JP2006344183A - Information processor, image display print method, image display print control program, and recording medium - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an information processor capable of greatly reducing labor for an operator to select an image for lowering increase in device cost. <P>SOLUTION: This information processor capable of selectively displaying/printing a plurality of inputted images is provided with a display device 101 capable of displaying a plurality of inputted images, an image printer 108 printing images selected from a plurality of images displayed on the display device 101, an image evaluation device 105 specifying image feature information showing features of the inputted images from a plurality of pieces of previously set image feature information, a display print determination device 109 comparing the image feature information specified by an image specification information specification means with the previously set image feature information, and a controller 107 controlling execution of display and/or print of a target input image according to a determination result by the display print determination device 109. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus such as an image display printing apparatus for displaying and / or printing an input image.

  With the spread of digital cameras and color printers in recent years, it has become popular to display images taken with digital cameras on the digital camera itself or a display device of a computer, and to print using a color printer connected to the digital camera or computer. Also, when shooting with a digital camera, a plurality of very similar scenes may be shot in the same scene such as a landscape or a person.

  In order to use images captured by a digital camera, an operator browses a plurality of images captured by a display device attached to the digital camera or the computer. At this time, the operator performs various operations or processes on the browsed image.

  For example, the operator selects a good image from the viewed images without underexposure, out-of-focus, camera shake, etc., and prints the image with a color printer, stores it, or sends it to a third party. try to. Alternatively, the operator tries to correct an image that is lightly underexposed, out-of-focus, blurring, or the like from among the browsed images. Alternatively, the operator deletes an image with remarkable exposure underexposure, out-of-focus, camera shake, etc. from the browsed images.

  Thus, when the number of shots increases, the operator needs a lot of trouble to select the best image from a plurality of images shot of the same scene. Accordingly, various ideas have been proposed so that the operator can efficiently perform operations and processing on a plurality of images after photographing.

  For example, in the “multiple image classification method” disclosed in Patent Document 1, a large number of images having the same or almost the same content but different shooting and processing conditions such as color and brightness are obtained by digital camera shooting and image processing. When creating a single image that is most suitable for the application from these many images, for example, images can be classified and rearranged in the order of relative brightness of the images, enabling objective and faithful image classification. The operator's work efficiency is improved.

  In addition, the “image display method” disclosed in Patent Document 2 includes a document file system, an analog image file system, and a control computer that searches and displays data in association with each other. The work efficiency of the operator is improved by enabling high-speed search / display of photographs corresponding to a large number of documents / drawings.

Furthermore, in the “gradation correction device” disclosed in Patent Document 3, an input image is determined and an optimum gradation correction curve is determined in order to improve the image quality of a video print with an unfavorable backlight state or a person's skin color. For the purpose of improving the accuracy of the determination process for generation, a technique for determining the reliability that an input image is a “backlight scene” and, if the input image is a backlight scene, by image processing is disclosed. As a result, an image determination result with higher accuracy than the conventional one can be obtained, so that gradation correction is optimized for the image. Therefore, the classification determination by the operator can be performed efficiently.
JP 2000-207405 (released on July 28, 2000) JP-A-4-145583 (published May 19, 1992) JP-A-8-62741 (published Mar. 08, 1996)

  However, in a display device attached to a digital camera or a computer, when viewing a plurality of captured images, the display is displayed at a resolution lower than the resolution of the captured images due to resolution limitations. In this case, it may be difficult for an operator to identify the quality of an image such as underexposure, blurring, or camera shake. In order for the operator to make an accurate determination as much as possible, the operator had to enlarge and display the image and inspect the details of the image each time. If the operator made an incorrect determination, for example, a defocused image was printed, so that the time spent on color printer ink, recording paper, and printing was wasted.

  This is the same even if the technique disclosed in each of the above patent documents is used.

  In addition, each of the above-mentioned patent documents has a problem that a large number of calculations are required to perform image determination and processing takes time. To solve this problem, a high-speed calculation device is required, and the cost of the device is reduced. The problem of rising.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems, and the object thereof is to greatly reduce the effort for an operator to select an image, and as a result, it is possible to suppress an increase in the cost of the apparatus. It is to provide an information processing apparatus.

  In order to solve the above problems, an information processing apparatus according to the present invention is a display unit capable of displaying a plurality of input images in an information processing apparatus capable of selectively displaying and / or printing a plurality of input images. And image printing means for printing an image selected from the plurality of images displayed on the display means, and specifying image feature information indicating the characteristics of the input image from the plurality of preset image feature information According to the comparison result by the information comparison means, the information comparison means for comparing the image feature information specifying means, the image feature information specified by the image specification information specifying means, and the preset image feature information, And a display print control means for controlling execution of display and / or printing of an input image to be compared.

  According to the above configuration, image feature information is specified for the input image, and whether to display on the display unit or to print by the image printing unit is controlled according to the image feature information. The input image can be selectively displayed and / or printed.

  Thereby, when the input image does not satisfy the predetermined standard, for example, when the shooting conditions such as the degree of underexposure, the degree of out-of-focus, the degree of backlighting do not satisfy the predetermined standard, the input image is not displayed, Alternatively, even if it is displayed, no printing is performed, or even if it is displayed, it is possible to eliminate useless display and useless printing by printing with some restrictions.

  Therefore, it is possible to greatly reduce the time and labor required for the operator to check the input images one by one and determine whether or not to print them, as in the prior art.

  In addition, since the quality of the image can be mechanically determined based on a certain standard, it is possible to make an appropriate determination even if the image is difficult for the operator to determine the quality.

  As described above, according to the information processing apparatus having the above-described configuration, it is possible to greatly reduce the labor for the operator to select an image, and as a result, it is possible to suppress the cost increase of the apparatus.

  These display and printing controls are performed by the display printing control means. A specific configuration is shown below.

  The display printing control means displays the input image on the display means when the comparison result by the information comparison means indicates that the image feature information of the input image matches the preset image feature information. You may make it control so that it may not be made.

  In this case, when the image feature information of the input image matches the preset image feature information, the input image is not displayed. Therefore, the operator does not need to confirm and is suitable for printing. It is automatically determined that there is no image.

  Further, the display print control unit may further control to cause the image print unit to print with an image size corresponding to the matched image feature information.

  In this case, it is possible to print with an image size corresponding to the matched image feature information without displaying the input image. At this time, the image size corresponding to the matched image feature information means, for example, a size smaller than the size of the input image when the degree of out-of-focus is large. In this way, by reducing the image size and printing, it is possible to make the input image out of focus.

  Further, when the comparison result by the information comparison unit indicates that the image feature information of the input image matches the preset image feature information, the display print control unit displays the input image as the image You may make it control to display on the said display means with the information which shows that the printing by a printing means is impossible.

  In this case, even if the input image is not suitable for printing, the input image is displayed together with information that is known to be unsuitable for printing, so that it is easy for the operator to print the input image. Can be recognized. The information may be information for generating a warning display or a warning sound, and can make the operator recognize it more appropriately.

  Further, as described below, the input image may be displayed together with information indicating whether printing is possible with restrictions or printing without restrictions.

  That is, if the comparison result by the information comparison unit indicates that the image feature information of the input image matches the preset image feature information, the display print control unit matches the input image. You may make it control to display on the said display means with the information which shows that the said image printing means can be printed by the image size according to image characteristic information.

  In addition, when the comparison result by the information comparison unit indicates that the image feature information of the input image matches the preset image feature information, the display print control unit displays the input image as the image You may make it control to display on the said display means with the information which shows that it can print with a printing means.

  Further, the image feature information specifying means specifies block feature means for dividing the input image into a plurality of blocks and image feature information indicating the feature of the input image from the luminance for each block obtained by the block dividing means. The brightness information calculation means for calculating the brightness information of the input image, the brightness information calculated by the brightness information calculation means, and the brightness information associated with the preset image feature information are compared, and the image feature of the input image Image feature determination means for determining the image feature information, and information indicating the image feature determined by the image feature determination means may be specified as image feature information of the input image.

  In this case, the input image is divided into a plurality of blocks, and the features of the input image are specified from the luminance of each block. Therefore, the features of the input image are specified more accurately. That is, the image feature information of the input image can be specified more accurately.

  Accordingly, the operator can recognize the features of each image more accurately based on the image displayed on the display device and the image feature information, thereby eliminating unnecessary confirmation of the image state and unnecessary printing of the image. Can do.

  A luminance information database storing luminance information respectively associated with a plurality of preset image feature information, wherein the image feature determination unit includes the luminance information calculated by the luminance information calculation unit, and the luminance information Classification means for classifying image feature information of the input image based on the degree of coincidence with the luminance information stored in the information database, and determining the image feature of the input image from the image feature information classified by the classification means; May be.

  In this case, the image feature determination means determines the image feature of the input image from the degree of coincidence between the luminance information stored in the luminance information database and the luminance information of the input image. Compared with the case where the image feature is determined by calculating from the information, the time required for determining the image feature can be greatly reduced.

  The luminance information database stores the luminance information in a rewritable manner. Further, the luminance information database is input by an input unit capable of inputting an instruction signal for changing the luminance information on the luminance information database, and the input unit. A configuration may be provided that includes luminance information changing means for changing the luminance information based on the instruction signal.

  In this case, since the luminance information on the luminance information database is rewritable and provided with an input means for rewriting, the operator needs to check the displayed image and its image feature information, and then Accordingly, the luminance information can be changed.

  Thereby, image feature information can be obtained as information more accurately reflecting the image feature of the input image. That is, when the image feature information of the input image specified at the beginning is not what the operator expects, the image feature information expected by the operator is changed by changing the luminance information for specifying the image feature information again. Can be obtained.

  The image display printing method of the present invention is an image display printing method for selectively displaying and / or printing a plurality of input images. Image feature information indicating the characteristics of an input image is set in advance by a plurality of preset image feature information. A first step of specifying from among the image feature information, a second step of comparing the image feature information specified by the image specifying information specifying means with preset image feature information, and the second step And a third step of controlling execution of display and / or printing of the input image to be compared in accordance with the comparison result of the step.

  According to the above configuration, image feature information is specified for the input image, and whether to display on the display unit or to print by the image printing unit is controlled according to the image feature information. The input image can be selectively displayed and / or printed.

  Thereby, when the input image does not satisfy the predetermined standard, for example, when the shooting conditions such as the degree of underexposure, the degree of out-of-focus, the degree of backlighting do not satisfy the predetermined standard, the input image is not displayed, Alternatively, even if it is displayed, no printing is performed, or even if it is displayed, it is possible to eliminate useless display and useless printing by printing with some restrictions.

  Therefore, it is possible to greatly reduce the time and labor required for the operator to check each input image and determine whether or not to print the image as in the prior art.

  An image display printing control program of the present invention is an image display printing control program for selectively displaying and / or controlling printing of a plurality of input images, and preliminarily stores image feature information indicating the characteristics of the input images. A first procedure for specifying from among a plurality of set image feature information; a second procedure for comparing the image feature information specified by the image specifying information specifying means and the preset image feature information; The image display printing control program causes the computer to execute a third procedure for controlling the display of the input image to be compared and / or the execution of the printing in accordance with the comparison result of the second procedure.

  With the above configuration, image display printing control can be realized by a computer.

  Moreover, if the image display print control program is recorded on a computer-readable recording medium, image display print control can be realized on a general-purpose computer.

  As described above, the information processing apparatus according to the present invention includes a display unit that can display a plurality of input images, an image printing unit that prints an image selected from the plurality of images displayed on the display unit, and an input Image feature information specifying the image feature information indicating the feature of the image selected from a plurality of preset image feature information, image feature information specified by the image specification information specifying means, and presetting Information comparison means for comparing the image characteristic information that has been displayed, and display print control means for controlling the display of the input image to be compared and / or the execution of printing in accordance with the comparison result of the information comparison means. As a result, useless display and useless printing of the input image can be eliminated.

  An embodiment of the present invention will be described as follows.

  The information processing apparatus according to the present embodiment is an information processing apparatus capable of displaying a plurality of images and evaluating each image. As shown in FIG. 1, an image display apparatus (display unit) 101 is used. , Image input device 102, main storage device 103, image storage device (image storage means) 104, image evaluation device (image feature information specifying means) 105, operation button group (instruction signal input means) 106, control device (display printing control) Means) 107, an image printing apparatus 108, and a display print determination apparatus 109.

  The display device 101 is display means capable of displaying a plurality of images simultaneously. Examples of the display device 101 include display devices such as a liquid crystal display device, a PDP device, and a CRT (Cathode Ray Tube) device.

  The image input device 102 is a device for inputting an image to be displayed on the display device 101. The image input device 102 can input, for example, an image directly captured from an imaging device such as a digital camera or a scanner, an image recorded on a recording medium, or an image transmitted through a communication line.

  The main storage device 103 is a main memory in an information processing device that temporarily stores various processing programs to be applied to the image input by the image input device 102 and temporarily stores processing data. is there.

  The image storage device 104 is an image storage unit that stores an image input by the image input device 102 and stores an image after various processes.

  The image evaluation device 105 specifies image feature information indicating the feature of the image input by the image input device 102 from a plurality of preset image feature information, and the specified image feature information is input. It is a device that outputs to the control device 107 as image evaluation information. Details of the image evaluation apparatus 105 will be described later.

  The operation button group 106 is means for inputting instruction signals for instructing various processes to the information processing apparatus main body, and is operated by an operator. For example, the operator inputs an instruction signal for instructing whether or not to display an image on the display device 101 by pressing the top button of the operation button group 106. The input instruction signal is output to the control device 107 by the operation of the operator. That is, when various buttons provided in the operation button group 106 are operated by the operator, a signal corresponding to the operated button is input to the control device 107 of the information processing apparatus.

  The control device 107 functions as a control unit that controls the entire information processing apparatus, and also functions as a display control unit that controls image display on the display device 101. For example, when the control device 107 functions as a display control unit, display control is performed so that a plurality of images stored in the image storage device 104 are displayed on the display device 101 at the same time. Display control is performed so that the received evaluation information is displayed on the display device 101 together with the input image.

  The image printing apparatus 108 is a general printer that prints an input image.

  The display print determination device 109 is a device that determines an image to be displayed on the display device 101 or an image to be printed by the image printing device 108 from among input images. . That is, the display print determination device 109 functions as an information comparison unit that compares the image feature information (evaluation information) specified by the image evaluation device 105 with preset image feature information (evaluation information). Have.

  The control device 107 controls whether the input image is displayed or printed according to the comparison result (determination result) by the display print determination device 109. Details of this will be described later.

  In the information processing apparatus configured as described above, an image input by the image input apparatus 102 is temporarily stored in the image storage apparatus 104 and evaluated (specification of image feature information) by the image evaluation apparatus 105. Then, the input image evaluated by the image evaluation device 105 is sent to the control device 107 together with evaluation information (image feature information), and is selectively displayed on the display device 101 based on this evaluation information.

  Here, the image evaluation apparatus 105 will be described below with reference to FIG. In this description, the image evaluation apparatus 105 uses an image input from the image input apparatus 102 (hereinafter referred to as an input image) as an image captured by a digital camera, and a determination degree (hereinafter referred to as backlight) of the image. , The degree of backlighting), the degree of out-of-focus determination (hereinafter referred to as the degree of out-of-focus), and the degree of underexposure (hereinafter referred to as the degree of underexposure) are output as evaluation information.

  Therefore, the image evaluation apparatus 105 has a configuration as shown in FIG. That is, the image evaluation apparatus 105 includes a block dividing unit (block dividing unit) 201 that divides an input image into a plurality of blocks, and an image feature that indicates the characteristics of the input image from the luminance for each block obtained by the block dividing unit 201. A luminance information calculation unit (luminance information calculation unit) 202 that calculates luminance information for specifying information, luminance information calculated by the luminance information calculation unit 202, and image feature information set in advance are associated with each other. An image feature determination unit (image feature determination unit) 203 that determines the image feature of the input image based on the degree of coincidence with the luminance information, and further used by the image feature determination unit 203 to determine the image feature. A plurality of image features (evaluation information: information indicating the degree of backlighting, the degree of out-of-focus, the degree of underexposure) are correlated with the luminance information for each feature. And a luminance information feature database 204 that is. The luminance information feature database 204 includes various conversion tables necessary for determining image features used by the image feature determination unit 203. The data stored in the luminance information feature database 204 can be rewritten.

  The image feature determination unit 203 includes a classification device 210, a backlight determination unit 211, a defocus determination unit 212, and an underexposure determination unit 213.

  The classification device 210 refers to the luminance information feature database 204 and determines the input image based on the degree of coincidence between the luminance information stored in the luminance information feature database 204 and the luminance information calculated by the luminance information calculation unit 202. Characteristics (backlight degree, out-of-focus degree, underexposure degree) and output the result as classification information to each determination unit (backlight determination part 211, out-of-focus determination part 212, underexposure determination part 213). It has become.

  When the backlight determination unit 211 receives information indicating the degree of backlight included in the classification information from the classification device 210, the backlight determination unit 211 outputs information indicating the determination degree of backlight based on this information as evaluation information.

  When receiving the information indicating the degree of out-of-focus included in the classification information from the classification device 210, the out-of-focus determination unit 212 outputs information indicating the degree of out-of-focus determination as evaluation information based on this information.

  When receiving the information indicating the degree of underexposure included in the classification information from the classification device 210, the underexposure determination unit 213 outputs information indicating the degree of determination of underexposure as evaluation information based on this information.

  As described above, the image evaluation apparatus 105 configured as described above evaluates an input image and outputs the evaluation information to the control apparatus 107 together with the input image.

  A specific image evaluation process in the image evaluation apparatus 105 will be described below. Here, description will be made using an image example 301 shown in FIG. 3 and an image example 401 shown in FIG. 4 as input images. Note that the images shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 are the same input image.

<Determination of backlight>
An example of obtaining the determination degree that is backlight will be described.

  In the image example 301 shown in FIG. 3, the average luminance of the plurality of pixels located at the screen center A and the average luminance of the plurality of pixels located at the screen end B are obtained. This is performed by the luminance information calculation unit 202 of the image evaluation apparatus 105.

  Specifically, the average luminance at the screen center A is 212 and the average luminance at the screen edge B is 53.

  Here, in the present embodiment, the screen center A and the screen edge B are defined as follows. However, the present invention is not limited to this.

  When the image example 301 shown in FIG. 3 is an image of 320 × 240 pixels, the center A of the screen has a size of 10 in the vertical and horizontal directions centering on the center (from the top left of the screen (160, 120)). % Region, that is, a rectangular region having an upper left (160-32 / 2, 240-24 / 2) and a lower right (160 + 32/2, 240 + 24/2).

  When the image example 301 shown in FIG. 3 is an image of 320 × 240 pixels, the screen edge B is an area of 10% of the size of the image at the lower right and left sides of the screen, that is, the upper left (320-32, 240-24) , A rectangular area having the lower right (319, 239).

  The degree of determination of backlighting is obtained from the luminance obtained by dividing the average luminance at the screen edge B from the average luminance at the screen center A, and the backlight intensity conversion table shown in Table 1 below. Here, the luminance is expressed by 0 to 255. Similarly, in the following determinations, the luminance is expressed by 0 to 255.

  The backlight intensity conversion table is stored in the luminance information feature database 204 and is referred to by the classification device 210.

  When the luminance (53) at the screen edge B is subtracted from the luminance (212) at the center A of the screen, 159 is obtained. If it is determined where this value matches in the backlight conversion table shown in Table 1, it can be seen that the backlight matches the value corresponding to 0%. That is, in the image example 301 shown in FIG. 3, the backlight intensity is 0%, and it can be seen that the image example 301 is not in the backlight state.

<Determination of underexposure>
An example of determining the degree of determination of underexposure will be described.

  The determination degree of underexposure can be obtained by a method similar to the method for obtaining the above-described determination degree of backlight. That is, in the case of backlighting, the difference between the average brightness at the screen center A and the average brightness at the screen edge B was important, but in the case of exposure, the average brightness at the screen center A and the average brightness at the screen edge B The sum is important. Therefore, the degree of determination of underexposure is obtained from the sum of the average luminance at the screen center A and the average luminance at the screen edge B and the underexposure conversion table shown in Table 2 below.

  The underexposure conversion table is stored in the luminance information feature database 204 and is referred to by the classification device 210.

  If the luminance (212) at the center A of the screen and the luminance (53) at the screen edge B are added, it becomes 265. When it is determined where this value matches the underexposure conversion table shown in Table 2, it can be seen that the exposure portion speed matches the value corresponding to 20%. That is, the image example 301 shown in FIG. 3 has an underexposure degree of 20%.

<Joke detection>
An example of determining the degree of out-of-focus determination will be described.

  In the image example 401 shown in FIG. 4, the number of pixels for each luminance band in the rectangular area C at the center of the screen is counted. This is performed by the luminance information calculation unit 202 of the image evaluation apparatus 105.

  Here, in the present embodiment, the rectangular area and the luminance band are defined as follows. However, the present invention is not limited to this.

  The luminance band is a set of one or more continuous luminances. However, a certain luminance cannot belong to a plurality of luminance bands. For example, when the luminance is expressed by 0 to 255, the luminance 0 to 100 is a set of a plurality of luminances, and thus is a luminance band.

  The rectangular area C is a designated rectangle at the center of the screen. In FIG. 4, with respect to the image example 401 of 320 × 240 pixels, a vertical pixel centered at the center (from the upper left of the screen (160, 120)), an area of 10% of the size of the horizontal image, that is, the upper left The rectangular area is (160−32 / 2, 240) and lower right (160 + 32/2, 240).

  Table 3 below shows the result of detecting the distribution of the number of pixels for each luminance band performed in the rectangular area C of the image example 401 shown in FIG.

  Table 3 shows an example in which the distribution of the number of pixels is detected for each of four luminance bands. In other words, the number of pixels existing in the rectangular area C is set to 32, and the ratio of the number of pixels belonging to each luminance band to the number of pixels in the rectangular area is calculated. Table 3 is obtained by the image evaluation apparatus 105 and is temporarily stored in the luminance information feature database 204.

  Subsequently, the degree of determination of being out of focus is obtained from the distribution state of the number of pixels for each luminance band shown in Table 3 and the out-of-focus conversion table of Table 4 shown below.

  Here, in Table 3, the highest numerical value in the distribution of the number of pixels for each luminance band is 50% distribution of the luminance bands 0 to 100. The distribution 50% corresponds to the degree of out-of-focus 0% in Table 4. That is, it can be seen that the image example 401 shown in FIG. 4 is an image that is not out of focus.

  As a result of the above, Table 5 below summarizes the degree of determination that the input image shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 is backlit, the degree of out-of-focus determination, and the degree of underexposure. The results shown in Table 5 are set as image feature information of the input image, that is, evaluation information.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the display print determination apparatus 109 includes a determination value classification unit 501, a determination operation classification unit 502, and a determination operation classification table 503.

  The determination value classifying unit 501 is set in advance by inputting an image determination result, that is, evaluation information (backlight intensity xx%, out-of-focus degree xx%, underexposure degree xx%) of the input image by the image evaluation apparatus 105. One of a plurality of types of determination values (determination x (x = 1, 2, 3, 4)) is classified.

  The determination operation classification unit 502 reads out the determination operation (determination 1 to determination 4) corresponding to the determination value from the determination value classified by the determination value classification unit 501 and the determination operation classification table 503. The read determination operation data is output as a display printing operation instruction signal.

  Here, the determination operation classification table 503 corresponds to the determination operations that determination 1 indicates that display is not possible (×), restricted printing is not possible (×), and printing is not possible (×), and determination 2 is that display is possible. (○), restricted printing is not possible (×), printing is not possible (×), and judgment 3 corresponds, and as judgment 3, display is possible (○), restricted printing is possible (○), printing is impossible (×) The determination operation is stored in such a manner that the determination operation is possible (O), limited printing is impossible (X), and printing is possible (O). Here, restricted printing indicates printing with reduced image resolution or reduced printing.

  For example, for the four types of images A to D as the evaluation results by the image evaluation apparatus 105 as shown in Table 6 below, classification by the determination classification unit is performed with reference to Table 7 below.

  From Table 6 and Table 7, the classification result of each image is as follows.

Image A ... Judgment 4
Image B ... Judgment 1
Image C ... Judgment 2
Image D: Judgment 3
Then, based on each classification result, the determination operation classification unit 502 instructs the control device 107 to perform an operation corresponding to each determination as shown in Table 8 below.

  Accordingly, in the information processing apparatus, the following operations are executed for the images A to D.

[Image A]
Since it is determination 4, the image A is displayed on the display device 101, and printing is performed by the image printing device 108 without any limitation at the time of printing.

[Image B]
Since it is determination 1, the image B is not displayed on the display device 101 and is controlled not to be a target for selecting a print image.

[Image C]
Since it is determination 2, the image C is displayed on the display device 101. However, when a printing operation is performed, a print impossible message is displayed on the display device 101 as shown in FIG.

  Alternatively, a warning message as shown in FIG. 7 is displayed on the display device 101 so that the user can select whether to continue printing or to cancel printing.

[Image D]
Since it is determination 3, the image D is displayed on the display device 101, but is controlled so as to be converted into an optimal image size and printed at the time of printing by the image printing device 108.

  For example, even when printing in the A4 size is designated when printing the image D, if the print size determination unit (not shown) in the image printing apparatus 108 determines that the 2L plate is the optimum image size, the 2L plate Printing is performed. However, if the 2L version or less is specified at the time of printing, the printing is performed at that size.

  Alternatively, as shown in FIG. 8, a message may be displayed and an inquiry about whether to print at an optimal size or at a specified size may be requested from the user.

  In this case, when “decision” is selected, printing is performed in the 2L version, but when “cancel” is selected, printing is performed with a size designated by the user.

  An operation flow of the information processing apparatus having the above configuration will be described below with reference to a flowchart shown in FIG. 9 and block diagrams shown in FIGS.

  First, when an image is input by the image input device 102 (step S1), an image determination process is executed (step S2). Here, image evaluation information (backlight intensity, out-of-focus degree, underexposure degree) of the input image is obtained by the image evaluation apparatus 105, and an image is obtained by the determination value classification unit 501 of the display print determination apparatus 109 based on the image evaluation information. A determination is made. This image determination is shown in four stages of determination 1 to determination 4 as shown in Table 7.

  Then, the determination operation classification unit 502 determines whether or not the image determination result is determination 1 (step S3). Here, if it is determined to be determination 1, processing of determination 1 shown in Table 8 is executed. That is, since the input image is excluded from the image selection targets, an instruction signal for not displaying anything on the display device 101 is sent to the control device 107 (step S4), and the process ends.

  If it is determined in step S3 that the determination result is not determination 1, it is determined whether or not the determination result is determination 2 (step S5). Here, if it is determined to be determination 2, the processing of determination 2 shown in Table 8 is executed.

  That is, an instruction signal for displaying the input image on the display device 101 is sent to the control device 107 (step S6).

  Next, the control device 107 determines whether or not to perform a print start operation (step S7). If it is determined that the print start operation is not performed, the process is terminated. On the other hand, if it is determined that the print start operation is to be performed, the print start operation is performed, but a print impossible message is displayed on the display device 101 (step S108). Here, although a message indicating that printing cannot be performed is displayed, as shown in FIG. 7, the user may be allowed to select execution of printing.

  If it is determined in step S5 that the determination result is not determination 2, it is determined whether or not the determination result is determination 3 (step S9). Here, if it is determined to be determination 3, processing of determination 3 shown in Table 8 is executed.

  That is, an instruction signal for displaying an input image on the display device 101 is sent to the control device 107 (step 10).

  Next, the control device 107 determines whether or not to perform a print start operation (step S11). If it is determined that the print start operation is not performed, the process is terminated. On the other hand, if it is determined that the print start operation is to be performed, it is determined whether or not to print at the optimum size (step S12).

  If it is determined in step S12 that printing is to be performed at the optimum size, an instruction signal for instructing printing at the optimum paper size is sent to the image printing apparatus 108, and printing is executed (step S13).

  On the other hand, if it is determined in step S12 that printing is not performed at the optimum size, the process proceeds to step S17, where an instruction signal for instructing printing in the same size is sent to the image printing apparatus 108, and printing is executed. .

  If it is determined in step S9 that the determination result is not determination 3, it is determined whether or not the determination result is determination 4 (step S14). Here, if it is determined that the determination result is 4, the processing of determination 4 shown in Table 8 is executed.

  That is, an instruction signal for displaying the input image on the display device 101 is sent to the control device 107 (step 15).

  Next, the control device 107 determines whether or not to perform a print start operation (step S16). If it is determined that the print start operation is not performed, the process is terminated. On the other hand, if it is determined that a print start operation is to be performed, an instruction signal for instructing printing is sent to the image printing apparatus 108, and printing is executed (step S17).

  On the other hand, if it is determined in step S14 that the determination result is not determination 4, the process ends.

  As described above, according to the information processing apparatus according to the present embodiment, whether an input image is suitable for printing based on image feature information, that is, image evaluation information (backlight intensity, out-of-focus degree, underexposure degree). Therefore, the processing for the input image is determined according to the printable degree (in this embodiment, determination 1 to determination 4) indicating whether or not printing is possible. It is possible to shorten a useless processing time for displaying and selecting an image with poor image quality.

  Also, wasteful consumption of ink and paper is suppressed by checking the quality of the image during printing. Moreover, since the suitability of the print size is also determined at the time of printing, it is possible to print with a good image size suitable for printing.

  In the information processing apparatus having the above-described configuration, the evaluation result when the image evaluation apparatus 105 performs image evaluation, the backlight conversion table, the underexposure conversion table, and the out-of-focus conversion table, is the display result of the evaluated image once. It is also possible to change with reference to. An example of changing the evaluation criteria in this way will be described below with reference to FIG.

  An image evaluation apparatus 1004 shown in FIG. 10 has substantially the same configuration as the image evaluation apparatus 105 shown in FIG. 2, but differs in that an evaluation reference change unit 205 for changing the evaluation reference is provided. The other components are the same as those of the image evaluation apparatus 105 shown in FIG.

  In this case, the luminance information feature database 204 stores the luminance information in a rewritable manner. As a result, it is possible to change the luminance information serving as an evaluation criterion. That is, the evaluation criterion changing unit 205 has a function as luminance information changing means for changing the luminance information.

  Specifically, when an instruction signal for changing the evaluation standard from the operation button group (input unit) 106 shown in FIG. 1 is input to the evaluation standard changing unit 205, the luminance is changed based on the instruction signal. Each conversion table stored in the information feature database 204 is changed.

  For example, a case where the evaluation standard for backlight intensity is changed will be described.

  First, in a certain input image, when the value of the average luminance at the screen center A and the average luminance at the screen edge B is 70, when the inverse luminous intensity conversion table shown in Table 9 below is used, the inverse luminous intensity is 30%. It is determined that there is.

  Here, when the operator views the input image determined to have a backlight intensity of 30% as described above, it is determined that a backlight intensity of 20% is appropriate, and an operation panel (for example, as shown in FIG. 1). The operation button group 106) is operated, and an instruction signal is given to the evaluation standard changing unit 205 so that the backlight intensity of the input image becomes 20%.

  In this case, the evaluation criterion changing unit 205 evaluates the evaluation in Table 9 so that the backlight intensity is 20% when the average luminance at the screen center A and the average luminance at the screen edge B are 70 in the input image data. (75) in the (6) column indicating the reference is changed to 70, and 74 in the (5) column is changed to 69. The inverse luminous intensity conversion table thus changed is as shown in Table 10 below.

  As described above, by allowing the operator to reset the evaluation criteria in the backlight conversion table, the determination accuracy of the backlight with respect to the input image can be improved.

  In addition, as the image feature information of the input image, the evaluation criteria for the degree of underexposure and the degree of out-of-focus can be changed by the operator as in the case of the above backlight intensity. For example, the evaluation standard for the underexposure conversion table and the evaluation standard for the out-of-focus conversion table can be easily changed by operating the operation panel by the operator, in the same way as changing the evaluation standard in the backlight conversion table. It becomes.

  Here, the average luminance at the screen center A and the average luminance at the screen edge B of the image once input can be stored in the main storage device 103 or the image storage device 104 and used for re-evaluation. Good. As a result, it is possible to increase the efficiency of processing when performing re-evaluation on the same image.

  When re-evaluation is performed, the average luminance at the screen center A and the average luminance at the screen edge B may be obtained again.

  Also, when re-evaluation by the operator, for example, when an evaluation of 0% backlight is given to an image with severe backlight due to the operator's intentional or negligent operation, a fatal change is made to the conversion table so far There is a risk of it.

Therefore, in order to avoid such problems, the following measures are taken.
(1) A user interface (UI) for requesting confirmation of “Is it OK” when updating the evaluation value is provided.
(2) Before updating the evaluation value, a UI that can store the current evaluation value and return the evaluation value to the original value is provided. In this case, a plurality of evaluation values may be stored.
(3) When the value of the evaluation value change or the range of the change exceeds a preset range, a UI for requesting confirmation of “Is it OK” is provided.
(4) Provide a UI that can return the evaluation value to the initial value at any time.

  These measures are examples, and any means may be adopted as long as it is a means for avoiding the above problems.

  Further, the luminance information feature database 204 having the above configuration may have a conversion table (table) provided for each category of the image. Or you may replace a table for every category of an image.

  Here, the category of one image is, for example, landscape, person, creature, the category of another image is, for example, a digital camera, a sheet scanner, and the other image category is, for example, by resolution, Another image category is, for example, a model of a digital camera.

  Therefore, the luminance information feature database 204 stores a table for each image category, or provides an information processing apparatus that can handle various image categories by replacing the table for each image category. Can do.

  Here, the replacement of the table means, for example, replacing the table of luminance bands with the following Table 11 to Table 12.

  From the luminance band table shown in Table 11, the input image determined to have a defocus degree of 0% is determined from the luminance band table shown in Table 12 to have a defocus degree of 100%. .

  This is close to the user's determination by adjusting the luminance band in the case of an entirely dark image, or conversely a bright image on the whole, and an appropriate determination result can be obtained.

  According to the information processing apparatus configured as described above, even when a plurality of images input from the image input apparatus 102 are displayed on the image input apparatus 102 at the same time, each image has information indicating the characteristics of the image (backlight degree, out-of-focus). Degree, underexposure degree) are displayed together, so that the operator can easily check the quality of the image.

  The operator can appropriately determine the treatment of the image data based on the quality result of the image.

  Thereby, when a plurality of images are displayed on the image display device 101, it is possible to prevent the selection and printing of images that are not good.

  In addition, by making evaluation information (image feature information) once calculated into a database, it is not necessary to perform evaluation processing each time, and as a result, the amount of calculation can be reduced.

  In this way, if the amount of computation is small, image determination can be executed at high speed with a small amount of computation. Therefore, it is not necessary to obtain high performance from the computing device, and a general-purpose inexpensive computing device can be used at the present time. As a result, the cost of the entire information processing apparatus can be reduced.

  Further, as described above, the optimum image can always be evaluated by replacing the database storing the image feature information for each image category.

  The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications can be made within the scope shown in the claims. That is, embodiments obtained by combining technical means appropriately modified within the scope of the claims are also included in the technical scope of the present invention.

  Note that each unit and each processing step of the information processing apparatus according to the above embodiment is such that a calculation unit such as a CPU executes a program stored in a storage unit such as a ROM (Read Only Memory) or a RAM, and an input unit such as a keyboard. It can be realized by controlling output means such as a display or communication means such as an interface circuit. Therefore, various functions and various processes of the information processing apparatus according to the present embodiment can be realized simply by a computer having these means reading the recording medium storing the program and executing the program. In addition, by recording the program on a removable recording medium, the various functions and various processes described above can be realized on an arbitrary computer.

  As the recording medium, a memory (not shown) such as a ROM may be used as a program medium for processing by the microcomputer, and a program reader is provided as an external storage device (not shown). It may be a program medium that can be read by inserting a recording medium therein.

  In any case, the stored program is preferably configured to be accessed and executed by the microprocessor. Furthermore, it is preferable that the program is read out, and the read program is downloaded to the program storage area of the microcomputer and the program is executed. It is assumed that the download program is stored in the main device in advance.

  The program medium is a recording medium configured to be separable from the main body, such as a tape system such as a magnetic tape or a cassette tape, a magnetic disk such as a flexible disk or a hard disk, or a disk such as a CD / MO / MD / DVD. Fixed disk system, card system such as IC card (including memory card), or semiconductor memory such as mask ROM, EPROM (Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory), EEPROM (Electrically Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory), flash ROM, etc. In particular, there are recording media that carry programs.

  In addition, if the system configuration is capable of connecting to a communication network including the Internet, the recording medium is preferably a recording medium that fluidly carries the program so as to download the program from the communication network.

  Further, when the program is downloaded from the communication network as described above, it is preferable that the download program is stored in the main device in advance or installed from another recording medium.

  When an input image is printed, an image that does not need to be printed can be recognized accurately, which is suitable for a printing apparatus that prints a plurality of images.

1, showing an embodiment of the present invention, is a block diagram showing a main configuration of an information processing apparatus. FIG. It is a block diagram which shows the principal part structure of the image evaluation apparatus of the information processing apparatus shown in FIG. It is a figure used when performing the description which calculates | requires a backlight intensity in the image evaluation apparatus shown in FIG. FIG. 3 is a diagram used when explanation for obtaining a degree of defocus is performed in the image evaluation apparatus shown in FIG. 2. It is a block diagram which shows the principal part structure of the display printing determination apparatus of the information processing apparatus shown in FIG. It is a figure which shows the example of a display of the determination result by the display printing determination apparatus shown in FIG. It is a figure which shows the example of a display of the determination result by the display printing determination apparatus shown in FIG. It is a figure which shows the example of a display of the determination result by the display printing determination apparatus shown in FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a flow of display print determination processing of the information processing apparatus illustrated in FIG. 1. It is a block diagram which shows the principal part structure of the other image evaluation apparatus of the information processing apparatus shown in FIG.

Explanation of symbols

101 Display device (display means)
105 Image evaluation device (image feature information specifying means)
106 Operation buttons (input means)
107 Control device (display printing control means)
108 Image printing apparatus (image printing means)
109 Display printing determination device (comparison means)
201 Block division unit (block division means)
202 Luminance information calculation unit (luminance information calculation means)
203 Image feature determination unit (image feature determination means)
204 Luminance information feature database 205 Evaluation criteria changing unit (luminance information changing means)
210 Classification device (classification means)
501 Determination value classification unit 502 Determination operation classification unit 503 Determination operation classification table

Claims (12)

In an information processing apparatus capable of selectively displaying and / or printing a plurality of input images,
Display means capable of displaying a plurality of input images;
Image printing means for printing an image selected from a plurality of images displayed on the display means;
Image feature information specifying means for specifying image feature information indicating a feature of an input image from a plurality of preset image feature information;
Information comparing means for comparing the image feature information specified by the image specifying information specifying means with preset image feature information;
An information processing apparatus comprising: a display print control unit that controls display of an input image to be compared and / or execution of printing according to a comparison result by the information comparison unit. The display print control means includes:
When the comparison result by the information comparison means indicates that the image feature information of the input image matches the preset image feature information, control is performed so as not to display the input image on the display means. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1.   The information processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the display printing control unit further controls the image printing unit to print with an image size corresponding to the matched image feature information. The display print control means includes:
If the comparison result by the information comparison unit indicates that the image feature information of the input image matches the preset image feature information, the input image cannot be printed by the image printing unit. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the information is controlled to be displayed on the display unit together with information indicating the information. The display print control means includes:
When the comparison result by the information comparison means indicates that the image feature information of the input image matches the preset image feature information, the input image is displayed with an image size corresponding to the matched image feature information. 2. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein control is performed such that information is displayed on the display unit together with information indicating that the image printing unit can perform printing. The display print control means includes:
If the comparison result by the information comparison unit indicates that the image feature information of the input image matches the preset image feature information, the input image can be printed by the image printing unit. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the information processing apparatus controls the display unit to display the information together with the information to be displayed. The image feature information specifying means includes:
Block dividing means for dividing the input image into a plurality of blocks;
Luminance information calculating means for calculating luminance information for specifying image feature information indicating the characteristics of the input image from the luminance for each block obtained by the block dividing means;
Image feature determination means for comparing the brightness information calculated by the brightness information calculation means and the brightness information associated with the preset image feature information to determine the image feature of the input image;
The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein information indicating the image feature determined by the image feature determination unit is specified as image feature information of the input image. A luminance information database storing luminance information respectively associated with a plurality of preset image feature information,
The image feature determination means includes
Classification means for classifying the image feature information of the input image from the degree of coincidence between the luminance information calculated by the luminance information calculating means and the luminance information stored in the luminance information database;
The information processing apparatus according to claim 7, wherein an image feature of the input image is determined from the image feature information classified by the classification unit. The luminance information database stores the luminance information in a rewritable manner.
Furthermore, an input means capable of inputting an instruction signal for changing the luminance information on the luminance information database;
9. The information processing apparatus according to claim 8, further comprising: luminance information changing means for changing the luminance information based on an instruction signal input by the input means. In an image display printing method for selectively displaying and / or printing a plurality of input images,
A first step of identifying image feature information indicating a feature of the input image from a plurality of preset image feature information;
A second step of comparing the image feature information specified by the image specification information specifying means with preset image feature information;
And a third step of controlling execution of display and / or printing of the input image to be compared in accordance with the comparison result in the second step. In an image display printing control program for selectively displaying and / or controlling printing of a plurality of inputted images,
A first procedure for specifying image feature information indicating a feature of an input image from a plurality of preset image feature information;
A second procedure for comparing the image feature information specified by the image specification information specifying means with preset image feature information;
An image display printing control program for causing a computer to execute a third procedure for controlling display of an input image to be compared and / or execution of printing in accordance with the comparison result of the second procedure.   The computer-readable recording medium which recorded the image display control program of Claim 11.

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