Abstract: It is an object of the present invention to provide an optical module which can extract only light components satisfying predetermined conditions, and an imaging device comprising the optical module. The optical module (10) comprises a first plate-like optical element (4) formed with a ¼ wavelength plate portion (1) and a ?¼ wavelength plate portion (2) alternately jointed together at a joint portion (3), and a second plate-like optical element (8) formed with a ¼ wavelength plate portion (5) and a ?¼ wavelength plate portion (6) alternately jointed together at a joint portion (7), wherein the first plate-like optical element (4) and the second plate-like optical element (8) are parallel, and the ¼ wavelength plate portion (1) of the first plate-like optical element (4) and the ?¼ wavelength plate portion (6) of the second plate-like optical element (8) are overlapped across a gap (9).

Abstract: An image forming apparatus is configured to receive user authentication information and perform image formation based on an image formation request and is connected to au external authentication server which performs authentication based on the user authentication information. The image forming apparatus comprises an authentication querying unit that queries the external authentication server for the authentication based on the user authentication information; an authentication result receiving unit that receives a result of the authentication performed by the external authentication server; an authentication result storage unit that stores the result of the authentication received by the authentication result receiving unit; and a control unit that controls the authentication querying unit, the authentication result receiving unit, and the authentication result storage unit.

Abstract: To provide an optical recording medium including: a substrate having at least one of grooves and pits on a surface thereof; and a dye recording layer formed over the substrate, wherein the dye recording layer comprises a cyanine dye represented by the following General Formula (I), a squaric acid complex represented by the following General Formula (II), and an amine compound.

Abstract: A method for recording information in a rewritable optical disk having plural recording layers is disclosed. The method includes the steps of selecting either a first recording mode dedicated to recording the information in an order applicable for recordable type optical disks or a second recording mode dedicated to recording the information in an order applicable for read-only type optical disk, and recording the information in the rewritable optical disk in accordance with the selected recording mode.

Abstract: An optical scanning apparatus including a light source, a first optical mechanism, a light deflective reflection mechanism, a scanning optical mechanism, a second optical mechanism, and an aperture element. The light source emits a plurality of laser beams. The first optical mechanism includes an optical element fixed to an integrated member that fixes the light source, and converts the laser beams into converging laser beams. The light deflective reflection mechanism reflects and deflects the laser beams. The scanning optical mechanism leads the laser beams to an image recording surface. The second optical mechanism is arranged between the first optical mechanism and the light deflective reflection mechanism and has a negative power in at least a main scanning direction. The aperture element is arranged between the light source and the light deflective reflection mechanism. An optical scanning method and an image forming apparatus having the optical scanning apparatus are also described.

Abstract: An information recording apparatus that records information with a substantially constant linear density in a circumferential direction of a recording medium having a disk shape, includes variable velocity recording control means, recording power modification means, recording power storage means, and initial recording power value setting means.

Abstract: A rotary body for use in a polygonal mirror type scanner includes an element for causing the rotary body to rotate. The element is mounted to a mounting portion by press fitting while a stress ascribable to press fitting is prevented from being transferred to the side of the rotary body. The mounting portion is formed integrally with one of opposite major surfaces of the rotary body perpendicular to the side. The rotary body includes a minimum number of parts, does not need highly accurate adhesion, has high durability, and is easy to produce and free from deformation apt to occur on its side.

Abstract: A pulse width modulation and intensity modulation signal generating unit, based on input data, performs pulse width modulation and intensity modulation and generates a light emission instruction signal. An error amplifier forms a negative feedback loop together with a semiconductor laser and a light reception device which monitors light output of the semiconductor laser, the error amplifier controlling forward current of the semiconductor laser so that a light reception signal proportional to the light output of the semiconductor laser is equal to the light emission instruction signal. A current driving unit causes a driving current, according to the light emission instruction signal, to flow through the semiconductor laser as the forward current thereof, the driving current being generated so as to control driving of the semiconductor laser with a current of the difference or sum with the control current of the negative feedback loop.

Abstract: In an optical scanner, a deflected light beam is reflected on a reflective image forming element and is converged as a light spot on a scanned face through an elongated lens to perform an optical scanning operation at an equal speed. The reflective image forming element has a reflecting face with rotation symmetry and converges a reflected light beam onto the scanned face in a main scan-corresponding direction. The elongated lens has a barrel type toroidal face as an incident face and has a normal toroidal face as a light emitting face. The elongated lens sets the scanned face and the forming position of a linear image to a substantially conjugate relation in a cross scan-corresponding direction in cooperation with the reflective image forming element. A conjugate magnification m.sub.0 in the conjugate relation of the reflective image forming element and the elongated lens with respect to an image height 0 of the light spot satisfies the following condition:1>m.sub.0 >0.35.

Abstract: An image-data transmitter, applicable to a FAX and an image file apparatus, receives image data including a plurality of image-data portions, and identifies the image data for each image-data portion so as to detect a kind of image data for each image-data portion, such as a binary image and a multilevel image. Then the image-data transmitter codes the image data for each image-data portion in accordance with a coding scheme corresponding to the kind of image data of the image-data portion. Thus, a coding efficiency and an image quality of a restored image are not so much degraded.

Abstract: A sensor including a micro-bridge heater which is located above a depression in the surface of a substrate. The heater includes a first insulating film on the substrate, a conductive film on the first insulating film, and a second insulating film on the conductive film. The first and second insulating films are made of the same material, preferably tantalum oxide (Ta.sub.2 O.sub.5) and are the same thickness. A foundation film is not employed as an adhesive between the first insulating film and the conductive film due to the strong adherence between the first insulating film and the conductive film which is preferably made of platinum or a platinum alloy. Because the first and second insulating films are made of the same material and have the same thicknesses, the insulating films have similar rates of thermal expansion and the expansion or contraction of the insulating films offset each other, thus reducing the thermal stress imposed on the conductive film.

Abstract: A reflection type liquid crystal display (LCD) made up of polymer dispersion type display elements each having a liquid crystal dispersion film in which liquid crystals are dispersed in a tridimensional microstructure implemented by a polymer or similar resin. Selective light reflecting or diffusing means introduces forwardly scattered light components from scattering pixels again into a liquid crystal layer without effecting non-scattering pixels. Hence, high reflection intensity and, therefore, high contrast is achieved. A light source unit is positioned such that at least a part of illumination light is reflected in the reflection angle range of the selective reflecting means. Hence, forward scattering with high scattered light intensity can be used, insuring extremely light white display.

Abstract: An apparatus for converting optical information into an electrical information signal includes a plurality of one-dimensional conversion arrays arranged in parallel form. Each one-dimensional conversion array has first and second photoelectric conversion structures integrally formed. The first photoelectric conversion structure has photoelectric conversion elements each having a light receiving surface onto which an information light is projected. The second photoelectric conversion structure has photoelectric conversion elements each having a sweep light receiving surface onto which a sweep light is projected. The sweep light has a cross section which simultaneously scans the sweep light receiving surface of one of the photoelectric conversion elements included in each of the one-dimensional conversion arrays.

Abstract: An orthogonal transformation arithmetic unit performs a discrete cosine transformation with respect to a digital signal and compresses discrete cosine transformed data by quantizing and Huffman-coding processings thereof. The arithmetic unit Huffman-decodes the compressed data and demodulates the Huffman-decoded data to a digital signal by performing inverse quantization and an inverse discrete cosine transformation with respect to the Huffman-decoded data. The arithmetic unit has a memory section for storing one line block of image data of brightness and color signals converted to digital signals; and a section for processing the discrete cosine transformation and having a preprocessing circuit for performing adding and subtracting operations with respect to the image data read out of the memory section such that some values of discrete cosine transformation coefficients used in the discrete cosine transformation are partially set to zero. The other orthogonal arithmetic units are also shown.