JPH0473935B2 - - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention (Technical Field of the Invention) The present invention provides a photographic system for photographic development and photographic printing that accurately detects and controls temporally varying photographic characteristics (development processing characteristics and photographic printing condition characteristics). Related to system control and management methods.

(Technical background of the invention and its problems) There are various control factors for photographic systems related to photographic development and printing, in addition to those whose conditions can be accurately grasped by simple measurements (for example, fluctuations in the printer light source, etc.). There are photographic characteristics (development processing characteristics, photographic printing condition characteristics, image reproduction characteristics, etc.) that involve many factors. For example, development processing characteristics are measured by including not only the characteristics of the processing solution itself, but also variations in the performance of the photographic material (usually a control film) used to measure the characteristics, fluctuations over time, and fluctuations in the density measuring device.
In addition to the above-mentioned development processing characteristics, photographic printing conditions also include changes in the characteristics of the film to be printed, the subject, the photographic light source, etc., and the characteristics of the printer. Appropriate printing conditions cannot be determined until these factors are comprehensively considered. controlled and managed. Even for the same type of film from the same manufacturer, the film characteristics differ somewhat depending on the production period. Normally, the control and management of photo development and photo printing depends on human experience and intuition, or on the use of measuring instruments, but it requires human involvement and cannot always be controlled with high precision. I can't say that it is. Although it is desirable that these controls and management be performed automatically, it is necessary that there is no human involvement at all, and that the current situation to be controlled must be quantitatively and accurately measured.

Since it is difficult to measure and manage individual fluctuation factors in photographic characteristics, it is effective to control using a small number of values that can grasp the situation by integrating fluctuations in photographic characteristics, or a small number of values that have a high correlation with fluctuations. It is.

(Object of the Invention) The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to weight photographic characteristics that gradually change over time using data up to the present time to obtain a weighted average photograph. An object of the present invention is to provide a method for controlling and managing a photographic system, which calculates the characteristics, estimates the current state of the photographic system based on the weighted average photographic characteristics, and performs appropriate control and management for the next printing. .

(Summary of the Invention) The present invention relates to a control management method in a photographic system for photographic development and printing, in which photographic characteristics of the photographic system are measured and stored over time, and the photographic characteristics are determined as a function of time. The above-mentioned photographic system is controlled and managed analogically based on the weighted average photographic characteristics obtained by changing the photographic characteristics.

(Embodiments of the Invention) In a photographic system system for photographic development and photographic printing that changes over time, the present invention measures the photographic properties of the system over time and stores them in a memory, and the photographic properties are changed as a function of time. The photographic system is controlled based on the weighted average photographic characteristics obtained by changing the . That is, for a certain period of time (e.g. 1 day, 10 days, etc.) or for a certain amount (e.g.
Positive weighting is given to the photographic characteristics of negative film or prints (1000 frames), and the further away from the present time, that is, the past, the smaller the weighting is given.
Control is based on these weighted moving average photographic characteristics. In addition, photographic characteristics for a certain period of time or a certain amount are average values of individual photographic characteristics within a defined range (e.g., time, amount), and further, photographic characteristics for a certain period of time or a certain amount are stored in memory and calculated as a weighted average. Photographic characteristics may also be obtained. In this case, the calculation may be performed by changing the weighting that is stored each time.
Alternatively, the photographic characteristics may be weighted for a certain period of time or a certain amount, and the average value or added value may be updated sequentially, and the weighting of the photographic characteristics may be changed every time as shown in FIG. . In this case, the weighted average value up to M is multiplied by a weighting coefficient W (W≦1.0), and the average value of (M+1) is added to update the weighting.

In addition, as shown in Figure 2, the number N of photographic characteristic values stored is set within the range of the upper limit N _U and the lower limit N _L over time, and when the number of data reaches the upper limit N _U , the lower limit value is set.
You may also convert it to N _L and restart from that value. If the added value and the number of data are stored, when the number of data reaches the upper limit _NU , the process restarts from a value obtained by multiplying the added value and the number of data by n (≠0 when n<1). An average value may be stored instead of the added value. In other words, the average value and the number of data are N
If the current photographic characteristics are A _O , store it as = (・N+A _O )/(N+1) N=N+1, and when the number N reaches the upper limit N _U , N
We start with =N _L.

Here, N _L =N _U ·n, and n is a positive number smaller than 1 (for example, 1/2, 2/3...).

FIG. 3 shows another method of determining weighting coefficients. Past data is used to estimate the current state using a weighted moving average that is weighted relatively lower than data close to the present.

FIG. 4 shows an example of determining the average characteristic value of a film. Following the photometry 1 of the film using an image sensor, etc., the film is classified 2 (A, B,...N) based on the classification information, and the photographic characteristic values are stored. However, if the number N of each memory is smaller than 2000, Perform calculation process 3 using the average value Dx obtained from the memory data of all films, and calculate the number of each data piece.
In the case of 2000 or more, the average characteristic value obtained from the stored data of each film is used as the value of control 4 for photographic printing, without using the stored value of the average value Dx of all films. For example, when processing 100 films per day (approximately 2000 data/day),
If the upper limit is set to 40,000 and the lower limit is set to 20,000, the weighting will be changed every 10 days. Further, it is preferable that the upper limit value and lower limit value are changed depending on the processing amount for each film type. This makes it possible to successively track film development fluctuations, seasonal fluctuations, etc., determine the amount of fluctuation, and control based on this. For example, in control based on the average value of a large number of data,
Contribution to the control of the data of the 1000th frame,
Unlike the contribution of one data in the 100000th frame,
Furthermore, although the data of 100,000 frames has higher accuracy as an average value, there is a contradiction in that it is useless as data for estimating the current situation. That is, it takes a long time to accumulate a large amount of data, but the more past the present time, the less it reflects the current situation.
The present invention resolves this contradiction by using a weighted moving average value.

In FIG. 4, for example, in controlling the baking conditions,
The average characteristic value is the average LATD (Large Area
Transmittance Density), and the calculation process is to calculate the difference between the reference LATD and the calculated average LATD. This indicates that the development characteristics have changed by the LATD difference from the reference value, and the printing conditions can be changed to correct this difference. Further, in the case of normalizing characteristic curves that differ depending on the type of film (for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 145620/1982), the calculation process shown in FIG. 4 is the calculation of normal conditions. If the number of data is 2000 or less, a pre-stored initial value may be used. For this purpose, an initial value input means may be provided.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an example of addition and weighting.

In other words, photometry (step
S1) to find the photometric value D _i ′ of each frame, and calculate the density value
Add D′ and add the number N (step
S2), such photometry is repeated for the image of one film (step S3). After photometry is performed for a certain number of photometers, addition processing is performed using the average value and the number N stored in the memory (step S4). If the number N has not reached the predetermined upper limit N _U , the average value and number are stored in the memory (steps S5, S8); if the number N has reached the upper limit N _U , the number is changed to the lower limit N _L. and memorize it (steps S6, S8). Then, repeat the process described above until the measurement is stopped (step
S7). The data stored in the memory must be erased when the developing solution is replaced, the film type is changed, or the photometry system or printer malfunctions. Therefore, it is preferable to have means for erasing stored data or returning to initial values by inputting from the outside.

Another use for determining photographic printing conditions is, for example, determining coordinate points or coordinate areas on the color coordinates of a tungsten photographic film, determining the amount of correction on the color coordinates, etc. It can also be used to find optimal conditions from correction and modification trends such as trends and color correction trends. FIG. 6A shows the progress of clipping of the number of data, and FIG. 6B shows an example of the corresponding weighting coefficient of past data at the present time.

(Effects of the Invention) As described above, according to the method of the present invention, with respect to photographic characteristics in photographic development and photographic printing that change over time, the current situation is estimated and weighted on average based on data up to the present time. Therefore, using this weighted average photographic characteristic, it is possible to perform appropriate control and management for the next development and printing.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

1 to 3 are diagrams for explaining an example of the method of the present invention, FIG. 4 is a flowchart for determining the average characteristic value of the film of the present invention, and FIG. 5 is a diagram of addition and initialization in the present invention. A flow chart showing an example, FIGS. 6A and 6B, is a diagram for explaining the use for determining photographic printing conditions. 1...Photometry, 2...Film type classification, 3...
Arithmetic processing, 4...control.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. Photographic characteristics in a photographic system for photographic development and printing are measured and stored over time, and based on weighted average photographic characteristics obtained by changing the photographic characteristics as a function of time. . A method for controlling and managing a photographic system, characterized in that the photographic system is controlled and managed analogically. 2. According to claim 1, the weighted average photographic characteristic is obtained by positively weighting photographic characteristics for a certain period of time or a certain amount, and the positive weighting becomes smaller as time passes. Control and management method for the photographic system described. 3. The weighted average photographic characteristic is determined by positively weighting the average value of the photographic characteristics over a certain period of time or a certain amount of photographic characteristics, or the added value of the photographic characteristics over a certain period of time or a certain amount; 2. A method for controlling and managing a photographic system according to claim 1, wherein the information is sequentially updated.