Dither Processing Device for Reducing Jaggy Artifacts in Color Images
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing color image processing devices require complex processes and large memory capacity to reduce jaggy parts in images, as they need to calculate gravity centers and extract edge information to determine if dither patterns should be switched.
Innovation Solution
A color image processing device that uses a dither pattern of blocks with dots arranged in ascending order of gradation, where dots outside the data region are moved to those within the region, simplifying the process and reducing jaggy parts without complex calculations.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If gravity center calculation and edge information extraction are performed to reduce jaggy parts, then image quality is improved, but device complexity and processing time increase
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts only the essential information needed to reduce jaggy parts - specifically, the position of the data region boundary - without performing comprehensive gravity center calculations or full edge information extraction. By taking out only the critical boundary position data, the system achieves jaggy reduction with simplified processing.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of calculating gravity centers and extracting edge information to determine where to switch dither patterns, the invention inverts the approach by directly using the data region boundary position to control dither pattern selection. This reversal eliminates complex calculations while maintaining image quality improvement.
2Manufacturing precision
If gravity center calculation and edge information extraction are performed to reduce jaggy parts, then image quality is improved, but processing time increases
Solution Approach 1:
The data region boundary position is determined in advance as part of the print data preparation, before the dither processing stage. This preliminary determination of boundary positions eliminates the need for time-consuming gravity center calculations and edge extraction during the actual dither processing, significantly reducing processing time while maintaining image quality.
3Manufacturing precision
If comprehensive edge information is stored to determine dither pattern switching, then image quality is improved, but memory capacity requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts only the essential boundary position information from the comprehensive edge data, storing only what is necessary for dither pattern switching decisions. By taking out only the critical boundary positions rather than storing all edge information, memory capacity requirements are significantly reduced while image quality improvement is maintained.
4Productivity
If simple dot movement process is used to reduce jaggy parts, then processing time is reduced, but image quality improvement may be insufficient
Solution Approach 1:
The invention applies the simple dot movement process specifically at the data region boundary where jaggy parts occur, rather than applying complex processing to the entire image. By focusing the simple dot movement operation only on the critical boundary regions, processing speed is maintained while sufficient jaggy reduction is achieved at the problem areas.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of using complex gravity center calculations to determine where dots should be moved, the invention inverts the approach by using the data region boundary position to directly control dot movement. This inversion maintains the simplicity of the dot movement process while ensuring it is applied effectively at the correct locations for adequate jaggy reduction.
Data Source
AI summary
A color image processing device uses a dither pattern of blocks, each including a plurality of dots representing the gradations of each pixel of an image in a prescribed print region. The dots including one block are arranged in a growth sequence in the ascending order of gradation, and print data is written sequentially at the dots the number of which corresponds to the gradation associated with the block. An extracting unit extracts a data region holding the color components from the print data. A dither processing unit generates dither patterns for the color components extracted by the extracting unit. The dither processing unit detects whether one or more of the dots including each of the pixels forming the image are outside the data region, and moves any dot outside the data region to a certain dot including the same pixel and existing in the data region.