Patent ID: 8687240

Claim:
An image processing apparatus comprising: an edge detection unit which detects an edge portion in inputted image data; a screen processing unit which performs screen processing for a pixel of interest in the inputted image data using a threshold matrix to generate a binary pattern having a predetermined number of bits; a first filtering unit which performs a filtering processing for the inputted image data using a first filter having a visual sense characteristic; and a correction calculation unit which, when said edge detection unit detects that the pixel of interest in the inputted image data is an edge pixel, corrects the binary pattern for the pixel of interest by said screen processing unit using a correction amount determined by the result of filtering processing for the pixel of interest by said first filtering unit, thereby determining an output binary pattern of the pixel of interest, wherein the output binary pattern is a value indicating a tone level reproducible by a printer engine, wherein said correction unit includes a second filtering unit which performs a filtering processing of the binary pattern for the inputted image data by said screen processing unit using a filter having a visual sense characteristic and an engine characteristic of the printer engine, and wherein said correction unit, using the correction amount which is the difference between the result of the filtering processing by said first filtering unit and the result of the filtering processing by said second filtering unit, corrects the binary pattern for the pixel of interest by said screen processing unit.