TWI650251B - Compressed data structure and printing data compression method and printing method using the same - Google Patents

Abstract

An object of the present invention is to provide a compressed data structure and a printing data compressing method and a printing method using the compressed data which can be easily corrected when the printed material is corrected. The solution is to use a compressed data structure including the number of the plurality of droplet discharge materials, the respective positions of the plurality of droplet discharge materials, and the droplet discharge amount at the respective positions. And a printing data compression method including a dividing step and a compressing step, wherein the dividing step is to divide the printing data as a discharge timing of the liquid droplets and a nozzle position at which the liquid droplets are discharged, and the compression step is to perform the above-described certain The aforementioned print data of the section is compressed into the above-described compressed data structure.

Description

Compressed data structure and printing data compression method and printing method using the same

Field of invention

The present invention relates to a compressed data structure and a printing material compression method and printing method using the same. In particular, there are a compressed material structure in the case of applying a droplet, a printing material compression method and a printing method using the same.

Background of the invention

As a method of manufacturing a color filter of a liquid crystal display or an element such as an organic EL display, there is a method of using an inkjet. That is, it is a method in which a liquid material containing a functional material is discharged as a liquid droplet from a plurality of nozzles of an inkjet device to form a film of a functional material on the object to be coated.

In the embodiment of such an inkjet device, the discharge pattern is processed as printed material. The above printed materials used for the batch switching of the object to be coated or the change in the nozzle state of the inkjet device are switched. In this way, flexible production is feasible.

In liquid crystal or organic EL displays, large-screening and high-definition are continued, and it is necessary to produce inkjet printing apparatuses such as those corresponding to high-definition printing. In the discharge pattern for large screens and high-precision objects to be coated, the capacity of printed materials used for printing is allowed. It becomes bulky, and the capacity of the memory storing the printed material or the transmission time of the data becomes a problem. Therefore, a configuration generally used is to compress printed materials for transmission and to perform decompression one by one at the time of printing.

As the data compression method described above, since decompression by hardware can be easily realized, a run length method such as a Pack Bits method in which compression and decompression are performed by simple logic is used. A compression method has been widely used (for example, refer to Patent Document 1).

Prior technical literature

Patent literature

Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2004-274509

Summary of invention

However, in the conventional compression method using the variable length method, there is a problem that the compressed data cannot be corrected when the data is corrected.

In particular, in the inkjet printing apparatus, although there are about a few percent from the entire printed material, it is necessary to correct the printed data in accordance with changes in the nozzle state such as positional deviation or clogging. In the conventional compression method using the variable length method, in order to correct only a few % of data, it is necessary to correct, compress, and transmit the entire printed data. As a result, it has a great influence on the utilization rate of the device. It has become a big issue in considering mass production.

Therefore, the object of the present invention is to provide printing When the data is generated and corrected, the compressed data structure of the compressed data and the printing data compression method and printing method using the structure can be easily corrected.

In order to solve the above problem, a compressed data structure including the number of the plurality of droplet discharge materials, the respective positions of the plurality of droplet discharge materials, and the droplet discharge amount at the respective positions is used.

Further, a compressed data structure including the number of the plurality of droplet discharge materials, the respective positions of the plurality of droplet discharge materials, and the additional information at the respective positions is used.

Further, a printing data compression method including a dividing step and a compressing step for dividing the print data as a discharge timing of the liquid droplets and a map of the nozzle positions for discharging the liquid droplets at regular intervals is used. The printed data in the predetermined section is compressed into the compressed data structure described above.

Further, a printing method including the following steps is employed: a printing material reading step of reading a printing pattern of information of a bank of a panel to be printed; a nozzle filling step is not performed, and a blocked nozzle is filled with other nozzles. The positional deviation correcting step of changing the discharge timing of the liquid droplets when the dropping position of the liquid droplets discharged from the nozzles is different; and the compressing step, the printing material reading step, the non-discharging nozzle filling step, and the positional deviation correcting step Producing printed materials, and compressing the printed materials using the compressed data structure described above; a transmitting step of transferring the compressed data to an inkjet head; a decompressing step of decompressing the transmitted compressed data to form the printed material; and a printing step of the substrate being decompressed with the printed data Printed.

According to the present invention, data can be compressed and decompressed by simple logic, so that rewriting of data in a compressed state becomes possible, and even if there is discontinuous data, compression can be performed without lowering the compression ratio. In one aspect of the present disclosure,

101‧‧‧Substrate

101a‧‧‧Touch

102‧‧‧Inkjet head

102a‧‧‧Nozzles

103‧‧‧Printing Data Generation Department

103a‧‧‧Printed Data Generator

103b‧‧‧Printed data compressor

103c‧‧‧Printing data transmitter

104‧‧‧Inkjet Head Control Department

104a‧‧‧Printed data receiver

104b‧‧‧Printed data storage memory

104c‧‧‧ position detector

104d‧‧‧Printing timing generator

104e‧‧‧Drive Signal Generator

104f‧‧‧Printed data decompressor

104g‧‧‧Drive Signal Selector

501‧‧‧Printing data reading steps

502‧‧‧Do not spit out the nozzle filling step

503‧‧‧Revising steps

504, 507‧‧‧ compression steps

505‧‧‧Transfer steps

506, 508‧‧‧Printing steps

509‧‧‧Compressed data rewriting steps

601‧‧00 pixels

602‧‧1 pixels

701, 1301, 1302‧‧‧Number of droplets spit out

Relative positions of 702, 704, 706, 802, 805, 808, 1303, 1305, 1307, 1309, 1311‧‧

703, 705, 707, 803, 804, 806, 807, 809, 810‧‧‧ droplet discharge

1304, 1306, 1308, 1310, 1312‧‧‧ Additional information

Fig. 1 is a flowchart showing a droplet discharge program of the ink jet printing apparatus in the first embodiment.

Fig. 2 is a view showing printed materials used in the ink jet printing apparatus in the first embodiment.

Fig. 3 (a) is a view showing printed material in the first embodiment, (b) is a view showing printed matter after nozzle filling processing using the printed material of (a), and (c) is for displaying (a). A printed map of printed materials after correction of positional deviation.

Figure 4(a) is a view showing compressed data in the case where Pack Bits compression has been performed on the printed material of Figure 3(a), and (b) shows that Pack Bits compression has been performed on the printed material of Figure 3(b). In the case of the compressed data, (c) is a view showing the compressed data when the package data of FIG. 3(c) has been subjected to Pack Bits compression.

5(a) to 5(b) are flowcharts of a droplet discharge program of the inkjet printing apparatus in the case of using the conventional image compression method.

Fig. 6 is a pie chart showing the ratio of the discharge pixels of the print material of Fig. 2;

Fig. 7 is a view showing a first structure of compressed data in the first embodiment;

Fig. 8 is a view showing a second structure of the compressed material in the first embodiment.

Fig. 9 is a graph showing the ratio of the length of the compression section to the discharge pixel in the first embodiment.

Fig. 10 (a) is a view showing compressed data in a case where the print data of Fig. 3 (a) is compressed by the image compression method of the first embodiment, and (b) is a view showing image compression using the first embodiment. A method of compressing data in the case where the printed material of FIG. 3(b) is compressed, and (c) showing a case where the printed material of FIG. 3(c) is compressed by the image compressing method of the first embodiment. A map of the compressed data.

Fig. 11 (a) is a view showing compressed data in the case where the print data of Fig. 3 (a) is compressed by the image compression method of the second embodiment, and (b) is a view showing the image compression using the second embodiment. A method of compressing data in the case where the printed material of FIG. 3(b) is compressed, and (c) showing a case where the printed material of FIG. 3(c) is compressed by the image compressing method of the second embodiment. A map of the compressed data.

Figs. 12(a) through 12(b) are flowcharts showing the operation of the ink jet printing apparatus of the third embodiment in the case of using the image compressing methods of the first and second embodiments.

Fig. 13 is a view showing the structure of a compressed data in the image compression method of the fourth embodiment.

Form for implementing the invention

Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. Hereinafter, the embodiment is described as an example and is not intended to be limiting.

(Embodiment 1)

Hereinafter, an embodiment of the image compression method and the image compression system according to the first embodiment will be described with reference to the drawings.

(Composition of the spit out line)

Fig. 1 is a block diagram showing a discharge line of the ink jet printing apparatus in the first embodiment.

First, the components of the inkjet printing apparatus will be described with reference to the block diagram of FIG. 1.

It has a substrate 101 to be printed. There is a bank 101a (recess) formed on the substrate 101. The bank 101a is disposed on the substrate 101 at a constant pitch with respect to the printing scanning direction x. The printing scanning direction x is a direction in which the substrate 101 moves relative to the inkjet head 102.

One or a plurality of inkjet heads 102 are arranged and arranged in a direction y orthogonal to the printing scanning direction x. There are a plurality of nozzles 102a in the ink jet head 102. The plurality of nozzles 102a are arranged and arranged in a direction y orthogonal to the printing scanning direction x.

The print data generating unit 103 is composed of a print data generator 103a, a print data compressor 103b, and a print data transmitter 103c.

The head control unit 104 is a print data receiver 104a, a print data storage memory 104b, a position detector 104c, a print timing generator 104d, a drive signal generator 104e, a print data decompressor 104f, and a drive signal selector. Made up of 104g.

(action of spitting out the line)

Next, the operation of the inkjet printing apparatus will be described.

First, the flow of data from the generation of the printed material to the transmission will be described first.

In the print data generator 103a of the print data generating unit 103, the print information is generated based on the design information of the substrate 101 to be printed, the jam information of the nozzle of the inkjet head 102, and the positional deviation information discharged from the ink of the nozzle. Printed materials.

In the print data compressor 103b, the print data generated by the print data generator 103a is compressed, and the compressed print data is generated.

In the print material transmitter 103c, the compressed print material generated by the print data compressor 103b is transferred to the print data receiver 104a in the ink jet head control unit 104.

In the print data receiver 104a, the compressed print data received by the print material transmitter 103c is stored in the print data storage memory 104b.

Next, the flow of the material at the time of printing will be described.

At the time of printing, the substrate 101 to be printed is moved relative to the inkjet head 102 in the x direction. At this time, the inkjet head control section 104 The position detector 104c detects a change in the relative position of the substrate 101 and causes it to generate a timing pulse that matches the relative position change.

The printing timing generator 104d divides the timing pulse output from the position detector 104c based on the printing resolution Rx, and generates and outputs a printing timing signal for specifying the timing of generating the voltage waveform of the nozzle 102a of the inkjet head 102. .

The drive signal generator 104e outputs a drive waveform of the nozzle 102a of the ink jet head 102 based on the print timing signal generated by the print timing generator 104d.

The print data decompressor 104f reads and decompresses the print data stored in the compressed state of the print data storage memory 104b line by line according to the printing timing signal generated by the printing timing generator 104d to generate a solution. Printed material in a compressed state.

The drive signal selection unit 104g sets the nozzle drive waveform transmitted by the drive signal generator 104e to be turned on/off for each nozzle based on the print data transmitted from the print data decompressor 104f, thereby controlling the ink of the ink jet head 102. Whether there is spit out.

(Description of printed image and nozzle complement, deviation correction)

Next, the nozzle complement and the positional deviation correction performed in accordance with the form of the printed material used in the first embodiment and the change in the nozzle state will be described.

A conceptual diagram of the printed material used in the first embodiment is shown in FIG.

The longitudinal direction of Fig. 2 is set as a column. This column is printed with Figure 1. The operation direction x is the same direction. The lateral direction of Fig. 2 is set as a line. This line is the same direction as the direction y of FIG. 1 orthogonal to the printing scanning direction. In addition, the grid of FIG. 2 is a pixel which shows a printed material, and "1" is a discharge pixel, and "0" is a non-discharge pixel.

The column direction is the scanning direction in which the nozzle 102a moves relative to the substrate 101. Therefore, the column direction is the timing of discharge indicating the droplets from the nozzle 102a. The row direction is the direction in which the nozzles 102a are arranged. As a result, the printed material of FIG. 2 is a two-dimensional data or a map formed by the nozzle 102a for discharge and the timing of discharge.

Here, the discharge pixel "1" of FIG. 2 is placed at the position of the bank 101a of the panel to be printed of FIG. 1, and the number of discharge pixels "1" is the amount of ink supplied to the bank 101a. Quite the necessary amount to configure. For example, it is also possible to set it to 2 when it is to be discharged twice. The image compression method according to the first embodiment may be compression other than the binary information corresponding to "1" and "0", but here is a white image in which only "1" and "0" are simply described. Take an example for explanation.

3(a) to 3(c) are conceptual diagrams showing the nozzle filling and positional deviation correction performed on the inkjet printing apparatus used in the first embodiment.

Fig. 3(a) shows the print data before the nozzle complement and the positional deviation correction, and is obtained by taking 128 pieces of data from the 0th column to the 15th column and the 0th line to the 7th line of Fig. 2 as an example.

3(b) is a nozzle filling step in a state in which the nozzles of the second row, the eighth column, and the fifteenth column of the image of FIG. 3(a) are blocked. The image at the time. Here, the nozzles of the first row are replaced by the nozzles of the second row, the nozzles of the seventh row are replaced by the nozzles of the eighth row, and the nozzles of the 14th row are replaced by the nozzles of the fifteenth row, and FIG. 3(a) The first line of the discharge timing is discharged, whereby the amount of ink supplied to the bank 101a of the pixel of the substrate 101 of FIG. 1 can be compensated.

3(c) is a view in which a position in the longitudinal direction is formed when the liquid droplets discharged from the nozzles of the second row, the eighth column, and the fifth column of the image of FIG. 3(a) are dropped onto the substrate 101 as a panel. In the case of the deviation, the image at the time of the positional deviation correction step was performed. Here, it is assumed that the second column, the eighth column, and the fifteenth column are each shifted by one pixel in the longitudinal direction, and the ejection timing is delayed by one line to eliminate the drop to the panel. Positional deviation.

(Explain the previous method by taking the Pack Bits compression method as an example)

Here, a Pack Bits method of a conventional compression method using the variable length method will be described with reference to FIGS. 4(a) to 4(c). Here, the change of the image after compression in the case where the nozzle complement and the positional deviation correction which have been used in the inkjet printing apparatus are performed specifically is demonstrated.

Here, the Pack Bits compression method will be briefly described. The Pack Bits compression method is a compression method based on the variable length method. In this compression, compression is performed by replacing the continuous data with the data structure of the "number" and "value" of the so-called data. In this case, when the data is continuous, the above-mentioned "number" is described as "-1 × consecutive number of data +1". When the data is not continuous, it is the former The "number" described is described in the form of "number of non-continuous data -1".

In addition, since the above-mentioned "number" is described as 1 Byte (byte), any of the continuous and non-continuous ones may be divided and recorded when the number of data exceeds 129.

4(a) to 4(c) show compressed data in the case where Pack Bits compression has been performed on Figs. 3(a) to (c). Similarly to Fig. 3(a) to Fig. 3(c), Fig. 4(a) shows the print data before the nozzle complement and position deviation correction, and Fig. 4(b) shows the print data after the nozzle fills, and Fig. 4(c) shows Printed information after the position deviation is corrected. 4(a) to 4(c) are described as one-dimensional arrays, and the added characters on the data are numbers indicating the arrangement.

Here, in this case, the compression step is sequentially performed from the upper left side in the horizontal direction of the image, and the manner of reading the 0th column of the next line when the 15th column in the lateral direction is performed is set. Instead of performing operations that separate compression in rows.

Taking FIG. 4(a) as an example, the compression using the Pack Bits method will be briefly explained. Since Fig. 4(a) is a result of compressing Fig. 3(a), it will be described with reference to Fig. 3(a). Since the data of the 0th row and the 0th column in the upper left of FIG. 3(a) is "0" and continues until the 0th column and the 15th column, it is a case where 16 zeros are continued. Therefore, since the number of compressed data is obtained by "-1×16+1" and the value of the data is "0", the data indicating the 0th in Fig. 4(a) is filled in. The number of "-15" is entered, and the value "0" indicating the value of the data is filled in to the first one. Similarly, since four "1"s are continuously formed from the first row to the first row and the third column in the first row to the third column of Fig. 3(a), "-" is filled in the second of Fig. 4(a). 3", and fill in the first one with "1". Figure 3(a) can be compressed into the data of Figure 4(a) by repeating the following steps.

Next, the results of the case where the image after the nozzle is complemented is subjected to Pack Bits compression will be described with reference to FIGS. 4(b) and 3(b). In Fig. 3(b), since the nozzle complement has been performed, the data of the 0th row, the 1st row, the 5th row, and the 6th row are changed in Figs. 3(a) and 3(b). . In the 0th line of Fig. 3(b), the continuous data is divided by filling in "1" in the first, seventh, and fourth columns. And it becomes a compressed data of a total of 7 "0", 1 "1", 5 "0", 1 "1", 6 "0", 1 "1", and 1 "0". . Therefore, it becomes the total of 14 pieces of information from the 0th to the 13th of FIG. 4(b). Compared with Fig. 4(a), the length of the compressed data is increased by 12. Since the distribution of the data is changed by the nozzles as described above, the number of data after the compression is changed, and the number of data after the nozzles are filled in FIG. 4(b) is 26 cases without the nozzles being filled. After the nozzle is filled, it becomes 66.

Next, the results of the case where the image corrected by the positional deviation is subjected to Pack Bits compression will be described using FIG. 4(c) and FIG. 3(c). In Fig. 3(c), since the positional deviation correction has been performed, the data of the 0th line, the 1st line, the 5th line, and the 6th line are changed in Fig. 3(c). In the case of the 0th behavior example of FIG. 3(c), since the continuous data is divided by "1" in the 2nd, 8th, and 15th columns, two "0"s and one "" will be formed. A total of six compressed data of 1", 5 "0"s, 1 "1", 6 "0"s, and 3 "1"s (but the 0th and 1st columns of the next line are also included).

Therefore, it becomes the 0th to 11th of Figure 4(c). A total of 12 materials. As a result, compared with FIG. 4(a), the length of the compressed data is increased by six. Since the distribution of the data changes due to the positional deviation correction as described above, the number of compressed data changes. Therefore, the number of pieces of information after the nozzles are filled in FIG. 4(c) is 58 in the case where there are 26 cases where there is no nozzle filling.

As described above, in the compression method using the variable length method (Pack Bits method), since the compression is performed using the continuity of the data, if the continuity of the data is changed by the nozzle complement or the positional deviation correction, the data is caused. The length changes. Therefore, when performing nozzle filling or position deviation correction, all the data must be recompressed again.

(previous printing procedure)

The operation of the ink jet printer when the Pack Bits compression using the conventional compression method is used is shown in FIGS. 5(a) to 5(b). Fig. 5(a) shows the operation flow at the time of the first printing, and Fig. 5(b) shows the operation when the filling is not performed and the positional deviation correction is changed.

First, it is explained with respect to FIG. 5(a).

In the printed material reading step 501, a print pattern is created by reading design information of the bank 101a of the pixel of the substrate 101 of the panel to be printed. The printed pattern is the bank 101a on the substrate 101 and its position, its size, and the like.

In the non-discharge nozzle filling step 502, as illustrated in FIG. 3(b), for the printed material of the printed material reading step 501, the blocked nozzle is filled with other nozzles or nearby nozzles. This fills the ink supplied to the bank 101a of the pixels of the substrate 101 of the printing target. The amount.

In the positional deviation correcting step 503, as described in FIG. 3(c), when the position at which the liquid droplets ejected from the respective nozzles are dropped in the longitudinal direction, the ink is made in relation to the printed material. The timing of the spitting is changed to eliminate the positional deviation.

In the compression step 504, as described with reference to Fig. 4, the compressed data is produced by compressing the printed material using a Pack Bits compression method which is a conventional method.

In the transmission step 505, the compressed material is transmitted from the print data generating unit 103 of Fig. 1 to the ink jet head control unit 104.

In the decompression step and the printing step 506, a decompression step of decompressing the compressed data to the printed material, and a movement of the substrate 101 matching the printing object of FIG. 1 is performed, and the printed material decompressed by 104b is performed. The step of printing.

Next, in FIG. 5(b), the flow of the steps in the case where the filling is not performed and the positional deviation correction is changed is shown. As described in FIG. 4, in the Pack Bits compression method of the conventional compression method, in the case where the continuity of the data is changed without causing a complement, a positional deviation correction, or the like with respect to the image, This will result in a change in the length of the compressed data. Therefore, when the nozzle complement and position deviation correction are performed, all the data must be recompressed again. Therefore, when the Pack Bits compression method of the conventional compression method is used without changing the complement and the positional deviation correction, the same operation as in FIG. 5(a) is performed, and all the data must be recompressed and transmitted.

(Description of the compression method and description of the data structure in the first embodiment)

The basic concept of the compression method of the embodiment will be described. A pie chart showing the ratio of the discharge pixels of the printed material of Fig. 2 is shown in Fig. 6. In the figure, "1" indicates a discharge pixel, and "0" indicates a non-discharge pixel. With respect to 8% of the ratio of the discharge pixel "1", the non-discharge pixel "0" is 92%, and it is understood that the non-discharge pixel "0" is overwhelmingly dominant.

The reason is as follows. In the ink jet printer according to the first embodiment, as explained in FIG. 3(c), the positional deviation in the x direction of the dropping position of the liquid droplets discharged from the respective nozzles is determined by the timing of discharge of the ink. Correction. Therefore, the resolution of the x direction of the printing press is set to a very small value of about 1/60 with respect to the pixel pitch in the x direction of the printing target. As a result, since it is set to be relatively small, the non-discharge pixel "0" is increased.

In the image compression method according to the first embodiment, compression is performed by the bias of the existence information of the discharge data and the non-discharge data peculiar to the ink jet printer included in the first embodiment.

Here, the discharge data is a droplet discharge material indicating a state in which a liquid droplet is discharged, and may include a droplet amount.

Therefore, in the image compression method according to the first embodiment, the non-discharge pixel "0" having the highest probability of existence is processed as known information. That is, the non-discharge pixel "0" is set to be unprocessed or does not exist. The data length is compressed in such a manner that only the information of the pixel "1" is recorded. The method considered is: pre-determining the printed data as the length of the compression interval The length is divided into sections, and the number of the ejection pixels "1" in the divided data and the value of the position of each ejection data are recorded, thereby compressing the data length. Further, the length of the compression section is a value that is predetermined in the compressor and the decompressor in advance, in consideration of the amount of memory that can be secured by the compressor and the decompressor.

Here, the compression interval length is a length when the data is divided and processed at regular intervals. However, it is desirable that the length of the compression interval is determined by the amount of information that can be processed by the controller. Therefore, when the amount of information that can be processed by the controller is larger than the total amount of information, the entire processing can be performed at one time.

In this compression method, after the data area in which the length of the compression section has been secured, the data is initialized by non-discharging data, and the data is rewritten based on the relative position and value of each spitting data in the compressed data. The data before compression is restored in the data area that has been initialized by the non-discharge data. Since this decompression step is a step of placing the point at which the pixel is ejected in the space in which the non-discharge pixel information is embedded, the image compression method according to the first embodiment is referred to as Put Bits compression.

(Data structure and data compression method of the embodiment)

FIG. 7 shows a data structure and a compression method of Put Bits compression in the image compression method according to the first embodiment.

First, the compression interval is determined as described above. That is, the printed material is then compressed into the following data structure.

The data structure will initially have a predetermined compression zone The number of discharged pixels "1" in the interval, that is, the number 701 of droplet discharge data. Next, there is a relative position 702 in which the head in each section of the first discharge pixel "1" is used as a reference. Next, there is a value of the first discharge pixel "1", that is, the droplet discharge amount 703. The first position in each section in which the pixel "1" is discharged is used as the reference relative position 704. There is a second discharge value of the pixel "1" and a droplet discharge amount 705. There is a relative position 706 in which the head in each section of the nth discharge pixel "1" is used as a reference. There is a value of the nth discharge pixel "1", and the droplet discharge amount 707.

Here, the order in which each of the discharge pixels is described is not necessarily not in the order of ascending or descending.

Further, in the image compression method according to the first embodiment, the compressed data capacity lc can be obtained by the following mathematical expression 1.

Here, le is the data capacity before compression, n is the compression interval length, and p is the ratio of the discharge pixel "1" in the compressed image.

Further, the compression ratio rc is obtained in the form of Mathematical Formula 2 by dividing the data capacity le before compression by the compressed data capacity lc.

Here, rc is the compression ratio of the data. As can be seen from Mathematical Formula 2, the compression ratio of the compression method of Embodiment 1 can be obtained by the compression interval length n. It is obtained from the ratio p of the discharge pixel "1" in the compressed image.

Further, in order for the compression method of the first embodiment to function effectively as a data compression method, at least rc>1 is necessary, and the following expression holds.

In other words, in order for the image compression method of the first embodiment to function effectively as data compression, it is necessary to satisfy the relationship of the ratio of the compression interval length n to the ratio p of the discharge pixel "1" in the compressed image.

A graph of Math Figure 3 is shown in FIG. The vertical axis of Fig. 9 is the ratio p of the discharge pixel "1", and the horizontal axis is the compression section length n. As can be seen from FIG. 9, when the length n of the compression section is increased, the ratio p of the discharge pixel "1" gradually becomes close to 0.5. From this, it is understood that in order for the image compression method of the first embodiment to function effectively as data compression, it is necessary to minimize the ratio of non-discharge pixels "0" in the print data to be compressed.

In addition, the relative position 702, 704, 706 of the compression section length n with respect to the beginning of each section of the first discharge pixel "1" of FIG. 7 is based on the restriction of the hardware at the time of compression and decompression. In the case where the data becomes a small value, the compression ratio can be increased by dividing a data position to record the position of the plurality of data.

For example, the compression interval length n is 16 Bytes (bytes) due to the limitation of the hardware at the time of compression and decompression, and the data type of the data position. In the case of 1 Byte, 1 byte representing the data location can represent 256 data locations from 0 to 255. However, in this case, the data location only needs to display 16 data locations of 0-15, so the remaining 16~255 will become useless.

Then, as shown in FIG. 8, 1 byte of the data position is divided into upper and lower 4 bits (bits), and 16 pieces of position information of 0 to 15 are recorded. Thereby, since two data positions in one byte can be recorded, the recording density can be increased to increase the compression ratio.

Here, the discharge pixel "1" in the predetermined section is the number 701. The relative position at which the head in each section of the first and second discharge pixels "1" is used as a reference is the relative position 802. The value of the first discharge pixel "1" is the droplet discharge amount 803. The value of the second discharge pixel "1" is the droplet discharge amount 804. The relative position at which the head in each section of the third and fourth discharge pixels "1" is used as a reference is the relative position 805. The value of the third discharge pixel "1" is the droplet discharge amount 806. The value of the fourth discharge pixel "1" is the droplet discharge amount 807. The relative position at which the head in each section of the nth and n+1th discharge pixels "1" is used as a reference is the relative position 808. The value of the nth discharge pixel "1" is the droplet discharge amount 809. The value of the n+1th discharge pixel "1" is the droplet discharge amount 810.

(Explanation when the entire image is compressed by the compression method of the first embodiment)

Here, the Put Bits compression of the image compression method according to the first embodiment described with reference to Fig. 7 will be described with reference to Figs. 10(a) to 10(c).

10(a) to 10(c) are images using the first embodiment The Bit Bits compression method of the compression method compresses the data from Fig. 3(a) to Fig. 3(c).

Similarly to Fig. 3 (a) to Fig. 3 (c), Fig. 10 (a) shows the print data before the nozzle complement and position deviation correction, and Fig. 10 (b) shows the print data after the nozzle fills, Fig. 10 (c) Printed material corrected for positional deviation.

10(a) to 10(c) are described as one-dimensional arrays, and the added characters on the data are numbers indicating the arrangement.

Here, in this case, the compression step is sequentially performed from the upper left side in the horizontal direction of the image, and in order to perform the data in the horizontal direction, the reading is performed in the 15th column in the horizontal direction. The way of column 0 of a row.

Taking FIG. 10(a) as an example, a compression procedure using Put Bits compression using the image compression method of the first embodiment will be briefly described. Since Fig. 10(a) is a result of compressing Fig. 3(a), it will be described with reference to Fig. 3(a). Here, the compression section length in the Put Bits compression of the image compression method according to the first embodiment is set to 128. Fig. 3(a) has a total of 128 data, in which the non-spit pixel "0" exists in the 1st row and the 6th row, and is 4 from the 0th column to the 3rd column, and from the 6th column to Four of the nine columns and four of the four columns from the 12th column to the 15th column are 24 in total.

Therefore, in the data of No. 0 of Fig. 10(a), "24" is recorded as the number of pieces of data in the compression section, and then the relative position and value of each material from 0 rows and 0 columns are recorded. Here, the discharge pixel "1" in the first row and the zeroth column of FIG. 3(a) will be described as an example. Since the data in the first row and the zeroth column of Fig. 3(a) is the data No. 16 from the 0th row and the 0th column to the right direction, The data position "16" is recorded in the first data of Fig. 10(a), and the data value "1" is recorded in the second data.

With respect to Fig. 3(a), the same steps are performed on the remaining 23 pieces of data to obtain the result of Fig. 10(a), and 128 pieces of data are compressed into 49 pieces of data.

Next, the results of the case where the nozzles of the Put Bits compressed image of the image compression method according to the first embodiment are complemented by the nozzles will be described with reference to FIGS. 10(b) and 3(b). In Fig. 3(b), since the nozzle complement has been performed, the data of the 0th line, the 1st line, the 5th line, and the 6th line are changed in Figs. 3(a) and (b). In the 0th and 1st rows of Fig. 3(a), the discharge pixel "1" is moved from the 1st row and the 2nd column to the 0th row and the 1st column, and the 1st row and the 8th column. Move to row 0, column 7, move from row 15, column 15, row to row 14, column 14.

Further, in the fifth and sixth rows, the discharge pixel "1" is moved from the sixth row to the second column to the fifth row and the first column, and from the sixth row to the eighth column to the fifth row and the seventh column. The 15th column of the 6th row moves to the 5th row and the 14th column. As described above, when one pixel is changed from the discharge pixel "1" to the non-discharge pixel "0" in the nozzle complement, the nearby non-discharge pixel "0" is changed to the discharge pixel.

By using the Put Bits compression of the image compression method of the first embodiment, this operation can be performed directly on the compressed data. Fig. 10 (b) shows the result of the nozzle filling performed in Fig. 3 (b) for the compressed data of Fig. 10 (a). The triangular mark on the added text of each material of Fig. 10(b) indicates the data change place.

As described above, when one pixel is changed from the discharge pixel "1" to the non-discharge pixel "0" in the nozzle complement, the non-discharge pixel "0" in the vicinity is changed to the discharge pixel "1", so that In the same compression interval, the step of filling up the discharge pixel "1" can be performed by rewriting the position of the discharge pixel "1" in the compressed material.

Here, an example in which the discharge pixel "1" in the first row and the second column of FIG. 3(a) is moved to the 0th row and the first column in FIG. 3(b) will be described. In FIG. 10(a), the discharge pixel "1" in the first row and the second column of FIG. 3(a) has the position information "18" recorded in the No. 5 material, and is recorded in the No. 6 material. The value is "1".

Therefore, by rewriting the position information "18" of the No. 5 data to "1" of the position information of the 0th row and the 1st column of FIG. 3(b) in FIG. 10(a), The ejection pixel "1" in the first row and the second column of Fig. 3(a) is moved to the 0th row and the first column of Fig. 3(b). In Fig. 10(b), the nozzle filling step is performed by performing the same steps on the data of Nos. 13, 23, 29, 37, and 47. As described above, in the Put Bits compression of the image compression method according to the first embodiment, even if the nozzle is complemented, the amount of data after compression does not change.

Next, a result of a case where the positional deviation correction is performed on the image of the Put Bits compression of the image compression method according to the first embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 10(c) and 3(c). In Fig. 3(c), since the positional deviation correction has been performed, the data of the 0th line, the 1st line, the 5th line, and the 6th line in Fig. 3 (a) and (c) have changed.

For the impact of data changes, in the 0, 1 of Figure 3 (a) In the row, the discharge pixel "1" is moved from the first row and the second column to the 0th row and the second column, from the first row to the eighth column to the 0th column and the eighth column, and from the first row to the 15th column. Line 0, column 15. Further, in the fifth and sixth rows, the discharge pixel "1" is moved from the sixth row to the second column to the fifth row and the second column, and from the sixth row to the eighth column to the fifth row and the eighth column. The 15th column of the 6th row moves to the 15th column of the 5th row. As described above, when one pixel is changed from the discharge pixel "1" to the non-discharge pixel "0" in the positional deviation correction, the non-discharge pixel "0" of the same column is changed to the discharge pixel "1". situation.

By using the Put Bits compression of the image compression method of the first embodiment, this operation can be performed directly on the compressed data. Fig. 10 (c) shows the result of the positional deviation correction performed in Fig. 3 (c) for the compressed data of Fig. 10 (a). The triangular mark on the added text of each material of Fig. 10(c) indicates the data change place. As described above, when one pixel is changed from the discharge pixel "1" to the non-discharge pixel "0" in the positional deviation correction, the non-discharge pixel "0" of the same column is changed to the discharge pixel "1", so that In the same compression interval, the step of correcting the positional deviation of the discharge pixel "1" can be performed by rewriting the position of the discharge pixel "1" in the compressed material.

Here, an example in which the discharge pixel "1" in the first row and the second column of FIG. 3(a) is moved to the 0th row and the 2nd column in FIG. 3(b) will be described. In FIG. 10(a), the discharge pixel "1" in the first row and the second column of FIG. 3(a) has the position information "18" recorded in the No. 5 material, and is recorded in the No. 6 material. The value is "1". Therefore, in FIG. 10(a), the position information "18" of the No. 5 data is rewritten to the position information of the 0th row and the 2nd column of FIG. 3(b). In the case of "2", the ejection pixel "1" in the first row and the second column of Fig. 3(a) is moved to the 0th row and the second column of Fig. 3(b). In FIG. 10(b), the positional deviation correcting step is performed by performing the same steps on the data of the thirteenth, the thirteenth, the thirteenth, the thirteenth, and the seventh.

As described above, in the Put Bits compression of the image compression method according to the first embodiment, even if the positional deviation is corrected, there is no case where the amount of data after compression changes.

(Embodiment 2)

The second embodiment is a case where the discharge image is compressed in a row using the compression method of the first embodiment. The items that are not described are the same as those in the first embodiment.

Next, description will be made using FIGS. 11(a) to 11(c).

11(a) to 11(c) show the data in the case of compressing Figs. 3(a) to 3(c) by Put Bits compression using the image compression method of the second embodiment, and Fig. 3(a) 3(c) Similarly, Fig. 11(a) shows the printed data before the nozzle complement and the positional deviation correction, Fig. 11(b) shows the printed data after the nozzle is filled, and Fig. 11(c) shows the corrected positional deviation. Printed materials. 11(a) to 11(c) are described as one-dimensional arrays, and the added characters on the data are numbers indicating the arrangement.

Further, here, the method of sequentially performing the compression step from the upper left side of the image in the lateral direction.

Taking Fig. 11(a) as an example, a compression procedure using Put Bits compression using the image compression method of the first embodiment will be briefly described. Since Fig. 11(a) is a result of compressing Fig. 3(a), it is referred to Fig. 3(a). Bright. Here, the compression section length in the Put Bits compression of the image compression method according to the first embodiment is 16 which is the data length of one line in FIG. 3(a). Further, when the data of the discharge pixel "1" is moved beyond the compression section, since the data that can be rewritten to the discharge pixel "1" must be present in the compression section of the movement destination, even in the compression section during data compression The non-discharging data is 0, or it is necessary to make the rewriting of the spit data feasible by configuring a certain amount of virtual spit data.

The virtual spit data is as long as the location information is not duplicated with other spit data, and is arbitrary, but the value must be non-discharge data "0". Here, a case where three virtual discharge materials are embedded in each discharge section will be described as an example. The number of virtual ejection data is determined in advance at the time of data compression depending on the change in the discharge position of the ink jet head to be used or the frequency of occurrence of clogging. This time, the virtual ejection data is set to three.

When each row is compressed in a state in which three virtual ejection materials are embedded as shown in Fig. 3(a) as described above, it will be in the form of Fig. 11(a). Here, the embedding of the virtual ejection data will be described with reference to the 0th behavior example of FIG. 3(a). Since the 0th line of Fig. 3(a) is that all the data are non-discharged data, usually the compressed data will become only "0" of the number of uncompressed data, but since it is embedded in 3 virtual When the data is ejected, the number of spit data will be "3", and "3" will be recorded in the No. 0 data of Fig. 11(a). Further, since each virtual ejection data is only required to have a value of 0, all the data of the first to sixth numbers in Fig. 11(a) are recorded as 0.

Next, the first row of Figure 3(a) will have columns 0 to 3 4 of the 4th, 6th to 9th, and 12th of the 12th to the 15th, total 12, so record "12" in the 7th data of Figure 11(a). And the relative position and value of each spit data are recorded in No. 8 to No. 31 of Fig. 11 (a).

Here, the discharge pixel "1" in the first row and the zeroth column of FIG. 3(a) will be described as an example. Since the data in the first row and the zeroth column of Fig. 3(a) is the data of the 0th from the first row and the 0th column, the number is recorded in the eighth data of Fig. 11(a). The data position is "0", and the data value "1" is recorded in the data of the second. By performing such steps on the remaining 2nd line to the 7th line in Fig. 3(a), the result of Fig. 11(a) is formed and becomes a case where 128 pieces of data are compressed into 91 pieces of data.

Next, the results of the case where the nozzles are complemented by the Put Bits compression of the image compression method according to the first embodiment and the nozzles are complemented by the image compression method will be described with reference to FIGS. 11(b) and 3(b). In Fig. 3(b), since the nozzle complement has been performed, the data of the 0th line, the 1st line, the 5th line, and the 6th line are changed in Figs. 3(a) and (b). In the 0th and 1st rows of Fig. 3(a), the discharge pixel "1" is moved from the 1st row and the 2nd column to the 0th row and the 1st column, and the 1st row and the 8th column. Move to row 0, column 7, move from row 15, column 15, row to row 14, column 14.

Further, in the fifth and sixth rows, the discharge pixel "1" is moved from the sixth row to the second column to the fifth row and the first column, and from the sixth row to the eighth column to the fifth row and the seventh column. The 15th column of the 6th row moves to the 5th row and the 14th column. As described above, when one pixel is changed from the discharge pixel "1" to the non-discharge pixel "0" in the nozzle complement, the non-discharge pixel "0" in the vicinity is changed to spit. The case of the pixel "1". By using the Put Bits compression of the image compression method of the first embodiment, this operation can be performed directly on the compressed data.

Fig. 11 (b) shows the result of the nozzle filling performed in Fig. 3 (b) for the compressed data of Fig. 11 (a). The triangular mark on the added text of each material of Fig. 11(b) indicates the data change place. As described above, when one pixel is changed from the discharge pixel "1" to the non-discharge pixel "0" in the nozzle complement, the nearby non-discharge pixel "0" is changed to the discharge pixel "1", so that the discharge is performed. In the step of "1", the value of the target discharge pixel "1" can be rewritten to the non-discharge pixel "0", and the position of the virtual discharge pixel of the compression section of the nozzle complement destination can be rewritten to the nozzle complement destination. Correspondence is made by rewriting the position of the pixel and rewriting the value to the discharge pixel "1".

Here, an example in which the discharge pixel "1" in the first row and the second column of FIG. 3(a) is moved to the 0th row and the first column in FIG. 3(b) will be described. In the first row and the second column of Fig. 3(a), the discharge pixel "1" is recorded in the data of the 12th in the position information "2" in Fig. 11 (a), and recorded in the data of the 13th. The value is "1".

Therefore, by changing the value "1" of the 13th data to "0" in FIG. 11(a), the discharge pixel "1" in the first row and the second column is changed to the non-discharge pixel" 0".

Next, since the data of the 0th row and the 1st column of FIG. 3(b) is written to the virtual discharge data of the compression section of the 0th row, it is written as FIG. 3 in the first material of FIG. 11(b) ( b) The position information of the 0th row and the 1st column is "1", and is written as the 0th line of Fig. 3(b) in the second data of Fig. 11(b). The "1" of the value of the first column changes the non-discharge pixel "0" to the discharge pixel "1".

According to the above procedure, the ejection pixel "1" in the first row and the second column of FIG. 3(a) is moved to the 0th row and the first column of FIG. 3(b). In FIG. 11(b), steps 21, 31, 66, 74, and 84 are performed to rewrite the value of the discharge pixel "1" to the non-discharge pixel "0", and 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, and 59 perform the step of rewriting the position and value of the virtual ejection pixel to the discharge pixel "1", thereby performing the nozzle filling step.

As described above, in the Put Bits compression of the image compression method according to the first embodiment, even if the nozzle is complemented, the amount of data after compression does not change.

Next, the result of the case where the positional deviation correction is performed on the image of the Put Bits compression of the image compression method of the first embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 11(c) and 3(c). In Fig. 3(c), since the positional deviation correction has been performed, the data of the 0th line, the 1st line, the 5th line, and the 6th line in Fig. 3 (a) and (c) have changed.

In the 0th and 1st rows of Fig. 3(a), the discharge pixel "1" is moved from the 1st row and the 2nd column to the 0th row and the 2nd column, and the 1st row and the 8th column. Move to the 0th column and the 8th column, and move from the 15th column of the 1st row to the 15th column of the 0th row. Further, in the fifth and sixth rows, the discharge pixel "1" is moved from the sixth row to the second column to the fifth row and the second column, and from the sixth row to the eighth column to the fifth row and the eighth column. The 15th column of the 6th row moves to the 15th column of the 5th row. As described above, when the positional deviation correction is made, one pixel is changed from the discharge pixel "1". When the pixels are not ejected, the non-discharge pixels of the same column are changed to the discharge pixel "1".

By using the Put Bits compression of the image compression method of the first embodiment, this operation can be performed directly on the compressed data. Fig. 11 (c) shows the result of the positional deviation correction performed in Fig. 3 (c) for the compressed data of Fig. 11 (a). The triangular mark on the added text of each material of Fig. 10(c) indicates the data change place.

As described above, when one pixel is changed from the discharge pixel "1" to the non-discharge pixel in the nozzle complement, the non-discharge pixel in the same column is changed to the discharge pixel "1", so that the discharge pixel "1" is performed. In the step of correcting the positional deviation, the value of the target discharge pixel "1" can be rewritten as a non-discharge pixel, and the position of the virtual discharge pixel of the compression section of the positional deviation correction destination can be rewritten as the pixel of the positional deviation correction destination. The position is changed, and the value is rewritten to discharge the pixel "1", thereby performing correspondence.

Here, an example in which the discharge pixel "1" in the first row and the second column of FIG. 3(a) is moved to the 0th row and the 2nd column in FIG. 3(c) will be described. In the first row and the second column of Fig. 3(a), the discharge pixel "1" is recorded in the data of the 12th in the position information "2" in Fig. 11 (a), and recorded in the data of the 13th. The value is "1".

Therefore, by rewriting the value "1" of the 13th data to "0" in FIG. 11(a), the discharge pixel "1" in the first row and the second column is changed to the non-discharge pixel. . Next, since the data of the 0th row and the 2nd column of FIG. 3(b) is written for the virtual ejection data of the compression section of the 0th line, It is written as "2" of the position information of the 0th row and the 2nd column of Fig. 3(b) in the first data of Fig. 11(c), and is written in the second material of Fig. 11(c). The "1" of the value of the 0 row and 2 column of FIG. 3(b) is changed, and the non-discharge pixel is changed to the discharge pixel "1".

According to the above procedure, the ejection pixel "1" in the first row and the second column of FIG. 3(a) is moved to the 0th row and the second column of FIG. 3(c). In FIG. 11(c), steps 21, 31, 66, 74, and 84 are performed to rewrite the value of the discharge pixel "1" to a non-discharge pixel, and 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 54 are performed. 55, 56, 57, 58, and 59 perform the step of rewriting the position and value of the virtual ejection pixel to the discharge pixel "1", thereby performing the positional deviation correcting step. As described above, in the Put Bits compression of the image compression method according to the first embodiment, even if the positional deviation is corrected, there is no case where the amount of data after compression changes.

In the first embodiment, all the data are formed into one block and compressed. Therefore, when the amount of data becomes large, it is difficult to compress due to the range in which the "data type of the data location" can be expressed.

In the second embodiment, instead of compressing by one block, the data is divided into a plurality of sections and compressed, and the section of the first compression amount is set as a range in which the data type of the data position can be expressed. In this way, even if the amount of data becomes large, it can be well matched.

However, in order to move the data between the compression sections, the corresponding processing can be performed, and the data can be rewritten in a manner of embedding 0 data in advance.

(Embodiment 3)

The method of printing in the case where the compression method of the first and second embodiments is compressed is described as the third embodiment. The items that are not described are the same as those in the first and second embodiments.

As described above, in the Put Bits compression of the image compression method according to the first and second embodiments, the data length is not changed even if the nozzle complement or the positional deviation correction is performed. Therefore, even when the nozzle complement or the positional deviation correction is performed, it is not necessary to recompress all the data again, and it is possible to perform the correspondence only by the correction of the change.

The operation of the ink jet printer in the case of Put Bits compression using the image compression methods of the first and second embodiments is shown in Figs. 12(a) and 12(b). Fig. 12 (a) shows the operation flow at the time of the first printing, and Fig. 12 (b) shows the operation when the filling is not performed and the positional deviation correction is changed.

First, the description will be given with respect to Fig. 12(a). In FIG. 12(a), the compression method used in the compression step 507, the decompression step, and the printing step 508 is formed by Put Bits compression using the image compression method of the first embodiment, and FIG. 5 For the same steps. That is, at the time of the first printing, even if the Put Bits compression of the image compression method of the first embodiment is performed, all the data must be compressed and transmitted.

Specifically, it will be described using FIG. 5(a).

In the printed material reading step 501, a print pattern is created by reading design information of the bank 101a of the pixel of the substrate 101 of the panel to be printed.

In the non-discharge nozzle fill step 502, the blocked nozzle is filled with a nearby nozzle. To fill the supply to the printing object The amount of ink of the bank 101a of the pixels of the substrate 101.

In the positional deviation correcting step 503, when the position at which the liquid droplets ejected from the respective nozzles are dropped in the longitudinal direction is changed, the positional deviation is eliminated by changing the timing of discharge of the ink.

In the compression step 504, compression is performed using the compression method of the first or second embodiment.

In the transmission step 505, the compressed material is transmitted from the print data generating unit 103 of Fig. 1 to the ink jet head control unit 104.

The decompression step and the printing step 506 cooperate with the movement of the substrate 101 of the printing target of FIG. 1 to sequentially decompress and print the compressed material stored in 104b.

Even at this first time, the process is less than the previous data and can be processed in a shorter period of time.

Next, the description will be made later on the first printing. This will be described with reference to Fig. 12(b). In the Put Bits compression of the image compression method according to the first and second embodiments, even when the nozzle complement or the positional deviation correction is performed, it is not necessary to recompress all the data again, and only the changed portion can be corrected. Therefore, after the first printing, when the filling is not performed or the positional deviation correction is changed, the compression step 504 and the transmission step 505 are not required to be performed as shown in FIG. 5(b), and instead, the compressed data rewriting step 509 is performed instead. Just fine.

This compressed data rewriting step is to skip only the changed portion of the printed material generated by 103a of FIG. 1 and store the printed data of 104b via the printed material transmitter 103c and the printed material receiver 104a. The compressed printed material on the memory is partially overwritten.

Therefore, when the Put Bits compression of the image compression method of the first and second embodiments is used as shown in FIG. 12(b), it is not necessary to recompress and transmit all the data when the complement is not sputtered and the positional deviation correction is changed. Compared with the Pack Bits method using one of the conventional compression methods, it is possible to perform nozzle filling or positional deviation correction in a short period of time.

That is, when a nozzle that is clogged is newly generated or when a drop position of the droplet is newly generated, the non-discharge nozzle complementing step 502 or the positional deviation correcting step 503 is not performed, and the compressed data is rewritten. In step 509, the compressed data rewriting step 509 rewrites the previously transmitted compressed data.

As is apparent from the above, according to the image compression method of the present embodiment, the nozzle complement and the positional deviation correction can be performed in a shorter time than the conventional method.

(Embodiment 4)

In the fourth embodiment, in addition to the information indicating the discharge and the non-discharge of each pixel of the discharged image, the image compression method when the additional information is included will be described. Although the additional information is considered as the discharge volume information, the spit timing correction information, and the like, it is not limited thereto. The items that are not described are the same as those in the first embodiment. Better printing is possible if additional information is included as material. The items that are not described are the same as those of the first to third embodiments.

Next, explain the additional information. Information that is spit out or not spit out may also be included in the same information as the volume of the additional information. Spit volume information is the amount of droplets that are allowed to spit from each nozzle. Change information according to the timing of each spit.

The timing of the discharge timing correction is information for causing a slight change in the timing at which the liquid droplets are ejected from the nozzle. The term "fine amount" means that the droplet discharge is 1 cycle or less. It is desirable to be below half a cycle. Further, the one cycle means a cycle in which droplets are continuously applied between the banks. More preferably, it is preferably one-fourth of a cycle or less. It is especially good for the one-eighth cycle or less. This is done in such a way that it is not coated by adjacent rows.

Therefore, in the image compression method according to the fourth embodiment, it is considered that the non-discharge pixel "0" having the highest probability of occurrence is treated as known information, and only "other than 0" is recorded by the additional material. Practice to compress the length of the data.

It is considered that the print data is divided by a predetermined length called the compression interval length, and the number, position and value of the discharge data "outside 0" in the divided data are recorded, thereby compressing the data length. Further, the length of the compression section is a value that is predetermined in the compressor and the decompressor in advance, in consideration of the amount of memory that can be secured by the compressor and the decompressor.

Here, the compression interval length is a length when the data is divided and processed at regular intervals. However, it is desirable that the length of the compression interval is determined by the amount of information that can be processed by the controller. Therefore, when the amount of information that can be processed by the controller is larger than the total amount of information, the entire processing can be performed at one time.

In this compression method, the uncompressed data "0" is performed after decompressing after the data area in which the length of the aforementioned compression interval has been secured. Initialization, and according to each additional data and value in the compressed data, the additional data is rewritten in the data area that has been initialized by the non-discharge data, thereby restoring the data before compression.

<Data Structure of Embodiment 4>

Fig. 13 is a view showing the data structure of the image compression method of the third embodiment. First, there are the number of discharge pixels in the predetermined compression section A and the number of droplet discharge data 1301. Next, the number of the discharge pixels in the predetermined section B and the number of the droplet discharge data 1302 are provided.

There is a relative position 1303 in which the head in each section of the first discharge pixel in the compression section A is used as a reference. There is a value of the first discharge pixel in the compression section A, and additional information 1304.

There is a relative position 1305 in which the head in each section of the second discharge pixel in the compression section A is used as a reference. There is a value of the second spitting pixel in the compressed section A, and additional information 1306. There is a relative position 1307 in which the head in each section of the nth discharge pixel in the compression section A is used as a reference. There is a value of the nth spitting pixel in the compressed section A, and an additional information 1308. In this case, the number of droplet discharge data 1301 is n.

There is a relative position 1309 in which the beginning of each section of the first pixel in the section B is used as a reference. There is a value of the first spitting pixel in the interval B, and an additional information 1310. There is a relative position 1311 in which the head in each section of the mth discharge pixel in the section B is used as a reference. There is a value of the mth spitting pixel in the interval B, and additional information 1312. In this case, the number of droplet discharge data 1302 is m.

Here, the order in which each of the discharge pixels is described is not necessarily not in the order of ascending or descending. In addition, although the data of the two sections is summarized and described here, one section or three sections may be sufficient.

<effect>

In the above embodiment, even when there is a small amount of continuous data, it can be compressed with a high compression ratio. Therefore, the transmission time of the data can be shortened, and thus the influence on the operation of the device is less.

In addition, as information, additional information such as location information, spit timing correction information, or volume information can be included, and can be compressed with a higher compression ratio.

<On the whole>

Although the embodiment is described by an ink jet apparatus, it can be widely applied to a device that applies droplets by a nozzle.

Embodiments 1 to 4 are combinable.

Industrial availability

According to the image compression method and the image compression system of the present invention, since rewriting of data can be made possible in a state of simple logic compression, it is possible to change, for example, the nozzle condition of the inkjet printing apparatus. The change of the printed materials is performed at a high speed.

Further, it is therefore useful in the use of a droplet discharge printing apparatus for coating an organic light-emitting material in the production of, for example, an organic EL display panel.

Claims (7)

A compressed data structure includes a plurality of droplet discharge materials, respective positions of the plurality of droplet discharge materials, droplet discharge amount at the respective positions, and number of virtual droplet discharge materials. The position of the virtual droplet discharge material and the discharge amount at the position of the dummy droplet discharge material. A compressed data structure comprising a plurality of droplet discharge data, respective positions of the plurality of droplet discharge materials, and additional information at respective positions, wherein the additional information is discharge volume information and liquid At least one of the timing correction information is sprinkled. A compressed data structure comprising a plurality of compressed data structures as recited in claim 1. The compressed data structure of claim 1, wherein the position is a position on a map of a position at which the droplet is ejected and a nozzle for ejecting the droplet. A printing data compression method comprising: a dividing step of dividing, as a printing material of a discharge timing of a liquid droplet and a nozzle position for discharging the liquid droplet, at intervals of a certain interval; and a compressing step of compressing the print data of the certain interval into The compressed data structure described in claim 1. A printing method comprising: a printing material reading step of reading a printing pattern of information of a bank of a panel to be printed; a nozzle filling step without discharging, and filling a blocked nozzle with another nozzle a nozzle; a positional deviation correcting step of changing a discharge timing of the liquid droplets when a drop position of the liquid droplets discharged from the nozzles is varied; a compression step, a step of reading from the printed material, a step of filling the nozzles without filling, and a correction of the positional deviation The step of preparing the printed material, and compressing the printed material using the compressed data structure described in claim 1; transmitting the compressed data to the inkjet head; and decompressing the solution to decode the transmitted compressed data Compressing to form the printed material; and printing step of printing the panel with the decompressed print data. According to the printing method of claim 6, in the case where a newly clogging nozzle is newly generated or when a drop position of the droplet is newly generated, the non-discharge nozzle filling step or the positional deviation is not performed. In the step of correcting, a compressed data rewriting step of rewriting the aforementioned compressed data is performed.