JPH11188928A - Color image processing apparatus and color image processing method - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Problem] To provide a color image processing apparatus and method capable of realizing high-speed processing at the time of banding while maintaining the accuracy of color drawing. SOLUTION: The input information is converted into intermediate data in a page object format by a first-type color component expression suitable for image formation of a color image processing apparatus, and the converted intermediate data is rendered for each color component. Also, the input information is converted into page object format intermediate data in a first-type color component expression, and image data in a first-type color component expression is obtained based on the intermediate data. When performing a logical operation on the image data of the first-type color component expression, the first mode in which the logical operation is directly performed on the image data of the first-type color component expression and the image data of the first-type color component expression A second mode for performing a logical operation on the converted image data of the second type of color component expression and converting the image data of the logically operated second type of color component expression into image data of the first type of color component expression; Is provided.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention relates to a color image processing apparatus and a color image processing method for rendering input information.

[0002] The present invention is also suitable for color image processing in, for example, CAD (computer-aided design), CG (computer graphics), and color DTP (desktop publishing) fields in design and business.

[0003]

2. Description of the Related Art With the recent emergence of high-performance workstations and personal computers, an environment has been set up in which full-color characters, figures, and image data can be easily handled. As a result, documents using color,
Color information is used in a wide range of fields such as OHP (overhead projector), slide, art, design, and the like.

[0004]

As described above, applications using color information on the host computer are used in a wide range of fields. However, when recording color information created on the host side in a printing apparatus, conventionally, CPU power (processing function) on the host side is used, and characters, images, and graphics are adjusted on the host side according to the resolution of the printing apparatus. In general, a so-called dumb printer or video printer is used in which an image is developed and then sent to a color printer. This processing method is characterized in that the mechanism on the printer side is simplified and many processes are executed on the host side.However, when handling color information, much time is required for communication due to the large amount of data. However, there is a problem that the throughput may be extremely reduced.

On the other hand, in a monochrome printer, a page description language (Page Description Language) is used.
This is an abbreviation of “uage” and is hereinafter abbreviated as “PDL”. By sending characters, graphics, and images as languages from the host side, interpreting the PDL language with a printer, and performing scan conversion (scan conversion) of various information in a raster memory,
A method of generating a page image is general. A color PDL printer in which the main scanning method is applied to a color printer has recently begun to spread.

However, the color PDL printer follows the language architecture (structure) of the conventional black-and-white PDL printer, and has already rendered (black and white) 1-bit information.
g) The architecture is such that an operation such as SET, OR, XOR or the like is performed for each bit between the information (destination) and the graphic, image, and character information (source) to be rendered. However, in a color printer, each color plane, for example, RGB (red, green, blue) has a depth (for example, 1, 2, 4, 8 bits), and the conventional SET, OR, XOR
Is a problem in that a desired color cannot be obtained when the operation is performed for each bit.
dd, Sub, Max, Min, Blend) and the like, a logical operation function taking into account the bit depth is introduced.

However, there is a problem to be solved that the above-described color logic drawing is a very expensive process because it is necessary to calculate information having color depth for three or four planes. Was.

In view of the above, an object of the present invention is to provide a color image processing apparatus and a color image processing method capable of realizing high-speed processing during banding while maintaining the accuracy of color drawing. .

[0009]

In order to achieve the above object, the invention according to claim 1 is a color image processing apparatus,
First conversion means for converting input information into intermediate data in a page object format using a first-type color component expression suitable for image formation by a color image processing apparatus; and converting the intermediate data converted by the first conversion means into color data. And rendering means for rendering for each component.

Preferably, the apparatus further comprises a second conversion means for converting the input information into intermediate data in a page object format using a second type of color component expression suitable for a predetermined logical drawing. Further, preferably, a third conversion for converting image data of a first-type color component expression obtained by rendering the intermediate data converted by the first conversion means into image data of a second-type color component expression Further comprising means.

Preferably, the image processing apparatus further comprises a fourth conversion means for converting the image data of the second type of color component expression into image data of the first type of color component expression.

[0012] Preferably, the first conversion means includes:
The input information is converted into the intermediate data using the first-type color component expression for each of a plurality of bands forming one page.

[0013] Preferably, the apparatus further comprises a determination means for determining whether or not to perform band processing. Also, preferably,
The determining means includes a detecting means for detecting that a predetermined logical drawing command that cannot be rendered by hardware is included in the input information, and the detecting means determines that the predetermined logical drawing command that cannot be rendered by hardware is included. When it is detected that a drawing command is included, it is determined not to perform band processing.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided an image processing apparatus comprising: first conversion means for converting input information into intermediate data in a page object format using a first type of color component expression; Second conversion means for obtaining image data of a first-type color component expression based on intermediate data of the component expression, and converting image data of the first-type color component expression into image data of a second-type color component expression And third conversion means for converting the image data of the second type of color component expression into image data of the first type of color component expression, the image data of the first type of color component expression A first mode in which a logical operation is directly performed on image data of a first-type color component expression when performing a logical operation on the first-type color component expression, and a first mode in which the third conversion unit converts the image data of the first-type color component expression. Performs a logical operation on the image data of the two color component expressions, and performs the logical operation. The image data of the second kind of color component representation, characterized in that it comprises a second mode to convert the fourth conversion means into image data of the first type of color component representation was.

Preferably, in response to the logical drawing command included in the input information, it is determined whether to execute the logical drawing corresponding to the logical drawing command in the first mode or the second mode. Further comprising means.

[0016] Preferably, a determination means for determining one of a plurality of grades including a first grade and a second grade lower than the first grade as a grade of image data to be rendered from the input information. When the determination unit determines that the image data is to be executed in the second mode, the determination unit determines a second grade as a grade of image data to be rendered from the input information.

Preferably, the logical operation in the first mode is executed by hardware, and the logical operation in the second mode is executed by software.

According to a twelfth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a color image processing method, comprising the steps of converting input information into a page object format using a first kind of color component expression suitable for image formation of a color image processing apparatus. And a rendering step of rendering the intermediate data converted in the first conversion step for each color component.

Preferably, the method further includes a second conversion step of converting the input information into intermediate data in a page object format using a second type of color component expression suitable for a predetermined logical drawing.

Preferably, image data of a first-type color component expression obtained by rendering the intermediate data converted in the first conversion step is converted into image data of a second-type color component expression. The method further includes a third conversion step.

Preferably, the method further includes a fourth conversion step of converting the image data of the second type of color component expression into image data of the first type of color component expression.

Preferably, in the first conversion step, the input information is converted into the intermediate data by the first-type color component expression for each of a plurality of bands constituting one page.

Preferably, the method further includes a determining step of determining whether or not to perform band processing.

Preferably, the determining step includes:
A detection step of detecting that a predetermined logical drawing command that cannot be rendered by hardware is included in the input information, wherein the detecting step includes a predetermined logical drawing command that cannot be rendered by hardware. , It is determined that band processing is not to be performed.

To achieve the above object, the invention of claim 19 is a first conversion step of converting input information into intermediate data in a page object format by a first-type color component expression,
A second conversion step of obtaining image data of a first-type color component expression based on the intermediate data of the first-type color component expression; and converting the image data of the first-type color component expression into a second-type color component. And a fourth conversion step of converting image data of a second type of color component expression into image data of a first type of color component expression. When performing a logical operation on the image data of the color component expression, a first mode in which the logical operation is directly performed on the image data of the first type color component expression, and an image of the first type color component expression by the third conversion step A logical operation is performed on the image data of the second type color component expression converted from the data, and the image data of the second type color component expression subjected to the logical operation is converted into an image of the first type color component expression by the fourth conversion step. A second mode for converting to data To.

Here, preferably, in response to the logical drawing command included in the input information, it is determined whether to execute the logical drawing corresponding to the logical drawing command in the first mode or the second mode. The method further includes a step.

Preferably, a determining step of determining one of a plurality of grades including a first grade and a second grade lower than the first grade as a grade of image data to be rendered from the input information. When the determination step determines that the image data is to be executed in the second mode, the determination step determines a second grade as a grade of image data to be rendered from the input information.

Preferably, the logical operation in the first mode is executed by hardware, and the logical operation in the second mode is executed by software.

[0029]

According to the present invention, color PDL (page description language) is used.
For printing, since the page object is generated by the color component expression suitable for image formation by the color image processing apparatus at the time of banding, high-speed rendering processing can be realized.

In addition, since image data of a color component expression suitable for image formation of a color image processing apparatus is converted into image data of a color component expression suitable for logical drawing, and advanced logical drawing is processed, the resolution and the like are improved. Rendering can be performed while maintaining a certain degree of color reproduction while slightly reducing the gradation.

[0031]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a basic configuration of an image processing system of a color printing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. The general flow of the processing in the embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.

(Overall Configuration) In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes color information as a color application, converts color and data corresponding to the color information into a PDL format, and records the converted PDL data in a color printing apparatus. It is a host computer (workstation) to send to the device controller 14. Here, PDL data flows between the host computer 1 and the recording device 14. Although there is no problem with the communication form of the PDL data, such as serial, network, bus connection, etc., a high-speed communication path is desirable in terms of performance. The color PDL data sent to the printing apparatus controller 14 is temporarily stored in the input buffer (data input buffer) 2, and the input data is scanned by the PDL command analysis program in the program ROM 6. A font ROM 3 stores character bit patterns or outline information, character baselines and character metric information, and is used for printing characters. A panel IOP (input / output processor) 4 is an I / O processor and firmware (panel I / O processor) that controls switch input detection on a panel mounted on the printer body and display on an LCD (liquid crystal display). , A low-cost CPU is used. The extension I / F (interface) 5 is a printer extension module (font ROM, program ROM,
RAM, a hard disk).

The program ROM 6 is a memory for storing the processing procedure (software) as shown in FIG. 2 according to the present invention, and the CPU 12 reads the color PDL data according to the software and executes the processing. Reference numeral 7 denotes a management area RAM for software, in which data obtained by analyzing input color PDL data and converting the data into an intermediate data format (page object), global information, and the like are stored in the main management RAM 7.

The color conversion hardware 8 converts red, green, and blue (additive color mixture) of red, green, and blue of a color system of a monitor usually used in a workstation (WS) from yellow, magenta, and cyan used in ink processing of a printer. , Black to YMCK (subtractive color mixture). This color conversion processing requires a great deal of calculation power in order to pursue color accuracy, such as non-linear log conversion and 3 × 3 matrix calculation. Therefore, in terms of hardware, the speed is increased by a table lookup process. . These color conversion parameters are initially adjusted to be optimal for the printer engine, but if the host requests to change the color conversion method, the color conversion algorithm can be changed to a user-defined one by changing the values in the table. It is possible to change.

The hardware renderer (hardware rendering circuit) 9 executes a color rendering process by ASIC (application specific IC) hardware,
Color printer (for example, laser beam printer) 13
Rendering processing is performed in real time in synchronization with the video transfer, thereby realizing banding processing with a small memory capacity. The page (band) buffer 10 is a PDL
An area for storing an image developed according to a language, and a memory of at least two bands (page width * 256 or 512th band height * number of planes: 3 (RGB) or 4 (YMC)
K) * bit depth) or, when banding processing cannot be performed, in a device such as an LBP (laser beam printer) that needs to transfer an image in synchronization with a printer engine, the resolution and / or color gradation It is necessary to secure a full-color bitmap memory that has been dropped. However, in the case of a mechanism in which the movement of the recording head can be controlled by the controller side, such as an ink jet printer, the above-mentioned 2
The band's memory should be the minimum.

A printer interface (I / F) 11 synchronizes the contents of the page buffer 10 with a color printer (color recording device) 13, for example, a color LBP, in synchronization with a horizontal / vertical synchronization signal on the printer side, and outputs video information. To transfer. Alternatively, head control in a color inkjet printer and transfer of video information in accordance with the head size of a plurality of lines are performed. Further, the printer interface 11 transmits commands to the printer and status reception from the printer with the color printer 13. The CPU (Central Processing Unit) 12 is an arithmetic unit that controls processing inside the recording device controller 14.
The color printer 13 performs color printing of a video signal sent from the controller 14 on a recording medium. The color printer 13 may be an electrophotographic color LBP or an inkjet printer.

(Processing Flow) The arrows in FIG. 1 indicate the flow of processing from the host computer 1 to the printer 13 for various drawing information. This processing flow will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

First, in step 101, color PDL data is fetched into the input buffer 2 by interrupt processing or the like, and then in step 102, the input PDL command is interpreted (interpreted) in accordance with the language specification.
As a result of the interpretation, if the input data is a drawing command, for example, a character, a straight line, or an image drawing in step 103, the data is converted into a page object format supported by the hardware (or software) / rendering circuit (software) 9 in step 104. Convert.

(Rendering Model) In order to understand the following description, the rendering model in this embodiment will be briefly described with reference to the schematic diagram of FIG. This model includes geometric information of various types of drawing data, that is, mask information 151 indicating which part is a drawing target, background information 152 indicating what color the mask should be painted with, and logical information. Drawing method 153 (SET, O
R, XOR, BLEND, ADD, etc.). When clipping is performed in an arbitrary shape, the shape data is first clipped, and only the remaining area after the clip is used as a mask. An example of the resulting rendered image is shown at 154.

(Mask) The mask information supported in this embodiment is assumed to consist of a run length (one scan line in the X direction), a convex polygon whose edges do not intersect, a bitmap image, and a bitmap font. As can be seen, the mask information has a structure suitable for high-speed hardware rendering. For example, the pentagon in FIG. 4A is replaced by the intersection shown in FIG. (In this example, the fill is even-o
dd (odd-even rule) is applied). Also, in the line connection processing unit shown in FIG. 4C, after applying the DDA algorithm in this module to develop the line connection part in another area, the final external shape is changed to a Y scan line. Each time, minx and maxx are held in a run-length manner, and then high-speed rendering (step 11)
Prepare for 1).

Each mask object to be finally generated is rendered in a page memory having a plurality of bands (preferably a power of 2 and having a height of 2 and 51) in order to perform rendering with less memory capacity than the full page memory, that is, banding.
Approximately two dots are optimal. ), And each mask object is sorted for each band.
The link list shown in FIG. At this time, with respect to the polygon spanning the bands, the polygon information is shared by each band. In step 105, for each mask divided into the bands, the decoding time and the rendering time of the data required at the time of rendering are added for each band. This is held for each band i, and pre
d-decode (i), pred-render
(I). Here, the decoding time is almost proportional to the data amount of the created object. But band 3
The decoding time of triangles 1 and 4 (see (B) in FIG. 4) requires extra time to find the offset of the start point of band 3 from the start point of the previous band 2.

The rendering time is calculated by an operation factor based on the mask area in the band × the color depth of the background × the number of color planes × the type of logical drawing.

Returning to FIG. 2, if the input data is not a drawing command, it is determined in step 106 whether the input data is a command for setting various attributes (background, logical drawing). If YES (affirmative determination), a corresponding current state setting process is executed in step 107. These attribute setting commands are converted into data formats (page objects) that can be read by a hardware (or software) renderer, respectively. It is for. Further, as in the present embodiment, since the function of the color logic drawing is not supported by hardware, when such attribute setting command information is detected, a full paint flag (full-p-lag) is set in step 107. As a result, in step 102, the printing resolution and / or gradation is forcibly reduced, and rendering in the full paint mode is performed. Similarly, an instruction such as Flood Fill (point-specified filling) cannot perform banding processing.

(Background) The background information indicates how to add color / shade to the mask. As the type of the background information, a background pattern that is attached to the mask without repeating the image and a tile pattern that is attached to the mask by repeating the pattern in the vertical and horizontal directions can be designated.
In the present embodiment, since a color printing apparatus is assumed, color information can be designated for images, patterns, and tiles.

In step 108, the current state is dumped for the purpose of, for example, debugging. In the next step 109, it is determined whether or not the processing of the interpreter 120 has completed the analysis of the PDL command for one page. If the processing has been completed, the processing shifts to the renderer 121 in step 110. If not, the process returns to step 102 to repeat the analysis of the next command. Up to this point, the data filtering task is basically performed from the PDL to the page object, and the subsequent processing is a rendering task for performing drawing on the page buffer 10. These two tasks are implemented as separate tasks on a real-time OS (operating system) because real-time processing of the rendering task is particularly required, and the latter rendering task is more effective than the former interpreter task. It operates with a high priority (priority).

At (band rendering) step 110, it is determined whether or not band rendering (banding) processing is possible as a pre-process for rendering a page object. The cases where this banding process is not possible are listed below.

The above-mentioned Flood Fill instruction exists in the page.

Management RAM by inputting a large amount of images
Information of 7 overflowed.

The color printer 13 is an electrophotographic LB
As in the case of a P, LED (light emitting diode) printer, once paper is fed and recording is started, the banding process needs to perform the video signal transfer to the printer 13 and the rendering to the band in parallel. 105
Rendering time pred-d for each band calculated by
Regarding code (i) and pred-render (i), any band exceeds a predetermined threshold.

If the above conditions are satisfied, banding cannot be executed. Therefore, the resolution or the gradation is reduced, a full paint memory is secured in the memory of the page buffer 10, and rendering is performed. On the other hand, in an apparatus such as an ink jet printer in which the movement of the recording head can be controlled by the controller, the rendering time (the third condition) is not limited to the above, and if the rendering speed decreases, the movement of the head is stopped. By delaying, banding processing is possible.

The banding process will be described below with reference to FIG. In the band rendering, the page object information created in the management RAM 7 by the PDL analysis task 201 of the interpreter is read by the hardware or software renderer 9 started by the rendering task 202, and scan line information at the Y coordinate is read from the mask information. (X min, x max) is extracted, and the corresponding background information is written to the page buffer (band buffer) 10 with reference to the current background information and the logical drawing mode. Then, the rendering is executed by changing the Y information so as to correspond to the Y coordinates of all the masks. Since this system assumes a color printer, the page buffer has four sides,
An MCK plane exists, and each color information is rendered for each plane.

Here, the following three types of logical drawing can be supported by the hard renderer, assuming a source pattern (S) and a destination pattern (D). These do not support processing that requires computational power, such as inputting both information between patterns S and D, computing between them and setting pattern D. This is because it is necessary to refer to four planes of color, and when each plane has 4 to 8 bits, the amount of calculation of data becomes very large.

Overwrite (D = S) Transparency, do not draw on D (D = D) White (D = 0) Also, it is usually assumed that advanced color logic drawing data is not frequently sent from the host computer. In order to speed up data processing that can be supported by the hardware, or because the color model of the printer is YMCK, the color information of the background is YMCK. In step 107, when the background information is analyzed and the data is stored in the management RAM, the R
Y for the GB data using the color conversion hardware 8
The data is converted to MCK color and stored as background information. Although a form in which the color conversion is realized by software instead of hardware is conceivable, it is desirable to use hardware in order to speed up the processing.

In this way, the hardware renders the page object of the band number i in accordance with the mask information, the background information, and the method of the logical drawing, and generates the horizontal synchronizing signal sent from the printer 13 in parallel. At the same time, the band information of the band number i-1 which has already been rendered is transmitted to the printer 13 through the printer interface 11 as a color video signal (YMCK). In this banding process, the page data composed of the three color logic renderings described above can be printed at a sufficiently high speed. In addition, the page description languages PostScript, LIPS, etc., which are generally widely used at present, are as follows:
Since this simple banding logic is used, much data can be rendered at high speed by this banding process.

(Logic Drawing) Regarding a method of realizing an advanced logic drawing function not supported by the hard renderer 9,
This will be described with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS. 6 and 7 showing the flow of the color information. At the time of this logical drawing, the color background information (RG
B data) 401 is a page object format (RGB) that can be handled by rendering hardware or software.
obj) 405.

(Page Object Conversion) First, in order to realize the following high-level logical drawing, in a printing apparatus that requires real-time rendering such as LBP, instead of band rendering, resolution and / or gradation are reduced. The rendering is performed on the full page buffer 10. Further, since the hard renderer 9 is required to simplify and speed up the processing, it is not possible to execute the real-time resolution conversion of the run length or the convex polygon information at the time of rendering. Therefore, the following processing is required, but is not limited to an inkjet printer or the like.

As pre-processing for rendering, for example, 60
When lowering the resolution from 0 DPI (dots / inch) to 300 DPI, the run length is one line for two lines.
One run length, and the convex polygon performs recalculation of vertex information. This is executed by the interpreter task 201 for all the mask information in the page buffer. For example, the run length is defined as x _l (i), x _r (i), x _l (i + 1), x x at the start and end points of the X coordinate of two lines i and i + 1 at 600 DPI.
Assuming _r (i + 1), one start and end point at the new 300 DPI is as follows.

[0059]

## EQU1 ## new- _xl (i) = min.1 / 2 (x
_l (i), x _l (i + 1)), new-x _r (i) = max ・ (x _r (i), x
_r (i + 1)) Regarding the image, the scaling factors in the x and y directions are each set to そ れ ぞ れ without changing the image information itself of the page object.

On the other hand, even if the gradation of the page buffer is lowered, 1,2,4,4
Since it supports 8-bit rendering, the preprocessing load on the interpreter is not significant.

(Full Paint Rendering) FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the processing procedure of the part related to rendering after this processing. In step 501, the object converted by the interpreter is input, and it is determined in step 502 whether the input object is a drawing command. If it is not a drawing command, in step 505, the background information and (logical) drawing mode are substituted into global variables holding current information. Next, the process proceeds to step 507 described later.

If the input object is a drawing command, in step 503 the current logical drawing mode is checked. If the drawing mode is a process capable of high-speed rendering by hardware such as overwriting and transparency, the hardware rendering is started in step 506. This is the same processing as the high-speed processing hard renderer by banding already described. The only difference is that in the case of high-speed banding processing, rendering is performed in YMCK color, and in this full page mode, rendering is performed in RGB color, so that a different dither matrix must be loaded in advance.

On the other hand, when advanced logic drawing is designated, rendering by software is executed in step 504. This corresponds to the page buffer (D, destination) 40 of the full page as indicated by 406 in FIG.
7 and the color information of the current background object (S, source) 405 are fetched.
After performing the logical operation, the result is stored in the full page buffer 407. Here, as a typical logical operation process, the following operation is performed for each RGB component in consideration of the bit depth. In rendering by software, the source image is created to apply the same logical rendering as that of the hard renderer 9 and apply the logical rendering described below. A page buffer access library is created for each logical rendering scheme. . In order to mix soft rendering and hard rendering, when hard rendering is completed, an interrupt occurs in the CPU 12,
The mechanism is such that the CPU 12 continuously fetches the next page object.

Addition, D = S + D Subtraction, D = D−S The blending α value is specified by the user, and D = α × S + (1−
α) × D ・ Maximum value, D = Max (S, D) ・ Minimum value, D = Min (S, D) This advanced logical drawing is performed by the host computer 1 and generally C
The calculation is performed on RGB data used in an RT (cathode ray tube) display. Therefore, in order to perform the same color reproduction as that of the host computer, it is necessary to realize the RGB color model inside the printer. Therefore, in the full paint mode of the logical drawing, the page buffer 407 is used.
Must be an RGB color model. Further, the page object information 405 also needs to be an RGB color model.

As described above, in the high-speed banding process, the background information in the page object information is held in the YMCK color model.
It is necessary to have GB color. As a result, step 50
When the rendering process of one page of data is completed in step 7, all information in the page buffer 10 is converted from RGB to YMCK in step 508.
The YMCK video data is sent to the printer 13 through the printer interface 11 in step 509.

(Printing Example of Color Logic Drawing) Finally, FIG.
Is used to show the result of logical drawing. Although the original drawing is a color display, since the color display cannot be attached as a drawing, the color difference is indicated by hatching for convenience. In the figure, R is red, G is green,
B is Blue, Y is Yellow
w), M is magenta, C is cyan, and W is white. This is an example in which a logical operation is performed in consideration of the bit depth of D = S + D, and shows the principle of additive color mixing of a CRT. Cyan = Green + Blue, Yel in FIG.
low = Red + Green, Magenta = Red
+ Blue, White = Red + Green + Blue
It is generated by adding e.

(Color Recording Apparatus 13) FIG. 9 shows the appearance of a color ink jet printer apparatus IJRA as an example of the color recording apparatus 13 to which the present embodiment can be applied. still,
Control units other than the color recording device 13 in FIG. 1 are not shown in FIG. In FIG. 9, the drive motor 5013
Transmission gears 5011 and 500 in conjunction with the forward and reverse rotation of
The carriage HC engages with the spiral groove 5004 on the lead screw 5005 that rotates via 9. The carriage HC has a pin (not shown) that engages with the spiral groove 5004.
, Thereby being reciprocated in the directions of arrows a and b. An ink jet cartridge IJC is mounted on the carriage HC. Reference numeral 5002 denotes a paper pressing plate, which presses the paper against the platen 5000 along the moving direction of the carriage HC. Reference numerals 5007 and 5008 denote home position detecting means for confirming the presence of the lever 5006 of the carriage HC in this area and switching the rotation direction of the motor 5013. 5016 is an inkjet cartridge IJC
A cap member 5015 for capping (covering) the entire surface of the recording head, and a suction means 5015 for suctioning the inside of the cap member 5016.
The suction recovery of the recording head is performed via 023. 501
Reference numeral 7 denotes a cleaning blade. Reference numeral 5015 denotes a member that allows the cleaning blade to move in the front-rear direction. These members are supported by a main body support plate 5018. It goes without saying that not only this form but also a known cleaning blade can be applied as the cleaning blade. Reference numeral 5012 denotes a lever for starting suction for suction recovery, and a cam 50 with which the carriage HD engages.
It moves with the movement of 20, and the movement of the driving force from the drive motor 5013 is controlled by known transmission means for clutch switching. The capping, cleaning, and suction recovery are performed by the action of the lead screw 5005 when the carriage HC comes to the area on the home position side.
Although the desired processing can be performed at those corresponding positions, the operation may be performed at a timing other than these.

(Another Embodiment) FIG. 10 shows the configuration of another embodiment of the present invention. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 6, an example is shown in which the YMCK page object and the YMCK page buffer are held at the time of high-speed rendering by banding, and the RGB page buffer and the RGB page object are held at the time of advanced logical drawing. . In this example, it is necessary to have page objects of both RGB and YMCK color modes, and FIG.
Consumes a large area of the management RAM 7. Therefore, FIG.
In this embodiment shown in FIG. 0, the recording area is reduced by holding the page buffer and the page object in YMCK both in the high-speed banding process and in the logical drawing.

The high-speed banding process in the upper half in FIG. 10 is the same as that shown in FIG. 6, and therefore the description thereof will be omitted, and the lower half logical drawing path will be described. At the time of rendering by advanced logical drawing of color, first, the background data 603 of the page object corresponding to the source (S) is converted to Y by the color conversion unit 605.
Inverse conversion from MCK to RGB. Similarly, the part of the page buffer (D) 604 that has already been rendered and which is to be logically rendered with the source is similarly converted by the color converter 60.
Inverse conversion is performed at 8.

The problem here is that the color conversion processing 602
If a simple log conversion is performed when converting from RGB to YMCK in the color conversion processing of, the inverse conversion can be easily calculated, but if UCR (under color removal processing) and masking processing are performed, RG without losing accuracy from YMCK completely
It is impossible to convert back to B. Further, if such conversion is performed in real time, the amount of calculation becomes too large.

Therefore, in the processing of this embodiment, an approximate conversion table from YMCK to RGB is obtained in advance for each of the patterns 2, 4 and 8 of each bit depth by simulation, and is obtained using this approximate conversion table. RG
The B data is used as inverse conversion data. When the approximate conversion table is 2 bits, the table is 256 bytes, 4
In bits, the table is 65,536 bytes,
These are achievable memory sizes. However, since the amount of data is too large in the case of 8 bits, whether to sacrifice color accuracy using a 4-bit table or to calculate with software in preparation for an increase in calculation time,
Preferably, the user can make a selection.

After performing a logical operation 606 based on the information of S and D in the RGB model obtained as described above, the obtained RGB data is converted into YMCK data using the color conversion hardware 8. Then, the data is stored in the page buffer 10. The stored data is finally transferred as a video signal to the color recording device 13 through the printer interface 11.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the color P
Regarding printing of DL (Page Description Language) information, simple logical drawing (SET, OR, transparency), etc. are performed at high speed using hard rendering, and advanced logical operation functions are performed by separating hard rendering and software rendering functions. Since a certain degree of color reproduction is aimed at while slightly lowering the resolution and gradation, the effect that high-speed rendering can be achieved at low cost can be obtained.

[0074]

As described above, according to the present invention,
In printing of color PDL (page description language), a page object is generated with a color component expression suitable for image formation of a color image processing apparatus at the time of banding, so that an effect that high-speed rendering processing can be realized is obtained.

Further, since the image data of the color component expression suitable for image formation of the color image processing apparatus is converted into the image data of the color component expression suitable for logical rendering, and the advanced logical rendering is processed, the resolution and the like are improved. The effect is obtained that rendering can be performed while maintaining a certain degree of color reproduction while slightly reducing the gradation.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a basic configuration of a color printing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating an outline of an entire algorithm according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram illustrating an imaging model according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram regarding various types of mask information according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the concept of band rendering in one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is an architecture diagram relating to color processing in logical drawing according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a logical drawing procedure in full paint rendering according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a result of color logic drawing according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a perspective view illustrating a mechanism of a color recording apparatus applicable to the present invention.

FIG. 10 is an architecture diagram relating to color processing at the time of logical drawing in another embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 1 host computer 2 data input buffer (input buffer) 3 font ROM 4 panel I / O processor (panel IOP) 5 extension interface (extension I / F) 6 program ROM 7 management RAM 8 color conversion hardware (color conversion H / W) 9 Hardware rendering circuit (hard renderer) 10 Page (band) buffer 11 Printer interface (printer I / F) 12 CPU 13 Color recording device (printer) 14 Controller

Claims (22)

[Claims] 1. A color image processing apparatus, comprising: first conversion means for converting input information into intermediate data in a page object format using a first type of color component expression suitable for image formation of the color image processing apparatus; And a rendering means for rendering the intermediate data converted by the first conversion means for each color component. 2. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a second conversion unit configured to convert the input information into intermediate data in a page object format using a second type of color component expression suitable for a predetermined logical drawing. Color image processing device. 3. A third conversion for converting image data of a first type of color component expression obtained by rendering the intermediate data converted by the first conversion means into image data of a second type of color component expression. 3. The color image processing apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising a unit. 4. The color image processing apparatus according to claim 3, further comprising a fourth conversion unit configured to convert the image data of the second type of color component expression into image data of the first type of color component expression. apparatus. 5. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the first conversion unit converts the input information into the intermediate data using the first-type color component expression for each of a plurality of bands forming one page.
3. The color image processing apparatus according to 1. 6. The color image processing apparatus according to claim 5, further comprising a determination unit that determines whether or not to perform band processing. 7. The determining means includes a detecting means for detecting that a predetermined logical drawing command which cannot be rendered by hardware is included in the input information, and wherein the detecting means does not perform rendering by hardware. 7. The color image processing apparatus according to claim 6, wherein when it is detected that a possible predetermined logical drawing command is included, band processing is not performed. 8. A first conversion means for converting input information into intermediate data in a page object format using a first type of color component expression, and a first type conversion device based on the intermediate data of the first type color component expression. Second conversion means for obtaining image data of a color component expression of the type; third conversion means for converting image data of a color component expression of the first type into image data of a color component expression of the second type; A fourth conversion means for converting the image data of the component expression into image data of the first type color component expression, wherein when performing a logical operation on the image data of the first type color component expression, A first mode for performing a logical operation on the image data of the color component expression, and a logical operation on the image data of the second type of color component expression converted from the image data of the first type of color component by the third conversion means. And the logically operated image data of the second type of color component Color image processing apparatus characterized by comprising a second mode to convert the image data of the first type of color component representation by converting means. 9. A determination unit for determining whether to execute a logical drawing corresponding to the logical drawing command in the first mode or the second mode in response to the logical drawing command included in the input information. 9. The method according to claim 8, wherein
3. The color image processing apparatus according to 1. 10. A determination means for determining one of a plurality of grades including a first grade and a second grade lower than the first grade as a grade of image data to be rendered from the input information. 10. The method according to claim 9, wherein when the determination unit determines that the image data is to be executed in the second mode, the determination unit determines a second grade as a grade of image data to be rendered from the input information. Color image processing device. 11. The color image processing apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the logical operation in the first mode is executed by hardware, and the logical operation in the second mode is executed by software. 12. A color image processing method, comprising: a first conversion step of converting input information into intermediate data in a page object format in a first kind of color component expression suitable for image formation of a color image processing apparatus; A rendering step of rendering the intermediate data converted in the first conversion step for each color component. 13. The apparatus according to claim 12, further comprising a second conversion step of converting the input information into intermediate data in a page object format using a second type of color component expression suitable for a predetermined logical drawing. Color image processing method. 14. A third conversion for converting image data of a first-type color component expression obtained by rendering the intermediate data converted in the first conversion step into image data of a second-type color component expression. 14. The color image processing method according to claim 13, further comprising a step. 15. The color image processing according to claim 14, further comprising a fourth conversion step of converting image data of a second type of color component expression into image data of a first type of color component expression. Method. 16. The method according to claim 12, wherein in the first conversion step, the input information is converted into the intermediate data by the first-type color component expression for each of a plurality of bands forming one page. The color image processing method described in the above. 17. The color image processing method according to claim 16, further comprising a determining step of determining whether or not to perform band processing. 18. The determining step includes a detecting step of detecting that a predetermined logical drawing command that cannot be rendered by hardware is included in the input information, wherein the rendering by hardware is not performed in the detecting step. 18. The color image processing method according to claim 17, wherein it is determined not to perform band processing when detecting that a possible predetermined logical drawing command is included. 19. A first conversion step of converting input information into intermediate data in a page object format using a first-type color component expression; A second conversion step of obtaining image data of a color component expression of: a third conversion step of converting image data of a first type of color component expression into image data of a second type of color component expression; A fourth conversion step of converting the image data of the component expression into image data of the first type color component expression, wherein a logical operation is directly performed on the image data of the first type color component expression. A first mode for performing a logical operation on the image data of the color component expression, and a logical operation on the image data of the second type of color component expression converted from the image data of the first type of color component by the third conversion step. And a second type of color operation Color image processing method characterized by comprising a second mode for converting image data of the representation by the fourth conversion step to image data of the first type of color component representation. 20. A determination step, in response to a logical drawing command included in the input information, determining whether to execute a logical drawing corresponding to the logical drawing command in the first mode or the second mode. 20. The color image processing method according to claim 19, wherein: 21. A determination step of determining one of a plurality of grades including a first grade and a second grade lower than the first grade as a grade of image data to be rendered from the input information. 21. The method according to claim 20, wherein in the determining step, when it is determined that the image data is to be executed in the second mode, the determining step determines a second grade as a grade of image data to be rendered from the input information. Color image processing method. 22. The color image processing method according to claim 19, wherein the logical operation in the first mode is executed by hardware, and the logical operation in the second mode is executed by software.