JP3208961B2 - Color name acquisition device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an apparatus for acquiring a color name used in a computer system having a color display such as a workstation or a personal computer, and more particularly, to an arbitrary point designated on a display. And a device for obtaining the name of the color.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, in computer systems such as workstations and personal computers, color display using a color display has become widespread. In these systems, a color sample is displayed on a display, and a user can specify a color of a graphic or a graph by selecting a desired color.

By the way, a large number of colors can be displayed on a color display such as the workstation described above. The displayed color is usually composed of a combination of three values of red (R), green (G) and blue (B), and each value is 256 from 0 to 255.
Has the gradation of Therefore, the total number of colors is 256 to the third power, which is about 16.8 million colors. Therefore, there are cases where many operations are required in color specification using a color sample, and there is a drawback that it is difficult to specify a correct color.

[0004] Therefore, there is an apparatus in which a color can be designated by inputting a color name. For example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 4-2
Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 64678 proposes a color generation method and a color generation method in which a desired color and its value (RGB value) are generated simply by inputting a character string expressing the color.

[0005]

However, the method of inputting a color name as described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 4-264678 has an inconvenience that a color cannot be designated unless the color name is known. For example, even if an attempt is made to specify a color that is the same as or close to a certain color on the display, the color cannot be specified unless the name of that color is known.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a color name obtaining apparatus capable of obtaining a color name of a point by designating a desired point on a display screen even when the name of the color is unknown. And

[0007]

According to the present invention, there is provided a color name obtaining apparatus for displaying an image on a display screen, and for specifying an arbitrary point on the image displayed on the display means. Specifying means, obtaining means for obtaining the RGB values of the color at the point specified by the specifying means, first data holding means for storing the names of the basic colors and their RGB values, A string representing the color,
A second data holding unit for holding a conditional expression for determining whether or not the color range matches the approximated color range; and a first data holding unit for storing an RGB value that matches the RGB value of the color obtained by the obtaining unit. Means for searching for a color name corresponding to a matching RGB value, and when there is no matching RGB value, a first searching means for specifying a closest RGB value; Closest RG specified in
A second search unit that searches the second data holding unit for a conditional expression that matches the B value and obtains a corresponding character string; and an RG that matches the RGB value of the color acquired by the acquisition unit.
When the B value exists in the first data holding means,
The name of the color corresponding to the GB value is displayed on the display unit, and the RGB value corresponding to the RGB value of the color acquired by the acquisition unit is displayed.
When the value does not exist in the first data holding means, the character string obtained by the second search means is combined with the name of the basic color corresponding to the closest RGB value specified by the first search means. And display control means for displaying.

[0008]

When an arbitrary point on the display screen is designated by the designation means, the acquisition means acquires the RGB values of the color at the point designated by the designation means and notifies the first retrieval means. The first searching means searches the first data holding means with the RGB values of the color at the designated point, and checks whether a matching value exists. If there is a matching value, the color name corresponding to the value is specified and notified to the display control means. The display control means displays the name of the color on the display means.

[0009] If the first search means finds no matching value as a result of searching the first data holding means,
The value closest to the RGB value of the color acquired by the acquisition unit is specified, and the value is notified to the second search unit. The second search means is
The second data holding unit searches for a conditional expression that matches the closest RGB value specified by the first search unit, specifies a corresponding character string, and notifies the display control unit. The display control means combines the character string obtained from the second search means with the name of the basic color corresponding to the closest RGB value specified by the first search means and displays the combination on the display means.

[0010]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of a color name obtaining apparatus according to the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of a color name obtaining apparatus. Name acquisition device 10 for this color
Are a display unit 11, a designation unit 12, a drawing memory 13, an acquisition unit 14, a first data holding unit 15, a second data holding unit 16, a first search unit 17, and a second search unit 1.
8. It is composed of display control means 19.

The display means 11 displays a color image such as a figure or a graph on a display screen.

The designation means 12 is an input means operated by the user. When the user designates an arbitrary point on the display screen, the position information is notified to the display control means 19. The drawing memory 13 is a memory for developing image data displayed on the display and performing various editing processes. Image data read from a file (not shown) is stored in the drawing memory.

The obtaining means 14 stores the drawing memory 13 based on the position information of the point on the image specified by the specifying means 12.
To obtain the color value (RGB value) at the designated point. Note that the function of the acquisition unit 14 is the display control unit 1.
9 may be provided.

The first data holding means 15 stores the names and values of the basic colors displayed on the display in a color name and value table (hereinafter referred to as a first table) as shown in FIG. keeping. There is no particular limitation on the number of entries registered in the table. The data may be stored in an ordinary text file or a database (for example, a relational database) may be used.

The second data holding means 16 determines a character string representing a color similar to the basic color held in the first data holding means 15 and whether or not the character string matches the approximate color range. The conditional expression to be determined is stored in a condition table as shown in FIG. 3 (hereinafter, referred to as a second table). In the second table, a character string such as “white whitish” expressing a color similar to the basic color registered in the first table and a condition for determining whether or not the character string matches the approximate color range Equations 1 to 6 are registered. In the “%” part, the name corresponding to the closest value searched in the first table is entered. The conditional expression 7 (ENDCAS)
E) is used when none of 1 to 6 is met. In describing the condition (expression), some grammar is defined in advance and described according to the grammar. In this embodiment, the data is described in an expression similar to a normal computer program, but data may be stored in a normal text file.

The first retrieval means 17 refers to the first table and retrieves a value that matches the color value acquired by the acquisition means 14. To determine if they match,
Any definition may be used as long as it satisfies the mathematical definition of distance. In this embodiment, for each of RGB, a difference (actual value−registered value) dR, dG, dB between an actual value (acquired value) and a value registered in the table is obtained,
When the value of (square of dR) + (square of dG) + (square of dB) becomes 0, it is determined that there is a match, and when no match is found, the value is the most significant. The smaller one is determined to be the closest value. As a result of the search, if a value that matches the actual value is registered in the table, the value of the color and the name of the corresponding color are specified and notified to the display control unit 19. If a value that matches the actual value is not registered in the table, the closest value is specified, and the difference is notified to the second search unit 18.

The second search means 18 calculates a conditional expression matching the difference notified from the first search means 17 by the second search means.
And a character string corresponding to the conditional expression is specified and notified to the display control means 19.

The display control means 19 controls the image display on the display means 11, and displays the image data developed in the drawing memory 13. When an application window for acquiring a color name is open, a color name corresponding to the color value notified from the first search means 17 is displayed, and a second search means 18 is displayed. A new color name is created by combining the character string corresponding to the conditional expression notified from the above with the name of the basic color (obtained from the first search unit 17) approximate to this character string, and the obtaining unit 14 The display unit 11 displays the acquired color values (actual values) together with the values.

FIG. 4 shows a color name acquiring device 1 shown in FIG.
0 shows a specific example for realizing 0, for example, a hardware configuration of a workstation having an image processing function.

The display 21 is a color display device such as a CRT and displays an image such as a figure or a graph on a screen. The display on the display 21 is controlled by the display control unit 22. The display 21 is shown in FIG.
The function of the display means 11 is realized.

The keyboard 23 is an input device for inputting data such as commands and character strings, and is connected with a mouse 24 for selecting an instruction on a screen. Keyboard 2
3 and various data and instructions input from the mouse 24
Processor unit 2 through keyboard / mouse control unit 25
9 The keyboard 23, the mouse 24, and the keyboard / mouse control unit 25 realize the function of the specifying unit 12 in FIG.

The hard disk 26 is constituted by a secondary storage device such as a magnetic disk, and stores the first table and the second table in a text file format. The hard disk 26 implements the functions of the first data holding unit 15 and the second data holding unit 16 in FIG.

The real memory 27 is a buffer storage composed of a memory device such as a RAM, and temporarily stores various programs, various data and instructions input from the keyboard 23 and the mouse 24, and the like.

The image data storage memory 28 is a bitmap memory in which image data displayed on the display 21 is written. The image data storage memory 28 is provided in FIG.
The function of the drawing memory 13 is realized.

The processor unit 29 is a central processing unit constituted by a CPU and its peripheral circuits. The processor unit 29 manages the operation of each unit according to a control program, and executes arithmetic processing on predetermined data. Processor 2
Reference numeral 9 denotes an acquisition unit 1 shown in FIG.
4. The functions of the first search means 17, the second search means 18, and the display control means 19 are realized.

Next, the operation of the color name obtaining apparatus 10 will be described with reference to FIG. 1 and the flowchart of FIG.

First, a user opens an application window for acquiring a color name on a display screen, and specifies a desired point with the specifying means 12 (mouse or the like).

When an arbitrary point on the screen is designated by the designation means 12, the acquisition means 14 acquires the position x, y of the designated point through the display control means 19, and based on the position x, y. Search the drawing memory 13 to obtain the color values R, G, and B at the designated point (step 10).
1, 102). Next, the first search means 17 searches the first table with the color values R, G, and B at the designated point (step 103), and checks whether a matching value exists (step 104). ). Here, when there is a matching value, the color name corresponding to the value is specified,
The display control means 19 is notified together with the color values R, G, and B (step 105). The display control unit 19 includes a color name and color values R, G,
B is displayed on the display means 11 (step 106).

If there is no matching value in step 104, the color value R,
The value closest to G and B is specified, and the difference between the two values is calculated as the second value.
(Step 107). The second search unit 18 searches the second table for a conditional expression that matches the difference notified from the first search unit 17 (step 108), and specifies and displays a character string corresponding to the conditional expression. It notifies the control means 19 (step 109). The display control unit 19 compares the character string notified from the second search unit 18 with the nearest RGB specified by the first search unit 17.
A new color name is created by combining the basic color names corresponding to the values, and is displayed on the display unit 11 together with the color values (actual values) acquired by the acquisition unit 14 (step 11).
0).

Next, a specific example in the case where a color name is obtained by actually designating a point on the display screen will be described.

FIG. 6 shows a display example of an application window for acquiring a color name. After pressing the start button on the screen, the user positions the mouse cursor on a point on the display screen where the user wants to know the color name, and clicks the mouse button. At this time, it is assumed that the color values R, G, and B of the point designated by the mouse are (0, 0, 0). In the first table (FIG. 2), the color values R, G, B
When searching for a value that matches (0, 0, 0), the same value is found in the second column. Therefore, the color of the point designated by the mouse is "black", and the character string "black" is displayed in the item of the color name as shown in FIG. In FIG. 7, the color of the point selected by the user and the R, G, B values of black are also displayed.

It is also assumed that the color values R, G, B at the point designated by the mouse are (251, 175, 68). In the first table (FIG. 2), the color values R, G, B (25
1, 175, 68), but since no matching value is registered in the table, the closest value is specified and the difference is obtained. In this case, assuming that the closest value is orange in the fifth column, the difference is dR = 25
1-250 = 1, dG = 175-173 = 2, dB = 68−
71 = -3. Next, a conditional expression that matches this difference is searched in the second table (FIG. 3). Here, “dR> 0 AND dG> 0” in the third column applies. This allows
The character string "yellowish%" corresponding to the conditional expression is specified. Here, assuming that “%” is a promise that the name corresponding to the closest value searched in the first table is entered, “yellowish orange” which is a combination of “yellowish” and “orange” is specified. The name of the color of the dot
As shown in FIG. 8, a character string "yellow orange" is displayed in the item of the name. Also, the actual values of the points specified by the user are displayed in the items of R, G, and B.

In the application window,
It suffices if at least the name of the color of the point designated by the user is displayed, and the color of the point selected by the user and the R, G, and B values thereof do not necessarily need to be displayed. Further, the name of the displayed color may be directly input.

[0035]

As described above, in the color name acquiring apparatus according to the present invention, the RGB of the point designated on the screen is obtained.
When a value is obtained and a value that matches the RGB value is held, the name of the color corresponding to that value is displayed. Otherwise, the RGB value closest to the RGB value is used as the basic color. Is determined, and a character string corresponding to the matched color range and the closest RG
Since the display is made in combination with the name of the basic color corresponding to the B value, the user can easily obtain the name of the color of the point simply by specifying the desired point on the display screen.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of a color name acquisition device.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of a color name and value table (first table).

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of a condition table (second table) expressing a close color.

FIG. 4 is a configuration diagram showing a specific example for realizing a color name acquisition device.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the operation of the color name acquisition device.

FIG. 6 is a view showing a display example of an application window.

FIG. 7 is a view showing a display example of an application window.

FIG. 8 is a view showing a display example of an application window.

[Explanation of symbols]

11 display means, 12 designation means, 13 drawing memory,
14 ... acquisition means, 15 ... first data holding means, 16 ...
Second data holding means, 17 ... first search means, 18 ...
Second search means

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] A display unit that displays an image; a specification unit that specifies an arbitrary point on the image displayed on the display unit; and an RGB value of a color at a point specified on the image. Acquiring means; first data holding means for holding the names of the basic colors and their RGB values; character strings representing colors similar to the basic colors; A second data holding unit for holding a conditional expression to be determined, and a first data holding unit that searches for an RGB value that matches the RGB value of the color obtained by the obtaining unit, and that matches the RGB value that matches. Identify the name of the color to be
When there is no GB value, a first search means for specifying the closest RGB value; and a conditional expression matching the closest RGB value specified by the first search means, from the second data holding means. Search and
A second search unit that obtains a corresponding character string; and if an RGB value that matches the RGB value of the color acquired by the acquisition unit exists in the first data holding unit, a color corresponding to the RGB value is acquired. The name is displayed on the display unit, and the R value corresponding to the RGB value of the color acquired by the acquisition unit is displayed.
When the GB value does not exist in the first data holding unit, the character string obtained by the second searching unit is combined with the name of the basic color corresponding to the closest RGB value specified by the first searching unit. And a display control means for displaying a color name.