Raster Image Processing for Clear Object Visibility
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing printing systems face the issue where objects tagged as clear in the page description language (PDL) become invisible when the flood clear feature is applied, due to the higher precedence given to flood clear over clear objects, resulting in insufficient visibility of these objects.
Innovation Solution
A method is implemented in a multifunctional device that performs raster image processing to identify clear objects, computes the occupancy percentage of foreground pixels within bounding boxes, and applies dilation to these objects if the occupancy percentage is below a threshold, modifying pixel values to bring them within the range of visibility, ensuring clear objects remain visible even with flood clear application.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If flood clear is applied with high precedence to clear objects, then the flood clear effect is achieved uniformly across the page, but the clear objects become invisible
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by performing dilation on clear objects before applying flood clear. The system identifies clear objects, dilates them to increase their pixel occupancy, and then applies flood clear. This ensures that clear objects maintain visibility even when flood clear is applied with high precedence, as the dilated objects have sufficient pixel density to remain visible against the clear background.
2Loss of information
If clear objects are dilated to increase visibility, then the visibility of clear objects is improved, but the processing complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by performing dilation only on clear objects rather than the entire image. The system identifies specific clear objects using object tags, applies dilation selectively to these objects based on their pixel occupancy thresholds, and leaves other areas unchanged. This localized approach improves clear object visibility while minimizing additional processing complexity compared to global image processing.
3Loss of information
If pixel values of clear objects are modified to enhance visibility, then the readability of clear objects is improved, but the color accuracy may be affected
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies parameter changes by modifying pixel occupancy thresholds rather than fundamentally changing color values. The system adjusts the threshold for determining whether a clear object is visible (using occupancy percentage thresholds like 50% or 75%), and applies dilation based on these threshold comparisons. This approach improves readability by changing the parameter used for visibility determination while maintaining relative color accuracy through controlled dilation rather than arbitrary color modifications.
Data Source
AI summary
Methods and systems for printing clear tagged objects on clear plane are described herein. In an example, the system draws a bounding box for each block of text/graphic objects. Within each bounding box, an occupancy percentage of foreground pixels (tagged as clear objects) is computed against background pixels. If the computed occupancy percentage falls below a defined threshold value, then that text/graphic object is considered for application of dilation. Thus, the device described herein doesn't check the size of the text/graphic objects; rather checks for the occupancy percentage of the text/graphic objects within a bounding box. While constructing the clear plane to support flood clear, the clear values corresponding to the dilated pixels (pixels considered for dilation) will be intelligently modified. In this way, only intended and logically desired text/graphic objects undergo for dilation.