An image forming apparatus includes a control portion, a stop processing portion, a resumption processing portion, and a notification processing portion. The control portion, to which power supply is stopped when an operation mode of the image forming apparatus is a power-saving mode, measures an elapsed time until when printed matter processed according to the print job is collected. The stop processing portion, when the operation mode shifts to the power-saving mode, stops measurement of the elapsed time before power supply to the control portion is stopped. The resumption processing portion, if the printed matter exists in the sheet discharge portion when the operation mode shifts to a normal mode, resumes measurement of the elapsed time by the control portion. The notification processing portion, when the time measured by the control portion reaches a predetermined first reference time, notifies that the printed matter has not been collected.

An information processing apparatus including a storage device obtains an energized time to the storage device in a standby state where no job is being executed and a number of accesses to the storage device during the standby state. The information processing apparatus provides a display relating to a lifetime of the storage device based on the energized time and the number of accesses to the storage device.

An image forming apparatus includes a control portion, a stop processing portion, a resumption processing portion, and a notification processing portion. The control portion, to which power supply is stopped when an operation mode of the image forming apparatus is a power-saving mode, measures an elapsed time until when printed matter processed according to the print job is collected. The stop processing portion, when the operation mode shifts to the power-saving mode, stops measurement of the elapsed time before power supply to the control portion is stopped. The resumption processing portion, if the printed matter exists in the sheet discharge portion when the operation mode shifts to a normal mode, resumes measurement of the elapsed time by the control portion. The notification processing portion, when the time measured by the control portion reaches a predetermined first reference time, notifies that the printed matter has not been collected.

Facsimile reception is prohibited when an operation mode in which a service person performs printing for the purpose of maintenance is set.

A device management system and a device management method are provided, each of which: receives status information indicating a status of a relay device from the relay device, the relay device being connected with one or more devices in a local network via a firewall; based on a determination that the received status information satisfies a predetermined condition, obtains instruction information associated with the predetermined condition, the instruction information indicating a predetermined process to be executed by the relay device; and transmits the obtained instruction information to the relay device to cause the relay device to execute the predetermined process.

A method of calibrating a printing system. Data defining a color mapping that maps a first set of n-dimensional color Input points to a corresponding second set of n-dimensional color output points, the color mapping representing a measured behavior of the printing system, is obtained. A smoothed mapping function of color input points that satisfies a predetermined optimization condition based on a mapping error between the smoothed mapping function and the color mapping is determined. The mapping error is a function of individual errors between outputs of the smoothed mapping function as applied to respective color input points in the first set of color input points and corresponding color output points from the second set of color output points as mapped from the respective color input points by the color mapping. The smoothed mapping function is used to calibrate the printing system.

A method and apparatus for generating image information. A specific embodiment of the method includes: acquiring a rotation angle and a scaling of a target image relative to a reference image, and acquiring an intrinsic parameter of a video camera collecting the reference image; generating a projective transformation matrix based on the rotation angle, the scaling and the intrinsic parameter; generating a coordinate offset of the each neighborhood pixel of the feature point in the reference image; generating, based on a coordinate of the feature point in the reference image, the coordinate offset of the each neighborhood pixel of the feature point in the reference image and the projective transformation matrix, coordinates of the each neighborhood pixel of the feature point in the reference image; and generating a feature point descriptor of the feature point.

An apparatus includes an obtaining unit configured to obtain first image data obtained by reading, performed by a reading unit, a chart on which an image has not been formed by an image forming unit and second image data obtained by reading, performed by the reading unit, a chart formed by the image forming unit, and an estimation unit configured to change the second image data using the first image data and estimate a cause of an abnormality that has occurred in the image forming unit from a feature amount obtained by analyzing the changed image data.

An image scanning method applied in an image scanning device capable of scanning a card. Record background values at the time of a card being without being in a scanning channel, and the background values recorded at the time of the card being without being in the scanning channel are regarded as preset values. Before the card is scanned, check whether the background values in the scanning channel conform to the preset values. Drive the card to move a distance Y. Check whether the background values in the scanning channel conform to the preset values. Preset a preset movement distance, check whether a movement distance of the card or a distance of accumulated movements of the card exceeds the preset movement distance. Display that the card is stuck. Stop checking and proceeding with an image calibration. Start scanning the card. Complete scanning the card and withdraw the card.

An image scanning method applied in an image scanning device capable of scanning a card. Record background values at the time of a card being without being in a scanning channel, and the background values recorded at the time of the card being without being in the scanning channel are regarded as preset values. Before the card is scanned, check whether the background values in the scanning channel conform to the preset values. Drive the card to move a distance Y. Check whether the background values in the scanning channel conform to the preset values. Preset a preset movement distance, check whether a movement distance of the card or a distance of accumulated movements of the card exceeds the preset movement distance. Display that the card is stuck. Stop checking and proceeding with an image calibration. Start scanning the card. Complete scanning the card and withdraw the card.