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US 12,504,931 B2Granted
Controlling and visualizing color reproduction accuracy
AssigneeFiery, LLC
InventorsMario Kuehn, Dirk De Baer
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A flexible method checks printer status, the quality and freshness of the printer calibration, and media profiles, and visualizes the results to the user in an easily understandable way. The so-determined device status can be used for an actual status update, stored within a cloud, and used for status tracking and decision-making.
Claims36
A method for controlling and visualizing color reproduction accuracy, comprising:
- selecting a spot color library containing quality critical colors relevant to expected visual fidelity;
- defining one or more spot colors from said spot color library for validation;
- deriving a colorimetric interpretation of substrate surface color of said spot colors with a capturing device;
- comparing measured values for each of said spot colors to a corresponding value predicted by an ICC profile or other description of printer color behavior;
- and
- applying a statistical or weighted conversion formula that translates a summary of deviations of said measured values for each of said spot color patches into a normalized print health score value within a predefined range indicative of overall print quality, wherein said health score is visually presented on an interpretable scale.
3 more elements
A method for controlling and visualizing color reproduction accuracy, comprising:
- printing a patch pattern comprising each of one or more spot colors for selected validation from a spot color library containing quality critical colors relevant to expected visual fidelity;
- measuring a printed patch pattern with a color capturing device;
- and
- processing results of said measuring by comparing measured values for each of said patches in said pattern to a corresponding value predicted by an ICC profile or other description of printer color behavior;
- and
- applying a statistical or weighted conversion formula that translates a summary of deviations of said measured values for each of said spot color patches into a normalized print health score value within a predefined range indicative of overall print quality, wherein said health score is visually presented on an interpretable scale.
3 more elements
A method for generating a printer health score, comprising:
- converting an original CIE L*a*b* value into printer colorants using an ICC profile for said printer or another description that describes how to translate CIE L*a*b* values back to a corresponding printer value combination necessary to make an acceptable rendering on the printer of a color represented by a CIE L*a*b* value;
- predicting CIE L*a*b* values using conversion tables in the ICC profile or another model for printer colors;
- printing a patch pattern comprising each of one or more spot colors for selected validation from a spot color library containing quality critical colors relevant to expected visual fidelity;
- measuring a printed patch pattern with a color capturing device;
- determining a value for color difference between an original patch and the prediction values using any of Delta E 1976, Delta E 2000 Delta E, Delta E+Delta H, or Delta E+Delta CH+Delta H difference formulas;
- transforming said color difference value into a print quality check comprising a translation of the color difference value into an easier-to-understand overall print quality score value in a common bad-to-good range by:
- applying a statistical or weighted conversion formula that translates a summary of deviations of said measured values for each of said patches into a normalized print health score value within a predefined range indicative of overall print quality, wherein said health score is visually presented on an interpretable scale.
4 more elements
A method for generating a printer health score, comprising:
- converting an original CIE L*a*b* value into printer colorants using an ICC profile for said printer or another description that describes how to translate CIE L*a*b* values back to a corresponding printer value combination necessary to make an acceptable rendering on the printer of a color represented by a CIE L*a*b* value;
- predicting CIE L*a*b* values using conversion tables in the ICC profile or another model for printer colors;
- printing a patch pattern comprising each of one or more spot colors for selected validation from a spot color library containing quality critical;
- measuring a printed patch pattern with a color capturing device;
- determining a value for color difference between an original patch and the prediction values using any of Delta E 1976, Delta E 2000 Delta E, Delta E+Delta H, or Delta E+Delta CH+Delta H difference formulas;
- transforming said color difference value into a print quality check comprising a translation of the color difference value into an easier-to-understand overall print quality score value in a common bad-to-good range by applying a conversion formula that translates a summary of the prediction values for all patches into a value within a chosen score range;
- generating a report to visualize a printer health score;
- independently providing said report in a PDF or other form;
- and
- storing said report within a cloud environment;
- and
- further comprising:
- a plurality of presses uploading to a cloud server measurements, metadata, calibration information, and profile information;
- and
- a plurality of presses receiving from a cloud server analysis of current state, comparison with other presses within a press fleet, guidance for decision-making, and guidance for appropriate maintenance action.
12 more elements
A method for generating a printer health score, comprising:
- converting an original key color value into printer colorants using a profile for said printer that describes how to translate said original color value back to a corresponding printer value combination necessary to make an acceptable rendering on the printer of a color represented by the original key color value;
- predicting original key color values using conversion tables in the profile for printer colors;
- printing a patch pattern comprising each of one or more key colors for selected validation;
- measuring a printed patch pattern with a color capturing device;
- determining a value for color difference between an original patch and the prediction values using a difference formula;
- transforming said color difference value into a print quality check comprising a translation of the color difference value into an easier-to-understand overall print quality score value in a common bad-to-good range by:
- applying a statistical or weighted conversion formula that translates a summary of deviations of said measured values for each of said patches into a normalized print health score value within a predefined range indicative of overall print quality, wherein said health score is visually presented on an interpretable scale.
4 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.