Video printer having a frame memory configured to effectively utilize a double-density printing head when printing reduced-size images

• US 5,488,405 A
• Filed: 06/29/1993
• Issued: 01/30/1996
• Est. Priority Date: 06/29/1992
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Fujifilm Corporation (Fujifilm Holdings Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Fuji Photo Film Co Limited (Fujifilm Holdings Corporation)
• Inventors: Kawaoka, Yoshiki
• Primary Examiner(s): Reinhart, Mark J.
• Application Number:
  US08/083,254
• Time in Patent Office: 945 Days
• Field of Search: 346/160, 346/108, 346/107 R, 346/76 L, 346/1.1, 358/296, 358/300, 358/302, 358/298, 358/457, 347/251, 347/254, 347/240, 347/131, 347/183
• US Class Current: 347/251
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/3875 combined with enlarging or reducing enlarging or reducing per se H04N1/393

Abstract

The invention has for its object to provide a video printer which enables multi-prints of improved image quality to be obtained, and which is built up of a frame memory 18 having a capacity of 1,024 pixels (H)×512 pixels (V), a thermal head 28 of 1,024 elements, and a control unit 40 designed to repeat a printing process by the number of print lines, wherein, upon multi-printing indicated, the first four images A₁, B₁, C₁ and D₁ are reduced to 1/2 in size for writing in a frame memory 18, then the image data in Y from 0 to 511 are written at X=0 in the 0 to 511 addresses on a line memory 22, then the image data in Y from 0 to 511 are written at X=512 in the 512 to 1,023 addresses on the line memory 22, and finally the thus written 1,024 image data are transferred every print line to the thermal head 28 via a gradation control unit 24, whereby the four images are printed on a recording paper. By repeating the above process four times, 16 images are printed on the single recording paper.

Claims

1. A video printer for printing a plurality of reduced images on one recording paper, the reduced images being arranged on the one recording paper in columns, the reduced images corresponding, respectively, to a plurality of received images, each of the received images having, in a vertical direction, a number of effective scan lines, and having, in a horizontal direction, a number of pixels, said video printer comprising:

a frame memory which stores columns and rows of pixels, said frame memory having a capacity to store in a column a number of pixels that is approximately equal to the number of effective scan lines, and having a capacity to store in a row a number of pixels that is approximately twice the number of pixels of each of the received images in the horizontal direction;

a printing head comprising a number of printing elements that is approximately twice the number of pixels stored in a column of said frame memory, said printing elements being disposed to print vertical lines of pixels; and

controller means which reduces image data of said received images and which writes into the frame memory the reduced image data of the reduced images which form one of said columns of images, such that the reduced image data which is used to print one of said vertical lines of pixels is stored in two columns of the frame memory, said controller supplying the reduced image data stored in the frame memory to said printing head in order to prim one of the columns of images.

2. The video printer according to claim 1, wherein:

said controller writes into said frame memory the reduced image data of the reduced images which form another of said columns of images; and

while said controller writes the reduced image data of the reduced images into said frame memory, a position of the one recording paper relative to said printing head does not change.