Highlight Color Printer Object Segmentation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing methods for printing full color images on highlight color printers often result in registration errors between highlight color and black toner, leading to loss of important color information and blurriness, as they require mixing both colors to achieve accurate representation.
Innovation Solution
A method that analyzes and converts each object in a full color document into an intermediate color space, then processes it into either pure highlight color or black, ensuring that only one color is used for each object to preserve important information and avoid registration issues.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If full color images are printed on highlight color printers by mapping 3D color space to 2D color space, then printing cost and time are reduced, but color information is lost and registration errors occur
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the full color image into multiple objects and processes each object individually through separate analysis. Each object is evaluated independently to determine whether to render in highlight color or black, preventing information loss that would occur with traditional bulk mapping approaches.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies local quality by making different parts of the image (different objects) have different rendering properties. Some objects are rendered in highlight color while others are rendered in black, based on their individual characteristics and importance, rather than applying a uniform mapping to the entire image.
2Manufacturing precision
If black and highlight color toners are mixed to represent full color, then color accuracy is improved, but registration errors and blurriness occur
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the problematic mixing of black and highlight color toners by processing each object separately. Objects are rendered using only one color (either pure highlight color or pure black), eliminating the registration errors and blurriness that occur when multiple colors are mixed in traditional full-color printing.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of the conventional approach of mixing multiple colors to achieve color accuracy, the patent inverts the approach by using separate monochromatic rendering for different objects. This reversal eliminates registration issues while preserving visual information through intelligent object-based color assignment.
3Reliability
If highlight color and black are used separately for different objects, then registration errors are eliminated, but color representation capability is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces dynamics by making the color assignment flexible and adaptive based on object characteristics. The system dynamically determines whether each object should be rendered in highlight color or black based on its visual importance, saturation, and other properties, allowing the printing system to adapt to different image content while maintaining registration accuracy.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the rendering parameters for different objects based on their properties. By analyzing object characteristics such as color saturation, brightness, and importance, the system adjusts the rendering parameters to select the appropriate color (highlight or black), thereby maintaining versatile color representation capability while eliminating registration errors.
Data Source
AI summary
A method and device for printing a full color image containing at least one object onto a highlight color printer without mixing highlight color and black for any one object. Inputting a full color image containing at least one object to be printed onto a highlight color printer. The highlight color printer prints each object of the full color image as an object containing only highlight color or only black while maintaining luminance of the original full color image.