JP2005354333A - Image reproducer and program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To obtain a slide show effect in such a sense as a target, i.e. a part in an image, springs out gradually when a plurality of images are displayed while being switched sequentially in a form of a slide show. <P>SOLUTION: In the image reproducer, the facial part of a figure is recognized as the target range TG of a remarked object by analyzing the content of a photography image and the position of eyes is specified as an index position PT in the target range TG. Reproducing operation for displaying the image in the target range TG while zooming in the range gradually every time when digital zooming is performed while contracting the clip range TG of the image gradually toward the index position PT is repeated and then the display is switched to a next image. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to an image reproduction apparatus and program for sequentially switching and displaying a plurality of images in a slide show format.

  In general, when a plurality of images are sequentially switched and displayed in a slide show format, for example, a wipe effect that gradually erases the current image is applied when the next image is switched, or a mosaic effect is gradually applied. . When one image is displayed, image division and image enlargement are performed, and the entire image is moved like a wave. In this case, a slide show effect is fixedly given to the entire image according to a predetermined program.

Conventionally, as a technique for sequentially switching and displaying a plurality of images in a slide show format, there is known an image reproducing device that sorts a plurality of images by their titles and displays images in a slide show format (Patent Literature). 1). Also, there is known an image data sequential display device in which a plurality of images are sorted according to similarity and image display is performed in a slide show format (see Patent Document 2). Furthermore, there is known a digital image display method in which a plurality of images are displayed in a slide show format by extending the display time according to the complexity (see Patent Document 3).
JP-A-11-344771 JP 2000-067057 A JP 2004-079927 A

 However, in the techniques of Patent Documents 1 and 2 described above, when a plurality of images are sequentially switched and displayed, the order in which the images are displayed is determined, and only a slide show effect corresponding to the display order can be obtained. Further, in the technique of Patent Document 3, when a plurality of images are sequentially switched and displayed, the display time is changed according to the contents of the image, and only a slide show effect corresponding to the display time can be obtained. .

  An object of the first invention is to realize a slide show effect in which a target that is a part of an image gradually jumps out when a plurality of images are sequentially switched and displayed in a slide show format. .

  An object of the second invention is to realize a slide show effect as if it was sucked into a target that is a part of an image when sequentially switching and displaying a plurality of images in a slide show format.

  An object of the third invention is to realize a slide show effect in which when a plurality of images are sequentially switched and displayed in a slide show format, the entire target image is shown while paying attention to a target that is a part thereof. .

The invention according to claim 1 (first invention) is an image reproduction apparatus for sequentially switching and displaying a plurality of images in a slide show format, and analyzing a content of the image to target a part of the image as a target range. Target recognition means for recognizing as, a position specifying means for specifying a predetermined position within the target range recognized by the target recognition means as an index position, and cutting out the image toward the index position specified by the position specifying means Each time digital zoom processing is performed while the range is gradually narrowed, a display control means is provided for repeatedly switching and displaying the next image after repeating the reproduction operation of gradually zooming up and displaying the image portion within the target range. Features.
Furthermore, a program for realizing the main functions shown in the invention described in claim 1 is provided to the computer (the invention described in claim 17).

The invention described in claim 1 may be as follows.
The display control means measures the image size of the cutout range when gradually narrowing the cutout range of the image toward the index position within the target range, and the zoom-up limit value in which the image size is determined in advance. The zoom-up reproduction operation is repeated until the value reaches (a).

The display control unit repeats a reproduction operation of gradually zooming up and displaying an image portion within the target range until the zoom-up limit value is reached, and then repeatedly zooms down while gradually expanding a cutout range of the image. (Invention of Claim 3).
In this case, the display control means measures the image size of the cutout range when gradually expanding the cutout range of the image, and after repeating the zoom-down display until the image size reaches the size of the original image, The next image may be switched and displayed (invention of claim 4).

The target recognition means recognizes the subject portion as a target range of interest when recognizing a predetermined subject included in the image by analyzing the image content (the invention according to claim 11). .
In this case, when recognizing a plurality of subjects included in the image, the target recognizing unit may recognize the subject portion having the maximum size as a target range among them. Invention).

  Further, when the target recognition means recognizes a plurality of subjects included in the image, the target recognition unit may recognize the subject portion located at the center of the image as a target range. (13) In addition, when the target recognizing unit recognizes a predetermined subject in the image, the target recognizing unit recognizes an image portion that is characteristically matched with a pre-registered object image as the predetermined subject. (Invention of Claim 14). Further, when the target recognizing unit recognizes a plurality of subjects included in the image, the entire range including the plurality of subject portions may be recognized as a target range. Described invention).

  If the target range cannot be recognized by the target recognizing means, a predetermined slide show effect is fixedly given to the image (the invention according to claim 16).

The invention according to claim 5 (second invention) is an image reproducing apparatus for sequentially switching and displaying a plurality of images in a slide show format, and analyzing a content of the image to target a part of the image as a target range. Target recognition means for recognizing the image, position specifying means for specifying a predetermined position within the target range recognized by the target recognition means as an index position, and attention of the image toward the index position specified by the position specifying means The image processing is performed so that the entire image portion outside the target range is made invisible while the range is gradually narrowed, and the reproduction operation for sequentially displaying the entire image is repeated each time this processing is performed. And display control means for switching to an image.
Furthermore, a program for realizing the main functions shown in the invention described in claim 5 is provided to the computer (the invention described in claim 18).

The invention described in claim 5 may be as follows.
The processing for processing the entire image portion outside the attention range into an invisible state is at least one of mosaic processing, blurring processing, and masking processing (the invention according to claim 6).

The display control means gradually narrows the range of interest until the target range is reached (the invention according to claim 7).
In addition, the invention described in claim 5 (second invention) may be the invention described in claims 11-16.

The invention according to claim 8 (third invention) is an image reproduction apparatus for sequentially switching and displaying a plurality of images in a slide show format, and analyzing a content of the image to target a part of the image as a target range. Target recognition means for recognizing as, an image cutout means for cutting out an image portion within the target range recognized by the target recognition means, and enlarging the image portion cut out by the image cutout means, and And a display control means for switching to and displaying the next image after being superimposed and redisplayed on the image.
Furthermore, a program for realizing the main functions shown in the invention described in claim 8 is provided to the computer (the invention described in claim 19).

The invention described in claim 8 may be as follows.
The image cutout unit specifies the cutout position when the image portion within the target range is cut out, and the display control unit superimposes the cutout image portion on the specific position in the original image and redisplays it. (Invention of Claim 9).

When a plurality of target ranges are recognized by the target recognizing means, the operation of enlarging the cutout image portion for each target and overlaying and redisplaying the enlarged image in the original image is sequentially repeated for the number of targets ( (Invention of Claim 10)
In addition, the invention described in claim 8 (third invention) may be the invention described in claims 11-16.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention (first invention), by analyzing the image content, a part of the image is recognized as a target range of interest, and a predetermined position in the target range is used as an index position. Each time a digital zoom process is performed while gradually reducing the cutout range of the image toward this index position, the playback operation for gradually zooming up the image portion within the target range is repeated, and then the next image is displayed. Since the display is switched, attention can be directed to the image portion while gradually zooming up the image portion within the target range. Accordingly, it is possible to realize a slide show effect in which a part (target) in the image gradually pops out, and to display effectively according to the image content.

  According to the invention described in claim 2, in addition to having the same effect as that of the invention described in claim 1 described above, when the image clipping range is gradually narrowed toward the index position within the target range, Since the image size is measured and the zoom-up reproduction operation is repeated until the image size reaches a predetermined zoom-up limit value, for example, when the original image size before cutting or the target range is small, If the cutout range is narrowed down to the target range and this cutout range is enlarged to full screen (full screen) size, the pixels will be too coarse and the entire image may be blurred, resulting in a loss of display quality. By forcibly stopping the zoom-up, it is possible to always display a clear target.

  According to the invention described in claim 3, in addition to having the same effect as that of the invention described in claim 1, the reproduction operation for gradually zooming up the image portion within the target range is repeated until the zoom-up limit value is reached. After that, the zoom-down display is repeated while gradually expanding the cutout range of the image, so the image portion within the target range can be gradually zoomed up and then gradually zoomed down, resulting in dynamic changes. A rich slideshow effect with high alerting power can be realized.

  In this case, when the image cutout range is gradually expanded, the image size of the cutout range is measured, and the zoom-down display is repeated until the image size reaches the size of the original image, and then the display is switched to the next image. Therefore, after zoom-up display, the original image size can be gradually restored and the image switching becomes natural.

  According to the invention described in claim 11, in addition to having the same effect as the invention described in claim 1 described above, when the predetermined subject included in the image is recognized by analyzing the image content, Since the subject portion is recognized as the target range of interest, for example, if the photograph is a photograph of a person, the person portion can be recognized as the target range. Here, the position specifying means may specify the position of the eyes of the person portion as the index position.

  In this case, when a plurality of subjects included in the image are recognized, the subject portion of the maximum size among them is recognized as the target range (the invention according to claim 12) or included in the image. When a plurality of subjects are recognized, the subject portion located at the center of the image is recognized as the target range (the invention according to claim 13). Even when a person has taken a picture together, the person to be photographed can be recognized as a target.

  In addition, when recognizing a predetermined subject in an image, an image portion that is characteristically matched with a pre-registered object image is recognized as the predetermined subject (the invention according to claim 14). For example, the target can be narrowed down to family, friends, and the like. Furthermore, when a plurality of subjects included in the image are recognized, the entire range including the plurality of subject portions is recognized as the target range (the invention according to claim 15). In the case of a group photo, the whole can be recognized as the target range.

  According to the invention described in claim 16, in addition to the same effect as the invention described in claim 1 described above, when the target range cannot be recognized, a predetermined slide show effect is displayed. The content of the slideshow effect can be changed based on whether or not the target is included in the image, and when the target appears from the normal state, Since the target is zoomed in, the alerting power is further increased.

  According to the invention described in claim 5 (second invention), by analyzing the image content, a part of the image is recognized as a target range of interest, and a predetermined position in the target range is used as an index position. Identify and process the entire image portion outside the target range in an invisible state while gradually narrowing the target range of the image toward the index position, and each time the processing process is performed, the entire image After repeating the reproducing operation for sequentially displaying the images, the display is switched to the next image, so that the attention can be gradually directed to the image portion within the target range while the attention range is gradually narrowed. Therefore, it is possible to realize a slide show effect that feels like being sucked into a part (target) in the image, and it is possible to display effectively according to the content of the image.

  In this case, the processing for processing the entire image portion outside the attention range into an invisible state may be at least one of mosaic processing, blurring processing, and masking processing (the invention according to claim 6). Further, the range of interest may be gradually narrowed until the target range is reached (the invention according to claim 6). In addition, the invention according to claim 5 (second invention) also has the same effects as those of the inventions according to claims 11 to 16 described above.

According to the invention described in claim 8 (third invention), by analyzing the content of the image, a part of the image is recognized as a target range to be noticed, and the image portion in the target range is cut out to obtain the image. Since the enlarged image is enlarged and this enlarged image is overlaid on the original image and redisplayed, the next image is switched and displayed, so that a slide show effect that draws attention to the target while showing the entire image can be achieved. It can be realized and effective display according to the image content is possible.
As a specific example, if an enlarged image obtained by enlarging the face portion of the person in the image is generated and this enlarged image is superimposed on the original image, attention is paid to the face portion of the person while showing the entire image. Can be made.

  According to the ninth aspect of the invention, in addition to having the same effect as that of the eighth aspect of the invention described above, when the image portion within the target range is cut out, this cut-out position is specified, Since the image is superimposed and redisplayed at a specific position in the image, the target can be focused on without destroying the positional relationship between the entire original image and the cut-out image portion.

According to the invention described in claim 10, in addition to having the same effect as that of the invention described in claim 8 described above, when a plurality of target ranges are recognized, the cut-out image portion is enlarged for each target and this enlargement is performed. Since the operation of overlaying and redisplaying the image in the original image is sequentially repeated for the number of targets, attention can be directed to a plurality of targets sequentially.
In addition, the invention according to claim 8 (third invention) also has the same effects as those of the inventions according to claims 11 to 16 described above.

Example 1
Hereinafter, a first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an outline of the overall configuration of the image reproducing apparatus in this embodiment.
This image playback device is an information processing device that plays back and displays captured images externally supplied from a digital camera, television receiver, projector, or digital camera, and has a slide show function that sequentially switches and displays a plurality of images in a slide show format. Have. This slide show function performs normal wipe, mosaic, etc. at the time of switching images, and in this embodiment, a slide show effect is made such that the target that is a part of the image gradually pops out. .

In other words, the slide show function is included in the image by analyzing the contents of the image when the image is displayed in a state where a plurality of captured images taken by the camera are arbitrarily selected as target images to which the slide show effect is to be added. The target person area is recognized as a target range of interest, and the position of the human eye in the target range is specified as the index position, and the cutout range of the image is gradually narrowed toward the index position. Each time digital zoom processing is performed, the reproduction operation for gradually zooming up the image portion within the target range is repeated, and then the display is switched to the next image.
Before detailed description of the features of this embodiment, the hardware configuration of this embodiment will be described below.

  The CPU 1 is a central processing unit that controls the overall operation of the image reproducing apparatus in accordance with the operating system and various application software in the storage unit 2. The storage unit 2 has a program area and a data area, and has a drive system in addition to a magnetic memory, an optical memory, a semiconductor memory, and the like. In the program area in the storage unit 2, an application program for realizing the present embodiment is stored in accordance with operation procedures shown in FIGS. The storage unit 2 may be a detachable storage medium such as a CD-ROM or DVD, in addition to a fixed memory such as a hard disk. Programs and data in the storage unit 2 are loaded into a RAM (for example, static RAM) 3 as necessary, or data in the RAM 3 is saved in the storage unit 2. The RAM 3 has a program execution area and a work area.

  Further, the CPU 1 can directly access a program / data on the other electronic device side via the communication device 4 or can download and receive the program / data via the communication device 4. On the other hand, the communication device 4, the input device 5, and the display device 6, which are input / output peripheral devices, are connected to the CPU 1 via a bus line, and the CPU 1 determines the input / output program of these input / output devices. Perform motion control. The input device 5 is an operation unit constituting a pointing device such as a mouse and a touch input pen in addition to a keyboard and a touch panel, and inputs character string data and various commands. The display device 6 is a liquid crystal display device that performs full-color display, a CRT display device, a plasma display device, or the like.

FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining the process of the slide show function when switching images.
This slide show function gives the observer a feeling that the face part of a person in the image gradually pops out. FIG. 2A shows a plurality of objects selected as target images for slide show display. Among images (still images), it is an image of a single person photographed and is an original image before the slide show effect is applied. The aspect ratio of the image is a normal “3: 4”. The CPU 1 recognizes the face portion of the person as a target range of interest by analyzing the contents of the photographed image, and specifies a predetermined position in the target range as the index position. Here, when recognizing the face portion of a person, an object image registered in advance is referred to, and an image portion characteristically matching this object image is recognized as the face portion of the person. The object image is a reference image for recognizing a human face portion, and is an image of the entire shape of the face, each component, and the like.

 In FIG. 2B, a rectangular portion TG surrounded by a broken line in the drawing indicates a region in which a human face portion is recognized as a target range, and a position PT where a vertical and horizontal ruled line (broken line) intersects is a target PT. The center position of the eyes of the person specified as the index position within the range is shown. In this case, the CPU 1 measures the image size (face size) of the target range TG and measures the position (eye position) of the index position PT. The face size is specified as the number of vertical and horizontal pixels, The eye position is specified by the aspect ratio and the aspect ratio. In the illustrated example, the aspect ratio indicating the eye position is V1: V2 = 3: 2, and the aspect ratio is H1: H2 = 2: 1.

FIG. 2C is a diagram showing a state in which the cutout range of the image is gradually narrowed toward the eye position (index position PT) specified as described above.
In this case, digital zoom processing is performed while gradually narrowing the image cutout range step by step toward the index position PT (eye position) in the target range TG (face portion). In the figure, a rectangular broken line drawn around the target range TG indicates a cutout range narrowed for each step, and the CPU 1 cuts out an image portion within this range from the original image and changes it to the full screen size. And display it. FIG. 2D illustrates the state where the image portion within the cutout range is displayed in full screen size, and FIG. 2E illustrates the state where the cutout range is further narrowed by one level and displayed in full screen size. doing. Note that the full screen size indicates the entire range of the effective display area in the display device 6.

  In this way, when performing digital zoom processing while gradually narrowing the image cutout range toward the eye position, the image size of the cutout range is measured, and the image size is set to a predetermined zoom-up limit value. The zooming is repeated until it reaches. In other words, when the original image size or target range is small, if the cutout range is narrowed to the target range and this cutout range is expanded to the full screen size, the pixels will be too coarse, so zooming up will be forced at the previous stage. I try to stop it. In addition, after the target is zoomed up, the cut-out range is gradually expanded and the zoom-down process is repeated until the range reaches the original image size. That is, the target is restored to the original image while gradually zooming down.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating how the target range TG and the index position PT are specified when a plurality of persons are captured in an image, and an example of zoom-up display of a plurality of persons.
That is, when a plurality of face portions of a predetermined size or larger are captured, the entire range including the plurality of subject portions is recognized as the target range. In this case, as shown in FIG. 3A, as a result of sequentially aiming each person's face part shown in the original image and measuring the image size sequentially, the three person's face parts have a predetermined size. If it is above, as shown in Drawing 3 (B), while specifying the minimum range where all three people's face parts fall as target range TG, the middle position of the face parts concerned is specified as index position PT. FIG. 3C shows a display example when the image portion within the target range TG is zoomed up.

  Next, the operation concept of the image reproducing apparatus in the first embodiment will be described with reference to the flowcharts shown in FIGS. Here, each function described in these flowcharts is stored in the form of a readable program code, and operations according to the program code are sequentially executed. In addition, the operation according to the above-described program code transmitted via the transmission medium can be sequentially executed. This also applies to other embodiments described later, and in addition to the recording medium, operations specific to this embodiment can be executed using programs / data supplied externally via a transmission medium.

4 to 6 are flowcharts showing an operation that is started when the slide show function is turned on.
First, the CPU 1 is recorded and saved in an electronic photo album or an image folder in order to arbitrarily select a target image for sequentially switching and displaying a plurality of images in a slide show format from an electronic photo album or an image folder. A list of captured image groups is displayed (thumbnail display), and a plurality of images arbitrarily selected and designated from them are acquired as target images for the slide show (step A1). Then, after setting a timer time arbitrarily input in order to sequentially switch the plurality of target images (step A2), a standby state is entered until the start of the slide show is instructed (step A3).

 Now, when the start of the slide show is instructed, the first target image is read out from a plurality of images selected as the target images of the slide show according to the selection order (step A4), and the read image is displayed on the display device. The full screen size is changed (enlarged / reduced) to 6 and displayed (step A5). In this state, after the timer is started (step A6), the face portion of the person is recognized while comparing the subject portion in the read image with the object image registered in advance (step A7).

 At this time, the person is almost facing the front and the face and eyes are recognized. As a result, it is determined whether or not the face portion and the eye portion of the person could be recognized (step A8). If the face portion and the eye portion of the person are not included in the image (NO in step A8). ), The presence or absence of the next target image is checked (step A9). Here, if there is a next image, after waiting until the timer set time elapses (step A10), a normal slide show effect (for example, wipe, mosaic, etc.) is applied to the image (step A11). Thereafter, the process returns to step A4 and repeats the above-described operation until all target images are read.

 As a result of analyzing the read image, if the face portion of the person can be recognized (YES in step A8), it is checked whether or not there is one person in the image (step A12), 1 If it is a person, the face portion of the person is specified as the target range (step A13). If there are a plurality of persons, it is checked whether a plurality of face portions of a predetermined size or more are captured (step A17). If there is one face part as described above, the face part of the maximum size is specified as the target range from among them (step A18).

 Then, the eye position within the target range is specified as the index position, and the image size (face size) of the target range is measured in the original image (step A14). As described above, the face size is measured as the number of vertical and horizontal pixels. Further, the position is specified by measuring the aspect ratio and aspect ratio of the eye position in the original image (step A15). Thereafter, after waiting for the timer set time to elapse (step A16), the process proceeds to step A21 and subsequent steps in FIG. 5 to start processing for adding a slide show effect unique to the present embodiment.

 First, as shown in FIG. 2C, an area obtained by narrowing the original image by one step in the aspect ratio is designated as a cutout range (step A21). Then, the image size (number of vertical and horizontal pixels) of the cutout range is measured (step A22), and the image size of the cutout range is compared with the image size (face size) of the target range. YES), the image size of this cutout range is compared with the zoom-up limit value (lower limit image size), and if the lower limit image size is exceeded (YES in step A24), the image portion within the cutout range is set to the full screen size. Is changed (enlarged / reduced) and displayed (step A25). As a result, the image portion within the cutout range is zoomed up by one step. Then, after zoom-up display is temporarily stopped until a zoom-up interval setting time (for example, 1 second) elapses (step A26), an area in which the current cutout range is narrowed by one step in the aspect ratio of the original image is displayed. The new cutout range is designated (step A27), and then the process returns to step A22 to repeat the above zoom-up process.

 In the middle of repeating the zoom-up process for each stage in this way, when the cutout range almost reaches the face size (NO in step A23) or when the lower limit image size is reached (NO in step A24). ) After stopping the zoom-up process, the zoom-down process is subsequently executed. First, an area obtained by expanding the current cutout range by one step with the aspect ratio of the original image is designated as a new cutout range (step A28). Then, the image portion within the new cutout range is changed to the full screen size (enlarged / reduced) and displayed (step A29). As a result, the image portion within the cutout range is zoomed down by one step.

 Then, after zoom-down display is paused until a zoom-down interval setting time (for example, 1 second) elapses (step A30), the image size of the cutout range is measured, and whether or not the original image size has been reached. (Step A31), the process returns to step A29 until the original image size is reached, and the zoom-down process is repeated while the cutout range is expanded step by step. When the cutout range reaches the original image size, the presence or absence of the next target image is checked (step A32). If there is no next image, the slide show function is turned off and the process ends. If there is, return to step A4 in FIG. The next target image is read out.

 On the other hand, when a plurality of face portions of a predetermined size or more are included in the photographed image (YES in step A17 of FIG. 4), the process proceeds to step A41 of FIG. 6 and each face portion of the predetermined size or more is specified. . Then, the position of the face portion of each person in the captured image is detected, the intermediate position between them is specified as the index position PT (step A42), and the minimum image area in which all the face portions of each person are contained is defined as the target range. It is specified as TG (step A43). The image size (number of vertical and horizontal pixels) of the minimum image area is obtained (step A44), and the aspect ratio and aspect ratio of the index position in the original image are obtained (step A45). Thereafter, after waiting for the timer set time to elapse (step A46), an area in which the original image is narrowed by one aspect ratio is designated as a cutout range (step A47).

 The image size (number of vertical and horizontal pixels) of the cutout range is measured (step A48), and the cutout range is compared with the image size (number of vertical and horizontal pixels) of the minimum image area (target range). It is checked whether or not the range is larger than the size of the target range (step A49). If it is larger, the image portion in the cutout range is changed to the full screen size (enlarged / reduced) and displayed (step A50). ). As a result, the image portion within the cutout range is zoomed up by one step.

 Then, after zoom-up display is temporarily stopped until a zoom-up interval setting time (for example, 1 second) elapses (step A51), an area in which the current cut-out range is narrowed by one step in the aspect ratio of the original image is displayed. A new cutout range is designated (step A52). Thereafter, returning to step A48, the above zoom-up process is repeated. In the middle of repeating the zoom-up process for each stage in this way, if the cutout range has almost reached the image size of the target range (NO in step A49), the presence or absence of the next target image is checked (step A53) If there is no next image, the slide show function is turned off and the process ends. If there is a next target image, the process returns to step A4 in FIG. The next target image is read out.

 As described above, in the image reproducing apparatus according to the first embodiment, the CPU 1 recognizes the face portion of the person as the target range TG to be noticed by analyzing the contents of the captured image, and within the target range TG. The eye position is specified as the index position PT, and each time the digital zoom process is performed while gradually reducing the cutout range TG of the image toward the index position PT, the image portion in the target range TG is gradually zoomed up and displayed. Since the display is switched to the next image after repeating the reproduction operation, the image portion within the target range can be focused on the image portion while gradually zooming up. Accordingly, it is possible to realize a slide show effect in which a part (target) in the image gradually pops out, and to display effectively according to the image content.

  When the cutout range of the image is gradually narrowed toward the index position PT in the target range TG, the CPU 1 measures the image size of the cutout range and sets the image size to a predetermined zoom-up limit value. Since the zoom-up playback operation is repeated until the pixel reaches the maximum size, for example, when the size of the original image or the target range is small, if the cutout range is narrowed to the target range and the cutout range is expanded to the full screen size, the pixels are coarsened. Since the entire image is blurred and the display quality may be deteriorated, the zoom-up display is forcibly stopped at the previous stage, so that a clear target display is always possible.

In this case, after repeating the reproduction operation of gradually zooming up and displaying the image portion within the target range until reaching the zoom-up limit value, the zoom-down display is repeated while gradually expanding the cutout range of the image. The image portion within the target range can be gradually zoomed up and then zoomed down gradually, and a slide show effect with high dynamics and high alertness can be realized.
In addition, when gradually expanding the cutout range of the image, the image size of the cutout range is measured, and the zoom-down display is repeated until the image size reaches the size of the original image, and then the display is switched to the next image. Thus, after zoom-up display, the original image size can be gradually restored, and image switching becomes natural.

In addition, when recognizing a person's face part in a photographed image, an object part that is characteristically matched with a pre-registered object image is recognized as a person's face part. be able to. Here, when there are a plurality of face parts in the photographed image, if there is one face part of a predetermined size or more, the face part of the maximum size is specified as the target range from among them. Even when a person other than the person to be photographed is taken together, the person to be photographed can be recognized as the target.
In addition, when a plurality of face portions of a predetermined size or more are included, the entire range including the plurality of face portions is recognized as the target range. For example, in the case of a group photo, the entire Can be recognized as the target range.

  In addition, when the captured image does not include a human face and the target range cannot be recognized, a predetermined normal slide show effect (for example, wipe) is applied to the image. Since the content of the slideshow effect can be changed based on whether or not the face portion of the person is included in the image, and when the target appears from the normal state, Since this target is zoomed in, the alerting power is further increased.

In the first embodiment described above, when gradually zooming in on the face portion of a person, the maximum size of the face portion is set to the full screen size. For example, the maximum size is up to 3 steps or up to 4 steps. You may do it.
In the first embodiment, the human face portion is gradually zoomed up and then zoomed down. However, after the zoomed up display, a normal slide show effect such as mosaic or wipe may be performed. .

On the other hand, a recording medium (for example, a CD-ROM, a flexible disk, a RAM card, etc.) on which program codes for executing the above-described units are recorded may be provided to the computer. That is, a recording medium having a program code that can be read by a computer, and when a plurality of images are sequentially switched and displayed in a slide show format, a part of the image is analyzed as a target range by analyzing the image contents A function for recognizing, a function for specifying a predetermined position within the recognized target range as an index position, and a target for each time the digital zoom process is performed while gradually narrowing a cutout range of the image toward the specified index position. Provided is a computer-readable recording medium on which a program for realizing a function of realizing a function of switching and displaying the next image after repeating a reproduction operation of gradually zooming up and displaying an image portion within the range. Also good.
(Example 2)

A second embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS.
In the first embodiment described above, a slide show effect that gives the feeling that the face portion (target), which is a part of the image, gradually pops out by gradually zooming in on the face portion of the person is provided. However, in the second embodiment, a slide show effect that gives a feeling of being sucked into the face portion (target) of a person, which is a part of the image, is provided. In other words, the face part of the person is watched by gradually narrowing the area where attention is directed to the viewer.
Here, the same or the same names in both embodiments are denoted by the same reference numerals, the description thereof will be omitted, and the following description will focus on the features of the second embodiment. .

FIG. 7 is a diagram for explaining the slide show effect of the second embodiment.
FIG. 7A shows a state in which the face portion of a person is recognized as the target range TG by image analysis and the position of the person's eyes is specified as the index position PT, as in the first embodiment described above. . In FIG. 7B, a range in which the image is narrowed by one step toward the index position PT is designated as a range of interest, and a mosaic effect is applied to the entire outside of the range of interest so that an image portion outside the range of interest is displayed. FIG. 7C shows a display state when the processing for processing into an invisible state is performed, and FIG. 7C shows a display state when the attention range is narrowed by several stages. Note that the attention range indicates an area that draws attention to the viewer.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing the characteristic part of the second embodiment, and is a flowchart replacing FIG. 5 in FIGS. 4 to 6 described above. FIGS. 4 and 6 are the same as the first embodiment described above. Since this is the same, the characteristic part of the second embodiment will be described below with reference to FIG.
First, as in the first embodiment described above, in a state where the face portion of a person is recognized as the target range TG by image analysis and the eye position of the person is specified as the index position PT, the CPU 1 A region narrowed by one step in the aspect ratio is designated as the attention range (step B1). Then, after applying the mosaic effect to the entire outside of the attention range, the entire image is displayed again (step B2).

  Thereafter, for example, after the image display is temporarily stopped until one second elapses (step B3), an area in which the current attention range is further narrowed by one stage in the aspect ratio of the original image is designated as a new attention range ( Step B4). Next, the image size (number of vertical and horizontal pixels) of this attention area is measured, and this image size is compared with the image size (face size) of the target area. If the attention area is larger than the face size (in step B5). YES), a mosaic effect is applied to the entire outside of this attention range to redisplay the entire image (step B2). Thereafter, the above-described operation is repeated until the attention range substantially reaches the face size. As a result, when the attention range reaches the face size, the presence / absence of the next target image is checked (step B6). If there is no target image, the slide show function is turned off and the process ends. However, there is a next target image. Then, the process returns to step A4 in FIG. The next target image is read out.

As described above, in the image reproducing apparatus according to the second embodiment, the CPU 1 recognizes the face portion of a person as a target range to be noticed by analyzing the contents of the captured image, and the eye is within the target range. The position is specified as the index position, and the mosaic process is performed to process the entire image portion outside the target range in an invisible state while gradually narrowing the target range of the image toward the index position. After repeating the playback operation to sequentially display the entire image every time, the display is switched to the next image, so that attention can be gradually directed to the image portion within the target range while gradually narrowing the attention range. it can. Therefore, it is possible to realize a slide show effect that feels like being sucked into a part (target) in the image, and it is possible to display effectively according to the image content.
In this case, since the attention range is gradually narrowed until the attention range reaches the target range (face size), even if the region to be processed in mosaic is enlarged step by step, even the face portion of the person is covered. There is nothing. In addition, basically the same effects as those of the first embodiment described above are obtained.

In the second embodiment described above, the mosaic effect is applied to the entire outside of the attention range. However, as the processing for processing the image portion of the entire outside of the attention range into an invisible state, blur processing, masking It may be processing.
In the second embodiment described above, the attention range is gradually narrowed until reaching the target range, and then the next image is switched and displayed. However, as in the first embodiment, the attention range is not changed. After reaching the target range, the attention range may be expanded step by step until the attention range reaches the size of the original image.

In addition, when a computer-readable recording medium having a program code that sequentially switches and displays a plurality of images in a slide show format, the image content is analyzed to obtain a target range for which a part of the image is a target of attention. A function of recognizing, a function of specifying a predetermined position within the recognized target range as an index position, and an image portion of the entire outside of the target range while gradually narrowing the target range of the image toward the specified index position A program for realizing the function of switching to the next image after repeating the playback operation to sequentially display the entire image every time this processing is performed is performed. A computer-readable recording medium may be provided.
(Example 3)

A third embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS.
In the first embodiment described above, a slide show effect that gives the feeling that the face portion that is a part of the image gradually pops out is displayed by gradually zooming in on the face portion of the person. In the third embodiment, when a plurality of face portions of a predetermined size or larger are captured in the photographed image, attention is sequentially directed to the face portions (a plurality of targets) of each person while showing the entire image. Such a slide show effect is provided. That is, an enlarged image in which the face portion of the person is enlarged is generated, and this enlarged image is superimposed on the face position of the original image.
Here, the same or the same names in the embodiments are denoted by the same reference numerals, the description thereof will be omitted, and the following description will focus on the features of the third embodiment. .

FIG. 9 is a diagram for explaining the slide show effect of the third embodiment.
FIG. 9A shows a state in which the position of each person's face part is specified and the range of each person's face part is specified when a plurality of face parts of a predetermined size or larger are captured in the photographed image. Is shown. FIG. 9B shows a state in which the first person among a plurality of persons is focused, the face portion is cut out and enlarged, and then the enlarged image is superimposed and redisplayed at the original position. . 9C shows a state in which the second person is focused and the enlarged image of the face portion is re-displayed at the original position, and FIG. 9D is focused on the third person, A state where the enlarged image of the face portion is displayed again at the original position is shown.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing the characterizing portion of the third embodiment, and is a flowchart replacing FIG. 6 in FIGS. 4 to 6 described above. FIGS. 4 and 5 are the same as those in the first embodiment. Since this is the same, the characteristic part of the second embodiment will be described below with reference to FIG.
First, when recognizing that a plurality of face portions of a predetermined size or larger are captured in the captured image as in the first embodiment described above, the CPU 1 specifies each face portion of a predetermined size or larger. (Step C1) The position on the image is specified for each face part, and the area of each face part is specified as the enlargement target range (Step C2). Then, after assigning the order to each face part in order from the closest to the center of the image (step C3), the process waits until the timer set time elapses (step C4).

  Here, when the timer set time elapses, the first face portion is cut out from the face portions ordered as described above (step C5), the cut-out area is enlarged to a predetermined display size, and the enlarged image is displayed. Are superimposed on the original face position to redisplay the entire image (step C6). In this state, after waiting for a predetermined time (for example, 5 seconds) to elapse (step C7), the superimposed display (enlarged image) is deleted (step C8). Then, the presence / absence of an undisplayed face portion is checked (step C9). Since the first face image is superimposed and displayed first, the second face portion is cut out next (step C5). Then, this face part is enlarged and displayed on the original face position (step C6). Hereinafter, similarly, the third face portion is displayed in an overlapping manner. After superimposing and displaying all the face portions in this way (NO in step C9), the presence or absence of the next target image is checked (step C10). If not, the slide show function is turned off. The process ends, but if there is a next target image, the process returns to step A4 in FIG. The next target image is read out.

  As described above, in the image reproducing apparatus of the third embodiment, the CPU 1 recognizes the face portion in the image as the target range to be noticed by analyzing the content of the captured image, and the face in the target range. After cutting out and enlarging the part, overlaying this enlarged image on the original image and redisplaying the entire image, then switching to the next image and displaying it, so the target (face part) while showing the entire image It is possible to realize a slide show effect that draws attention to the image and to apply the slide show effect according to the image content.

In this case, when the face portion within the target range is cut out, this cut-out position is specified, and the cut-out image portion is superimposed on the position in the original image and displayed again. Attention can be directed to the face part without breaking the positional relationship with the part.
In addition, when a plurality of face parts of a predetermined size or more are captured, the operation of enlarging the cut-out image part for each face part and superimposing the enlarged image on the original image and redisplaying it is repeated for each person. Therefore, attention can be directed to a plurality of persons sequentially. In addition, the third embodiment basically has the same effects as those of the first embodiment described above.

In the third embodiment described above, the face portion is cut out from the image and enlarged and displayed again at the original position. However, as in the first embodiment, the cutout range is gradually zoomed up. The images may be displayed while being superimposed.
Moreover, when enlarging the face part, the enlargement size was not mentioned, but in addition to enlarging to a uniform size, for example, the original face part may be enlarged twice.

  In addition, when a computer-readable recording medium having a program code that sequentially switches and displays a plurality of images in a slide show format, the image content is analyzed to obtain a target range for which a part of the image is a target of attention. A function to recognize, a function to cut out the image part within the recognized target range, and to enlarge the cut out image part, overlay this enlarged image on the original image, redisplay, and then switch to the next image You may make it provide the computer-readable recording medium which recorded the program for implement | achieving the function to display.

In addition, in the first to third embodiments described above, a special slide show effect is given to the current image immediately before switching to the next image. However, when the image is switched, A special slide show effect may be given. That is, the timing at which the special slide show effect shown in the first to third embodiments is given is arbitrary.
In the first to third embodiments, the slide show control is performed on the face portion of the person. However, the slide show control may be performed on the entire person shown in the image.

In addition, by analyzing the contents of the captured image, the face portion of the person is recognized as the target range of interest, and the eye position is specified as the index position within the target range. It is also possible to recognize the subject portion located in the section as a target.
In the first to third embodiments described above, the next image is switched automatically every time a preset timer time elapses. However, the image is switched according to an operator instruction. Also good.

  In the first to third embodiments described above, the object image relating to the face portion of the person is registered. For example, if an image of a family member or a friend is registered as a reference image for subject recognition, it is desired. Can be targeted. Further, not only a person but also an arbitrary subject such as a pet or a building may be targeted.

  In addition, when a business meeting such as a business meeting, debriefing session, council, etc. in a company or the like, a plurality of images showing document information are switched and displayed on the screen by a projector, predetermined document information (text, graphics, images) Etc.) and a slide show effect may be given to the target. In this case, predetermined document information may be arbitrarily registered in advance as a reference image for target recognition.

The block diagram which showed the outline | summary of the whole structure of an image reproduction apparatus. (A)-(E) are the figures for demonstrating the process of the slide show function at the time of the switching of an image. (A) to (C) show how to specify the target range TG and the index position PT when a plurality of persons are shown in the image, and illustrate the zoom-up display of the plurality of persons. Figure. The flowchart which showed the operation | movement started when a slide show function is turned on. The flowchart which showed the operation | movement of the slide show function following FIG. The flowchart which showed the operation | movement of the slide show function following FIG. (A)-(C) is a figure for demonstrating the slide show effect of 2nd Example. The flowchart which showed the slide show control which is the characteristic part of 2nd Example. The figure for demonstrating the slide show effect of 3rd Example. The flowchart which showed the slide show control which is the characteristic part of 3rd Example.

Explanation of symbols

1 CPU
2 storage unit 4 communication device 5 input device 6 display device TG target range PT index position

Claims (19)

An image playback apparatus for sequentially switching and displaying a plurality of images in a slide show format,
Target recognition means for recognizing a part of the image as a target range of interest by analyzing the image content;
Position specifying means for specifying a predetermined position within the target range recognized by the target recognition means as an index position;
Each time digital zoom processing is performed while gradually reducing the cutout range of the image toward the index position specified by the position specifying means, the reproduction operation for gradually zooming up the image portion within the target range is repeated. Display control means for switching to the next image, and
An image reproducing apparatus comprising: The display control means measures the image size of the cutout range when gradually narrowing the cutout range of the image toward the index position within the target range, and the zoom-up limit value in which the image size is determined in advance. Repeat zoom up playback until the
2. The image reproducing device according to claim 1, wherein the image reproducing device is configured as described above. The display control unit repeats a reproduction operation of gradually zooming up and displaying an image portion within the target range until the zoom-up limit value is reached, and then repeatedly zooms down while gradually expanding a cutout range of the image. ,
The image reproducing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the image reproducing apparatus is configured as described above. The display control means measures the image size of the cutout range when gradually expanding the cutout range of the image, and repeats zoom-down display until the image size reaches the size of the original image, and then the next image To display
4. The image reproducing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the image reproducing apparatus is configured as described above. An image playback apparatus for sequentially switching and displaying a plurality of images in a slide show format,
Target recognition means for recognizing a part of the image as a target range of interest by analyzing the image content;
Position specifying means for specifying a predetermined position within the target range recognized by the target recognition means as an index position;
While processing the entire image portion outside the target range to be invisible while gradually narrowing the target range of the image toward the index position specified by the position specifying unit, Display control means for switching to and displaying the next image after repeating the reproduction operation for sequentially displaying the entire image on
An image reproducing apparatus comprising:   6. The image reproducing apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the processing for processing the entire image portion outside the attention range into an invisible state is at least one of mosaic processing, blurring processing, and masking processing. . The display control means gradually narrows the range of interest until the target range is reached,
6. The image reproducing apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the image reproducing apparatus is configured as described above. An image playback apparatus for sequentially switching and displaying a plurality of images in a slide show format,
Target recognition means for recognizing a part of the image as a target range of interest by analyzing the image content;
Image cutout means for cutting out an image portion within the target range recognized by the target recognition means;
A display control means for enlarging the image portion cut out by the image cutout means, superimposing the enlarged image on the original image, and redisplaying it, and switching to the next image;
An image reproducing apparatus comprising: The image cutout means specifies the cutout position when cutting out an image portion within the target range,
The display control means superimposes the cut-out image portion on the specific position in the original image and re-displays;
9. The image reproducing apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the image reproducing apparatus is configured as described above. When a plurality of target ranges are recognized by the target recognizing means, the operation is performed in order to enlarge the cut-out image portion for each target and to superimpose the enlarged image in the original image and redisplay the same number of targets.
9. The image reproducing apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the image reproducing apparatus is configured as described above. The target recognizing means recognizes the subject portion as a target range of interest when recognizing a predetermined subject included in the image by analyzing the image content;
9. The image reproducing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image reproducing apparatus is configured as described above. When the target recognizing unit recognizes a plurality of subjects included in the image, the target recognizing unit recognizes a subject portion of the maximum size as a target range.
12. The image reproducing device according to claim 11, wherein the image reproducing device is configured as described above. When the target recognition means recognizes a plurality of subjects included in the image, the target recognition unit recognizes a subject portion located at the center of the image as a target range.
12. The image reproducing apparatus according to claim 11, wherein the image reproducing apparatus is configured as described above. The target recognizing unit recognizes, as a predetermined subject, an image portion that is characteristically matched with a pre-registered object image when recognizing the predetermined subject in the image.
12. The image reproducing apparatus according to claim 11, wherein the image reproducing apparatus is configured as described above. The target recognizing unit recognizes the entire range including the plurality of subject portions as a target range when recognizing the plurality of subjects included in the image.
12. The image reproducing apparatus according to claim 11, wherein the image reproducing apparatus is configured as described above. If the target range cannot be recognized by the target recognition means, a predetermined slide show effect is fixedly given to the image,
9. The image reproducing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image reproducing apparatus is configured as described above. Against the computer,
A function of recognizing a part of the image as a target range of interest by analyzing the image content when sequentially displaying a plurality of images in a slide show format;
A function for specifying a predetermined position within the recognized target range as an index position;
Each time digital zoom processing is performed while gradually narrowing the cutout range of the image toward the specified index position, the reproduction operation for gradually zooming up the image portion within the target range is repeated, and then the next image is displayed. A function for switching display,
A program to realize Against the computer,
A function of recognizing a part of the image as a target range of interest by analyzing the image content when sequentially displaying a plurality of images in a slide show format;
A function for specifying a predetermined position within the recognized target range as an index position;
While processing the entire image portion outside the target range in an invisible state while gradually narrowing the target range of the image toward the specified index position, every time the processing process is performed, the entire image is processed. After repeating the playback operation to display sequentially, the function to switch to the next image and display,
A program to realize Against the computer,
A function of recognizing a part of the image as a target range of interest by analyzing the image content when sequentially displaying a plurality of images in a slide show format;
A function to cut out an image portion within the recognized target range;
A function for enlarging the clipped image portion, overlaying the enlarged image on the original image, and displaying it again, and then switching to the next image,
A program to realize

Images