KR20080019432A - Image processing apparatus for improvement of scaling performance and method thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

An apparatus and a method for processing an image are provided to arrange a plurality of scalers for scaling image data in parallel with one another, thereby improving scaling performance and scaling speed. A plurality of scalers(346-1~346-n) is disposed in parallel with one another to scale image data. A plurality of binary elements(354-1~354-n) is disposed in parallel with one another and correspondingly to the scalers. The binary elements convert the scaled image data into binary data. An information-generating unit(344) generates information necessary for the scaling by using the number of the scalers and a predetermined scaling ratio, and supplies the information to the scalers.

Description

Image processing apparatus for improvement of scaling performance and method

1 is a block diagram schematically showing a conventional image processing apparatus;

2 is a view for explaining an example in which a conventional scaler enlarges image data 4/3 times by linear interpolation;

3 is a block diagram showing an image processing apparatus for improving performance according to a first embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a view for explaining a method of scaling image data by linear interpolation by the first to nth horizontal scalers of FIG. 3;

5 is a flowchart for explaining an image processing method for improving performance according to FIG. 3;

6 is a block diagram showing an image processing apparatus for improving performance according to a second preferred embodiment of the present invention;

7 is a block diagram showing an image processing apparatus for improving performance according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

Explanation of symbols on the main parts of the drawings

300: image processing apparatus 310: image acquisition unit

320: distortion correction unit 330: image merge unit

340: scaling unit 342: vertical scaler

344: information generating unit 350: binarization unit

346-1,... 346-n: first to nth horizontal scaler

The present invention relates to an image processing apparatus for improving scaling performance and a method thereof, and more particularly, to an image processing apparatus for improving scaling performance by improving the scaling performance and speed by arranging a plurality of scalers for scaling image data. It's about his way.

An image forming apparatus, such as a printer, a copier, a facsimile, or a multifunction device incorporating them, performs a process of image processing input image data.

1 is a block diagram schematically showing a conventional image processing apparatus.

Referring to FIG. 1, the image processing apparatus 100 includes a scaler 110 and a binarization unit 120. The scaler 110 enlarges or reduces the input image data at a predetermined magnification, and the binarization unit 120 converts the enlarged or reduced image data into binary data.

2 is a diagram for explaining an example in which a conventional scaler enlarges image data by 4/3 times by linear interpolation.

Referring to FIG. 2, (a) is image data before scaling, in which a part of dots located in a line and a gray value of each dot are shown, and a dotted line is an arbitrary pattern in which a linear connection of the gray value of each dot is performed. It is a gradation value. Since the set scaling factor is 4/3 times, the scaler 110 performs linear interpolation using an interpolation interval of 3/4 = 0.75. That is, the scaler 110 forms new dots at an interval of 0.75 from the initial start position, and uses the gray value corresponding to each dot among the gray values shown by the dotted lines as the gray value of the newly formed dot.

The conventional image forming apparatus 100 increases the operating frequency as one of methods for improving the scaling speed. That is, the image forming apparatus 100 increases the clock used for scaling by increasing the operating frequency, and consequently improves the processing speed of scaling.

However, when the operating frequency is increased as described above, the overall size of the image processing apparatus 100 is increased by increasing the operating frequency, and for other blocks (not shown) including the scaler 110. Timing options will change and it will be difficult to control the timing between each chip. In particular, when each chip fails to operate normally due to timing constraints due to an increased operating frequency, a situation in which each chip is newly designed may occur. In addition, the conventional method of improving the performance of the image processing apparatus 100 by using the operating frequency increase is limited in the improvement of the performance (speed, performance) because the increase in the operating frequency is limited.

Accordingly, the present invention has been made to solve the above problems, an object of the present invention, an image processing apparatus and method for improving the scaling performance that can improve the scaling performance and speed without increasing the operating frequency To provide.

An image processing apparatus for improving scaling performance according to an embodiment of the present invention for achieving the above object comprises: a plurality of scalers arranged in parallel to scale image data; A plurality of binarization units converting the scaled image data into binarization data and arranged in parallel to correspond to the plurality of scalers; And an information generator configured to generate information necessary for the scaling using the number of the plurality of scalers and the set scaling factor, and provide the information to the plurality of scalers.

Preferably, the plurality of scalers, the vertical scaler for scaling the image data in the vertical direction; And a plurality of horizontal scalers arranged in parallel to scale the image data scaled in the vertical direction in a horizontal direction.

The plurality of scalers may include: a plurality of horizontal scalers arranged in parallel to scale the image data in a horizontal direction; And a plurality of vertical scalers arranged in parallel to scale the image data scaled in the horizontal direction in the vertical direction.

In detail, the information generating unit generates the number of dots to be output from each scaler, the distance interval between the output dots, and the initial interpolation position of each scaler by the following equation.

,

,

,

,

Here, X (out) is the number of dots to be output from each scaler, m is the number of dots located in one scan line of the input image data, N is the number of scalers arranged in parallel, IS (n) Is an initial interpolation position of each scaler, and n is a number of scalers arranged in parallel, with values of 1 to N.

The apparatus may further include a mask processor configured to rearrange dither mask values in consideration of the number of the scalers used for the scaling. The plurality of binarization units may be configured to adjust the scaling using the rearranged dither mask values. Binarized image data.

On the other hand, the image processing method for improving the scaling performance according to an embodiment of the present invention, generating information necessary for scaling using the number of the plurality of scalers arranged in parallel and the set scaling factor; Scaling image data using the plurality of scalers; And converting the scaled image data into binarization data using a plurality of binarizers arranged in parallel to correspond to the plurality of scalers.

Preferably, the method further comprises rearranging a dither mask value in consideration of the number of the scalers used for the scaling, and the converting may be performed by using the rearranged dither mask values. The scaled image data is converted into binarization data.

On the other hand, the image processing apparatus capable of image processing in the color mode and mono mode according to an embodiment of the present invention, the scaling unit having a black scaler, cyan scaler, magenta scaler and yellow scaler arranged in parallel to scale the image data ; A plurality of binarization units converting the scaled image data into binarization data and arranged in parallel to correspond to the plurality of scalers; An information generator configured to generate the information necessary for the scaling by using the number of the scalers and the set scaling factor, and provide the information to the plurality of scalers; And a controller configured to control the scaling unit to scale the image data using at least two of the plurality of scalers when the image data is processed in the mono mode.

Hereinafter, with reference to the drawings will be described the present invention in more detail.

3 is a block diagram showing an image processing apparatus for improving scaling performance according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 3, the image processing apparatus 300 according to the first exemplary embodiment of the present invention includes an image acquisition unit 310, a distortion correction unit 320, an image merger 330, a scaling unit 340, It includes a binarization unit 350 and the post-processing unit 360.

The image acquisition unit 310 receives image data to form an image from the outside. The input image data includes at least one of gray data having a gray level and binary data represented by binarization. Further, the image data is input from a device, such as a computer, on which a driver associated with the image processing apparatus 300 is installed, a device capable of communicating with the image processing apparatus 300, such as an external facsimile.

The distortion correction unit 320 corrects the distortion of the image data through noise removal, edge correction, or the like of the image data provided from the image acquisition unit 310.

The image merging unit 330 merges the two data to generate new gray image data when the image data acquired by the image acquiring unit 310 includes gray data having a gray scale value and binary data represented by binarization.

The scaling unit 340 scales the image data output from the image merging unit 330 in the vertical and horizontal directions at a set magnification. In general, scaling is performed by various interpolation methods such as zero ^th interpolation, linear interpolation, and Qubic interpolation.

The scaling unit 340 includes a vertical scaler 342, an information generator 344, and first to nth horizontal scalers 346-1,..., 346-n.

The information generator 344 generates the information necessary for scaling by using the number of the first to nth horizontal scalers 346-1,..., And 346-n arranged in parallel, and the first to nth scales. To the horizontal scalers 346-1, ..., 346-n. Here, the first to nth horizontal scalers 346-1,..., And 346-n have at least two scalers used for horizontal scaling.

The information generated by the information generator 344 includes the number of dots to be generated in each of the first to nth horizontal scalers 346-1,..., 346-n, and the distance interval between each dot generated during linear interpolation. ) And the first interpolation positions of the first to nth horizontal scalers 346-1,..., 346-n. The information generating unit 344 generates the information by using the following Equations 1 to 3 below.

Referring to Equations 1 to 3, X (out) is the number of dots to be generated in each of the first to nth horizontal scalers 346-1, ..., 346-n, and m is vertical. The number of dots located in one scan line among the image data input from the scaler 342, N is the number of first to nth horizontal scalers 346-1, ..., 346-n used for horizontal scaling, step Is the distance interval between each dot generated during linear interpolation, IS (n) is the initial interpolation position of the first to nth horizontal scalers 346-1, ..., 346-n, that is, the initial starting point, and n is the parallel arrangement. As the numbers of the first to nth horizontal scalers 346-1 to 346-n, values of 1 to N are sequentially assigned to the respective scalers 346-1 to 346-n.

For example, when one scan line is composed of nine dots, has a scaling factor of 4/3, and is scaled using two horizontal scalers 346-1 and 346-2, the information generator 344. Generates the following information:

,

,

,

,

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And

On the other hand, the vertical scaler 342 scales the input image data in the vertical direction.

The first to nth horizontal scalers 346-1,..., 346-n scale the image data scaled in the vertical direction in the horizontal direction by using the information provided from the information generating unit 344. At this time, the first to nth horizontal scalers 346-1,..., 346-n are arranged in parallel to increase the scaling speed. The scaling speed is proportional to the number of first to nth horizontal scalers 346-1,..., 346-n. In other words, when there are two horizontal scalers, horizontal scaling is performed twice as fast as when one horizontal scaler is used.

FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining a method of scaling the image data by linear interpolation by the first to nth horizontal scalers of FIG. 3.

FIG. 4A shows dots located on an arbitrary scan line among the image data output from the vertical scaler 342 and gray level values of each dot. Each scan line is composed of m dots, and each of the m dots has a gray level. In addition, the dotted line is an arbitrary gradation value in which the gradation value of each dot is linearly connected in order to obtain the gradation value required for linear interpolation. In the following, 9 dots are positioned in one scan line, and when 4/3 times magnification, X (out) = 6, step = 1.5, IS (1) = 0, IS ( 2) The case of scaling using information of = 0.75 will be described.

FIG. 4B is a diagram for describing a case where the first horizontal scaler 346-1 linearly interpolates the image data shown in FIG. 4A. The first horizontal scaler 346-1 horizontally scales the image data scaled in the vertical direction by using IS (1) = 0, step = 1.5, and X (out) = 6 provided from the information generating unit 344. To scale. That is, the first horizontal scaler 346-1 forms dots at an interval of 1.5 from the initial position '0', and forms six dots 1 to 6, and each dot generated among arbitrary gray scale values shown by dotted lines. The gradation value corresponding to (1-6) is determined as the gradation value of each dot 1-6. The six newly formed dots 1 to 6 and the grayscale values corresponding to the dots 1 to 6 are provided to the first binarizer 354-1.

FIG. 4C is a diagram for describing the case where the second horizontal scaler 346-2 linearly interpolates the image data shown in FIG. 4A. The second horizontal scaler 346-2 horizontally scales the image data scaled vertically using IS (1) = 0.75, step = 1.5, and X (out) = 6 provided from the information generating unit 344. To scale. That is, the second horizontal scaler 346-2 forms dots at an interval of 1.5 from the initial position '0.75', and forms six dots 1 'to 6', and is generated from any grayscale values shown by dotted lines. The gradation value corresponding to each dot 1'-6 'is determined as the gradation value of each dot 1-6. The six newly formed dots 1 'through 6' and the grayscale values corresponding to the dots 1 'through 6' are provided to the second binarizer 354-2.

Twelve dots (1 to 6, 1 'to 6') output from FIGS. 4B and 4C are dots generated when the first nine dots are enlarged 4/3 times when the horizontal scaler is one. It can be seen that the same as the number. According to the method described above, when one horizontal scaler is provided, two horizontal scalers are provided to generate six dots at different positions, respectively, rather than the time required to generate nine to twelve dots. Zooming in can reduce the time required for scaling. This is done by placing two horizontal scalers in parallel.

FIG. 4D is a diagram in which the data generated in FIGS. 4B and 4C are merged. Referring to Fig. 4D, the actual distance of each dot is 0.75 instead of 1.5, and dots 1 and 1 ', 2 and 2', 3 and 3 ',... , 6 and 6 'are dots generated at about the same time, so the scaling time is almost doubled.

Referring back to FIG. 3, the binarization unit 350 converts the scaled image data into binarization data by the set binarization method. The binarization methods include dithering, error diffusion, and blue noise mask. In this embodiment, the dithering method is described as an example. To this end, the binarization unit 350 includes a mask processing unit 352 and first to n-th binarizers 354-1,..., 354-n.

The mask processor 352 rearranges the dither masks in consideration of the number of first to nth horizontal scalers 346-1,..., 346-n used for horizontal scaling. The dither mask is a threshold value used by the first to nth binarizers 354-1,..., 354-n to convert image data having a gray scale value into binarized data.

The mask processing unit 352 rearranges the dither mask so that the dither mask having a value set for each dot is adapted to the image data input from the first to nth horizontal scalers 346-1,..., 346-n. For example, when two horizontal scalers 346-1 and 346-2 are used for scaling, the mask processing unit 352 adjusts one dither mask to suit each horizontal scaler 346-1 and 346-2. After rearranging and dividing into two, it is provided to the first and second binarizers 354-1 and 354-2 connected to the first and second horizontal scalers 346-1 and 346-2.

The first to n th binarizers 354-1,..., 354-n are connected to be parallel to the first to n th horizontal scalers 346-1,. The first through n-th binarators 354-1,..., 354-n generate binarization data using the rearranged dither masks input from the mask processing unit 352. That is, the first to n-th binarizers 354-1,..., 354-n compare the gray scales of the scaled image data with the threshold values of the rearranged dither masks, so that the gray scale of the image data is 1; Each pixel value of the image data is converted into a value such as the same.

The post-processing unit 360 post-processes the binarization data simultaneously applied from the first to n-th binarizers 354-1, ..., 354-n. That is, the post processor 360 rearranges the binarization data in a form suitable for the next block (for example, external memory) (not shown) that receives the output data from the post processor 360. At this time, the post-processing unit 360 rearranges the binarization data by using a rule mutually determined with the next block.

5 is a flowchart illustrating an image processing method for improving performance according to FIG. 3.

3 to 5, when vertical scaling of image data having gray scales is completed, the information generating unit 344 performs the first to nth horizontal scalers 346-1,..., 346-n necessary for scaling. Information such as the number of dots to be generated in each, a distance step between each dot generated during linear interpolation, and an initial interpolation position of the first to nth horizontal scalers 346-1,. Equation 1] to [Equation 3] to generate (S510).

The first to nth horizontal scalers 346-1,..., 346-n scale the image data scaled in the vertical direction in the horizontal direction by using the information provided from the information generating unit 344 (S520). At this time, the speed until scaling is completed is proportional to the number of horizontal scalers used for horizontal scaling.

When operation S520 is performed, the mask processing unit 352 rearranges the dither mask in consideration of the number of horizontal scalers used for scaling (S530).

The first through n-th binarators 354-1,..., 354-n output from the first through n-th horizontal scalers 346-1,..., 346-n using a rearranged dither mask. The image data to be converted is converted into binarization data (S540).

When step S540 is performed, the post processor 360 post-processes the scaled image data (S550).

According to the first embodiment of the present invention described above, the scaling unit 340 has one vertical scaler 342 and a plurality of horizontal scalers 346-1,..., 346-n arranged in parallel. 350 has the effect of reducing the time required for scaling and binarization by having a plurality of binarizers 354-1,..., 354-n arranged in parallel.

6 is a block diagram showing an image processing apparatus for improving performance according to a second preferred embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 6, the image processing apparatus 600 according to the second exemplary embodiment of the present invention includes a preprocessor 610, a scaling unit 620, a binarization unit 630, and a post processor 640. First, since the preprocessor 610 is the same as the image acquirer 310, the distortion corrector 320, and the image merger 330 illustrated in FIG. 3, the illustration and description of the detailed drawings will be omitted. In addition, since the post-processing unit 640 is the same as the post-processing unit 360 of FIG. 3, a detailed description thereof will be omitted.

The scaling unit 620 scales the image data output from the preprocessor 610 in the vertical and horizontal directions at a set magnification. To this end, the scaling unit 620 may include the information generating unit 622, the first to nth horizontal scalers 624-1,..., 624-n, and the first to nth vertical scalers 626-1,. n).

The information generator 622 determines the number of first to nth horizontal scalers 624-1,..., And 624-n used for scaling, a scaling factor that is set, and [Equation 1] to [Equation 3]. Generate information needed for scaling. The information generated by the information generator 622 includes the number of dots to be generated in each of the first to nth horizontal scalers 624-1,..., 624-n, and the distance interval between each dot generated during linear interpolation. ), The first interpolation position of the first to nth horizontal scalers 624-1,..., 624-n and the position at which the first to nth vertical scalers 626-1,..., 626-n start linear interpolation. Include. Here, the position where the first to nth vertical scalers 626-1,..., 626-n start linear interpolation is the inverse of the scaling factor.

The first to n th horizontal scalers 624-1,..., 624-n scale the image data in the horizontal direction by using the information provided from the information generating unit 622. At this time, the first to n-th horizontal scalers 624-1,..., 624-n are arranged in parallel and scaled to increase the scaling speed in proportion to the number of horizontal scalers.

The first to n th vertical scalers 626-1,..., 626-n are arranged in parallel to the first to n th horizontal scalers 624-1,..., 624-n, and the first to n th horizontal scales. Image data input from the scalers 624-1, ..., 624-n are respectively scaled in the vertical direction.

The binarization unit 630 converts the image data scaled in the horizontal and vertical directions into the binarization data by dithering. To this end, the binarization unit 630 has a mask processing unit 632 and first to n-th binarators 634-1,..., 634-n, which are almost similar to the binarization unit 350 shown in FIG. 3. Detailed description will be omitted. However, the first to nth binarizers 634-1,..., And 634-n respectively mask image data input from the first to nth vertical scalers 626-1,. Binarize using the rearranged mask.

According to the second embodiment of the present invention described above, the scaling unit 620 uses a plurality of horizontal scalers 624-1, ..., 624-n and a plurality of vertical scalers 626-1, ..., 626-n. Each of them is arranged in parallel to scale image data. As a result, the scaling speed of the image data is increased by the number of the plurality of horizontal scalers 624-1, ..., 624-n used for scaling.

7 is a block diagram showing an image processing apparatus for improving performance according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 7, an image processing apparatus 700 according to a third exemplary embodiment of the present invention is provided in an image forming apparatus (not shown) capable of printing image data in a color mode or a mono mode, and includes a preprocessing unit ( 710, a scaling unit 720, a binarization unit 730, a post processing unit 740, and a control unit 750. In FIG. 7, an arrow shown by a dotted line indicates the flow of image data when operating in the color mode, and an arrow shown by a solid line indicates the flow of image data when operating in the mono mode.

First, since the preprocessor 710 is the same as the image acquirer 310, the distortion corrector 320, and the image merger 330 illustrated in FIG. 3, illustration and description of detailed drawings will be omitted. In addition, since the post-processing unit 740 is the same as the post-processing unit 360 of FIG. 3, a detailed description thereof will be omitted.

The scaling unit 720 includes an information generating unit 721, a vertical scaling unit 722, and a horizontal scaling unit 724.

The information generating unit 721 includes a plurality of horizontal scalers 724-1 to 724- provided in the horizontal scaling unit 724 when printing in a mono mode is requested by an image forming apparatus (not shown) capable of color printing. In consideration of the number of horizontal scalers used for scaling in 4), information necessary for scaling is generated using Equation 1 to Equation 3. The number of horizontal scalers used for scaling can be selected by the user by operating an operation panel unit (not shown) or set by the designer at the design stage, and can be selected up to four.

This is because an image forming apparatus (not shown) capable of color printing generally implements color images by using black (B), cyan (C), magenta (M), and yellow (Y), and thus a plurality of horizontal scalers 724. This is because -1 to 724-4) are provided four.

The vertical scaling unit 722 has a K vertical scaler 722-1, a C vertical scaler 722-2, an M vertical scaler 722-3, and a Y vertical scaler 724-4 arranged in parallel.

In addition, the horizontal scaling unit 724 includes a K horizontal scaler 724-1, a C horizontal scaler 724-2, an M horizontal scaler 724-3, and a Y horizontal scaler 724-4.

First, when the image processing apparatus 700 operates in the color mode, the preprocessor 710 provides the same image data to the K / C / M / Y vertical scalers 722-1 to 722-4. K vertical scaler 722-1 is image data associated with K among the image data, C vertical scaler 722-2 is image data associated with C among the image data, and M vertical scaler 722-3 is image data associated with M The Y vertical scaler 724-4 performs vertical scaling on image data related to Y among the image data.

Similarly, the K horizontal scaler 724-1 is the image data output from the K vertical scaler 722-1, the C horizontal scaler 724-2 is the image data output from the C vertical scaler 722-2, The M horizontal scaler 724-3 is the image data output from the M vertical scaler 722-3, and the Y horizontal scaler 724-4 is the image data output from the Y vertical scaler 724-4. To scale.

On the other hand, when the image processing apparatus 700 operates in the mono mode, the vertical scaling unit 722 vertically adjusts the image data using one of the K / C / M / Y vertical scalers 722-1 to 722-4. To scale.

The horizontal scaling unit 724 scales the image data in the horizontal direction by using the set number of scalers among the K / C / M / Y horizontal scalers 724-1 to 724-4. For example, when a control signal for scaling in the horizontal direction using two horizontal scalers is input from the controller 750, which will be described later, the horizontal scaling unit 724 may include the K and C horizontal scalers 724-1 and 724-2. To scale. This allows horizontal scaling to be twice as fast as using one horizontal scaler.

The binarization unit 730 converts the image data scaled in the vertical and horizontal directions into binarization data by dithering. To this end, the binarizer 730 includes a mask processor 731 and a binarizer 732, and the binarizer 732 includes K / C / M / Y binarizers 732-1 to 732-4. Since this is almost similar to the binarization unit 350 shown in FIG. 3, detailed description thereof will be omitted.

However, the K / C / M / Y binarizers 732-1 to 732-4 respectively mask image data input from the K / C / M / Y horizontal scalers 724-1 to 724-4. Binarize using the rearranged mask. At this time, when two horizontal scalers 724-1 and 724-2 of the K / C / M / Y horizontal scalers 724-1 to 724-4 are used, the mask processing unit 731 includes two K and Rearrange the dither masks to be provided to the C binarizers 732-1 and 732-2, and the K and C binarizers 732-1 and 732-2 use the rearranged dither masks. Binarize.

The controller 750 processes the above-described operation by using the installed control program. In particular, when the image processing apparatus 700 operates in the mono mode, the controller 750 checks the number of horizontal scalers to be used for horizontal scaling, and then horizontally scales and binarizes them using the identified number of horizontal scalers and binarizers. The scaling unit 724 and the binarization unit 730 are controlled. The controller 750 controls the information generator 721 to generate information necessary for horizontal scaling in consideration of the identified number.

According to the third embodiment of the present invention described above, the scaling unit 720 applies the scaler used for color image processing to image processing in the mono mode to scale image data at an improved speed without additional provision of the scaler.

In addition, while the third embodiment of the present invention described above considers only a plurality of horizontal scalers arranged in parallel, image data is obtained by using a plurality of horizontal scalers and a plurality of vertical scalers as in the second embodiment shown in FIG. Of course, it can be implemented to scale.

As described above, according to the image processing apparatus and the method for improving the scaling performance according to the present invention, by placing a plurality of scalers in parallel, and by placing a binarizer corresponding to the plurality of scalers in parallel, scaling without increasing the operating frequency It is possible to improve the performance and speed. This improves the performance and speed of scaling in proportion to the number of scalers used for scaling since the operation at each scaler is performed in parallel.

In particular, in an image forming apparatus that supports both color processing and mono processing, when processing a mono image, scaling and binarization are performed at no additional cost by using a scaler and a binarizer used for color processing without additional arrangement of scalers. It is possible to improve the speed and performance required.

While the above has been shown and described with respect to preferred embodiments of the present invention, the present invention is not limited to the specific embodiments described above, it is usually in the technical field to which the invention belongs without departing from the spirit of the invention claimed in the claims. Various modifications may be made by those skilled in the art, and these modifications should not be individually understood from the technical spirit or the prospect of the present invention.

Claims (10)

A plurality of scalers arranged in parallel to scale image data; A plurality of binarization units converting the scaled image data into binarization data and arranged in parallel to correspond to the plurality of scalers; And And an information generator for generating the information necessary for the scaling by using the number of the plurality of scalers and the set scaling factor and providing the plurality of scalers to the plurality of scalers. The method of claim 1, The plurality of scalers, A vertical scaler for scaling the image data in a vertical direction; And And a plurality of horizontal scalers arranged in parallel to scale the image data scaled in the vertical direction in a horizontal direction. The method of claim 1, The plurality of scalers, A plurality of horizontal scalers arranged in parallel to scale the image data in a horizontal direction; And And a plurality of vertical scalers arranged in parallel to scale the image data scaled in the horizontal direction in the vertical direction. The method of claim 1, And the information generating unit generates the number of dots to be output from each scaler, the distance interval between the output dots, and the initial interpolation position of each scaler by the following equation:

,

,

Here, X (out) is the number of dots to be output from each scaler, m is the number of dots located in one scan line of the input image data, N is the number of scalers arranged in parallel, IS (n) Is an initial interpolation position of each scaler, and n is a value of 1 to N as the number of scalers arranged in parallel. The method of claim 1, And a mask processor for rearranging a dither mask value in consideration of the number of the scalers used for the scaling. And the plurality of binarizers binarize the scaled image data by using the rearranged dither mask values. Generating information necessary for scaling using a number of scalers arranged in parallel and a scaling factor set; Scaling image data using the plurality of scalers; And And converting the scaled image data into binarization data by using a plurality of binarization units arranged in parallel to correspond to the plurality of scalers. The method of claim 6, The generating of the information may include generating a number of dots to be output from each scaler, a distance interval between the output dots, and an initial interpolation position of each scaler by the following equation:

,

,

Here, X (out) is the number of dots to be output from each scaler, m is the number of dots located in one scan line of the input image data, N is the number of scalers arranged in parallel, IS (n) Is an initial interpolation position of each scaler, and n is a value of 1 to N as the number of scalers arranged in parallel. The method of claim 6, Rearranging a dither mask value in consideration of the number of the scalers used for the scaling; And said converting converts said scaled image data into binarization data using said rearranged dither mask value. An image processing apparatus capable of image processing in color mode and mono mode, A scaling unit having a black scaler, a cyan scaler, a magenta scaler, and a yellow scaler arranged in parallel to scale the image data; A plurality of binarization units converting the scaled image data into binarization data and arranged in parallel to correspond to the plurality of scales; An information generator configured to generate the information necessary for the scaling by using the number of the scalers and the set scaling factor, and provide the information to the plurality of scalers; And And a controller which controls the scaling unit to scale the image data by using at least two of the plurality of scalers when the image data is processed in the mono mode. The method of claim 9, And the information generating unit generates the number of dots to be output from each scaler, the distance interval between the output dots, and the initial interpolation position of each scaler by the following equation:

,

,

Here, X (out) is the number of dots to be output from each scaler, m is the number of dots located in one scan line of the input image data, N is the number of scalers arranged in parallel, IS (n) Is an initial interpolation position of each scaler, and n is a value of 1 to N as the number of scalers arranged in parallel.

Images