forgery is difficult to fix, so a larger formation pattern is selected.

On the other hand, like the “special paper”, the fixing property F_leve
If it is determined that the recording medium is a recording medium with good toner fixability corresponding to l = “0”, the F_pattern 0 corresponding to F_level 0 is used in order to make the formation pattern of the identification information inconspicuous and suppress the image quality deterioration. A formation pattern is selected.

When it is determined that the recording medium has a high transmittance, such as “second base paper”, the transmittance P_level corresponds to “0” as shown in FIG. The formation pattern of the identification information of P_pattern 0 to be performed is selected. That is, in a recording medium having a high transmittance such as the second base paper, the identification information for forgery tracking becomes conspicuous, and the quality of the output image is degraded. Therefore, a formation pattern of inconspicuous identification information is selected.

On the other hand, like the “special paper”, the transmittance P_leve
When it is determined that the recording medium is a recording medium having a relatively low transmittance corresponding to “2”, the P_pattern corresponding to P_level 2 is selected in order to select and add a formation pattern of identification information that is easy to detect.
The formation pattern of the identification information of tern 2 is selected.

It should be noted that which of F_pattern and P_pattern is prioritized may be set in advance. Alternatively, the setting may be made according to the result of recognizing the image to be formed on the recording medium. In other words, the higher the degree of similarity between the image formed as a result of the image recognition and the image of the specific document for which copying is prohibited, the higher the priority is given to the easier-to-detect formation pattern.

Of course, the analysis items of the recording medium and the formation patterns of the identification information are various, and they can be arbitrarily set. That is, the present invention is not limited to the tables shown in FIGS. 13, 14, and 15.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the characteristics of the supplied recording medium are analyzed to determine the type of the recording medium, thereby forming appropriate identification information according to the determined type. It becomes possible to select and add a pattern.

[0071]

[Modifications] In each of the above-described embodiments, an example in which a formation pattern of identification information is selected has been described. However, in adjusting the formation pattern, the addition shape of the formation pattern is changed, and the method of adding the formation pattern is changed. And changing the additional density of the formed pattern, and changing the color of the developing material to which the formed pattern is added. For example, when it is determined that the characteristics of the supplied recording medium have poor fixability, the additional density of the normal identification information forming pattern is 10% in order to maintain the ease of identification information detection. If so, processing such as increasing the additional density to, for example, 50% is possible.

[0072]

[Other Embodiments] Even if the present invention is applied to a system including a plurality of devices (for example, a host computer, an interface device, a reader, a printer, etc.), an apparatus (for example, a copying machine) Machine, facsimile machine, etc.).

Further, an object of the present invention is to supply a storage medium in which a program code of software for realizing the functions of the above-described embodiments is recorded to a system or an apparatus, and to provide a computer (or CPU or MPU) of the system or apparatus.
Needless to say, this can also be achieved by the PU) reading and executing the program code stored in the storage medium. In this case, the program code itself read from the storage medium implements the functions of the above-described embodiment, and the storage medium storing the program code constitutes the present invention. Examples of the storage medium for supplying the program code include a floppy disk, a hard disk, an optical disk, a magneto-optical disk, a CD-ROM,
CD-R, CD-R / W, DVD-ROM, DVD-RAM, magnetic tape, nonvolatile memory card, ROM, etc. can be used.

When the computer executes the readout program code, not only the functions of the above-described embodiment are realized, but also the OS (Operating System) running on the computer based on the instruction of the program code. ) May perform some or all of the actual processing, and the processing may realize the functions of the above-described embodiments.

Further, after the program code read from the storage medium is written in a memory provided in a function expansion card inserted into the computer or a function expansion unit connected to the computer, based on the instruction of the program code, It goes without saying that the CPU included in the function expansion card or the function expansion unit performs part or all of the actual processing, and the processing realizes the functions of the above-described embodiments.

[0076]

As described above, according to the present invention,
It is possible to provide an image processing apparatus and method capable of adding identification information with an optimum formation pattern according to the type or characteristics of a recording medium, and a recording medium.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an LBP according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an overview diagram showing a configuration example of an LBP;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of a printer controller.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an example of a procedure for generating a video signal by a printer controller and transferring the video signal.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a processing procedure for adding identification information for tracking forgery to an image;

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of a threshold value of each pixel of 8 × 8 pixels;

FIG. 7 illustrates an example of a threshold table in which identification information is embedded.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of the position of an area to which identification information is added on an image;

FIG. 9A is a diagram showing an example of information allocation according to digit positions in coordinate information;

FIG. 9B is a diagram showing an example of information allocation according to digit positions in coordinate information;

FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating an example of density processing for designated XY coordinates;

FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing an example of a procedure relating to generation of a video signal by a printer controller and transfer thereof in the second embodiment;

FIG. 12 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a procedure for selecting identification information according to characteristics of a recording medium;

FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating an example of a table in which data indicating characteristics of a recording medium is registered;

FIG. 14 is a diagram showing an example of correspondence between types of recording media and patterns of identification information;

FIG. 15 is a diagram showing an example of correspondence between types of recording media and patterns of identification information.

Claims (15)

[Claims] 1. A determination unit for determining the type of a recording medium to be supplied, a selection unit for selecting a pattern based on the determination result, and adding identification information to input image data according to the selected pattern. An image processing apparatus comprising: an adding unit. 2. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the identification information is information unique to the apparatus. 3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the adding unit adds the identification information by changing at least one of a phase, a shape, and a position of a halftone dot in halftone dot processing. The described image processing device. 4. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the determination unit determines a type of the recording medium based on a fixing property of the recording material on the recording medium. 5. The image processing apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the selection unit selects a pattern having an area corresponding to the fixing property of the recording material. 6. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said determining means determines a type of the recording medium based on a transmittance of the recording medium.
4. The image processing device according to claim 1, wherein: 7. The image processing apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the selection unit selects a pattern having an area corresponding to the transmittance of the recording material. 8. An analyzing means for analyzing characteristics of a supplied recording medium, a setting means for setting an additional condition of identification information based on a result of the analysis, and an image data to be inputted based on the set additional condition. An image processing apparatus comprising: an adding unit that adds identification information. 9. The image processing apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the additional condition is a color for forming identification information. 10. The apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the additional condition is a formation density of identification information. 11. The image processing apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the additional condition is a formation pattern of identification information. 12. An image processing method comprising: determining a type of a recording medium to be supplied; selecting a pattern based on the determination result; and adding identification information to input image data according to the selected pattern. Method. 13. A method for analyzing characteristics of a supplied recording medium, setting an additional condition for identification information based on the analysis result, and adding the identification information to input image data according to the set additional condition. Characteristic image processing method. 14. A recording medium on which a program code for image processing is recorded, wherein: a code for determining a type of the supplied recording medium; a code for selecting a pattern based on the determination result; A code for a step of adding identification information to input image data according to a selected pattern. 15. A recording medium on which a program code for image processing is recorded, wherein a code of a step of analyzing characteristics of the supplied recording medium, and a step of setting a condition for adding identification information based on the analysis result. And a code for a step of adding identification information to input image data according to set addition conditions.