JP7367459B2 - Image forming device - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an information processing device, an image forming device, and an image forming system.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, when an image forming apparatus prints an image of a web page viewed using an application on a mobile device such as a smartphone, a technique is known that improves the quality of the printed image (for example, see Patent Document 1).

Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2016-177373

If an attempt is made to improve the quality of an image to be printed, the image will have a higher resolution, and the amount of data sent to the image forming apparatus will generally increase. On the other hand, the communication charges required for printing often depend on the amount of data to be transmitted. Therefore, when transmitting image data from a mobile device to an image forming apparatus, it is desired to suppress the amount of data.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide an information processing device and an image forming device that can reduce the amount of image data transmitted during printing while ensuring the quality of the printed image. and to provide an image forming system.

An information processing apparatus according to the present invention is an information processing apparatus capable of transmitting print data to an image forming apparatus, and includes a reduction control section and a specifying section. The print data includes second image data in which part of the amount of data is reduced from the first image data representing the first image. The reduction control unit controls reduction of part of the data amount of the first image data. The specifying unit specifies whether the image forming apparatus has a function of increasing the quality of an image based on the second image data. The reduction control unit reduces the amount of data of the first image data to the second image data when it is specified that the image forming apparatus has the function.

An image forming apparatus according to the present invention is an image forming apparatus that forms an image on a recording medium based on print data received from an electronic device, and includes a receiving section, a restoration control section, and an image forming section. The print data includes reduced image data in which part of the amount of data is reduced from image data representing an image. The receiving unit receives the print data. The restoration control unit generates high-quality data having a higher image quality than the image indicated by the reduced image data, based on the reduced image data. The image forming section forms an image on the recording medium based on the high-quality data.

An image forming system according to the present invention includes an information processing device and an image forming device. The information processing apparatus is an information processing apparatus capable of transmitting print data to the image forming apparatus, and includes a reduction control section, a specifying section, and a transmitting section. The print data includes second image data in which part of the amount of data is reduced from the first image data representing the first image. The reduction control unit controls reduction of part of the data amount of the first image data. The specifying unit specifies whether the image forming apparatus has a function of increasing the quality of an image based on the second image data. The reduction control unit reduces the amount of data of the first image data to the second image data when it is specified that the image forming apparatus has the function. The transmitter transmits print data including the reduced second image data to the image forming apparatus. The image forming apparatus is an image forming apparatus that forms an image on a recording medium based on print data received from an electronic device, and includes a receiving section, a restoration control section, and an image forming section. The receiving unit receives the print data. The restoration control unit generates, based on the second image data, high-quality data having a higher image quality than the image indicated by the second image data. The image forming section forms an image on the recording medium based on the high-quality data.

According to the information processing device, image forming device, and image forming system according to the present invention, it is possible to reduce the amount of image data transmitted during printing while ensuring the quality of the image to be printed.

1 is a schematic diagram showing an image forming system according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an information processing device. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an image forming apparatus. This is an example of a function information table that stores function information. (a) is an example of an instruction information table that stores instruction information. (b) is another example of an instruction information table that stores instruction information. It is a flowchart which shows the process of a reduction control part. 7 is a flowchart showing processing by a restoration control unit.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings (FIGS. 1 to 7). In addition, in the drawings, the same reference numerals are given to the same or corresponding parts, and the description will not be repeated.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing an image forming system 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, the image forming system 1 includes an information processing apparatus 100 and image forming apparatuses 200A to 200C. Here, the image forming apparatus 200 is a general term for the image forming apparatuses 200A to 200C. Note that the image forming system 1 includes an information processing apparatus 100 and at least one image forming apparatus 200.

The information processing device 100 is, for example, a mobile device such as a smartphone or a tablet terminal. The information processing device 100 may have a built-in camera.

The information processing device 100 can transmit print data to the image forming device 200. The print data includes image data representing an image. The information processing apparatus 100 reduces the image data to be transmitted to the image forming apparatus 200 based on the functions of the image forming apparatus 200. In the present embodiment, the "function of the image forming apparatus 200" is a high-image quality function that can generate higher-quality image data based on received image data.

Specifically, upon receiving an instruction for a print job including an image from a user, the information processing apparatus 100 transmits print data to the image forming apparatus 200. At this time, the information processing apparatus 100 specifies whether the image forming apparatus 200 has a high image quality function. When the image forming apparatus 200 is identified as having a high image quality function, the information processing apparatus 100 performs a reduction in which part of the amount of data is reduced from the original image data representing the original image that is the image to be printed. Generate image data. Information processing apparatus 100 transmits print data including reduced image data to image forming apparatus 200. Note that if the image forming apparatus 200 is not specified as having a high image quality function, the information processing apparatus 100 transmits print data including the original image data to the image forming apparatus 200 without reducing the original image data. do.

Therefore, the information processing apparatus 100 determines the reduction of the image data to be sent to the image forming apparatus 200 in accordance with the presence or absence of the high image quality function of the image forming apparatus 200, thereby ensuring the quality of the image to be printed. It becomes possible to reduce the amount of image data sent during printing.

Note that the print data may include instruction information. "Instruction information" indicates information regarding the amount of part of data that has been reduced from the original image data, and/or information regarding restoration when restoring an image based on the reduced image data. Furthermore, the print data may include text data. In this embodiment, "original image data indicating the original image" is "first image data indicating the first image", and "reduced image data" is "second image data". The instruction information will be described later with reference to FIG. 2.

That is, the image forming apparatus 200A forms an image on a recording medium based on print data received from the information processing apparatus 100. The print data includes second image data in which part of the amount of data is reduced from the first image data representing the first image.

Here, the image forming apparatus 200B and the image forming apparatus 200C have the same functions as the image forming apparatus 200A. Note that the image forming apparatus 200 is a general term for the image forming apparatuses 200A to 200C.

In the image forming system 1, an information processing apparatus 100 and an image forming apparatus 200 are connected to each other via a network 50. For example, the information processing device 100 and the image forming device 200 are communicably connected via the Internet, a LAN (Local Area Network), or a WAN (Wide Area Network).

Next, the configuration of the information processing device 100 will be described with reference to FIG. 2. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the information processing device 100. As shown in FIG. 2, the information processing device 100 includes a communication section 110, an input/output section 120, a reduction control section 130, a specifying section 140, and a storage section 150.

The communication unit 110 transmits and receives various data to and from other electronic devices according to instructions from the reduction control unit 130 or the identification unit 140. The communication unit 110 is, for example, a communication interface. Note that the communication unit 110 is an example of a “transmission unit”.

The communication unit 110 can acquire functional information of the image forming apparatus 200 by exchanging data with the image forming apparatus 200 in accordance with instructions from the specifying unit 140 . Note that the functional information acquired by the communication unit 110 is stored in the storage unit 150 by the reduction control unit 130.

In this embodiment, the communication unit 110 transmits print data to the image forming apparatus 200 in response to an instruction from the reduction control unit 130. Further, the communication unit 110 may transmit print data to which instruction information is added to the image forming apparatus 200 in response to an instruction from the reduction control unit 130.

For example, the instruction information may include a "reduction rate" indicating a reduction rate when reducing the amount of data of a part of the first image data.

Further, the instruction information may include information indicating a minimum destination size and a minimum enlargement rate as information related to restoration when restoring an image. The minimum destination size and minimum magnification will be described later with reference to FIG. 5.

Further, the communication unit 110 may acquire functional information of the image forming apparatus 200 by exchanging data with the image forming apparatus 200 in accordance with an instruction from the specifying unit 140. Note that the functional information acquired by the communication unit 110 is stored in the storage unit 150 by the reduction control unit 130.

The function information indicates that the camera has a function of increasing the quality of the image based on the second image data. For example, "a function to improve the quality of an image based on second image data" means "by inputting the second image data into a trained neural network, image data representing an image with higher quality than the second image is generated." (so-called "super-resolution function"). The super-resolution function improves the image quality by estimating high-frequency components not included in the original image using a trained neural network, rather than by interpolation using the image data of the original image. Note that conventional technology can be applied to the super-resolution function.

Note that the communication unit 110 may browse a web page of a server device connected to the network 50 in response to an instruction received by the input/output unit 120, and may acquire image data from the web page.

The input/output unit 120 receives instructions from the user. Furthermore, the input/output unit 120 notifies the user of various information. The input/output unit 120 is, for example, an organic EL display with a touch panel or a liquid crystal display with a touch panel.

The reduction control unit 130 controls the operation of each component of the information processing device 100 based on a control program. In this embodiment, the control program includes a printer driver and various application software. The printer driver is a control program used when printing with the image forming apparatus 200. The reduction control unit 130 is, for example, a microcomputer. In this embodiment, the microcomputer includes a processor. The processor includes, for example, a CPU (Central Processing Unit).

The reduction control unit 130 controls reduction of part of the data amount of the first image data. Specifically, the reduction control unit 130 reduces the amount of data in part of the first image data when the identification unit 140 identifies that the image forming apparatus 200 has a high image quality function. second image data is generated. The method for selecting the first image data of the first image to be included in the print data can be implemented using a conventional technique using a printer driver executed by the reduction control unit 130 and application software.

As shown in FIG. 2, the reduction control section 130 includes a determination section 131, a reduction section 132, a creation section 133, and an addition section 134.

The determination unit 131 determines whether or not the first image data should be reduced based on at least the functional information. Specifically, the determining unit 131 determines that the first image data should be reduced when the specifying unit 140 specifies that "the image forming apparatus 200 has a super-resolution function."

Furthermore, the determination unit 131 may determine that the first image data should be reduced if the amount of the first image data exceeds a predetermined threshold.

Specifically, when the first image to be printed is a rectangular image, for example, an image of 200 pixels x 200 pixels or more, the determination unit 131 determines to reduce the first image data. The reason for this determination is that if the image is small (less than 200 pixels x 200 pixels) (in other words, the amount of image data is small), it is difficult to understand the effect of higher image quality on the overhead required for image data reduction processing. This is because the effects of the present invention cannot be fully exhibited. Note that the criteria for determining each pixel value of an image can be changed as appropriate.

The reduction unit 132 reduces the data amount of the first image data to the second image data when it is determined that the first image data should be reduced.

Furthermore, the reduction unit 132 may reduce the data amount of the first image data to the second image data based on a predetermined reduction rate. Further, the reduction rate may be defined in the instruction information. Note that the value of the reduction rate can be changed as appropriate based on instructions received from the user.

For example, a case where "reduction rate: 1/4" for reducing the data amount of the first image data is defined in the instruction information will be described. In this case, the reduction unit 132 can thin out and reduce the first image data based on the reduction rate indicated by the instruction information, and can generate second image data with a data amount that is 1/4 of the first image data. .

The creation unit 133 creates instruction information. Furthermore, the creation unit 133 may define the contents of the instruction information using a specific command. For example, the contents of the instruction information may be defined in the PJL command.

The adding unit 134 adds the instruction information created by the creating unit 133 to the print data.

The specifying unit 140 specifies whether the image forming apparatus 200 has a function of increasing the quality of images based on the control program. The identification unit 140 is, for example, a microcomputer. In this embodiment, the microcomputer includes a processor. The processor includes, for example, a CPU.

The identifying unit 140 may identify whether the image forming apparatus 200 has a high image quality function by exchanging data with the image forming apparatus 200 via the communication unit 110. Further, the specifying unit 140 may specify the function of each image forming apparatus 200 by referring to function information stored in the storage unit 150 in advance.

Storage unit 150 stores various data and control programs. In this embodiment, the storage unit 150 stores functional information.

The storage unit 150 includes, for example, at least one of a ROM (Read Only Memory), a RAM (Random Access Memory), and a solid state drive (SSD).

Next, the configuration of the image forming apparatus 200 will be described with reference to FIG. 3. FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the configuration of image forming apparatus 200.

As shown in FIG. 3, the image forming apparatus 200 includes a communication section 210, an image forming section 220, and a restoration control section 230.

The communication unit 210 receives print data from the information processing device 100. In this embodiment, the communication unit 210 receives print data including second image data. Furthermore, the communication unit 210 may receive print data including the second image data and instruction information. The communication unit 210 transmits functional information to the information processing device 100 in response to instructions from the information management unit 233. The communication unit 210 has the same function as the communication unit 110 of the information processing device 100. Note that the communication unit 210 is an example of a “receiving unit”.

The image forming section 220 forms the image, which has been made high in quality by the restoration control section 230, on a recording medium.

The restoration control unit 230 controls the operation of each component of the image forming apparatus 200 based on a control program. The restoration control unit 230 is, for example, a microcomputer. In this embodiment, the microcomputer includes a processor. The processor includes, for example, a CPU.

Based on the second image data, the restoration control unit 230 generates high-quality data that is higher in image quality than the image indicated by the second image data. Furthermore, the restoration control unit 230 may generate high-quality data based on the second image data and instruction information. The restoration control section 230 includes a determination section 231 , an image quality improvement section 232 , an information management section 233 , and a storage section 234 .

The determining unit 231 determines whether image quality enhancement processing is necessary for the second image data, based on the second image data and instruction information. Here, "high image quality processing" refers to processing for generating high image quality data representing an image of higher quality than the image represented by the received second image data.

Specifically, if the instruction information includes a "minimum destination size," the determining unit 231 determines that image quality enhancement processing is not required when printing a small image smaller than the minimum destination size. do. For example, if a user instructs a print job to be printed on "A4 size" paper, and the instruction information specifies "(vertical) 600 dots x (horizontal) 600 dots" as the "minimum destination size", " When printing a small image of less than 600 dots (vertical) x 600 dots (horizontal), it is determined that image quality enhancement processing is not required.

Furthermore, if "reduction rate: 1/4" is defined in the instruction information, the determining unit 231 makes a decision to enlarge the second image data by 4 times and perform high image quality processing to restore the image. You may.

The image quality improvement unit 232 generates image data representing an image with higher image quality than the image represented by the second image data, based on the second image data, when the determination unit 231 determines that image quality improvement processing is necessary. do. For example, the image quality improvement unit 232 can generate image data with higher image quality by interpolating the second image data.

Furthermore, the image quality improvement unit 232 may apply a super-resolution function to generate image data representing a high-quality image.

The information management unit 233 reads out functional information stored in the storage unit 234. Further, the information management unit 233 instructs the communication unit 210 to transmit the functional information to the information processing device 100.

The storage unit 234 stores various data and control programs. Specifically, the storage unit 234 stores functional information. Furthermore, the storage unit 234 stores print data received via the communication unit 210. The storage unit 234 includes, for example, at least one of ROM, RAM, and SSD.

Next, functional information will be explained with reference to FIG. 4. FIG. 4 is an example of a function information table 400 that stores function information. As shown in FIG. 4, the function information table 400 has an image forming apparatus column 401 and a super resolution function column 402.

The image forming apparatus column 401 stores information for identifying the image forming apparatus 200. In the super-resolution function column 402, presence or absence of a super-resolution function, which is an example of a high-image quality function, is defined in association with information for identifying the image forming apparatus 200.

Next, instruction information will be explained with reference to FIG. 5. FIG. 5A is an example of an instruction information table 500 that stores instruction information. As shown in FIG. 5A, in the instruction information table 500, a name 501 of instruction information and a value 502 corresponding to the name 501 are defined. In FIG. 5(a), "reduction rate: 1/4" is defined.

FIG. 5(b) is another example of the instruction information table 600 that stores instruction information. As shown in FIG. 5B, the instruction information table 600 has a paper size field 601, a minimum destination size field 602, and a minimum magnification ratio field 603.

A paper size is defined in the paper size column 601. In this embodiment, A4, A3, and A2 are defined as paper sizes. In this embodiment, a minimum destination size is defined for each paper size. Note that the paper size is not limited to A4, A3, and A2. Other paper sizes may also be defined.

In the minimum destination size field 602, the minimum vertical size and minimum horizontal size of an image to which the image quality enhancement function is applied in the image forming apparatus 200 are defined. That is, the image quality enhancement function is applied to an image having a number of dots equal to or greater than the number of dots defined in the minimum destination size column 602. The image quality enhancement function is not applied to images whose number of dots is less than each dot number defined in the minimum destination size column 602.

In the minimum magnification column 603, the “minimum magnification” when applying the image quality enhancement function in the image forming apparatus 200 is defined. That is, the image quality enhancement function is applied to an image enlarged at an enlargement rate greater than or equal to the minimum enlargement rate, and is not applied to an image enlarged at an enlargement rate lower than the minimum enlargement rate.

Next, the processing of the reduction control unit 130 will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 6. FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing image data reduction processing by the reduction control unit 130. The image data reduction process is executed in steps S2 to S20.

Step S2: The reduction control unit 130 determines whether the image forming apparatus 200 and the information processing apparatus 100 are connected through the common network 50. If the reduction control unit 130 determines that the image forming apparatus 200 and the information processing apparatus 100 are connected to the common network 50 (Yes in step S2), the process proceeds to step S4. If the reduction control unit 130 determines that the image forming apparatus 200 and the information processing apparatus 100 are not connected to the common network 50 (No in step S2), the process ends.

Step S4: The reduction control unit 130 receives a print job specifying the image forming apparatus 200 from the user via the input/output unit 120. The process proceeds to step S6.

Step S6: The reduction control unit 130 obtains functional information from the image forming apparatus 200 via the communication unit 110. The reduction control unit 130 stores the functional information in the storage unit 150. The process proceeds to step S8.

Step S8: The specifying unit 140 specifies whether the image forming apparatus 200 has a function of increasing the quality of the image based on the second image data. If the specifying unit 140 specifies that the device has a function of increasing the image quality based on the second image data (Yes in step S8), the process proceeds to step S10. If the specified unit 140 does not specify that the unit has a function of increasing the image quality based on the second image data (No in step S8), the process proceeds to step S20.

Step S10: The reduction control unit 130 determines whether the print job includes an image. If the reduction control unit 130 determines that the print job includes an image (Yes in step S10), the process proceeds to step S12. If the reduction control unit 130 does not determine that the print job includes an image (No in step S10), the process proceeds to step S20.

Step S12: The reduction control unit 130 determines whether the source size of the image to be printed is equal to or larger than a certain value. If the reduction control unit 130 determines that the source size of the image to be printed is equal to or larger than a certain value (Yes in step S12), the process proceeds to step S14. If the reduction control unit 130 does not determine that the source size of the image to be printed is equal to or larger than a certain value (No in step S12), the process proceeds to step S16.

Step S14: The reduction control unit 130 reduces the image data. Specifically, the data amount of the first image data is reduced to the second image data. The process proceeds to step S16.

Step S16: The reduction control unit 130 determines whether the amount of data should be reduced individually for all images. If the reduction control unit 130 determines that it has been determined whether or not the data amount of each image should be reduced individually for all images (Yes in step S16), the process proceeds to step S18. If the reduction control unit 130 determines that it has not been determined whether the data amount should be reduced individually for all images (No in step S16), the process proceeds to step S12.

Step S18: The reduction control unit 130 can generate instruction information and add the instruction information to print data. The process proceeds to step S20.

Step S20: The communication unit 110 transmits print data to the image forming apparatus 200. Processing ends.

As described above with reference to FIGS. 1 to 6, according to the information processing apparatus 100 of the present embodiment, it is checked in advance whether or not the image forming apparatus 200 has a high image quality function. The image data of images to be printed is reduced. Furthermore, the reduced image data is sent to the image forming apparatus 200. Thereby, it is possible to realize the information processing apparatus 100 that can reduce the amount of image data transmitted during printing while ensuring the quality of the image to be printed.

Next, the image quality improvement processing of the restoration control unit 230 will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 5 and 7. FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the image quality improvement process of the restoration control unit 230. The image quality improvement process is executed in steps S100 to S108.

Step S100: The restoration control unit 230 receives print data via the communication unit 210. The print data includes reduced image data. The process proceeds to step S104.

Step S102: The restoration control unit 230 determines whether image quality enhancement processing is necessary for the reduced image data. Specifically, the restoration control unit 230 determines whether image quality enhancement processing is necessary for the reduced image data, based on the reduced image data and instruction information. For example, if "reduction rate: 1/4" is defined in the instruction information, the restoration control unit 230 enlarges the reduced image data by 4 times and performs high image quality processing to restore the image. decide. If the restoration control unit 230 determines that the reduced image data requires image quality enhancement processing (Yes in step S102), the process proceeds to step S104. If the restoration control unit 230 does not determine that image quality enhancement processing is necessary for the reduced image data (No in step S102), the process proceeds to step S108.

Step S104: The restoration control unit 230 determines whether the destination size of the image to be printed is equal to or larger than a certain value. If the restoration control unit 230 determines that the destination size of the image to be printed is equal to or larger than a certain value (Yes in step S104), the process proceeds to step S106. If the restoration control unit 230 does not determine that the destination size of the image to be printed is equal to or larger than a certain value (No in step S104), the process proceeds to step S108.

Step S106: The restoration control unit 230 executes image quality improvement processing on the reduced image data. The process proceeds to step S108.

Step S108: The restoration control unit 230 individually determines whether image quality enhancement processing is necessary for all images. If the restoration control unit 230 determines that the necessity of image quality enhancement processing has been determined individually for all images (Yes in step S108), the process ends. If the reduction control unit 130 determines that the necessity of image quality enhancement processing has not been determined individually for all images (No in step S108), the process proceeds to step S102.

As described above with reference to FIGS. 1 to 5 and FIG. 7, according to the image forming apparatus 200 of this embodiment, image data is reduced according to the high image quality function that the image forming apparatus 200 has. received the image. Image forming apparatus 200 performs image quality enhancement processing based on the received image data. This makes it possible to realize the image forming apparatus 200 that can reduce the amount of image data received during printing while ensuring the quality of the image to be printed.

The embodiments of the present invention have been described above with reference to the drawings (FIGS. 1 to 7). However, the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above, and can be implemented in various forms without departing from the spirit thereof (for example, (1) and (2) below). The drawings mainly show each component schematically to make it easier to understand, and the thickness, length, number, etc. of each component shown in the diagram may differ from the actual one due to the drawing process. . Further, the materials, shapes, dimensions, etc. of each component shown in the above embodiments are merely examples, and are not particularly limited, and various changes can be made without substantially departing from the effects of the present invention. be.

(1) In the embodiment of the present invention, an example of a mobile device has been described as the information processing device 100, but the information processing device 100 is not limited to a mobile device. The information processing device 100 may be a stationary personal computer or a server device.

(2) Note that the present invention can be realized as an information processing method in which steps are the characteristic constituent means of the information processing device according to the present invention, or as a control program including those steps. . Furthermore, the image forming apparatus according to the present invention can be realized as an image forming method having steps as its characteristic constituent means, or as a control program including those steps. Further, these programs can also be distributed via a recording medium such as a CD-ROM or a transmission medium such as a communication network.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY The present invention can be used in the field of image forming apparatuses.

1 Image forming system 100 Information processing device 110 Communication unit 130 Reduction control unit 131 Determination unit 132 Reduction unit 133 Creation unit 134 Addition unit 140 Specification unit 150 Storage unit 200, 200A, 200B, 200C Image forming device 210 Communication unit 220 Image forming unit 230 Reduction control unit 231 Determination unit 232 High resolution unit 233 Information management unit 234 Storage unit

Claims (2)

An image forming apparatus that forms an image on a recording medium based on print data received from an electronic device, the print data including reduced image data in which part of the amount of data is reduced from image data representing the image. ,
a receiving unit that receives the print data;
a restoration control unit that generates, based on the reduced image data, high image quality data that is higher in image quality than the image indicated by the reduced image data;
an image forming unit that forms an image on the recording medium based on the high-quality data ;
The print data includes instruction information indicating information regarding the restoration when restoring the image based on the reduced image data,
The restoration control unit generates the high image quality data based on the reduced image data and the instruction information,
The restoration control unit includes:
a determining unit that determines whether image quality enhancement processing is necessary for the reduced image data based on the reduced image data and the instruction information;
an image quality improvement unit that generates the high image quality data based on the reduced image data when it is determined that the image quality improvement processing is necessary;
An image forming apparatus comprising : The image forming apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the image quality improvement unit generates the high image quality data by inputting the reduced image data to a trained neural network.

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