JP2005217768A - Digital camera - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a digital camera allowing a user himself/herself to be photographed without failure. <P>SOLUTION: The digital camera 100 for photographing an object in a specified photographing range has a near range photographing mode for photographing the object in a near range. Further, the camera comprises a ROM 14 for storing range-designated data for designating a range for accepting a face contained in the object within the photographing range, a system controller 9 for deciding whether the contour of the face contained in the object is accepted in the designated range by the range designating data after detecting the contour of the face based on imaging signals from imaging elements contained in an imaging unit 1, and an output unit 15 for outputting based on the decision result. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a digital camera that photographs a subject within a predetermined photographing range.

  With a camera such as a digital camera, a photographer can take a picture of himself, so-called self-portrait. With digital cameras, especially digital cameras with an integrated liquid crystal display device, you cannot take a picture while looking at the liquid crystal display device when taking a selfie. It may become.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there has been proposed an imaging apparatus that projects an index beam toward a subject at the time of photographing and performs photographing control using reflected light from the subject (see Patent Document 1). If this imaging device is used, the photographer can also adjust his / her own position at the time of self-photographing by the index light beam projected onto himself / herself when performing self-photographing.

JP-A-10-136248

  However, even if the position of itself is adjusted using the imaging device described in Patent Document 1, it is difficult to specify the shooting angle of view with only the index light beam.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a digital camera that is unlikely to cause a shooting mistake during self-shooting.

  The digital camera of the present invention is a digital camera for photographing a subject within a predetermined photographing range, and has a short-distance photographing mode for photographing the subject at a short distance, and the photographing range where a face included in the subject should be contained Storage means for storing range designating data for designating a range within, and contour detection means for detecting a contour of a face included in the subject based on an imaging signal from an imaging device in the short-distance shooting mode; A determination unit configured to determine whether or not the contour detected by the contour detection unit is within a range specified by the range specification data; and an output unit configured to perform output based on a determination result by the determination unit.

  With this configuration, it is possible for the photographer to know from the output from the output means whether or not the outline of the face included in the subject is within the shooting range in which the face included in the subject should be contained. . Therefore, it is possible to provide a digital camera that is less likely to cause a shooting mistake even when the self-portrait is set in the short distance shooting mode.

  In the digital camera of the present invention, when the determination unit determines that the contour does not fall within the range specified by the range specification data, the digital camera according to the present invention is based on the range specification data and the detected contour. A moving direction determining means for determining a direction in which the digital camera should be moved in order to keep the contour within the range, wherein the output means performs an output for notifying a user of the digital camera of the direction; It is.

  With this configuration, it is possible to notify the photographer of the movement direction of the digital camera such that the contour of the face included in the subject falls within the range specified by the range specification data.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a digital camera that is unlikely to cause a shooting mistake during self-shooting.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of a digital camera for explaining an embodiment of the present invention.
The digital camera 100 includes an imaging unit 1, an analog signal processing unit 2, an A / D conversion unit 3, a driving unit 4, a digital signal processing unit 6, a compression / expansion processing unit 7, a display unit 8, A system control unit 9, an internal memory 10, a media interface 11, a recording medium 12, an operation unit 13, a ROM 14, and an output unit 15 are provided. The digital signal processing unit 6, compression / decompression processing unit 7, display unit 8, system control unit 9, internal memory 10, media interface 11, ROM 14, and output unit 15 are connected to the system bus 20.

  The imaging unit 1 captures a subject with an optical system such as a photographing lens and an imaging element such as a CCD image sensor, and outputs an analog imaging signal. The analog signal processing unit 2 performs predetermined analog signal processing on the imaging signal obtained by the imaging unit 1. The A / D converter 3 converts the analog image signal processed by the analog signal processor 2 into a digital image signal. The output of the A / D converter 3 is sent to the digital signal processor 6.

  At the time of shooting, the optical system is controlled via the drive unit 4. A solid-state image sensor such as a CCD image sensor used as an image sensor has a plurality of photoelectric conversion regions arranged in a row direction and a column direction orthogonal to the surface on a semiconductor substrate, and is generated in response to incident light. Then, an analog voltage signal based on the accumulated signal charge is output. The solid-state imaging device is a timing generator (not shown) included in the drive unit 4 at a predetermined timing when a release switch (not shown) is turned on by operating a release button (not shown) which is a part of the operation unit 13. 1 is written by a drive signal from TG). The drive unit 4 outputs a predetermined drive signal by the system control unit 9.

  The digital signal processing unit 6 performs digital signal processing corresponding to the operation mode set by the operation unit 13 on the digital imaging signal from the A / D conversion unit 3. The processing performed by the digital signal processing unit 6 includes black level correction processing (OB processing), linear matrix correction processing, white balance adjustment processing, gamma correction processing, image synthesis processing, synchronization processing, Y / C conversion processing, and the like. included. The digital signal processing unit 6 is configured by a DSP, for example.

  The compression / decompression processing unit 7 performs compression processing on the image data (YC data) obtained by the digital signal processing unit 6 and also performs decompression processing on the compressed image data obtained from the recording medium 12.

  The display unit 8 includes an LCD display device, for example, and displays an image based on image data that has been photographed and has undergone digital signal processing. An image is also displayed based on the image data obtained by decompressing the compressed image data recorded on the recording medium 12. In addition, it is possible to display a through image at the time of shooting, various states of the digital camera 100, information on operations, and the like.

  The internal memory 10 is, for example, a DRAM and is used as a work memory for the digital signal processing unit 6 and the system control unit 9, as well as a buffer memory and a display unit for temporarily storing image data recorded on the recording medium 12. 8 is also used as a buffer memory for display image data. The media interface 11 inputs / outputs data to / from a recording medium 12 such as a memory card.

  The operation unit 13 performs various operations when the digital camera 100 is used.

The ROM 14 stores range designation data for designating a range in which a face included in a subject to be photographed is contained within a predetermined photographing range that can be photographed by the digital camera 100. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a range based on the range designation data.
As shown in FIG. 2, the ROM 14 has range designation data (a) to (d) for designating the size, number, etc., of the range 22 in which the face included in the subject to be photographed is to be stored. As shown in FIG. This range designation data may be data indicating where the range 22 is from where in the shooting range 21, and the range excluding the range 22 of the shooting range 21 is from where to where in the shooting range 21. It may be data indicating whether or not. In any case, the range designation data designates a range 22 within which the subject's face should be contained within the shooting range 21.

  The system control unit 9 is mainly configured by a processor that operates according to a predetermined program, and performs overall control of the entire digital camera 100 including shooting operations. The system control unit 9 determines an in-focus position based on a high-frequency component of a digital image pickup signal obtained from an image sensor included in the image-capturing unit 1, and automatically controls driving of the photographing lens based on the determined in-focus position. It has a focus adjustment (AF) function.

  The digital camera 100 has a short-distance shooting mode for shooting a subject at a short distance (for example, within 1 m), and the system control unit 9 obtains from the image sensor included in the imaging unit 1 in this short-distance shooting mode. The contour of the face included in the subject is detected based on the digital imaging signal to be determined, and it is determined whether or not the detected contour falls within the range 22 designated by the range designation data stored in the ROM 14. . Note that various known means can be used for the technique relating to the detection of the face outline.

If the system control unit 9 determines that the detected contour does not fit in the region 22, the system control unit 9 places the contour in the range 22 based on the range designation data stored in the ROM 14 and the detected contour. Therefore, the direction in which the digital camera 100 should be moved is determined. FIG. 3A is a diagram illustrating the rear surface of the digital camera 100, and FIG. 3B is a diagram illustrating the front surface of the digital camera 100. FIG. 3A shows a state in which a through image is displayed on the display unit 8 in the short-distance shooting mode.
For example, the system control unit 9 divides the range 22 illustrated in FIG. 2A into four as illustrated in FIG. 3A, and the face outline a does not exist among the four divided regions 31 to 34. The divided area 33 is recognized, and the direction in which the digital camera 100 should be moved is determined based on the recognized divided area 33. In FIG. 3, reference numeral 30 denotes a release button. In FIG. 3, for the sake of explanation, an image showing the region 22 is displayed on the display unit 8, but this display is not actually performed.

  The output unit 15 performs output based on the determination result by the system control unit 9. The output unit 15 also performs output for notifying the user of the digital camera 100 of the direction to move the digital camera 100 determined by the system control unit 9. For example, as illustrated in FIG. 3B, the output unit 15 includes four LEDs 36 to 39 disposed on a surface on which the photographing lens 35 of the digital camera 100 is disposed. The LEDs 36 to 39 correspond to the four divided areas 31 to 34 shown in FIG. Note that the output unit 15 may be configured by a speaker that performs the above-described output by voice.

Hereinafter, the operation of the digital camera 100 when the user takes a selfie using the digital camera 100 will be described.
FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an operation flow of the digital camera for explaining the embodiment of the present invention.
When the user sets the short-distance shooting mode, an image showing a range based on the range designation data as shown in FIG. The user selects one of the images displayed on the display unit 8 (here, the range 22 in FIG. 2A), brings the digital camera 100 in front of him and determines the angle of view. The operation (the operation of moving the digital camera 100 little by little) is started. At this time, a through image is displayed on the display unit 8, but the display of the display unit 8 may be turned off.

  When the angle of view determination operation is performed by the user, the digital camera 100 detects the outline of the face included in the subject based on the digital imaging signal obtained from the imaging unit 1 (S401). Then, the digital camera 100 compares the detected contour with the region 22 specified by the range designation data stored in the ROM 14 selected by the user, and determines whether or not the contour is within the range 22. Is determined (S402).

  As shown in FIG. 5A, when the contour a of the user's face included in the subject falls on the boundary between the shooting range 21 and the range 22, the digital camera 100 has the contour of the user's face as the range. It is determined that it is not within 22. On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 5B, when the contour a of the user's face included in the subject does not fall on the boundary between the shooting range 21 and the range 22, but falls within the range 22, the digital The camera 100 determines that the contour of the user's face is within the range 22.

  When the digital camera 100 determines that the contour of the user's face is within the range 22 (S402: YES), the output unit 15 performs an output for notifying that effect. For example, sound such as “shooting is OK” is output from a speaker, or all the LEDs 36 to 39 are turned on (S403). With this output, the user can recognize that his / her face is properly within the range 22. When the user performs a photographing operation, the digital camera 100 photographs a subject within the photographing range 21 and records image data obtained by the photographing on the recording medium 12 (S404).

  When the digital camera 100 determines that the contour of the user's face is not within the range 22 (S402: NO), the range 22 shown in FIG. 2A is divided into four as shown in FIG. 3A. Then, among the four divided areas 31 to 34, the divided area 33 having no face outline is recognized, and the direction in which the digital camera 100 should be moved is determined so that the outline exists in the divided area 33 (S405). In order for the contour to exist in the divided area 33, the digital camera 100 must be moved to the left as viewed from the user who is taking a selfie. To do.

  When the direction is determined to be left, the digital camera 100 turns on the LED 38 corresponding to the left direction as viewed from the photographer (S406), as shown in FIG. 3B. Thus, the photographer only has to move the digital camera 100 in the direction according to the lighting of the LED without determining the direction in which the digital camera 100 is moved by himself / herself. The digital camera 100 returns to S401 and repeats the determination of the direction and the lighting of the LED until it is determined that the contour of the user's face is within the range 22.

  As described above, according to the digital camera 100, when the user takes a self-portrait in the short-distance shooting mode, the digital image is displayed until all the LEDs 36 to 39 are lit without checking the through image displayed on the display unit 8. By moving the camera 100 in front of the user's eyes and shooting after all the LEDs 36 to 39 are lit, shooting can be performed with the user's own face in the desired range 22 within the shooting range 21. . Therefore, it is possible to make it difficult for a mistake to occur during self-shooting.

  In addition, when range designation data for designating a range as shown in FIGS. 2A to 2C is selected, it is possible to determine in advance in which position in the shooting range 21 the face is to be brought. Therefore, it is easy to shoot according to the image. On the other hand, when the range designation data for designating the range as shown in FIG. 2D is selected, the range 22 is set in the most part of the shooting range 21, and therefore, if within the range 22 The face can be moved freely, and photography with a higher degree of freedom is possible than when range specification data for specifying a range as shown in FIGS. 2A to 2C is selected.

  Also, according to the digital camera 100, when the contour included in the subject is not within the range specified by the range specification data, the direction in which the digital camera 100 should be moved so that the contour is within the range is determined. The LED can be recognized by the user. For this reason, the user does not need to consider in which direction the digital camera 100 should be moved, and smooth shooting is possible.

  In the above, contour detection is performed based on the digital imaging signal obtained from the imaging unit 1 in the close-up shooting mode, but AF control is performed, and the face included in the subject is in focus. It is preferable to detect the contour. In this case, after the release button is pressed halfway and AF control is performed, the flow of FIG. 4 is started. As described above, contour detection can be performed with higher accuracy by performing contour detection based on the digital imaging signal obtained from the imaging unit 1 in a focused state.

  Further, in the above, when it is determined that the contour of the user's face is within the range 22, the output unit 15 outputs to that effect. When it is determined that the contour of the person's face is not within the range 22, an output for notifying the fact may be performed by the output unit 15. For example, the output unit 15 may perform voice output such as “the face outline does not fall within the specified range”.

The figure which shows schematic structure of the digital camera for describing embodiment of this invention The figure which shows the image based on the range designation | designated data memorize | stored in ROM of the digital camera for describing embodiment of this invention The figure which shows the schematic external appearance of the digital camera for describing embodiment of this invention The figure which shows the operation | movement flow of the digital camera for describing embodiment of this invention The figure for demonstrating the determination method of whether the face is settled in the range which should contain a face

Explanation of symbols

100 Digital Camera 1 Imaging Unit 9 System Control Unit 14 ROM
15 Output section

Claims (2)

A digital camera for photographing a subject within a predetermined photographing range,
A short-distance shooting mode for photographing the subject at a short distance;
Storage means for storing range designation data for designating a range within the photographing range in which the face included in the subject is to be stored;
Contour detection means for detecting a contour of a face included in the subject based on an imaging signal from an imaging device in the short-distance shooting mode;
Determination means for determining whether or not the contour detected by the contour detection means falls within a range specified by the range specification data;
A digital camera comprising output means for performing output based on a determination result by the determination means. The digital camera according to claim 1,
In order to fit the contour within the range based on the range designation data and the detected contour when the judging means determines that the contour does not fall within the range designated by the range designation data A moving direction determining means for determining a direction to move the digital camera;
The output means is a digital camera that performs an output for notifying a user of the digital camera of the direction.

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