Computer graphics processing and selective visual display system – Computer graphic processing system – Graphic command processing
Reexamination Certificate
2001-09-21
2004-03-30
Bella, Matthew C. (Department: 2676)
Computer graphics processing and selective visual display system
Computer graphic processing system
Graphic command processing
C345S596000, C345S597000, C345S215000, C379S093170, C379S093250, C455S566000, C709S201000, C709S246000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06714204
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a technique of controlling series of image processing carried out for image data by multiple devices connecting with a communication path.
2. Description of the Related Art
The widely known technique utilizes a network like the Internet to download image data and output images from an image output device. Typical applications of the output images are displayed images on an image display device and printed images with a printer. Cellular phones that are capable of gaining access to the Internet may be used as the image display device.
Digital image data are often subjected to diverse series of image processing in the course of image output. The diverse image processing includes, for example, a halftoning process that reduces the number of tones expressed in each pixel, a color conversion process that converts the color system of master image data to the color system of an image output device, and a correction process that corrects the contrast or the tone of image data. Execution of the image processing according to the output characteristics of the device effectively enhances the picture quality of output images.
The device having a relatively low processing capacity, such as the cellular phone, requires an undesirably long processing time for image processing and image display. One possible countermeasure simplifies the image processing to shorten the processing time. But this method does not sufficiently enhance the picture quality of displayed images.
A server may alternatively carry out a required series of image processing. But this method does not improve the picture quality of image data, which is transmitted from a server without the image processing capacity. There are a diversity of image output devices and their applications. The uniform image processing executed in the server may thus not sufficiently enhance the picture quality.
These problems are not restricted to the cellular phones used as the image receiver device, but are common to any image receiver devices that have relatively low processing capacities and are used to output images. Similar problems to those arising in the course of image output are found in the system where the server receives image data transmitted from an image input device, such as a digital camera, via the network.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The object of the present invention is thus to solve these problems and to provide a technique that carries out required series of image processing according to characteristics of an image transmitter device and an image receiver device in the course of inputting or outputting images via a network or another communication path, so as to attain high-speed processing and sufficiently enhance the picture quality of resulting images.
In order to attain at least part of the above and the other related objects, the present invention combines the functions of an image transmitter device that transmits image data via a communication path with the functions of an image receiver device that makes input image data undergo a required series of image processing, thus attaining the high-speed processing and sufficiently improving the picture quality of resulting images. Namely the technique of the present invention selectively uses the image processing functions of the image transmitter device and the image receiver device.
In the system that downloads image data from a server connecting with the communication path and outputs images from an image display device or a printing device, the server functions as the image transmitter device, whereas the image display device or the printing device functions as the image receiver device. In the system that uploads image data read with a digital camera or a scanner to a server, the digital camera or the scanner functions as the image transmitter device, whereas the server functions as the image receiver device. The server may individually constitute the image transmitter device or the image receiver device, or a plurality of servers may be combined together to take charge of the processing in a distributed manner.
The selective use of the image processing functions of the image transmitter device and the image receiver device ensures the improvement in picture quality to some extent, excluding the special case in which neither of the image transmitter device and the image receiver device has the image processing functions. For example, the image receiver device enables image data transmitted from an image transmitter device without the image processing capacity to be subjected to a required series of image processing. With regard to a certain series of image processing executable by both the image transmitter device and the image receiver device, the technique of the present invention selects either the image transmitter device or the image receiver device for execution of the image processing by taking into account the image processing capacities of the image transmitter device and the image receiver device and the details of the image processing. This arrangement attains the high-speed processing and further enhances the picture quality of resulting images. The construction of the present invention to actualize the selective use of the image processing functions is discussed below in the order of the image transmitter device and the image receiver device.
The image transmitter device of the present invention includes an image processing unit, a control signal generator, and a transmitter unit. The image processing unit causes input master image data to be subjected to a specified series of image processing. The details of the image processing are set according to the type of the image receiver device. The master image data may externally be input into the image transmitter device or may internally be stored in the image transmitter device.
The control signal generator generates a control signal for controlling details of image processing to be executed by the image receiver device, based on the specified series of image processing carried out by the image processing unit of the image transmitter device. The control signal includes information used to identify the series of image processing executed by the image processing unit, if any. The control signal may follow an adequately selected format.
The transmitter unit transmits the control signal and the processed data to the image receiver device. The control signal may be attached to the processed data for simultaneous transmission or may be separately transmitted like transmitting the processed data after transmission of the control signal. As discussed later, the image receiver device changes the details of the image processing executed therein in response to the control signal. This arrangement thus ensures selective use of the image processing functions of the image transmitter device and the image receiver device.
When the image transmitter device has the higher image processing capacity than that of the image receiver device, the image transmitter device carries out the series of image processing, which imposes a significant load on the image receiver device, and the image receiver device is thus released from the image processing. This arrangement ensures execution of the image processing by the device having the higher processing capacity and thus shortens the processing time required for the image output. The image transmitter device may carry out the series of image processing, which is equivalent to the processing executable by the image receiver device or which is more complicated to ensure the further improvement in picture quality than the processing executable by the image receiver device. The image receiver device may take charge of the image processing, according to the image processing capacities of the image transmitter device and the image receiver device.
The image data transmitted from the image transmitter device without the image processing function does not include the control signal. The image receiver devic
Ishida Masanori
Kuwata Naoki
Bella Matthew C.
Caschera Antonio
Oblon & Spivak, McClelland, Maier & Neustadt P.C.
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