JP2006074114A - Image processing apparatus and imaging apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image processing apparatus whereby a user can recognize image quality in a plurality of regions in real time in the case of coding an image with different image qualities for a plurality of regions and to provide an imaging apparatus. <P>SOLUTION: An image conversion section 12 in an imaging mode of a camera 100 applies image conversion to an image (original image) captured by a CCD 110 in a way that an image quality level of each region set by a ROI region setting section 123 and an image quality setting section 124 can visually be recognized, and generates a through-image to be displayed on a display apparatus 140 in real time. Then the through-image generated by the image conversion section 124 is sent to a display circuit 127 via a switch SW 1 and the display apparatus 140 displays the image. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to an image processing apparatus and an imaging apparatus, and more particularly to an image processing apparatus and an imaging apparatus that can perform encoding with different image quality for each region.

  In ISO / ITU-T, standardization of JPEG2000 using discrete wavelet transform (DWT) is performed as a successor of JPEG (Joint Photographic Expert Group), which is a standard technology for compression coding of still images. JPEG2000 can encode a wide range of image quality from low bit rate encoding to lossless compression with high performance, and it is easy to realize a scalability function that gradually increases image quality. In addition, JPEG2000 provides various functions not found in the conventional JPEG standard.

  As one of the functions of JPEG2000, ROI encoding that encodes and transmits a region of interest (ROI) of an image with priority over other regions is standardized. With ROI encoding, when there is an upper limit on the encoding rate, the reproduction image quality of the attention area can be preferentially made high quality, and when the encoded stream is sequentially decoded, the attention area is quickly improved in quality. Will be able to play.

Patent Document 1 discloses a technique for automatically recognizing a plurality of ROI regions in image data. In this Patent Document 1, as described in paragraph numbers 0060 to 0061, in the stage before photographing, the automatically recognized ROI region is displayed on the display unit so as to be superimposed on the image captured by the imaging unit. It is possible to select ROI candidates for which “” is displayed and to enlarge / reduce the ROI region.
JP 2004-72655 A

  However, in Patent Document 1, only the range of the ROI area is displayed on the display unit, and the difference in image quality between the ROI area and other areas cannot be recognized. Therefore, it is impossible for the user to adjust the image quality while confirming the image quality of each area on the display unit before or during shooting.

  The present invention has been made in view of these problems, and the purpose of the present invention is to allow a user to recognize the image quality of a plurality of areas in real time when an image is encoded so that the image quality is different in the plurality of areas. An image processing apparatus and an imaging apparatus are provided.

  One embodiment of the present invention relates to an image processing apparatus. The apparatus includes an area setting unit that sets an image in a plurality of areas, an encoding unit that encodes image data with different image quality for each area set by the area setting unit, and the image Image data is converted by performing predetermined processing on the data, and the degree of conversion is determined for each region according to the image quality level of each region encoded by the encoding means. And a display unit for displaying the image data converted by the image conversion unit on a display.

  Here, the predetermined processing applied to the image is to convert the image data (RGB data or luminance / color difference data) of each pixel of the image into new image data different from the original image data. Refers to processing, and includes, for example, filtering, multiplication of coefficients, or replacement with a constant value.

  The degree of conversion represents how much the generated image data differs from the original pixel data, and the parameter for determining the degree of conversion is adjusted in the predetermined processing described above. By doing so, the degree of conversion of each region is determined. This parameter indicates, for example, the size of the filter coefficient in the case of filtering, the magnitude of the multiplication coefficient in the case of multiplication processing, and the ratio of pixels to be replaced in the case of replacement with a constant value. The degree of conversion may be determined such that the region having a higher image quality level is smaller and the region having a lower image quality level is larger.

  According to this aspect, the image conversion unit is provided separately from the encoding unit, and when the image is encoded with different image quality for each of the plurality of regions by the encoding unit, the image conversion unit encodes the image. An image capable of visually recognizing the image quality level of each area of data can be generated in a simple method and in real time. The user can view the image generated by the image conversion unit via the display device, and can immediately confirm the image quality levels of a plurality of regions obtained by encoding.

  In this aspect, a decoding unit that decodes the encoded data obtained by the encoding unit, and when encoding is performed by the encoding unit, the image data converted by the image conversion unit is selected and displayed. And a selection unit that selects image data decoded by the decoding unit and inputs it to the display unit when the encoded data is decoded by the decoding unit, and the display unit When the decoded image data is input, the image data may be displayed on a display. As a result, an image obtained by decoding the encoded data can also be viewed via the display device, so that the user can also check the actual image quality of the encoded data.

  In this aspect, the image processing apparatus may further include a motion detection unit that detects the motion of the object of interest in the image, and the region setting unit may cause the region including the object to follow the motion of the object. Thereby, it is possible to confirm in real time the position of the area that has been automatically followed by the image displayed on the display device.

  In this aspect, a user (user) may further include an input unit that sets at least one of the position, size, and image quality of the plurality of regions. Accordingly, the user can adjust the position, size, and image quality of each area while confirming the image displayed on the display device.

  In this aspect, the image conversion unit may convert the image data so that the image quality of each region is different. This image conversion unit does not require strict adjustment of image quality as required by encoding, and the image quality of each region can be made different by simple processing. Close to the obtained image. Therefore, by displaying an image obtained by simple processing in the image quality conversion unit on the display device, the user can recognize the image quality level of each area of the encoded image in real time and decode it. You can also grasp the image of the time.

  In this aspect, the image conversion unit may convert the image data so that the colors of the regions are different. According to this, since the difference in image quality level of each area when encoded is displayed by the difference in color, the displayed image is clearly displayed in all areas. Therefore, the user can recognize the image quality level of each area of the encoded image and can grasp the contents shown in the entire image in all areas.

  In this aspect, the image conversion unit may convert the image data so that the brightness of each region is different. The human eye is sensitive to changes in brightness and can recognize even slight differences in brightness. Therefore, even if the display device is a low-resolution or monochrome image that does not output color, if an image with different brightness is displayed on the display device, the image quality level of each region when encoded is displayed. Can be easily grasped.

  In this aspect, the image conversion unit may include a step of performing shading on the image, and may convert the image data so that shading of each region is different. The shading process can be realized by replacing the image data at regular pixel intervals, and can be easily implemented. Therefore, it is possible to realize an image processing apparatus that allows the user to recognize the image quality level of each region of the encoded image at a low cost.

  Another aspect of the present invention relates to an imaging apparatus. This apparatus includes an image capturing unit that captures an image, an area setting unit that sets a plurality of areas in the image, and image data output from the image capturing unit for each area set by the area setting unit. The image data is converted by performing a predetermined process on the image data output from the imaging unit and the encoding unit that performs encoding with different encoding, and the degree of the conversion is encoded by the encoding unit. An image conversion unit determined for each region according to the image quality level of each region to be converted, and a display unit for displaying the image data converted by the image conversion unit on a display To do.

  According to this aspect, the user can recognize in real time at what image quality level a plurality of regions in the image are encoded by the display device before or during shooting.

  It should be noted that any combination of the above-described constituent elements and a conversion of the expression of the present invention between a method, an apparatus, a system, a computer program, a recording medium, and the like are also effective as an aspect of the present invention.

  According to the present invention, when an image is encoded so that the image quality is different in a plurality of regions, the user can recognize the image quality of the plurality of regions in real time.

  Hereinafter, description will be given based on preferred embodiments 1 to 6 of the present invention. These embodiments relate to a digital camera.

(Embodiment 1)
FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a digital camera 100 according to the first embodiment. The configuration of the digital camera 100 can be realized in terms of hardware by a CPU, memory, or other LSI of an arbitrary computer, and can be realized in terms of software by a program having an encoding function loaded in the memory. Here, the functional blocks realized by the cooperation are depicted. Accordingly, those skilled in the art will understand that these functional blocks can be realized in various forms by hardware only, software only, or a combination thereof.

  The digital camera 100 includes a CCD 110 that captures an image, an image processing circuit 120 that generates encoded image data and display image data by performing predetermined processing on the image captured by the CCD 110, and a recording device 160 that records the encoded image data. The display device 140 displays the display image data.

  The recording device 160 can be realized by a semiconductor memory or a hard disk built in the digital camera 100. Further, it may be constituted by a removable recording medium, a slot into which the recording medium can be inserted, and a circuit for controlling access to the recording medium. Examples of the removable recording medium include a semiconductor memory, a hard disk, an optical disk, and a magneto-optical disk.

  The display device 140 is configured by a liquid crystal display provided in the digital camera 100. The display device 140 may be configured by connecting to an external monitor with a cable.

  The image processing circuit 120 includes a signal processing unit 121, a frame buffer 122, an ROI region setting unit 123, an image conversion unit 124, an encoding unit 125, a decoding unit 126, a switch SW1, a display circuit 127, an image quality setting unit 128, and a control unit. 130.

  The signal processing unit 121 extracts an image signal from the output signal of the CCD 110, converts it into a digital signal, and then performs corrections such as pixel defect correction, white balance correction, and gamma correction. The frame buffer 122 is configured by a large-capacity semiconductor memory such as SDRAM, and records the image data corrected by the signal processing unit 121. The frame buffer 122 can store image data for one frame or several frames.

  The ROI region setting unit 123 selects a region of interest on the original image, and provides ROI position information indicating the position of the region of interest to the image conversion unit 124 and the encoding unit 125. When the attention area is selected as a rectangle, the ROI position information is given by the coordinate value of the pixel at the upper left corner of the rectangular area and the number of pixels in the vertical and horizontal directions of the rectangular area.

  The attention area may be selected by the user specifying a specific area on the original image, or a predetermined area such as a central area of the original image may be selected. Also, an important area such as an area in which a person or a character is shown may be automatically extracted as the attention area. As a method of automatically extracting, for example, a method of separating an original image into an object and a background, extracting a feature point for each object, and determining whether or not a person or a character is reflected in the object. is there. Alternatively, the original image is divided into a plurality of blocks, a motion vector is obtained for each block, and when the motion vector of a certain block is different from the motion vector of another block, the block is automatically extracted as the attention area Also good.

  The ROI region setting unit 123 can also select a plurality of regions of interest on the original image and provide ROI position information indicating the position of each region of interest to the image conversion unit 124 and the encoding unit 125. A plurality of attention areas may overlap, and a non-attention area may be included inside the attention area.

  The ROI region setting unit 123 sets image quality priority among a plurality of regions, and gives this information to the image quality setting unit 128. For example, when the center part of the image and the periphery of the center part are selected as a plurality of attention areas, and the other outer peripheral part is set as a non-attention area, priority is given to the center part of the image being reproduced with high image quality. The degree of priority is set high, and the priority is set low so that the periphery of the center is reproduced with standard image quality. As another example, when a region where characters are reflected and a region where a person's face is reflected are selected as a plurality of attention regions, the priority is set so that the character region has the highest image quality, The priority is set next to the face area so that the image quality is high, and the other areas are set as non-attention areas so that the standard image quality is obtained. For the purpose of protecting privacy, a low priority may be set or a non-attention area may be set so that an area where a person's face is captured has low image quality.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining an example of setting priorities when a plurality of attention areas are provided in the original image 80. As shown in the figure, when two attention areas 81 and 83 are set in the original image 1, the ROI area setting unit 123, for example, includes a first attention area 81 (hereinafter referred to as ROI1), a second attention area, and the like. Priorities are set so that the priorities become lower in the order of the region 83 (hereinafter referred to as ROI2) and the other non-attention regions (hereinafter referred to as non-ROI).

  The “image quality priority” set by the ROI region setting unit 123 represents a relative relationship between the image quality of each region, whereas the image quality setting unit 128 determines an absolute level of image quality. The image quality setting unit 128 determines the image quality level of each region based on the priority of the image quality of each region obtained from the ROI region setting unit 123, and provides this information to the image conversion unit 124 and the encoding unit 125. Further, the image quality level of each region can be adjusted by the code amount obtained from the encoding unit 125 described later. That is, when the code amount becomes larger than the target value, the code amount is reduced by lowering the image quality level of the entire image or lowering the image quality of the low priority area. On the other hand, when the code amount is smaller than the target value, the code amount is increased by increasing the image quality level of the entire image or by increasing the image quality of the high priority area. At this time, the image quality level is adjusted according to the priority of the image quality so that the relative relationship does not break.

  The encoding unit 125 uses the image data input from the frame buffer 122 (hereinafter referred to as an original image) as an example, JPEG2000 (ISO / IEC 154444-1: an image compression method standardized by ISO / ITU-T). 2001). The image input to the encoding unit 125 is a moving image frame. The encoding unit 125 continuously encodes each frame of a moving image by the JPEG2000 method, and generates an encoded stream of the moving image in accordance with a format standardized by Motion JPEG2000 (ISO / IEC 15444-3: 2002). Can do.

  FIG. 3 shows a configuration diagram of the encoding unit 125. The wavelet transform unit 10 divides the original image into subbands, calculates wavelet transform coefficients of each subband image, and generates layered wavelet transform coefficients.

  The wavelet transform unit 10 applies a low-pass filter and a high-pass filter in the x and y directions of the original image, and divides it into four frequency subbands for wavelet transform. These subbands are LL subbands having low frequency components in both x and y directions, and HL subbands having low frequency components in either one of x and y directions and high frequency components in the other direction. And an HH subband having a high frequency component in both the x and y directions. The number of vertical and horizontal pixels in each subband is ½ that of the image before processing, and a subband image having a resolution, that is, a quarter of the image size, can be obtained by one filtering.

  Of the subbands thus obtained, the wavelet transform unit 10 performs the filtering process again on the LL subband, further divides it into four subbands LL, HL, LH, and HH, and performs wavelet transform. . The wavelet transform unit 10 performs this filtering a predetermined number of times, hierarchizes the original image into subband images, and outputs wavelet transform coefficients for each subband. The quantization unit 12 quantizes the wavelet transform coefficient output from the wavelet transform unit 10 with a predetermined quantization width.

  Based on the ROI position information output from the ROI region setting unit 123, the ROI mask generation unit 20 generates a ROI mask for specifying the wavelet transform coefficient corresponding to the region of interest, that is, the ROI transform coefficient.

  FIGS. 4A to 4C are diagrams for explaining the ROI mask generated by the ROI mask generation unit 20. As shown in FIG. 4A, it is assumed that the attention area 90 is selected on the original image 80 by the ROI area setting unit 123. The ROI mask generation unit 20 specifies a wavelet transform coefficient necessary for restoring the attention area 90 selected on the original image 80 in each subband.

  FIG. 4B shows a first-layer converted image 82 obtained by performing wavelet transform on the original image 80 only once. The converted image 82 of the first hierarchy is composed of four subbands LL1, HL1, LH1, and HH1 of the first level. The ROI mask generation unit 20 uses the wavelet transform coefficients on the first-level transformed image 82 necessary for restoring the attention area 90 of the original image 80, that is, the ROI transform coefficients 91 to 94, to the first-level subbands LL1. , HL1, LH1, and HH1.

  FIG. 4C shows a second-layer converted image 84 obtained by further wavelet transforming the subband LL1 of the lowest frequency component of the converted image 82 in FIG. 4B. As shown in the drawing, the second-layer converted image 84 includes four subbands LL2, HL2, LH2, and HH2 at the second level in addition to the three subbands HL1, LH1, and HH1 at the first level. The ROI mask generation unit 20 uses the wavelet transform coefficients on the transformed image 84 of the second hierarchy necessary for restoring the ROI transform coefficients 91 in the subband LL1 of the transformed image 82 of the first hierarchy, that is, ROI transform coefficients 95 to 98. Is specified in each of the second level subbands LL2, HL2, LH2, and HH2.

  Similarly, the ROI transform coefficient corresponding to the attention area 90 is recursively specified in each layer by the number of wavelet transforms, so that the ROI necessary for restoring the attention area 90 in the converted image of the final hierarchy is obtained. All conversion coefficients can be specified. The ROI mask generation unit 20 generates an ROI mask for specifying the position of the finally specified ROI conversion coefficient on the converted image of the final hierarchy. For example, when the wavelet transform is performed only twice, an ROI mask that can specify the positions of the seven ROI transform coefficients 92 to 98 indicated by diagonal lines in FIG. 4C is generated.

  Based on the image quality level set by the image quality determination unit 128, the zero replacement bit number determination unit 19 performs a zero-substitution bit number S0 for zero replacement in a bit string of a wavelet transform coefficient corresponding to a non-target region, that is, a non-ROI transform coefficient, A lower bit number Si (i = 1,..., N; N is the number of regions of interest) to be replaced with zero in a bit string of wavelet transform coefficients corresponding to each of a plurality of regions of interest, that is, ROI transform coefficients, is determined.

  In the example of FIG. 2, the zero replacement bit number determination unit 19 sets the zero replacement bit number S1 to 0 for the first priority region of interest ROI1, for example, when the wavelet transform coefficient of the original image is a 7-bit plane. The zero replacement bit number S2 is set to 2 for the priority region of interest ROI2, and the zero replacement bit number S0 is set to 4 for the non-target region. That is, the lower the priority, the larger the number of zero replacement bits.

  The low-order bit zero replacement unit 24 refers to the ROI mask for each region of interest generated by the ROI mask generation unit 20, and only the S0 bit is counted from the least significant bit in the bit string of the non-ROI transform coefficient not masked by the ROI mask. In addition to replacing with zero, only the Si bit counted from the least significant bit in the bit string of the ROI transform coefficient masked by the ROI mask is replaced with zero.

  FIGS. 5A to 5C are diagrams for explaining how the lower bits of the wavelet transform coefficient 60 of the original image are zero-substituted by the lower-bit zero substitution unit 24. FIG. FIG. 5A shows the wavelet transform coefficient 60 after quantization by the quantizing unit 12, including a 7-bit plane, and the ROI transform coefficient is indicated by diagonal lines. This figure illustrates a bit string of wavelet transform coefficients corresponding to pixels on the line P1-P2 in the example of the original image 80 including the two regions of interest ROI1 and ROI2 in FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 5B, the low-order bit zero replacement unit 24 replaces the S0 bit on the LSB side of the non-ROI transform coefficient not masked by the ROI mask with zero. In this example, S0 = 4, and as indicated by reference numeral 64, the 4 bits on the LSB side of the non-ROI transform coefficient are replaced with zero. Further, the lower bit zero replacement unit 24 replaces the Si bit on the LSB side of the ROI transform coefficient masked by the ROI mask with zero. In this example, two regions of interest ROI1 and ROI2 are set, and the zero substitution bit numbers S1 and S2 are S1 = 0 and S2 = 2, respectively, and as indicated by reference numeral 66, the ROI corresponding to ROI2 is set. Two bits on the LSB side of the conversion coefficient are replaced with zero. In this way, the wavelet transform coefficient 62 that has been zero-substituted by the low-order bit zero replacing unit 24 is obtained.

  The entropy encoding unit 14 in FIG. 3 scans the wavelet transform coefficient 62 including the ROI transform coefficient and the non-ROI transform coefficient zero-substituted in order from the upper bit plane, as indicated by the arrow in FIG. 5C. Encode.

  The encoded data generation unit 16 streams the entropy-encoded data together with an encoding parameter such as a quantization width and outputs it as encoded image data. Also, the code amount when streamed is integrated and given to the image quality setting unit 128.

  The encoded image data is recorded in the recording device 160. The encoded image data includes a plurality of areas having different image quality at the time of reproduction. The encoded image data is read from the recording device 160 by the decoding unit 126, decoded, and reproduced on the screen of the display device 140. .

  The image conversion unit 124 in FIG. 1 includes a filter that removes high-frequency components of the image, and is set by the ROI region setting unit 123 and the image quality setting unit 124 for the image data (original image) input from the frame buffer 122. The filtering process is performed in real time so that the image quality of each of the areas is different. The image conversion unit 124 is for creating a through image (an image captured by the CCD 110 and not compressed / expanded) for displaying the image captured by the CCD 110 on the display device 140 when the camera 100 is in the imaging mode. It operates independently of the conversion unit 125. Here, the imaging mode refers to displaying the through image on the display device 140, and while confirming it, the user determines the size of the subject and the imaging condition, and presses the shutter button, thereby encoding the image. This is a mode for compressing and recording in the recording unit 130. In addition, even during moving image capturing, a through image being captured is displayed on the display device 140 on the display device.

  In the imaging mode, it is also possible to check the image quality of each area by re-decoding data encoded with different image quality in a plurality of areas and displaying the image obtained by decoding. However, since the processing time by encoding and decoding is long, real-time property is lost. In addition, it is very wasteful to perform encoding and decoding only for confirming the image quality of each area before photographing. On the other hand, in the present embodiment, in the imaging mode, the image conversion unit 124 generates an image with different image quality in each area in real time, and displays the image on the display device, whereby the image quality level of each area is displayed. Can be confirmed immediately.

FIG. 6 shows a configuration diagram of the image conversion unit 124. The image conversion unit 124 includes a filter unit 30, a region determination unit 31, and a filter coefficient determination unit 32. The filter unit 30 performs a filtering process on each pixel of the input original image to generate a through image. FIG. 7A shows an example of the filter unit 30. The filter of n pixels _OP 1 _{~OP n} arranged in the horizontal direction of the original image, obtains the pixel TP _m of the through image. That is, for a pixel _OP 1 _{~OP n} each original image, multiplied by the filter coefficients _a 1 ~a _n, by adding the results, a low-pass filter to calculate the pixel TP _m of the through image.

  The filter coefficient used in the filter unit 30 is determined by the following method. The filter unit 30 sends the coordinate position of the pixel to be filtered to the region determination unit 31. When the region determination unit 31 receives the coordinate position information of the pixel to be filtered from the filter unit 30, the pixel to be filtered is positioned in the attention region as compared with the ROI position information output from the ROI region setting unit 123. If there are a plurality of regions of interest, it is determined which region of interest is located, and the result is output to the filter coefficient determination unit 32.

The filter coefficient determination unit 32 specifies the image quality level of the region to which the pixel to be filtered belongs from the result of the region determination unit 31 and the image quality level of each region output from the image quality setting unit 128, and the filter coefficient corresponding to the image quality level Is output to the filter unit 30. The correspondence between the image quality level and the filter coefficient is stored in the filter coefficient determination unit 32 by a table. For example, when the filter unit 30 is configured as illustrated in FIG. 7A, a table as illustrated in FIG. 7B exists in the filter coefficient determination unit 32. For i number of quality levels in this table, the filter coefficients a ₁ ~a _n is defined. Filter coefficient determining unit 32, the filter coefficients a ₁ ~a _n corresponding to the image quality of a region where the pixel to be identified filter belongs, and outputs to the filter section 30. Note that it is not necessary to prepare filter coefficients for all image quality levels in the table, and filter coefficients may be prepared only for representative image quality levels. In this case, for an image quality level not included in the table, a filter coefficient close to the image quality level is output to the filter unit 30.

  Although FIG. 7 shows an example in which the low-pass filter is applied to the pixels in the horizontal direction, a low-pass filter having a similar configuration may be applied to the pixels in the vertical direction. Further, a low-pass filter may be applied to both horizontal and vertical. In this case, the number n of pixels to which the low-pass filter is applied may be different in the horizontal direction and the vertical direction. The correspondence table between the resolution level and the filter coefficient may be provided separately for the horizontal low-pass filter and the vertical low-pass filter, or each filter coefficient may be determined using the same table.

  In addition, before applying the low-pass filter, a process of substituting the lower bits with zero may be performed on each pixel data of the original image. As a result, the image conversion unit 124 can generate an image close to the image when the encoded image data is decoded. The number of bits to be replaced with zero is stored in the table of the filter coefficient determination unit 32 together with the filter coefficient.

  As described above, the image conversion unit 124 can generate images with different image quality for each region set by the ROI region setting unit 123.

  The display circuit 127 in FIG. 1 outputs an image to be displayed on the display device 140 in accordance with the specifications of the display device 140. For example, the display circuit 127 includes a pixel number conversion step. In this step, the display target image is enlarged or reduced so as to match the number of pixels of the display device 140. Then, each pixel data of the enlarged / reduced image is output to the display device 140 together with a drive signal of the display device 140. The display device 140 displays an image on the display based on the drive signal and pixel data from the display circuit 127. The display circuit 127 and the display device 140 are an example of the “display unit” in the present invention.

  The digital camera 100 of FIG. 1 includes a switch SW1 in front of the display circuit 127. The switch SW1 receives the through image generated by the image conversion unit 124 and the decoded image generated by the decoding unit 126, and outputs either image to the display circuit 127 depending on the connection state of the switch SW1. Is done.

  The connection state of the switch SW1 is controlled by the control unit 130. For example, when the digital camera 100 is in the imaging mode, that is, when encoding is performed by the encoding unit 125, the switch SW1 is connected to the through image generated by the image conversion unit 124, and the through image is output to the display circuit 127. Is done. When the digital camera 100 is in the playback mode, that is, when the encoded image data is decoded by the decoding unit 126, the switch SW1 is connected to the image decoded by the decoding unit 126, and the decoded image is sent to the display circuit 127. Is output.

  According to the above configuration, when encoding is performed by the encoding unit 125, the image conversion unit 124 generates an image in which the image quality of each region set by the ROI region setting unit 123 is changed in real time. Can be displayed on the display device 140. Therefore, the user encodes a plurality of areas with different image quality and decodes the image, in particular, the image quality level at which each area is encoded from the image displayed on the display device. It has the effect of being able to recognize in real time.

(Embodiment 2)
FIG. 8 is a configuration diagram of the digital camera 100 according to the second embodiment. Since this configuration is similar to the configuration of the digital camera 100 shown in FIG. 1, only the characteristic points of this embodiment will be described, and the other description will be omitted.

  The digital camera 100 of FIG. 8 includes an input device 150. The input device 150 allows the user to input the position and size of the ROI area, the priority of image quality, and the like to the digital camera 100 in the shooting mode. The ROI area setting unit 123 sets the ROI area according to the position and size of the ROI area input to the input device 150 and sends the position information to the image conversion unit 124 and the encoding unit 125. When a plurality of ROI regions are input by the input device 150, the position information of each region is sent to the image conversion unit 124 and the encoding unit 125. Also, the ROI area setting unit 123 sets the priority of each area according to the priority of the image quality of each ROI area input to the input device 150, and sends the information to the image quality setting unit 128.

  The input device 150 can be adjusted by the input device 150 while the user confirms the position, size, and image quality level of each area displayed on the display device 140. At this time, the position, size, and image quality priority of each area newly input to the input device 150 are reflected in the ROI area setting unit. The input device 150 can also adjust the image quality level of each region without changing the priority of the image quality. This image quality level is directly reflected in the image quality setting unit 128.

  FIG. 9 is a flowchart for setting and adjusting the position, size, and image quality of the ROI area in the digital camera 100 of FIG. When the digital camera 100 is set to the imaging mode (S10), the user can set the position, size, and image quality priority of the ROI area from the input device (S11). When these are set, the position and size of each region and the image quality level appropriately determined by the image quality setting unit 128 are displayed on the display device 140 in real time (S12). The user confirms the images displayed on the display device 140 (S13), and if he wants to change the position, size, image quality priority, and image quality level of the ROI area, the user returns to S11 and adjusts them. If there is no problem, the user presses a shutter button provided in the input device, whereby the image is encoded by the encoding unit 125 according to the set conditions of the ROI region and recorded in the recording device 160 (S14). . If the ROI area is not set by the user in S11, the image is displayed on the display device 140 so that the image has a uniform image quality, and the encoding unit 125 has a uniform image quality in the image. The image is encoded as follows.

  According to the above configuration, the user can confirm the position, size, and image quality level of regions with different image quality obtained by encoding by the image displayed in real time on the display device 140, and can adjust immediately. As a result, user convenience is improved.

(Embodiment 3)
FIG. 10 is a configuration diagram of the digital camera 100 according to the third embodiment. Since this configuration is similar to the configuration of the digital camera 100 shown in FIG. 2, only the characteristic points of this embodiment will be described, and the other description will be omitted.

  The digital camera 100 in FIG. 10 includes a motion detection unit 129. Thereby, at the time of moving image shooting, the ROI area once set is tracked according to the movement of the object and automatically set. The motion detection unit 129 detects the position of the designated object and outputs it to the ROI region setting unit 123. The object may be specified by the user, or the motion detection unit 129 may automatically recognize the ROI area specified by the user. Moreover, you may recognize automatically from the whole image. There may be a plurality of designations of this object.

  In the case of a moving image, the position of the object can be represented by a motion vector. Hereinafter, a specific example of the motion vector detection method will be described. First, the motion detection unit 129 includes a memory such as an SRAM or an SDRAM, and stores an image of the object designated in the frame when the object is designated as a reference image in the memory. The reference image may store a block having a predetermined size including the designated position. The motion detection unit 129 detects a motion vector by comparing the reference image with the current frame image. The motion vector can be calculated by specifying the contour component of the object using the high-frequency component of the wavelet transform coefficient. Alternatively, a quantized wavelet transform coefficient MSB (Most Significant Bit) bit plane or a plurality of bit planes from the MSB side may be used.

  Secondly, the motion detection unit 129 detects the motion vector of the object by comparing the current frame with the previous frame, for example, the previous frame. Third, the motion vector is detected by comparing not the frame image but the wavelet transform coefficients after the wavelet transform. Any of the LL subband, the HL subband, the LH subband, and the HH subband may be used as the wavelet transform coefficient. The comparison target with the current frame may be a reference image registered at the time of designation, or may be a reference image registered from a previous frame, for example, the immediately preceding frame.

  Fourth, the motion detection unit 129 detects the motion vector of the object using a plurality of wavelet transform coefficients. For example, a motion vector is detected for each of the HL subband, the LH subband, and the HH subband, and the average of these three motion vectors is selected, or the closest one to the motion vector of the previous frame is selected. be able to. Thereby, the motion detection accuracy of the object can be increased.

  In FIG. 10, the input of the motion detection unit 129 is an image stored in the frame buffer 122. However, as described above, the motion detection unit 129 may calculate a motion vector using a wavelet transform coefficient. In this case, the output of the wavelet transform unit 10 of the encoding unit 125 shown in FIG.

  In addition, the user may designate a range in which such a motion vector is detected in the image to the motion detection unit 129 in advance. For example, when the present image encoding apparatus is applied to a surveillance camera in a store such as a convenience store, processing such as paying attention to an object such as a person who has entered a certain range from a cash register and not paying attention to the movement of the object coming out of the object. It becomes possible.

  The ROI region setting unit 123 acquires position information such as a motion vector of the object from the motion detection unit 129, and moves the ROI region in accordance with the position information. The amount of movement from the position of the initially set ROI region or the amount of movement from the immediately preceding frame is calculated by the detection method of the motion detection unit 129, and the position of the ROI region of the current frame is determined.

  The image conversion unit 124 performs image conversion so that the image quality of each region differs according to the position information of the ROI region of the ROI region setting unit 123 and the image quality level of the image quality setting unit 128. Similarly, the encoding unit 125 performs encoding so that the image quality of each region differs according to the position information of the ROI region of the ROI region setting unit 123 and the image quality level of the image quality setting unit 128. When the digital camera 100 is in the imaging mode, that is, when encoding is performed by the encoding unit 125, the through image generated by the image conversion unit 124 is output to the display circuit 127 in real time.

  FIG. 11 is a flowchart for setting and adjusting the position, size, and image quality of the ROI area in the digital camera 100 of FIG. When the digital camera 100 is set to the imaging mode (S20), the user inputs the position, size, and image quality priority of the ROI area via the input device 150, and uses these as initial values for the ROI area setting unit. 123 is set (S21). When the user designates an object or when the motion detection unit 129 automatically recognizes, the ROI region setting unit 123 may automatically set a predetermined range including the object as the ROI region.

  The shape of the ROI region may be a rectangle, a circle, or other complex shapes. The shape of the ROI region itself is fixed in principle, but the shape of the region may be changed between the central portion and the peripheral portion of the image, or may be dynamically changed by a user operation. A plurality of ROI areas may be set.

  When the position, size, and image quality priority of the ROI area are set, the position, size, and image quality level appropriately determined by the image quality setting unit 128 are displayed on the display device 140 in real time. (S22). The user confirms the image displayed on the display device 140 (S23). If the user wants to change the position, size, priority of image quality of the ROI area, and the image quality level in the same manner as in the second embodiment, the process proceeds to S21. Go back and adjust these. If there is no problem, the user starts shooting a moving image by pressing a shutter button provided in the input device (S24).

  When shooting of a moving image is started, the ROI area is tracked by the motion detection unit 129, and the position and size of the ROI area are automatically set by the ROI area setting unit 123. Further, according to the method described in the first embodiment, the image quality level of each area is automatically set by the image quality setting unit 128 from the code amount output from the encoding unit 125 (S25). A through image reflecting the position, size, and image quality level of each area is displayed (S26), and the encoding unit 125 also reflects the position, size, and image quality level of each area. And is recorded in the recording device 160 (S27). Even during moving image shooting, the user can check the image displayed in S26 and change the position, size, image quality priority, and image quality level setting of the ROI area (S28). In S28, support for ending the shooting is also accepted. The end of shooting can be recognized by pressing the shutter button again.

  When there is no user setting change in S28, the process returns to S25, and the digital camera 100 automatically sets the position, size, and image quality level of the ROI area. If there is a user setting change in S28, it is determined whether or not this is a support for the end of shooting (S29). If it is support for the end of shooting, the shooting is ended (S30). If the photographing end is not supported, the position, size, image quality priority, or image quality level of the ROI area whose setting has been changed by the user is reflected in the ROI area setting unit 123 or the image quality setting unit 128, and the process returns to S26.

As described above, this configuration has the following effects.
(1) Even when encoding is performed continuously as in moving image shooting, a through image reflecting the position, size, and image quality level of each area is generated in real time by the image conversion unit 124. Since it can be viewed on the display device 140, the user can immediately grasp the position, size, and image quality level of each area of the encoded moving image. This effect is particularly effective because the result of the automatic setting can be immediately grasped when the ROI area is tracked and the position, size, and image quality level are automatically set.
(2) Even in the case of continuous encoding such as movie shooting, the user can check the position, size, and image quality level of areas with different image quality obtained by encoding, and can immediately change the settings. Furthermore, since these changes are reflected in the through image in real time, the convenience for the user is improved.

(Embodiment 4)
The digital camera 100 according to the fourth embodiment has the same configuration as that in FIG. 1, but the function of the image conversion unit 124 is different. The image conversion unit 124 according to the present embodiment includes a step of converting the luminance data of the image for each pixel. The ROI region setting unit 123 applies the image data (original image) input from the frame buffer 122 to the image data. Brightness conversion is performed so that the image quality of each set region is different.

  A configuration diagram of the image conversion unit 124 is shown in FIG. The image conversion unit 124 includes a luminance conversion unit 33, a region determination unit 31, and a luminance conversion coefficient determination unit 34. The luminance conversion unit 33 performs luminance conversion on each pixel of the input original image to generate a through image. The luminance conversion is performed by the following formula.

TPY (x, y) = aY (x, y) .OPY (x, y) (1)
Here, OPY is the luminance data of the original image, TPY is the luminance data of the through image, and (x, y) represents the pixel position in each image. Further, aY (x, y) is a luminance conversion coefficient in the pixel (x, y) of the original image.

  The luminance conversion coefficient aY (x, y) is determined by the following method. The luminance conversion unit 33 sends the coordinate position (x, y) of the pixel that performs luminance conversion to the region determination unit 31. When the region determination unit 31 receives the coordinate position information of the pixel from the luminance conversion unit 33, the region determination unit 31 compares the ROI position information output from the ROI region setting unit 123 with respect to whether or not the pixel on which the luminance conversion is performed is located in the attention region. If there are a plurality of regions of interest, the region of interest is determined, and the result is output to the luminance conversion coefficient determination unit 34.

  The luminance conversion coefficient determination unit 34 specifies the image quality level of the region to which the pixel to be subjected to luminance conversion belongs from the result of the region determination unit 31 and the image quality level of each region output by the image quality setting unit 128, and the luminance corresponding to the image quality level. The conversion coefficient aY (x, y) is output to the luminance conversion unit 33. The correspondence between the image quality level and the luminance conversion coefficient is stored in the luminance conversion coefficient determination unit 34 by a table. FIG. 12B is an example of a table showing the correspondence between image quality levels and luminance conversion coefficients. In this table, luminance conversion coefficients are determined for i image quality levels. A value closer to 1 is stored as a luminance conversion coefficient for an image quality level corresponding to high image quality, and a value closer to 0 is stored as a luminance conversion coefficient for an image quality level corresponding to low image quality. As a result, the luminance level of the high image quality area is kept close to the original image, and the luminance level of the low image quality area is kept small. Therefore, the through image output by the image conversion unit 140 becomes a darker image as the image quality level is lower.

  Note that it is not necessary to prepare luminance conversion coefficients for all image quality levels in the table, and luminance conversion coefficients may be prepared only for representative image quality levels. In this case, for an image quality level not included in the table, a luminance conversion coefficient close to the image quality level is output to the luminance conversion unit 33.

  According to the above configuration, when encoding is performed by the encoding unit 125, the image conversion unit 124 sets the image quality level of each region set by the ROI region setting unit 123 with the brightness level of light and dark with a simple configuration. The represented image can be generated in real time, and this image can be displayed on the display device 140. Therefore, the user can recognize in real time from the image displayed on the display device what image quality level each region is encoded in an image encoded with different image quality in a plurality of regions. It has the effect of becoming. Furthermore, since the human eye is sensitive to changes in luminance, the image quality level of each region at the time of encoding can be easily grasped by displaying an image with different luminance in each region on the display device. .

(Embodiment 5)
The digital camera 100 according to the fifth embodiment has the same configuration as that in FIG. 1, but the function of the image conversion unit 124 is different. The image conversion unit 124 according to the present embodiment includes a step of converting color difference data of an image for each pixel, and the ROI region setting unit 123 performs image data (original image) input from the frame buffer 122. Color conversion is performed so that the image quality of each set region is different.

  FIG. 13A shows a configuration diagram of the image conversion unit 124 in the present embodiment. The image conversion unit 124 includes a color conversion unit 35, a region determination unit 31, and a color conversion coefficient determination unit 36. The color conversion unit 35 performs color conversion by multiplying the color difference data of each pixel of the input original image by a color conversion coefficient to generate a through image. Color conversion is performed by the following formula.

TPC (x, y) = aC (x, y) .OPC (x, y) (2)
Here, OPC is the color difference data of the original image, TPC is the color difference data of the through image, and (x, y) represents the pixel position in each image. The range of values that each color difference data can take is -128 to 127. aC (x, y) is a color conversion coefficient in the pixel (x, y) of the original image.

  The color conversion coefficient aC (x, y) is determined by the following method. The color conversion unit 35 sends the coordinate position (x, y) of the pixel that performs color conversion to the region determination unit 31. When the region determination unit 31 receives the coordinate position information of the pixel from the color conversion unit 35, the region determination unit 31 compares the ROI position information output from the ROI region setting unit 123 with respect to whether or not the pixel on which color conversion is performed is located in the attention region. If there are a plurality of regions of interest, the region of interest is determined, and the result is output to the color conversion coefficient determination unit 36.

  The color conversion coefficient determination unit 36 specifies the image quality level of the region to which the pixel to be color converted belongs from the result of the region determination unit 31 and the image quality level of each region output by the image quality setting unit 128, and the color corresponding to the image quality level. The conversion coefficient aC (x, y) is output to the color conversion unit 35. The correspondence between the image quality level and the color conversion coefficient is stored in the color conversion coefficient determination unit 34 by a table. FIG. 13B is an example of a table showing the correspondence between image quality levels and color conversion coefficients. In this table, color conversion coefficients are defined for i image quality levels. A value close to 1 is stored as a color conversion coefficient for an image quality level corresponding to high image quality, and a value close to 0 is stored as a color conversion coefficient for an image quality level corresponding to low image quality. As a result, the color level of the high-quality area is kept close to the original image, and the color level of the low-quality area is kept small. Accordingly, the through image output by the image conversion unit 140 becomes an image having no color, that is, close to black and white, as the image quality level is lower, and the difference in image quality level can be easily recognized.

  Note that it is not necessary to prepare color conversion coefficients for all image quality levels in the table, and color conversion coefficients may be prepared only for representative image quality levels. In this case, for an image quality level not included in the table, a color conversion coefficient close to the image quality level is output to the color converter 35.

  Further, although there are two types of color difference data, Cb and Cr, the same table may be used for the correspondence between the image quality level and the color conversion coefficient, or different tables may be prepared and used. Also good. Alternatively, only one of the color difference data Cb and Cr may be converted by the color (2), and the other color difference data may be output as original image data as it is.

  According to the above configuration, when encoding is performed by the encoding unit 125, the image conversion unit 124 can change the image quality level of each region set by the ROI region setting unit 123 with a difference in color level with a simple configuration. The represented image can be generated in real time, and this image can be displayed on the display device 140. Further, since the difference in image quality level of each area when encoded is displayed by the difference in color, the displayed image is clearly displayed in all areas. Therefore, the user can recognize the image quality level of each area of the encoded image in real time and can grasp the contents shown in the entire image in all areas.

(Embodiment 6)
The digital camera 100 according to the sixth embodiment has the same configuration as that in FIG. 1, but the function of the image conversion unit 124 is different. The image conversion unit 124 according to the present embodiment includes a step of shading an image, and each image data (original image) input from the frame buffer 122 is set by the ROI region setting unit 123. The shading process is performed so that the image quality of the areas is different. The shading process is to replace pixel data with a black level or a gray level at a certain rate.

  FIG. 14 shows a configuration diagram of the image conversion unit 124 in the present embodiment. The image conversion unit 124 includes a black data replacement unit 37, a region determination unit 31, and a shading determination unit 38. The black data replacement unit 37 replaces the pixel value with black data for the pixel specified by the shading determination unit 38 described later among the pixels of the input original image. That is, the pixel data to be replaced is replaced with black data for both luminance and color difference to zero. For other data, the pixel value of the original image is output as it is as a through image.

  The pixel to be replaced with black data is determined by the following method. The black data replacement unit 37 sends the coordinate position of the pixel to be processed to the region determination unit 31. Upon receiving the pixel coordinate position information from the black data replacement unit 35, the region determination unit 31 compares the ROI position information output from the ROI region setting unit 123 with respect to whether or not the pixel to be processed is located in the attention region. If there are a plurality of attention areas, it is determined which attention area is located, and the result is output to the shading determination section 38.

  The shading determination unit 38 specifies the image quality level of the region to which the pixel to be processed belongs, based on the result of the region determination unit 31 and the image quality level of each region output by the image quality setting unit 128. The shading determination unit 38 determines the ratio of pixels to be replaced with black data in the region to which the pixel to be processed belongs, corresponding to the image quality level. Then, the shading determination unit 38 determines whether to replace the pixel to be processed with the black level according to the determined ratio of the pixel to be replaced with the black data, and sends this information to the black level replacement unit 37. send.

  The correspondence between the image quality level and the ratio of pixels to be replaced with black data is stored in the shading determination unit 38 by a table. In this table, the ratio of pixels to be replaced with black data is determined for a plurality of image quality levels. As the image quality level corresponds to high image quality, the ratio of pixels replaced with black data is closer to zero, and at the highest image quality level, the ratio is zero. In this case, each pixel of the original image is output as it is as a through image in the high-quality area. On the other hand, the image quality level corresponding to the low image quality is stored in the table so that the ratio of pixels to be replaced with black data becomes a value close to 1. As a result, many pixels belonging to the low image quality area are replaced with the black level. Accordingly, the through image output by the image conversion unit 140 becomes an image having a higher density of shading in a region where the image quality level is lower.

  In the table, it is not necessary to prepare the ratio of pixels to be replaced with black data for all image quality levels, and the ratio may be prepared only for representative image quality levels. In this case, a ratio close to the image quality level is set for an image quality level not in the table.

  According to the above configuration, when encoding is performed by the encoding unit 125, the image conversion unit 124 is an image that represents the image quality level of each area set by the ROI area setting unit 123 by the difference in shaded density. Can be generated in real time, and this image can be displayed on the display device 140. Therefore, an effect that the user can recognize in real time from the image displayed on the display device what image quality level each region is encoded in an image encoded with different image quality in a plurality of regions. Have Further, since the shading process can be realized by replacing the image data at regular pixel intervals, it can be easily implemented with a simple configuration.

  In this embodiment, the image conversion unit 124 replaces the pixels of the original image with black data at a constant rate. However, the image conversion unit 124 does not replace the black data with data of a certain color (for example, gray data). Good.

  The present invention has been described based on the embodiments. It is to be understood by those skilled in the art that these embodiments are exemplifications, and that various modifications can be made to combinations of the respective components, and such modifications are also within the scope of the present invention.

  For example, as an embodiment of the present invention, the image conversion unit 124 exemplifies image conversion by image quality conversion, luminance conversion, color conversion, and shading. Instead of having one filter as shown in FIG. 7 and changing the coefficient of the filter, it may be possible to perform image quality conversion, luminance conversion, color conversion, and shading.

In this case, when image quality conversion is performed using the filter of FIG. 7, the filter coefficients may be set as described in the first embodiment. When performing luminance conversion, the luminance data, and sets the luminance transform coefficients shown in the table shown in FIG. 12 (b) the filter coefficients a _m, to all other filter coefficients 0. Further, the color difference data is output without passing through the filter, or to set the filter coefficients a _m 1, the other coefficients to zero.

When performing color conversion, contrary to the case of the luminance conversion, the color-difference data, to set the color conversion coefficients shown in the table shown in FIG. 13 (b) the filter coefficients a _m, other filter coefficients Set all to zero. The luminance data is outputted without passing through the filter, or the filter coefficients a _m 1, the other coefficients set to zero.

When performing shading, when replacing the pixels of the original image to black data, set all the filter coefficients to zero. Otherwise, the filter coefficients a _m to 1, the other coefficients to zero By setting, shading can be realized.

  With this configuration, in the through image displayed on the display device, the method of expressing the image quality level of each region can be selected at the user's will, which of image quality, luminance, color, and shading density, User convenience is further improved.

  In the embodiment of the present invention, an example in which the encoding unit encodes an image using the JPEG2000 method has been described. However, the present invention is not limited thereto, and any method can be used as long as two or more regions are encoded with different image quality. Good.

  In the embodiment of the present invention, an example of a digital camera that sets a region of interest and encodes other regions as non-regions of interest with different image quality is shown. However, the present invention is not limited to this. A digital camera that sets a region of interest is also within the scope of the present invention. Further, the image may be divided into a plurality of areas according to the priority without distinguishing between the attention area and the non-attention area. In the above embodiment, since priority is given to a non-attention area and a plurality of attention areas, it can be considered that there is substantially only a difference in priority between the non-attention area and the attention area. The same processing can be performed even when the non-attention area and the attention area are not distinguished and the areas are divided by priority.

  Furthermore, in the embodiments of the present invention, all digital cameras have been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the present invention includes an image processing apparatus that sets a region of interest and encodes an image once recorded in the recording apparatus.

1 is a configuration diagram of a digital camera according to Embodiment 1. FIG. It is a figure explaining the example of a setting of the priority in case the some attention area is provided in the original image. 3 is a configuration diagram of an encoding unit according to Embodiment 1. FIG. It is a figure explaining the mask for specifying the wavelet transform coefficient corresponding to the attention area | region of an original image. It is a figure explaining a mode that the low-order bit of the wavelet transform coefficient of an original image is zero-substituted. 2 is a configuration diagram of an image conversion unit according to Embodiment 1. FIG. 5 is a configuration diagram of a filter unit according to the first embodiment, and a table showing a correspondence relationship between an image quality level and a filter coefficient. 6 is a configuration diagram of a digital camera according to Embodiment 2. FIG. 9 is a flowchart for setting the position, size, image quality, and the like of an ROI area while viewing a display image in the digital camera according to the second embodiment. FIG. 6 is a configuration diagram of a digital camera according to a third embodiment. 14 is a flowchart for setting the position, size, image quality, and the like of an ROI area while viewing a display image in the digital camera according to the third embodiment. 10 is a configuration diagram of an image conversion unit according to a fourth embodiment, and a table showing a correspondence relationship between an image quality level and a luminance conversion coefficient. 10 is a configuration diagram of an image conversion unit according to a fifth embodiment, and a table showing a correspondence relationship between an image quality level and a color conversion coefficient. FIG. 10 is a configuration diagram of an image conversion unit according to a sixth embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 30 Filter part 31 Area | region determination part 32 Filter coefficient determination part 33 Luminance conversion part 34 Luminance conversion coefficient determination part 35 Color conversion part 36 Color conversion coefficient determination part 37 Black data replacement part 38 Shading determination part 100 Digital camera 110 CCD
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 120 Image processing circuit 123 ROI area | region setting part 124 Image conversion part 125 Coding part 126 Decoding part 127 Display circuit 128 Image quality setting part 129 Motion detection part 130 Recording apparatus 140 Display apparatus 150 Input apparatus

Claims (13)

An area setting unit for setting an image in a plurality of areas;
An encoding unit that encodes image data with different image quality for each region set by the region setting unit;
The image data is converted by performing predetermined processing on the image data, and the degree of this conversion is determined for each area according to the image quality level of each area encoded by the encoding means. An image conversion unit;
A display unit for displaying the image data converted by the image conversion unit on a display;
An image processing apparatus comprising: 2. The image processing according to claim 1, wherein the image conversion unit decreases the degree of conversion in a region where the image quality level is high, and increases the degree of conversion in a region where the image quality level is low. apparatus. 3. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the predetermined process performs the conversion of the image data by filtering the image data using a filter coefficient determined according to the degree of conversion. The image processing apparatus described. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the predetermined process performs the conversion of the image data by multiplying the image data by a coefficient determined according to the degree of the conversion. The predetermined processing includes converting the image data by replacing the image data of specific pixels with a constant value at a ratio determined according to the degree of conversion in the image data. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image processing apparatus is characterized. A decoding unit for decoding the encoded data obtained by the encoding unit;
When encoding is performed by the encoding unit, the image data converted by the image converting unit is selected and input to the display unit, and when the encoded data is decoded by the decoding unit, the decoding unit A selection unit that selects the image data decoded by and inputs to the display unit;
Further comprising
The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein when the decoded image data is input, the display unit displays the image data on a display. A motion detection unit for detecting the motion of the object of interest in the image;
The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the region setting unit causes a region including the object to follow the movement of the object. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a setting unit configured to set at least one of a position, a size, and an image quality of the plurality of regions. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image conversion unit converts the image data so that the image quality of each region is different. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image conversion unit converts the image data so that the colors of the respective regions are different. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image conversion unit converts the image data so that the brightness of each region is different. 9. The image conversion unit according to claim 1, wherein the image conversion unit includes a step of performing shading on the image, and converts the image data so that shading in each region is different. Image processing device. An imaging unit for capturing images;
An area setting unit for setting an image in a plurality of areas;
An encoding unit that encodes the image data output from the imaging unit with different image quality for each region set by the region setting unit;
Image data is converted by performing predetermined processing on the image data output from the imaging unit, and the degree of conversion depends on the image quality level of each region encoded by the encoding unit. An image conversion unit determined for each region;
A display unit for displaying the image data converted by the image conversion unit on a display;
An imaging apparatus comprising:

Images