Background Color Conversion for Toner Saving Printing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current printing methods do not effectively address the need to remove dark backgrounds from documents before printing, leading to excessive toner or ink consumption.
Innovation Solution
A method that analyzes input files to extract and modify background colors, changing them to lighter shades or removing them if darker than a threshold value, thereby reducing toner or ink usage.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of substance
If dark background colors are printed as-is, then visual appeal and contrast are maintained, but toner or ink consumption increases excessively
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies color changes by converting dark background colors to lighter shades (e.g., white or light gray) before printing. This transforms the background color property to reduce toner consumption while maintaining acceptable visual appearance. The system detects dark background colors and selectively applies color transformation algorithms to convert them to lighter equivalents.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the color parameters (brightness, saturation, hue) of background regions. By adjusting these parameters, dark backgrounds are transformed to lighter tones. The system modifies color space representations and applies transformation matrices or lookup tables to convert dark colors to lighter equivalents, thereby reducing ink consumption.
2Loss of substance
If background color is converted to white or lighter color, then toner consumption is reduced, but contrast with foreground objects may be compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by treating background regions differently from foreground objects. The system identifies background areas (typically large uniform color regions) and applies lightening transformations only to these regions, while preserving the original colors of foreground objects. This selective processing maintains contrast between foreground and background while reducing overall toner consumption.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent performs preliminary action by analyzing and processing the background color conversion before the actual printing occurs. The system pre-processes the document to identify and transform dark background colors to lighter shades in advance, so that when printing occurs, the toner consumption is already optimized. This preliminary processing ensures contrast is maintained while reducing ink usage.
3Loss of substance
If automatic background color detection and conversion is implemented, then toner saving is achieved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements self-service by enabling the printing system to automatically detect and convert dark background colors without requiring manual user intervention. The system autonomously analyzes the document, identifies background regions, and applies color transformations automatically. This automation reduces toner consumption while the complexity is managed through integrated processing within the printing software or driver.
Data Source
AI summary
A toner saving printing method and related computer program product is described. The program analyzes an input file to extract data that represents background, and if the background is a solid dark color, changes the background to a colorless or a lighter color background. The colors of the foreground objects such as text and graphics are changed correspondingly to maintain adequate contrast between the foreground objects and the background. The method can be implemented as a part of a printer driver.