Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.

Ryuzo Kan

Hiroaki Kotera

Kunio Yoshida

Hiroyoshi Tsuchiya

Yukifumi Tsuda

Heijiro Hayami

Tsutomu Shibata

A color print painted with different colors C.sub.i (i = 1, 2 . . . n) is scanned by a color scanner along a plurality of successive line paths to generate a set of electrical signals each representing the intensity of the spectral components of the light reflected from an elemental area of the print. A macroscopic color separator is provided to generate a set of electrical signals each representing the average spectral intensities per unit area of the print. A data processor is used to compute the probability P(C.sub.i) from the data obtained from the macroscopic color separator and a set of mean spectral intensities exhibited by the color samples with which the print is painted by artisans. In accordance with the Bayes' Rule, the processor then executes computation of the product of P(C.sub.i) and the conditional probability of occurrence of elemental color spectral intensities given that the elemental area being scanned belongs to a particular color sample, using the data received from the color scanner as it scans the print.

Color separating method and apparatus using statistical techniques

A colored original which is painted with a plurality of predetermined colors is scanned along each of a plurality of line paths each of which can be divided into one or more colored line segments. Encoders are provided to characterize each of the line segments by a corresponding first code representing the color of the segment and a second code representing the run length of the segment. The first and second codes are sequentially recorded in a data file memory. The recorded information is repeatedly retrieved from the memory and transferred to a shift register. Line segments carrying the same color within each line path are detected by comparing the corresponding first code with a specified code. The second code is sequentially decoded into run lengths which are accumulated to measure the position of color transitions relative to the colored original. A video signal is generated upon occurrence of coincidence between the first code and the specified code. A photographic film is scanned by a light beam modulated with the video signal to develop an image carrying the detected color on a specified portion of the film in correspondence with the specified code. The codes to be specified are sequentially changed to detect the line segments of different colors in a predetermined sequence within the period of the scanning. In synchronism with the code change, the shift register is shifted to recirculate the data.

Method and apparatus for separating, combining and rearranging colored

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Kawasaki, Japan

Ryuzo Kan