Apple Inc.

Robert C Fishman

Ted W Walker

Kevin W Andresen

Allen M Chan

An image to be generated is analyzed to determine whether it is comprised solely of bi-level color data. If so, an indication is provided to a rendering device that a simpler rendering procedure, suitable for bi-level data, can be employed. However, full color information pertaining to the image is retained. If the rendering device is able to process the image data in a bi-level format, it does so, to thereby improve performance and reduce the amount of memory capacity that is required. If multi-level data is detected, the bi-level data is expanded and full color rendering is carried out in a conventional fashion.

Method and system for selectively rendering image data in a bi-level or

To reduce rendering time for an image to be generated, an image to be generated, such as a page of a document, is divided into non-overlapping regions. Within each region, a determination is made whether all of the data contained therein is achromatic. If so, achromatic data is rendered for a single component of a multi-component color space. Pixel values are stored in one section of a frame buffer that relates to the single component. The other components of the color space use multiple references to the pixel data stored in this one section, rather than being separately rendered.

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Sunnyvale, CA, United States of America

Robert C Fishman