Victor Company of Japan, Limited

Terumi Ohara

Hideshi Tanaka

Itsuo Takanashi

Toshinori Takahashi

Hiroki Kitamura

Kenichi Miyazaki

Tadao Shinya

Yutaka Mizoguchi

Shigeru Kato

Tsutomu Kiuchi

Yoshio Mizuno

Hisanori Tsumiyama

Katsuhiko Terada

Toru Nibe

Takayuki Sugahara

Seiji Higurashi

Tsutou Asakura

Tetsuji Suzuki

Takashi Kuriyama

Namio Yamaguchi

Yoshitaka Iwabuchi

Shogo Masuda

Tomohiko Matsumoto

Shinichi Hoshino

Kenzi Oketani

Toshinori Takahasi

Pictures are captured, and thereby moving-picture data is generated which represents a sequence of moving-picture fields. At least one picture is captured, and thereby still-picture data is generated which represents at least one still-picture frame corresponding in picture capture timing to one of the moving-picture fields represented by the moving-picture data. Components which correspond to said one of the moving-picture fields are removed from the still-picture data to generate supplementary still-picture information. Link information is generated which represents the picture capture timing correspondence between the still-picture frame and said one of the moving-picture fields. The moving-picture data, the supplementary still-picture information, and the link information are recorded on a recording medium.

Information recording apparatus, information reproducing apparatus, and related computer programs

A color-separating and -recombining optical system provided between a light source and a projection lens in a projection display, has at least one prism assembly made up of at least two prisms bonded to each other with a bonding layer formed between the prisms. A white light emitted from the light source is divided into red-, green-, and blue-color light components related to primary colors. The light components are modulated by spatial light modulators in accordance with a video signal. The modulated light components are combined and projected onto a screen via the projection lens. The thickness of the bonding layer is varied as thin and thick for optical paths long and short, respectively, from the spatial light modulators to the bonding layer which each modulated light component emitted from the corresponding spatial light modulator reaches.

Color-separating and -recombining optical system

A thermal printing apparatus for printing input gradational images, characters and figures by using multilevel density which can appropriately regulate the levels of the densities representing the gradational images etc. to be printed by a linear thermal head having n heating resistors arranged in a line, the printing apparatus is provided with a density control unit for regulating, for example, the multilevel durations for energizing the heating resistors in accordance with n gradational printing data each corresponding to respective one of said resistors, and a data conversion unit, receiving a set of n original data for each line as the printing data, for producing p sets of n data for p split lines on the basis of the n original data, where p is an integer being equal to or greater than two, the p sets of n data being sequentially supplied to the density control unit set by set to print each line corresponding to the input gradational image, character and figure printing data as a plurality of split lines corresponding thereto, thereby increasing uniformity of density of print lines of pixels of the input gradational images, characters and figures by overlapping low density portions of dotes of adjacent split lines.

Thermal printing apparatus

An energization control system for controlling energization of a thermal head of a thermal printer, the thermal head being equipped with a plurality of heating elements successively arranged in line, which are energized to generate heat in response to supply of currents thereinto so as to thermally and gradationally print an image on a recording sheet with printing densities corresponding to the supplied currents. The system comprises a density correction data memory for storing density correction data corresponding to variations of resistances of the heating elements and a calculation circuit for correcting an image signal on the basis of the density correction data so as to produce image data. Also included is a data comparison circuit selectively coupled through a switching device to the density correction data memory and the calculation circuit for comparing first and second comparison signals with the density correction data and the image data. The data comparison circuit performs first energization so as to energize the heating elements in accordance with the comparison result between the first comparison signal and the density correction data and, after completion of the first energization, performs second energization so as to energize them in accordance with the comparison result between the second comparison signal and the image data.

System of controlling energization to thermal head in thermal printer

A thermal printing apparatus prints input gradational images, characters and figures by using multilevel density regulates the levels of the densities representing the gradiational images etc. to be printed by a linear thermal head having n heating resistors arranged in a row. The printing apparatus is provided with a density control unit for regulating, for example, the multilevel durations for energizing the heating resistors in accordance with n gradational printing data each corresponding to a respective one of said resistors, and a data conversion unit, receiving as printing data a set of n original data for each a plurality of lines parallel with the row of n resistors, for producing p sets of n data for p split lines on the basis of the n original data, where p is an integer equal to or greater than two, each of the p split lines being disposed in an area in which the line corresponding to the printing data should be printed, in parallel with the row of n resistors, the p sets of n data being sequentially supplied to the density control unit set by set to print the original line corresponding to the printing data by printing the split lines corresponding to the original line split line by split line so by shifting the linear thermal head in a direction perpendicular to the row of n resistors every time each of the split lines is printed, that each of the n printing data is represented by p dots.

A thermal printer comprises a thermal head and a printing data output circuit outputting printing data. A portion of the printing data is copied. The copied portion of the printing data is added to a head of the printing data to form a combination of the copied portion and the printing data. The data combination is outputted to the thermal head. The thermal head is driven with the copied portion to preheat the thermal head. Then, the thermal head is driven with the printing data to perform actual printing.

Thermal printer

A gradation control device for a thermal ink-transfer type printing apparatus controls an applying time of a current to each of heating elements of a thermal printing head depending on a voltage drop introduced between a power source and the thermal printing head, so that it is possible to constantly print the same gradation level with the same printing dot size regardless of the printing data.

Gradation control device for thermal ink-transfer type printing apparatus

A color correcting circuit for thermal printer comprises a first circuit for obtaining a first degree correction operation result, a second circuit for obtaining a second degree correction operation result, and a difference limiting circuit for selectively outputting a correction data. The first degree correction operation makes the relationship between the density of an input image and the density of an output image linear for each primary color. The second degree correction operation reduces a difference between the density of the input image and the density of the output image by use of the method of least squares for each primary color. The difference limiting circuit selectively outputs as the correction data the second degree correction operation result when a difference between the first and second degree correction operation results falls within a predetermined range of a boundary value, and selectively outputs as the correction data a value which is deviated from the first degree correction operation result by the boundary value when the difference falls outside the predetermined range of the boundary value. The color correction of the input image is carried out based on the correction data outputted from the difference limiting circuit.

Color correcting circuit for thermal printer selectively outputting a

A structure of a thermal head of the type using an ink paper or a heat-sensitive paper is disclosed. The structure includes an array of units each comprising a single resistance body and a pair of electrode members which respectively correspond to a first and a second heat-generating portions positioned at both ends of the resistance body, the electrode members being adapted to energize the resistance body. At least one of the first and second heat-generating portions of the resistance body is divided into a plurality of heat-generating members, and so is done one of the electrode members which is associated with those heat-generating members.

Thermal printhead

A method and apparatus for performing a thermal transfer recording, uses an ink ribbon having a plurality of ink parts which are coated with ink of different colors. The ink parts are successively arranged in a longitudinal direction of the ink ribbon. First, when performing a recording with a first color ink, an information is recorded on a recording paper by use of the first color ink, and at the same time, synchronization marks are also recorded by use of the first color ink. Next, when performing a recording with a second color ink, the information is recorded on the recording paper which is pre-recorded with the first color ink, by use of a second color ink, in synchronism with the synchronization marks which are detected.

Thermal transfer color recorder

A thermal ink transfer printer comprises a thermal print head including a linear array of resistance elements corresponding to picture elements to be printed along a line path on a record medium, and means for continuously and relatively moving the head and the mediums to each other at a substantially constant speed in a direction perpendicular to the line path and providing a pressure contact between the head and transfer medium and between the mediums. A head control circuit is provided for generating currents in the resistance elements respectively for durations each proportional to the tone value of each of the picture elements.

High resolution thermal ink transfer printer

A plurality of heat generating resistors (11a, 11b) arranged in line in a thermal head are driven such that two consecutive heat generating resistors (11a, 11b) are combined to cover a single picture element whose desired density is represented by each datum. A head drive circuit is provided so that only a first heat generating resistor (11a) is energized when the desired density is below a predetermined value, and that both the first and second heat generating resistors (11a, 11b) are energized when the desired density is equal to or above the predetermined value. The energizing duration of the second heat generating resistor (11b) is set to be within the energizing duration of the first heat generating resistor (11a) to reduce printing time, and the end of the energizing duration of the second heat generating resistor (11b) corresponds to the end of energizing duration of the first heat generating resistor (11a) so as to ensure linearity in tone value.

Apparatus and method for thermal ink transfer printing

An input composite color video signal is processed to derive a luminance signal and three primary color signals first, and then only a high frequency component of the luminance signal is A/D converted by a first A/D converter, while only low frequency component of each of the three primary color signals is A/D converted by a second A/D converter with the low frequency component of the three primary color signals being time-shared by a first switching circuit to be a single analog signal. The A/D converted chrominance information is fed to a second switching circuit comprising shift registers of parallel-in and serial-out type so that three bits respectively indicative of red, green and blue signals are simultaneously outputted therefrom. The A/D converted luminance data of a plurality of bits, and three bits indicative of three primary colors are simultaneously written into a memory.

Circuit arrangement for digitizing and storing color video signal

In thermal ink transfer printing, a layer of thermally fusable binder is deposited on a recording sheet prior to the transfer print of thermally fusable ink from a transfer sheet to provide a strong bond between the underlying recording sheet and the overlying ink deposits. In one embodiment, layers of thermally fusable ink and binder material are deposited on the base of a common transfer sheet in alternate fashion. The binder layer is initially positioned above a thermal head and the latter is heated so that the binder is fused and transferred to the recording sheet. The recording sheet and transfer sheet are advanced together with respect to the head so that the recording sheet is entirely covered with a layer of the binder material. Thereafter, the binder-coated recording sheet comes into contact with the ink layer and the thermal head is controlled to heat portions of the ink layer for transfer to the binder-coated surface of the recording sheet.

Thermal transfer printing employing a binder

A reproduced signal processing system is employed in an apparatus for recording and reproducing a television signal on and from a rotating recording medium with one field being recorded on each track by means of at least one head. A circuit delays the signal thus reproduced by a period equal to one half of one horizontal scanning period of the television signal. A gate circuit selectively passes both the delayed reproduced signal and the delayed reproduced signal. Horizontal synchronizing signal are separated from the signal passed by the gate circuit. A standard signal supplying circuit provides a standard horizontal synchronizing signal. The phases of the separated horizontal synchronizing signal and the standard horizontal synchronizing signal are compared. Detection of coincidence or non-coincidence of the two phases forms a gate signal for so controlling the reproduced signal which has passed through the delaying circuit.

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Yokohama, Japan

Terumi Ohara