An image compression method includes compressing an input image with first and second compression methods to generate first and second (e.g., lossless and lossy) compressed images. First and second residual layers are generated, based on a difference between the first and second compressed images. Connected components in the residual layers are identified. Each connected component includes a group of one or more pixels that, when mapped to the second compressed image is connected, in first and second directions, to pixels in the second compressed image. A compressed image is generated, which includes, for a connected component identified in the first residual layer, removing corresponding pixels from the second compressed image, and for a connected component identified in the second residual layer, adding corresponding pixels to the second compressed image. The system and method can thus provide file size savings associated with lossy compression while avoiding character replacement.

An image forming apparatus includes a table generating unit. The table generating unit, in a Voronoi diagram, obtains empty circles as circles centered at Voronoi seeds of ends of Voronoi sides that intersect with a straight line passing through a largest saturation color and a smallest-saturation and specific-lightness color and passes through generatrices. After the table generating unit sets one of the generatrices shared by the two adjacent empty circles whose radius ratio is outside a specific range as a target point, and causes the radius ratio of the two empty circles to be within the specific range by changing at least one radius of the two empty circles, the table generating unit generates the conversion table that sets a color that corresponds to an intersection point corresponding to the target point among the intersection points of the two empty circles, as the definition colors.

An image compressing device includes: a histogram creating unit configured to create a histogram regarding an input image; an original type recognizing unit configured to recognize an original type of the input image using the histogram; and an image compressing unit configured to perform a compression process for creating a high-compressed image file from the input image and to control a compression mode of the compression process depending on at least the original type recognized by the original type recognizing unit.

A method using L processers includes: receiving image data encoded by delta row encoding; dividing the two dimensionally arranged plurality of pixels by M (ML) to make M blocks of pixels; assigning M processers to perform a parallel processing of accumulating the delta data for all the row lines of each of the M blocks of the image data to obtain the accumulated delta data, the accumulated delta data including a total delta between the first row line and the last row line in each of the blocks; obtaining the first row lines in the respective blocks using the total delta one by one starting from the second block; and assigning M+1 processers to perform a parallel processing of decoding using the obtained first row lines to obtain the decoded data and a parallel processing of rendering the image data using the decoded data.

The purpose of the present invention is to provide an ink jet recording apparatus that improves printing quality when printing with a plurality of nozzles. The ink jet recording apparatus performs printing control of a plurality of nozzles using an encoder pulse output from an encoder attached to a conveying line, and is characterized by comprising: an input unit with which a printing character width is separately set for each of the plurality of nozzles; and a control unit that controls printing using a character width corresponding to input information from the input unit.

An image capture apparatus includes a skin map generation processing unit and an image composition unit. The skin map generation processing unit detects a skin color area in an image. The skin map generation processing unit detects a saturated area of high value and low saturation in the image. The image composition unit executes processing of correcting the skin color area detected by the skin map generation processing unit by using the saturated area detected by the skin map generation processing unit.

A method for encoding a monochrome or color image. The method includes receiving an image and adjusting the image based on a global uniform macro-type color space. The image is modified spatially based on a local uniform micro-type edge characteristic that includes a just-noticeable difference (JND), and the image is outputted.

This invention decodes image data without overwriting the decompression result of the first image data by that of the second image data when the first image data compressed by the first method and the second image data compressed by the second method coexist. To do this, when decoding the image data in which the first image data compressed by the first method and the second image data compressed by the second method different from the first method coexist, a lossy-decoding unit decodes the first image data. Based on boundary information indicating a compression region compressed by the second method, a lossless-decoding unit selectively outputs pixel data decoded by the lossy-decoding unit or pixel data obtained by decoding the second image data of the compression region.

An example embodiment may involve obtaining an ab pixel macro-cell from an input image. Pixels in the ab pixel macro-cell may have respective pixel values and may be associated with respective tags. It may be determined whether at least e of the respective tags indicate that their associated pixels represent edges in the input image. Based on this determination, either a first encoding or a second encoding of the ab pixel macro-cell may be selected. The first encoding may weigh pixels that represent edges in the input image heavier than pixels that do not represent edges in the input image, and the second encoding might not consider whether pixels represent edges. The selected encoding may be performed and written to a computer-readable output medium.

A host device for transmitting print data to a printer is configured to generate bitmap image data by using the print data, to extract object attribute information from objects forming the print data, to convert the generated bitmap image data and the extracted object attribute information into a format of a printer command which is capable of being processed by the printer, and to transmit the converted bitmap image data and the converted object attribute information to the printer.