1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a system and method for processing an image having edges, and more particularly to a system and method for reducing false granularity in rendering edges in an image.
2. Description of Related Art
An image reproduction machine, such as a printer, typically partitions an image into picture elements called pixels. Each pixel has a fixed shape and size, the area within a particular pixel has uniform intensity. In general, however, image structures do not have shapes corresponding to the pixel shape. Ideally, the pixel size should be sufficiently small so that image quality is good, and a viewer of an image produced by a printer does not perceive the individual pixels. Because the available pixel size is typically fixed, there is a need for improvement in image quality achieved for a given pixel size.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,703,363 issued to Kitamura relates to an apparatus for improving image quality by smoothing jagged border lines. Other publications that may be of general interest include U.S. Pat. No. 4,866,534 issued to Tada, U.S. Pat. No. 4,817,174 issued to Nakatani, U.S. Pat. No. 4,805,033 issued to Nishikawa, U.S. Pat. No. 4,259,694 issued to Liao, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,698,778 issued to Ito et al.