Abstract: An ink jet recording method in which an image is formed by applying onto a recording medium a reaction liquid, an aqueous pigment ink containing an anionic polymer aggregatable by the reaction liquid and a resin-containing aqueous liquid containing an anionic polymer aggregatable by the reaction liquid to form an image, the method including the steps of applying the reaction liquid to the recording medium; applying the aqueous pigment ink to a surface of the recording medium to which the reaction liquid is applied by an ink jet method to form an image; and applying the resin-containing aqueous liquid to the image formed on the recording medium by the ink jet method. The surface tension of the resin-containing aqueous liquid is higher than the surface tension of the aqueous pigment ink.

Abstract: An ink jet recording apparatus including an ink tank for storing an ink, a flow path member communicating with the ink tank and a recording head for ejecting the ink supplied from the ink tank through the flow path member, wherein the apparatus further includes a light detection unit which applies light to at least one of the ink in the ink tank and the ink in the flow path member and detects the intensity of back-scattered light of the applied light, and an image density correction unit which corrects the density of an image to be recorded on the basis of the intensity of the back-scattered light which has been detected by the light detection unit.

Abstract: In a printing system in which a digital camera (DSC) and PD printer apparatus are directly connected via a USB, and image data is transmitted from the DSC to the PD printer apparatus and printed, Capability of the PD printer apparatus is transmitted from the PD printer apparatus to the DSC after communication procedures are established by an application (NCDP) installed in the PD printer apparatus and DSC. The PD printer apparatus is caused to execute print operation in accordance with print conditions set by the DSC on the basis of the transmitted Capability.

Abstract: An array substrate includes: a gate wiring; a source wiring, which is formed to intersect the gate wiring; a passivation film, which covers the source wiring; and a pixel electrode that is formed on the passivation film. The array substrate has a display area and a dummy pixel area. In the display area, a switching element in the vicinity of the intersection of the gate wiring and the source wiring is provided. In the display area, the pixel electrode and the source wiring do not have an overlapping area in a top view. The dummy pixel area. is located outside the display area, and in the dummy pixel area, a dummy pixel electrode and two source wirings, which are adjacent to the dummy pixel electrode have an overlapping area in a top view.

Abstract: An ink jet recording apparatus includes a recording condition changing unit that changes a recording condition upon formation of an image; an evaluation image input unit that inputs evaluation image data representing an evaluation image including at least two successive adjacent dots to form the evaluation image on a recording medium; a reading unit that reads the evaluation image; an evaluation value calculating unit that calculates an evaluation value based on color information on the evaluation image; an acceptance/rejection determining unit that determines acceptance/rejection of the evaluation image by comparing the evaluation value with an acceptance/rejection determining threshold value; and a recording condition deciding unit that decides that a recording condition used during formation of an evaluation image of which acceptance has been determined is to be used as a recording condition upon formation of the image on the recording medium.

Abstract: An ink jet recording apparatus including a recording condition changing unit that changes a recording condition upon formation of an image; an evaluation image input unit that inputs evaluation image data representing an evaluation image including at least two successive adjacent dots to form the evaluation image on a recording medium; a reading unit that reads the evaluation image; an evaluation value calculating unit that calculates an evaluation value based on color information on the evaluation image; an acceptance/rejection determining unit that determines acceptance/rejection of the evaluation image by comparing the evaluation value with an acceptance/rejection determining threshold value; and a recording condition deciding unit that decides that a recording condition used during formation of an evaluation image of which acceptance has been determined is to be used as a recording condition upon formation of the image on the recording medium.

Abstract: In an overlapping head including a plurality of recording head chips overlapped to each other, a color shift can occur between a color recorded by an overlapping region and a color recorded by a non-overlapping region, which cannot be corrected by a density correction using head shading or the like. To correct such a color shift, a test pattern is recorded by the overlapping region and the non-overlapping region and colors of the recorded test pattern are measured. Color correction data to be used in correction of colors of an image to be recorded is generated based on a result of the measurement of the colors.

Abstract: In image processing, it is possible to suppress density fluctuation and keep graininess low as well as obtain a good balance of the processing load. More specifically, when dividing multi-valued data and generating two-pass multi-pass printing data, divided multi-valued data that is common to the two passes is generated in addition to the divided multi-valued data for each of the two passes. Moreover, quantized data of that common multi-valued data is reflected on the quantized data for each pass. Furthermore, when generating quantized data, a process of generating common data by the aforementioned data division, or a process of performing quantization first without dividing the multi-valued data and then dividing the quantized 2-pass data is selectively performed according to the printing position on printing medium.

Abstract: In an image processing apparatus for encoding image data and a method of controlling the same, whether an attribute of each of a plurality of areas in image data corresponds to an edge in an image based on the image data is determined, and one of a plurality of sub-sampling processes is selected according to the determination for each of the plurality of areas. Note that the plurality of sub-sampling processes can sub-sample color difference components of each of the plurality of areas by different processes. By the sub-sampling process selected as that corresponding to each of the plurality of areas, each of the plurality of areas is sub-sampled to encode the image data.

Abstract: In an image processing apparatus for encoding image data and a method of controlling the same, whether an attribute of each of a plurality of areas in image data corresponds to an edge in an image based on the image data is determined, and one of a plurality of sub-sampling processes is selected according to the determination for each of the plurality of areas. Note that the plurality of sub-sampling processes can sub-sample color difference components of each of the plurality of areas by different processes. By the sub-sampling process selected as that corresponding to each of the plurality of areas, each of the plurality of areas is sub-sampled to encode the image data.

Abstract: A color gamut of image data is appropriately subjected to a smoothing processing to print an image of favorable color reproduction and gradation reproduction. Specifically, when an average lightness is equal to or lower than a blacking lightness, the object pixel is not subjected to the smoothing processing. This can conserve the signal value of the object pixel to prevent a pixel originally having a signal value higher than the blacking lightness from being converted by the gamut compression to a black point. In this manner, a pixel for which the object pixel has the average lightness equal to or lower than the blacking lightness is blacked and a pixel having a signal value higher than the blacking lightness is not compressed to the black point. The resultant image has no deteriorated gradation characteristic when being macroscopically observed.

Abstract: Provided is an image processor and image processing method that are capable of suppressing both density unevenness and graininess that occur due to deviation of the printing position of dots that are printed by a plurality of relative movements (or a plurality of printing element groups). In order to accomplish this, the dot overlap rate of an image characteristic in which density unevenness stands out is made higher than the dot overlap rate of an image characteristic in which other defects stand out more than the density unevenness. By doing so, it is possible to suitably adjust the dot overlap rate according to an image characteristic, and to output an image having no density unevenness or graininess.

Abstract: An image processing apparatus and an image processing method are provided which, when forming an image using a plurality of different inks, can produce a satisfactory image free from problematical levels of density unevenness, graininess and insufficient density with any of these inks. To this end, when printing on pixel areas of a print medium by a plurality of relative movements between the printing unit and the print medium, the dot overlap rate of an ink that tends to show density unevenness is set higher than that of an ink that tends to show other image impairments more conspicuously than the density unevenness. This results in a good image that eliminates such image impairments as density unevenness, graininess and density insufficiency in the entire color gamut.

Abstract: An ink jet recording apparatus including an ink tank for storing an ink, a flow path member communicating with the ink tank and a recording head for ejecting the ink supplied from the ink tank through the flow path member, wherein the apparatus further includes a light detection unit which applies light to at least one of the ink in the ink tank and the ink in the flow path member and detects the intensity of back-scattered light of the applied light, and an image density correction unit which corrects the density of an image to be recorded on the basis of the intensity of the back-scattered light which has been detected by the light detection unit.

Abstract: In an image processing apparatus for encoding image data and a method of controlling the same, whether an attribute of each of a plurality of areas in image data corresponds to an edge in an image based on the image data is determined, and one of a plurality of sub-sampling processes is selected according to the determination for each of the plurality of areas. Note that the plurality of sub-sampling processes can sub-sample color difference components of each of the plurality of areas by different processes. By the sub-sampling process selected as that corresponding to each of the plurality of areas, each of the plurality of areas is sub-sampled to encode the image data.

Abstract: Inputted image data is converted to M number of multi-value data having a lower resolution than the inputted image data, and after quantization processing has been performed for each of the M number of multi-value data, an image is printed by M number of relative movements (M-pass printing) that corresponds to the M number of quantized data. By doing so, when compared with the case in which a resolution reduction process is not performed, it is possible to suppress the number of pixels that become the object of quantization processing, and it becomes possible to output an image with no fluctuation in image density or density unevenness without a decrease in the processing speed.

Abstract: When the number (M) of passes is smaller than a threshold value, a first processing mode is selected. In the first processing mode, multivalued image data is divided into pieces of multivalued data corresponding to passes and a common multivalued data for a plurality of passes, the pieces of multivalued data are individually binarized to generate pieces of binary data corresponding to the passes, and the common multivalued data is binarized to generate common binary data for these passes. On the other hand, when the number (M) of passes is equal to or larger than the threshold value, a second processing mode is selected. In the second processing mode, multivalued image data is binarized and the binary data is divided into pieces of binary data corresponding to passes with a mask.

Abstract: In image processing, it is possible to suitably reduce density unevenness and graininess according to the ink used in printing. More specifically, when dividing multi-valued data and generating data for 2-pass multi-pass printing, in addition to divided multi-valued data for each of the two passes, divided multi-valued data that is common to the two passes is also generated. Moreover, quantized data of that common multi-valued data is reflected on the quantized data for each of the passes. Furthermore, when generating the quantized data, the division ratios used when generating the common data using the aforementioned multi-valued data division are set according to the colors of ink used in printing. By doing so, it becomes possible to suitably reduce density unevenness and graininess according to the colors used in printing.

Abstract: There is provided an image copying apparatus provided with a scanner and a printer, the image copying apparatus comprising: an obtaining unit which obtains image data by causing the scanner to scan an image of an original; a correction unit which performs correction processing that adds, to saturation, a value corresponding to a difference between lightness before and after performing predetermined editing processing on the image data, with respect to a region where a correction is performed designated near the maximum saturation of a color gamut of the printer; and a control unit which causes the printer to print the image data corrected by the correction unit.

Abstract: There is disclosed an image processing apparatus which applies an adjusting process to an image that includes a pixel to be processed. The image processing apparatus extracts an image area with a predetermined size including the pixel to be processed. The apparatus calculates a variation associated with the pixel to be processed from signal values of pixels included in the image area. The apparatus calculates a variation time count in the image area from the signal values of the pixels included in the image area. The apparatus calculates adjusting levels Fz1, Fz2, and Fe from the variation time count and the variation using a definition unit which defines correspondence among the variation time count, the variation, and the adjusting levels, and applies an adjusting process to a signal value of the pixel to be processed by the calculated adjusting levels.