US-20260129138-A1 - IMAGE PROCESSING APPARATUS AND IMAGE PROCESSING METHOD

US20260129138A1US 20260129138 A1US20260129138 A1US 20260129138A1US-20260129138-A1

Abstract

An image processing apparatus includes a determination section that uses a color determination threshold and a monochrome determination threshold to determine whether a manuscript is a color manuscript or a monochrome manuscript, and an adjustment section that adjusts the color determination threshold and the monochrome determination threshold. The determination section accepts a determination instruction, upon determining that a color level of the manuscript is within a threshold interval region between the color determination threshold and the monochrome determination threshold, both inclusive. The adjustment section adjusts the color determination threshold or the monochrome determination threshold, based on the determination instruction. The adjustment section changes the color determination threshold and the monochrome determination threshold to a color/monochrome determination threshold, when a difference between the color determination threshold and the monochrome determination threshold is less than or equal to a predetermined value.

Inventors

Kohei Kajiwara
Yoichiro Maki

Assignees

SEIKO EPSON CORPORATION

Dates

Publication Date: 20260507
Application Date: 20251031
Priority Date: 20241101

Claims (6)

1 . An image processing apparatus comprising: a scanning section configured to read a manuscript; a determination section configured to use a color determination threshold and a monochrome determination threshold to determine whether the manuscript is a color manuscript or a monochrome manuscript, the monochrome determination threshold being different from the color determination threshold; a storage section configured to store the color determination threshold and the monochrome determination threshold; and an adjustment section configured to adjust the color determination threshold and the monochrome determination threshold, wherein the determination section is configured to accept a determination instruction from a user, upon determining that a color level of the manuscript is within a threshold interval region between the color determination threshold and the monochrome determination threshold, both inclusive, the adjustment section is configured to adjust the color determination threshold or the monochrome determination threshold, based on the determination instruction, and the adjustment section is configured to change the color determination threshold and the monochrome determination threshold to a color/monochrome determination threshold, when a difference between the color determination threshold and the monochrome determination threshold is less than or equal to a predetermined value.
2 . The image processing apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising: a display screen control section configured to cause a determination instruction screen to be displayed, the determination instruction screen being configured to prompt the determination instruction to be issued; a display section configured to display the determination instruction screen; and a timing section configured to measure a display elapsed time from when the determination instruction screen is displayed on the display section, wherein the determination section is configured not to accept the determination instruction from the user, upon determining that the display elapsed time exceeds a predetermined waiting time.
3 . The image processing apparatus according to claim 2 , wherein the determination section is configured to: upon determining that the display elapsed time exceeds the predetermined waiting time before accepting the determination instruction from the user, compare the color level of the manuscript with the color determination threshold and the monochrome determination threshold; and upon determining that the color level is closer to the color determination threshold than to the monochrome determination threshold, determine that the manuscript is the color manuscript, and upon determining that the color level is closer to the monochrome determination threshold than to the color determination threshold, determine that the manuscript is the monochrome manuscript.
4 . The image processing apparatus according to claim 2 , wherein the display screen control section is configured not to cause the display section to display the determination instruction screen, after the adjustment section changes the color determination threshold and the monochrome determination threshold to the color/monochrome determination threshold.
5 . The image processing apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the storage section is configured to store a first deemed determination threshold and a second deemed determination threshold which are within the threshold interval region, the second deemed determination threshold being closer to the monochrome determination threshold than is the first deemed determination threshold, and the determination section is configured to: compare the color level with the first deemed determination threshold; and upon determining that the color level is closer to the color determination threshold than is the first deemed determination threshold, determine that the manuscript is the color manuscript.
6 . An image processing method comprising: reading a manuscript; using a color determination threshold and a monochrome determination threshold to determine whether the manuscript is a color manuscript or a monochrome manuscript, the monochrome determination threshold being different from the color determination threshold; accepting a determination instruction from a user, upon determining that a color level of the manuscript is within a threshold interval region between the color determination threshold and the monochrome determination threshold, both inclusive; adjusting the color determination threshold or the monochrome determination threshold, based on the determination instruction; and changing the color determination threshold and the monochrome determination threshold to a color/monochrome determination threshold, when a difference between the color determination threshold and the monochrome determination threshold is less than or equal to a predetermined value.

Description

The present application is based on, and claims priority from JP Application Serial Number 2024-192739, filed Nov. 1, 2024, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety. BACKGROUND 1. Technical Field The present disclosure relates to an image processing apparatus and an image processing method. 2. Related Art An image processing apparatus having an automatic color selection function has been known. The automatic color selection function is a function of automatically determining whether an input image is a color image or a monochrome image. An image processing apparatus described in JP-A-2001-268379 determines whether an image is a color image or a monochrome image by comparing the color level of the image data with a boundary value. The boundary value is an example of a determination value. The image processing apparatus may determine whether the image is a color image or a monochrome image in a boundary region mode in which a color boundary value and a monochrome boundary value are set. In the boundary region mode, when the color level of the image data is in a boundary region between the color boundary value and the monochrome boundary value, the image processing apparatus changes the boundary values in accordance with an operator's designation. Depending on the color level of an input image, the operator may repeat adjusting and changing the boundary values until desired determination values are obtained. SUMMARY The image processing apparatus of the present disclosure includes a scanning section that reads a manuscript; a determination section that uses a color determination threshold and a monochrome determination threshold to determine whether the manuscript is a color manuscript or a monochrome manuscript, the monochrome determination threshold being different from the color determination threshold; a storage section that stores the color determination threshold and the monochrome determination threshold; and an adjustment section that adjusts the color determination threshold and the monochrome determination threshold. The determination section accepts a determination instruction from a user, upon determining that a color level of the manuscript is within a threshold interval region between the color determination threshold and the monochrome determination threshold, both inclusive. The adjustment section adjusts the color determination threshold or the monochrome determination threshold, based on the determination instruction. The adjustment section changes the color determination threshold and the monochrome determination threshold to a color/monochrome determination threshold, when a difference between the color determination threshold and the monochrome determination threshold is less than or equal to a predetermined value. The image processing method of the present disclosure includes reading a manuscript; using a color determination threshold and a monochrome determination threshold to determine whether the manuscript is a color manuscript or a monochrome manuscript, the monochrome determination threshold being different from the color determination threshold; accepting a determination instruction from a user, upon determining that a color level of the manuscript is within a threshold interval region between the color determination threshold and the monochrome determination threshold, both inclusive; adjusting the color determination threshold or the monochrome determination threshold, based on the determination instruction; and changing the color determination threshold and the monochrome determination threshold to a color/monochrome determination threshold, when a difference between the color determination threshold and the monochrome determination threshold is less than or equal to a predetermined value. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating the external appearance configuration of a multifunction peripheral. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating the schematic configuration of an image reading unit. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating the block configuration of the multifunction peripheral. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of histogram data. FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of a control flow executed by the multifunction peripheral. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of a determination value setting screen. FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an example of a determination input screen. FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an example of a method of determination value adjustment performed by the multifunction peripheral. FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating an example of the method of determination value adjustment performed by the multifunction peripheral. FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of the method of determination value adjustment performed by the multifunction peripheral. DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 illustrates the external appearance configuration of a multifunction peripheral 1. The mul