Image Processing Apparatus Blank Area Concealment
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing image processing technologies face challenges in effectively identifying and concealing specific areas within images, particularly in distinguishing between blank and non-blank regions and accurately applying concealment based on specified marks.
Innovation Solution
An image processing apparatus with a blank-area identifying unit and a concealing unit that identifies blank areas larger than a predetermined size and divides non-blank areas by gaps of a certain width, allowing for targeted concealment of specified areas based on the extension of a specifying-mark image.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If the entire recording area is concealed without distinction, then all specified areas are concealed, but blank areas are unnecessarily concealed resulting in loss of useful information
Solution Approach 1:
The recording area is segmented into multiple divided areas based on gaps between individual images. The concealing unit then selectively conceals only those divided areas that contain specifying-mark images, while preserving blank areas. This segmentation approach enables precise control over what gets concealed, resolving the contradiction between comprehensive concealment and information preservation.
2Reliability
If concealing is applied to all areas including blank areas, then specifying-mark areas are concealed, but processing complexity increases due to uniform treatment of all regions
Solution Approach 1:
Different processing treatments are applied to different regions: blank areas are identified and excluded from concealment, while non-blank areas containing specifying-mark images are concealed. This local differentiation simplifies the overall process by avoiding unnecessary uniform processing of entire areas, reducing complexity while maintaining reliability.
3Manufacturing precision
If gaps between individual images are used as division boundaries, then divided areas are created for selective concealment, but gaps of varying widths create inconsistency in area division
Solution Approach 1:
A threshold parameter is introduced for gap width to determine whether a gap serves as a division boundary. Gaps meeting the threshold criterion create consistent division boundaries, while smaller gaps are ignored. This parameter-based approach maintains division consistency despite natural variations in gap widths, resolving the contradiction between precision and stability.
Data Source
AI summary
An image processing apparatus includes following components. A blank-area identifying unit identifies a blank area having a size exceeding a predetermined size, from a non-specifying-mark image portion of a recording area image of a recording area that includes individual images and a specifying mark specifying an area containing images among the individual images. A concealing unit conceals a divided area specified by the specifying-mark image, among divided areas obtained by dividing a non-blank area by a gap having a width equal to or larger than a threshold in a specific direction, among gaps between the individual images arranged in the specific direction in the non-blank area. The non-blank area is an area of the non-specifying-mark image portion of the recording area image other than the blank area identified by the blank-area identifying unit.