Clear Ink Application for Fluorescent Color Balance
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Solution Overview
Problem
The use of fluorescent inks and color inks in printing leads to differences in brightness when viewed from different angles, causing imbalanced colors and potential defects in printed products.
Innovation Solution
An image processing apparatus generates printing data to apply a clear ink, reducing the difference in brightness change with observation angle between regions printed with fluorescent ink and color ink.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Illumination intensity
If fluorescent ink and color ink are used together for printing, then vibrant color development is achieved, but difference in brightness depending on observation angle occurs causing imbalanced colors
Solution Approach 1:
A clear ink layer is introduced as an intermediary between the fluorescent ink and color ink layers. This clear ink has deviation angle characteristics that differ from both fluorescent and color inks, serving as a mediator to harmonize the optical properties. The clear ink layer modifies the light reflection and refraction patterns, reducing the brightness difference between fluorescent and color ink regions when viewed from oblique angles, thereby achieving color balance.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention changes the optical parameters of the printed image by controlling the application amount of clear ink in different regions. By varying the clear ink application amount, the deviation angle characteristics of different ink regions are adjusted to achieve uniform brightness perception across the printed image when viewed from different observation angles.
2Manufacturing precision
If clear ink is applied to reduce brightness difference, then color balance is improved, but printing process complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The printing process is segmented into distinct passes: a first pass applying fluorescent and color inks, and a second pass applying clear ink. This segmentation allows the printing apparatus to handle different ink types with different properties in separate operations, making the complex process of applying clear ink to multiple ink regions more manageable and controllable.
Solution Approach 2:
The fluorescent and color inks are applied in a preliminary first pass before the clear ink is applied in a second pass. This preliminary action establishes the base color layers, and then the clear ink is applied selectively to regions containing these inks to adjust their deviation angle characteristics. This sequence simplifies the overall process by avoiding the need to mix multiple ink types simultaneously.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This approach helps to suppress image defects such as imbalanced colors and inverted tones in printed products, ensuring consistent appearance regardless of the observation angle.
Implementation Method 1
the fluorescent component included in the fluorescent ink emits light in a process of returning to a ground state again in absorbing excitation light and transitioning from the ground state to an excited state
Implementation Method 2
A color ink that is a subtractive color mixture ink, such as cyan (C), magenta (M), yellow (Y), and black (K), used commonly in a printing apparatus includes a color material that absorbs light of a specific wavelength and develops the color by reflection or penetration of the light that is not absorbed
Data Source
AI summary
An image processing apparatus includes: a generation unit configured to generate printing data to cause a printing apparatus to apply an ink based on data of an image, the printing apparatus printing the image on a printing medium by using a fluorescent ink including a fluorescent component, a color ink, and a clear ink; and an output unit configured to output the printing data, in which the generation unit generates the printing data to cause the printing apparatus to apply the clear ink so as to reduce a difference between a degree of change in brightness depending on an observation angle in a region to which the fluorescent ink is applied and a degree of change in brightness depending on the observation angle in a region to which the color ink is applied.