A control apparatus for generating a control signal for controlling a printer on the basis of an input signal includes: an arithmetic unit configured to generate an error diffusion processing signal by subtracting, from the input signal, an error diffusion output signal output from a diffusion matrix that determines a distribution of a print density error; a multiplier unit configured to generate an intermediate signal by multiplying the error diffusion processing signal by a correction gain for controlling a correction amount of the print density error; and a quantizer unit configured to generate the control signal by quantizing the intermediate signal.

An image capturing unit captures an image including an embedded image that is printed on the basis of image data in which at least a color component has been modulated according to additional information. An adjustment unit adjusts a white balance of the image captured by the image capturing unit on the basis of an adjustment value associated with the embedded image. A processing unit processes image data of the image captured by the image capturing unit whose white balance has been adjusted by the adjustment unit to read the additional information in the image captured by the image capturing unit.

The image processing apparatus of the present invention includes: a first memory configured to store a first threshold value matrix used for halftone processing; a second memory configured to store a second threshold value matrix that is a threshold value matrix used for halftone processing and whose size is larger than the first threshold value matrix; and at least one circuit, the at least one circuit causing processing below: performing halftone processing for image data by using the first threshold value matrix or the second threshold value matrix selected based on attribute information on the image data, and the first threshold value matrix includes threshold values whose maximum number of bits is N and the second threshold value matrix includes threshold values whose maximum number of bits is M (M<N).

There are provided a printing system, a method of generating a halftone processing rule, a method of acquiring a characteristic parameter, image processing device and method, a halftone processing rule, a halftone image, a method of manufacturing a printed material, an ink jet printing system, and a program which are capable of reducing an operation load of a user and acquiring a halftone processing rule appropriate for the printing system. A characteristic parameter acquisition chart including a pattern for acquiring characteristic parameters related to characteristics of the printing system is output, and the output characteristic parameter acquisition chart is read by image reading means. The characteristic parameters are acquired by analyzing the read image of the characteristic parameter acquisition chart, and halftone processing rules that define the processing contents of halftone processes used in the printing system are generated based on the acquired characteristic parameters.

n (n is an integer that is equal to or greater than 2) error diffusion processing units are respectively provided to correspond to division images obtained by dividing an image into n images in a main scanning direction, and at least a part of halftone processing on two division images is performed simultaneously. When one error diffusion processing unit that processes the division image which is positioned ahead in the main scanning direction processes one of rasters up to an end portion in the main scanning direction to obtain diffusion errors that are diffused into pixels in the neighborhood of an objective pixel, the one error diffusion processing unit delivers a forward-direction diffusion error to the other error diffusion processing unit. Furthermore, other error diffusion processing unit that receives the forward-direction diffusion error starts the halftone processing on one raster, obtains the diffusion error in an end portion in an opposite direction, and then delivers an opposite-direction diffusion error that is a diffusion error which is used by the one error diffusion processing unit in the halftone processing of a subsequent raster, among the diffusion errors, to the one error diffusion processing unit.

An image forming device includes: a hardware processor that performs halftone processing on input image data using a threshold matrix of a dither method, and that, when dot missing exists in a formed image by the image forming part, performs interpolation by rearranging a missing dot to peripheral pixel position; and an image forming part that forms an image on a recording medium on the basis of image data after halftone processing by the halftone processing part, wherein the hardware processor, using the threshold matrix, sets a blank pixel having a high probability of being generated next when gradation is increased, as a rearrangement destination of the missing dot.

In some examples, an imaging device may include a controller including processing circuitry to detect, a first quantity of rows of pixels to be included as a first band of a contone image, process the pixels of each row of the first band in parallel raster order, detect a second quantity of rows of pixels to be included as a second band of the contone image; and process the pixels of each row of the second band in response to the completion of the pixels of the first band, where the rows of the second band are processed in parallel in serpentine order with respect to the first band.

A plurality of halftone processing units are provided for processing each of a plurality of pieces of image data corresponding to a plurality of divided images to generate dot data representing presence or absence of dot formation. At least two halftone processing units simultaneously perform at least a part of halftone processing for at least two pieces of image data. In the halftone processing, complex error diffusion method processing of matching at least a part of dot data obtained by performing halftone processing using an error diffusion method for an error diffused gradation value of each pixel of a divided image with a determination result of a dither method, is performed.

Certain examples described herein relate to the embedding a pattern in an output content having at least two-dimensions, for example a printed output. Content data having at least two dimensions is processed to generate an array of spatial elements, each spatial element corresponding to a respective location in the output content and comprising a probabilistic distribution for a set of output material compositions. A threshold matrix is generated using pattern data corresponding to a pattern, and the array of spatial elements is halftoned using the threshold matrix. The threshold matrix is generated such that the pattern is embedded in the output content.

An image capturing unit captures an image including an embedded image that is printed on the basis of image data in which at least a color component has been modulated according to additional information. An adjustment unit adjusts a white balance of the image captured by the image capturing unit on the basis of an adjustment value associated with the embedded image. A processing unit processes image data of the image captured by the image capturing unit whose white balance has been adjusted by the adjustment unit to read the additional information in the image captured by the image capturing unit.