Degradation Modeling and Prediction of Ink Fading and Diffusion of Printed Images

A great number of images are produced by color printers. Many factors lead to the degradation of printed images and its accurate prediction modeling is of a great interest. Previous research that addresses image degradation usually measures ink density or color of the prints. In this paper, we predict image degradation by the area coverage of inks. We propose a multilayered degradation transition diagram based on the halftone printing technique used by modern color printers and develop an ink fading model based on differential equations that describe the transition diagram. In addition, a vector autoregression ink diffusion model is developed by discretizing two-dimensional diffusion equation using finite difference method. The two models are integrated into a mixture degradation model to predict the area coverage change of printed images over time. We provide the parameter estimation method of the mixture degradation model. Numerical examples and a real-world case study are given to illustrate the proposed approach.