Abstract: The present invention relates to a printing system, and more particularly to a user interface for navigating and controlling a printing system to generate documents received from one or more input units including a computer network, scanner, modem, etc. Since the operator or user wishes to offer a wide variety of printing options to customers and complete customer orders as quickly as possible, minimizing the interruption of print jobs is a very important priority. By replenishing supplies such as stock and toner in a timely fashion, the utilization of the printing systems can be maximized. In order for the operator to more efficiently utilize the printing system to perform a large number of print jobs with as few interruptions as possible, the present invention provides a user friendly navigational tool, which can provide the operator with information regarding the amount of printing supplies currently available in the printing system.

Abstract: A recording medium cutter capable of moving between two positions, a cutting position and a non-cutting position, in a short time, and also capable of cutting a recording medium at accurate positions. A main body (40) rotatably holding a rotary blade (32) and a driven blade (34) is located between side plates (36 and 38) of the cutter (30). A main shaft (39) serving as the center shaft of the rotary blade (32) is rotatably secured to the side plates (36 and 38). The main shaft (39) also serves as the rotating shaft of the main body (40). A driving motor is secured to the mounting plate (42) of the side plate (36). When the main shaft (39) is rotated by the driving motor (44), the rotary blade (32) rotates. Because the driven blade (34) is pressed against the side face of the rotary blade (32), as the rotary blade (32) rotates, the driven blade (34) revolves around the main shaft (39). As a result, the main body (40) also rotates around the main shaft (39).

Abstract: This invention includes a weighted apparatus for gently holding an existing stack of paper at opposite sides thereof so that a new job may be deposited over the existing stack without degrading the stacking quality of the existing stack. The apparatus may be readily incorporated into many existing paper handling devices which have a paper output tray which is upwardly and downwardly movable in a vertical direction. The apparatus includes a mirror-image pair of paper hold mechanisms, each of which secures a single edge of the existing stack. Each mechanism includes an arm having a longitudinally-oriented slot in a laminar upper end portion thereof and a guide pin anchored to the frame of the paper handling device which passes through the slot. The arm is retained on the pin between a pair of flanged collets. The collets limit movement of the arm within a plane, while the pin constrains the arm to movement along the length of the slot.

Abstract: Client/server negotiation of virtual display and/or printer device selection to control session attributes, job routing to customized subsystems, user access control, and so forth. Within the Telnet Protocol, sanctioned and used with the “DO, DONT, WILL, WONT” structure, during subnegotiation a client requests and a server agrees to a specific virtual device name for the session display and/or printer.

Abstract: To reduce the necessary storage capacity of the internal memory of a printer, a printing start command is transmitted from a printer controller to a printer by asynchronous transfer before the transmission of image data. Isochronous transfer of image data to be printed in packet units starts upon elapse of a fixed period of time following transmission of the printing start command. Image data thenceforth is transmitted from the printer controller to the printer successively by isochronous transfer at a fixed period. Since the image data is transmitted from the printer controller to the printer at the fixed period, printing can be performed at a constant speed without requiring that the printer be provided with an image memory for storing image data representing one frame of an image. In a case where a transfer request command is supplied from the printer to the printer controller, the image data is transmitted from the printer controller to the printer in response to the transfer request command.

Abstract: A print system comprises a printer including a printer controller. One or more optional support devices are associated with the printer, wherein each optional support device includes a device controller. The system further includes a bi-directional serial communications path, including one or more trunklines, which provides serial electrical interconnection between the printer controller and each device controller of each optional support device of the system. The printer controller automatically assigns a unique device address to each optional support device. Each optional support device further includes logic circuitry which, based upon a command of the printer controller, enables passage of information generated by the printer controller through a first optional support device to a next electrically serially connected optional support device following an assignment of a first device address to the first optional support device.

Abstract: A method for supplementing a digital image with picture elements, by which prediction signals having small errors can be generated for a digital image in which objects move greatly through a process which does not cause a long delay time and does not need a large quantity of calculation. In the method, the image is divided into areas. The insignificant sampled values of the areas containing the boundary of the shape of an object are transformed with a function of significant picture element values near insignificant picture element values and used to supplement the digital image. A digital image encoder and a digital image decoder both using the method are also disclosed.

Abstract: A method and apparatus enhance a color or grayscale raster image in a printer by identifying a working pixel in the raster image for anti-aliasing, and then modifying luminance data of the working pixel in a luminance chrominance color space such that an anti-aliasing effect is achieved relative to the raster image. The luminance component of the raster image data is converted to a binary format to identify the working pixel using RET template matching. The luminance data of the working pixel is modified by utilizing luminance data of adjacent pixels to produce a new luminance value which is then assigned to the working pixel. One of the adjacent pixels defines an edge of the object being anti-aliased in the raster image, and the other of the adjacent pixels defines an edge of a region in the raster image that is adjacent the object.

Abstract: An imaging system scans a color original and provides a signal with limited chromaticity for use by a print engine or a display. A light source illuminates the original with primary color intensities, for example 21% red, 72% green, and 7% blue. A sensor integrates the reflected intensities to provide a luminance signal. Matrix multiplication to convert to luminance is avoided. In a variation, illumination is provided with 6/19 red, 9/19 green, and 4/19 blue to provide a gray scale image of, for example, business graphics. Such an image has distinguishable variation for colors of equal lightness (L*).

Abstract: An apparatus and a method for identifying the spatial location of a coding unit, e.g., a texture unit (TU), in a hierarchically decomposed image. Specifically, the invention quickly computes and identifies the “starting point” of a texture unit, by using the texture unit number and the width and height of the “DC” band.

Abstract: Disclosed is an image processing apparatus 10D for processing image data that composes a dynamic image, wherein pixels are thinned for each frame with respect to the pixels of the respective frames that compose a dynamic image, in such a manner that they become the chessboard-like lattice format in both directions of the spatial direction and the temporal direction, so that the quantity of information can be reduced, maintaining the resolutions of horizontal, vertical and oblique directions of the dynamic image.

Abstract: The method of the invention involves in finding the width and length of a scanned image in real time and then write the length and width into the header of a bitmap file as soon as the bottom line of the scanned image is found. The width of the scanned image can be computed from the width of the first occurrence of the meaningful image region. The width will be transferred to the scanner to reset the scan width for reading subsequent image data. The length of the scanned image cannot be determined until a bottom line is found. Each meaningful image region can be simultaneously written into the bitmap file while examining the bottom line of the scanned image. To find the bottom line, for each meaningful image region, sample a plurality of line areas to determine if the meaningful image region contains the bottom line. For each meaningful image region examined, sum up the total number of image lines until the bottom line is reached.

Abstract: A method of characterizing a video includes the steps of extracting frame images from an input video, calculating a feature of each of the frame images, assigning index information determined by the calculated feature to each of the frame images, stringing together the index information assigned to the frame images, and characterizing the input video by the strung-together index information.

Abstract: There is provided an image forming apparatus including an image forming unit for forming an image on either a free-size sheet of an arbitrary size other than a regular size or a regular-size sheet, a controlling unit for controlling, when the image forming unit forms the image on the regular-size sheet, a controlling target unit according to a size of the regular-size sheet, an inputting unit for inputting a size of the free-size sheet, and a converting unit for converting the size inputted by the inputting unit, to suit the converted size to the controlling performed by the controlling unit to the regular-size sheet, wherein the controlling unit performs the different controlling for each group of the sheet sizes, and the converting unit performs the converting to suit the size of the free-size sheet to the group.

Abstract: Digital-video compression uses motion vectors to encode movement of macroblocks from one image to another image in a sequence of images. Motion vectors are estimated using multiple levels of a picture, with higher levels having lower resolutions. Such hierarchical or pyramid motion estimation generates lower-resolution pictures from the full-resolution picture. A selected macroblock in a reference picture is compared to ranges in each successively-higher-resolution level. Rather than store the levels of a picture as full pixels, only a luminance Y component of a YUV pixel is stored and used for motion estimation. Further memory savings is achieved by reducing the width of the Y pixels from 8 bits to 6 bits for the top and bottom levels, and to 4 bits for intermediate levels of the picture. Pixels are reduced in width by storing only the most-significant-bits (MSBs), or by dithering. Motion estimation searches in each level are performed using pictures with reduced-width pixels.

Abstract: This invention provides an image reader which simply fetches a film image as an image of substantially the same size and the same image quality irrespective of issuance of a trimming command. In the image reader, information related to a trimming area can be read from a developed film by use of a magnetic information reading circuit. Further, light is applied to the developed film and image information is read based on light transmitted therethrough by use of an image input circuit. The resolution set when the image input circuit fetches image information from a preset trimming area is determined by a control circuit based on trimming information from the magnetic information reading circuit.

Abstract: Provided is an information processing apparatus having a function for outputting data to a plurality of output units, wherein the usage of each output unit is clarified and output processing is executed efficiently and smoothly. A main printer, an auxiliary printer and a disallowed printer are designated. If a problem (paper depletion, jamming, toner depletion, etc.) develops in the main printer during the course of a printing operation being executed using the main printer, printing is continued using the auxiliary printer. Use of the disallowed printer is inhibited in order that it may serve as a printer dedicated to another information processing apparatus.

Abstract: The invention involves selecting a path through a multi-dimensional hyper-cube from a base vertex to an opposite corner or vertex of the hyper-cube. The path is selected by ranking the fractional components of the point or value to be interpolated. An N-dimensional interpolation is performed according to this sequence. During an interpolation a base vertex for an input color value is determined. The output value for the base vertex is accumulated. The fractional values of the input color value are sorted and ranked according to magnitude to produce an interpolation sequence. The interpolations are performed for each axis of the N-dimensions by selecting an axis for interpolation based on the order, performing an interpolation corresponding to the selected axis producing an interpolation result, and accumulating the interpolation result.

Abstract: A multi-function peripheral device is capable of printing print data at high speed while in a print priority mode without disturbing the process of receiving and printing facsimile data. When print priority mode is selected or when no facsimile data is being received, a busy timer is set to, for example, 9 &mgr;s to shorten a High level output busy signal duration time. This shortens the time interval between print data inputs, which in turn increases the amount of input print data per unit time and allows print data to be printed at higher speeds. When print priority mode is not selected and facsimile data is being received, the busy timer is set to, for example, 400 &mgr;s to lengthen the High level output busy signal duration time. This lengthens the time interval between print data inputs, which in turn allows more time to execute the process of receiving and printing facsimile data. Accordingly, the reception and printing of facsimile data are carried out smoothly.

Abstract: A debugging device in an apparatus having a scanning and printing function includes: an input unit for inputting a defects tracing mode and for selecting a function; a facsimile machine driving unit for driving a facsimile machine to transmit and receive facsimile data and generated operating status messages of the facsimile machine; a printer driving unit for driving a printing unit to print data and generated operating status messages of the facsimile machine; a storing unit for storing the generated status messages; and a processing unit for replying a defects-generated job, storing the generated messages in the storing unit, and outputting the stored messages according to the selection of the function. The debugging device in an apparatus having a scanning and printing function generates status messages according to running states of the scanning and printing system. Generally, the generated messages are ignored in cases where defects are not generated.