Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha Corporation

Hisashi Saiga

Keisuke Iwasaki

Yoshihiro Kitamura

Yuji Sawada

Kensaku Kagechi

Masafumi Yamanoue

Yasuhisa Nakamura

Tomoko Aono

Hiroyuki Katata

Hiroshi Kusao

Yoichiro Yahata

Hideaki Tanaka

Hitoshi Hirose

Toshiaki Morita

Mitsuaki Nakamura

The image processing device of the present invention includes: an image acquiring section () acquiring image data; an image data generating section () generating attribute data including each attribute value indicative of an attribute to which each of a plurality of pixels constituting an image indicated by the image data acquired by the image acquiring section () belongs among predetermined attributes; and image data reducing section () reducing the attribute data by converting, to one attribute value, at least two attribute values included in the attribute data generated by the attribute data generating section, according to a priority given to the each attribute value. Therefore, it becomes possible to realize an image processing device that can reduce the attribute data while keeping important information included in the attribute data, and further improve encoding efficiency of the attribute data.

Image processing device, image processing method, and storage medium

A contents data creating device is configured by equipping a computer with a contents creating software. In this contents creating software, a license information file stores license information containing information describing the permitted range of input data or output data. A GUI manager module displays a choice of options indicating the range of input data or output data unpermitted with the license information, in the mode different from that of the choice of options indicating the range of input data or output data permitted. The GUI manager module performs a conversion using the range of the input data or the output data inputted from the outside, as a parameter.

Content data creating device, control method thereof, program for creating content data, and content data display device

The object of the present invention is to provide an image encoding device and decoding device which allows the maximum compression rate to be achieved with a visually uniform level of picture quality. The present invention has a characteristic pixel extractorwhich encodes input images by small region unit in accordance with an irreversible compression method, decodes the encoded data which is created, and utilizes the input image and decoded image obtained after decoding to extract characteristic pixels, a characteristic distortion calculatorwhich utilizes characteristic pixels to calculate characteristic distortion of the decoded image in relation to the input image, and an encoding parameter controllerwhich controls parameter values determining the degree of data compression in line with the extent of characteristic distortion. The regions of picture quality of a visually uniform level thus obtained are all compressed using an image compression method with a high compression efficiency, thus allowing the maximum compression rate to be achieved.

Image encoding device

An input image is subjected to image region determination in a unit of prescribed block. Based on a result of image region determination, two or more pieces of layer data, of which validity or invalidity at the time of reproduction of the image is defined in a unit of prescribed block are generated by using data of the input image. Then, each of the two or more pieces of layer data is subjected to coding processing under a coding condition suitable for each of the generated two or more pieces of layer data, in a unit of block suitable for each of the two or more pieces of layer data.

Image coding apparatus, image coding method, and recording medium, capable of creating highly versatile data

A data distribution system includes a plurality of data sources each capable of transmitting a data item, and a data vending machine capable of receiving the data item from the plurality of data sources and selling the received data item to a user. The data vending machine includes a data selecting apparatus operated by a user to select a desired data item, a data source selecting apparatus connected to the data selecting apparatus for selecting, among the plurality of data sources, one that holds the data item selected by the data selecting apparatus, in accordance with a specific standard, a data receiving apparatus connected to the data source selecting apparatus for receiving selected data item from the data source selected by the data source selecting apparatus, and a data updating apparatus to which an external storage device is detachably mounted, for writing the data item received by the data receiving apparatus to the external storage device.

Data distribution system and data selling apparatus therefor, data retrieving apparatus, duplicated data detecting system, and data reproduction apparatus

An electronic book display control device capable of solving the problem of a conventional page turning method of an electronic book device that pages are turned in accordance with a value predetermined by a speed controller and hence it is difficult to turn pages flexibly in accordance with the contents of the book and the characteristics of the user. The control device is provided with a CPU () which controls the whole device, an image data storage unit () in which the contents of the book are stored as image data, an image data control unit () which receives the image data and performs the required control, a display preparation image data memory unit () in which image data of the page being displayed and the page to be displayed next are stored, and a display unit () on which information concerning the image data and information concerning the operation of the electronic book are displayed. The data displayed on the display unit at a specific time in a page turning period are stored in a page turning data memory unit () and the column information of the page turning data is stored in a column information storage table (). In accordance with the column information, the address of the display preparation image data memory unit () and the image data on the page being displayed and the page to be displayed next are selected by a display changeover control unit ().

Display control device and reproduction display device for electronic books

An image compression apparatus capable of efficiently encoding an image without causing color deviation to the eye compresses luminance element image data and two types of chrominance element image data each consisting of a plurality of blocks. The image compression apparatus includes: a resolution determination processing section () adaptively setting a resolution of each block during reduction according to a predetermined criterion for each of the luminance element image data and the two types of chrominance element image data, and creating resolution information; a data creation processing section () connected to the resolution determination processing section (), and creating data having each block reduced based on the resolution information for each of the luminance element image data and the two types of chrominance element image data; and an encoder (A,B) connected to the resolution determination section () and the data creation processing section (), and encoding an output of each of the resolution information and the data creation processing section ().

Image compression device and image decompressing device, and computer-readable recorded medium on which program for allowing computer to execute image compressing method and image decompressing method

An image coding apparatus corresponding to a standard scheme of binary image compression and having the compression efficiency of a gray scale image improved includes: a bit plane generator () dividing unitary image data into a plurality of bit planes determined according to the number of bits forming each pixel, an image preprocessor () connected to the bit plane generator () to arrange bit data of the same position forming a plurality of bit planes in close proximity to combine into a single bit plane, and a data compressor () connected to the image preprocessor () to compress an image of the single bit plane.

Image encoding device and method therefor, image decoding apparatus and method therefor, and computer-readable recorded medium on which image encoding program and image decoding program are recorded

The object of the present invention is to provide an image encoding device and decoding device which allows the maximum compression rate to be achieved with a visually uniform level of picture quality. The present invention has a characteristic pixel extractorwhich encodes input images by small region unit in accordance with an irreversible compression method, decodes the encoded data which is created, and utilises the input image and decoded image obtained after decoding to extract characteristic pixels, a characteristic distortion calculatorwhich utilises characteristic pixels to calculate characteristic distortion of the decoded image in relation to the input image, and an encoding parameter controllerwhich controls parameter values determining the degree of data compression in line with the extent of characteristic distortion. The regions of picture quality of a visually uniform level thus obtained are all compressed using an image compression method with a high compression efficiency, thus allowing the maximum compression rate to be achieved.

A video coding device capable of adaptively processing input video data according to property of the data and realizing effective progressive transmission of the coded data even if image components are different in size and/or different in the number of subbands. The above-mentioned object can be realized by the provision of a transferring-order deciding and ranging portion that can prepare an integrated component unit by forming combinations of subband-based frequency-coefficients of respective components Y, U and V and can change the number of respective elements of respective components Y, U and V.

Image decoding device for decoding a hierarchically coded image

A data processing device enabling stable data processing reads digital data including object data, an identifier indicating a type of the object data, and an attached program associated with at least one identifier for performing a predetermined process for object data associated with the identifier, to process the object data. The data processing device includes a program storing unit for recording an internal program including a processing module associated with the at least one identifier, an input unit for reading the digital data, and an external program executing unit for processing the object data by one of the attached program and the processing module when the attached program associated with the identifier of the read object data is present in the digital data.

Data processing device and method of processing data

A line-direction deciding device that can decide the direction of lines in an image having a complicated layout of characters as well as line directions other than vertical and horizontal line directions. The present invention provides a line-direction deciding device that extracts character elements (image components) from an image, examines in which direction the character elements are most densely distributed and decides by majority the direction of lines of characters within a processable area as well as an image inclination correcting device that corrects an image for inclination according to a processing result made by the line-direction deciding device provided with image-inclination detecting means.

Line direction deciding device, image inclination detecting device and image inclination correcting device

An electronic book display control device capable of solving the problem of a conventional page turning method of an electronic book device that pages are turned in accordance with a value predetermined by a speed controller and hence it is difficult to turn pages flexibly in accordance with the contents of the book and the characteristics of the user. The control device is provided with a CPU ( ) which controls the whole device, an image data storage unit ( ) in which the contents of the book are stored as image data, an image data control unit ( ) which receives the image data and performs the required control, a display preparation image data memory unit ( ) in which image data of the page being displayed and the page to be displayed next are stored, and a display unit ( ) on which information concerning the image data and information concerning the operation of the electronic book are displayed. The data displayed on the display unit at a specific time in a page turning period are stored in a page turning data memory unit ( ) and the column information of the page turning data is stored in a column information storage table ( ). In accordance with the column information, the address of the display preparation image data memory unit ( ) and the image data on the page being displayed and the page to be displayed next are selected by a display changeover control unit ( ).

A video coding device capable of adaptively processing input video data according to property of the data and realizing effective progressive transmission of the coded data even if image components arc different in size and/or different in the number of subbands. The above-mentioned object can be realized by the provision of a transferring-order deciding and ranging portion (,) that can prepare an integrated component unit by forming combinations of subband-based frequency-coefficients of respective components Y, U and V and can change the number of respective elements of respective components Y, U and V.

Video coding and decoding device for rearranging the luminance and chrominance components into subband images

It is possible to clearly extract objects such as characters and line figures by eliminating the effect of shading from an input image containing self-shaded objects and/or vaguely contoured objects together with distinctly contoured object and thereby to extract all objects clearly and completely. A sample point setting portion sets sample points, a sample point shade calculating portion determines an optical density of shading at each sample point according to an optical density distribution of pixels in a reference block including the sample point at the center thereof. A shade calculating portion determines shade densities at the other points than the sample points and generates shade image, a shade removing portion generates a shade-removed image by removing the shading effect from the input image by using the shade image. A quantizing portion binarizes the shade-removed image and an image output portion outputs the obtained binary image.

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Nara, Japan

Hisashi Saiga