The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Sep. 04, 2007
Filed:
May. 09, 2002
Jincheng Huang, Mountain View, CA (US);
Onur Guleryuz, Sunnyvale, CA (US);
Anoop Bhattacharjya, Campbell, CA (US);
Joseph Shu, San Jose, CA (US);
Jincheng Huang, Mountain View, CA (US);
Onur Guleryuz, Sunnyvale, CA (US);
Anoop Bhattacharjya, Campbell, CA (US);
Joseph Shu, San Jose, CA (US);
Seiko Epson Corporation, Tokyo, JP;
Abstract
The appearance of edges in an image is improved through precise placement of subpixels within pixel cells that are located on or near edges in an image. Image data is examined to identify a 'target pixel' near the edge of an object that represents the object and is adjacent to a 'background pixel' that represents only background. The target pixel may represent both the object and its background or it may represent the object only. A “second pixel”, adjacent to the target pixel and representing the object, is also identified. The second pixel may represent both the object and its background or it may represent the object only. The target pixel's location with respect to the second pixel is analyzed to determine the placement of a subpixel within the target pixel cell and the placement of a subpixel within the second pixel cell, such that the edge of the object is well-defined and the density of the object is preserved. A vertical smoothing process can additionally be performed to improve further the appearance of edges in the image. The technique is particularly advantageous for printing a halftoned object represented by pixels that are not saturated.