JP2003023600A - Image processor, animation recording/playback equipment, image processing method, program, and computer- readable storage medium - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To form thumbnails which show the features of a chain of dynamic images, and to keep the playback time of thumbnails roughly constant, regardless of the length of the chain of dynamic images. SOLUTION: This digital dynamic image camera performs the photographing of an animation during the directions of start/finish of photographing, and records the animation of its one cut. The camera is equipped with an image processor 107 which extracts a plurality of image data from one cut of animation and generates thumbnail image data, and a CPU 111 which controls it to extract the image data from one scope of one cut of animation. For example, a thumbnail original image is generated in every frame for one second since start of photographing, once every three frames for two seconds, until the passage of three seconds after passage of one second since start of photographing, once in six frames for four seconds, until the passage of seven seconds after passage of three seconds since start of photographing, and once in fifteen frames for eight seconds, until the passage of fifteen seconds after passage of seven seconds since start of photographing. The thumbnail original image is not generated after passage of fifteen seconds, since the start of photographing.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image processing device, a moving image recording / reproducing device, an image processing method, a program, and a computer-readable storage medium, and even a thumbnail image that functions as an index is represented by a moving image. It is suitable for use in some cases.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As an image recording / reproducing apparatus for recording a moving image and reproducing the recorded image, there is a video tape recorder for recording an analog image signal on a magnetic tape.
For such an analog image recording / reproducing apparatus, a digital VTR for converting an image signal into a digital signal and then recording it on a magnetic tape, a memory video recording on a solid-state disk or a magneto-optical disk, a solid-state memory such as a flash memory or SRAM. Solid-state video and the like for recording in a memory have been proposed. In these devices, the input digital signal is compressed to reduce the amount of information, and a large amount of image information or still image information can be recorded with a small storage capacity.

There are various compression methods for such an image recording / reproducing apparatus. For example, in the orthogonal transform method, an image is divided into a plurality of blocks each having a size of n pixels in the horizontal direction × n pixels in the vertical direction, and orthogonal transform such as discrete cosine transform (DCT) is performed for each block. Then, by rounding each coefficient to a specified number of bits,
Quantize. Since the image information is concentrated in the low frequency band, the data amount can be reduced by reducing the number of bits of the high frequency component. Also, variable length coding such as Huffman coding is
Efficient data compression is achieved by assigning shorter length codes to bit sequences with higher occurrence probability. Furthermore, when compressing moving image data, it is possible to significantly compress the moving image by extracting the difference between frames by utilizing the property that the correlation between frames is strong.

Various moving image recording systems have been proposed in which moving image data is compressed by combining the above-mentioned various compression techniques to reduce the data amount and then recorded in a solid magnetic disk memory, an optical disk memory or the like.

The method for compressing and recording the digital data of the moving image described above is roughly divided into two types depending on the recording medium. One is a recording method for sequentially recording on a magnetic tape or the like, but it has a drawback that it is difficult to find a desired scene or change the order. On the other hand, solid-state magnetic disk memory, magneto-optical disk memory, optical disk memory, solid-state memory, etc.
There is a method for recording each scene of a moving image on a randomly accessible medium. With this method, it is possible to read and write from any location due to the nature of the media, so it becomes easy to directly find the scene of your favorite movie and play it, or change the order of multiple scenes. .

In order to directly search for a desired scene as described above, in a digital still camera or the like which records a still image, a still image thumbnail image obtained by reducing the main image is previously prepared as shown in FIG. 9 (a). There is known a method of creating a thumbnail image and displaying the thumbnail images side by side on a screen so as to select a desired image. In the digital still camera, since the recorded image is a still image, it is possible to express the characteristics of the recorded still image with one reduced thumbnail image.

On the other hand, in a digital moving image camera that handles moving images, the recorded image is a moving image.
A still image thumbnail image as shown in FIG. 9 (b) has a drawback that it cannot represent the characteristics of a moving image. Therefore, there has been proposed an attempt to express even a thumbnail image that works as an index in a moving image.

[0008]

However, in general, the length of each cut of a moving image taken by a camera is variable, and this can be reduced as it is or the number of frames is thinned out. If you just do, the length of the thumbnail (playback time) will change significantly depending on the type of cut,
There is a drawback that the feature of the image cannot be displayed at a glance because the playback time of the thumbnail for knowing the feature of the image is significantly lengthened or shortened.

Further, since the thumbnail time changes drastically, if the space for storing all the thumbnails is determined in advance, a large storage capacity may be required to store the thumbnails. there were.

The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-mentioned problems, and it is possible to create a thumbnail representing the characteristics of one cut of a moving image, and to create a thumbnail for every cut. The purpose is to keep the playback time almost constant. Also, occupy less space on the media to store thumbnails,
Furthermore, the aim is to make thumbnail playback images easy to see and look natural.

[0011]

As a means for solving the above problems, the image processing apparatus of the present invention will be described. The image processing apparatus of the present invention extracts a plurality of image data from a series of moving image data. An image processing apparatus for generating thumbnail image data, comprising: extracting means for extracting image data from the series of moving image data; and thumbnail image data generating means for generating thumbnail image data using the extracted image data. And a control means for controlling so as to extract the plurality of image data from only a partial range of the series of moving image data.

Another feature of the image processing apparatus of the present invention is that the control means controls to extract the plurality of image data from a partial range from the head side of the series of moving image data. In point.

Another feature of the image processing apparatus of the present invention is that the control means controls to extract the plurality of image data from a partial range of an intermediate portion of the series of moving image data. In point.

Another feature of the image processing apparatus of the present invention is that the plurality of image data are extracted before and / or after the predetermined temporal position of the series of moving image data. In point.

Another feature of the image processing apparatus of the present invention is that the predetermined temporal position is half the temporal position of the series of moving image data.

Another feature of the image processing apparatus of the present invention is that the predetermined temporal position can be designated.

Another feature of the image processing apparatus of the present invention is that it is provided with a motion detecting means for detecting the motion of the series of moving image data, and the predetermined temporal position is detected by the motion detecting means. There is a point to set according to.

Another feature of the image processing apparatus of the present invention is that the plurality of image data are extracted from a partial range from the head side of the series of moving image data.
It is possible to select to extract the plurality of image data from a partial range of an intermediate portion of the series of moving image data.

Another feature of the image processing apparatus of the present invention is that the control means has a difference in the intervals for extracting the plurality of image data in the partial range.

Another image processing apparatus of the present invention is an image processing apparatus for displaying thumbnail image data generated by using a plurality of image data extracted from a series of moving image data, and the thumbnail image data is the thumbnail image data. Is displayed, a complementary means is provided for displaying the thumbnail image data before and / or after the thumbnail image data that is temporally before and after.

Another feature of another image processing apparatus of the present invention is that there is a difference in the intervals at which the plurality of pieces of image data are extracted from the series of moving image data.

Another feature of another image processing apparatus of the present invention is that a group of thumbnail image data relating to a series of moving image data and a group of thumbnail image data relating to another series of moving image data are displayed on one screen. The point is to display them side by side.

[0023]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of an image processing apparatus, a moving image recording / reproducing apparatus, an image processing method, a program, and a computer-readable storage medium according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

When shooting a moving image, a series of moving image scenes from the start of shooting by pressing the shooting button to the end of shooting by pressing the shooting button again is called one cut, and one still image in one frame is taken as one cut. We will call it a frame. In this embodiment, a moving image of 30 frames per second will be described, but the number of frames per second may be larger or smaller than this. Also, an interlaced moving image of 60 fields per second may be used, and in this case as well, the number of fields may be larger or smaller.

(First Embodiment) FIG. 1 shows the configuration of a digital moving image camera. When the camera is started, the program compressed in the program flash memory 113 is decompressed / decompressed in the program memory 112,
The CPU 111 performs various control operations described below by operating according to the programs in the program memory 112.

Light from a subject is focused on the image sensor 102 through the lens 101. The subject image formed on the image sensor 102 is photoelectrically converted, and the photoelectrically converted image from the image sensor 102 is read at a predetermined cycle. The photoelectric conversion image is subjected to signal processing in the camera signal processing unit 103 so as to become a standard image signal, and is temporarily stored in the image memory 104 as a standard digital image (driving image) at a predetermined cycle. , Is sent to the display 106, and the moving image currently being shot is displayed.

When a photographing button (not shown) included in the operation switch 105 is pressed, photographing is started. When shooting is started, the moving image temporarily stored in the image memory 104 is compression-coded by the moving image coding unit 108 (compressed moving image), and the moving image is temporarily stored as a buffer in the image memory 104. Interface 1 after being
The data is recorded on the hard disk 109 via 10.

In parallel with the recording operation of the main moving image, a part of the moving image of the frame required as the thumbnail image is
The image processing unit 107 performs reduction processing (thumbnail original image) and accumulates it in another area of the image memory 104.

When the photographing button included in the operation switch 105 is pressed again, the recording ends. Although one-cut image recording is completed at the end of recording, at the same time, the thumbnail original image accumulated in the image memory 104 is compression-encoded by the moving image encoding unit 108 and recorded on the hard disk 109 as a compressed thumbnail image. It

FIG. 2 shows the structure of a one-cut moving image file. At the end of recording the one-cut moving image, the header information 201 in which various information is recorded and the compressed thumbnail image 2
02 and the compressed main moving image 203 are combined into one moving image file.

In FIG. 1, the moving picture coding unit 108
The coding according to may be a moving picture coding method such as motion JPEG that independently compresses and encodes each frame, or may independently compress and code each frame, such as MPEG, or A moving picture coding system may be used, in which the difference between the frames is taken for compression coding, or the prediction is made from a plurality of frames for compression coding.

Further, it goes without saying that the hard disk 109 may be a disk medium such as an optical disk or a magneto-optical disk, or may be a randomly accessible memory composed of a solid-state semiconductor memory such as a flash memory, SRAM, DRAM or the like. Absent.

Next, with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4, a thumbnail generating method according to the first embodiment will be described.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an outline of the thumbnail generating method. For one second after the shooting is started, the moving image is extracted for each frame to generate the thumbnail original image.
Next, the original moving image is extracted only once every three frames for two seconds from the lapse of one second from the start of shooting to the lapse of three seconds to generate a thumbnail original image. Further, although not shown in the figure, 4 seconds from 3 seconds after the start of shooting to 7 seconds have passed once every 6 frames, and 8 seconds from 7 seconds after the start of shooting to 15 seconds have 15 frames. An original image is extracted only once to generate a thumbnail original image. Then, after 15 seconds from the start of shooting, the original thumbnail image is not generated.
That is, the example illustrated in FIG. 3 is an example in which an image immediately after the start of shooting (an image in a part of the range from the leading side of the moving image data) is intensively used as the content of one cut to generate thumbnails.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an algorithm for generating a thumbnail. When photographing is started (step S401), first, 1 is assigned to the variable Frame Number (step S402). This variable represents the currently recorded frame number. Next, the image of the frame indicated by the Frame Number of the moving image from the camera signal processing unit 103 is stored in the image memory 104 (step S403).

Then, the frame number is 30 frames (1
It is determined whether it is within the second (step S40).
4) If it is within 30 frames, proceed to step S411, and if it exceeds 30 frames, proceed to step S405.

In step S405, the Frame Number is 9
Determine whether it is within 0 frame (3 seconds),
If it is within 90 frames, the process proceeds to step S408, where 9
If the number of frames exceeds 0, the process proceeds to step S406.
In step S408, it is determined whether the Frame Number is divisible by 3, and if divisible by 3, step S4
If it is not divisible by 3, proceed to step S41.
Go to 2. That is, in step S408, 33 frames, 36 frames, ..., 90 frames that are divisible by 3 are extracted.

In step S406, the Frame Number is 2
It is determined whether or not it is within 10 frames (7 seconds). If it is within 210 frames, the process proceeds to step S409, and if it exceeds 210 frames, step S407.
Go to. In step S409, it is determined whether or not the Frame Number is divisible by 6, and if divisible by 6, the process proceeds to step S411, and if not divisible by 6, the process proceeds to step S412. That is, in step S409,
96 frames divisible by 6, 102 frames, ...
Extract 210 frames

In step S407, the Frame Number is 4
Whether it is within 50 frames (15 seconds) is determined. If it is within 450 frames, the process proceeds to step S410, and if it exceeds 450 frames, step S412.
Go to. In step S410, it is determined whether the Frame Number is divisible by 15, and if it is divisible by 15,
If it is not divisible by 15 in step S411,
It proceeds to step S412. That is, step S410
Then, 225 frames, 240 frames, ..., 450 frames that are divisible by 15 are extracted.

In step S411, the above step S4
If YES in 04, S408, S409, and S419, the image memory 104 is output in step S403.
The corresponding moving image stored in the image processing unit 107 is reduced by the image processing unit 107 and stored in the image memory 104. Then, it progresses to step S412.

In step S412, step S403
The moving image encoding unit 108 encodes the original image stored in the image memory 104, and writes it in the hard disk 109 by using the image memory 104 as a buffer.

The operation up to this point is within one frame, and the Frame Number is incremented by 1 in order to shift the operation to the next frame (step S413). Then, it is determined whether or not one cut of moving image shooting is completed (step S41).
4).

If it is determined in step S414 that one cut of moving image shooting has not ended, step S414 is performed again.
Proceeding to 403, a series of processing operations are repeated for the next frame.

On the other hand, if it is determined in step S414 that one cut of moving image shooting has been completed, the moving image encoding unit 108 compresses the plurality of thumbnail original images stored in the image memory 104 up to now. To generate a compressed thumbnail moving image (step S415). Then, as shown in FIG. 2, the header information 201, the compressed thumbnail moving image 202, and the compressed main moving image 203 are combined and stored in the hard disk 109 as a moving image file (step S416), and one cut of moving image shooting ends. (Step S417).

(Second Embodiment) A second embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. The configuration of the digital moving image camera of the present embodiment is the same as that shown in FIG. 1, and detailed description thereof will be omitted here.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an outline of the thumbnail generation method, and is a partial range of the intermediate portion from the start to the end of photographing (in this example, the center position is just the center).
Generate a thumbnail moving image with. That is, within a range of 15 seconds before and after the center of 1/2 of the total number of frames of the main moving image (15 frames), a moving image is extracted for each frame without thinning out to generate a thumbnail moving image. Then, in each of the two seconds (60 frames) before and after that, the moving image is extracted once every two frames to generate the thumbnail moving image. Further, in each of the three seconds (90 frames) before and after that, the moving image is extracted only once in three frames to generate a thumbnail moving image. That is,
In the example shown in FIG. 5, the driving image is extracted non-linearly within the range of 5.5 seconds (11 seconds in total) from the center of the time (total time) from the start to the end of the shooting of the main movie of one cut. However, in this example, thumbnails are generated by mainly using the contents of one cut, and thumbnails are not generated in other parts.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing an algorithm for generating a thumbnail. In the case of this embodiment,
Since the thumbnail moving image is generated in the intermediate portion from the start to the end of shooting, it is not possible to generate the thumbnail moving image at the same time as shooting as in the first embodiment, and when the shooting is finished. A thumbnail moving image will be generated.

In steps S601 to S607,
Represents a shooting sequence. When shooting is started (step S601), first, 1 is assigned to the variable Frame Number (step S602). This variable represents the frame number of the frame currently being photographed. Next, the image of the frame indicated by the Frame Number of the moving image from the camera signal processing unit 103 is stored in the image memory 104 (step S603). The original image stored in the image memory 104 is encoded by the moving image encoding unit 108, and the image memory 1
04 is written into the hard disk 109 as a buffer (step S604).

Next, in order to shift the operation to the next frame, the Frame Number is incremented by 1 (step S60).
5). Then, it is determined whether or not one cut of moving image shooting is completed (step S606).

If it is determined in step S606 that the one-cut moving image shooting has not ended, step S606 is executed again.
Proceeding to 603, a series of processing operations are repeated for the next frame.

On the other hand, if it is determined in step S606 that one cut of moving image has been photographed, the Frame Number at that time corresponds to the total number of frames.
Substitute Frame Number for the variable Total (step S60)
7).

Next step S608 to step S6
Reference numeral 18 represents a thumbnail generation sequence. First, Fram
Substitute Total / 2-165 for e Number (step S
608). From here on, this variable represents the frame number to be played.

Next, the Frame Nu of the main movie already taken
The frame indicated by mber is reproduced (step S60)
9). Then, in step S610, “(Frame Number> Total / 2-15) and (Frame Numb
er <Total / 2 + 15) ”is met. If the condition 1 is satisfied, the process proceeds to step S615, and if not, the step S6.
Proceed to 11.

In step S611, "(Frame Number> Total / 2-75) and (Frame Number
<Total / 2 + 75) ”is met. If the condition 2 is satisfied, step S
If not satisfied, the process proceeds to step S61.
Go to 2. In step S613, it is determined whether or not the Frame Number is divisible by 2. If it is divisible, the process proceeds to step S615, and if it is not divisible, step S6.
Proceed to 16.

In step S612, "(Frame Number> Total / 2-165) and (Frame Numb
It is determined whether or not the condition of er <Total / 2 + 165 ”is satisfied. If the condition is satisfied, the procedure proceeds to step S614, and if not, the step S6.
Proceed to 16. In step S614, the Frame Number is 3
If it is divisible, the process proceeds to step S615. If it is not divisible, step S615 is performed.
Proceed to 616.

In step S615, the above step S6 is performed.
When YES is determined in 10, S613, and S614, the image reproduced by the image processing unit 1 is reproduced in step S609.
The image is reduced at 07 and stored in the image memory 104. Then, it progresses to step S616.

In step S616, the Frame Number is set to 1
Only, and in Step S617, Frame Number>
= Total / 2 + 165, and if not satisfied, the processes from step S609 are repeated.

If the condition is satisfied in step S617, a plurality of original thumbnail images stored in the image memory 104 are compression-encoded to generate a compressed thumbnail moving image (step S618). Then, as shown in FIG. 2, the header information 201 and the compressed thumbnail moving image 202
And the compressed main moving image 203 are combined and stored in the hard disk 109 as one moving image file, and the process ends (step S620).

In this embodiment, the thumbnail moving image is generated by nonlinearly extracting the image centering on the time (1/2) of one cut, but for example, 1/3 of one cut is generated. It may be centered on time or may be centered on other times.

Further, here, a half-time of one cut was assumed to be the most important scene of the cut in advance, and the thumbnail was generated centering on that part. However, by letting the user instruct the important part, for example, Thumbnail generation may be performed centered on a location designated by a switch or the like.

Further, by detecting the amount of motion of the moving image, the place where the motion is large, the place where the scene changes greatly (the place where the scene changes), etc. are detected, and thumbnails are generated so that that part becomes the center. You can go.

As described above, in the first and second embodiments, a series of thumbnail images of an important portion such as the start portion and the middle portion of one cut of moving image data are generated. It becomes possible to create a thumbnail showing the characteristics of the moving image data. If the number of thumbnail moving images generated from one cut of moving image data is set to be constant regardless of the length of one cut, the reproduction time can be kept substantially constant.

Further, in the method of extracting frames from the present moving image, the number of frames per hour is increased for the scenes that seem to be most important, and unnecessary portions are reduced or eliminated. Thus, it becomes possible to reduce the occupied capacity of the medium for storing the thumbnail moving image. Note that the extraction intervals described in the above-described first and second embodiments are merely examples, and may be longer or shorter than this.

As described in the first embodiment,
It has both a function of generating a thumbnail immediately after the start of shooting one-cut moving image data and a function of generating a thumbnail in the middle of one-cut moving image data as described in the second embodiment. A desired function may be arbitrarily selected according to an instruction from the user.

The reproduction of thumbnails generated in the first and second embodiments will be described below. First, the operation during reproduction will be described with reference to FIG. The moving image data of a plurality of cuts stored in the hard disk 109 is shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 7, only the compressed thumbnail moving image portions that function as indexes are displayed side by side on the display 106.

The index-displayed thumbnail images are decoded by the moving picture coding unit 108 and repeatedly reproduced as thumbnail moving pictures. Operation switch 105
Then, when a specific thumbnail image is selected from this index screen and executed, the display changes to the full-screen display and the main moving image is reproduced. In this moving image reproduction, a moving image cut stored in the hard disk 109 is read out through the interface 110, decoded by the moving image encoding unit 108, and sequentially expanded in the image memory 104, and is reproduced through the display 106.

Next, referring to FIG. 7, a thumbnail moving image reproduction processing operation will be described. Here, this video is 1
Assuming that there are frames to 39 frames, among them, thumbnail moving images are 8, 14, 17, 19, 20, 2
It is assumed to be composed of 1, 23, 26, and 32 frames. That is, as described in the second embodiment, 1
32 from the 8th frame, centered on half the time of the cut
It is a thumbnail that non-linearly extracts moving images up to the frame.

Now, if this thumbnail moving picture is played back at regular intervals, the movement will be different from that when the main moving picture is played from the 8th frame to the 32nd frame.
In other words, a portion with a small number of frames will move quickly, and a portion with a large number of frames will move slowly, so a thumbnail image that faithfully reproduces the content of the main moving image cannot be obtained.

Therefore, when recording, a frame number is stored in advance for each frame, and when there is a gap between the frame number of the thumbnail to be reproduced next and the current frame number when reproducing a thumbnail, the gap is created. Interpolation is performed by inserting the same frame as the current frame to prevent the thumbnail image from becoming non-linear in time.

Specifically, first, thumbnail reproduction of the eighth frame is performed. Next, the thumbnail becomes 14 frames, and since there is no thumbnail image in 9, 10, 11, 12, and 13 frames during this, interpolation is performed by inserting the image of 8 frames as it is.

Next, 14 frames are reproduced, and 15 and 16 are reproduced.
An image of 14 frames is interpolated and inserted into the frame. After reproducing 17 frames, 17 frames of images are interpolated and inserted into 18 frames, and thumbnail images of 19th, 20th, and 21th frames are reproduced as they are.

Thereafter, the 32nd frame is similarly reproduced. In this way, by reproducing the image while interpolating,
Despite the small number of thumbnail image frames, it is possible to reproduce thumbnails that show the same smooth and natural movement as the main image, making it easier to see the index screen.

Here, although the frames of the thumbnail moving image are interpolated so that the number of frames is the same as that of the main moving image, it is important that the thumbnail image well represent the movement and features of the main image. From the beginning to the end of
It is important to have a uniform velocity so that the movement is similar to that of the main image. In other words, the number of frames may be interpolated so that the motion of the thumbnail moving image is faster than the motion of the main image, or may be slower than the motion of the main image.

Although the frame interpolation is performed from the image on the front side in time, the interpolation may be performed on the image on the rear side in time. Frame interpolation may be performed.

(Other Embodiments) In order to operate various devices so as to realize the functions of the above-described embodiments, a computer in an apparatus or system connected to the various devices is operated in the above-described embodiment. Supply the program code of software to realize the function of
What was carried out by operating the above-mentioned various devices according to the program stored in the computer (CPU or MPU) of the system or apparatus is also included in the category of the present invention.

Further, in this case, the program code itself of the software realizes the function of the above-described embodiment, and the program code itself constitutes the present invention. As a transmission medium of the program code, a communication medium (a wired line such as an optical fiber or a wireless line) in a computer network (LAN, WAN such as the Internet, a wireless communication network, etc.) system for propagating and supplying the program information as a carrier wave. Etc.) can be used.

Further, means for supplying the program code to the computer, for example, a recording medium storing the program code constitutes the present invention. A flexible disk, a hard disk, an optical disk, a magneto-optical disk, a CD-ROM, a magnetic tape, a non-volatile memory card, a ROM, or the like can be used as a recording medium for storing the program code.

Further, not only the functions of the above-described embodiments are realized by executing the supplied program code by the computer, but also the OS (operating system) or the other in which the program code is operating in the computer. It goes without saying that the program code is also included in the embodiment of the present invention when the functions of the above-described embodiment are realized in cooperation with the application software of the above.

Further, after the supplied program code is stored in the memory provided in the function expansion board of the computer or the function expansion unit connected to the computer, the function expansion board or function expansion unit is instructed based on the instruction of the program code. It goes without saying that the present invention also includes a case where the CPU or the like included in the above-mentioned performs some or all of the actual processing and the functions of the above-described embodiments are realized by the processing.

It should be noted that the shapes and structures of the respective portions shown in the above-mentioned embodiments are merely examples of the embodiment in carrying out the present invention, and the technical scope of the present invention is thereby provided. It should not be construed as limiting. That is, the present invention can be implemented in various forms without departing from the spirit or the main features thereof.

[0081]

As described above, according to the present invention, thumbnails representing the characteristics of a series of moving images can be created, and the playback time of the thumbnails can be made almost independent of the length of the series of moving images. It is possible to keep it constant. Further, it becomes possible to reduce the occupied capacity of the medium for storing the thumbnail.

Further, it becomes possible to make the thumbnail reproduction image easy to see and to look natural.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a digital moving image camera.

FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining a one-cut moving image file structure.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an outline of a thumbnail generation method according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an algorithm for generating a thumbnail according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an outline of a thumbnail generation method according to the second embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing an algorithm for generating a thumbnail according to the second embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a thumbnail moving image reproduction processing operation.

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an example of a thumbnail display screen.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of a conventional thumbnail display screen.

[Explanation of symbols]

101 lens 102 image sensor 103 camera signal processing unit 104 image memory 105 Operation switch 106 display 107 image processing unit 108 Video Coding Unit 109 hard disk 110 interface 111 CPU 112 program memory 113 program flash memory

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Claims (19)

[Claims] 1. An image processing apparatus for extracting a plurality of image data from a series of moving image data to generate thumbnail image data, comprising: an extracting unit for extracting image data from the series of moving image data; Thumbnail image data generating means for generating thumbnail image data by using the generated image data, and control means for controlling to extract the plurality of image data from only a partial range of the series of moving image data. An image processing device characterized by: 2. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the control means controls to extract the plurality of image data from a partial range from the head side of the series of moving image data. 3. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the control unit controls to extract the plurality of image data from a partial range of an intermediate portion of the series of moving image data. 4. The image processing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the plurality of pieces of image data are extracted before and / or after a predetermined temporal position of the series of moving image data is used as a reference. 5. The image processing apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the predetermined temporal position is a temporal position that is half of the series of moving image data. 6. The image processing apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the predetermined temporal position can be designated. 7. The motion detecting means for detecting motion of the series of moving image data is provided, and the predetermined temporal position is set according to the detection result by the motion detecting means. Image processing device. 8. Extracting the plurality of image data from a partial range from the head side of the series of moving image data,
The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein it is possible to select to extract the plurality of pieces of image data from a partial range of an intermediate portion of the series of moving image data. 9. The image processing according to claim 1, wherein the control means gives a difference in an interval for extracting the plurality of image data in the partial range. apparatus. 10. An image processing apparatus for displaying thumbnail image data generated by using a plurality of image data extracted from a series of moving image data, wherein the thumbnail image data is temporally displayed when the thumbnail image data is displayed. An image processing apparatus comprising a complementing unit for displaying the thumbnail image data before and / or after the thumbnail image data before and after the thumbnail image data. 11. The image processing apparatus according to claim 10, wherein there are differences in intervals at which the plurality of pieces of image data are extracted from the series of moving image data. 12. The image according to claim 10, wherein a thumbnail image data group related to a series of moving image data and a thumbnail image data group related to another series of moving image data are displayed side by side on one screen. Processing equipment. 13. The image processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 9 and / or any one of claims 10 to 12.
A moving image recording / reproducing apparatus having the image processing apparatus according to the item 1 built-in. 14. A digital moving image camera that shoots a moving image from when a shooting start instruction is given to when a shooting end instruction is given, and records a series of moving image data as one cut on a randomly accessible recording medium. 14. The moving picture recording / reproducing apparatus according to claim 13. 15. An image processing method for extracting a plurality of image data from a series of moving image data to generate thumbnail image data, comprising an extracting procedure of extracting image data from the moving image data, and the extracted procedure. A thumbnail image data generation procedure for generating thumbnail image data using image data, and a control procedure for controlling to extract the plurality of image data from only a partial range of the series of moving image data. Image processing method. 16. An image processing method for displaying thumbnail image data generated by using a plurality of image data extracted from a series of moving image data, the method comprising: An image processing method characterized by having a complementary procedure for displaying the thumbnail image data before and / or after the thumbnail image data before and after the thumbnail image data. 17. An image processing program for extracting a plurality of image data from a series of moving image data to generate thumbnail image data, wherein the extracting process extracts image data from the moving image data, and the extracted process. Image for executing thumbnail image data generation processing for generating thumbnail image data using image data, and control processing for controlling to extract the plurality of image data from only a partial range of the series of moving image data Processing program. 18. An image processing program for displaying thumbnail image data generated by using image data of a plurality of frames extracted from a series of moving image data, wherein time is displayed when the thumbnail image data is displayed. An image processing program, characterized in that a complementary process for displaying the thumbnail image data before and / or after the thumbnail image data that is physically preceding and following is executed. 19. A computer-readable storage medium having the image processing program according to claim 17 or 18 stored therein.