JP5168731B2 - Image processing apparatus, image processing system, and program - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an image processing apparatus, an image processing system, and a program.

  Patent Document 1 discloses an image processing apparatus that extracts specific code data from image data and deletes and embeds pattern data corresponding to the specific code data.

JP 2007-215123 A

  An object of the present invention is to provide an image processing apparatus, an image processing system, and a program that prevent the deletion of such additional information when the additional information detected from the image cannot be decoded. The additional information is information added to the image data, but is not added as a part of the image data but is added separately from the image data. Examples of the additional information include copyright holder information for displaying a copyright and tracking information for investigating the unauthorized use.

[Image processing device]
According to the first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a detecting means for detecting error correction encoded additional information included in an image read from a document, and an error correction decoding for error correcting decoding the additional information detected by the detecting means. And the additional information detected by the detection means can be decoded by the error correction decoding means. An image processing apparatus having deletion means for deleting from the image processing apparatus.

  The present invention according to claim 2 is the image processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising an embedding unit that divides an image read from a document into regions and embeds dots in each region.

  The image processing apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, further comprising an embedding unit that embeds new additional information by error correction coding in an image from which the additional information has been deleted by the deleting unit. It is.

  In the present invention according to claim 4, when new additional information is embedded by the embedding unit, the additional information detected by the detection unit is error-correction-encoded and included in the new additional information subjected to error correction encoding. The image processing apparatus according to claim 3, further comprising an embedding unit that embeds information not included in the detected additional information subjected to error correction coding.

  The present invention according to claim 5 further comprises re-detection means for re-detecting the additional information subjected to error correction coding included in the image read from the document when the error correction decoding means cannot decode. The image processing apparatus according to any one of 1 to 4.

  According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a document reading unit that reads a document, a detection unit that detects additional information subjected to error correction coding included in an image read from the document by the document reading unit, and the detection unit. Error correction decoding means for performing error correction decoding on the detected additional information, and when the additional information detected by the detection means can be decoded by the error correction decoding means, the error correction decoding means added by the error correction decoding means The image processing apparatus includes a deletion unit that performs error correction coding on information and deletes the information from the image read by the document reading unit.

[Image processing system]
According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, there is provided a first communication device having embedding means for embedding additional information in an image after error correction coding, and receiving information of an image in which the additional information is embedded by the embedding means. An image processing system having two communication devices, wherein the second communication device detects an error correction encoded additional information included in an image from the first communication device; An error correction decoding means for performing error correction decoding on the additional information detected by the detection means; and the additional information detected by the detection means when the additional information detected by the detection means can be decoded by the error correction decoding means. An image processing system comprising: deletion means for performing error correction coding on additional information that has been error correction decoded by the error correction decoding means, and deleting the information from the image from the first communication device A.

[program]
The present invention according to claim 8 includes steps of detecting error correction encoded additional information included in an image read from an original, error correcting decoding of the additional information detected by the detection means, If the additional information detected by the detection means can be decoded by the error correction decoding means, the computer executes the steps of error correction coding the error correction decoded additional information and deleting it from the image read from the document. It is a program.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, when the additional information detected from the image cannot be decoded, such deletion of the additional information can be prevented.

  According to the second aspect of the present invention, dots can be applied as the additional information.

  According to the third aspect of the present invention, the additional information can be updated.

  According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, the difference between the additional information can be updated.

  According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, additional information different from the additional information that could not be decoded can be detected.

  According to the sixth aspect of the present invention, when the additional information detected from the image cannot be decoded, such deletion of the additional information can be prevented.

  According to the seventh aspect of the present invention, when the additional information detected from the image cannot be decoded, such deletion of the additional information can be prevented.

  According to the eighth aspect of the present invention, when the additional information detected from the image cannot be decoded, such deletion of the additional information can be prevented.

[background]
First, the background will be described in order to help understanding of the present invention.

In general, illegal copying of image data can be prohibited by embedding additional information in image data and performing image processing such as copying on the image data in which the additional information is embedded.
For such a general illegal copy prohibition measure, it is desirable that a person who has the authority to copy image data can use the image data from which the additional information has been deleted. Further, since the image data deteriorates due to repeated copying, it is desirable to newly embed additional information.

  In the embodiment of the present invention described below, an image processing apparatus that correctly deletes or updates additional information from image data in which the additional information is embedded will be described.

Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. In addition, the following description is only an example in implementing this invention, and this invention is not necessarily limited to the matter demonstrated below, It can change suitably as needed.
Embodiment of the present invention
In FIG. 1, the image forming apparatus 10 includes a print unit 12 and a scan unit 14, and the print unit 12 includes, for example, three stages of recording medium supply trays 16. Each of the recording medium supply trays 16 includes a supply head. 18 is provided. When one of the recording medium supply trays 16 is selected, the supply head 18 is operated to supply the print engine 22 from the selected recording medium supply tray 16 via the recording medium supply path 20.

  The print engine 22 is composed of, for example, black and white color xerography, and is provided with yellow, magenta, cyan, and black photoconductors 24 and an intermediate transfer belt 26. Around each photoconductor 24, a charging device, an exposure device, a developing device, a primary transfer device, a cleaning device, and the like (not shown) are arranged, and a toner image formed on each photoconductor 24 is transferred to the intermediate transfer belt 26. . When black and white is set, only black is enabled. The toner image on the intermediate transfer belt 26 is transferred to the recording medium sent by the secondary transfer roll, fixed by the fixing device 30, and the recording medium on which the toner image is fixed passes through the recording medium discharge path 32. It is discharged to the discharge tray 34.

  However, when duplex printing is set, the recording medium whose surface has been fixed by the fixing device 30 is sent from the recording medium discharge path 32 to the reversing device 36 and is reversed by the reversing device 36, and the recording medium reversing path 38. Is sent back to the recording medium supply path 20 and sent to the print engine 22 to print the back side.

  The scan unit 14 includes an automatic document feeder 40 such as a DADF that can read a double-sided document. The document is fed to a platen 42 by the automatic document feeder 40, and a reading unit made up of a CCD or the like on the platen 42. 44 reads the image of the document. A document set detector 46 for detecting whether or not a document is set on the automatic document feeder 40 is provided. The automatic document feeder 40 also serves as a platen cover, and the document can be placed on the platen 42 by opening the platen cover. The opening / closing of the platen cover can be detected by a platen cover opening / closing detector 48. Further, the image forming apparatus 10 is provided with a facsimile modem connected to a public line and a network communication device connected to a network such as a LAN.

  A user interface device 50 (hereinafter referred to as a UI device 50) is provided integrally with the image forming apparatus 10 or via a network, and selects and displays processing contents of the image forming apparatus 10. .

  FIG. 2 shows an example of a control circuit of the image forming apparatus. Along with the UI apparatus 50, the CPU 52, the system memory 54, the image storage memory 56, the input / output interface 58, the scan interface 60, the print interface 62, the network communication interface 64, and A facsimile modem interface 66 is connected to the bus. The CPU 52 controls each circuit in accordance with a program written in the system memory 54 (or written in an external storage medium (not shown) such as a CD-ROM). Operation input data from the UI device 50 is transmitted to the CPU 52, and display image data from the CPU 52 is transmitted to the UI device 50. The image storage memory 56 is for temporarily storing an image captured by the image processing apparatus 10. The input / output interface 58 receives a document set detection signal from the document set detector 46 and a platen cover open / close signal from a platen cover open / close detector 48 that detects opening / closing of the platen cover.

[Embed process]
FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of an embedding program that operates on the image forming apparatus. As shown in FIG. 3, the embedding program includes an image data input unit 68, an additional information encoding unit 70, and an additional information embedding unit 72. With such a configuration, the embedding program embeds the additional information in the image data.
When the user operates the UI device 50 to scan the additional information and the image data and embed the additional information in the image data, the CPU 52 is connected to the system memory 54 (or an external storage medium. The same applies to the program), and the embedded program is read and executed. The additional information and the image data may be stored in advance in the system memory 54 or the like.

  The image data input unit 68 receives input of image data stored in the system memory 54, the image storage memory 56, etc., and outputs it to the additional information embedding unit 72. The additional information encoding unit 70 encodes additional information stored in the system memory 54, the image storage memory 56, etc., and adds information for detecting and correcting an error to the encoded additional information (error correction). Encoding) and output to the additional information embedding unit 72. Information for detecting and correcting an error is, for example, an error correction bit based on a BCH code. Note that conversion processing based on the Reed-Solomon code may be performed on the encoded additional information. Moreover, an error detection bit based on a checksum or CRC code may be added to the encoded additional information as information for detecting an error, and an error correction bit based on a BCH code may be added. The additional information embedding unit 72 embeds the error correction encoded additional information from the additional information embedding unit 70 in the image data from the image data input unit 68 and outputs it to an interface such as the print interface 62.

The additional information subjected to error correction coding is embedded in, for example, the format shown in FIG.
FIG. 4A shows an example in which the additional information “1” and “0” subjected to error correction coding are embedded for each character. In FIG. 4A, when embedding “1”, a dot is placed on the upper side near the black area, and when embedding “0”, a dot is placed on the lower side near the black area (the same applies to FIG. 4B shown below). .
FIG. 4B shows an example in which the additional information “0”, “1”, “0”, and “0” subjected to error correction coding is embedded for each block.
FIG. 4C shows an example in which the additional information subjected to error correction coding is embedded as a symbol indicated by a diagonal line in the 45 degree direction.
FIG. 4D shows an example in which additional information “1” and “0” that have been subjected to error correction coding are embedded. In FIG. 4D, when '1' is embedded, the character spacing is adjusted so that the character spacing P1 is smaller than the next character spacing S1, and when '0' is embedded, the character spacing P2 is larger than the next character spacing S2. Adjust the character spacing so that

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an operation flow of the above-described embedding program.
In step 100 (S100), the image data input unit 68 receives input of image data stored in the system memory 54, the image storage memory 56, and the like, and proceeds to the process of step 102 (S102).
In step 102 (S102), the additional information encoding unit 70 performs error correction encoding on the additional information stored in the system memory 54, the image storage memory 56, and the like, and proceeds to the processing of step 104 (S104).
In step 104 (S104), the additional information embedding unit 72 embeds the additional information subjected to error correction coding in step 102 (S102) in the image data input in step 100 (S100), and ends the embedding program. To do.

[Delete processing]
FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a deletion program executed on the image forming apparatus. As illustrated in FIG. 6, the deletion program includes an additional information detection unit 74, an additional information decoding unit 76, an additional information encoding unit 78, and an additional information deletion unit 80. With such a configuration, the deletion program detects the additional information, confirms that no decoding error occurs when performing error correction decoding, and deletes the additional information.
When the user operates the UI device 50 described above to scan the image data in which the additional information is embedded and delete the additional information from the image data, the CPU 52 described above deletes the deletion program from the system memory 54 or the like. Is read and executed. Note that the image data in which the additional information is embedded may be stored in advance in the system memory 54 or the like.

The additional information detection unit 74 detects additional information from the image data with additional information stored in the system memory 54, the image storage memory 56, and the like, and outputs the additional information to the additional information decoding unit 76. For example, the additional information detection unit 74 detects a dot having a predetermined size from image data with additional information by a general labeling process, and the additional information is included so that the detected dot is included for each block. Is divided into blocks (block division).
The additional information decoding unit 76 decodes the additional information detected by the additional information detection unit 74 and corrects the error (performs error correction decoding), and indicates that there are more than a predetermined number of errors and decoding is impossible. If an error occurs, the additional information detection unit 74 again performs block division. In other cases, the additional information decoding unit 76 performs error correction decoding on the additional information detected by the additional information detection unit 74, and outputs the additional information subjected to error correction decoding to the additional information encoding unit 78. When the information for detecting an error is embedded in the additional information embedding unit 72, the error correction decoding is not performed on the additional information subjected to error correction decoding by the additional information decoding unit 76. I can confirm that. For example, when the checksum is embedded in the additional information embedding unit 72, it is confirmed that the calculation result becomes a predetermined value in the additional information subjected to error correction decoding by the additional information decoding unit 76. By this, it can be confirmed that wrong error correction decoding has not been performed.
The additional information encoding unit 78 performs error correction encoding on the additional information subjected to error correction decoding by the additional information decoding unit 76 and outputs the additional information to the additional information deleting unit 80.
The additional information deletion unit 80 deletes the additional information subjected to error correction coding by the additional information encoding unit 78 from the image data with additional information stored in the system memory 54, the image storage memory 56, etc. Output to an interface such as 62.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing an operation flow of the above-described deletion program.
In step 200 (S200), the additional information detection unit 74 detects the additional information from the image data in which the additional information is embedded, and the image data in which the additional information is embedded so that the detected additional information is included for each block. Is divided into blocks, and the process proceeds to step 202 (S202).
In step 202 (S202), the additional information decoding unit 76 performs error correction decoding on the additional information detected in step 200 (S200), and proceeds to the process of step 204 (S204).
In step 204 (S204), the additional information decoding unit 76 determines whether a decoding error has occurred in step 202 (S202). When a decoding error occurs, the process returns to step 200 (S200), and the processes of steps 200 to 204 (S200 to 204) are repeated until the decoding is successful. On the other hand, in other cases, the process proceeds to step 206 (S206).
In step 206 (S206), the additional information encoding unit 78 performs error correction encoding on the additional information for which it has been confirmed in step 204 (S204) that no decoding error has occurred, and the process of step 208 (S208). Proceed to
In step 208 (S208), the additional information deletion unit 80 deletes the additional information subjected to error correction coding in step 206 (S206) from the image data in which the additional information is embedded, and ends the deletion program.

Deletion processing in the image forming apparatus of this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.
FIG. 8A shows image data in which additional information is embedded. However, since copying is repeated, the image data includes noise (roughness of the image) in addition to dots representing additional information.
FIG. 8B is image data in which dots are detected by the additional information detection unit 74 described above and divided into blocks. As shown in FIG. 8B, noise is erroneously detected as dots, and incorrect dot detection and block division are performed. From FIG. 8B, it can be seen that the embedded additional information is “0”, “0”, “0”, and “0”. Since this additional information is based on erroneous dot detection and block division, a decoding error may occur.
FIG. 8C shows image data that has been determined that a decoding error has occurred by the additional information decoding unit 76 and has been divided into blocks again by the additional information detection unit 74. From FIG. 8C, it can be seen that the embedded additional information is “0”, “1”, “0”, and “0”. Since this additional information is based on correct dot detection and block division, in order to delete the additional information correctly, it is sufficient to delete the error correction encoded version of this additional information.
As described above, it is possible to correctly detect and delete additional information even for image data that includes noise.

[Update process]
FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of an update program executed on the image forming apparatus. As shown in FIG. 9, the update program includes an additional information detection unit 74, an additional information decoding unit 76, an additional information encoding unit 78, and an additional information deletion unit 80, as in the deletion program described above. It has an encoding unit 82 and an update information embedding unit 84. With such a configuration, the update program detects the additional information, confirms that no decoding error occurs when performing error correction decoding, and deletes and embeds the additional information.
When the user designates the image data in which the additional information is embedded to the UI device 50 described above and operates to delete the additional information from the image data and embed it, the CPU 52 described above updates from the system memory 54 or the like. Load and execute the program. Note that the additional information to be embedded may be stored in advance in the system memory 54 or the like as new additional information, or may be the same as or different from the additional information to be deleted.

The additional information deletion unit 80 deletes the additional information subjected to error correction coding by the additional information encoding unit 78 from the image data with additional information stored in the system memory 54, the image storage memory 56, etc., and updates information Output to the embedding unit 84.
The update information encoding unit 82 performs error correction encoding on the additional information subjected to error correction decoding by the additional information decoding unit 76 or new additional information stored in the system memory 54 or the like, and an update information embedding unit 84.
The update information embedding unit 84 embeds the additional information that has been error correction encoded by the update information encoding unit 82 in the image data from which the additional information has been deleted by the additional information deletion unit 80, and outputs it to an interface such as the print interface 62. To do.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing an operation flow of the update program described above.
In steps 300 to 308 (S300 to 308), the same processing as in steps 200 to 208 (S200 to 208) in the operation flow of the deletion program described above is performed.
In step 310 (S310), if there is new additional information stored in the system memory 54 or the like, the additional information encoding unit 78 performs error correction encoding on this additional information, and step 312 (S312). ).
In step 312 (S312), the update information embedding unit 84 adds the error correction-coded additional information in step 306 (S306) to the image data from which the additional information has been deleted in step 308 (S308) or step 310 (S310). ), The additional information that has been subjected to error correction coding is embedded, and the update program is terminated.

[Difference update process]
FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a difference update program executed on the image forming apparatus. As shown in FIG. 11, the differential update program includes the additional information detection unit 74, the additional information decoding unit 76, the additional information encoding unit 78, and the update information encoding unit 82, as in the above-described update program. Unlike the update program, the additional information deletion unit 80 is not provided, and a difference information embedding unit 86 is provided instead of the update information embedding unit 84. With such a configuration, the differential update program detects the additional information, confirms that no decoding error occurs when the detected additional information is subjected to error correction decoding, and detects the detected additional information and newly embedded additional information. Embed or delete only the difference information.
The user designates the image data in which the additional information is embedded and new additional information stored in the system memory 54, etc., and deletes the additional information from the image data, and adds a new addition to the UI device 50 described above. When operating to embed information, the CPU 52 described above reads and executes the difference update program from the system memory 54 or the like.

  The difference information embedding unit 86 is included only in the additional information that has been error correction encoded by the additional information encoding unit 78 and is not included in the additional information that has been error correction encoded by the update information encoding unit 82. Are deleted from the image data with additional information stored in the system memory 54, the image storage memory 56, or the like. The difference information embedding unit 86 is included only in the additional information that has been error correction encoded by the update information encoding unit 82 and is not included in the additional information that has been error correction encoded by the additional information encoding unit 78. The difference information is embedded in image data with additional information stored in the system memory 54, the image storage memory 56, or the like.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing an operation flow of the above-described difference update program.
In steps 400 to 408 (S400 to 408), the same processing as in steps 300 to 306 and 310 (S300 to 306, 310) in the operation flow of the update program described above is performed.
In step 410 (S410), the difference information embedding unit 86 adds the error correction encoded in step 406 (S406) and the error correction in step 408 (S408) to the image data in which the additional information is embedded. A process of deleting or embedding the difference information of the encoded update information is performed, and the difference update program is terminated.

In the above embodiment, the case where the embedding program, the deletion program, the update program, and the difference update program are executed on the same image forming apparatus 10 has been described. However, these programs are executed on different image forming apparatuses. It doesn't matter.
In the above-described embodiment, the system memory 54 that stores additional information, the CPU 52 that executes a program for embedding additional information (or deletion processing, update processing, and difference update processing) and the processed image data are output. Although the case where the present invention is applied to the image forming apparatus 10 in which the print engine 22 is configured in the same apparatus is described, a system (for example, a system memory) in which these components are configured in a plurality of apparatuses. The present invention is also applicable to an image forming apparatus having a CPU 54 and a CPU 52 and a print server having a print engine 22. In such a system, devices having respective components are connected via a network and configured to be able to communicate with each other.

1 is a side view showing an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a control circuit of the image forming apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention. It is a figure which shows the structure of the embedding program which operate | moves on the image forming apparatus which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a figure explaining the embedding process on the image forming apparatus which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a figure explaining the embedding process on the image forming apparatus which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a figure explaining the embedding process on the image forming apparatus which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a figure explaining the embedding process on the image forming apparatus which concerns on embodiment of this invention. 5 is a flowchart showing an embedding process flow on the image forming apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention. It is a figure which shows the structure of the deletion program which operate | moves on the image forming apparatus which concerns on embodiment of this invention. 5 is a flowchart showing a deletion processing flow on the image forming apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention. It is a figure explaining the deletion process on the image forming apparatus which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a figure explaining the deletion process on the image forming apparatus which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a figure explaining the deletion process on the image forming apparatus which concerns on embodiment of this invention. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of an update program that operates on the image forming apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention. 5 is a flowchart showing an update processing flow on the image forming apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention. It is a figure which shows the structure of the difference update program which operate | moves on the image forming apparatus which concerns on embodiment of this invention. 6 is a flowchart showing a difference update processing flow on the image forming apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Image forming apparatus 12 Print unit 14 Scan unit 16 Recording medium supply tray 18 Supply head 20 Recording medium supply path 22 Print engine 24 Photoconductor 26 Intermediate transfer belt 28 Secondary transfer roll 30 Fixing device 32 Recording medium discharge path 34 Discharge tray 36 Inversion Device 38 Recording medium reversing path 40 Automatic document feeder 42 Platen 44 Reading unit 46 Document set detector 48 Platen cover open / close detector 50 UI device 52 CPU
54 System Memory 56 Image Storage Memory 58 Input / Output Interface 60 Scan Interface 62 Print Interface 64 Network Communication Interface 66 Modem Interface 68 Image Data Input Unit 70 Additional Information Encoding Unit 72 Additional Information Embedding Unit 74 Additional Information Detection Unit 76 Additional Information Decoding Unit 78 additional information encoding unit 80 additional information deleting unit 82 update information encoding unit 84 update information embedding unit 86 difference information embedding unit

Claims (10)

Detection means for dividing an image read from a document into a plurality of regions and detecting additional information subjected to error correction coding included in each of the divided regions;
Error correction decoding means for performing error correction decoding of the additional information detected by the detection means;
When all the additional information detected by the detection means can be decoded by the error correction decoding means , the additional information that has been error correction decoded by the error correction decoding means is subjected to error correction encoding, and an image read from the original is read out. Deleting means for deleting, and
The detection means includes
Of the detected additional information , when one or more additional information cannot be decoded by the error correction decoding means, an image read from the document is divided into a plurality of areas different from the plurality of areas divided so far Re-divide to become areas, and detect again the error correction encoded additional information included in each of the plurality of re-divided areas ,
An image processing apparatus that repeats the process of re-dividing the image read from the original until all of the detected additional information can be decoded . The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: an embedding unit that embeds new additional information by error correction coding in the image from which the additional information has been deleted by the deleting unit. Detection means for dividing an image read from a document into a plurality of regions and detecting additional information subjected to error correction coding included in each of the divided regions;
Error correction decoding means for performing error correction decoding of the additional information detected by the detection means;
When all the additional information detected by the detection means can be decoded by the error correction decoding means , the additional information that has been error correction decoded by the error correction decoding means is subjected to error correction encoding and the error correction encoding is performed. Difference information deleting means for deleting difference information included in the detected additional information and not included in the new additional information subjected to error correction coding,
The detection means includes
Of the detected additional information , when one or more additional information cannot be decoded by the error correction decoding means, an image read from the document is divided into a plurality of areas different from the plurality of areas divided so far Re-divide to become areas, and detect again the error correction encoded additional information included in each of the plurality of re-divided areas ,
An image processing apparatus that repeats the process of re-dividing the image read from the original until all of the detected additional information can be decoded . If the additional information detected by the detection means can be decoded by the error correction decoding means, the additional information detected by the detection means is error-corrected encoded and included in the new additional information that has been error-corrected encoded. The image processing apparatus according to claim 3, further comprising difference information embedding means for embedding difference information not included in the detected additional information subjected to error correction coding. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising an embedding unit that divides an image read from a document into regions and embeds dots in each region. An original reading means for reading an original;
Detecting means for dividing an image read from the original by the original reading means into a plurality of areas, and detecting error correction encoded additional information included in each of the divided areas;
Error correction decoding means for performing error correction decoding of the additional information detected by the detection means;
When all the additional information detected by the detection means can be decoded by the error correction decoding means, the additional information subjected to error correction decoding by the error correction decoding means is error-corrected and read by the original reading means. And deleting means for deleting from the recorded image,
The detection means includes
If one or more additional information among the detected additional information cannot be decoded by the error correction decoding unit, the image read by the document reading unit is different from the plurality of regions divided so far. and again divided so that a plurality of regions, the re-detecting the additional information which is error correction coding included in each re-divided plural regions,
An image processing apparatus that repeats the process of re-dividing the image read from the original until all of the detected additional information can be decoded . Image processing including a first communication device having an embedding unit that embeds additional information in an error correction code and embeds the image in an image, and a second communication device that receives information of an image in which the additional information is embedded by the embedding unit. A system,
The second communication device is:
Detecting means for dividing an image from the first communication device into a plurality of regions, and detecting additional information subjected to error correction coding included in each of the divided regions;
Error correction decoding means for performing error correction decoding of the additional information detected by the detection means;
When all the additional information detected by the detection means can be decoded by the error correction decoding means , the additional information that has been error correction decoded by the error correction decoding means is error-corrected and encoded from the first communication device. Delete means for deleting from the image of
The detection means includes
When one or more pieces of additional information among the detected additional information cannot be decoded by the error correction decoding unit, the image from the first communication device is different from the plurality of regions divided so far. and again divided so that a plurality of regions, the re-detecting the additional information which is error correction coding included in each re-divided plural regions,
An image processing system that repeats a process of dividing an image from the first communication device again until all of the detected additional information can be decoded . Dividing an image read from a document into a plurality of regions, and detecting error correction encoded additional information included in each of the divided regions;
Error correcting decoding the additional information detected in the detecting step;
If all the additional information detected in the detecting step can be decoded in the error correction decoding step, the error correction decoded additional information is error correction encoded and deleted from the image read from the document; To the computer,
The detecting step includes
If one or more additional information among the detected additional information cannot be decoded in the error correction decoding step, a plurality of images read from the original are different from the plurality of regions divided so far of so that the region is divided again, the re-detecting the additional information which is error correction coding included in each re-divided plural regions,
A program that repeats the process of dividing the image read from the original again until all of the detected additional information can be decoded . Image processing including a first communication device having an embedding unit that embeds additional information in an error correction code and embeds the image in an image, and a second communication device that receives information of an image in which the additional information is embedded by the embedding unit. A system,
The second communication device is:
Detecting means for dividing an image from the first communication device into a plurality of regions, and detecting additional information subjected to error correction coding included in each of the divided regions;
Error correction decoding means for performing error correction decoding of the additional information detected by the detection means;
When all the additional information detected by the detection means can be decoded by the error correction decoding means , the additional information that has been error correction decoded by the error correction decoding means is subjected to error correction encoding and the error correction encoding is performed. Difference information deleting means for deleting difference information included in the detected additional information and not included in the new additional information subjected to error correction coding,
The detection means includes
When one or more pieces of additional information among the detected additional information cannot be decoded by the error correction decoding unit, the image from the first communication device is different from the plurality of regions divided so far. and again divided so that a plurality of regions, the re-detecting the additional information which is error correction coding included in each re-divided plural regions,
An image processing system that repeats a process of dividing an image from the first communication device again until all of the detected additional information can be decoded . Dividing an image read from a document into a plurality of regions, and detecting error correction encoded additional information included in each of the divided regions;
Error correcting decoding the additional information detected in the detecting step;
If all the additional information detected in the detecting step can be decoded in the error correction decoding step, the additional information that has been error correction decoded in the error correction decoding step is subjected to error correction encoding, and the error correction code And deleting the difference information for deleting the difference information that is included in the detected detected additional information and not included in the new error correction encoded additional information,
The detecting step includes
If one or more additional information among the detected additional information cannot be decoded in the error correction decoding step, a plurality of images read from the original are different from the plurality of regions divided so far of so that the region is divided again, the re-detecting the additional information which is error correction coding included in each re-divided plural regions,
A program that repeats the process of dividing the image read from the original again until all of the detected additional information can be decoded .

Images