Wide format image manipulation and compression in a printing environment

摘要

We investigate the task of wide format still image manipulation and compression, within the framework of a wide format document data path. For such systems, the constraints are put on performance and cost: the use of data compression aims at reducing both storage cost and the transfer times, which are critical for wide format printing systems. Nevertheless, different factors reduce the overall system performance and usability; using inadequate compression algorithms for an inadequate document content ― that can mix text, graphics and photographs―minimizes its global usefulness. Other factors limit its usability, as the non-compatibility of compressed data-stream with basic image transformations or the pixel encoding route mostly in a raster order, that do not allow random image access. In our article, we survey the adequation of some of the existing standards and compressed file formats, with respect to the constraints of the large format document systems.