Color Engine Force-X Transformations
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current color management systems in commercial and transactional printers lack the ability to perform Force-X transformations, which are necessary for mapping input colors to desirable output colors beyond traditional Force-K transformations, such as for primary, secondary, hue-angle, or rich-black color parameters, limiting color gamut and ink/toner efficiency.
Innovation Solution
A printing system with a color management unit that includes color caches and a color engine to perform Force-X transformations by receiving input colors and applying pre-defined color parameters, using multi-dimensional interpolation and lookup tables to map input colors into output colors, allowing for dynamic identification and transformation of colors based on various color parameters.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If traditional Force-K transformation is used to map input colors near black into pure black, then ink/toner efficiency is improved, but the system lacks flexibility to perform transformations for other color parameters such as primary, secondary, hue-angle, or rich-black
Solution Approach 1:
The color management system is designed to perform multiple types of Force-X transformations (Force-K, Force-Primary, Force-Secondary, Force-Hue-Angle, Force-Rich-Black, Force-Lightness, Force-Chroma) through a unified architecture. The system uses a single color engine with configurable transformation rules that can handle different color parameters, making the system universal rather than requiring separate dedicated systems for each transformation type.
Solution Approach 2:
The system enables dynamic transformation of colors by changing specific color parameters (K, C, M, Y, hue-angle, lightness, chroma) based on pre-defined rules and lookup tables. By modifying individual color parameters independently, the system achieves versatility in color management without requiring complete system redesign for each transformation type.
2Productivity
If color caches and lookup tables are used to store input colors and corresponding output colors, then color computation speed is improved, but memory requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system pre-computes and stores color transformation results in color caches and lookup tables during system initialization or offline processing. By performing color transformations in advance and storing the results, the system eliminates the need for complex real-time computations during actual printing operations, significantly improving color computation speed.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of performing complex color transformation algorithms for every color value during printing, the system creates simplified copies of transformation data in lookup tables. These tables store pre-calculated input-output color mappings that can be quickly retrieved through simple table lookups, trading off some memory usage for substantial gains in processing speed.
Data Source
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AI summary
A printing system is disclosed. The printing system includes a color management unit including one or more color caches to store input colors and corresponding output colors and a color engine (CE) to receive the input colors and perform Force-X transformations to map an input color into an output color based on a pre-defined color parameter.