Recording-material type determination apparatus and method and image forming apparatus

A recording-material type determination apparatus comprising:

• an input part adapted to input a video image of a surface of recording material;
• a first calculation part adapted to calculate information about depth of irregularities in a surface of the recording material based on video information inputted in the input unit;
• a second calculation part adapted to calculate information about spacing of irregularities on the surface of the recording material based on the video information inputted in the input unit;
• and
• a determination part adapted to determine a type of recording material based on calculation results produced by the first calculation part and the second calculation part.

A recording-material type determination method comprising:

• a read step of reading a surface of recording material as a video image;
• a first calculation step of calculating information about depth of irregularities in the surface of the recording material based on results of the read step;
• a second calculation step of calculating information about spacing of irregularities on the surface of the recording material based on the results of the read step;
• and
• a determination step of determining a type of recording material based on calculation results produced in the first calculation step and the second calculation step.

An image forming apparatus comprising:

• a conveying part adapted to convey recording material;
• an image forming part which forms an image on the recording material conveyed by the conveyor;
• a light emit unit, adapted to illuminate a surface of recording material;
• a read unit, adapted to read an illuminated region on the surface of the recording material as a video image;
• a first calculation part adapted to calculate information about depth of irregularities in the surface of the recording material based on video information read by the read unit;
• a second calculation part adapted to calculate information about spacing of irregularities on the surface of the recording material based on the video information read by the read unit;
• a determination part adapted to determine a type of recording material based on calculation results produced by the first calculation part and the second calculation part;
• and
• a control part which controls image forming conditions of the image forming part based on the type of recording material determined by the determination part.