JPS589431B2 - Character signal generation method - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an improvement in a scanning type character signal generation method in which a character signal is obtained by scanning an image of characters, symbols, etc. (hereinafter simply referred to as characters) with an electron beam or a light beam. It is.

The above-mentioned scanning type character signal generation method is as follows: (1) A character image on a dial is scanned with a scanning image projected on a cathode ray display tube, and a desired signal is generated by photoelectrically converting the luminous flux transmitted or reflected from the character image. The flying spot method which was designed to obtain
(2) A monoscope tube method in which a target on which various character images are formed in advance is scanned with an electron beam, or (3) A character image projected onto the surface of an image pickup tube is scanned with an electron beam. Various types of devices are known, such as those that obtain signals by using the following methods.

The present invention is effective when applied to any of these scanning type character signal generation systems, but as an example, the case where the present invention is applied to a character signal generation system using an image pickup tube will be described below.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a phototypesetting machine using an image pickup tube as a scanning character signal generating means, in which 1 is a rotary dial containing a large number of various character images, 2 is a light source, and 3
1 is a photographing optical system, 4 is an imaging tube, 5 is a cathode ray display tube, 6 is a projection optical system, 7 is a sensitive material, 8 and 9 are deflection circuits, 10 is a control unit, and the light source 2 selectively irradiates desired characters. After projecting and storing the image on the image pickup tube 4, the deflection circuits 8 and 9 are operated synchronously, and a desired character image is displayed on the cathode ray display tube 5 in accordance with the character signal 11 output from the image pickup tube 4. is reproduced, and the reproduced image is projected onto the photosensitive material 7 for printing.

Conventionally, as an image scanning method in the scanning character signal generation system, a method of repeatedly scanning a predetermined character area 21 in the horizontal or vertical direction, as shown in FIG. The trajectory of the scanning spot does not necessarily have to be a straight line, and even if it is a straight line, it is also customary to set the scanning line at any angle other than horizontal or perpendicular to the characters, especially if they are perpendicular to each other. When looking at Japanese characters in which vertical and horizontal lines are the main stroke elements of the character structure, there are many advantages in scanning other than the scanning shown in FIG. 2.

As a scanning method that takes into account the characteristics of Japanese characters, a scanning method using spiral scanning or diagonal scanning as shown in FIG. Kaisho 54-128218
) or 1978 Patent Application No. 36882 (Unexamined Japanese Patent Publication No. 1973)
4-129831).

Detailed explanations of the two scanning methods shown here will be left in the relevant specification, but to explain the main points, in the conventional scanning method as shown in FIG. 2, a scanning line passes over the periphery of a horizontal or vertical image line. In this case, the quality of the output character signal deteriorates due to various reasons such as irregularities in the peripheral area due to imperfections in the scanned image. The scanning is performed in a substantially uniform manner in both the vertical and horizontal directions, which are the main line elements mentioned above, in order to improve the quality of the character signal.

However, in the scanning state shown in FIG. 3 or 4, the portion where character signals must actually be read is the portion corresponding to character area 31 or 41, and character signals cannot be read from portions other than the character area. That's the bad part.

In particular, as shown in FIG. 5, another character area 52 is set adjacent to the desired character area 51, and as the desired character image is scanned, the other character area is also scanned. If this happens, signals from other characters will be mixed in as noise in addition to the desired character signal, making it impossible to extract only the necessary character signals.

The present invention has been made to address the above-mentioned problems that arise when spiral scanning or diagonal scanning as described above is performed in order to improve the quality of character signals.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of a configuration for realizing the character signal generation method according to the present invention, in which 61 is a first scanning signal generator that scans a predetermined range including a desired character image and outputs a signal 62; Means 63 is a second scanning signal generating means that scans a predetermined range including an image corresponding to an area of one character and outputs a signal 64. In the figure, these first and second scanning signal generating means A case where an image pickup tube is used is shown as an example of the means.

Reference numeral 65 denotes a mask for projecting and storing an image corresponding to an area of one character on the image pickup tube serving as the second scanning signal generating means 63.

Reference numeral 66 denotes a deflection control circuit, and the first and second scanning signal generation stages 61 and 63 perform readout scanning synchronously in accordance with a deflection signal output from the deflection control circuit 66.

7A and 7B indicate the two scanning signal generating means 61.
and 63 are shown for the case of the spiral scanning, 71 is a desired character area corresponding to the character from which the desired signal is to be obtained, 72 is another character area, and 73 is the mask This is an image corresponding to an area corresponding to one arbitrary character projected and accumulated through 55.

By the way, as mentioned above, when the reading scans of the two scanning character signal generating means 61 and 63 are performed synchronously, the positions of the respective scanning beams at arbitrary points are the same as points A and A' shown in FIG. This means that the points corresponding to the locations are being scanned.

Therefore, when the first scanning character signal generation stage 61 is scanning the character area 71 corresponding to the character for which a desired signal is to be obtained, the second scanning character signal generation stage 63 is scanning.
Also, since the image 73 is being scanned, a signal corresponding to the image 73 is output, and for the same reason, the first scanning character signal generation stage 61 is scanned in areas other than the desired character area 71. While a location is being scanned, no signal is output from the second scanning type character signal generation stage 63.

That is, the signal 64 is obtained from the second scanning type character signal generating means 63 only when a desired character signal is desired.

Therefore, by utilizing the signal 64 as a signal for selecting only the desired writing signal, even if there is another character area 72 near the desired character area 71 as shown in FIG. This makes it possible to extract only the desired character signal, regardless of the character signal.

As described in detail above, the present invention includes a first scanning signal generating means for scanning a predetermined range including a desired character image;
a second scanning signal generating means for scanning a predetermined range including an image corresponding to an area for a character; the first signal generating means reads and scans the two signal generating means synchronously; When outputting the signal from the second signal generating means as a character signal, the signal from the second signal generating means is output as an amplifier ranking signal. By doing so, the output character signal When implementing a readout scanning method that scans areas other than the area corresponding to the desired character, such as diagonal scanning or spiral scanning, which is effective in improving the quality of text, it is possible to accurately extract only the desired character signal. The present invention provides a method for doing so.

Although the above explanation has been about the case where an image pickup tube is used as the scanning character signal generating means, in carrying out the present invention, other methods such as the above-mentioned flying spot method or monoscope tube method may also be used. Of course, any suitable scanning type character signal generating means may be used.

Further, the first and second signal generating means do not necessarily have to be of the same type, but can be of any suitable type.

Furthermore, in the above explanation, the case where the present invention is applied to a phototypesetting machine has been described, but the object of implementing the method of the present invention is not limited to this, but other character display devices, in short, images of characters, symbols, etc. The present invention can be applied to an apparatus equipped with a scanning type character signal generating means that obtains character signals by scanning.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a phototypesetting machine using an image pickup tube as a scanning character signal generating means, Figs. 2 to 4 are diagrams showing various image scanning methods, and Fig. 5 is an object to be scanned. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of a configuration that implements the method of the present invention, and FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an image scanning state when implementing the method of the present invention. be. 1... Rotating dial, 4... Image pickup tube, 5... Cathode ray display tube, 8, 9... Deflection circuit, 21, 31. 41...Character area, 51, 71...Desired character area, 52.72...Other character area, 61. 63...first and second scanning signal generating means, 65...mask, 66...deflection control circuit,
73...An image corresponding to an area for one character.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. In a scanning character signal generation method in which character signals are obtained by scanning images of characters, symbols, etc. (hereinafter referred to as characters), a first scanning signal generation means scans a predetermined range including a desired character image. and second scanning signal generating means for scanning a predetermined range including an image corresponding to an area for one character, and synchronously reading out and scanning the first and second signal generating means. . A character signal generation system, characterized in that when outputting the signal from the first signal generation means as a character signal, the output signal from the second signal generation means is used as an amplification signal.