Abstract: An image processing method comprising a step of performing a color interpolation process on image data output from a single-chip color image capturing sensor to calculate color data for each pixel and a step of converting the color data using a predetermined transformation formula and of filtering the converted data, and the transformation formula is replaced based on the magnitude of a color value of the color data. When a color value of a specific color is large, the transformation formula can be appropriately changed. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the lowering of the overall resolution without being affected by the resolution of the color. Further, it is possible to reliably reproduce a smooth and natural edge of an image without adding other processes to the color interpolation process.

Abstract: A printing device that prints an image by forming a dot formation pattern on a printing medium in accordance with image data of a printing object using a printing head that includes a plurality of nozzles each being capable of forming dots to the printing medium.

Abstract: An image processing method is provided for performing false color reduction processing on a color-difference signal acquired after performing color interpolation processing on image data taken in by a color image pickup sensor, wherein the false color reduction processing uses a one-dimensional filter for selecting N (N?4) pixels which are continuous in a row direction including a target pixel and determines a pixel value of the target pixel from the pixel values that remain when maximum and minimum pixel values are excluded from the pixel values of the pixels selected by the one-dimensional filter. This enables effective reduction or elimination of a false color generated at an edge part by the color interpolation processing.

Abstract: A printing method includes the step of printing an image of a plurality of pixels by discharging a plurality of size-varying ink droplets each representing a tone of the corresponding pixel.

Abstract: A printing apparatus includes a printing head that has a plurality of nozzle modules corresponding to various ink colors arranged in parallel, an abnormal nozzle specifying unit that specifies an abnormal nozzle that is deviated from an ideal dot printing position by a predetermined distance or more among nozzles constituting each of the nozzle modules of the printing head, and a density correction unit that corrects a density of a dot printing line to be printed by the nozzles including the abnormal nozzle specified by the abnormal nozzle specifying unit and printing the same line as the abnormal nozzle. The density correction unit corrects printing data corresponding to the dot printing line printed by the nozzles including the abnormal nozzle and printing the same line as the abnormal nozzle so as to be close to densities of other dot printing lines to be printed by only normal nozzles.

Abstract: A printing device which prints an image on a printing medium by a printing head, the printing head having a plurality of nozzles for forming a dot on the printing medium, the printing device includes: a printing unit that executes a printing process for reducing deterioration of a printed image quality caused by a banding phenomenon; and a printing control unit that controls the printing process for reducing the deterioration based on nozzle information indicating a characteristic of each nozzle and characteristic information for every predetermined region of the image.

Abstract: The printer includes a print head having nozzles that are arranged in a plurality of lines and that form dots by discharging ink onto a medium used for printing. The printer prints out an image on the medium by one scanning operation using the print head. The printer includes a printing image data acquisition device, an N-level processing device, a dot forming information generating device, a print position information modification device, and a printing device.

Abstract: A printing device includes a unit acquiring first image data having pixel data corresponding to a pixel value of an M value corresponding to each color of the color image; a unit storing nozzle information related to banding; a unit creating second image data by changing a pixel data value corresponding to an abnormal nozzle in the first image data; a unit creating printing data by converting the second image data into dot forming pattern data; and a unit that prints a color image constructed by the second image data. The second image data creating unit changes a pixel data value corresponding to the abnormal nozzle into a value for reducing the banding, and thereafter, changes a pixel data value of a different color nozzle so the predetermined color is within the same color range, in an image portion of the predetermined color.

Abstract: A printing device includes: a print head having nozzles for printing different size dots; an acquirer acquiring discharge deviation characteristic information of the nozzles; an acquirer acquiring M-level image data (M?3); an identifier identifying pixels relating to discharge deviation based on the discharge deviation characteristic information from the discharge deviation characteristic information acquirer out of respective pixels in the M-level image data; an adjuster adjusting pixel values of the pixels relating to the discharge deviation from the deviated pixel identifier; a generator generating N-level data (M>N?2) for image data in which the pixel value is adjusted; a generator generating the print data to which the dots having sizes corresponding to the respective pixels are allocated based on the N-level data, and a printer using the print head to print based on the print data.

Abstract: A printing apparatus which prints plural dots on a printing medium by a printing head to form a predetermined image, including: an image data acquirement unit acquiring image data corresponding to the predetermined image; a data conversion unit converting the image data, for each pixel, into printing data relating to a presence or absence of a dot; a printing head grasp unit grasping characteristic information of the printing head; and a printing unit executing printing based on the data obtained, wherein when the occurrence of a banding phenomenon is forecasted based on the characteristic information, the data conversion unit converts the image data so that the size of a part or all dots associated with the banding phenomenon is changed to a size different from the size of a dot when the occurrence of the banding phenomenon is not forecasted.

Abstract: The invention provides an image processing system which is suitable to carry out image processing in excellent accuracy while removing influence due to characteristics depending on the type difference and which facilitates wide and flexible adaptation over image capturing devices. A digital camera includes an image pick-up sensor unit which receives images as data, a URL memory unit which stores a URL to indicate an acquisition site of image processing data, and a URL adding unit which adds the URL in the URL memory unit to the image data. The printer includes an RAW data read unit which reads out the image data, a URL acquisition unit which acquires the URL added to the image data, an image processing data acquisition unit which acquires the image processing data from the image processing data storage server based on the acquired URL, and an image data processing unit to process the image data based on the acquired image processing data.

Abstract: A liquid ejecting apparatus includes a plurality of nozzles that eject a liquid, a sensor that detects a defective nozzle in which defective ejection occurs when the liquid is to be ejected, a recovery mechanism that recovers the defective nozzle to its normal state so as to enable the liquid to be normally ejected from the defective nozzle, and a control unit that, when a defective nozzle is detected, compares a method, in which the liquid is ejected after the defective nozzle is recovered to its normal state by the recovery mechanism, with a method, in which the liquid is ejected without using the defective nozzle, while the defective nozzle is not recovered to its normal state, and controls the liquid to be ejected by using the method having a shorter processing time.

Abstract: A printing device that prints an image onto a printing medium using a printing head that includes a plurality of nozzles each being capable of dot formation to the printing medium.

Abstract: The invention provides an image processing system which is suitable to carry out image processing in excellent accuracy while removing influence due to characteristics depending on the type difference and which facilitates wide and flexible adaptation over image capturing devices. A digital camera includes an image pick-up sensor unit which receives images as data, a URL memory unit which stores a URL to indicate an acquisition site of image processing data, and a URL adding unit which adds the URL in the URL memory unit to the image data. The printer includes an RAW data read unit which reads out the image data, a URL acquisition unit which acquires the URL added to the image data, an image processing data acquisition unit which acquires the image processing data from the image processing data storage server based on the acquired URL, and an image data processing unit to process the image data based on the acquired image processing data.

Abstract: An image processing method, apparatus, and program as well as a printer, a print instructing terminal, and an image processing system, capable of reducing or preventing deterioration of the image quality and achieving binarization at high speeds is provided. An image processing method, by which a multi-grayscale image is divided into two regions. These regions are synthesized after error diffusion processing is applied to each region. Before the original image is divided into two regions, errors of respective pixels on a dividing line are diffused to these two regions. It is thus possible to obtain substantially the same processing result as in a case where the error diffusion processing is applied continuously across the entire original image. Hence, it is thus possible to reduce or eliminate stripes or the like in the joined portion that deteriorate the image quality when the divided regions are synthesized after the error diffusion processing, which enables a high-quality image to be obtained.

Abstract: A printing device including: an image data acquisition unit acquiring image data corresponding to pixels of the image; a printing data generation unit generating, based on the acquired image data, printing data including information about dot formation details based on the pixels for each of the nozzles; a nozzle information storage unit storing information about nozzles whose dot formation details are different from predetermined dot formation details; and a printing unit printing, based on the printing data, the image onto a printing medium using a printing head. By referring to the nozzle information storage unit, the printing data generation unit generates printing data providing a lower resolution for the image to be printed by at least either the nozzle of different dot formation details or neighboring nozzles compared with a resolution of the image data acquired by the image data acquisition unit corresponding to the nozzle used for printing.

Abstract: A chromatic aberration correction apparatus is provided that comprises an image storing means for storing a line image of one line of an image before correction, a correction value calculation means for correcting a chromatic aberration according to the distance from the center of the line image based on the values of the respective pixels of the line image stored in the image storing means and calculating the values of the respective pixels after correction, and an output means for outputting the line image corrected by the values of the respective pixels after correction.

Abstract: An apparatus includes: a print head having nozzles which can print different sized dots; a unit acquiring image data having M-value density information (M?3) per pixel; a unit acquiring information regarding density unevenness of the nozzles; a unit performing N-valued processing (M>N?2) on the acquired image to generate N-valued data; a unit generating print data from the generated N-valued data; and a unit that prints based on the generated print data, wherein the N-valued data generating unit determines generation ratios of the different sized dots for predetermined regions of the acquired image data based on the acquired density unevenness information, and performs N-valued processing (M>N?2) on the image data based on the determined generation ratios.

Abstract: A printer includes a print head having nozzles forming dots on a medium; a unit acquiring image data having pixel values with M gray scales (M?2); a unit storing nozzle characteristic information; a unit specifying a banding generating nozzle based on the nozzle characteristic information; a processor performing a banding prevention process for data corresponding to a banding generation line formed by the banding generating nozzle and a different line formed by a different nozzle near the banding generating nozzle; a controller controlling the banding prevention processor so that a process range includes the banding generation line and the different line, a density difference of a line adjacent to the different line falling within a predetermined numerical range; and a unit printing an image on the medium with the print head based on the image data subjected to the banding prevention process.

Abstract: A printer includes: a print head including a plurality of nozzles capable of printing dots of different sizes; a test-pattern forming section that forms test patterns each have only one dot size; a test-pattern printing section that prints the test patterns formed by the test-pattern forming section for each nozzle of the print head; an output-density reading section that optically reads the test patterns printed by the test-pattern printing section to determine the output densities of the test patterns; an input and output density-characteristic information generating section that generates input-and-output density information indicative of the relationship between the output densities read by the output-density reading section and the input densities of each test pattern formed by the test-pattern forming section; an input-density correcting section that corrects the input density of each nozzle of the print head on the basis of the input-and-output density information generated by the input and output-dens