1877 results about "Halftone" patented technology

There is disclosed a resist composition that remarkably improves the resolution of photolithography using a high energy beam such as ArF excimer laser light as a light source, and exhibits excellent resistance to surface roughness and side lobe under use of a halftone phase shift mask; and a patterning process using the resist composition. The positive resist composition at least comprises (A) a resin component comprising a repeating unit represented by the following general formula (1); (B) a photoacid generator generating sulfonic acid represented by the following general formula (2) upon exposure to a high energy beam; and (C) an onium salt where a cation is sulfonium represented by the following general formula (3), or ammonium represented by the following general formula (4); and an anion is represented by any one of the following general formulae (5) to (7).

The disclosure describes an authentication system and related methods for authenticating printed objects. The system uses an information-based metric along with one or more print quality metrics to provide accurate detection or classification of a counterfeit printed object. The print quality metric evaluates attributes of a subject image associated with the original printer, ink or paper to detect degradation of those operations due to copying operations like an image scanning and halftone printing subsequent to the original printing of the object. The information-based metric measures message symbol errors in an optically readable code, such as a digital watermark.

An image processing apparatus implements appropriate image processing on image data stored in a storage unit of the image processing apparatus easily and efficiently, and distributes the image data to an external apparatus. An image format conversion-unit implements image processing such as resolution conversion processing, filter processing, γ correction processing, and halftone processing on image data stored in an HDD serving as an image data storage unit so that the image data conform to conditions, such as image quality and format, specified by an external client apparatus. The image-processed image data are then distributed to the external client apparatus.

The invention relates to identification documents, and in particular to providing optically variable personalized data to identification documents. In one implementation, we provide an identification document comprising a document layer and a first indicium. The document layer comprises a material capable of being printed by a thermally transferable optically variable ink. The first indicium is printed on the document layer and comprises personalized data and printed to the document layer by a thermally transferred optically variable ink. The first indicium may be printed to the document layer by disposing a thermally transferable optically variable ink in a mass transfer panel of a printer ribbon adapted for use in a dye diffusion thermal transfer printer, and printing the first indicium as part of a mass transfer printing process. The thermally transferred optically variable ink can be selected and printed such that the first indicium has at least one of a luster, shine, sheen, pearlescent appearance, iridescent appearance, and mirror-like appearance. This technology enables the creation of a halftone “mirror image” over a color ghost image to achieve a layered and linked multiple personalization scheme of ID documents.

The invention has an object to provide a liquid crystal display in which a wide angle of view is obtained and a response time at a halftone can be shortened by regulating an alignment orientation of a liquid crystal by the use of a polymer fixation system in which a liquid crystal layer containing a polymerizable component is sealed between substrates, and the polymerizable component is polymerized while a voltage is applied to the liquid crystal layer to fix a liquid crystal alignment. A liquid crystal layer containing a polymer for regulating a pretilt angle of a liquid crystal molecule and a tilt direction at a time of driving is sealed between two substrates arranged opposite to each other. A plurality of stripe-like electrode patterns in which a pattern width is formed to be wider than a width of a space, are arranged so that the liquid crystal molecule is aligned in a longitudinal direction of the pattern when the polymer is formed by solidifying a polymerizable component mixed in the liquid crystal layer while a voltage is applied to the liquid crystal layer.

A halftone processing section halftone-processes input image data using a plurality of dither threshold planes. An image output section having different output position accuracies between a main scan direction and a sub-scan direction outputs an image corresponding to halftone-processed image data. Each of the dither threshold planes consists of a plurality of the same unit threshold matrixes. In the unit threshold matrix, a relatively medium to high threshold array in a predetermined threshold range corresponding to the entire tone range of the input image data is an aperiodic array and an anisotropic array with neighboring thresholds having close values, in a direction coincident with a scan direction, in which the output position accuracy of the image output means is low. With this configuration, the image output section outputs an image having serial medium and high tone dots in the scan direction.

Defects in an image forming system may give rise to visible streaks, or one-dimensional defects in an image that run parallel to the process direction. One known method for compensating for streaks introduces a separate tone reproduction curve for each pixel column in the process direction. A compensation pattern according to this invention has a plurality of halftone regions that are lead by, trained by, and separated by rows of fiducial marks. The fiducial marks allow the printer pixel grid and a scanning pixel grid to be correlated. The gray level in each pixel column of each gray level portion is measured and analyzed to produce a local tone reproduction curve for each pixel column and associated line width. The local tone reproduction curves are then used to compensate for the streak defect when printing.

The present invention discloses a method of manufacturing a super large wide-angle super high-speed response LCD apparatus by using a photolithographic process for three times. The invention adopts a halftone exposure technology and a nitrogen ion doped technology to form a gate electrode, a common electrode, a pixel electrode and a contact pad, and then uses the halftone exposure technology to form a silicon (Si) island and a contact hole, and a general exposure technology to form a source electrode, a drain electrode and an alignment control electrode. A P-CVD apparatus is provided for forming a passivation layer into a film by using a masking deposition method, or an ink-jet coating method is used to coat a protective layer at a partial area, and a photolithographic process is performed for three times to manufacture a TFT matrix substrate of the super large wide-angle super high-speed response LCD.

The watermark system and method. The watermark system includes a watermarking module for generating a half-tone image with a watermark (a watermarked halftone image) and a watermark recovery module for receiving a scanned image of a hard copy of the watermarked halftone image and recovering a watermark that is embedded in or specified by the scanned image. A print engine can be provided to receive the watermarked halftone image and generate a hard copy of the watermarked half-tone image. A scanner can be provided to scan a hard copy of a watermarked half-tone image and to generate a scanned image that can be provided to the watermark recovery module.

A method for segmenting a color document into regions of text and halftone discriminates between text and halftone by examining the texture of the document. A color document is digitized, and a color space transform is preferably applied to the digitized document. The texture of the document is identified and a noise reduction step is preferably applied. Bounding boxes (blocks) within the document are identified and then the areas within the bounding boxes are classified as either text or halftone. Two alternative methods are described for examining the document texture. In the first method, a windowing operation is applied to either an intensity image or a color difference image. In the second method, a wavelet transform step combined with Fuzzy K-Mean clustering is applied. Bounding boxes are classified as either text or halftone based upon the relative periodicity of a horizontal or vertical (or both) histogram of each bounding box.

A display apparatus has a plurality unit pixels each divided into a least three sub-pixels for displaying a halftone. The at least three sub-pixels have mutually different areas, so that one sub-pixel among the at least three sub-pixels has a maximum area which does not exceed a total area of the remaining sub-pixels. As a result, it is possible to obviate a so-called linear defect occurring in a multi-level gradational display by suppressing the shift of gravity center of light spots and change in sub-pixel arrangement pattern in displaying slightly different gradation levels.

Calibration associated with output density correction of a printer is effected by software calibration manipulated by the user and device calibration automatically performed by the printer, and, regarding these calibrations, high accurate calibration in which dither patterns for binarizing processing are matched to each other is effected.

In a system in which either one of halftone patterns A, B, C and D as dither patterns can be used, regarding fewer number of patterns A and B, second calibration tables are created by correcting first calibration tables based on the software calibration by using correction data of engine characteristics based on the device calibration. Among the usable halftone patterns, the calibration table corresponding to the pattern A or B is selected in accordance with the set halftone pattern, and the output density correction by using the selected table.

A method and apparatus for processing gray level image data. Gray level image data is subjected to plural separate halftone screen processing to form plural separate halftone processed screen gray level image data. The current pixel is also analyzed for contrast index. In response to analysis of the contrast index blending coefficients for processing of the halftone screen modified image data is made. The respective halftone outputs of the screen processings are multiplied by the respective blending coefficient. The resulting blended halftone gray value of the current pixel as well as neighboring pixels are then subjected to a threshold criterion test to determine if this represents a substantially binary image file such as might occur in a saturated text image file. The blended halftone gray value data for the current pixel is subjected to gray level edge enhancement processing to replace certain binary pixels adjacent an edge to reduce anti-aliasing effects. A signal resulting from the threshold criterion test is used to determine whether there is output to the printer or display of an edge enhanced version of the current blended halftone pixel or a pixel value representing the blended halftone pixel.

The invention provides a method and apparatus for the reproduction of color images by multi-color dithering. Multi-color dithering is an extension of bi-level dithering for halftoning an input image using as primary colors an arbitrary number of inks. The inks may comprise standard inks or non-standard inks such as non-process color inks, opaque inks, metallic inks, variable color inks and fluorescent inks. Multi-color dithering provides a solution for creating artistic multi-color dithered images, whose screen elements are made of artistic color screen shapes such as micro-letters, symbols and ornaments. When printed at high resolution and at high registration accuracy, multi-color dithering using large dither arrays incorporating artistic dither shapes provides an effective solution for preventing counterfeiting. The use of non-standard inks offers additional protection. Multi-color dithering also offers a solution for printers requiring that all inks are printed side by side, without overlaps.

A method for measuring spatial uniformity in an image is provided and includes printing a test pattern from an image forming device having a plurality of strips and rows of fiducials proximal thereto. The method further provides for correcting of distortions in an image caused by printing and scanning artifacts and mapping from scanner coordinates to digital image coordinates. A gray level of each strip in the plurality of strips is determined as a function of digital image cross process coordinate. The method further provides for a profile of each strip to be filtered whereby the artifacts from a halftone screen are eliminated.

The present invention relates to digitally watermarking spot color images. In one embodiment, an original spot color is replaced with a combination of cyan (C), magenta (M) and yellow (Y) components and the original spot color. The CMY components convey a digital watermark. Preferably, a large percentage halftone process screens the spot color. This screened spot color is combined with the CMY components. Combining the CMY components with a large percentage halftone screening results in a watermarked image color that closely approximates to the original spot color. In another embodiment, a spot color is halftone-screened to a percentage of its original intensity. The screened-back spot color is modulated to accommodate a watermark signal.

The present invention is a method and apparatus allowing the application of two or more distinct halftone types in the rendering of a single image. The invention employs a halftone selector of a threshold type, or as an alternative a segmenter type. The halftone selector determines which areas of an image will receive which type of grayscale halftone treatment on a pixel by pixel basis. Examples of various halftone types include stochastic, clustered dot, line screen, and other high addressability types. Each pixel of data is treated by the appropriate halftoner circuit which in response outputs digital data. A controller circuit remaps the digital data into the appropriate width and position signals for a pulse width position modulator, including any other signals as needed for any additional inverter circuitry. The pulse width position modulator generates a video signal which may be inverted by the inverter circuit as responsive to the controller circuit remapping determination. This final video signal is provided to an image output terminal.

A system and method of processing an image including black text data and non-black text data are described. The system and method use a parametric analysis for discrimination of halftones, texts, and photographs. The parametric analysis provides results that track measurable image metrics without the inherent risk of errant decision making during classification. The creation of symbolic representations is intrinsically a classification process that is subject to error. It represents a fundamental departure from fuzzy logic image segmentation. In the parametric analysis, no pattern matching, no auto-correlation, no screening parameter calculation, and no conventional edge detector (such as a high pass filter) are used.