Patent 7403310 was granted and assigned to RICOH COMPANY,LTD. on July, 2008 by the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
An edge amount detector detects an edge amount from RGB signals, and a filter processor synthesizes an output for edge enhancement with an output for smoothing at a proportion based on the detected edge amount. Another edge amount detector detects an edge amount of a black component from CMY signals, and an ink generator/undercolor remover changes an ink generation rate according to the detected edge amount.