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Description  |
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BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an image input method that favorably is
used in a video printer, and more particularly to a divisional image input
method in which an image is input through an image input unit having a
small number of pixels.
To input an image into, for example, a video printer, it has been known to
use a TV camera or a scanner. Imaging sensors of such image input devices
have a limited number of pixels available, and accordingly it is difficult
to pick up a large image all at once. In order to pick up all of the
image, it has been necessary to sacrifice resolution.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In view of the foregoing, it is one object of the present invention to
provide an image input method in which a large image may be picked up,
despite having a relatively small number of pixels available to do so.
The above and other objects of the invention are achieved by a method of
inputting a whole image of an original by dividing the original into a
plurality of smaller images, and inputting the smaller images, in order,
by the use of an image input device. In the inventive image input method,
an image of one division of the original input by the image input device
is displayed in an image scrolling area of a screen of a monitor, and an
image of part of another division, adjacent to the division being
displayed, is positioned in an image fixing area of the screen in such a
way that the image of the another division is displayed adjacent to one
side of the image scrolling area. The image displayed in the image
scrolling area is scrolled so as to avoid discontinuity between the images
displayed in both image areas by shifting one of the original and the
image input device relative to the other.
Images of the respective divisions of the original are input and displayed
in order of arrangement from the top line to the bottom, and from side to
side. Data of the image of the first division is stored in an image memory
at a corresponding address. When an image of a second division adjacent to
the first division is input and displayed in the image scrolling area, the
image of the first division is partly displayed as a reference image in
the image fixing area adjacent to the image scrolling area. To avoid
discontinuity between the displayed images of the first and second
divisions, one of the original and the image input device is shifted
relative to the other to scroll the image in the image scrolling area.
After the scrolling of the image of the second division, data of the image
of the second division is stored in the image memory at a corresponding
address. In this way, data of images of all of the divisions of the
original are stored as data of the original in the image memory.
The image scrolling area is defined at the center of the monitor screen,
and an image fixing area is defined along one vertical side and/or one
upper horizontal side of the image scrolling area. The data of the
original are read out all at once from the image memory, and are displayed
as one complete image of the original on another screen of, for example, a
CRT for printing.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a schematic illustration, partly in block, showing a video
printer having a side printing apparatus in accordance with a preferred
embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 2 shows an original which is nominally divided into a plurality of
divisions for divisional image inputting;
FIG. 3 shows a screen of a monitor on which an image of a division and part
of an image of an adjacent division are displayed; and
FIG. 4 is a flow chart illustrating a divisional image inputting procedure.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
Referring to the drawings, and in particular to FIG. 1, an original such as
a photographic print 1 from which a video print is made is placed on a
table 2. The table 2 consists of a table base 3 and a pressing frame 4
hinged on the table base 3. The pressing frame 4 is formed with an opening
5 so as to expose the whole area of the photographic print 1. The table 2
cooperates with X and Y direction shift units 6 and 7 to shift the photo
graphic print 1 in two dimensions. The X and Y direction shift units 6 and
7, which may be any well known type and thus need not be described in
detail herein, are independently driven by respective pulse motors. The X
and Y shift units 6 and 7 move the table 2 in a corresponding direction
indicated by an arrow of a shift key 22B, 22C, 22D or 22E of a keyboard 22
when one of those keys is pushed.
Disposed above the table 2 is an image input device such as a TV camera 10
for inputting a positive image of the photographic print 1. The number of
divisions into which the whole effective area of the photographic print 1
is to be divided depends on the number of pixels of an imaging device of
the TV camera 10. For example, when inputting the whole area P of the
photographic print 1 shown in FIG. 2, the whole effective area P is
divided into nine divisions A11-A33 in a 3.times.3 matrix, and images of
these divisions All-A33 are input in order.
Red (R), green (G) and blue (B) video signals of an image of the division
All input through the TV camera 10 are sent to an image composing circuit
14 through an A/D converter 11 and frame memories 12 provided for the
three colors. The image composing circuit 14 composes the video signals
and signals of X and Y base lines output from a base line signal generator
15. For this signal composition, a color monitor CRT 19 displays the image
input through the TV camera 10 as a movable image and the X and Y base
lines as a still image all together. Video signals of a composed image are
sent to an image processing circuit 16 for gamma correction and gradation
transformation, and if necessary, color balance correction and density
correction.
Video signals processed in the image processing circuit 16 are converted
from digital form to analog form by an D/A converter 17, and are sent to a
driver 18 so as to display an image of the division A11 of the
photographic print 1 and the X and Y base lines B1 and B2 on the color
monitor CRT 19. The screen surface 19A (FIG. 3) of the color monitor CRT
19 is divided into two areas: an image scrolling area MA in which an image
of a division now is input through the TV camera 10; and a bracket-shaped
image fixing area SA consisting of an upper area and a left side area
bordered by the X and Y base lines B1 and B2.
Red (R), green (G) and blue (B) video signals for all of the divisions
A11-A33 from the frame memory 12 are sent to an image memory unit 20 and
are stored therein. The image memory unit 20, which consists of a hard
disk memory unit or a floppy disk unit, stores video signals at addresses
specified for the respective divisions A11-A33 by a division specifying
circuit 21. This video signal storage is performed by operating a freezing
key 22A so that the controller 13 outputs a write signal.
Controller 13, which consists of a general use microcomputer, controls the
X and Y direction shift units 6 and 7 to specify another division for
image inputting by operating the freezing key 22A, as well as freezing
processing. That is, the controller 13 moves the X and Y shift units 6 and
7 to shift the table 2 so a to locate the center of another division right
below the TV camera 10. After locating that division, the controller 13
reads out video signals of divisions adjacent to the upper and left sides
of that division from the image memory unit 20 and sends them to the image
composing circuit 14 so as to display an image of the upper and left
adjacent divisions in the bracket-shaped image fixing area SA of the color
monitor CRT 19 that are used as a reference image to freeze the division.
Image composing circuit 14 composes the image so as to display the video
signals of the upper and left adjacent divisions read out from the image
memory unit 20 as a still image in the bracket-shaped image fixing area SA
of the color monitor CRT 19 and video signals of the division input
through the TV camera 10 as a movable image in the image scrolling area MA
of the color monitor CRT 19, all together as one, image. For example, when
inputting an image of the division A22 in the second column of the second
row, the color monitor CRT 19 displays an image of the division A22 and
parts of images of the upper and left side adjacent divisions A12 and A21
in the image scrolling area MA and the bracket-shaped image fixing area SA
of the screen 19A of the color monitor CRT 19, as shown in FIG. 3.
When displaying an image of any of the divisions A11, A12 and A13 in the
first row, the X direction base line B1 is displayed in the horizontal
part of the bracket-shaped image fixing area SA in place of an image of an
upper side adjacent division. Similarly, when displaying an image of any
of the divisions A11, A21 and A31 in the first column, the Y direction
base line B2 is displayed in the vertical part of the bracket-shaped image
fixing are SA in place of an image of a left side adjacent division.
While viewing a composed image of the screen 19A of the color monitor CRT
19, the shift keys 22B-22E are operated selectively so as to shift the
table 2 in desired directions, thereby finely scrolling an image in the
image scrolling area MA to avoid discontinuity between adjacent images.
Then, the freezing key 22A is operated to freeze the image in the image
scrolling area MA and store it in the image memory unit 20 at a specified
address.
A printing system consists of an image processing circuit 25 for processing
video signals from the image memory unit 20, D/A converter 26 connected to
the image processing circuit 25, and a CRT driver for driving a
black-and-white CRT 28 to display an image of the photographic print 1
thereon for exposure. The image processing circuit 25 performs gamma
correction, gradation correction and/or positive-to-negative conversion,
and if desired, color balance correction and density correction, all of
which are carried out in a well known manner. After being image processed,
the video signals are converted into an analog form from a digital form
and then are sent to the CRT driver 27 to be displayed as a
black-and-white image by color on the black-and-white CRT 28. A color
paper 29 is exposed to the black-and-white CRT 28 so as to create a latent
image of the photographic print 1 in a successive additive color printing.
To perform successive additive color printing, the black-and-white CRT 29
displays black-and-white images in a brightness pattern for three colors
in order. While displaying a black-and-white image for one color, a
corresponding one of color filters 30, 31, 32, is inserted independently
of the other two by means of a filter controller 33. A shutter 34 is
controlled by a shutter controller 35 so as to provide a proper exposure
time. The same operation then is repeated for each of the other two
colors.
Light passed through the color filters 30, 31, 32 is focused on the color
paper 29 by means of a printing lens 36 disposed between the filters and
the shutter. The color paper 29 is rolled in a paper magazine 38 and is
withdrawn towards an exposure stage 40 right below the printing lens 36,
one frame at a time, by a pair of feed rollers 39. Part of the color paper
29 placed in the exposure stage 40 is held flat between a pressure plate
41 and a mask plate 42.
The sequential operation of the image input method in accordance with the
present invention will be understood best with reference to a flow chart
shown in FIG. 4. As shown, when divisionally inputting the whole image of
the photographic print 1 divided into a 3.times.3 matrix, an image
dividing key 22F of the keyboard 22 is operated to change the video
printer into a divisional image input mode. Simultaneously, the controller
13 causes the X and Y direction shift units 6 and 7 to move the table 2 so
as to place the table in an initial image input position where the center
of a first division All in the first column of the first row is right
below the TV camera 10 for the case in which divisional image input is
performed in order from the left to the right column and from the top to
the bottom row. Then, the TV camera 10 inputs an image of the first
division A1 in the first column of the first row, and sends video signals
of the image to the image composing circuit 14 through the A/D converter
11 and the frame memory 12.
In order to align edges of the respective divisions A11--A13 and A11--A31
in the top row and the left column, the base line signal generator 15
outputs to the image composing circuit 14 the signals needed to display
the X and Y directional base lines B1 and B2. Consequently, the X and Y
base lines B1 and B2 are displayed as a still image on the screen 19A of
the color monitor CRT 19 and, on the other hand, the image of the first
division All is displayed in the image scrolling area MA and the screen
19A of the color monitor CRT 19.
While viewing the screen 19A, the shift keys 22B-22E are operated to shift
the table 2 so as to scroll the image of the first division A11 in the
image scrolling area MA in a desired direction, up or down, or left or
right until the upper and vertical edge lines of the image in the image
scrolling area MA are mated to the X and Y direction base lines B1 and B2.
When the image of the first division All in the image scrolling area MA
has been aligned with the X and Y direction base lines B1 and B2 along its
upper and side edge lines, the freezing key 22A is operated to freeze the
image of the first division A11 and store it in the image memory unit 20
at a specified address.
As a result of the operation of the freezing key 22A, the controller 13
causes the X and Y shift units 6 and 7 to shift the table 2, thereby
placing a second division A12 in the second column of the first row, right
under the TV camera 10. Then, the controller 13 reads out video signals
for the right side part of the image of the first division All from the
image memory unit 20 that is adjacent to the second division A12 and sends
them to th image composing circuit 14. Upon receiving video signals from
the image composing circuit 14, the CRT driver 18 drives the color monitor
CRT 19 to display an image of the right side part of the first division
All in the vertical part of the still image display area SA and an image
of the second division A12 input by the TV camera 10 in the image
scrolling area MA.
While viewing the screen 19A, the shift keys 22B-22E are operated to shift
the table 2 so as to scroll the image of the second division A12 in the
image scrolling area MA in a desired direction in the same manner as for
the image of the first division A11. When the image of the second division
A12 in the image scrolling area MA has been aligned with the X direction
base line B1 along its upper edge and has been aligned with the vertical
side edges of the images of the first and second divisions A11 and A12,
the freezing key 22A is operated to freeze the image of the second
division A12 and store it in the image memory unit 20 at a specified
address.
The same operation as for the first division A11 and the second division
A12 is repeated for the following divisions A13-A33 of the effective area
P of the photographic print 1 so as to store them in the image memory unit
20. In this manner, the effective area P of the photographic print 1 is
input divisionally by a limited number of pixels of the imaging unit of
the TV camera 10 and stored in the image memory unit 20.
When a print of the whole original print is required, a print mode key 22G
is operated to change the video printer into a printing mode. The video
printer in the printing mode reads out video signals of the original print
1 and, based on the video signals, drives the black-and-white CRT 28 for
successive additive color printing.
Although the above description has been directed to a divisional image
inputting manner, it is possible to input the entire image of the original
print 1 at once into the image memory unit 20 if it is not necessary to
input an image divisionally. This is effected to change the image input
device to a normal mode.
To input images of divisions A11-A33 of the original print 1, it will be
apparent to those having ordinary skill in this technological field that
the TV camera or, otherwise, both of the TV camera and the table 2 may be
shifted in two dimensions instead of shifting only the table 2 either
manually or automatically.
It also will be apparent to those having ordinary skill in this
technological field that the black-and-white CRT 28 for printing may be
replaced with a liquid crystal display device, a laser printer, an ink-jet
printer or a thermal printer.
Although the present invention has been fully described by way of a
preferred embodiment thereof with reference to the accompanying drawings,
various changes and modifications, in addition to those described above,
will be apparent to those skilled in the relevant technological field.
Therefore, unless otherwise these changes and modifications depart from
the scope and spirit of the present invention as defined in the appended
claims, they should be construed as included therein.
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