JPH08248525A - Photographic printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To improve processing efficiency in exposure for an index image without deteriorating the quality of an index picture. CONSTITUTION: By opening a shutter 54, the images of R color formed on respective liquid crystal panels 48A and 48B are simultaneously exposed on color paper P. Thereafter, the images of G color and B color formed on the respective liquid crystal panels 48A and 48B are simultaneously exposed on the color paper P in the same manner, respectively. When the exposure concerning all the colors is finished, the exposure for all the images formed on two liquid crystal panels 48A and 48B is completed, whereby the index image is obtained with about twice as high exposing processing efficiency as in the conventional way. Since the index image is exposed at the same projecting magnification as in the conventional way, the quality of the index picture is not deteriorated.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a photographic printer,
In particular, the present invention relates to a photographic printer that sequentially switches and irradiates light of RGB colors to expose an image of each color formed on a liquid crystal panel onto a color paper.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years,
Equipped with a black and white liquid crystal panel, RGB of the image to be exposed
An image of each color component is formed on the liquid crystal panel, and RG
A photographic printer has been proposed which sequentially performs exposure with each light B.

However, the exposure of the above-mentioned index image needs to be sequentially performed by the light of each of RGB, that is, a plurality of exposures must be performed. Therefore, the exposure processing efficiency of the index image is considerably higher than the exposure processing efficiency of the photographic print. It was low. Thus, when the exposure of each photographic print and the exposure of the index image are simultaneously performed in parallel, the exposure processing of the index image, which has a relatively low processing efficiency, reduces the processing efficiency of the entire exposure processing. .

In order to solve this problem, the exposure efficiency of the index image is improved by increasing the number of frames of the image displayed on the liquid crystal panel in the exposure of the index image and increasing the number of frames exposed at one time. It is possible.

However, in order to increase the number of frames of an image displayed on the liquid crystal panel while avoiding an increase in the size of the liquid crystal panel, it is necessary to reduce the display size of the image of each frame. To expose the image of each frame thus formed, it is necessary to increase the projection magnification of the image. Therefore, if the projection magnification of the image is increased, the dot pattern becomes conspicuous in the exposed index photograph, and the image quality deteriorates.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In consideration of the above facts, an object of the present invention is to provide a photographic printer capable of improving the exposure processing efficiency of the index image without deteriorating the image quality of the index image.

[0007]

In order to achieve the above object, the invention according to claim 1 sequentially switches and irradiates light of each color of R, G and B, and images of each color formed on a liquid crystal panel are colored paper. In the photographic printer, the plurality of liquid crystal panels are arranged in parallel, and the images formed on each of the plurality of liquid crystal panels are simultaneously exposed.

The invention described in claim 2 is characterized in that, in the invention described in claim 1, the light sources of the light passing through each of the plurality of liquid crystal panels are the same light source.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the invention, the light of each of the RGB colors is generated by appearing and retracting a filter of each of the RGB colors on the optical path of white light, and the plurality of light beams are generated. The light reaching the liquid crystal panel of (1) passes through the same filter.

Further, in the invention described in claim 4, in the invention described in claim 1, the position adjustment of the image between the liquid crystal panels is performed by adjusting the image display position on the liquid crystal panel in pixel units. Is characterized by.

[0011]

According to the first aspect of the invention, an image of a predetermined color is initially formed on each of a plurality of liquid crystal panels arranged in parallel, and the light of the predetermined color is irradiated. As a result, the image of the predetermined color formed on each of the plurality of liquid crystal panels is simultaneously exposed on the color paper. After that, 2 other than the specified color
Similarly to the above, for each of the three colors, the image of the target color formed on each of the plurality of liquid crystal panels is simultaneously exposed to the color paper. When the above exposure for all colors is completed, exposure for all images formed on the plurality of liquid crystal panels is completed. In the above-described index image exposure, it is not necessary to increase the projection magnification of the index image, and the exposure can be performed at the same projection magnification as in the conventional art, so that the image quality of the index photograph is not deteriorated.

Therefore, the processing efficiency of the exposure of the index image can be improved as compared with the conventional case where the image formed on a single liquid crystal panel is exposed without degrading the image quality of the index photograph.

Here, as in the second aspect of the invention, the light sources of the light passing through each of the plurality of liquid crystal panels may be the same light source, that is, a single light source may be used. In this case, it is possible to simplify the condition setting relating to the light passing through each of the plurality of liquid crystal panels, for example, the setting of the amount of light, and to reduce the variation in the condition relating to the light passing through each of the plurality of liquid crystal panels. The conditions regarding light can be stabilized.

According to the invention of claim 3, RG
The light of each color B can be configured to be generated by appearing and retracting the filter of each color of RGB on the optical path of white light. Further, in this case, the light reaching a plurality of liquid crystal panels can be configured to pass through the same filter. That is, a single filter can be used for each of the RGB color filters. According to this, it is possible to simplify the condition setting relating to the filtering to the predetermined color component with respect to the light passing through each of the plurality of liquid crystal panels, and to reduce the variation in the condition relating to the filtering to the predetermined color component to reduce the predetermined color component. The conditions for filtering into components can be stabilized.

By the way, when an image formed on each of a plurality of liquid crystal panels arranged in parallel is simultaneously exposed on a color paper, there is a physical error in the arrangement of the plurality of liquid crystal panels. , The images corresponding to each of the plurality of liquid crystal panels are displaced in the layout of the index photograph. In such a case, the operator usually adjusts the physical position of the plurality of liquid crystal panels to adjust the position shift of the image on the layout of the index photograph. However, such physical adjustment of the physical arrangement positions of the plurality of liquid crystal panels requires a considerable amount of work.

Therefore, in the invention according to the fourth aspect, the position adjustment of the image between the liquid crystal panels is performed by adjusting the image display position on the liquid crystal panel in pixel units. The image display position on the liquid crystal panel can be adjusted easily and precisely by, for example, slightly shifting the plane coordinate system when forming an image on the liquid crystal panel. Therefore, according to the fourth aspect of the present invention, the arrangement position of each frame image in the index photograph can be easily and precisely adjusted.

[0017]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the photographic printer of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

As shown in FIG. 1, the photographic printer 10 includes a controller 16 which is composed of a CPU, an input / output controller and the like (not shown), and serves as a control unit in the photographic printer 10, and several units (several rolls) connected to the controller 16. ) A negative image storage section 14 having a storage capacity enough to store image information recorded on the negative film,
The negative image storage unit 14 is connected to the negative image storage unit 14 and reads the image data of each frame recorded on the negative film.
And a scanner 12 which sets the exposure correction amount of each frame based on the image data of each frame and transmits the value to the controller 16 as well.

Further, the photographic printer 10 has two print processing sections, that is, a main print section 20 for printing and exposing the images of each frame on the color paper P, and an index photograph for arranging the images of each frame in a matrix. An index print unit 40 for printing and exposing an image (hereinafter referred to as an index image) on the color paper P is provided.

Of these, the main print unit 20 has a lamp 22 for emitting exposure light, and C (cyan), M (magenta), and Y (yellow) arranged so as to be inserted in the exposure light path.
And a dimming filter 24 composed of a set of filters. It should be noted that the insertion filter amount of each filter of the dimming filter 24 is corrected by the controller 16 based on the exposure correction amount of each frame described above, and each filter is corrected by the filter driving unit 26 by only the corrected insertion filter amount. It is inserted in the optical path.

The light passing through the light control filter 24 passes through one frame image of the negative film N positioned at the printing position centered on the optical axis L1 by the negative transport unit 28, and then passes through the projection lens 30. Exposure stage S1 for the color paper P positioned by the paper transport unit 32.
Is irradiated for a predetermined time. In this way, each frame image recorded on the negative film N in the main printing section 20 is printed and exposed on the color paper P.

On the other hand, the index printing section 40 is provided with a halogen lamp 42 as a light source for printing exposure, and the optical path of the exposure light emitted from the halogen lamp 42 is further arranged in order from the upstream side of the heat insulating filter. Four
5, a color separation filter 44, a liquid crystal panel group 48, a projection lens group 52, and a black shutter 54 are arranged. Further, a reflector 41 as a reflection plate is arranged immediately above the halogen lamp 42.

Of these, the heat insulating filter 45 reflects the heat of the exposure light in order to prevent the durability of the color separation filter 44, which will be described later, from being lowered by the heat of the exposure light. The heat insulating filter 45 may be one that absorbs the heat of the applied exposure light.

Further, as shown in FIG. 2, the color separation filter 44 includes small-diameter disc-shaped R filters 44A and G filters 4 arranged so as to penetrate a large-diameter disc-shaped base 44D.
It has three filters of 4B and B filter 44C. A belt 47 is wound around the side surface of the base 44D,
On the other end of the belt 47, a filter driving unit 46 composed of a motor or the like is wound. The three filters described above are arranged with respect to the central axis of the substrate 44D so that when the substrate 44D is rotated by the driving force from the filter driving unit 46, the three filters reach the positions that sequentially block the exposure optical path. Are arranged at positions decentered by a predetermined distance.

The liquid crystal panel group 48 comprises two liquid crystal panels 48A and 48B, and two liquid crystal panels 48A and 48A.
48B are arranged in parallel on a plane perpendicular to the exposure optical axis. Each of these liquid crystal panels 48A and 48B is connected to the controller 16 via a liquid crystal panel driver 50 that drives each liquid crystal panel. Further, in each of the liquid crystal panels 48A and 48B, a large number of pixels (about 510,000 pixels as an example) capable of displaying white, black, and intermediate colors thereof are regularly arranged on the display surface by electrical means. The liquid crystal panel driver 50 receives several pieces of image information temporarily stored in the negative image storage unit 14, forms index image data in which frame images are arranged according to a predetermined rule for each case, and then forms one. An image corresponding to a predetermined number of frames of the index image data, for example, 10 frames (two columns) of image data can be formed on each of the liquid crystal panels 48A and 48B. Further, it is also possible to form an image corresponding to the image data of only the respective color components of R color, G color and B color of the image data of the above two columns on each of the liquid crystal panels 48A and 48B.
That is, the liquid crystal panel group 48 can form an image corresponding to the image data of only the respective color components for a total of 20 frames (4 columns). In the above, the liquid crystal panels 48A, 48
The image formed on each of B is the image of 10 frames (2 rows) in order to secure the resolution of about 200 to 300 dpi.

The projection lens group 52 includes the liquid crystal panel 4
Projection lenses 52A and 52 corresponding to 8A and 48B, respectively
It consists of B. That is, the projection lens 52A is connected to the liquid crystal panel 4
The image formed on the exposure stage S2 by the exposure light is imaged on the exposure stage S2 at a predetermined magnification, and the projection lens 52
B forms an image formed on the liquid crystal panel 48B by the exposure light on the exposure stage S2 at a predetermined magnification.

Further, the black shutter 54 reaches the position shown in FIG. 1 and shields the exposure light after the printing exposure of a total of four rows of index images formed on the liquid crystal panel group 48 is completed. The black shutter 54 is retracted to a position displaced from the exposure light path when the exposure light is not blocked. Further, a paper transport unit 58 that transports and drives the color paper P in the arrow R direction by the driving force of a motor (not shown) is provided.

Further, in the conveying path of the color paper P,
A reservoir unit 38 is provided between the exposure stage S1 of the main print unit 20 and the exposure stage S2 of the index print unit 40 to absorb the speed difference of the printing exposure process between the main print unit 20 and the index print unit 40. Has been. In the reservoir section 38,
The color paper P forms a free loop 36.

The operation of the present embodiment will be described below with reference to the exposure process for printing the index photograph in the index printing section 40.

By rotating the substrate 44D by a predetermined angle by the filter driving unit 46 shown in FIG.
Insert A in the exposure light path. Further, the image data to be subjected to the printing exposure, which is temporarily stored by the negative image storage unit 14, is transmitted to the liquid crystal panel driver 50, and the liquid crystal panel driver 50 transmits only the R color component of the image data for two columns of the image data. A liquid crystal panel 48A is formed on the liquid crystal panel 48A, and a liquid crystal panel 48B is formed on another liquid crystal panel 48B on the liquid crystal panel 48B. As a result, of the exposure light emitted from the halogen lamp 42, only the R color component that has passed through the R filter 44A is applied to the liquid crystal panel group 48 on which the images of only the R color components for a total of four columns are formed.

Then, when the black shutter 54 is opened by the shutter drive unit 56, the light that has been irradiated onto the liquid crystal panel 48A and passed through the projection lens 52A is irradiated onto the color paper P. At the same time, the light that is applied to the liquid crystal panel 48B and passes through the projection lens 52B is also applied to the color paper P. At this time, an image of only the R color component for a total of four rows formed on the liquid crystal panel group 48 is the image row B shown in FIG.
Images B and B2 are imaged on the color paper P at a predetermined magnification, and the image rows B1 and B2 are simultaneously printed and exposed.

At this stage, normally two rows of R color component images are printed on the color paper P by exposure, but in this embodiment, they are formed on each of the two liquid crystal panels 48A and 48B. Since the R color component images for each two rows are simultaneously printed and exposed, a total of four rows of the R color component images are printed and exposed on the color paper P.

Next, for the image of the G color component and the image of the B color component, the two liquid crystal panels 48 are subjected to the same procedure as described above.
G color (or B) for each two columns formed on each of A and 48B
The image of the (color) component is simultaneously printed and exposed. And R color,
When the printing exposure for the images of all the G and B color components is completed, the printing exposure for the index images of four columns is completed. Thereafter, the index images to be printed and exposed are sequentially printed and exposed in four columns as described above.

As is clear from the above description, according to this embodiment, since the images of the predetermined color components formed on each of the two liquid crystal panels 48A and 48B are simultaneously printed and exposed, it is twice as large as the conventional one. The image of the predetermined color component of is the color paper P
It will be printed on and exposed. As a result, a predetermined index image can be printed and exposed with a processing efficiency twice as high as that of the conventional one.

After that, when the exposure and the predetermined developing process for the index image for the predetermined row are completed and the index picture composed of the index image for the predetermined row is completed, the operator makes an operation for each frame of the created index picture. Visually check the image quality and arrangement. By this check, for example, when it is recognized that the image of the index photograph is whitish because the light amount of the exposure light is too strong, the light amount of the halogen lamp 42 is adjusted to be lowered. In the above embodiment, two liquid crystal panels and two projection lenses are provided, but since a single halogen lamp 42 is used as the light source, in this case, the light amount of the single halogen lamp 42 is adjusted to be lowered. Just do it. As in the present embodiment, the same light source is used as the light source of the light passing through each of the plurality of liquid crystal panels, thereby simplifying the condition setting relating to the light passing through each of the plurality of liquid crystal panels, for example, the setting of the amount of light. can do. Further, it is possible to reduce the variation in the condition regarding the light passing through each of the plurality of liquid crystal panels and stabilize the condition regarding the light.

Further, similarly to the above, in the present embodiment, as the color separation filters for the RGB colors, the single filters 44A, 44B and 44C are used for the respective colors. Therefore,
When the adjustment regarding the filtering to the predetermined color component with respect to the light passing through each of the plurality of liquid crystal panels is performed, the condition setting regarding the adjustment can be simplified. Also,
It is possible to reduce variations in the conditions for filtering the predetermined color component with respect to light passing through each of the plurality of liquid crystal panels, and stabilize the conditions for the filtering.

By the way, due to an error or the like relating to the arrangement position of the liquid crystal panel group 48 or the projection lens group 52, FIG.
In the index photograph created as shown in FIG. 6, it is assumed that the arrangement position of the image row B2 is slightly deviated from the arrangement position of the image row B1 in the arrow A direction. In this case, the operator
The displacement of the arrangement position is recognized by the above-mentioned visual check. Then, the arrangement positions of the images formed on the liquid crystal panels 48A and 48B are shifted to correct (adjust) the arrangement positions of the image columns B2 and B1. As described above, according to the present embodiment, the adjustment of the arrangement position of each frame image in the index photograph is performed not by the mechanical correction of the arrangement position of the liquid crystal panel group 48 or the projection lens group 52, but by the liquid crystal panel group 48. This can be easily and precisely executed by software operation such as image position adjustment.

The adjustment of the magnification of each frame image in the index photograph can be easily and easily performed by software operation such as the position adjustment of the image formed on the liquid crystal panel group 48, similarly to the adjustment of the arrangement position of each frame image. It can be performed with precision.

By applying simultaneous exposure of images formed on a plurality of liquid crystal panels as in this embodiment, a plurality of liquid crystal panels are classified into a liquid crystal panel for forming only characters and a liquid crystal panel for forming only images. It can also be shared in advance. In this case, the driving process of the liquid crystal panel in the LCD driver 50 can be simplified by previously sharing the type of information to be formed in each of the liquid crystal panels 48A and 48B.

In this embodiment, a halogen lamp is used as a light source, but the present invention is not limited to this, and an expensive light emitting diode (LED: Light) is used.
Other light sources such as Emitting Diode) may be used. In addition,
When a light emitting diode (LED) is used as a light source, when the image of each color of RGB displayed on the liquid crystal panel is exposed, the L
If only the pixels of the color corresponding to the ED are turned on,
The color separation filter plays a role of a color separation filter for each of RGB colors, and the color separation filter is not necessary. Further, when the exposure of the image of each color of RGB is stopped, if the lighting of the pixel of the corresponding color of the LED is stopped, it serves as a black shutter for blocking the exposure light. Is unnecessary.

Further, in the present embodiment, a configuration example in which two liquid crystal panels and two projection lenses are installed is shown. This is because when a halogen lamp is used as a light source, it is difficult to arrange three or more liquid crystal panels and projection lenses in parallel in order to suppress the light amount unevenness of the light emitted from the halogen lamp to a predetermined allowable value or less. Because it was. However, the requirements of the present invention are not limited to two liquid crystal panels and projection lenses. When the above-mentioned light emitting diode (LED) is used as a light source, unevenness in the amount of emitted light hardly occurs, so that three or more liquid crystal panels and projection lenses can be arranged in parallel.

Further, in the above embodiment, an example in which the invention is applied to a photographic printer which prints and exposes an index image and images of respective frames is shown. However, the invention is applied to a photographic printer dedicated to index photographs which prints only the index image. You can also

Further, in the above-mentioned embodiment, the example in which the RGB filter is used as the filter in the index print section 40 is shown, but the present invention can be similarly applied even when the CMY filter is used.

[0044]

According to the first aspect of the invention, the index image is exposed as compared with the conventional case of exposing an image formed on a single liquid crystal panel without degrading the image quality of the index photograph. It is possible to obtain the effect that the processing efficiency of can be improved.

Further, according to the second aspect of the present invention, it is possible to simplify the condition setting regarding the light passing through each of the plurality of liquid crystal panels, and to set the condition regarding the light passing through each of the plurality of liquid crystal panels. The effect that the variation can be reduced and the conditions relating to the light can be stabilized can be obtained.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, it is possible to simplify the condition setting relating to the filtering to the predetermined color component for the light passing through each of the plurality of liquid crystal panels, and to filter to the predetermined color component. It is possible to obtain an effect that the variation in the conditions regarding can be reduced and the conditions regarding the filtering to the predetermined color component can be stabilized.

Further, according to the invention described in claim 4, it is possible to obtain an effect that the arrangement position of each frame image in the index photograph can be easily and precisely adjusted.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a schematic configuration of a photographic printer according to an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing configurations of a color separation filter and a filter driving unit.

FIG. 3A is a schematic diagram for explaining an exposure process of an image formed on two liquid crystal panels, and FIG. 3B is a diagram illustrating an image formed on one of the two liquid crystal panels being misaligned. It is a schematic diagram which shows the example exposed to different positions.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10 Photo Printer 42 Halogen Lamp (Light Source) 44 Color Separation Filter (Filter) 48 Liquid Crystal Panel Group 52 Projection Lens Group 54 Black Shutter P Color Paper

Continued Front Page (72) Inventor Toshiyuki Hiroishi 798 Miyadai, Kaisei-cho, Ashigarakami-gun, Kanagawa Fuji Photo Film Co., Ltd.

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A photographic printer which sequentially switches and irradiates light of each color of RGB to expose an image of each color formed on a liquid crystal panel onto a color paper, wherein a plurality of the liquid crystal panels are arranged in parallel. A photographic printer, which simultaneously exposes an image formed on each of a plurality of liquid crystal panels. 2. The light source for the light passing through each of the plurality of liquid crystal panels is the same light source.
Photo printer described. 3. The light of each color of RGB is generated by appearing and retracting a filter of each color of RGB on the optical path of white light, and the light reaching the plurality of liquid crystal panels passes through the same filter. The photographic printer according to claim 1. 4. The photographic printer according to claim 1, wherein the position adjustment of the image between the liquid crystal panels is performed by adjusting the image display position on the liquid crystal panel in pixel units.