Document color determining apparatus, image processing apparatus, document color determining method and computer readable medium stored document color determining program

1. A color determining apparatus which determines whether an document is a color document or a monochrome document based on image data of the document including a plurality of pixel data, comprising:

a pixel color determination part which performs color determination of pixels based on a luminance component value and a color component value of the pixel data;

a pixel color re-determination part which set one of the pixels determined to be a color pixel by the pixel color determination part a target pixel in turn, and at a time when a plurality of filters having different outline shapes are applied to the target pixel, performs color re-determination of the target pixel according to whether all of the pixels included in the filter are determined to be color pixels or not by the pixel color determination part; and

a first document color determination part that determines whether the document is color or monochrome by comparison of a number of the pixels determined to be color pixels by the pixel color re-determination part and a reference value set in advance.

2. The color determining apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising

a first resolution conversion part that converts the image data into image data having a resolution lower than that of the image data and outputs the converted image data to the pixel color determination part.

3. The color determining apparatus according to claim 2 , wherein

the first resolution conversion part includes a region removing part which removes data of a peripheral region of the image data.

4. The color determining apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein

the first document color determination part determines whether the document is color or monochrome by a color reference value and a monochrome reference value, wherein the first document color determination part determines that:

when the number of the pixels is larger than the color reference value, the document is a color image;

when the number of the pixels is smaller than the monochrome reference value, the document is a monochrome image; and

when the number of the pixels is in between the color reference value and the monochrome reference value, the document is determination impossible.

5. The color determining apparatus according to claim 4 , further comprising

an indefinite image determination part which calculates a chroma saturation integrated value of a converted pixel determined to be a color pixel by the pixel color re-determination part, and when the chroma saturation integrated value is larger than a chroma saturation reference value which has been set in advance, determines as a color document, and when smaller than the chroma saturation reference value, determines as a monochrome document.

6. The color determining apparatus according to claim 5 , wherein

the indefinite image determination part calculates the chroma saturation integrated value according to an integration method designated among a plurality of integration methods.

7. The color determining apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein

the filters used by the pixel color re-determination part when performing the color re-determination include a planar-shaped filter with a profile shape having a two-dimensional expanse.

8. An image processing apparatus, comprising: an image reading unit which reads an image of a document and outputs image data;

a color determining apparatus according to claim 1 which determines whether the document is color or monochrome based on the image data; and

an image forming unit which forms an image of the image data according to a determination result of the color determining apparatus.

9. A color determining method for determining whether an document is a color document or a monochrome document based on image data of the document including a plurality of pixel data, comprising:

a pixel color determination procedure for performing color determination of pixels based on a luminance component value and a color component value of the pixel data;

a pixel color re-determination procedure for setting one of the pixels determined to be a color pixel in the pixel color determination procedure a target pixel in turn, and at a time when a plurality of filters having different outline shapes are applied to the target pixel, performing color re-determination of the target pixel according to whether all of the pixels included in the filter are determined to be a color pixel or not in the pixel color determination procedure; and

a first document color determination procedure for determining whether the document is color or monochrome by comparison of a number of the pixels determined to be a color pixel in the pixel color re-determination procedure and a reference value set in advance.

10. A non-transitory computer-readable medium for making a program control processor carry out color determining processing for determining whether an document is a color document or a monochrome document based on image data of the document including a plurality of pixel data, comprising:

a pixel color determination step for performing color determination of pixels based on a luminance component value and a color component value of the pixel data;

a pixel color re-determination step for setting one of the pixels determined to be a color pixel in the pixel color determination step a target pixel in turn, and at a time when a plurality of filters having different outline shapes are applied to the target pixel, performing color re-determination of the target pixel according to whether all of the pixels included in the filter are determined to be a color pixel or not in the pixel color determination step; and

a first document color determination step for determining whether the document is color or monochrome by comparison of a number of the pixels determined to be a color pixel in the pixel color re-determination step and a reference value set in advance.