JPS61232441A - Photographic printing system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To optimize the printing state of a specified position all the time by providing a determining means for the quantity of printing exposure, a correcting means for the quantity of exposure which corrects the quantity of printing exposure according to position information and a printing means which prints an image with the quantity of exposure determined by the correcting means. CONSTITUTION:When image information of each of R, G, and B on a negative film is stored in a memory 25, this image information is inputted from the memory 25 to a density and color correcting circuit 51 as an image signal VS of each of R, G, and B to extract characteristic information such as the highest density, contrast, the lowest density, etc., thereby calculating the quantity DC of density and color correction. This quantity DC of automatic correction is inputted to a thick exposure control circuit 52 to perform exposure control based upon the image signal VS. When an unsatisfactory point in the image based upon the quantity DC of automatic correction is expected in viewing a screen, an operator indicates and inputs a necessary featuring point on a touch panel 40. Desired image density with which an image is printed on photographic paper is obtained by the indicating operation on the touch panel 40. Consequently, the negative film is tested extremely easily at a high speed with good efficiency.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] (Technical Field of the Invention) This invention divides the image information of an original film such as a negative film into pixels, measures the light, displays one image in pure optical form, and displays instructions on the screen. The present invention relates to a photographic printing system that prints main subjects, etc. on photographic paper at optimum density.

(Technical background of the invention and its problems) Figure 1 shows an image information detection device Hto attached to a conventional photoprinting device so that the image information of an original film such as a negative film is divided into pixels and stored. This shows an example of the device, in which the negative film 2 sent to the printing section along the negative carrier 1 has 3JX colors each of yellow (Y), magenta (N) and cyan (C) for single color correction. It is designed to be illuminated by a light source 4 through a filter 3 or filters 9 of blue B, green a, and red R for collecting image information, which are inserted alternately with this filter 3. The transmitted light from the negative film 2 which has passed through the filter 3 passes through the lens unit 2 5 and the black shutter 6 and reaches the photographic paper 7. The photographic paper 7 is wound around a supply reel 7^, and is wound onto the reel 7B in synchronization with the conveyance and stopping of the negative film 2, so that it is placed near the lens unit 5 side of the negative film 2. is blue (
B), ! An optical sensor 8 such as a photodiode is provided to detect image density information of the three primary colors (G) and red (R). It has become. An image information detecting device ff11O is provided near the negative film 2 so as to be inclined to the optical axis LS of the light source 4 and the negative film 2, and a filter 9.
3 and a lens unit for forming an image of transmitted light whose optical axis is approximately at the center of the negative film 2! 2 is disposed, and a substrate 13 on which a processing circuit made of an IC or the like for image processing is mounted is attached to the back side of the unitized detection device.

In such a configuration, when performing normal photographic printing, the filter 9 is removed from the optical axis LS, and the optical sensor 8 detects the transmitted light of the negative film 2 that has been conveyed and is stationary at the printing section. The filter 3 is adjusted according to the OCR image signals of the three primary colors, the black shutter 6 is opened, and the photographic paper 7 is exposed with the determined exposure amount.

On the other hand, when detecting and storing image information of the negative film 2 pixel by pixel, the filter 3 is removed from the optical axis LS as shown in FIG. By inserting it on the optical axis LS, the negative film 2 is illuminated by transmitting the B, G, and R lights of the white light from the light source 4, and the B, G, and R lights of the negative film 2 are respectively transmitted.
Image information of yellow, magenta or cyan layers corresponding to G and R colors is input to the image sensor 11. Then, by applying a predetermined drive signal to the image sensor 11 from the drive circuit, the two-dimensional image sensor l! receives the transmitted light of the negative film 2 placed in the printing section via the lens unit N2, so the two-dimensional image sensor 11 aligns the entire negative film 2 as shown in FIG. Many small pixels 2
The entire screen of the negative film 2 can be scanned in sequence according to the scanning line SL. After the entire screen has been scanned, image signals are sequentially output from the output register of the image sensor 11, and the image signals are converted into digital signals and stored in the memory 25 as shown in FIG. 3(B).
The density digital values of the negative film 2 are stored in an array corresponding to the pixels 21.

Note that even if the image information detection device gllO is attached to a general photo printing device with the optical axis tilted, the two-dimensional image sensor 11
Since the light receiving surface of the negative film 2 is parallel to the negative film 2, an accurate image without distortion of the negative film 2 is formed on the two-dimensional image sensor 11. This is a 7-way CCamera Adjustment in photography technology.
tg), and in order to simplify the mechanism of the printing device, we intentionally created a two-dimensional image sensor! The optical axes of the lenses for 1 are not perpendicular to each other at the center of the screen, and image information can be detected accurately.

In this way, when the digital value for each pixel of the negative film 2 or the density value for each pixel regarding the three primary colors is stored in the memory 25, the digital value can be read out from the memory 25 for each pixel of the negative film 2 and used. I can do it. Therefore, if density values as shown in the TSN diagram (B) are determined and stored for each of the three primary colors of BGR, the photographic printing exposure can be adjusted to the same level as before by reading out the stored values and performing calculations, etc. It can be used as a determination or correction amount. Furthermore, since the image information detection device @10 detects and stores image information using the pixels of the entire screen, it is possible to accurately detect image information.

In the above-mentioned photographic printing apparatus, image information of the original film such as negative film can be divided into a large number of pixels and stored, so accurate information can be obtained as photographic image information, and furthermore, the image information of the original film such as negative film can be stored. Image information of BG
Since the information is obtained for each color of R, it is also possible to accurately determine the exposure amount and correction amount for photographic printing from this information.

On the other hand, in a photo printing system that assumes large-volume intensive processing, generally, as shown in FIG. If it is determined that it is necessary to correct the data (obtained by
The data of this paper tape, etc. 102 is supplied to the photo printing apparatus 200 to correct the exposure amount, thereby properly printing the photo. However, the reality is that it is difficult to make correction decisions using the keyboard 101 unless one is used to it to some extent, and errors in judgment occur quite frequently. This is based on the fact that the operator determines the area balance between the main subject density and the background density of the original film image and determines the amount of correction for LATD photometry.

(Object of the invention) This invention was made from the above-mentioned car situation,
The purpose of the present invention is to provide a photographic printing system that can display an image of an original film such as a negative film in a pure optical manner, and can always optimize the printing condition of a specified position such as a main subject indicated on a pure surface. It is said that

(Summary of the Invention) The present invention relates to a photographic printing apparatus which prints an image of an original film illuminated by a light source onto photographic paper, and which measures the original film by pixel division and stores it. A printing exposure stitch determination means for extracting characteristic information of the original film from the stored data and determining the printing exposure amount, a display means for optically displaying the image of the original film, and a layered display on the screen of the display means. touch panel means for outputting positional information of the touched position; exposure amount correcting means for correcting the printing exposure amount based on the stored data corresponding to the positional information; and a printing means for printing the original film at a given exposure amount.

The present invention also relates to a photo printing system in which an image on an original film is verified by a verification device, and then the original film is printed onto photographic paper by a photo printing device. The verification device is provided with a display means for optically displaying and a touch panel means layered on the screen of the display means and outputting positional information of a touched position, and the image of the original film is displayed pixel by pixel. a printing exposure determining means for determining a printing exposure by performing photometry in divisions and extracting characteristic information of the image; an exposure correction means for correcting the printing exposure in accordance with the position information; and the exposure correction. The photographic printing apparatus is further provided with a printing means for printing the image at an exposure amount determined by the printing means.

(Embodiment of the Invention) FIG. 5 shows the configuration of an embodiment of the invention corresponding to FIG. 1, and its control system is as shown in FIG. 6. That is, between the lens unit 5 and the black shutter 6, there is a mirror 30 that can rotate between the A position and the B position.
is arranged, and when the mirror 30 is in the A position, the image of the negative film 2 is displayed as a pure image on the screen 3.
Projected to 1. A touch panel 40, which will be described later, is layered on the screen 31, and allows the user to specify a desired position (for example, a main subject such as a person) of the imaged image from the outside with a finger or the like.

The image sensor 11 is driven by drive signals 1ots to 103S from the drive circuit 20, and the light irradiated onto the imaging section of the image sensor 11 is output as an image signal PS from the output register, and is sampled and held by a sample hold circuit at a predetermined sampling period. 21 and the sampled information is converted into a digital signal S by an AD converter 22. The digital signal DS from the A/D* converter 22 is input to a logarithmic conversion circuit 23 where it is logarithmically converted, converted into a density signal INN, and then written into the memory 25 via the write control circuit 24. The image signal VS stored in the memory 25 is read out and inputted to the correction amount calculation circuit 50, the density/color correction circuit 51, and the exposure control circuit 52, and is processed by the correction signal DC calculated by the density/color correction circuit 51. The image signal vS from the memory 25 is corrected by the exposure control circuit 52, and the filter 3 is driven via the filter drive section 53 with the determined exposure amount.

Here, 5. If the displayed image is a scene with special conditions such as a backlit scene where there is a difference in brightness between the main subject and the background, it is necessary to make corrections and brighten the main subject to achieve the optimum density on the print. be. Therefore, in the present invention, by instructing the touch panel 40 with a finger or the like,
In addition to making it possible to easily specify the main subject in the displayed image, the indicated position is detected by a related position detection circuit 41, and the detected indicated position signal PS is used to calculate the amount of correction. It is input to the circuit 50, and the concentration/
The specified position signal PS input to the color correction circuit 51
a signal C that weights and corrects the image data so that the image data at the position has a predetermined photographic paper printing density according to the signal C;
Give R. In this way, the corrected image signal D is corrected by the density φ color correction circuit 51 centering on the main subject data.
C' is input to the exposure control circuit 52, which controls the filter 3 to perform appropriate printing exposure corresponding to the main subject of one display image.

By the way, the touch panel (touch screen, touch sensor, see-through finger touch input device) 40 allows you to input information by simply touching the screen with your finger while looking at one screen. ) and (B), and the analog method shown in FIGS. 8(A) and (B). As shown in FIG. 7(B), the digital touch sensor 40 includes a rectangular transparent movable electrode 43 and a fixed electrode 4 between a filter 42 and a substrate 45.
4 are arranged in combination vertically and horizontally, and have a structure that prevents short circuits due to a very small air gap between each other. Then, as shown in Fig. 7(A), a small pressing force (10~
20g), the electrodes 44A become conductive as the opposing electrodes come into contact, and the position detection circuit 4 including the control circuit
1, position information (X, Y address) PS can be obtained. Furthermore, the analog type touch sensor 40 is shown in FIG.
As shown in B).

Two transparent thin Ill electrode plates 48 are sandwiched between the filter 42 and the substrate 45 with a spacer 60 made of pressure-sensitive conductive rubber or the like.
．． The method is similar to the digital method in that the electrode plates 48 and 47 are arranged, but the difference is that the uniform conductivity of the electrode plates 48 and 47 is utilized to detect current changes at the contact points. In the analog method, as shown in FIG. 8(A), for example, a constant current DC power source 48 is applied to the electrode plates 46 and 47, and the current i generated at one end of the detection resistor 1111 of the electrode plate 47 is
4 with an ammeter 49A, and the current 12 generated at one end of the detection resistor 82 of the electrode plate 4e with an ammeter 498.

It is designed to detect the indicated position. In addition to the transparent electrode type, the touch panel also uses infrared and ultrasonic waves.

There are various methods such as a capacitance method, and any of them may be used.

In such a configuration, when image information for each BGR of the original film is normally stored in the memory 25 in the same manner as described above, this image information is sent from the memory 25 to the density/color correction circuit 51 as an image signal vS for each BGR. , and feature information such as maximum density, contrast, and minimum density is extracted.
For example, JP-A-52-23938 and JP-A-54-28
The density/color correction amount DC is calculated by the method shown in No. 131. This automatic correction iDc is performed by the dense fog light control circuit 52.
The exposure control is performed here based on the image signal vS.

Here, the projected image of the screen 31 as a pure display is the image to be printed, so if the operator looks at this screen and anticipates that there is something dissatisfied with the image produced by the automatic correction Jl[lG, the operator can use the touch panel 40 to Input the desired distinctive position (usually the main subject). At this time, through the processing of the correction amount calculation circuit 50, the density/color correction circuit 51 adds or subtracts a correction amount OR that makes the photographic paper printing density at the designated position a predetermined value to the automatic correction amount DC, and this correction result DC' is It is input to the exposure control circuit 52. Therefore, by such instruction operations using the touch panel 40, it is possible to obtain the desired image density for printing the main subject on photographic paper. In this case, memory 2
The matrix positional relationship between the pixel data storage position No. 5 and the touch panel 40 is associated in advance, and the position (X-Y address) of the main subject specified on the touch panel 40 corresponds to the pixel or image data of the main subject on the memory 25. It corresponds to The disassembly parts of the image sensor 11 and the touch panel 40 do not necessarily have to have a pixel-to-l correspondence, and the screen can be split at the corresponding position, including surrounding information based on the specified position. It is sufficient if the image data can be read and used.

The modified image signal DC' thus determined is input to the exposure control circuit 52 together with the image signal VS from the memory 25, and the exposure control circuit 52 prints a photographic image with density and color corresponding to the modified image. The filter 3 is controlled in this state, and printing and exposure are performed in this state.

The method for determining the printing exposure amount using the automatic correction amount DC is to divide the negative screen, obtain image information individually, and calculate the appropriate exposure amount for the scene from each divided image information obtained. The average transmitted density (LATD) is [la
, when the highest density in the split screen is ilmax and the lowest density is D layer in, the exposure amount DC is expressed as follows, and the correction amount OR in a limited area including the surrounding area based on the indicated position is .

It is expressed as Exposure IkrJ obtained in this way
DC” is the modified result of adding the modified ICR to C.
' = KiDC* KjCR...Old...It is expressed as (3), and if you prepare a correction formula like (3),
The negative film 2 can be printed with the correctly corrected exposure amount Il]c'. Here, the coefficients Ki and Kj are determined experimentally based on the number of divided pixels of the negative screen.

It should be noted that the negative film 2 develops Y, M, and 0 colors in response to B, G, and R light, respectively, during shooting.
Since the logarithmic converter 23 stores the common logarithmic value of the reciprocal of the true value of the light amount of Y, M, and C, the memory 25 stores the B of the photographed subject, which is the complementary color of Y, M, and 0 colors.
, G, and R are stored. Further, when multiple positions are specified on the touch panel 40, if the pixels at that position are continuous and closed, the specified range is set as the specified range, and if not, the weighting is performed according to the specified order. On the other hand, if the main subject is not clear or is distributed evenly over the entire screen, exposure may be controlled using the normal automatic correction amount DC without specifying the position.

Furthermore, in order to detect image information by the image information detection device 10 using a two-dimensional image sensor, a filter plate 50 having filters 51 of all; R three colors is used as shown in FIG.
Image information detection device! ! ! 1G and may be arranged in front of the filter plate 50 to obtain the color in synchronization with the rotation of the filter plate 50.Alternatively, as shown in FIG. Image sensor IIB separates the light into BGH for each of the three colors.

11G, detected by IIR, sample and hold circuit 54
The processing may be performed through steps B, 54G, and 54R.

Since this detection device can process three colors in parallel, it has the advantage of being able to perform high-speed processing. Furthermore, the detection device may be constructed by closely attaching a BGH stripe filter or a BGH mosaic filter to the surface of the image sensor. In this case, the stripe width of the stripe filter corresponds to the pixel width of the sensor, The mosaic elements of each color must correspond to the pixels of the sensor, and a single-plate sensor can efficiently detect iR image information.
In the above, a two-dimensional image sensor is used to detect an image for each pixel, but a one-dimensional line sensor may be used to detect image information by moving one of the sensors relative to the negative film 2. Further, in the above description, the mirror 30 is rotated to detect image information and to project a negative image onto the screen 31, but it is also possible to do this by placing an 8M half mirror in the optical path. .

On the other hand, since the main subject is often a person, by specifying the position of the face etc. from the outside, the skin color position indicating the person can be accurately detected directly from the image data that is displayed in pure form. It is also possible to modify the image data so as to set the density and color balance of the skin color area to predetermined values. In this case, since the skin color area often spreads out to a certain size, correction is made using the density at the center of the skin color area as a reference.

Furthermore, when there are multiple skin color areas, the average value of the density of each area is calculated, and the image data is corrected so that the average density becomes a predetermined value. In addition, as a skin color detection method, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 52-158824 and Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 52-1588
There are issues such as No. 25. By the way, the conventional method of skin color detection is
It is extremely difficult to accurately detect the hue due to the influence of the light source color, differences depending on the type of negative film, and variations in the development process. If the value is made wider, objects (for example, furniture) that have a hue close to a skin color component that is different from the main subject such as a person are often misrecognized, and erroneous correction may occur due to processing of the incorrect information. However, by specifying the main subject position W1 (person's face) from outside Pure as in this invention.

It is possible to provide a photographic printing apparatus that can reliably detect skin color with a simple operation and has an extremely high precision density one-color correction function.

By the way, J:, the pure mentioned above is the certification instrument Fa1.
It can also be used by attaching it to 00. That is, the first
Figure 1 shows an example of this, in which the testing device 100 is equipped with a pure 110 consisting of a touch panel, a screen, etc., and when the main subject of the image of the testing film is indicated on the screen of the pure 110 as described above, this position data ( x,
y address) PD is output to a paper tape or the like 102.

In this way, the position of the main subject of the image on the film to be printed is indicated on the Pure 110 as necessary, and after this position data PD is once output to the paper tape or the like 102, the main subject is placed in the photographic printing bag 9200 during printing. Provided as data indicating the position of the subject. The photographic image information detection bag 2t10 described above is attached to the photographic printing bag R200, and measures the image of the film to be printed as described above, and uses the measured data and the position data PD from the paper tape etc. The exposure amount is calculated so that the print density at the position is optimal.This exposure amount calculation is performed by calculating the exposure amount using the measurement data from the 1-image information detection device IO, and then calculating the exposure amount for the position corresponding to the 1-position data P[1]. Image data is predetermined M(
It is also possible to correct the exposure amount so that the print density at the position specified by Pure is optimal. .

By adopting such a photo printing system, instead of the conventional method of determining correction information for exposure calculation for LATD photometry and giving it to the printing device at the time of verification, only position data is required, which simplifies the configuration and operation of the device. It is simple and signal processing is also easy. In addition, the conventional correction calculation formula for determining the exposure amount is based on analogy (
For example, since the main part is statistically assumed to be located in the center of the screen or in the high-density part, it is often assumed that backlight is high-contrast and back-corrected. This has also become a limit to the exposure amount calculation by a pixel-divided image information detection device consisting of an image sensor.

In general, the print pass rate with normal LATD is about 60.
The print pass rate with image information detection VT setting of ~70x2 pixel division is about 90 or more, and the print pass rate when using a verification device is around 852, but according to this system, the print pass rate is almost 100%. Obtainable.

(Effects of the Invention) As described above, according to the present invention, by specifying the main subject on one screen with a simple operation, the light metering data for that part is weighted and calculated, and the exposure amount is automatically corrected. Therefore, it is possible to easily obtain printed photographs with appropriate print density. Further, even for special scenes such as backlit or backlit scenes, there is an advantage that there is no wastage of photographic paper and processing time due to trial printing for correction of general photometry methods such as LID photometry. Furthermore, according to the present invention, there is no need for an expensive monitor such as a CRT, making the device simple and inexpensive, and it is only necessary to specify the positions of special scene frames whose main parts can be reliably recognized, thereby reducing the verification burning work. It is possible to improve efficiency and speed. In addition, exposure correction of original film for conventional LAT [ll light] was difficult for anyone but a veteran, but with this invention, even beginners can quickly and efficiently test original film very easily. It is easy to operate, and the accuracy of exposure calculations is dramatically improved.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is a diagram showing an example of a schematic configuration of a photo printing device, Fig. 2 is a diagram for explaining the usage status of a color correction filter and an image information collection filter, and tiS3 diagrams (A) and (B) are original images. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of the correspondence between film pixel division and stored data; FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of a conventional photographic printing system; FIG. 5 is a configuration diagram illustrating an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 6 is a diagram showing the circuit configuration of an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 7
Figures (A), CB) and Figures (A) and (B) are structural diagrams for explaining the touch panel used in this invention,
9 and 10 respectively show other examples of the image detecting device used in the present invention, and FIG. 11 shows another example of the present invention. l...Negative carrier, 2...Negative film, 3...
・Filter, 4... Light source, 5... Lens unit,
6...Black shutter, 7...Photographic paper, 8.
... Optical sensor, 9 ... Filter, lO ... Image information detection device, 20 ... Drive circuit, 22 ... AD converter, 24 ... Write control circuit, 25 ... Memo 1 C40 touch panel, 50...correction amount calculation circuit, 51...density-color correction circuit. Applicant's agent Yoshikata Yasugata Figure Reference 4 2 Figure 7 If Figure 10 Amendment to Box Procedures June 10, 1985

Claims (5)

[Claims] (1) In a photo printing device that prints an image of an original film illuminated by a light source onto photographic paper,
a printing exposure amount determining means for measuring and storing the photometry of the original film in pixel division and extracting characteristic information of the original film from the stored data to determine the printing exposure amount; and optically displaying the image of the original film. a touch panel means layered on the screen of the display means for outputting positional information of a touched position; and correcting the printing exposure amount based on the stored data corresponding to the positional information. 1. A photographic printing apparatus comprising: an exposure amount correcting means; and a printing means for printing the original film with the exposure amount determined by the exposure amount correcting means. (2) There are two means for photometering the original film by image division.
The photographic printing apparatus according to claim 1, which is a dimensional image sensor. (3) There is one means for photometering the original film by pixel division.
The photographic printing apparatus according to claim 1, which is a dimensional image sensor. (4) Optically displaying the image of the original film in a photo printing system in which, after the image of the original film is verified by a verification device, the original film is printed onto photographic paper by a photo printing device. The verification device is provided with a display means and a touch panel means layered on the screen of the display means and outputting positional information of a touched position, and the image of the original film is photometered by pixel division. a printing exposure amount determining means for extracting characteristic information of the image to determine the printing exposure amount; an exposure amount correcting means for correcting the printing exposure amount in accordance with the position information; A photographic printing system characterized in that said photographic printing apparatus is provided with a printing means for printing said image at an exposure amount. (5) The photo printing system according to claim 4, wherein the position information is sent offline from the verification device to the photo printing device.