Facsimile and static presentation processing – Static presentation processing – Attribute control
Patent
1991-08-15
1993-07-27
Brinich, Stephen
Facsimile and static presentation processing
Static presentation processing
Attribute control
358 80, H04N 146
Patent
active
052314820
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
TECHNICAL FIELD
The present invention relates to image filing apparatus which have the functions of receiving and storing a document as image data and, especially, a color document which includes color information such as colored photographs and/or insertions in red and outputting the image data to displays and printers, and image information processing methods. More particularly, the present invention relates to an image processing system such as an electronic filing device which is capable of efficiently encoding an image which includes monochromatic images and color images together and capable of encoding a color image in a form compatible with a device which outputs only monochromatic binary data, for example, a facsimile device.
BACKGROUND ART
Conventionally, in an apparatus which handles a color image as digital data, the image is handled as three kinds of pieces of multivalue data (hereinafter, the respective components are referred to as R, G and B and the respective color data components are written as R-, G- and B-pieces of data) of three primary colors including red, green and blue to which the color of the image is decomposed. For example, in a color copying machine, input R-, G- and B-pieces of multivalue image data are intactly used and outputted. If a binarizing process is required to output the data to a printer, R-, G- and B-pieces of multivalue data are binarized independently for each color and then outputted.
An example in which such highly functionalized processing is used is, for example, disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open JP-A-63-174472 and JP-A-64-51583.
JP-A-63-174472 discloses a color image processing device which calculates luminance information on the basis of three components R, G and B and switches the binarizing process in accordance with the resulting value of the luminance information. JP-A-64-51583 discloses an electronic filing device which decomposes an color image into four colors yellow, magenta, cyan and black, which are then binarized and stored. When image information is decomposed into four colors yellow, magenta, cyan and black, and only information on the black is outputted, colored image portions fail. Display of an intermediate color, for example, of a color photograph is not contemplated. Since a color image is greatly influenced by the characteristic of the output unit with reference to color tone and saturation, the data temporarily stored should be corrected when outputted. In order to correct these data, the image should be handled as multivalue data. Therefore, a system which binarizes and stores a color image such as in the conventional techniques is not applicable to color images the reproduction of the color tone of which is required.
In many cases, color documents contain an image which includes a small-region color image and a layer monochromatic region. Especially, in a monochromatic document with a red stamp or the like, the color information has a meaning only in that it has color, and it is not so important to reproduce the color accurately. Therefore, it is not efficient to store all the R-, G- and B-pieces of data.
Also in a color document which includes a color photograph in addition to characters, the monochromatic character region is larger than the photograph region in many cases.
Therefore, image processing systems which handle documents are required to have a high efficiency of encoding monochromatic images and characters even if the systems are color image processing systems which handle color images.
Encoding R, G and B individually is high in redundancy and low in encoding efficiency. Therefore, it is not suitable for electronic filing systems which store many pieces of document image data and facsimile devices which are required to send document images at low data transfer speed.
Systems which intactly store and output R-, G- and B-pieces of multivalue data handle a large amount of data, so that they are not suitable for the above devices. That portion of an image represented in a monochromatic manner is hereinafter referred t
REFERENCES:
patent: 4307415 (1981-12-01), Sundermeyer et al.
patent: 4682215 (1987-07-01), Adachi
patent: 4750044 (1988-06-01), Nakajima
Fujinawa Masaaki
Fujisawa Hiromichi
Hadano Eiichi
Ito Satoshi
Kinoshita Kazunori
Brinich Stephen
Hitachi , Ltd.
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