Efficient implementation of raster operations flow
First Claim
1. A method of supporting transparency in a printer, said method comprising:
- receiving a plurality of commands specifying a plurality of raster operations, wherein said plurality of raster operations use one or more of a source, a paint and a destination as operands to generate a bit map representing an image portion, said plurality of commands further specifying whether transparency is effective for said source object and said paint, said image portion containing a plurality of points;
generating a data representing whether each of said plurality of points should equal said destination or a result of a corresponding one of said plurality of raster operations; and
generating said bit map based on a result of said plurality of raster operations or said destination according to said data.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
According to one aspect, a printer supports transparency operations by generating mask data at interpretation stage which indicates whether each bit of a page content would be determined by the result of a raster operation or a prior destination value. The mask data can be used to complete quickly rendering of a page image once the rendering starts. Another aspect enables color fills of objects to be performed efficiently. A raster operations engine may determine whether all the points (pixels) of the object would have the same value if the raster operation is performed. If all pixels would have the same value, the value for only one pixel is computed and used for multiple pixels of the object. According to another aspect, when a pattern is to be tiled on an entire image portion, the pattern data is stored in a memory and provided as an input to rendering operation multiple times.
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Citations
42 Claims
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1. A method of supporting transparency in a printer, said method comprising:
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receiving a plurality of commands specifying a plurality of raster operations, wherein said plurality of raster operations use one or more of a source, a paint and a destination as operands to generate a bit map representing an image portion, said plurality of commands further specifying whether transparency is effective for said source object and said paint, said image portion containing a plurality of points;
generating a data representing whether each of said plurality of points should equal said destination or a result of a corresponding one of said plurality of raster operations; and
generating said bit map based on a result of said plurality of raster operations or said destination according to said data. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. A method of filling color in an image portion of a page to be printed, said method being performed in a printer, said method comprising:
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receiving a plurality of commands specifying content for a portion of said page, said portion containing a plurality of points, said plurality of commands specifying a raster operation to be performed to generate a bit map representing said portion, said raster operation being performed on at least one operand, wherein said plurality of commands indicate that said one operand is to be filled with a color;
determining whether performing said raster operation would result in a same value being generated for all of said plurality of points; and
if said same value would be generated, performing said raster operation for one of said plurality points to determine said same value and using said same value for all of said plurality of points. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11)
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12. A method of tiling patterns on a page to be printed in a printer, said method comprising:
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receiving a plurality of commands specifying a pattern to be tiled on an entire image portion, said pattern being defined by a pattern data;
storing said pattern data in a memory; and
providing said pattern data stored in said memory a plurality of times as an input to raster operations to cause said pattern to be tiled multiple times on said entire image portion. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14)
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15. A printer supporting transparency, said printer comprising:
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means for receiving a plurality of commands specifying a plurality of raster operations, wherein said plurality of raster operations use one or more of a source, a paint and a destination as operands to generate a bit map representing an image portion, said plurality of commands further specifying whether transparency is effective for said source object and said paint, said image portion containing a plurality of points;
means for generating a data representing whether each of said plurality of points should equal said destination or a result of a corresponding one of said plurality of raster operations; and
means for generating said bit map based on a result of said plurality of raster operations or said destination according to said data. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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22. A printer controller filling color in an image portion of a page to be printed, said printer controller comprising:
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means for receiving a plurality of commands specifying content for a portion of said page, said portion containing a plurality of points, said plurality of commands specifying a raster operation to be performed to generate a bit map representing said portion, said raster operation being performed on at least one operand, wherein said plurality of commands indicate that said one operand is to be filled with a color;
means for determining whether performing said raster operation would result in a same value being generated for all of said plurality of points; and
means for performing said raster operation for one of said plurality points to determine said same value and using said same value for all of said plurality of points, if said same value would be generated. - View Dependent Claims (23, 24, 25)
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26. A printer tiling patterns on a page to be printed, said printer comprising:
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means for receiving a plurality of commands specifying a pattern to be tiled on an entire image portion, said pattern being defined by a pattern data;
means for storing said pattern data in a memory; and
means for providing said pattern data stored in said memory a plurality of times as an input to raster operations to cause said pattern to be tiled multiple times on said entire image portion. - View Dependent Claims (27, 28)
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29. A computer readable medium carrying one or more sequences of instructions for causing a printer to support transparency, wherein execution of said one or more sequences of instructions by one or more processors contained in said printer causes said one or more processors to perform the actions of:
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receiving a plurality of commands specifying a plurality of raster operations, wherein said plurality of raster operations use one or more of a source, a paint and a destination as operands to generate a bit map representing an image portion, said plurality of commands further specifying whether transparency is effective for said source object and said paint, said image portion containing a plurality of points;
generating a data representing whether each of said plurality of points should equal said destination or a result of a corresponding one of said plurality of raster operations; and
generating said bit map based on a result of said plurality of raster operations or said destination according to said data. - View Dependent Claims (30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35)
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36. A computer readable medium carrying one or more sequences of instructions for causing a printer to fill color in an image portion of a page to be printed, wherein execution of said one or more sequences of instructions by one or more processors contained in said printer causes said one or more processors to perform the actions of:
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receiving a plurality of commands specifying content for a portion of said page, said portion containing a plurality of points, said plurality of commands specifying a raster operation to be performed to generate a bit map representing said portion, said raster operation being performed on at least one operand, wherein said plurality of commands indicate that said one operand is to be filled with a color;
determining whether performing said raster operation would result in a same value being generated for all of said plurality of points; and
if said same value would be generated, performing said raster operation for one of said plurality points to determine said same value and using said same value for all of said plurality of points. - View Dependent Claims (37, 38, 39)
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40. A computer readable medium carrying one or more sequences of instructions for causing a printer to tile patterns on a page, wherein execution of said one or more sequences of instructions by one or more processors contained in said printer causes said one or more processors to perform the actions of:
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receiving a plurality of commands specifying a pattern to be tiled on an entire image portion, said pattern being defined by a pattern data;
storing said pattern data in a memory; and
providing said pattern data stored in said memory a plurality of times as an input to raster operations to cause said pattern to be tiled multiple times on said entire image portion. - View Dependent Claims (41, 42)
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Specification