Image Processing Apparatus Pre-scanning Thumbnail Memory Reduction
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Solution Overview
Problem
Multifunction printers require large memory capacity to store and process image data, especially when scanning multiple images from a film strip, as they need to store both main and thumbnail images in a format like EXIF files, which is inefficient and costly in terms of memory usage.
Innovation Solution
The image processing apparatus employs a pre-scanning process to generate low-resolution bitmap data, which is used to create encoded thumbnail images, and a main scanning process for high-resolution main image data, encoding and storing only the necessary parts in external media, reducing the memory requirements by avoiding the need to store all main image data.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the image scanner stores all main image data in memory to create EXIF files with thumbnails, then the thumbnail image can be formed from the main image, but the memory capacity required becomes very large
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the image processing into two separate scanning operations: a pre-scanning operation that captures only thumbnail data at low resolution, and a main scanning operation that captures full-resolution image data. This segmentation allows the system to create complete EXIF files with thumbnails without needing to store all main image data in memory simultaneously, as the thumbnail data is captured independently in advance.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent performs a pre-scanning operation before the main scanning operation to capture thumbnail image data. This preliminary action records only the essential visual information needed for thumbnails at reduced resolution, storing it in memory. When the main scanning occurs later, the system can create complete EXIF files by combining the pre-captured thumbnail data with the main image data, avoiding the need to hold all main image data in memory during thumbnail creation.
2Productivity
If the multifunction printer reads multiple images from a film strip continuously, then the productivity increases, but the memory capacity required to store all main images becomes very large
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the image data capture into two distinct phases: pre-scanning at low resolution to capture thumbnail data for multiple images, and main scanning at full resolution. During continuous film strip scanning, the pre-scanning phase quickly captures thumbnail information for all images in the strip, storing only this compressed data in memory. The main scanning phase then captures full-resolution data sequentially, allowing the system to maintain high productivity while using minimal memory, as only thumbnail data needs to be retained during the scanning process.
3Adaptability or versatility
If the system compresses both main image and thumbnail image to JPEG form, then the EXIF file format is achieved, but the processing complexity and memory usage increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent separates the compression process into two independent stages: first, pre-scanning the image at low resolution and compressing it to JPEG format for thumbnail data; second, scanning the full-resolution main image and compressing it separately to JPEG format. This segmentation allows each compression operation to work with smaller, more manageable data sets, reducing peak memory usage and processing complexity while still producing complete EXIF files with both thumbnail and main image in standard JPEG format.
Data Source
AI summary
An original copy sheet is pre-scanned to obtain pre-scanned image data of a bit map form with a low resolution. The pre-scanned image data is converted to JPEG thumbnail image data. An EXIF file is formed in an external media to store the JPEG thumbnail image data in the EXIF file. The original copy sheet is mainly scanned to obtain main image data of a bit map form with a high resolution. The main image data is converted to JPEG main image data. In the EXIF file in the external media, the JPEG main image data is stored.