JP4366361B2 - Image processing apparatus, image processing apparatus control method, and program - Google Patents

Description

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

  In general, an image output apparatus such as a printer includes a controller unit that converts image data (print data) for which an output instruction has been given from a host computer or a digital camera connected thereto, to image data suitable for output, and a controller unit And an engine unit that receives the image data output from and outputs the image to a medium such as paper.

  In the following, a laser beam printer will be taken up as an example of the image output apparatus and described.

  The laser beam printer receives image data (print data) from a host computer through a network line such as a serial line, a parallel line, or Ethernet (registered trademark), and converts the image data into bitmap data. It consists of an engine unit that controls and drives the photographic process. These controller unit and engine unit are connected by a communication path called a video interface. This video interface includes an image signal for transferring image data, a control signal for controlling the timing of the image signal, a command signal for the controller section to give an instruction to the engine section, and the engine section for indicating the engine status to the controller section. Communication is performed by a status signal for transmission.

  The engine unit operates according to a command received from the video interface, receives an image signal (bitmap data) according to a control signal, and outputs an image to a medium such as paper using an electrophotographic process. Note that the size that can be printed by the engine unit, error information such as a paper jam, and the like are appropriately transmitted as status signals to the controller.

  In such an image output device composed of a controller unit and an engine unit, in order to output print data normally, the controller unit converts the print data into normal image data, and then sends the image data to the engine unit. And the engine unit must output the image data appropriately.

  Conventionally, in the development process and operation verification process of an image output device, it is necessary to send various print data to the controller unit and actually operate the engine unit to obtain an output image. The evaluation of whether or not there is a human eye. Such an image output / evaluation process is repeated.

  However, in the method of actually obtaining an output image as described above, a large amount of media such as paper and consumables such as toner and ink are consumed in order to output a large amount of printed images. Also in the evaluation of the output image, the skill of the evaluator is required because the evaluation is performed with the naked eye, and even if a skilled person performs the evaluation, a lot of time is consumed. Furthermore, recent high-definition image output devices have rapidly progressed, and the resolution has ranged from 300 dpi (dots per inch) to 2400 dpi. In such a high-definition image output apparatus, it is difficult to detect minute output errors such as missing dots from the print result with the naked eye alone.

  Further, in order to obtain an output image, the operation of both the controller unit and the engine unit is necessary. When an output error can be detected by naked eye evaluation, whether the error is caused by the controller unit or the engine unit. It is difficult to identify whether it is caused by the problem.

  In the past, image data transmitted via a video interface was acquired by a measuring device such as a logic analyzer, and the validity of the image data was verified from the waveform information of the image data being transmitted. Estimating an image is very difficult and only confirms that image data is being transmitted.

  Incidentally, in the development process of the image output apparatus, there is a demand for verifying the operation of the controller unit even when the engine unit does not exist. However, especially in the initial stage of development of the image processing apparatus, a limited number of engine units are often manufactured, and the operation verification of the controller unit cannot be freely performed. This is a major factor that hinders parallel development of the controller unit and the engine unit.

  An object of the present invention is to provide an image processing apparatus, an image processing apparatus control method, and a program capable of improving the development speed and reducing the development cost.

In order to achieve the above object, an image processing apparatus according to claim 1 includes a controller unit that outputs output image data and a command signal, and an engine unit that outputs the output image data to a medium. In an image processing apparatus that verifies the operation of the controller unit of the image output apparatus, an interface unit that performs data communication with the controller unit, and image data acquisition that acquires image data output from the controller unit via the interface unit Means, command acquisition means for acquiring a command signal output from the controller section via the interface means, an image memory for holding the acquired image data, and displaying the image data held in the image memory Control the display means and the system of the image processing apparatus. And a control means for a start or instruction capable instruction means to stop the real-time analysis processing mode, has the image processing apparatus, when performing operation verification of the controller, instead of the actual engine, which is connected to the controller unit, the control means, the image data by the image data acquisition means has acquired on the basis of the command acquired from the command acquisition unit, and controls to display on said display means, said real-time analysis In the mode, the control unit controls the execution of a series of image data acquisition and display operations by the command acquisition unit, the image data acquisition unit, and the image memory, whereby the image data output from the controller unit is controlled. Similar to the output on the recording medium when the engine unit is connected, it is output from the controller unit. In this mode, the image data is displayed on the display means in real time. When a stop instruction is given by the instruction means, the series of image data acquisition and display operations are stopped, and the image memory is stopped. Image data immediately before the stop instruction is stored, and the control unit switches to the offline processing mode in which the stored image data immediately before the stop instruction is displayed on the display unit .

  As described above in detail, according to the present invention, when developing an image output apparatus including a controller unit that generates output image data and an engine unit that outputs the output image data to a medium such as paper, an engine is developed. It is possible to provide an image processing apparatus that can be used in place of the unit to visualize the image data generated by the controller unit in real time. As a result, even when the engine unit is not completed, the controller unit can be verified, and development speed can be improved and development cost can be reduced. Furthermore, the data generated by the controller unit can be analyzed on the display device, and pixel level analysis that cannot be determined from the print result can be performed with a simple operation.

  Hereinafter, an image processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of an image processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

  1, an image processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a video data control unit 200 that generates output image data, a controller 100 that is connected to the video data control unit 200 via a video interface unit 400, And an expansion bus 300 of a personal computer connected to the video data control unit 200.

  The video data control unit 200 includes an image input control unit 203, a dual port memory control unit 204, an image output control unit 205, and a controller interface control unit connected to the dual port memory control unit 204. 201, an expansion bus interface control unit 202, and a frame memory 206.

  The image processing apparatus of FIG. 1 has a function of storing image data output from the controller unit 100 in the frame memory 206 and further transferring the stored image data to the processing unit of the personal computer via the expansion bus 300.

  When the controller interface control unit 201 issues an image transfer permission signal in response to an image transfer request signal from the controller 100, the controller 100 starts transferring image data in synchronization with the image transfer permission signal.

  The image input control unit 203 transfers the image data output from the controller 100 to the dual port memory control unit 204, and the dual port memory control unit 204 further transfers the image data transferred from the image input control unit 203 to the frame memory 206. Write.

  The expansion bus interface control unit 202 notifies the transfer state of the image data via the expansion bus 300, reads the image held in the frame memory 206 according to the transfer request, and transfers the image to the image output control unit 205. Further, the image output control unit 205 outputs image data to the expansion bus 300.

  FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of a connection configuration of the image processing apparatus of FIG.

  The image processing apparatus 23 in FIG. 1 is connected to the output of the printer controller 21 via a cable. The printer controller 21 is connected to a personal computer or the like via a parallel interface (not shown), a USB interface, or a network.

  The image processing apparatus 23 includes a general-purpose computer 24 having an interface unit (PCI board) 22 and a CRT 25.

  The output of the printer controller 21 is originally connected to the engine controller of the printing apparatus. For example, in the case of an electrophotographic printer, the engine controller drives a laser driver to form an electrostatic latent image on the surface of the photosensitive drum with raster image data generated by the controller, and magnetically attaches toner to develop the recording paper.

  On the other hand, when the controller 21 is verified using the image processing device 23, the video interface is connected to the interface unit 22 of the image processing device 23. The interface unit 22 generates a synchronization signal (horizontal synchronization signal and vertical synchronization signal) in accordance with an output command of the printer controller 21 and the like, and holds raster image data output from the printer controller 21 in a memory on the interface unit 22. The stored image data is reconstructed by software operating on the general-purpose computer 24 and displayed on the CRT 25. The image processing device 23 is thus connected instead of the printer engine, and is used for development of controller hardware / software.

  FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of the interface unit 22 in FIG.

  The interface unit 22 includes a video interface unit 31 and a video data control unit 32. The video data control unit 32 includes a video interface logic, a memory controller, a memory, a PCI interface, and the like. Via the video interface unit 31, data accumulation control, generation of synchronization signals (horizontal synchronization signal and vertical synchronization signal), printer command Perform processing. The video data control unit 32 is mounted in an expansion slot of the general-purpose computer 24 as an expansion board with a PCI interface. The video interface unit 31 is a unit connected between the plates of the video data control unit 32 and has a replaceable structure. Since the interface unit 22 is configured to be mountable in a general-purpose expansion slot, it becomes possible to replace a computer serving as a system control unit according to a required processing speed. Further, by adopting a configuration in which the video interface unit 31 can be replaced, the present image processing apparatus can be easily adapted to the development of an image output apparatus having another different interface. As a result, the hardware can cope with only the change of the video interface unit 31.

  FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing an internal configuration of the video interface unit 31 in FIG.

  The video interface unit 31 includes a connector 40, a line driver 41 connected to the connector 40, and a connector 43 for inter-board coupling connected to the line driver 41 directly or via the FIFO 42. The line driver 41 includes a balanced signal interface driver / receiver device for connecting a high-speed video signal via a cable. The FIFO 42 holds image data according to the video synchronization clock.

  The connector 40 is connected to the controller 100 via a dedicated video cable. The controller 100 is connected to various synchronization signals, CMYK image data synchronized with the synchronization signals, a serial command signal for controlling an interface with the printer engine, and the like. . The connector 43 manages a physical interface with the video data control unit 32. The video data control unit 32 generates a synchronization signal (horizontal synchronization signal and vertical synchronization signal) according to a print command transmitted from the controller 100 and extracts image data transmitted from the printer controller 100 according to the synchronization signal from the FIFO 42.

  FIG. 5 is a timing chart showing the operation of the image processing apparatus of FIG.

  The image processing device 23 sequentially performs image transfer processing on the four color image data in parallel. In order to execute this process smoothly, the frame memory of the image processing apparatus 23 has a capacity of two pages. By continuously outputting the data for two pages, the image data transfer for the second page is started before the end of the data transfer for the first page by using the shift in the image data transfer timing of each color. By shortening the interval, the overall processing time can be greatly reduced.

  In FIG. 5, when the image transfer request signal a is issued from the controller 100, the controller interface control unit 201 returns an image transfer permission signal b in response thereto. The controller 100 to which the image transfer permission signal b is returned performs the image data transfer of cf according to a predetermined timing.

  The image input control unit 203 stores the transferred image data c to f in the frame memory 206 via the dual port memory control unit 204, and when the transfer of the image data input 4 for the first page is completed, the expansion bus interface The control unit 202 generates an expansion bus interrupt signal g to notify the system side that the data storage for the first page has been completed.

  On the other hand, on the system side, the image data stored in the video data control unit 200 is acquired based on the interrupt signal via the expansion bus 300.

  For data transfer from the video data control unit to the system side, any method that can be executed based on the expansion bus interface may be used. For example, the frame memory 206 is mapped to the memory space on the expansion bus and read by normal memory read access, or a master transfer function operable on the expansion bus is provided on the image processing apparatus side, which is designated in advance. It is possible to use a method of transferring data to a separate memory.

  Through the above series of operations, the image data for the first page is transferred from the controller 100 to the expansion bus 300 via the image processing apparatus 200, and the data transfer procedure for the second page is performed in exactly the same way as the transfer for the first page. .

  The feature of the present invention is that, as shown in FIG. 5, the second page of image data is transferred from the controller 100 to the video data control unit 200, and the first page of image data is transferred from the image processing apparatus 200 to the expansion bus 300. It is in place to run in parallel.

  The video data control unit 200 has a memory capacity for two pages in order to execute data output for the first page and data input for the second page in parallel, and has means for controlling reading and writing in parallel. The page interval can be shortened, and the processing throughput can be improved.

  Next, software (a general-purpose computer 24 serving as a host) executed by the image processing apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described.

  FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a software configuration on the general-purpose computer 24 in FIG.

  The general-purpose computer 24 includes an operating system (basic software) 61, a driver 62, a manager 63, and an application 64.

  In this embodiment, Microsoft Windows 2000 (registered trademark) is used. The operating system 61 manages resources such as memory, interrupt, and hard disk of the personal computer. A device driver 62 is software that provides basic operations to the interface board 22 that is hardware necessary for the present embodiment. Basic operations include accessing a register on the interface board 22, accessing a buffer memory, handling an interrupt from the interface board 22, and the like. Reference numeral 63 denotes middleware, which provides more advanced operations to the interface board 22. Advanced operations include a function that acquires the image data stored in the buffer on the interface board 22 in DIB format (device-independent bitmap format). At the time of acquisition, processing such as reduction, enlargement, and dither correction is performed simultaneously. can do. The middleware 63 uses a device driver 62 internally. Reference numeral 64 denotes software serving as a user interface for the operator of the apparatus. The operator can issue instructions such as start, stop, and analysis to the device through the application 64. The application 64 uses middleware 63 internally.

  FIG. 7 is a flowchart of a real-time analysis processing program executed by the image processing apparatus of FIG.

  All the software shown in this flowchart is software that operates on the general-purpose computer 24. The software provides a GUI for the user and controls the interface board 22.

  In FIG. 7, when the software is activated, an initialization process is performed (step S101). This initialization processing executes initialization processing of hardware such as setting of registers related to the video data control unit 32 as well as initialization of variables and the like related to the software.

  In the subsequent step S102, an initial screen shown in FIG.

  FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram of an initial screen of the CRT 25 displayed in step S102 of FIG.

  In FIG. 11, reference numeral 81 denotes an image display area which displays image data generated by the printer controller. The user first specifies the size and color space of image data to be displayed. A combo box 82 for designating the paper size is set with the number of main scanning pixels / main scanning start position / number of sub scanning lines / sub scanning start position corresponding to the paper size preset in the area. Reference numeral 83 denotes a button for displaying a user interface for detailed setting. When the button is pressed, a detailed setting window shown in FIG. 12 is displayed. Here, it is possible to change preset parameters.

  Returning to FIG. 7, when an instruction to change the image size is given (YES in step S103), parameters are set so as to display the designated image data (step S104), and the process proceeds to step S105. The video data control unit 32 holds only the image data of the effective area in the image memory according to the set parameters.

  When the display color space is instructed (YES in step S105), parameters are set to display the designated image data (step S106), and the process proceeds to step S107. The display color space can be selected from five types of color, C plane, M plane, Y plane, and K plane (radio button 84). Since the image data output from the printer controller is normally in the CMYK color space, when color is selected here, the CMYK image data stored in the image memory is taken out and displayed in the display area after color conversion to RGB data. When displaying the C / M / Y / K plane, only the necessary color plane data is extracted from the image memory and displayed. When the setting of the image size and the display color space is completed as described above, actual image capture can be started. Since these parameters have default values, there is no need to reset them if they are not necessary.

  In step S107, it is determined whether or not pressing of the start button 85 has been detected. If not detected, the processing from step S103 is repeated, and if detected, the control unit is controlled by the application software via the manager layer software. The start of the image data acquisition operation is set, and the processing start register of the video data control unit 32 is set, and at the same time, the page end interrupt processing of FIG. 9 described later for this software is validated (step S108).

  This page end interrupt process is for the video data control unit 32 to notify the software of the end of the accumulation of one page of image data, and when the page end interrupt is enabled, the software presses the stop button 86. It will continue to wait for the interrupt process until

  FIG. 9 is a flowchart of the page end interrupt process activated in step S108 of FIG.

  In FIG. 9, first, it is determined whether or not color display is designated as the display color space (step S122), and when the color display is not designated, the designated plane is reduced and converted to the image data stored in the image memory. The data is transferred to the work memory of the general-purpose computer 25 (step S123). In many cases, since the size of the image display area is smaller than the size of the image data output from the printer controller, the image data is extracted while performing reduction conversion. Specifically, high-definition image data such as 4864 main scanning pixels and 6849 sub-scanning lines stored in the image memory is reduced to 1/8 times, and image data of 608 pixels × 856 lines is reduced to a personal computer. Forward to. Further, at this time, band limitation is performed with a predetermined spatial filter in order to suppress the influence of aliasing noise and the like accompanying subsampling. The reduction conversion here can reduce the amount of data transferred from the image memory to the image display device, thereby realizing a high-speed operation. Higher speed operation can be realized by reducing the display area. When the display image color space is set to the C / M / Y / K plane, only the designated plane is extracted from the image data to be extracted. When only the designated plane is displayed, the data transfer amount and the processing amount are small compared to the case of displaying in color, so that the processing capability required for the general-purpose computer 25 can be reduced. Furthermore, the data of each plane can be observed as it is for each plane as data generated by the controller.

  In the subsequent step S125, negative / positive inversion is performed to improve the visibility, and the image is displayed in the image display area (step S127), and the number of displayed image pages, that is, the number of print completed pages 87 is displayed (step S128). The negative / positive reversal in step S127 may be omitted if it is not necessary.

  On the other hand, if the result of determination in step S122 is that color display is not specified, the image data of each CMYK plane is extracted at a predetermined reduction ratio (step S124), and color conversion processing is performed on the extracted image data. After having been performed (step S126), steps S127 and S128 are executed.

In the color conversion process in step S126, CMYK image data is converted into RGB image data for display by a commonly used conversion formula. The following formula shows an example of a conversion formula for color conversion.
R = 1 − (C + K)
G = 1 − (M + K)
B = 1 − (Y + K)
The RGB image data obtained by the above conversion formula is displayed in color in the image display area in step S127. In the case of color display, the CMYK image generated by the controller is not purely reproduced due to differences in color reproducibility between the color conversion process and the display device such as the printer engine and CRT, but it is reproduced as a color image. Therefore, it is effective for finding obvious rasterization errors.

  With the processing in FIG. 9, as the page end interrupt occurs, the image data to be rasterized by the printer controller can be displayed in real time on the display unit in the same manner as the output to paper when the printer engine is connected.

  Returning to FIG. 7, when the user presses the stop button (YES in step S109), the application software prohibits the generation of interrupt processing via the manager software and driver software, and notifies the video data control unit 32 of the printer command. Command to stop printer emulation processing. At this time, the system operates in the offline analysis mode of FIG. The offline analysis mode provides an analysis function for the image data of the last page stored in the image memory during the real-time analysis mode operation.

  FIG. 13 is an explanatory diagram of a display screen of the CRT 25 in the offline analysis mode.

  In the image display area 111, the image of the last page is displayed. In the offline analysis mode, buttons for prompting operations such as the enlargement / reduction function 112, the data storage function 113, and the log display function 114 are activated.

  FIG. 8 is a flowchart of the offline analysis process executed after the process of FIG.

  In FIG. 8, when an instruction to change the display color space is given (YES in step S1201), an image reacquisition display process shown in FIG. 10 described later is executed (step S1202), and the process proceeds to step S1203.

  FIG. 10 is a flowchart of the image reacquisition display process in step S1202 of FIG.

  In this process, image data of a desired plane reduced to a predetermined magnification is transferred from the image memory and displayed in the display area.

  In FIG. 10, first, it is determined whether or not color display is designated as a display color space (step S1302). When color display is not designated and a C / M / Y / K independent plane is designated. The image data of the designated plane is transferred to the storage device of the general-purpose computer 25 while being reduced and converted at a desired reduction ratio (step S1303), and the transferred image data is subjected to negative / positive conversion (step S1304) and then monochrome grayscale. The image data is displayed in the image display area (step S1307).

  On the other hand, if color display is designated as a result of the determination in step S1302, the image data of each CMYK plane is transferred to the storage device of the personal computer while being reduced to a predetermined magnification (step S1305), and the transferred image is also transferred. Color conversion processing is performed on the data (step S1306), and the obtained RGB image data is displayed in the image display area (step S1307).

  Returning to FIG. 8, when the enlarge button is pressed (YES in step S1203), the image reacquisition display process of FIG. 10 is executed (step S1202), and the process proceeds to step S1205. When the enlarge button is pressed once, the image data enlarged by + 10% is transferred again from the image memory. Also in this case, necessary image data is transferred from the image memory at a predetermined reduction ratio in step S1202.

  FIG. 14 is an explanatory diagram of a display screen of the CRT 25 when the enlarge button is pressed in step S1203 of FIG.

  High-resolution image data is transferred and displayed in the image display area 141. In this case, the scroll bar 142 is automatically displayed because it does not fit in the image display area. It is possible to check the entire image by operating the scroll bar.

  Returning to FIG. 8, when the reduction button is pressed (YES in step S1205), the image reacquisition display process of FIG. 10 is executed (step S1202), and the process proceeds to step S1207. When the reduction button is pressed once, the image data reduced by -10% is transferred again from the image memory.

  Subsequently, when the entire display button is pressed (YES in step S1207), the image reacquisition display process of FIG. 10 is executed (step S1202), and the process proceeds to step S1209. When the whole display button is pressed, the image data is retransferred from the image memory at a reduction ratio capable of displaying the whole image in the image display area. Further, an enlarged display by designating the mouse region is also possible as shown in FIG.

  FIG. 15 is a diagram showing how a region is designated with a mouse. Reference numeral 151 denotes a designated area, which retransfers and displays data from the image memory at a magnification such that the area is displayed in the entire image display area.

  In the flowchart of FIG. 8, steps relating to mouse operations are not shown.

  Next, when the user presses the save button (YES in step S1209), it is determined whether or not the display color space is set to color (step S1210).

  When the save button is pressed, for example, when color display is set, the display screen of the CRT 25 is as shown in FIG. 16 (save in TIFF (CMYK) format).

  If the color is set as a result of the determination in step S1210, all the colors of the CMYK image data stored in the image memory are transferred to the main storage unit of the general-purpose computer 24 (step S1213), and the TIFF (CMYK) format is used. And is recorded on the hard disk of the general-purpose computer 24 (step S1214).

  On the other hand, if it is determined in step S1210 that the C / M / Y / K plane designation is set instead of the color, only the image data of the designated plane is transferred from the image memory to the main storage unit of the general-purpose computer 24. Transfer (step S1211), and record as a monochrome (BMP) grayscale DIB format image file (step S1212). By this processing, the image data rasterized by the printer controller can be filed in a general format according to the display color space of the image data displayed in the display area. Thus, the image data can be analyzed using another analysis tool or the like.

  In the subsequent step S1215, when the log display button is pressed (YES in step S1215), the video data control unit 32 displays a command string (command issued from the printer command) in a predesignated area on the image memory during the real-time analysis operation. ) Is stored (step S1216), and the accumulated command sequence is transferred to the general-purpose computer and displayed (step S1217).

  When the log analysis button is pressed, the display screen of the CRT 25 is as shown in FIG. 17, and the received command string is displayed as it is in hexadecimal display. By confirming the command sequence issued by the printer command, it is possible to verify whether or not the printer controller is operating normally.

  In the offline analysis mode, these analysis operations can be performed on the image data stored in the image memory. Thereby, verification of the pixel level unit with respect to the image data can be performed immediately after stopping the real-time analysis mode with an easy operation. That is, when the state of continuous operation is observed in the real-time analysis mode and it is determined that an abnormality has occurred, the target image data can be analyzed in detail offline only by pressing the stop button.

  Next, when the start button is pressed (YES in step S1218), the process proceeds to step S108 to immediately shift to the real-time analysis mode. When shifting to the real-time analysis mode, raster image data output from the printer controller is stored in the image memory in the same manner as at the time of startup, and is displayed on the image display unit in real time according to page end interrupt processing.

  With the above operation, the printer controller verification operation can be repeatedly performed with a simple operation while shifting between the real-time analysis mode and the offline analysis mode at an arbitrary timing.

  In the above embodiment, the case where a laser beam printer is targeted as a printer has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and various other printer controllers such as a bubble jet (registered trademark) printer can be developed. It is possible to use. In this case, the video interface unit can be changed in accordance with a video interface system such as a printer, and can be used for developing various printer controllers.

  In the above embodiment, the case where hexadecimal data is displayed as it is as a display example of a printer command log has been described. However, commands may be decoded and displayed according to a command table so as to be easier to understand. Furthermore, a user interface that returns an error response such as a piece of paper or jam may be provided (FIG. 8). In this case, for example, an error response (in this case, “out of paper”, “jam”, “mechanical failure”) is generated when the nth sheet is printed or randomly. That is, the specified error factor is generated at the specified occurrence timing. As a result, not only the rasterization function of the printer controller but also the response processing function for the printer command can be verified.

  In the above embodiment, the case where Windows (registered trademark) of Microsoft Corporation is used as the operation system has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and can be configured on various other environments. .

  In the above embodiment, the case where the system is configured in combination with a personal computer has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and may be realized in combination with other various devices.

  Another object of the present invention is to read a program code stored in a recording medium by a computer (or CPU or MPU) of a system or apparatus from a recording medium storing software program codes for realizing the functions of the above-described embodiments. It is also achieved by executing. In this case, the program code itself read from the storage medium realizes the functions of the above-described embodiment, and the recording medium storing the program code constitutes the present invention.

  As a storage medium for supplying the program code, for example, a floppy (registered trademark) disk, hard disk, optical disk, magneto-optical disk, CD-ROM, CD-R, magnetic tape, nonvolatile memory card, ROM, or the like is used. be able to.

  Further, by executing the program code read by the computer, not only the functions of the above-described embodiments are realized, but also an OS (operating system) operating on the computer based on the instruction of the program code. A case where part or all of actual processing is performed and the functions of the above-described embodiments are realized by the processing is also included.

  Further, after the program code read from the storage medium is written in a memory provided in a function expansion board inserted into the computer or a function expansion unit connected to the computer, the function expansion board is based on the instruction of the program code. Also included is a case where the CPU or the like provided in the function expansion unit performs part or all of the actual processing, and the functions of the above-described embodiments are realized by the processing.

  The program code at this time may be MPU native code, may be written in a predetermined interpreter language, and may be converted into MPU native code at runtime, or in a predetermined format. It may be written script data that is interpreted and executed by an operating system or the like.

1 is a block diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of an image processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is explanatory drawing of the connection structure of the image processing apparatus of FIG. It is explanatory drawing of the interface part 22 in FIG. It is a block diagram which shows the internal structure of the video interface part 31 in FIG. 2 is a timing chart illustrating an operation of the image processing apparatus of FIG. 1. It is a figure which shows the structure of the software on the general purpose computer 24 in FIG. It is a flowchart of the program of the real-time analysis process performed by the image processing apparatus of FIG. It is a flowchart of the offline analysis process performed after the process of FIG. FIG. 8 is a flowchart of a page end interrupt process activated in step S108 of FIG. It is a flowchart of the image reacquisition display process in step S1202 of FIG. It is explanatory drawing of the initial screen of CRT25 displayed by step S102 of FIG. It is explanatory drawing of the detailed setting window in the initial screen of FIG. It is explanatory drawing of the user interface at the time of offline analysis mode. It is explanatory drawing of the display screen of CRT25 when an enlargement button is pressed down by step S1203 of FIG. It is a figure which shows the mode of the area | region designation | designated with a mouse | mouth. It is explanatory drawing of the display screen of RT25 when a save button is pressed down by step S1209 of FIG. It is explanatory drawing of the display screen of RT25 when a log display button is pressed down by step S1215 of FIG. It is explanatory drawing of the display screen of CRT25 in the case of setting an error response.

Explanation of symbols

100 controller 200 video data control unit 201 controller interface control unit 202 expansion bus interface control unit 203 image input control unit 204 dual port memory control unit 205 image output control unit 206 frame memory 300 expansion bus 400 video interface unit

Claims (13)

In an image processing apparatus that verifies the operation of the controller unit of an image output apparatus that includes a controller unit that outputs output image data and outputs a command signal, and an engine unit that outputs the output image data to a medium.
Interface means for data communication with the controller unit;
Image data acquisition means for acquiring image data output from the controller unit via the interface means;
Command acquisition means for acquiring a command signal output from the controller unit via the interface means;
An image memory for holding the acquired image data;
Display means for displaying the image data held in the image memory;
Control means for controlling the system of the image processing apparatus;
An instruction means capable of instructing the start or stop of the real-time analysis processing mode,
When the operation verification of the controller unit is performed, the image processing apparatus is connected to the controller unit instead of the actual engine unit,
The control unit controls the display unit to display the image data acquired by the image data acquisition unit based on the command acquired from the command acquisition unit;
The real-time analysis processing mode is output from the controller unit when the control unit controls execution of a series of image data acquisition and display operations by the command acquisition unit, the image data acquisition unit, and an image memory. The image data output from the controller unit is displayed in real time on the display means in the same manner as the output on the recording medium when the engine unit is connected to the image unit,
When a stop instruction is given by the instruction means, the series of image data acquisition and display operations are stopped, the image memory holds the image data immediately before the stop instruction, and the control means An image processing apparatus that switches to the offline processing mode in which the stored image data immediately before the stop instruction is displayed on the display means.   The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the command acquisition unit is capable of holding and displaying a plurality of commands acquired from the controller unit.   The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein an error response from a pseudo engine unit in response to the command signal acquired from the controller unit can be returned.   The image processing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the error response can be set by a user interface of the image processing apparatus. In the offline analysis mode, when an instruction to start by the instruction means is given,
The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the control unit switches to the real-time analysis processing mode .   The image processing apparatus verifies the operation of the controller unit by displaying image data generated by the controller unit on the display unit instead of the engine unit of the image output apparatus. The image processing apparatus according to any one of the above. An image processing apparatus control method for verifying the operation of the controller section of an image output apparatus comprising a controller section for outputting output image data and a command signal and an engine section for outputting the output image data to a medium Because
A communication step for performing data communication with the controller unit;
An image data acquisition step of acquiring image data output from the controller unit in the communication step;
A command acquisition step of acquiring a command signal output from the controller unit in the communication step;
A holding step of holding the acquired image data in an image memory;
A display step of displaying the image data held in the image memory on a display means;
A control step for controlling the system of the image processing apparatus;
An instruction step capable of instructing the start or stop of the real-time analysis processing mode,
The control step controls the display means to display the image data acquired in the image data acquisition step based on the command acquired in the command acquisition step,
The real-time analysis processing mode is output from the controller unit when the control step controls execution of the command acquisition step, the image data acquisition step, a series of image data acquisition and display operations by the image memory. The image data output from the controller unit is displayed in real time on the display means in the same manner as the output on the recording medium when the engine unit is connected to the image unit,
When a stop instruction is given in the instruction step, the series of image data acquisition and display operations are stopped, the image memory holds the image data immediately before the stop instruction, and the control step includes: A control method for an image processing apparatus , wherein the stored image data immediately before the stop instruction is switched to the offline processing mode for displaying on the display means.   The control method according to claim 7, wherein the command acquisition step is capable of holding and displaying a plurality of commands acquired from the controller unit.   9. The control method according to claim 7, wherein an error response from a pseudo engine unit in response to the command signal acquired from the controller unit can be returned.   The control method according to claim 9, wherein the error response can be set by a user interface of the image processing apparatus. In the offline analysis mode, when an instruction to start by the instruction step is given,
The control method according to claim 7, wherein the control step switches to the real-time analysis processing mode .   12. The image processing device verifies the operation of the controller unit by displaying image data generated by the controller unit on the display unit instead of the engine unit of the image output device. The control method according to any one of the above.   A program for causing a computer to execute the control method according to any one of claims 7 to 12.

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