Secure Printing Color Toner Attribute Data Compression
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Solution Overview
Problem
In image processing for multi-function peripherals (MFPs) using color toners and a particular toner, existing techniques face issues with data compression, where masking attribute information to reduce storage capacity can result in loss of particular toner drawing patterns, preventing effective printing.
Innovation Solution
An image processing apparatus that includes a storage component, a compression component, and a change component to manage attribute information, allowing for increased compression rates while retaining particular toner information, enabling both full color and particular toner printing by altering attribute information and using two-stage printing when necessary.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Quantity of substance
If attribute information is compressed by masking (replacing by a specific value) each bit to reduce data amount below storage capacity, then storage capacity constraint is satisfied, but particular toner drawing pattern information is erased and particular toner printing cannot be carried out
Solution Approach 1:
The attribute information is segmented into two distinct parts: important information (including particular toner drawing pattern) and unimportant information. The segmentation is achieved by creating a mask pattern that identifies which bits to preserve and which bits to compress. This allows selective compression of only the unimportant portions while maintaining the integrity of critical data within the storage capacity limit.
Solution Approach 2:
Different compression strategies are applied to different parts of the attribute information based on their importance. Important information (particularly particular toner drawing pattern) is preserved without compression, while unimportant information is compressed by masking. This local differentiation of quality ensures that critical functionality is maintained while overall data size is reduced.
2Reliability
If lossless compression is used for attribute information to prevent bit loss, then information integrity is maintained, but the data amount may exceed predetermined storage capacity
Solution Approach 1:
The compression approach is changed from uniform lossless compression to selective lossy compression guided by a mask pattern. The mask pattern acts as a parameter that determines which bits undergo compression (lossy) and which bits are preserved (lossless). This parameter change allows the system to balance between data integrity and storage capacity requirements.
3Quantity of substance
If attribute information amount is reduced by masking each bit, then storage capacity constraint is satisfied, but the compression rate increases excessively causing loss of particular toner information
Solution Approach 1:
Before compression is applied, a mask pattern is preliminarily generated to identify which bits are important (including particular toner drawing pattern) and which are unimportant. This preliminary action ensures that the compression process knows in advance which information to protect, preventing any loss of critical data while maximizing compression of non-critical information.
Data Source
AI summary
An image processing apparatus forming an image with color toners used for full color printing and a particular toner is provided. The apparatus comprises a storage storing image data and attribute information indicating an attribute of each pixel in the data; a compression component compressing the information; a change component changing attribute information except particular toner information for forming an image with the particular toner of the attribute information, so that a data amount of the compressed attribute information does not exceed the storage capacity, when a data amount of the compressed attribute information exceeds the storage capacity; a component storing the attribute information changed by the change component into the storage; and a component forming a full color image and a particular toner image by image processing using the attribute information in the storage for the image data in the storage.