JPS6367682A - Image processing method - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To form an image about an oblique line at any angle without increasing the capacity of a memory by coordinate-transforming position coordinate data included in data used for processing in a text mode into data for a graphic mode, carrying out graphic processing and writing a graphic image in a bit map memory. CONSTITUTION:As for horizontal and vertical lines, a text mechanism 11 writes a text image in the bit map memory. As for code data used for writing the oblique line, coordinate data on its start and end points is calculated, and coordinate data is coordinate-transformed to coordinate data for the graphic image. Since the coordinate original point in the text image is different from that in the graphic image, a CPU or a ROM executes the coordinate transformation 12. Afterwards, a graphic mechanism 13 writes the graphic image. Thus the image about the oblique line at any angle can be written without preparing a variety of fonts for the oblique line.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to an image processing method for supplying a digitized image signal to a printing unit of a printer or a screen of a display device via a bitmap memory.

``Prior Art'' For example, in a word processor, drawn images such as documents and drawings are displayed on a display device such as a cathode ray tube display, and an operator performs various processing and editing on the images to be stored on a recording device. Work is underway to print it out.

The signal processing inside this device uses code data that is a combination of codes corresponding to characters and figures.

Then, image data obtained by converting this code data is sent to a display device or a recording device.

Normally, the number of recording pixels of a recording device is several times or more the number of display pixels of a display device, so recording signals are created and processed separately from display signals. For example, for each line,
Image data for recording is formed from the code data corresponding to the characters, etc., and is sent to the recording section of the recording device. In this way, it has been common practice to form recording image data for each section of the image to be recorded and to repeatedly send it to the recording section.

However, in recent years, bitmap memories have come to be manufactured and sold at a practical price, and bitmap memories are prepared on the recording device side, and code data is received from the host side such as a word processor, and the recording device side receives code data from the host side such as a word processor. It has become possible to create image data. Furthermore, if this bitmap memory is made to have a large capacity corresponding to one page of recorded images, it becomes possible to form and edit various complex images bit by bit for the entire screen.

However, in this case, in reality, complicated processing is required in which various image data are formed from a large amount of code data, and further processing and editing are performed on the data. Furthermore, while it is possible to provide many functions that could not be performed with conventional recording devices, it is not allowed to impair the high speed of its processing.

At present, individual specific methods of image processing using such a bitmap memory have not yet been sufficiently developed.

"Problems to be Solved by the Invention" Here, we will consider a case where a table image is formed on a bitmap memory in a so-called text mode for creating a document or the like.

In this case, as shown in Figures 5a-c, horizontal line font 1, vertical line font 2, diagonal line font 3, etc. are arranged appropriately to form ruled line image 4 as shown in Figure 6. .

However, since the diagonal lined font 3 shown in FIG. 5C has an inclination of 45 degrees, it is possible to draw only ruled lines as shown in the dashed dotted line 5 in FIG. Therefore, a conventional and common method is to prepare diagonal fonts with various inclinations and select and use them.

However, this requires an extremely wide variety of fonts, which increases costs, and has the problem of making it difficult to draw continuous diagonal lines with good straightness.

The present invention has been made with attention to the above points, and an object of the present invention is to provide an image processing method that can form an image of diagonal lines at any angle without increasing the memory capacity for storing fonts. It is something to do.

"Means for Solving the Problems" The image processing method of the present invention supplies an image signal to a bitmap memory to form an image corresponding to a recorded image, and processes data for text mode processing. While writing the text image to the above bitmap memory, the position coordinate data in the text mode processing data is converted into coordinates for graphic mode.
This method is characterized by performing graphic processing and writing a graphic image onto the bitmap memory.

"Operation" As described above, in the present invention, when data for text mode processing whose contents include the formation of diagonal lines is manually generated during document creation processing in text mode, the position coordinate data therein is converted into coordinates. graphics processing.

In this way, there is no need to change the mode to the graphic mode and prepare data for graphic processing, making it easy to create the original data.

Moreover, you can freely set the slope and length of diagonal lines, etc.
It also eliminates the need for large-capacity font memory.

``Example'' (Schematic configuration of apparatus) A detailed explanation will be given below, taking as an example the case where the present invention is applied to a laser beam printer.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an outline of the laser beam printer.

This apparatus is comprised of an image supply device 21, a recording section 22, a power source 23 for driving these, and a panel 24 through which an operator manually issues recording operation instructions.

The image supply device 21 includes a host interface (1/F) connection terminal 26 that receives a signal for recording a predetermined image from a host computer, etc., and a LAN connection terminal 27 that connects to a local area network or the like. is provided.

The recording unit 22 is a device that records an image corresponding to an image signal on a recording paper 29, and receives an image signal 31 and an operation command 34 from the image supply device 21, and also receives a synchronization pulse 32 for recording operation. and a status signal 33 are output to the image supply device 21.

FIG. 3 shows a perspective view of essential parts of the recording section 22 shown in FIG. 2. As shown in FIG.

Here, the radar beam 52 emitted from the laser oscillator 51 passes through a polarizer 53 , a laser beam modulator 54 , and a polarizer 55 , is reflected by a polygon mirror 56 , passes through a lens 57 , and hits the outer peripheral surface of a photosensitive drum 58 . reach The image signal 31 (bit stream) from the image supply device 21 in FIG. 2 is input to the laser beam modulator 54 from the terminal 61, and the polarization plane of the laser beam passing through the modulator 54 is converted into an image by, for example, an electro-optic effect. Rotate according to the signal.

By this so-called electric shutter action, the black and white binary image signal is converted into an optical on/off signal of a laser beam, and the outer peripheral surface of the photosensitive drum 58 is irradiated with the signal. The polygon mirror 56 is rotated at a constant speed by a motor 62, and after reflecting the laser beam 52, it is caused to scan in the direction of an arrow 63 (this direction is referred to as a main scanning direction). That is, while the image signal for one line is converted into an optical bit string and irradiated in a direction parallel to the rotation axis 64 of the photosensitive drum 58, the photosensitive drum 58 is moved in the direction of the arrow 65 (this direction is called the sub-scanning direction). ).

In this way, an electrostatic latent image corresponding to the image to be recorded is formed on the outer peripheral surface of the photosensitive drum 58.

This electrostatic latent image passes through a developing device 66 as the photosensitive drum 58 rotates in the direction of an arrow 65. Here, toner is deposited in accordance with the electrostatic latent image. Recording paper (not shown) (When the recording paper 29 is fed in the direction of the arrow 68 by the general feeding mechanism, the toner attached to the outer periphery of the photosensitive drum 58 is transferred to the recording paper 29 by the action of the transfer device 69.The recording paper 29 The recording material is further sent in the direction of arrow 68 and subjected to processing such as fixing to obtain a recorded matter.

Note that the laser beam 52 is scanned in the direction of the arrow 63 with a width exceeding both ends of the photosensitive drum 580. Therefore, the transfer timing of the image signal 31 is determined by detection pulses that detect the passage of the laser beam from the scan start sensor 71 and the scan end sensor 72.

The specific configuration of the image supply device 21 shown in FIG. 2 is shown in FIG.
This is shown using a block diagram.

This circuit includes a microprocessor (CPLJ) 37 connected to a CPU bus 36 and various interfaces (
I/F) 38-40, memories 41-44, and control blocks 46-49.

The interface includes a control I/F38 and a panel I/F38.
There are F39 and recording section 1/F40.

The control 1/F 38 is a circuit that receives code data input from a host computer (not shown) in accordance with, for example, the R3232C standard. Further, the panel I/F 39 is a circuit that relays an instruction signal 39a input from the panel 24 (FIG. 2) operated by the operator. Then, the recording section I/
F40 is a circuit that relays signals such as those explained in FIG. 2, which are exchanged between the image supply device 21 and the recording section 22.

The memory includes a character button memory 41, a bitmap memory 42, and a random access memory (RAM).
43 and a program memory 44. The character button memory 41 is a so-called font memory, and is a circuit that, when a character code 41a is input, outputs a corresponding character button or graphic button 41b. The bitmap memory 42 is a circuit that stores, for example, one page of an image to be recorded on the recording paper 29 in the recording section 22 (FIG. 2) in a bitmap format.

Random access memory 43 stores various data for operation of microprocessor 37 and control 1/F 38.
This circuit is used to store code data manually input from the computer. Furthermore, the program memory 44 is a circuit that stores programs for the operation of the microprocessor 37.

The control blocks include an image handler 45, a memory controller 47, and a parallel I/O controller (P
I○) 48, and D:vl△controller (DMA
C) There are 49. Image handler 46 is a circuit that generates an image to be written to bitmap memory 42. The memory controller 47 is a circuit that controls access timing and addresses to the bitmap memory 42.

The PIO 48 is a circuit that performs IO control to send parallel data input from the outside to the CPU bus 36 from an input/output terminal (not shown). The DMAC 49 is a known direct memory access control circuit, and is a circuit for controlling data transfer.

Note that the controller section 45 is composed of the CPL] 3'7, the RAM 43, the program memory 44, the P4O10, and the DMAC 49, and outputs the character stamps 41b from the character stamp memory 41 and outputs various images in the image handler 46. The generation, processing, and writing into the bitmap memory 42 are controlled. The controller unit 45 also issues an instruction to transfer an image signal corresponding to a recorded image from the bitmap memory 42 to the recording unit 22 (FIG. 2) via the recording unit I/F 40. The image handler 46 receives this command and performs the transfer process.

(Formation of Image) First, code data is input manually from a host computer, word processor, etc. via the control I/F 38 (FIG. 4). This code data also includes code data corresponding to the print format (page orientation).

This code data is decoded by the CPU 37 (Fig. 4),
Create intermediate code suitable for image format processing and use RA
It is stored in M43 (Fig. 4).

If this intermediate code is, for example, a character code, that is, text data, it is composed of codes indicating its writing position coordinates, vertical and horizontal sizes, font memory address, presence or absence of decoration, etc. In text mode, code data in the same format as characters is used for horizontal lines, vertical lines, and diagonal lines.

In the present invention, the CPU 37 (FIG. 4) and the image handler 46 perform two types of operations when such straight line data is included in the code data. First, for horizontal lines and vertical lines, text images are written into the bitmap memory 42 by the text mechanism 11, as shown in FIG.

In this text mechanism, fonts 1.2 corresponding to the horizontal lines and vertical lines shown in Fig. 5 are stored in the character button memory 4.
1 (FIG. 4), and the memory controller 47 specifies the address to which the image is to be written.

On the other hand, regarding code data for writing a diagonal line, first, coordinate data of the starting point and end point of the diagonal line are calculated. Then, the coordinate data is converted into coordinate data for a graphic image.

For convenience, the origin of coordinates is set to be different for writing a text image and for writing a graphic image. Therefore, this coordinate transformation 12 is executed in the CPU or using a ROM (read only memory) or the like.

The CPU 37 converts other data included in the code data for diagonal lines into intermediate codes for graphic mode processing.

Thereafter, using the graphic mechanism 13 also provided in the image handler 46, a graphic image is written in the same way as in the case of processing in the graphic mode.

The text mechanism and graphics mechanism described above may use various known circuits for processing text images and graphic images, and a detailed description of the circuits will be omitted.

In this way, in FIG. 4, all the code data input from the control 1/F 38 is in text mode, and when the data is actually processed by this device, text image processing and graphic image processing are performed. An appropriate selection is made and its image is formed on the bitmap memory. Therefore, it is possible to write an image of a diagonal line of any inclination without preparing a 51-fold font.

Therefore, the external system that sends code data to the control 1/F 38 can perform such a tabulation in an apparent text mode only.

Therefore, the burden on the external system is also reduced.

Further, compared to the case where the mode is switched to the graphic mode during processing in the text mode and the image is written only for diagonal lines, the method of the present invention can perform image formation processing at high speed and efficiency.

"Variation" The image processing method of the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments.

It is also possible to form images of not only solid lines but also dashed diagonal lines.

"Effects of the Invention" A diagonal line image with good linearity and continuity can be formed while performing text mode processing without requiring a large capacity font memory.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the image processing method of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a block diagram showing an outline of a laser beam printer to which this is applied, Fig. 3 is 11... text Mechanism, 12... Coordinate conversion mechanism, 13... Graphic mechanism, 42... Bitmap memory. Applicant: Fuji Xerox Co., Ltd. Agent

Claims (1)

[Claims] In a device that supplies an image signal to a bitmap memory to form an image corresponding to a recorded image, the text mode processing data is processed and the text image is written to the bitmap memory, while the text mode processing Convert the position coordinate data in the data for graphic mode, perform graphic processing,
An image processing method comprising writing a graphic image onto the bitmap memory.