System for distributing and controlling color reproduction at multiple sites
DCFirst Claim
1. An apparatus for measurement of color rendered on media comprising:
- an illumination source which directs light to the media;
optics for collecting light of said illumination source reflected from said media, in which at least said optics are moveable to scan said media;
at least a spectrograph for providing data representative of said light collected by said optics; and
one or more programs executable by one or more processors to process said data provided by said spectrograph for comparison to reference data, to store said data provided by said spectrograph in a database of historical data, to provide at least information of the grayness of mixtures of colorants for display to a user, and to communicate one or more of said data provided by said spectrograph, said reference data, and said information to one or more other computer systems using a network protocol.
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Abstract
In a color imaging system, multiple rendering devices are provided at different nodes along a network. Each rendering device has a color measurement instrument for calibrating the color presented by the rendering device. A rendering device may be a printer in which the measuring of color samples on a sheet rendered by the printer is provided by a sensor coupled to a transport mechanism which moves the sensor and sheet relative to each other, where the sensor provides light from the samples to a spectrograph. A rendering device may also be a display having a member supporting a color measuring instrument for receiving light from an area of the screen. The color measuring instruments provide for non-contact measurements of color samples rendered on a display or a sheet, and are self calibrating by the use of calibration references.
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Citations
34 Claims
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1. An apparatus for measurement of color rendered on media comprising:
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an illumination source which directs light to the media; optics for collecting light of said illumination source reflected from said media, in which at least said optics are moveable to scan said media; at least a spectrograph for providing data representative of said light collected by said optics; and one or more programs executable by one or more processors to process said data provided by said spectrograph for comparison to reference data, to store said data provided by said spectrograph in a database of historical data, to provide at least information of the grayness of mixtures of colorants for display to a user, and to communicate one or more of said data provided by said spectrograph, said reference data, and said information to one or more other computer systems using a network protocol. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 12, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 29, 30, 31, 32, 34)
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8. A method for measuring color comprising the steps of:
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providing illumination to a surface; collecting light of said illumination reflected from said surface with the aid of optics while scanning said surface; measuring said collected light with a spectrograph to provide data representative of said light collected by said optics in accordance with a calibration enabling CIE colorimetry traceable to a standard; processing said data provided by said spectrograph for comparison to reference data, said reference data comprising at least a colorimetric specification of desired colors; storing said data provided by said spectrograph in a database of measurements in association with time of measurement information; displaying information of the grayness of a color to a user; and communicating said data provided by said spectrograph or results of processing said data provided by said spectrograph, and said information to one or more computer systems through a network interface using a network protocol. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 13, 14, 26)
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15. A computer-readable storage medium encoded with a computer program for measurement of color comprising:
one or more programs executable by one or more processors to process data provided, in accordance with a calibration enabling CIE colorimetry traceable to a standard, by a measurement module for comparison to reference data, said measurement module comprising an array of sensor elements and one of spectrally selective filters or a grating to disperse light into spectral components, to store said data provided by said measurement module in a database of measurements in association with time of measurement information, to provide information of the grayness of a color for display to a user, and to communicate said data provided by said measurement module or results of processing said data provided by said measurement module and said information to one or more computer systems using a network protocol, wherein said data provided by said measurement module represents measurement of light collected through optics due to reflection or transmission of illumination of a colored object wherein at least said optics are moveable to measure said colored object. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 27, 28, 33)
Specification