JP2006014161A - Image printing system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image printing system capable of determining whether or not an image selected by a user is high quality and printing a high quality image.
An image printing system displays an image such as a moving image and prints an image selected by a user or the like among displayed images. The image printing system determines whether or not the image selected by the user is of high quality using the difference signal between the previous and subsequent frames calculated at the time of image processing. Thereby, evaluation of the selected image can be easily performed with a simple system. Further, since only the image determined to be high quality is printed, it is possible to improve the print quality.
[Selection] Figure 2

Description

  The present invention relates to an image printing system for printing a displayed image.

  An image printing system that displays an image on a display panel or the like and prints an image selected by the user from the displayed images is known (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

  Here, when the image handled by the image printing system as described above is a moving image, the image of one frame selected by the user is not always of a quality that can withstand printing. For example, if the difference in image data between the previous and next frames is large, the image may not be an image that can withstand printing. In such a case, the image printing system should not print the image selected by the user as it is. However, there is also a desire to improve the print quality of the selected image as much as possible rather than simply printing the image selected by the user. In this regard, the above-described demand is not satisfied in the conventional image printing system for printing an image.

JP 2003-34553 A

  The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and can determine whether or not an image selected by a user is of high quality, and can print an image with the highest possible quality. It is an object to provide a printing system.

  In one aspect of the present invention, the image printing system generates acquisition signals for acquiring an image to be displayed, a difference signal between frames before and after the acquired image, and performs image processing on the image using the difference signal. Generated by the image processing means, an image display section for displaying the image processed image, a selected image acquisition means for acquiring an image selected from the images displayed on the image display section, and the image processing means Print image determining means for determining whether or not the selected image is high quality based on the difference signal and determining the image determined to be high quality as an image to be printed. .

  The image printing system is a system that displays an image such as a moving image on an image display unit and prints an image selected by a user or the like among the displayed images by a printing unit. The image processing means generates a difference signal between the previous and next frames of the image and performs image processing using the difference signal. Based on the difference signal generated by the image processing unit, the print image determination unit determines whether, for example, the image selected by the user has high quality (in other words, whether the image has quality enough to withstand printing). The image determined to be high quality is determined as an image to be printed. As described above, the image printing system determines whether or not the image selected by the user has a quality that can withstand printing, and determines only an image that has been determined to have a quality that can withstand printing as an image to be printed. It is possible to improve the print quality of the image. In addition, the print image determining means uses the difference signal of the previous and subsequent frames obtained at the time of image processing as it is to determine whether or not the image selected by the user is of high quality, and therefore evaluates the selected image. It can be done easily with a simple system.

  In one aspect of the image printing system of the present invention, when the difference value indicated by the difference signal corresponds to less than about 10% of the amount of image data for one frame, the print image determination unit When it is determined that the selected image is of high quality and the difference signal corresponds to approximately 10% or more of the image data amount for one frame, the selected image is not of high quality. Is determined.

  In this aspect, the print image determination unit determines whether or not the difference value indicated by the difference signal in the image selected by the user corresponds to less than about 10% of the image data amount for one frame. The print image determining means determines that the image is high quality when the difference value is less than about 10% of the image data amount for one frame, and when the difference value is about 10% or more, the image is determined. Is determined not to be of high quality. If the difference signal between the previous and subsequent frames is less than about 10% of the image data amount for one frame, the image is hardly shaken in the normal image, and thus the image thus determined is printed with a suitable quality. The

  If the print image determination unit determines that the selected image is not of high quality, the print image determination unit acquires an image of a frame in the vicinity of the selected image and returns the image to the image processing unit.

  In this aspect, when it is determined that the image selected by the user is not high quality, the print image determination unit does not print the image as it is. In this case, the print image determining unit determines whether or not the image is of high quality with respect to the image of the frame in the vicinity of the selected image, and determines that the image is of high quality in the frame of the vicinity. The image is determined as an image to be printed. This is because an image of a frame in the vicinity of the selected frame looks almost the same as the selected image, but the image quality may be better. That is, the image printing system can print an image that is substantially the same as the image selected by the user and has a high quality even when the selected image is not high quality. Note that the above determination is performed on an image within a predetermined number of frames before and after the image selected by the user, for example, three frames, and an image with the smallest difference signal among them is determined. preferable.

  In another aspect of the image printing system of the present invention, the image processing means, when the print image determining means determines that the selected image is not of high quality, the frame before and after the selected image. From the above, image processing is performed to artificially increase the resolution of the selected image.

  In this aspect, when the print image determination unit determines that the selected image is not of high quality, the print image determination unit does not print the image as it is. In this case, the print image determination means performs an image quality improvement process, for example, a super resolution process, which estimates from the previous and next frames of the selected image and increases the resolution of the selected image in a pseudo manner. Although the blurring of the image selected by the user is relatively large, when the user still wants to print the image, the image is printed after improving the image quality as much as possible by the image quality improvement processing.

  In another aspect of the image printing system of the present invention, the resolution of the selected image is estimated in spite of the image determined to be high quality among the images and the frames before and after the selected image. One of the raised images is determined as the image to be printed. In this case, the image printing system can determine any of the above images as an image to be printed according to the size of the difference value of the image selected by the user.

  In another aspect of the image printing system of the present invention, a printing command acquisition unit that acquires a printing command for the image determined by the printing image determination unit, and a printing unit that prints an image specified by the printing command. Further prepare.

  In this aspect, the user determines whether or not the image determined by the print image determination unit is to be printed, for example. The print command acquisition unit acquires a print command from the user, and the print unit can print only the image for which the print command has been issued.

  In a preferred embodiment, the image processing means decodes the acquired image using the difference signal, and corrects the level of the acquired image by a coefficient determined according to the difference signal. At least one of image processing is performed. For example, the difference signal between the previous and next frames is used when decoding MPEG data, or when LAO processing (overdrive processing) is performed to improve display characteristics when the image display unit is composed of a liquid crystal (LCD) or the like. Can be used.

  In a similar aspect of the present invention, an image printing method executed by an image printing system provided with an image display unit generates an image to be displayed, and generates a difference signal between frames before and after the acquired image, An image processing process that performs image processing on the image using the difference signal, a selection image acquisition process that acquires an image selected from images displayed on the image display unit, and an image processing process. A print image determination step of determining whether or not the selected image is of high quality based on the difference signal and determining the image determined to be of high quality as an image to be printed.

  In a further similar aspect of the present invention, the image printing program is executed by an image printing system including an image display unit, thereby causing the image printing system to acquire an image to be displayed, an acquisition unit for acquiring the image to be displayed, An image processing means for generating a difference signal of the preceding and following frames, and performing image processing on the image using the difference signal, a selected image obtaining means for obtaining an image selected from images displayed on the image display unit, and A print image determining unit that determines whether or not the selected image is of high quality based on the difference signal generated by the image processing unit and determines the image determined to be high as an image to be printed To function as.

  The image printing method and the image printing program can also improve the print quality of the image, as in the case of the image printing system.

  Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

[Image printing system configuration]
First, a usage environment of an image printing system 500 according to an embodiment of the present invention will be briefly described with reference to FIG.

  The image printing system 500 acquires image data such as a moving image from a DVD recorder or other image reproduction device (not shown), for example, and displays the acquired image data on the image display device 10. The user 1 operates the input unit 3 when an image to be printed is displayed among the images displayed on the image display device 10. The operation of the input unit 3 by the user 1 is input to the image display device 10 as a signal S12. The image display device 10 supplies a signal S14 to the printer 4 so that the image selected by the user 1 is printed. The printer 4 prints out the image based on the signal S14 supplied from the image display device 10.

  Next, a specific configuration of the image printing system 500 according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of an image printing system 500 according to the embodiment of the present invention.

  The image printing system 500 includes a receiving unit 2, an input unit 3, an image display device 10, and a printer 4. The image printing system 500 according to the present embodiment determines whether or not the image selected by the user is high quality (that is, whether or not the image can withstand printing) and prints according to this determination. Determine the image to be. Then, the image printing system 500 displays the image in order to make the user confirm the determined image to be printed, and executes a printing process when the user gives a print command to the image.

  Hereinafter, the processing in the image printing system 500 will be specifically described.

  The receiving unit 2 acquires image data to be displayed from an image reproducing device (not shown). Examples of the image data include compressed moving image data such as MPEG. The receiving unit 2 supplies the acquired image data S11 to the image display device 10.

  Note that the image printing system 500 displays, for example, moving image data acquired by digital broadcast waves, in addition to image data reproduced by various reproducing devices (not shown) such as a DVD recorder, a hard disk recorder, and a personal computer. Can also be printed.

  The input unit 3 is operated when the user selects an image to be printed. The input unit 3 supplies the image display device 10 with a signal S12 corresponding to the user's selection, instruction, command, or the like. Further, when an image to be printed is displayed on the image display device 10, the input unit 3 is also operated when the user issues a print command to the image. The information on the print command by the user is also included in the signal S12 supplied from the input unit 3 to the image display device 10. In addition, the input unit 3 obtains an instruction from the user and supplies the instruction to the image display device 10 with a signal S12.

  The printer 4 acquires a signal S14 corresponding to the print image supplied from the image display device 10. Then, the printer 4 executes a printing process based on this signal S14. Various devices such as an ink jet printer and a laser printer can be applied to the printer 4.

  The image display device 10 includes an image processing unit 100, an image display unit 120, and a controller 130. The image display unit 120 includes a liquid crystal display panel. Hereinafter, processing in each processing unit in the image display apparatus 10 will be briefly described.

  The image processing unit 100 performs image processing on the image data S <b> 11 input to the image display device 10. This image processing is mainly performed in order to convert the acquired image data S11 into data that can be displayed by the image display unit 120. The image processing unit 100 supplies the image display unit 120 with the image processed image data S33. As described above, the image processing unit 100 functions as an image processing unit.

  Here, the image processing performed by the image processing unit 100 will be described with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4.

  FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of the image processing unit 100. The image processing unit 100 includes a variable length decoding unit 101, an inverse quantization unit 102, an IDCT unit 103, a reference frame memory 104, a motion compensation unit 105, an LAO processing unit 106, an RGB conversion unit 107, a display A memory 108, a display data output unit 109, and an adder 125 are provided. The image processing unit 100 mainly acquires MPEG data (MPEG-2 or MPEG-4 image data) S21 and decodes the MPEG data S21. It is assumed that the MPEG data S21 to be acquired is YUV format data.

  The variable length decoding unit 101 performs decoding using the variable length Huffman code on the input MPEG data S21. The variable length decoding unit 101 supplies the decoded image data S22 to the inverse quantization unit 102. The inverse quantization unit 102 performs inverse quantization processing on the acquired image data S22. The inverse quantization unit 102 supplies the inversely quantized image data S23 to the IDCT unit 103. The IDCT unit 103 performs inverse discrete cosine transform on the acquired image data S23 to generate image data S24. The IDCT unit 103 supplies the generated image data S24 to the adder 125.

  The reference frame memory 104 stores the image data S28 output from the adder 125 as reference frame data. The motion compensation unit 105 generates a difference signal S26 based on the image data S28 of the previous frame and the current frame stored in the reference frame memory 104, and supplies the difference signal S26 to the LAO processing unit 106 and the controller 130. Also, the motion compensation unit 105 generates a motion compensation component S27 based on the difference signal S26 and sends it to the adder 125. The adder 125 adds the motion compensation component S27 to the image data S24 output from the IDCT unit 103, and supplies it to the LAO processing unit 106 as image data S28. Thus, motion compensation is performed. The LAO processing unit 106 performs LAO (Level Adaptive Overdrive) processing (hereinafter also referred to as “overdrive processing”) on the acquired image data S28 using the difference signal S26 of the image data of the preceding and following frames. This LAO process is a process performed to improve the display characteristics of the image display unit 120 configured by a liquid crystal (LCD) panel.

  The LAO process will be specifically described with reference to FIG. In general, it is known that the change in orientation of liquid crystal molecules is delayed with respect to the change in electric field due to the viscosity of the liquid crystal used in a liquid crystal display panel or the like. For example, as shown in FIG. 4A, even when the pixels of the liquid crystal panel are driven by an input signal Si having a steep level change, the orientation of the liquid crystal molecules changes gradually with time, so that it is indicated by the signal So. In addition, a response delay occurs in the change of the gradation level of the pixel. Although the trailing edge is similarly delayed, the illustration is omitted. Therefore, in order to improve the response delay as described above, the level correction is performed on the input signal waveform supplied to the driving circuit of the liquid crystal panel. That is, as shown in FIG. 4B, a signal Sc whose level is increased over a predetermined period is generated with respect to the input signal Si, and the liquid crystal panel is driven by this signal Sc, so that it is indicated by a signal So ′. In addition, the response of the liquid crystal panel can be improved. The level of the maximum level portion of the signal Sc is determined based on the level of the input signal, the level of the input signal before a certain time, and the like. For example, if the absolute value of the difference between the level of the input signal and the level of the input signal before a certain time is large, a large value is determined as the maximum level of the corrected signal Sc. Note that “t1” is the time width of the signal whose level is increased, and corresponds to, for example, the time of one frame period.

  In the present embodiment, the LAO processing unit 106 performs LAO processing using the difference signal obtained at the time of motion compensation. Specifically, the LAO processing unit 106 multiplies the difference signal S26 acquired from the motion compensation unit 105 by a predetermined coefficient to calculate a voltage for level adjustment shown in FIG. 4B, and this is input. Add to image data S28. As a result, the LAO process is performed as shown in FIG. The image data S29 that has been subjected to the LAO process is supplied to the RGB converter 107. . The predetermined coefficient is determined to be a large value if the absolute value of the difference signal is large.

  The image data S29 subjected to LAO processing as described above is supplied to the RGB conversion unit 107. The RGB converter 107 converts the YUV format image data S29 into the RGB format image data S30 (ie, RGB conversion). The RGB-converted image data S30 is supplied to the display memory 108. The display memory 108 stores the acquired image data S30 as display data. The image data S31 stored in the display memory 108 is read out to the display data output unit 109. The display data output unit 109 outputs the image data S33 to the image display unit 120.

  Returning to FIG. 2, the image display unit 120 displays the image data S33 supplied from the image processing unit 100 (specifically, the display data output unit 109). As the image display unit 120, a rear projection TV using a liquid crystal panel, a liquid crystal television, or the like can be used. The rear projection TV is a display device that projects an image using a liquid crystal panel, and includes a liquid crystal, a DLP, an LCOS, and the like.

  Next, processing performed by the controller 130 will be described. The controller 130 has a CPU, program ROM, RAM, and the like (not shown). The controller 130 obtains image selection information by the user through a signal S12. Further, as shown in FIG. 3, the controller 130 obtains a difference signal S <b> 26 of the image data of the previous and subsequent frames used in the decoding of the MPEG data in the image processing unit 100 and the LAO processing. In the present embodiment, the controller 130 determines whether or not the image selected by the user is of high quality based on the difference signal S26 of the previous and subsequent frame data. Specifically, when the difference value indicated by the difference signal S26 in the image selected by the user corresponds to a predetermined value, for example, less than about 10% of the image data amount for one frame, It is determined that the image is of high quality. This is because if the difference signal S26 is less than about 10% of the amount of image data for one frame, the image blur is so small that it can be said that the image can withstand printing. is there.

  When the controller 130 determines that the image selected by the user is high quality, the controller 130 determines the image to be printed. Then, the controller 130 causes the image display unit 120 to display the image. Specifically, the controller 130 supplies the signal S13 to the image processing unit 100 and issues a display command for the image. In this case, the user confirms the displayed image and determines whether to print. Then, the user issues an instruction for printing or not printing by operating the input unit 3. The controller 130 acquires a user command for the image by the signal S12 from the input unit 3. When the controller 130 obtains a print command from the user, the controller 130 supplies a signal S14 to the printer 4 so that the image data is printed. On the other hand, when the print command is not acquired from the user, the controller 130 does not print the image, that is, does not supply the printer 4 with the signal S14 for the image.

  On the other hand, if the difference signal S26 in the image selected by the user corresponds to approximately 10% or more of the image data amount for one frame, the controller 130 does not indicate that the selected image is of high quality. Determine, that is, determine that the image is not an image to be printed. In this case, the controller 130 does not print the image as it is. If the controller 130 determines that the selected image is not of high quality, the controller 130 performs the above determination on an image in the range of a predetermined number of frames in the vicinity of the image, for example, “± 3” frames. If a quality image exists, the image is determined as an image to be printed. Also in this case, the controller 130 causes the image to be printed only when a print command for the image is received from the user. It should be noted that the controller 130 can automatically determine an image with the smallest difference signal S26 as an image to be printed out of images in the range of “± 3” frames of the image selected by the user.

  Further, if the controller 130 determines that the image selected by the user is not of high quality, instead of determining the image to be printed by making a determination based on the neighboring images described above, for example, An image to be printed can be determined by performing an image quality improvement process such as a super resolution process. This super resolution process is a process of estimating from the previous and next frames of the image selected by the user and increasing the resolution of the image in a pseudo manner. For example, as the super-resolution processing, processing for increasing the resolution of the image is performed by referring to the images of the previous and subsequent frames of the image to be processed and estimating the true position of the blurred object in the image. . This super resolution processing can be performed by the controller 130 or the image processing unit 100.

  Thus, the controller 130 is a selected image acquisition unit that acquires an image selected by the user, a print image determination unit that determines whether the selected image is high quality, and determines an image to be printed, And it functions as a print command acquisition means for acquiring a print command from the user.

  As described above, the image printing system 500 according to the present embodiment determines whether or not the image selected by the user is high quality, and determines an image to be printed according to this determination. It becomes possible to improve the print quality of an image or the like. Furthermore, since the image printing system 500 uses the difference signal between the previous and next frames obtained at the time of image processing as it is, it can easily evaluate whether or not the image quality of the image selected by the user as a printing target can withstand printing. be able to. That is, it is not necessary to provide a separate image quality determination means for determining whether or not the image quality of the image designated by the user can withstand printing, and the system can be simplified and the cost can be reduced.

  Note that the image printing system 500 is not limited to performing the above-described processing in the image display apparatus 10. For example, an external computer (PC) or the like may perform processing instead of the controller 130 in the image display apparatus 10. FIG. 5 shows a schematic configuration diagram of an image printing system 501 according to a modification of the present embodiment.

  The image printing system 501 includes a receiving unit 2, an input unit 3, a printer 4, a computer 6, and an image display device 11. The receiving unit 2, the input unit 3, and the printer 4 have the same functions and configurations as the image printing system 500, and thus description thereof is omitted.

  The computer 6 basically performs the same processing as the controller 130 described above. The computer 6 includes a CPU, a program memory, a network interface, a display interface, an I / O device, etc. (not shown). The computer 6 acquires a signal S15 indicating an image selection instruction by the user from the input unit 3. Further, the computer 6 acquires the difference signal S40 of the previous and subsequent frames from the image processing unit 100. Then, the computer 6 determines whether or not the image selected by the user is high quality based on the difference signal S40, and determines an image to be printed based on this determination. In this case, similarly to the image printing system 500 described above, when the computer 6 determines that the selected image is high quality, the computer 6 determines the selected image as an image to be printed, and determines that the selected image is not high quality. In such a case, an image to be printed is determined by performing a predetermined process. As the predetermined process, the computer 6 performs a process of determining an image to be printed from the vicinity of the selected frame, or performs a super resolution process on the selected image. Then, the computer 6 displays the determined image to be printed, and when the print command from the user is acquired by the signal S15, supplies the signal S17 to the printer 4 so that the image is printed. Note that the computer 6 and the receiving unit 2 may be connected to acquire image data to be displayed by the computer 6. Further, if the computer 6 has a function as a playback device, the image display system 501 can handle an image played back by the computer 6.

  The image display device 11 includes an image processing unit 100 and an image display unit 120. The image display device 11 is different from the image display device 10 described above only in that the controller 130 is not provided. Since the processing in the image processing unit 100 and the image display unit 120 is the same as that in the image display device 10, the description thereof is omitted.

  As described above, the image printing system 501 according to the modified example of the present invention can simplify the system configuration and improve the print quality of moving images and the like.

  The image printing systems 500 and 501 have a configuration in which the printer 4 is provided separately. However, the application of the present invention is not limited to this, and the printer may be provided in the image display device. . Furthermore, the printer is not limited to being a component of the image printing system. When the image printing system has a system configuration that does not include a printer, the image printing system may be configured so that a commercially available printer (for example, a PC) is connected to print an image.

[Image output judgment processing]
Next, an example of image output determination processing performed by the controller 130 (or the computer 6) described above will be described. The image output determination process is a process of determining an image to be printed based on the quality of the image selected by the user and printing out the image when the user issues a print command to the determined image. If the user does not issue a print command for the determined image to be printed, the image output determination process further performs a predetermined process to determine the image to be printed.

  Hereinafter, image output determination processing according to the first to third embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. This process is performed by the controller 130 in the image display apparatus 10. The image output determination process is performed by the computer 6 in the image printing system 501, but will be described below by using the controller 130 as a representative.

(First embodiment)
FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating image output determination processing according to the first embodiment.

  First, in step S101, the controller 130 acquires image data selected by the user. Then, the process proceeds to step S102.

  In step S102, the controller 130 acquires the difference signal S26 of the preceding and following frames from the image processing unit 100, and the difference signal S26, that is, the difference value between the frames before and after the image selected by the user is the amount of image data for one frame. It is determined whether it is less than 10% (0.1). Such a determination is made because if the difference signal S26 of the preceding and following frames is less than 10% of the image data amount for one frame, it can be said that the image has no blurring and can withstand printing. . When the difference signal S26 is less than 10% of the image data amount for one frame (step S102; Yes), the controller 130 determines the image to be printed, and the process proceeds to step S104. On the other hand, when the difference signal S26 is 10% or more of the image data amount for one frame (step S102; No), the controller 130 determines that the image is not an image to be printed, and the process proceeds to step S103. .

  In step S <b> 103, the controller 130 determines an image moved to the frame one frame before or to the frame to which the image selected by the user belongs as a candidate image to be printed. The reason for moving the frame in this manner is that even if the frame is slightly moved from the frame of the image selected by the user, the appearance of the image is not substantially changed, and the quality of the image may be improved. When the process of step S103 ends, the process returns to step S101, and the controller 130 acquires image data of an image determined as a candidate for an image to be printed. Next, the process proceeds to step S102, and the controller 130 determines whether or not the difference signal S26 of the preceding and succeeding frames is less than 10% of the image data amount for one frame with respect to the image data. If the difference signal S26 is less than 10% of the image data amount for one frame in the image determined as the image candidate to be printed (step S102; Yes), the controller 130 determines the image as the image to be printed. To do. On the other hand, if the difference signal S26 is 10% or more of the image data amount for one frame (step S102; No), the process of step S103 is performed again. In this case, in step S103, the controller 130 further moves the frame. When the distance between the moved frame and the frame selected by the user is larger than a predetermined number of frames (for example, 3 frames in this example), it is preferable not to move the frame any more. This is because the image selected by the user and the appearance may change greatly.

  In step S104, the controller 130 causes the image display unit 120 to display an image determined as an image to be printed. In other words, the processing in step S104 is performed to cause the user to confirm the image determined as the image to be printed and finally to determine whether or not this image can be printed. When the above process ends, the process proceeds to step S105.

  In step S <b> 105, the user determines whether to print the image displayed on the image display unit 120. If the user determines that the image can be printed (step S105; Yes), the process proceeds to step S106. In this case, the controller 130 acquires a print command S12 for the image from the input unit 3.

  In step S106, the controller 130 supplies a signal S14 to the printer 4 so that an image for which a print command has been issued by the user is printed. Then, the printer 4 prints out the image based on the acquired signal S14 and exits the flow.

  On the other hand, when the user determines not to print the displayed image (step S105; No), the process returns to step S103. In this case, the controller 130 further moves the frame in step S103, and acquires an image of the moved frame in step S101. Then, the controller 130 performs the above-described determination based on the image difference signal S26 acquired in step S102. If it is determined that the user does not print the image determined as the image to be printed (step S105; No), the interval between the moved frame and the frame selected by the user is greater than 3 frames. It does not matter.

  As described above, according to the image output determination processing according to the first embodiment, when the image selected by the user is not of a quality that can withstand printing, the quality is improved from the frame near the image selected by the user. Since the image is determined as an image to be printed, it is possible to improve the print quality without significantly different from the image selected by the user.

(Second embodiment)
Next, image output determination processing according to the second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.

  First, in step S201, the controller 130 acquires image data selected by the user. Then, the process proceeds to step S202.

  In step S202, the controller 130 acquires the difference signal S26 of the previous and subsequent frames from the image processing unit 100, and determines whether or not the difference signal S26 is less than 10% (0.1) of the image data amount for one frame. To do. Such a determination is made for the same reason as in step S102 in FIG. When the difference signal S26 is less than 10% of the image data amount for one frame (step S202; Yes), the controller 130 determines the image to be printed, and the process proceeds to step S204. On the other hand, when the difference signal S26 is 10% or more of the image data amount for one frame (step S202; No), the controller 130 determines that the image is not an image to be printed, and the process proceeds to step S203. .

  In step S203, the controller 130 performs a super resolution process on the image selected by the user. Specifically, the controller 130 performs estimation from the previous and next frames of the image selected by the user, and performs a process of artificially increasing the resolution of the image. Then, the controller 130 determines the image after the super resolution processing as an image to be printed. When the above process ends, the process proceeds to step S204.

  In step S204, the controller 130 causes the image display unit 120 to display an image determined as an image to be printed. In other words, the processing in step S204 is performed in order for the user to confirm the image determined as the image to be printed and to finally determine whether the image can be printed. When the above process ends, the process proceeds to step S205.

  In step S <b> 205, the user determines whether to print the image displayed on the image display unit 120. If the user determines that the image may be printed (step S205; Yes), the process proceeds to step S206. In this case, the controller 130 acquires a print command S12 for the image from the input unit 3.

  In step S206, the controller 130 supplies a signal S14 to the printer 4 so that an image for which a print command has been issued by the user is printed. Then, the printer 4 prints out the image based on the acquired signal S14 and exits the flow.

  On the other hand, when the user determines not to print the displayed image (step S205; No), the process proceeds to step S207. In step S <b> 207, the controller 130 determines an image that has been moved to the previous frame or the next frame to which the displayed image belongs as an image candidate to be printed. When the process of step S207 ends, the process returns to step S201, and the controller 130 acquires image data determined as a candidate image to be printed. And a process progresses to step S202 and the controller 130 performs the determination mentioned above.

  As described above, according to the image output determination process according to the second embodiment, when the image selected by the user is not of a quality that can withstand printing, an image obtained by artificially increasing the resolution of the image selected by the user. Is determined as an image to be printed, so that the print quality can be improved. In particular, the image output determination process according to the second embodiment is effective when the selected frame is moved, but the image changes greatly.

(Third embodiment)
Next, image output determination processing according to the third embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.

  First, in step S301, the controller 130 acquires image data selected by the user. Then, the process proceeds to step S302.

  In step S302, the controller 130 acquires the difference signal S26 of the previous and subsequent frames from the image processing unit 100, and determines whether or not the difference signal S26 is less than 10% (0.1) of the image data amount for one frame. To do. Such a determination is made for the same reason as in step S102 in FIG. When the difference signal S26 is less than 10% of the image data amount for one frame (step S302; Yes), the controller 130 determines the image to be printed, and the process proceeds to step S304. On the other hand, when the difference signal S26 is 10% or more of the image data amount for one frame (step S302; No), the controller 130 determines that the image is not an image to be printed, and the process proceeds to step S303. .

  In step S <b> 303, the controller 130 determines an image moved to the frame one frame before or to the frame to which the image selected by the user belongs as an image candidate to be printed. When the process of step S303 ends, the process returns to step S301, and the controller 130 acquires image data corresponding to the frame immediately before or after the frame to which the image selected by the user belongs. Next, the process proceeds to step S302, and the controller 130 determines whether or not the difference signal S26 of the preceding and succeeding frames is less than 10% of the image data amount for one frame with respect to the image data. In this case, if the difference signal S26 is 10% or more of the image data amount for one frame (step S302; No), the process returns to step S303 to further move the frame. When the distance between the moved frame and the frame selected by the user is larger than the predetermined number of frames (3 frames in this example), the frame is not moved any further.

  In step S304, the controller 130 causes the image display unit 120 to display an image determined as an image to be printed. In other words, the processing in step S304 is performed in order to make the user confirm the image determined as the image to be printed and finally make the user determine whether or not to print this image. When the above process ends, the process proceeds to step S305.

  In step S <b> 305, the user determines whether to print the image displayed on the image display unit 120. When the user determines that the image can be printed (step S305; Yes), the process proceeds to step S306. In this case, the controller 130 acquires a print command S12 for the image from the input unit 3.

  In step S306, the controller 130 supplies a signal S14 to the printer 4 so that an image for which a print command has been issued by the user is printed. Then, the printer 4 prints out the image based on the acquired signal S14 and exits the flow.

  On the other hand, if the user determines not to print the displayed image (step S305; No), the process proceeds to step S307. In step S307, the user determines whether or not to execute the super resolution processing on the displayed image data. When the user determines to execute the super resolution process (step S307; Yes), the process proceeds to step S308.

  In step S308, the controller 130 performs super resolution processing on the displayed image. The controller 130 performs estimation from the previous and next frames of the image, and performs a process of artificially increasing the resolution of the image. Then, the controller 130 determines the image after the super resolution processing as an image to be printed. When the above process ends, the process proceeds to step S304. In step S304, the image after the super resolution processing is displayed on the image display unit 120 in order to make the user confirm.

  On the other hand, when the user determines not to perform the super-resolution process on the image (step S307; No), the process proceeds to step S309. In step S309, the user determines whether to move the frame of the displayed image. If the user decides to move the frame (step S309: Yes), the process proceeds to step S303. That is, in step S303, the controller 130 determines an image moved to the frame one frame before or to the frame to which the displayed image belongs as a candidate image to be printed. When the process of step S303 ends, the process returns to step S301 to perform the process again. On the other hand, when the user decides not to move the frame (step S309: No), the process exits from the flow. That is, in this case, no image is printed.

  As described above, in the image output determination process according to the third embodiment, even if the controller 130 determines that the image is high quality, if the user determines not to print the image, the image is used as it is. Do not print. In this case, the user selects whether to print an image of another frame or an image in which the resolution of the image is increased, and the controller 130 performs the process selected by the user and prints it. Determine the image to be used. Therefore, according to the image output determination process according to the third embodiment, it is possible to print an image suitable for the user's request with high quality.

  Note that if the controller 130 determines that the image selected by the user is not of high quality, either the image whose frame has been moved or the image after super resolution processing is the image to be printed. Processing may be performed as described above. In this case, it is preferable that the controller 130 determines an image to be printed according to the magnitude of the difference signal S26 of the image selected by the user. For example, the controller 130 moves the frame if the difference signal S26 is small, and executes super-resolution processing if the difference signal S26 is large.

It is a figure which shows typically the utilization environment of the image printing system which concerns on embodiment of this invention. 1 is a diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of an image printing system according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a figure which shows schematic structure of an image process part. It is a figure for demonstrating a LAO process (overdrive process). It is a figure which shows schematic structure of the image printing system which concerns on the modification of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the image output judgment process based on 1st Example of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the image output determination process which concerns on 2nd Example of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the image output judgment process based on 3rd Example of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

2 receiving unit, 3 input unit, 4 printer, 6 computer, 10, 11 image display device, 100 image processing unit, 120 image display unit, 130 controller, 500, 501 image printing system

Claims (9)

An acquisition means for acquiring an image to be displayed;
An image processing means for generating a difference signal between frames before and after the acquired image, and performing image processing on the image using the difference signal;
An image display unit for displaying the image processed image;
Selection image acquisition means for acquiring an image selected from images displayed on the image display unit;
Print image determining means for determining whether or not the selected image is of high quality based on the difference signal generated by the image processing means and determining the image determined to be of high quality as an image to be printed And an image printing system.   The print image determination unit determines that the selected image is high quality when the difference value indicated by the difference signal corresponds to less than about 10% of the image data amount for one frame. In addition, when the difference signal corresponds to approximately 10% or more of the image data amount for one frame, it is determined that the selected image is not of high quality. The image printing system described in 1.   The print image determining unit, when determining that the selected image is not of high quality, acquires an image of a frame in the vicinity of the selected image and returns the image to the image processing unit. The image printing system according to claim 1 or 2.   If the print image determination unit determines that the selected image is not of high quality, the image processing unit estimates the resolution of the selected image by estimating from the frames before and after the selected image. The image printing system according to claim 1, wherein the image processing is performed in a pseudo manner.   The print image determining means is either an image determined to be high quality among the images, or an image obtained by artificially increasing the resolution of the selected image estimated from frames before and after the selected image. 3. The image printing system according to claim 1, wherein one of the images is determined as the image to be printed. A print command acquisition unit for acquiring a print command for the image determined by the print image determination unit;
The image printing system according to claim 1, further comprising: a printing unit that prints an image designated by the print command.   The image processing means performs at least one of image processing for decoding the acquired image using the difference signal and image processing for correcting the level of the acquired image by a coefficient determined according to the difference signal. The image printing system according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the image printing system is performed. An image printing method executed by an image printing system including an image display unit,
An acquisition step of acquiring an image to be displayed;
An image processing step of generating a difference signal of the frames before and after the acquired image, and image-processing the image using the difference signal;
A selection image acquisition step of acquiring an image selected from the images displayed on the image display unit;
A print image that determines whether or not the selected image is of high quality based on the difference signal generated in the image processing step, and determines the image that has been determined to be high quality as an image to be printed An image printing method comprising: a determining step. The image printing system is executed by an image printing system including an image display unit.
An acquisition means for acquiring an image to be displayed;
An image processing means for generating a difference signal between frames before and after the acquired image, and performing image processing on the image using the difference signal;
A selection image acquisition means for acquiring an image selected from images displayed on the image display unit; and
Print image determining means for determining whether or not the selected image is of high quality based on the difference signal generated by the image processing means and determining the image determined to be of high quality as an image to be printed , An image printing program characterized by functioning as

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