EP1122939A2
Expired / Lapsed
EP
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Image processing system
Assignee: Canon Inc
•
Filing: 2001-01-24
•
Granted: —
•
Expires: 2021-01-24
Abstract
Abstract It is an object of this invention to provide an image processing system capable of detecting at a high speed whether copy-protected information is embedded in image data. For this purpose, the image processing system that practices this invention uses image data having a low resolution in detecting the embedded position of the copy-protected information. When the position is detected, the neighboring image is extracted in units of blocks on the basis of the pattern size and compared with the pattern image. If a specific pattern is detected as the result of comparison, the image is regarded as an original to be copy-protected, and appropriate processing is executed.
Inventors
- 👤 Takashi c/o Canon Kabushiki Kaisha Suzuki
- 👤 Eiji c/o Canon Kabushiki Kaisha Ohara
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
EP
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-09 12:43
CPC Classifications
H; H04; H04N; H04N1/00; H04N1/38; G; G06; G06T; G06T1/00; G06T1/0021; G06T1/005; H04N1/00838; H04N1/0084; H04N1/00843; H04N1/00848; H04N1/00856; H04N1/00859; H04N1/00864; H04N1/00872; H04N1/00877; G06T2201/00; G06T2201/005; G06T2201/0065
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 43
Claim 1
Independent Claim
55 words
An image processing apparatus characterized by
comprising: determination means (101, 1511) for determining
whether image data contains specific information for at
least one block extracted from the image data; and image processing means (101, 1512) for executing
predetermined processing for the image data which is
determined by said determination means to contain the
specific information.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
37 words
The apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in
that the specific information is predetermined image data,
and said determination means performs the determination on
the basis of at least the one block and the predetermined
image data.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
53 words
The apparatus according to claim 2, characterized in
that said determination means comprises detection means for
detecting, from entire image data, position information
related to a position where the specific information is
contained, and determines whether the specific information
is contained on the basis of the position information
detected by said detection means.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
46 words
The apparatus according to claim 3, characterized in
that said detection means detects the information related
to the position using position detection image data
obtained by decreasing resolution of the image data, and said determination means determines
presence/absence of the specific information from the image
data.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
20 words
The apparatus according to claim 1, characterized by
further comprising image read means (111, 1501) for
generating the image data.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
17 words
The apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in
that the image data is image data for printing.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
20 words
The apparatus according to claim 6, characterized by
further comprising image formation means (114, 1502) for
printing the image data.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
28 words
The apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in
that said image processing means executes processing of
converting density or brightness of the image data as the
predetermined processing.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
21 words
The apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in
that said image processing means erases the image data as
the predetermined processing.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
36 words
The apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in
that the block has the same size as that of a block having
a predetermined size as a unit of image data transfer in
said image processing apparatus.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
69 words
The apparatus according to claim 10, characterized
in that said determination means comprises detection means
for detecting, from entire image data, position information
related to a position where the specific information is
contained, specifies at least the one block from the image
data on the basis of the position information detected by
said detection means, and determines for at least the one
block whether the specific information is contained.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
28 words
The apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in
that the block is a band obtained by segmenting the image
data along a direction of a line of pixels.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
28 words
The apparatus according to claim 12, characterized
in that the band is a block obtained by segmenting the image
data at a line having uniform color and density.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
57 words
An image processing method characterized by
comprising: the determination step (S704, S208) of determining
whether image data contains specific information for at
least one block extracted from the image data; and the image processing step (S705, S301) of executing
predetermined processing for the image data which is
determined in the determination step to contain the
specific information.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
38 words
The method according to claim 14, characterized in
that the specific information is predetermined image data,
and the determination step comprises performing the
determination on the basis of at least the one block and
the predetermined image data.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
57 words
The method according to claim 15, characterized in
that the determination step comprises the detection step
(S1407, S1103) of detecting, from entire image data,
position information related to a position where the
specific information is contained and comprises
determining whether the specific information is contained
on the basis of the position information detected in the
detection step.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
48 words
The method according to claim 16, characterized in
that the detection step comprises detecting the
information related to the position using position
detection image data obtained by decreasing resolution of
the image data, and the determination step comprises determining
presence/absence of the specific information from the image
data.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
21 words
The method according to claim 14, characterized by
further comprising the image read step (S701, S201) of
generating the image data.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
17 words
The method according to claim 14, characterized in
that the image data is image data for printing.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
21 words
The method according to claim 19, characterized by
further comprising the image formation step (S706, S209)
of printing the image data.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim
30 words
The method according to claim 14, characterized in
that the image processing step comprises executing
processing (S705) of converting density or brightness of
the image data as the predetermined processing.
Claim 22
Dependent Claim
23 words
The method according to claim 14, characterized in
that the image processing step comprises erasing (S301) the
image data as the predetermined processing.
Claim 23
Dependent Claim
31 words
The method according to claim 14, characterized in
that the block has the same size as that of a block having
a predetermined size as a unit of image data transfer.
Claim 24
Dependent Claim
72 words
The method according to claim 23, characterized in
that the determination step comprises the detection step
of detecting, from entire image data, position information
related to a position where the specific information is
contained, and comprises specifying at least the one block
from the image data on the basis of the position information
detected in the detection step and determining for at least
the one block whether the specific information is
contained.
Claim 25
Dependent Claim
28 words
The method according to claim 14, characterized in
that the block is a band obtained by segmenting the image
data along a direction of a line of pixels.
Claim 26
Dependent Claim
28 words
The method according to claim 25, characterized in
that the band is a block obtained by segmenting the image
data at a line having uniform color and density.
Claim 27
Dependent Claim
68 words
A computer program executed by a computer to perform
image processing, characterized by comprising: a program code of the determination step of
determining whether image data contains specific
information for at least one block extracted from the image
data; and a program code of the image processing step of
executing predetermined processing for the image data which
is determined in the determination step to contain the
specific information.
Claim 28
Dependent Claim
42 words
The program according to claim 27, characterized in
that the specific information is predetermined image data,
and the program code of the determination step comprises
performing the determination on the basis of at least the
one block and the predetermined image data.
Claim 29
Dependent Claim
63 words
The program according to claim 28, characterized in
that the determination step comprises a program code of the
detection step of detecting, from entire image data,
position information related to a position where the
specific information is contained and comprises
determining whether the specific information is contained
on the basis of the position information detected by the
program code of the detection step.
Claim 30
Dependent Claim
56 words
The program according to claim 29, characterized in
that the program code of the detection step comprises
detecting the information related to the position using
position detection image data obtained by decreasing
resolution of the image data, and the program code of the determination step comprises
determining presence/absence of the specific information
from the image data.
Claim 31
Dependent Claim
22 words
The program according to claim 27, characterized by
further comprising a program code of the image read-step
of generating the image data.
Claim 32
Dependent Claim
17 words
The program according to claim 27, characterized in
that the image data is image data for printing.
Claim 33
Dependent Claim
23 words
The program according to claim 32, characterized by
further comprising a program code of the image formation
step of printing the image data.
Claim 34
Dependent Claim
33 words
The program according to claim 27, characterized in
that the program code of the image processing step comprises
executing processing of converting density or brightness
of the image data as the predetermined processing.
Claim 35
Dependent Claim
26 words
The program according to claim 27, characterized in
that the program code of the image processing step comprises
erasing the image data as the predetermined processing.
Claim 36
Dependent Claim
31 words
The program according to claim 27, characterized in
that the block has the same size as that of a block having
a predetermined size as a unit of image data transfer.
Claim 37
Dependent Claim
84 words
The program according to claim 36, characterized in
that the program code of the determination step comprises
a program code of the detection step of detecting, from
entire image data, position information related to a
position where the specific information is contained, and
comprises specifying at least the one block from the image
data on the basis of the position information detected by
the program code of the detection step and determining for
at least the one block whether the specific information is
contained.
Claim 38
Dependent Claim
28 words
The program according to claim 27, characterized in
that the block is a band obtained by segmenting the image
data along a direction of a line of pixels.
Claim 39
Dependent Claim
28 words
The program according to claim 38, characterized in
that the band is a block obtained by segmenting the image
data at a line having uniform color and density.
Claim 40
Dependent Claim
17 words
A computer-readable storage medium which stores the
computer program of any one of claims 27 to 39.
Claim 41
Independent Claim
82 words
A method of processing image data to prevent the
copying of copy-prohibited image data, comprising: processing data defining an input image to divide
the image into a plurality of image parts; performing processing to test the image parts
sequentially to determine whether an image part has
characteristics of a copy-prohibited image; generating a control signal to prevent the output of
image data faithfully reproducing the input image in
response to the detection of an image part having
characteristics of a copy-prohibited image.
Claim 42
Dependent Claim
32 words
A storage device storing instructions for causing a
programmable processing apparatus to become operable to
perform a method as set out in at least one of claims 14
to 26 and 41.
Claim 43
Dependent Claim
31 words
A signal conveying instructions for causing a
programmable processing apparatus to become operable to
perform a method as set out in at least one of claims 14
to 26 and 41.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
No citation records indexed.
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