JP2002344727A - Wide-angle image display device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a wide-angle image display device that can properly display a panorama image, having a very large ratio of a long side to a short side within a rectangular frame. SOLUTION: An omnibearing imaging device 1 photographs an omnibearing image, and a geometrical conversion circuit 6 applies geometrical conversion to the image to turn it into a panorama image. The circuit 6 sends the obtained panorama image to an image converter 7. An image division circuit 8 of the image converter 7 calculates an optimum magnification, a division number and a layout direction, on the basis of number of longitudinal and lateral pixels of the panorama image 12 and number of longitudinal and lateral pixels of a monitor and generates a divided images, resulting from dividing the panorama image 12 according to the result. An image magnifying/reducing circuit 9 adjusts the sizes of the divided images depending on the magnification, the division number and the layout direction calculated by the image dividing circuit 8 and lays out the result to an area of a graphic memory 10 and the monitor 11 displays the result.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a wide-angle image display apparatus for displaying a vertically or horizontally long panoramic image having a ratio of the long side to the short side of a rectangular image of 4: 3 or more in a rectangular frame. .

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A panoramic image is a very effective image for transmitting an object to be imaged with a high sense of reality because of a wide field of view.
Such a panoramic image is obtained by capturing and synthesizing a plurality of images, a method of capturing and generating a wide-angle lens such as a fish-eye lens, and a method of capturing a wide-angle image of 180 degrees or more at a time using a reflecting mirror. There is known a method of generating by geometric transformation.

[0003] In most cases, a panoramic image generated and obtained by these methods is a vertically long or horizontally long image. Conventionally, these images are displayed on a horizontally long screen whose aspect ratio is relatively close to a square such as 3: 4 or 9:16.

[0004]

In the case of an image in which the ratio of the long side to the short side of the panoramic image is very large, for example, the horizontal 18
Considering the case where the monitor device has an angle of view of 0 degrees and a height of 60 degrees, when the monitor device displays an image of a 180-degree angle of view so as to fit into 640 pixels when, for example, the number of pixels has an aspect ratio of 480 × 640, The direction uses only a range of 213 pixels, and as a result, about half of the display area of 480 pixels in the vertical direction is not used.

Therefore, the resolution of the panoramic image is determined by the number of horizontal pixels of the monitor device, and a very useless area is generated on the screen of the monitor device.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a wide-angle image display device suitable for displaying a panoramic image having a very large ratio of a long side to a short side in a rectangular frame.

[0007]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a wide-angle image display apparatus for generating a vertically long or horizontally long panoramic image having a ratio of a long side to a short side exceeding 4: 3. Means, image division arrangement means for generating a converted image in which the divided images obtained by dividing the panoramic image into a plurality of images are arranged in the long side direction or the short side direction of the rectangular frame, and
Display means for displaying the converted image arranged in the rectangular frame.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the wide-angle image display device according to the first aspect, when arranging the plurality of divided images in the long side direction of the rectangular frame, The size of the plurality of divided images in the side direction is enlarged or reduced so as to substantially match the length of the short side direction of the rectangular frame, and the plurality of divided images are arranged in the short side direction of the rectangular frame. When arranging, the size of the plurality of divided images in the long side direction of the rectangular frame is enlarged or reduced so as to match or substantially match the length of the rectangular frame in the long side direction. It is characterized by.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the wide-angle image display device according to the first aspect, the image dividing and arranging means is arranged such that the number of pixels on the long side of the rectangular frame is H and the number of pixels on the short side is V,
Assuming that the number of pixels on the long side of the panoramic image is a and the number of pixels on the short side is b, the largest integer values n1 and (Va) satisfying (Ha) / (Vb) ≥n1n1 / (H · b) ≧ n2 · n2 and the largest integer value n2 that satisfies: (n1 ·
V) ≧ (n2 · H), the panoramic image is converted to n1
The divided images are arranged side by side in the long side direction of the rectangular frame, and when (n1 · V) <(n2 · H), the image obtained by dividing the panoramic image into n2 pieces is arranged in the short side direction of the rectangular frame. It is characterized in that it is configured to generate converted images arranged side by side.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided the wide-angle image display device according to the first aspect, wherein the image generating means is arranged to be substantially 180 degrees or more.
It is characterized by comprising wide-angle imaging means for obtaining a wide-angle image obtained by imaging a 360-degree angle of view at one time.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the wide-angle image display device according to the first aspect, the image generating means includes a reflecting mirror having a shape to be rotated and an image reflected by the reflecting mirror. An image pickup device for picking up an image having an angle of view of about 180 degrees to 360 degrees around the rotational symmetry axis, and a geometric conversion circuit for converting a wide-angle image obtained by the image pickup device into a panoramic image. It is characterized by having done.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a wide-angle image display apparatus comprising: a plurality of image generating means for generating a plurality of vertically or horizontally long panoramic images having a ratio of a long side to a short side exceeding 4: 3; An image synthesizing unit that generates a synthesized image in which a plurality of the panoramic images are arranged in a long side direction or a short side direction of a rectangular frame; and a display unit that displays the synthesized image arranged in the rectangular frame. It is characterized by.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in the wide-angle image display device according to the sixth aspect, when the plurality of panoramic images are arranged in a long-side direction of the rectangular frame, the size of the plurality of panoramic images is increased. When the plurality of panoramic images are arranged in the short side direction of the rectangular frame, the size of the plurality of panoramic images is reduced by the size of the rectangular frame. It is characterized in that it is arranged so as to be enlarged or reduced to substantially match the length in the long side direction.

In a wide-angle image display apparatus according to an eighth aspect of the present invention, in the sixth aspect, the image synthesizing means is arranged such that the number of pixels on the long side of the rectangular frame is H, and the number of pixels on the short side is V. Assuming that the number of pixels on the long side of each of the M panoramic images is c and the number of pixels on the short side is d, when c / (M · d) ≧ H / V, a plurality of pixels are arranged in the short side direction of the rectangular frame. Generating a composite image in which the panoramic images are arranged, and generating a composite image in which a plurality of the panoramic images are arranged in a long side direction of the rectangular frame when c / (M · d) <H / V It is characterized by having done.

According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, in the wide-angle image display device according to the ninth aspect, the image generating means is arranged to have an angle of about 180 degrees.
A plurality of wide-angle image capturing means for obtaining a wide-angle image obtained by capturing an image of a 360-degree angle of view at a time, and a plurality of panoramic images generated by parallelly transforming a plurality of wide-angle images obtained from the plurality of wide-angle image capturing means The image combining means reads out the images sequentially from the plurality of panoramic images in the long-side direction and arranges the combined images arranged so that the long sides coincide with the short-side directions of the rectangular frame. It is characterized in that it is configured to generate.

According to a tenth aspect of the present invention, in the wide-angle image display device according to the sixth aspect, the image generating means includes a plurality of the wide-angle images for obtaining a wide-angle image obtained by capturing an image having an angle of view of approximately 180 to 360 degrees at one time. The image composing means is constituted by wide-angle imaging means,
One image is called from a plurality of wide-angle images obtained from the plurality of wide-angle imaging means and geometrically transformed, and the obtained panoramic images are arranged and arranged so that the long side of the panoramic image coincides with the long side direction of the rectangular frame. It is characterized in that a composite image is generated by repeatedly performing the processing for the number of the plurality of wide-angle imaging means.

[0017]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. (Embodiment 1) FIGS. 1 to 4 show a wide-angle image display apparatus (Embodiment 1) of the present invention.

In FIG. 1, an image generating means A for generating a vertically or horizontally long panoramic image in which the ratio of the length of the long side to the length of the short side exceeds 4: 3 includes an omnidirectional imaging apparatus 1 as a wide-angle imaging apparatus and And a geometric transformation circuit 6 for geometrically transforming a wide-angle image obtained by the wide-angle imaging device into a panoramic image.

An omnidirectional image pickup device 1 for picking up an image with a 360-degree omnidirectional angle of view includes a reflecting mirror 2, a lens 3 and a photoelectric conversion element 4 which constitute an image pickup device for picking up an image reflected by the reflecting mirror 2. It is configured.

The reflecting mirror 2 is a surface to be rotated around the Z axis as a central axis, and in this (first embodiment) is a hyperboloid. Here, the light from the direction of 360 degrees around the Z axis is reflected by the reflection surface 2, condensed by the lens 3, and forms an image on the imaging surface of the photoelectric conversion element 4. The hatched portion 5 indicates an image forming area.

Therefore, the omnidirectional imaging device 1 can form an image in a region of θ = 0 to 360 degrees around the Z axis and an elevation angle γ from the XY plane. The geometric transformation circuit 6
As shown in FIG. 2, the band-shaped image formed on the image forming surface of the photoelectric conversion element 4 is geometrically converted to a panoramic image 12 as shown in FIG.

A divided image 13 obtained by dividing the panoramic image 12
The image converter 7 serving as an image dividing and arranging unit that generates a converted image in which a to 13c are arranged in the long side direction or the short side direction of the rectangular frame of the monitor device 11 as the display unit includes an image dividing circuit 8 and an image enlarging unit. It comprises a reduction circuit 9 and a graphic memory 10.

The image dividing circuit 8 generates an image obtained by dividing the panoramic image obtained by the geometric transformation circuit 6. The image enlargement / reduction circuit 9 adjusts the size of the divided image and allocates it to the graphic memory 10.

The monitor device 11 includes the graphic memory 1
0 is displayed on the screen in the same layout stored as 0. When the relationship between the display image 14 displayed on the monitor device 11 and the omnidirectional image formed on the image plane of the photoelectric conversion element 4 as shown in FIG. 4 is described in detail, the geometric conversion circuit 6 shown in FIG. As described above, the omnidirectional image γ and the θ direction are geometrically transformed into the panoramic image 12 in which the directions are the long side and the short side, respectively.

The configuration of FIG. 1 will be described in more detail based on the operation. This device is described below (step 1-1).
To (step 1-5).

In (step 1-1), the omnidirectional imaging device 1 captures an omnidirectional image, and sends the obtained image to the geometric transformation circuit 6. In (Step 1-2), the geometric transformation circuit 6 geometrically transforms into a panoramic image around the Z axis as described above. FIG. 3 shows the obtained panoramic image. Here, the obtained image is θ
= 360 degrees and γ = 40 degrees, and assume that an image having the number of pixels of a = 360 pixels and b = 40 pixels has been obtained. The image thus obtained is sent to the image converter 7.

In (Step 1-3), the image dividing circuit 8
Calculates the optimal enlargement ratio, the number of divisions, and the arrangement direction from the number of vertical and horizontal pixels of the panoramic image 12 and the number of vertical and horizontal pixels of the monitor device, and generates a divided image obtained by dividing the panoramic image 12 according to the calculation result. The method of calculating the optimum number of divisions, the enlargement ratio, and the display direction will be described later.

In (step 1-4), the image enlargement / reduction circuit 9 calculates the enlargement ratio, the number of divisions,
The size of the divided images 13a to 13c is adjusted according to the arrangement direction, and the divided images 13a to 13c are allocated to the area of the graphic memory 10.
If the enlargement ratio is 1 or less, the image is reduced.

In (step 1-5), the monitor device 11
Displays the image in the graphic memory 10 on the monitor device. In FIG. 4, the image divided by the division number 3 is displayed on the monitor device 1.
3 shows a case where three images are arranged in the long side direction. Reference numerals 15a to 15c denote areas corresponding to the divided images 13a to 13c.

Here, a method of determining the enlargement ratio, the number of divisions, and the arrangement direction in (Step 1-3) will be described. As shown in FIG. 3, the number of pixels on the long side of the panoramic image 12 is a, and the number of pixels on the short side is b. 4, the number of pixels on the long side of the monitor device 11 is H, and the number of pixels on the short side is V.

When the panoramic image 12 is equally divided into n1 pieces and displayed side by side in the long side direction of the monitor device 11, the number of pixels a in the long side direction of the divided images 13a to 13c: Number of pixels: Displayed to be the same as V.

Here, assuming that the magnification of the image to be enlarged or reduced so that the length of the divided image in the long side direction coincides with the short side length of the monitor device is α, (α · a) / n1 = V (1) holds.

On the other hand, considering the long side direction of the monitor device 11, the following relationship must be established so that when the n1 divided images are arranged, they do not exceed the screen area. (Α · b · n1) ≦ H (2) Therefore, a relationship of (H · a) / (V · b) ≧ n1 ² (3) is obtained from Expressions (1) and (2). Therefore, the largest integer value that satisfies Expression (3) may be adopted as the number of divisions n1.

On the other hand, the panoramic image is equally divided into n2
In the case of displaying the images side by side on the short side of the monitor device 11,
The divided image is displayed such that the length in the long side direction is the same as the long side length of the monitor device 11. Here, assuming that β is an enlargement ratio for enlarging or reducing the image so that the length of the divided image in the long side direction matches the long side length of the monitor device 11, (β · a) / n 2 = H (4) holds.

On the other hand, considering the short side direction of the monitor device 11, when the n2 divided images are arranged, the following relationship must be established so as not to exceed the screen area. (Β · b · n2) ≦ V (5) Accordingly, the relationship of (V · a) / (H · b) ≧ n2 ² (6) is obtained from Expressions (4) and (5). Therefore, the largest integer value that satisfies Expression (6) may be adopted as the division number n2.

Next, a method for determining the arrangement direction will be described. In order to effectively arrange the panoramic image 12 on the monitor device 11, the image having the same angle of view can be expressed by more pixels if the enlargement ratio is as large as possible, so that the image quality is improved.

Therefore, from the equations (1) and (4), the enlargement ratios in the case of arranging vertically and in the case of arranging horizontally are respectively: α = n1 · V / a (7) β = n2 · H / a ( 8) Therefore, first, the largest n1 and n2 satisfying the equations (3) and (6) are obtained, and the equations (7) and (8) are obtained.
To obtain α and β, and compare α and β. The arrangement direction and the number of divisions are determined according to the result.

When α ≧ β, that is, (n1 · V) ≧
In the case of (n2 · H), the panoramic image 12 is divided into n1 images, and the divided images enlarged by α times are arranged side by side in the long side direction of the monitor device 11.

When α <β, ie, (n1 · V) <
In the case of (n2 · H), the panoramic image 12 is divided into n2 images, and the divided images enlarged by β times are arranged side by side in the short side direction of the monitor device 11.

Using the image of FIG. 3 as an example, the number of divisions, enlargement ratio, and arrangement direction are obtained. The panoramic image 12 in FIG.
= 360 pixels, b = 40 pixels, and the number of pixels on the long side of the monitor device 11: H = 640 pixels, the number of pixels on the short side:
It is assumed that V = 480 pixels.

From equations (3) and (6), n1 = 3, n2
= 2. From Equations (7) and (8), α = 4
β = 3.56. Therefore, since α ≧ β,
After being divided into three parts and enlarged by four times, they are displayed side by side in the long side direction of the monitor device 11.

In FIG. 3, reference numerals 13a to 13c denote three divided images. After being magnified four times, the images are rotated by 90 degrees as shown in FIG. . The areas 15a, 15b, and 15c respectively indicate areas to which the divided images 13a, 13b, and 13c have been applied.

As described above, according to the first embodiment,
A panoramic image obtained from a wide-angle image capturing device such as an omnidirectional image capturing device is subjected to an optimal number of divisions, an enlargement ratio, and a display method according to an aspect ratio of the panoramic image 12 and an aspect ratio of the monitor device 11. Monitor display with good image quality.

The omnidirectional imaging device 1 and the geometric conversion circuit 6
Has been described, the panoramic image 12 is not necessarily required to be omnidirectional, and the panoramic image 12 need not be rectangular.

FIGS. 5 to 7 show images when a fish-eye camera is used. In FIG. 5, reference numeral 16 denotes an image forming plane of the photoelectric conversion element 4 of the fish-eye camera, and reference numeral 17 denotes an image forming area of a fish-eye image (as is well known, in a fish-eye camera that captures a full 180-
The imaging area is circular). Here, a panoramic image having a horizontal angle of about 180 degrees and a vertical angle of about 45 degrees is a hatched portion 18.

FIG. 6 shows a panoramic image 18 obtained by cutting out a panoramic area, which is not rectangular. Therefore, by setting the long side and the short side of the panoramic image 18 to the widths of a ′ and b ′ in FIG. 6, the same processing as in the first embodiment can be performed. FIG. 7 shows an example of the resulting display image. Reference numeral 19 denotes a display image displayed on the monitor device 11.

As described above, a panoramic image obtained from a wide-angle image pickup device such as an omnidirectional image pickup device is converted into an optimum number of divisions, an enlargement ratio, and a display method according to the aspect ratio of the panorama image and the aspect ratio of the monitor device. , It is possible to perform monitor display with good image quality.

(Embodiment 2) FIGS. 8 to 12 show (Embodiment 2) of the present invention, in which a plurality of omnidirectional imaging devices shown in (Embodiment 1) are movable. This is to combine and display images output from a plurality of omnidirectional imaging devices.

In FIG. 8, a plurality of vertically or horizontally long panoramic images 2 whose ratio of the length of the long side to the length of the short side exceeds 4: 3.
The plurality of image generating means for generating 0a to 20c include the omnidirectional imaging devices 1a, 1b, and 1c having the same structure as the omnidirectional imaging device 1 in (Embodiment 1) and the geometric conversion circuit 6.
It is composed of

Image synthesizing means 21 for generating a synthesized image arranged side by side in the long side direction or short side direction of the rectangular frame
Is composed of an image synthesis circuit 22, an image enlargement / reduction circuit 9, and a graphic memory 10. The geometric conversion circuit 6, the image enlargement / reduction circuit 9, and the graphic memory 10 also have the same functions as in the first embodiment.

The rotation monitor 41 is a monitor capable of rotating the display screen by 90 degrees or more between the solid line position and the virtual line position in the plane. Reference numeral 45 denotes a recording device for recording an image displayed on the rotation monitor device 41.

FIG. 9 shows a specific example 1 of the panoramic image 20a of FIG. Long side length c = 1 of this panoramic image 23
It is assumed that 60 pixels and the short side length d = 30 pixels. FIG. 10 shows an image displayed on the rotation monitor device 41, and the display image 24
It is assumed that the long side H = 640 pixels and the short side V = 480 pixels. 2
5a, 25b and 25c are the panoramic images 20 respectively.
a, 20b, and 20c are enlarged display areas.

FIG. 11 shows a specific example 2 of the panoramic image 20a of FIG. Long side length c = 3 of this panoramic image 26
It is assumed that 60 pixels and the short side length d = 130 pixels. FIG.
This is an image displayed on the rotation monitor 41, and the long side H of the display image 27 is 640 pixels and the short side V is 480 pixels. 28a, 28b, and 28c are display areas where the panoramic images 20a, 20b, and 20c are enlarged and displayed, respectively.

This apparatus is described below (step 2-1).
(Step 2-3). Hereinafter, the configuration of the wide-angle image display device according to the second embodiment will be described in detail based on operations.

In (Step 2-1), the omnidirectional imaging devices 1a, 1b, and 1c each take an image, and the geometrical conversion circuit 6 performs geometrical conversion in this order to generate panoramic images 20a and 20a.
b, 20c.

In (Step 2-2), the image synthesizing circuit 2
2 determines the optimum combination direction and enlargement ratio from the number of vertical and horizontal pixels of the panoramic images 20a to 20c and the number of vertical and horizontal pixels of the rotation monitor device 41, and generates a composite image according to the result. The method of determining the combination direction and the enlargement ratio will be described later.

In (Step 2-3), the image enlargement / reduction circuit 9 enlarges the synthesized image in the synthesis direction and the enlargement ratio obtained by the image synthesis circuit 22, allocates the image to an address on the graphic memory 10, and performs rotation monitoring. It is displayed on the device 41.
The display image of the rotation monitor device 41 is a panoramic image 20a.
If the display direction is different from the original display direction of 〜20c, the rotation monitor device 41 is rotated by 90 degrees so that the display does not feel strange.

That is, the rotation monitor device 41 is rotated so that the orientation of the panorama image in the imaging space coincides with the orientation of the orientation when displayed on the rotation monitor device 41 so as to avoid a sense of incongruity. Further, the rotation monitoring device 41
Are recorded in the recording device 45.

The method of determining the combination direction and the enlargement ratio shown in (Step 2-2) will be described. As shown in FIG. 9, the number of pixels on the long side of the panoramic image 23 is c, the number of pixels on the short side is d, and the number of images to be combined is M. Further, as shown in FIG. 12, the numbers of pixels in the vertical and horizontal directions of the monitor device 11 are V and H. H is the long side and V is the short side.

When M panoramic images are arranged side by side in the direction of the short side of the panoramic image and synthesized, the synthesized rectangular synthesized image is composed of two sides c and M · d. Where c
When ≧ (M · d), since the side of c is long in the composite image, c
The display is performed so that the side is in the long side direction of the monitor device. However, the enlargement ratio at this time is η1 and η2 when η1 = H / c (9) η2 = V / (M · d) (10) so that the synthesized image after the enlargement does not protrude from the monitor frame. Is configured to use the smaller of the two.

When c <(M · d), the composite image is M · d
Is displayed so that the side c is in the short side direction of the monitor device. However, the enlargement ratio at this time is κ1 and κ2 when κ1 = V / c (11) κ2 = H / (M · d) (12) so that the synthesized image after the enlargement does not protrude from the monitor frame. Is configured to use the smaller of the two.

Such a method of determining the combination direction and the enlargement ratio will be described with reference to specific examples of the panoramic image shown in FIGS. In the case of FIG. 9, the panoramic image 23 has c = 16
0 pixels, d = 30 pixels. The number of images is three. Further, if the number of pixels of the rotation monitor device 41 is H = 6
There are 40 pixels and V = 480 pixels. Therefore, c = 1
60, M · d = 90, and since c ≧ M · d, c
The display is performed so that the side is in the direction of the long side H of the monitor device.
Here, from the equation (9), the enlargement ratio is η1 = 4, and the equation (10)
Since η2 = 5.3, the enlargement factor is 4. Since the enlargement ratio is matched in the H direction, a blank area 24a is generated below the display areas 25a to 25c with respect to the display image 24 as shown in FIG. However, the panoramic images 25a-2
5c may be evenly displayed in the V direction, and a blank area may be provided between the images.

Next, the panoramic image shown in FIG. 11 will be described. In the case of FIG. 11, the panoramic image 26 has c = 360 pixels and d = 130 pixels. The number of images is three. Further, if the number of pixels of the rotation monitor device 41 is H = 64
There are 0 pixels and V = 480 pixels. Therefore, c <M
Since it is d, the display is performed so that the side c is in the direction of the short side V of the monitor device 41. Here, since the enlargement ratio is κ1 = 1.33 from Expression (11) and κ2 = 1.64 from Expression (12), the enlargement ratio is 1.33. Since the enlargement ratio is matched in the V direction, as shown in FIG. 12, a blank area 27 is displayed on the display image 27 between the display areas 28a, 28b, and 28c.
a and 27b occur. However, the display areas 28a to 28
A blank area may be provided at the right or left end in the H direction without the blank area between c.

According to the second embodiment, a plurality of panoramic images 20a to 20c from a wide-angle image capturing device such as a plurality of omnidirectional image capturing devices 1a to 1c can be obtained by monitoring the aspect ratio of the panoramic image and the monitor. By synthesizing and displaying images at the optimum magnification and display method according to the aspect ratio of the device, it is possible to display and record a plurality of images with good image quality by effectively using the monitor screen. .

(Embodiment 3) (Embodiment 3) will be described with reference to FIGS. 13 and 14 and supplementary FIGS. 11 and 12. FIG.

FIG. 13 shows a wide-angle image display device according to the third embodiment. In this (Embodiment 3), when a plurality of panoramic images are synthesized and displayed, the synthesizing direction and the enlargement ratio are known, and the plurality of panoramic images are displayed in the scanning direction of the horizontal scanning line of the monitor device (usually, the long side). The display is arranged side by side in the same direction, thereby reducing the display delay of moving images and dropping frames.

Reference numerals 1a, 1b, and 1c denote the same three omnidirectional imaging devices according to the second embodiment. Reference numeral 29 denotes a multi-channel panorama converter as a geometric conversion circuit for geometrically converting a plurality of wide-angle images obtained from the plurality of wide-angle imaging means 1a to 1c to generate a plurality of panorama images. It has a multi-channel image capture circuit 30 having a processing function and a high-speed geometric conversion circuit 31, and outputs images output from the omnidirectional imaging devices 1a to 1c to A
After the / D conversion, the panoramic images 32a to 32c are geometrically converted.
Generate

Reference numeral 33 denotes an image synthesizer, which is an image switching circuit 3
4, an image enlargement / reduction circuit 9 and a graphic memory 10. The image switching circuit 34 controls the panoramic images 32a to 32a.
While switching the access to 32c, a part of each image is extracted and sent to the image enlargement / reduction circuit 9. The image enlargement / reduction circuit 9 enlarges or reduces a part of the obtained image and allocates it to the graphic memory 10. The image allocated to the graphic memory 10 is directly reflected on the display of the monitor device 11.

It is assumed that the panoramic image in (Embodiment 3) is the same as FIG. 11 in (Embodiment 2).
As a result, the display image of FIG. 12 is generated. FIG.
Displays a plurality of panoramic images 32a to 32 on the monitor device 1
FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of an image combining process showing a combining method to be displayed on No. 1;

Reference numerals 35a, 35b and 35c denote the first columns in the long side direction (Y direction) of the panoramic image. 36
a, 36b, and 36c indicate display positions after the panoramic images 32a to 32c are enlarged or reduced. Reference numeral 37 denotes a moving direction of a scanning line when displaying information in the graphic memory 10 on the monitor device 11.

Hereinafter, FIGS. 13 and 14 and, as a supplement,
The operation of the wide-angle image display device according to the third embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. This apparatus is configured to execute the following (Step 3-1) to (Step 3-4). The configuration of the wide-angle image display device according to the third embodiment will be described in detail based on operation.

In (Step 3-1), the three images obtained by each of the omnidirectional imaging devices 1a to 1c are sent to the multi-channel panorama converter 29, and the multi-channel image capture circuit 30 performs A / D conversion. And captures three images in parallel and almost at the same time.
1, panoramic images 32a, 32b and 32c are generated.

In (Step 3-2), as shown in FIG. 14, first, the image switching circuit 34 switches the access to the panoramic images 32a to 32c while changing the first column in the long side direction of the panoramic image. The images 35a, 35b and 35c are cut out.

In (Step 3-3), the cut-out image is next scaled by the image scaling circuit 9 and allocated to the graphic memory 10. Since the enlargement ratio is equivalent to the panoramic image of FIG. 11 of the second embodiment, it is 1.3.
It is three times.

In (Step 3-4), a part of the allocated image is displayed on the monitor device 11 according to the scanning direction 37. Hereinafter, (Step 3-2) and (Step 3-3) are sequentially performed in the Y direction of the panoramic images 32a to 32c to generate a composite image.

As described above, in the third embodiment, when a plurality of panoramic images are displayed side by side in the scanning direction of the horizontal scanning line of the monitor device (usually, the long side direction), in other words, the plurality of panoramic images are displayed. When generating a composite image in which the long sides of 32a to 32c are arranged side by side so as to match the short side direction of the rectangular frame of the monitor device 11, the multi-channel panorama converter 29 outputs the result of simultaneous conversion of a plurality of images. By doing so, the image switching circuit 34 can smoothly call the data from the panoramic image, so that the display delay of the moving image and the drop of frames can be reduced.

(Embodiment 4) FIGS. 15 and 16 show a wide-angle image display device according to (Embodiment 4). In this (Embodiment 4), when a plurality of panoramic images are combined and displayed, the combining direction and the enlargement ratio are known, and the plurality of panoramic images are displayed in the scanning direction of the horizontal scanning line of the monitor device (usually, the long side). The following describes a wide-angle image display device configured to simplify the circuit and reduce the cost when displaying images side by side, and to reduce display delays and dropouts of moving images.

Reference numerals 1a, 1b, and 1c in FIG. 15 denote the same omnidirectional imaging devices as in the second embodiment. Reference numeral 38 denotes an image conversion / synthesizer, which includes an original image switching circuit 39, an image capture circuit 40, a geometric conversion circuit 6, an image enlargement / reduction circuit 9, and a graphic memory 10.

The original image switching circuit 39 sequentially switches the image input from the omnidirectional imaging devices 1a, 1b, 1c on an image basis and sends the image input to the image capture circuit 40. After A / D conversion of the image input by the image capture circuit 40,
A plurality of wide-angle images obtained from the omnidirectional imaging devices 1a, 1b, and 1c are geometrically transformed to generate a panoramic image by a geometric transformation circuit 6 that produces a plurality of panoramic images. The panoramic image obtained from the geometric transformation circuit 6 is an image enlarging / reducing circuit 9 which constitutes an image synthesizing means for generating a synthesized image in which the long sides of a plurality of panoramic images are arranged so as to coincide with the long side direction of the rectangular frame. The image is enlarged and reduced by the image enlargement / reduction circuit 9 by the graphic memory 10 and assigned to a predetermined address of the graphic memory 10. The image allocated to the graphic memory 10 is displayed on the monitor device 11 as it is.

The panoramic image in (Embodiment 4) is the same as FIG. 9 in (Embodiment 2), and as a result, the long sides of the plurality of panoramic images are rectangular like the display image in FIG. A synthesized image arranged and arranged so as to match the long side direction of the frame is generated.

FIG. 16 is a schematic diagram showing the operation of the image synthesis converter 38. Reference numerals 42a, 42b, and 42c are omnidirectional images obtained from the omnidirectional imaging devices 1a to 1c in FIG. 15, respectively, and form an image in the same circle as the omnidirectional image illustrated in FIG. Reference numeral 43 denotes an image obtained by subjecting an image selected from the omnidirectional images 42 a to 42 c by the original image switching device 39 to A / D conversion by the image capture circuit 40 and then converting by the geometric conversion circuit 6. Reference numeral 44 denotes a display area where the panorama image enlarged or reduced by the image enlargement / reduction circuit 9 is arranged on the graphic memory 10. Reference numeral 37 denotes a moving direction of a scanning line when displaying information in the graphic memory 10 on the monitor device 11.

This apparatus is described below (step 4-
It is configured to execute 1) to (Step 4-4). Hereinafter, the operation of the wide-angle image display device (Embodiment 4) will be described with reference to FIGS. 15 and 16 and supplementary FIGS. 9 and 10.

In (Step 4-1), the omnidirectional imaging devices 1a, 1b, and 1c each capture a wide-angle image. In (Step 4-2), as shown in FIG. 16, the original image switching circuit 39 selects one image from the omnidirectional images 42a to 42c obtained from the omnidirectional imaging devices 1a, 1b, 1c, and Send to capture circuit 40.

In (Step 4-3), the image capture circuit 40 performs A / D conversion on the image sent from the original image switching circuit 39, and performs a geometric conversion by the geometric conversion circuit 6 to generate a panoramic image 43. Obtained panoramic image 4
3 is the same as the panoramic image 23 of FIG. This image is synthesized as shown in FIG. Therefore, from (Embodiment 2), the enlargement factor of the panoramic image is 4.

In (Step 4-4), the image enlargement / reduction circuit 9 enlarges the panoramic image four times and allocates it to 44 display areas on the graphic memory 10. The display of the image allocated to the graphic memory 10 is started on the monitor device 11 in accordance with the scanning direction 37.

Next, returning to (Step 4-2), the original image switching circuit 39 selects another omnidirectional image and sends the omnidirectional image to the image capture circuit 40, and thereafter (Step 4-3) To (Step 4-4). The above-described repetition is performed for the number of omnidirectional images (three times in the example of this embodiment).

Here, it is desirable that one loop process from (Step 4-2) to (Step 4-4) be completed while one panoramic image is displayed. That is, from (Step 4-2) to (Step 4-
By the time the processing of 4) is completed and the display of the areas 44 allocated to the graphic memory 10 on the monitor device 11 in the scanning direction 37 is completed, the following omnidirectional images (from step 4-2) to (step 4-4). Is completed.
In this way, the panoramic images obtained from the plurality of omnidirectional imaging devices 1a to 1c can be displayed on the screen of the monitor device 11 as moving images without delay.

As described above (Embodiment 4),
When displaying a plurality of panoramic images side by side in the scanning direction of the vertical scanning line of the monitor device (usually, the short side direction), the image synthesis converter sequentially processes each image selected from the plurality of cameras, Since the scanning order of the graphic memory and the display order of the panoramic image are matched, display is performed while processing is performed sequentially, so that display delay of moving images and frame dropout can be reduced. Further, since the processing is performed for one image at a time, the circuit scale is relatively small, and the cost can be reduced.

In each of the above embodiments, the omnidirectional imaging device and the geometric transformation circuit have been described as the image generation devices. However, any other image generation device may be used as long as it obtains a wide-angle panoramic image. . The angle of view need not be 360 degrees. If a wide-angle panoramic image can be obtained without performing geometric transformation, a geometric transformation circuit is unnecessary.

(Embodiment 2) (Embodiment 3)
In the fourth embodiment, the number of images is the same as that of a plurality of imaging devices. However, it is needless to say that the same processing can be performed when two images are simultaneously displayed from one imaging device.

[0091]

As described above, the wide-angle image display device of the present invention can effectively display a single or a plurality of panoramic images on the screen of the monitor device.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a wide-angle image display device according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of an omnidirectional image according to the embodiment;

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of a panoramic image according to the embodiment;

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of a display image of the monitor device of the embodiment.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of an image of a fisheye camera of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of a panoramic image cut out from the image of the fisheye camera of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram of a display image of a fish-eye camera image monitor device of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a schematic perspective view of a wide-angle image display device according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a specific example 1 of a panoramic image 20a according to the embodiment.

FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram of a display image of the monitor device of the specific example 1 of the embodiment.

FIG. 11 is a specific example 2 of the panoramic image 20a according to the embodiment.

FIG. 12 is an explanatory diagram of a display image of the monitor device of the specific example 2 of the embodiment.

FIG. 13 is a schematic configuration diagram of a wide-angle image display device according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 14 is a schematic diagram of an image synthesizing process of the wide-angle image display device according to the embodiment;

FIG. 15 is a schematic configuration diagram of a wide-angle image display device according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 16 is a schematic diagram of an image synthesizing process of the wide-angle image display device according to the embodiment;

[Explanation of symbols]

 A Image generating means 1 Omnidirectional imaging apparatus 1a, 1b, 1c Omnidirectional imaging apparatus (wide-angle imaging means) 2 Reflector 3 Lens 4 Image plane 5 Image area 6 Geometric conversion circuit 7 Image converter (Image division arrangement means) Reference Signs List 8 image dividing circuit 9 image enlarging / reducing circuit 10 graphic memory 11 monitor device (display means) 12 panoramic image 13a, 13b, 13c divided image 14 display image 15a, 15b, 15c display area 16 image plane of fish-eye camera 17 fish-eye Image forming area 18 Panoramic image 19 Display image 20a, 20b, 20c Panoramic image 21 Image synthesizing device (Image synthesizing means) 22 Image synthesizing circuit 23 Panoramic image 24 Display image 25a, 25b, 25c Display area 26 Panoramic image 27 Display image 28a, 28b, 28c Display area 29 Multi-channel panorama converter 0 Multi-channel image capture circuit 31 High-speed geometric conversion circuit 32a, 32b, 32c Panoramic image 33 Image synthesizer 34 Image switching circuit 35a, 35b, 35c Partial image of panoramic image 36a, 36b, 36c Part of display area 37 Scanning direction 38 image conversion / synthesizer 39 original image switching circuit 40 image capture circuit 41 rotation monitor device (display means) 42a, 42b, 42c omnidirectional image 43 panoramic image 44 display area 45 recording device

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification symbol FI Theme coat ゛ (Reference) G06T 3/40 G06T 3/40 A 5C054 G09G 5/36 H04N 1/393 5C076 5/377 5/225 Z 5C082 H04N 1/393 5/262 5/225 7/18 V 5/262 G09G 5/36 520H 7/18 520L (72) Inventor Kenichi Hayashi 1006 Ojidoma, Kadoma-shi, Osaka Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. F-term ( Reference) 2H054 AA01 BB00 BB11 2H059 BA15 5B057 AA20 BA02 BA19 CC01 CD04 CD05 CD20 CE20 CH08 DA16 DA17 5C022 AA00 AC42 AC51 CA02 5C023 AA02 AA11 AA37 AA38 BA11 5C054 AA01 AA04 FD02 5C22 AA A12 AB12A12 A24 A24 A24 A04 DA42 DA53 DA89 MM05 MM10

Claims (10)

[Claims] 1. An image generating means for generating a vertically long or horizontally long panoramic image having a ratio of a length of a long side to a length of a short side exceeding 4: 3, and a rectangular frame obtained by dividing the panoramic image into a plurality of images. A wide-angle image display device comprising: an image dividing and arranging unit configured to generate a converted image arranged in a long side direction or a short side direction; and a display unit configured to display the converted image arranged in the rectangular frame. 2. The image dividing and arranging means, when arranging the plurality of divided images in the long side direction of the rectangular frame, determines the size of the plurality of divided images in the short side direction of the rectangular frame. When the plurality of divided images are arranged in an enlarged or reduced manner so as to substantially match the length of the short side direction, and the plurality of divided images are arranged in the short side direction of the rectangular frame, the plurality of divided images in the long side direction of the rectangular frame are arranged. The wide-angle image display device according to claim 1, wherein the size of the rectangular frame is enlarged or reduced so as to match or substantially match the length of the rectangular frame in the long side direction. 3. The image dividing and arranging means, wherein the number of pixels on the long side of the rectangular frame is H and the number of pixels on the short side is V
If the number of pixels on the long side of the panoramic image is a and the number of pixels on the short side is b, the largest integer values n1 and (V) satisfying (H · a) / (V · b) ≧ n1 · n1 A) / (H · b) ≧ n2 · n2 The largest integer value n2 that satisfies is calculated. When (n1 · V) ≧ (n2 · H), the panoramic image is divided into n1 images. When the (n1 · V) <(n2 · H), the converted image obtained by arranging the panoramic image divided into n2 in the short side direction of the rectangular frame is arranged. 2. The wide-angle image display device according to claim 1, wherein the device is configured to generate the image. 4. The wide-angle image display device according to claim 1, wherein said image generating means comprises a wide-angle imaging means for obtaining a wide-angle image obtained by imaging an angle of view of about 180 to 360 degrees at one time. 5. An image generating means comprising: a reflecting mirror having a shape to be rotated; and an image reflected by the reflecting mirror being photographed to obtain an angle of view of about 180 ° to 360 ° around the rotational symmetry axis of the reflecting mirror. The wide-angle image display device according to claim 1, comprising: an imaging device that captures an image; and a geometric conversion circuit that geometrically converts the wide-angle image obtained by the imaging device to convert the image into a panoramic image. 6. A plurality of image generating means for generating a plurality of vertically or horizontally long panoramic images having a ratio of a length of a long side to a short side exceeding 4: 3, and A wide-angle image display device comprising: an image synthesizing unit configured to generate a synthesized image arranged in a direction or a short side direction; and a display unit configured to display the synthesized image arranged in the rectangular frame. 7. When arranging a plurality of panoramic images in a long side direction of a rectangular frame, the image synthesizing means enlarges a size of the plurality of panoramic images so as to substantially match a length of the short side direction of the rectangular frame. When reducing or arranging the plurality of panoramic images in the short side direction of the rectangular frame, the size of the plurality of panoramic images is enlarged or reduced so as to substantially match the length in the long side direction of the rectangular frame. The wide-angle image display device according to claim 6, wherein 8. The image synthesizing means, wherein the number of pixels on the long side of the rectangular frame is H and the number of pixels on the short side is V
Plural: When the number of pixels on the long side of each of the M panoramic images is c and the number of pixels on the short side is d, when c / (M · d) ≧ H / V, the short side of the rectangular frame Generating a composite image in which a plurality of the panoramic images are arranged in a side direction; and when c / (M · d) <H / V, a composite image in which the plurality of panorama images are arranged in a long side direction of the rectangular frame The wide-angle image display device according to claim 6, wherein the wide-angle image display device is configured to generate an image. 9. An image generating means comprising: a plurality of wide-angle imaging means for obtaining a wide-angle image obtained by capturing an image having an angle of view of about 180 to 360 degrees at a time; and a plurality of wide-angle imaging means obtained from the plurality of wide-angle imaging means. And a geometric transformation circuit for geometrically transforming the wide-angle image in parallel to generate a plurality of panoramic images. 7. The wide-angle image display device according to claim 6, wherein a composite image arranged so as to coincide with the short side direction is generated. 10. An image generating means comprising: a plurality of wide-angle imaging means for obtaining a wide-angle image obtained by capturing an image having an angle of view of about 180 to 360 degrees at a time; A plurality of wide-angle imaging means that one image is called from a plurality of wide-angle images obtained by the means and geometrically transformed, and the obtained panoramic image is arranged and arranged so that a long side of the obtained panoramic image coincides with a long side direction of a rectangular frame. 7. The wide-angle image display device according to claim 6, wherein a composite image is generated by repeatedly performing the same number of times as the number of means.