Patent ID: 7508992

Claim:
An apparatus for image processing, said apparatus comprising: a storage part configured to store image data; and a processing part configured to retrieve the image data from the storage part and perform operation of reducing one or more runlengths by converting binary-format image data for each of black and white runlengths in one direction relative to the data so as to obtain the reduced image data relative to that direction, wherein, when performing the operation of the reducing on a given one of the runlengths, the operation of the reducing is performed with reference to one or more runlengths other than the given runlength of the same line that have already been reduced, wherein, when performing the operation of the reducing on the given runlength, the operation of the reducing is administered with reference to, out of the other runlengths of the same line that have already been reduced, a runlength neighboring after the reducing, and wherein, when an outcome of the operation on a given runlength A is zero, out of the other runlengths of the same line that have already been reduced, when the logic level of a runlength B neighboring after the reducing is the logic level in reverse of the logic level of the runlength A, the outcome of the operation on said runlength A is forced to be one, whereas, when the logic level of the runlength B is the same as the logic level of the runlength A, the outcome is kept to zero as it is.