Abstract: An ultrafine bubble generating apparatus that generates ultrafine bubbles by causing a heating element to generate film boiling in a liquid includes: an element substrate including a heating part provided with multiple heating elements, in which the element substrate is configured to suppress variation of energies inputted to the heating elements in the heating part.

Abstract: An ultrafine bubble generating apparatus and an ultrafine bubble generating method capable of efficiently generating an ultrafine bubble-containing liquid with high purity are provided. In order to this, a heating element provided in a liquid is caused to generate heat, and film boiling is made on an interface between the liquid and the heating element. A film boiling bubble is generated by the film boiling, and ultrafine bubbles are thus generated near the film boiling bubble.

Abstract: An ultrafine bubble generating apparatus that generates ultrafine bubbles by causing a heating element to generate film boiling in a liquid, includes: an element substrate including a heating part provided with multiple heating elements, in which, in the case where an energy for generating the film boiling by each of the multiple heating elements is set to a first value, the element substrate being configured so that the energy inputted to the heating element driven in the heating part is equal to or more than a value obtained by multiplying the first value by a second value and falls within a range from the value to a value obtained by multiplying the first value by a sum of the second value and 0.3, the second value being 1 or more.

Abstract: Provided is an UFB generating apparatus and an UFB generating method capable of efficiently generating an UFB-containing liquid with high purity. The ultrafine bubble generating apparatus includes a generating unit that generates ultrafine bubbles in a liquid and a post-processing unit that performs predetermined post-processing on the ultrafine bubble-containing liquid generated by the generating unit. The generating unit generates the ultrafine bubbles by causing a heating element, which is provided in the liquid on which the pre-processing is performed, to generate heat to generate film boiling on an interface between the liquid and the heating element.

Abstract: Provided are an ultrafine bubble generating apparatus and an ultrafine bubble generating method that can efficiently generate a UFB-containing liquid with high purity and can extend lifetime of the apparatus additionally. To this end, a shape of a bubble during generation thereof is partially restricted by forming walls around a heating element, and a position in which the bubble disappears is displaced from a position of the heating element.

Abstract: In the present invention, a UFB generating apparatus includes: a target concentration setting unit that sets a target concentration of ultrafine bubbles to be contained in a liquid; a driving unit that drives the heating element to cause film boiling in the liquid to generate the ultrafine bubbles; a generation time setting unit that sets a target generation time required for generating a predetermined amount of the liquid having the target concentration; and a controlling unit that controls the driving unit to adjust a generation speed of the ultrafine bubbles in accordance with the target concentration and the target generation time.

Abstract: An object of the present invention is to implement a bit pattern capable of specifying a plurality of colors while storing information on a shape. The present invention is an image processing apparatus that converts image data in a bitmap format into data including a bit pattern, the apparatus including: a creation unit configured to create, based on pixel values of pixels within an image area of a predetermined size within the image data, the bit pattern storing shape information on the image area, which specifies to which of a plurality of kinds of pixel each pixel within the image area corresponds, and color information on the image area, which specifies a number of colors in accordance with a kind of pixel specified by the shape information, and the number in accordance with a kind of pixel specified by the shape information is smaller than a total number of pixels within the image area.

Abstract: Ultrafine bubbles with a diameter of less than 1.0 ?m are generated in liquid by causing film boiling in liquid by means of a heater.

Abstract: The remaining amounts of inks in tanks are obtained, and, based on the obtained results, whether direction for printing an image next is to be inverted with respect to a set direction. This can reduce a difference in ink remaining amount between the tanks corresponding to print heads.

Abstract: Disclosed is an image processing apparatus including: a sharpness recovery unit configured to recover sharpness of an input image; a correlation determination unit configured to determine a correlation between a target pixel and peripheral pixels of the input image; a noise removal unit configured to perform smoothing of the target pixel determined as having a correlation with the peripheral pixels in a recovered image output from the sharpness recovery unit; and a switching unit configured to switch between a mode in which the correlation determination unit uses the target pixel and the peripheral pixels of the pre-recovery input image in the correlation determination and a mode in which the correlation determination unit uses the target pixel and the peripheral pixels of the recovered input image in the correlation determination, depending on recovery characteristics used in the determination of the correlation determination unit.

Abstract: A UFB-containing liquid manufacturing apparatus includes a liquid ejecting unit having a thermal energy generating element, a flow path for leading liquid to the thermal energy generating element, a driving unit configured to drive the thermal energy generating element, and an ejection opening. The UFB-containing liquid manufacturing apparatus also includes a collecting unit configured to collect liquid ejected from the ejection opening. At this time, the driving unit drives the thermal energy generating element to cause film boiling in liquid led to the flow path and causes liquid containing ultrafine bubbles generated by the film boiling to be ejected from the ejection opening.

Abstract: Provided is quantization processing that can reduce color development defect due to dot overlapping and can output an image with reduced granularity when the image is printed by using multiple kinds of colorants. To this end, dot arrangement information for a colorant for which dot arrangement is already determined among multiple kinds of colorants is acquired for a predetermined region of the image, and an evaluation value of each pixel included in the predetermined region is derived based on the arrangement information. In addition, for the predetermined region, a target value for a predetermined colorant for which dot arrangement is yet to be determined is derived based on the image. Then, whether or not to arrange a dot of the predetermined colorant in the predetermined region is determined based on the target value and the evaluation value.

Abstract: Quantization is performed on multi-valued data corresponding to a non-overlap recording area and one of recording heads on the basis of a dither pattern and multi-valued data corresponding to the non-overlap recording area and the other one of the recording heads, and also arrangements of thresholds for the dither patterns used between the scanning operations are varied.

Abstract: A printing apparatus includes a carriage that can load multiple types of print heads, and is configured to print an image by causing the carriage to scan a printing sheet. In a case where the print head loaded on the carriage corresponds to a first head configuration, a first printing service using a first identifier to identify the printing apparatus is provided to a host device. In a case where the print head loaded on the carriage corresponds to a second head configuration being different from the first head configuration, a second printing service using a second identifier being different from the first identifier is provided to the host device.

Abstract: An image processing apparatus performs quantization processing of first multivalued image data, second multivalued image data, and third multivalued image data using a dither pattern including a plurality of threshold pixels having threshold values respectively determined for quantization, generates first recording data by quantizing the first multivalued image data using a dither pattern having a threshold pixel arrangement satisfying a predetermined condition regarding the number of threshold pixels and a predetermined condition regarding low-frequency components corresponding to a frequency region lower than a predetermined frequency in spatial frequency characteristics corresponding to an arrangement of the threshold pixels, generates second recording data by quantizing the second multivalued image data using the dither pattern having the threshold pixel arrangement, and generates third recording data by quantizing the third multivalued image data using the dither pattern having the threshold pixel arrang

Abstract: A printing apparatus includes a print head having a heat generation element, a generation unit that generates print data for driving the heat generation element to form an image on a print medium and a drive unit that drives the heat generation element on a basis of the print data generated by the generation unit. The print medium includes a laminate of a plurality of image forming layers that generate develop mutually different colors by receiving heat. The generation unit generates the print data depending on a type of the print medium among a plurality of print medium types that differ from each other in order of lamination of the plurality of image forming layers.

Abstract: A print medium in which a plurality of color development layers that develop colors to obtain colored portions by being heated are formed at different positions in the thickness direction is conveyed in a first direction. A plurality of heat generation elements that heat the print medium are controlled so as to selectively cause the plurality of color development layers to develop the respective colors. Heating positions on the print medium are controlled such that, in at least one of the color development layers in the print medium, in a case where lines each including a plurality of pixels which are formed by the colored portions and arranged at a predetermined resolution in the first direction are arranged in a second direction, positions of the plurality of pixels are shifted between the lines in the first direction by a distance smaller than an interval corresponding to a resolution.

Abstract: An image forming apparatus comprises a printhead configured to add energy to an image material including a plurality of color development layers that have different color development characteristics and develop colors in response to heat; and a control unit configured to output, based on image data, signal patterns corresponding to the plurality of color development layers and at least one signal pattern corresponding to a color reproduced by causing at least two of the plurality of color development layers to develop colors used to control the energy to be added to the image material by the printhead.

Abstract: A printing apparatus includes a print unit including a carriage capable of loading a plurality of types of print heads, and configured to print an image by causing the carriage to scan a printing sheet, and a service providing unit to provide a host device with an identifier for a user to identify the printing apparatus and a printing service corresponding to the identifier. When the print head loaded on the carriage corresponds to a first head configuration, the host device is provided with a first identifier to identify the printing apparatus with a first identification name. When a second print head configuration is loaded on the carriage, the service providing unit provides the host device with a second identifier different from the first identifier to identify the printing apparatus with a second identification name which is different from the first identification name.

Abstract: A printing apparatus including a plurality of printing units along one guide can read test patterns printed with a plurality of types of conveying amount of a recording medium and determine a conveying amount based on the reading result.