JP4012995B2 - Image capturing apparatus and method - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an image capturing apparatus and method, and more particularly, to an image capturing apparatus and method capable of obtaining an invisible light image with the same optical axis as that of visible light.
[0002]
[Prior art]
For example, when photographing and observing animals living in a forest or the like with a video camera, food is arranged at a predetermined position, and the video camera is arranged at a position where an animal that eats the food can be photographed. The video camera continuously shoots in an unattended state. In this way, when the animal comes to eat the food, it is possible to photograph the situation when the animal eats the food.
[0003]
However, since shooting is continuously performed in an unattended state, most images are useless images in which animals are not shot.
[0004]
Therefore, for example, when there is a motion in the image, it is possible to start recording the image. In this way, since the animal generally moves around, the animal can be photographed reliably and efficiently.
[0005]
However, if motion is detected and image recording is started, recording may occur even when trees are shaken or fallen leaves are flying due to wind, for example. .
[0006]
Therefore, for example, it is conceivable to use an infrared video camera. However, an image captured by an infrared video camera is unclear compared to a normal visible light image, and it is difficult to observe the subject in detail.
[0007]
For this reason, two cameras, a visible light video camera and an infrared video camera, are prepared, and when an animal is imaged by the infrared video camera, recording of the animal image is started by the visible light video camera. It is also possible.
[0008]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, when an infrared video camera and a visible light video camera are used as described above, there is a problem that the optical axes of the two are different and it is difficult to accurately capture the corresponding image.
[0009]
The present invention has been made in view of such a situation, and makes it possible to capture a visible light image and an invisible light image on the same optical axis.
[0010]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
The image pickup apparatus according to claim 1 is separated from invisible light irradiation means for irradiating a subject with infrared or ultraviolet light as invisible light, and separation means for separating visible light and invisible light from incident light. Visible light receiving means for receiving visible light; invisible light receiving means for receiving separated invisible light; output means for outputting image signals output from the visible light receiving means and invisible light receiving means; Processing means for determining a position of a subject from a light image signal and determining whether the subject is a registered subject from the visible light image signal corresponding to the position of the subject. .
[0011]
The image capturing method according to claim 2, wherein an invisible light irradiation step of irradiating a subject with infrared or ultraviolet light as invisible light, and a separation step of separating visible light and invisible light from incident light are separated. A visible light receiving step for receiving visible light, an invisible light receiving step for receiving separated invisible light, and an output step for outputting an image signal obtained as a result of receiving the visible light and the invisible light receiving step. And determining a position of a subject from the invisible light image signal, and determining whether the subject is a registered subject from the visible light image signal corresponding to the position of the subject. Features.
[0012]
In the image capturing apparatus according to claim 1 and the image capturing method according to claim 2 , visible light and invisible light are separated from incident light. The separated visible light and invisible light are respectively received, the corresponding image signal is output , the position of the subject is determined from the invisible light image signal, and the subject is determined from the visible light image signal corresponding to the position of the subject. but whether or not the subject has been registered Ru is determined.
[0013]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Embodiments of the present invention will be described below, but in order to clarify the correspondence between each means of the invention described in the claims and the following embodiments, in parentheses after each means, The features of the present invention will be described with the corresponding embodiment (however, an example) added. However, of course, this description does not mean that each means is limited to the description.
[0014]
The image pickup apparatus according to claim 1 is configured to irradiate a subject with infrared or ultraviolet light as invisible light (for example, the infrared irradiation device 21 in FIG. 1), and from incident light, visible light and invisible light. Separating means (for example, the cold mirror 11 in FIG. 1), visible light receiving means for receiving the separated visible light (for example, the CCDs 15, 16, and 17 in FIG. 1), and the separated invisible light. Invisible light receiving means for receiving light (for example, the CCD 14 in FIG. 1), output means for outputting image signals output from the visible light receiving means and the invisible light receiving means (for example, the encoder 18 in FIG. 1), and invisible Processing means for determining the position of the subject from the light image signal and determining whether the subject is a registered subject from the visible light image signal corresponding to the position of the subject (for example, the processing device 2 in FIG. 1) Characterized in that it comprises.
[0016]
FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of an image pickup apparatus of the present invention. This image pickup apparatus basically includes an image pickup unit 1 and an infrared irradiation device 21. The infrared irradiation device 21 includes an infrared generation device 31 and a slit light generation device 32. The infrared generator 31 generates infrared light and makes it incident on the slit light generator 32. The slit light generation device 32 is configured to irradiate the subject with the infrared light incident from the infrared generation device 31 as it is, or convert it into slit light corresponding to a predetermined pattern and irradiate the subject. Yes.
[0017]
Light from the subject is incident on the cold mirror 11 in the imaging unit 1. The cold mirror 11 separates infrared light and visible light as invisible light from incident light, reflects the infrared light, and enters the CCD 14. Visible light transmitted through the cold mirror 11 is incident on the dichroic mirror 12. The dichroic mirror 12 reflects the red light component from the incident visible light so as to be incident on the CCD 15 and transmits the component having a shorter wavelength than the red component so as to be incident on the subsequent dichroic mirror 13. Has been made.
[0018]
The dichroic mirror 13 reflects the green component having a longer wavelength in the incident visible light and makes it incident on the CDD 16 and transmits the blue component having a shorter wavelength than the green component and makes it incident on the CCD 17. ing.
[0019]
The CCDs 14 to 17 generate image signals corresponding to the incident light, respectively, and output them to the encoder 18. The encoder 18 performs D / A conversion on the inputted image signal, further encodes it into a predetermined code, and outputs it to the processing device 2 constituted by, for example, a personal computer. The processing device 2 processes input image data and outputs the image data to the monitor 3 for display.
[0020]
Next, with reference to a flowchart of FIG. 2, for example, a processing operation when this image pickup apparatus is used in a monitoring system will be described.
[0021]
First, in step S1, processing for capturing an infrared image is executed. That is, the infrared generator 31 of the infrared irradiation device 21 generates infrared rays. In this case, the slit light generating device 32 irradiates the infrared light emitted from the infrared light generating device 31 as it is (not to the slit light) toward the subject (to the position to be monitored).
[0022]
Light from the subject (position to be monitored) enters the imaging unit 1. Of the incident light to the imaging unit 1, infrared light is reflected by the cold mirror 11 and is incident on the CCD 14. The CCD 14 photoelectrically converts the incident infrared image, converts it into an image signal, and outputs it to the encoder 18. The encoder 18 encodes the input image signal and outputs it to the processing device 2. For example, when a person is present at a position to be monitored, an infrared image as shown in FIG.
[0023]
Next, in step S2, the processing device 2 performs processing for determining the position of the face of the subject. That is, the infrared image is an image in which the boundary between the high temperature portion and the low temperature portion is relatively clearly divided. Since the temperature of the human face (human body) is higher than that of the surrounding wall, the processing device 2 easily and clearly identifies the position of the human face from the image of the surrounding wall from the infrared image. be able to.
[0024]
Next, it progresses to step S3 and the processing apparatus 2 performs the process which takes in a visible light image. That is, of the light from the subject, visible light passes through the cold mirror 11 and enters the dichroic mirror 12. Of the incident visible light, the red component is reflected by the dichroic mirror 12 and is incident on the CCD 15. Further, the green component and the blue component having a wavelength shorter than that of the red component are transmitted through the dichroic mirror 12 and are incident on the dichroic mirror 13. The dichroic mirror 13 reflects the green component to enter the CCD 16, transmits the blue component, and enters the CCD 17. The image signals of red, green and blue components output from the CCDs 15, 16 and 17 are input to the encoder 18 and encoded. The encoded R, G, B image data is supplied to the processing device 2. Thereby, for example, an image of visible light as shown in FIG.
[0025]
The visible light image shown in FIG. 4 is an image on the same optical axis as that of the infrared image shown in FIG. 3, and thus both images are precisely corresponding images. Therefore, the processing device 2 proceeds to step S4, and executes a person determination process from the visible light image captured in step S3. That is, the processing device 2 compares the image of the visible light pixel corresponding to the pixel determined as the face (human body) image with the face image on the pre-registered database in the determination process of step S2. Then, it is determined which person's image is the currently captured image. For example, when the image that has been captured is an image of a person registered in the database, processing such as unlocking the door is performed. If the captured image is an image of a person not registered in the database, the image is stored, but the door is not unlocked.
[0026]
The visible light image capturing process in step S3 can actually be captured at the same timing as the infrared image capturing process in step S1.
[0027]
Next, an example of processing when images are combined will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. First, in step S11, the processing device 2 executes processing for capturing an infrared image. This process is the same as that in step S1 of FIG. In this way, for example, as shown in FIG. 6, an infrared image of a person against a background of a distant mountain is captured. However, at this time, the slit light generation device 32 of the infrared irradiation device 21 irradiates the subject with the infrared light generated by the infrared generation device 31 as slit light having a predetermined pattern. When the processing device 2 thus captures an image based on a predetermined pattern of slit light, for example, based on a time-series spatial encoding method or a scanning encoding method, the imaging unit for each pixel of each image The distance from 1 is calculated. The calculation method of this distance is described in, for example, “Small and High-Speed by Scanning Coding Method” in “The Institute of Electronics, Information and Communication Engineers Journal D-II Vol. J76-D-II No. 8 pp. It is introduced as a “range finder”.
[0028]
Next, it progresses to step S12 and the processing apparatus 2 performs the process which makes the distance from the imaging part 1 of each pixel a histogram. Thereby, for example, a histogram as shown in FIG. 7 is created.
[0029]
Since the histogram shown in FIG. 7 is a histogram of each pixel of the image shown in FIG. 6, each pixel is a pixel of a person image (foreground) located at a position close to the imaging unit 1 and a mountain located at a distant position. Image (background). In step S13, for example, in FIG. 7, the processing device 2 separates an image at a position closer than the distance L _R as a foreground pixel, and separates a pixel at a position farther away as a background pixel.
[0030]
When the foreground and the background are separated as described above, the process proceeds to step S14, and the processing device 2 executes a process for synthesizing images. For example, as shown in FIG. 8, a process of arranging and synthesizing a tree image between the foreground (person) and the background (mountain) is performed. In the image synthesized in this way, the tree is located in front of the mountain, so a part of the image of the mountain behind the tree is processed so as to be hidden by the tree, and a part of the image of the tree is Processing is performed so that a part of the image is hidden by the image of the person positioned in front of the image.
[0031]
FIG. 9 shows still another processing example. The processing in steps S21 to S23 in the flowchart of FIG. 9 is the same as the processing in steps S11 to S13 in FIG. That is, by these processes, the foreground and the background are separated as in the case of FIG.
[0032]
Next, proceeding to step S24, the processing device 2 executes a camera shake correction process based on the background. That is, for example, when an image as shown in FIG. 6 is taken in, it is determined whether or not there is a camera shake by paying attention to a mountain as a background. When it is determined that there is a camera shake, a correction process corresponding to the camera shake is performed. As a result, the area ratio between the background and the foreground is less likely to affect the camera shake correction, and the camera shake can be accurately corrected.
[0033]
Further, by selecting a process according to the distance to the background, it is possible to correct camera shake more accurately.
[0034]
In addition, the actual size of the imaged subject can be calculated from the angle of view in the image capturing unit 1, the distance between two predetermined points on the screen, and the distance from the two image capturing units 1. As a result, for example, if the actual size of the monitor 3 is known, the subject can be displayed on the monitor 3 in actual size. As a result, for example, in online shopping via TV shopping or the Internet, it is possible to display actual products to the viewer in actual size and to provide viewers with more realistic information.
[0035]
At this time, at the time of shooting, the photographer need not consider the size of the screen viewed by the viewer.
[0036]
Furthermore, the three-dimensional shape of the subject can be taken into the processing device 2 by measuring the distance from the imaging unit 1 for each pixel more precisely. Thereby, for example, a subject can be displayed in a space of computer graphics or virtual reality.
[0037]
In the above embodiment, the distance is measured by the time-series space coding method or the scan-type coding method, but the distance can also be measured by other methods.
[0038]
Further, as the invisible light, ultraviolet rays can be used in addition to infrared rays.
[0039]
In addition, the present invention can be applied to the case where the temperature of a subject in a visible light image is measured in real time, the stress is measured, a moving object is efficiently recorded, or a dangerous object is detected. it can.
[0040]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the image pickup device of claim 1 and the image pickup method of claim 2 , visible light and invisible light are separated from incident light, and each is received and corresponding. Since the image signal is output, it is possible to capture images of visible light and invisible light having the same optical axis.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of an image pickup apparatus of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating a processing example of the image capturing apparatus in FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an infrared image.
FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a visible light image.
FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating another example of processing of the image capturing apparatus in FIG. 1;
FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a foreground and a background.
FIG. 7 is a diagram for explaining foreground and background histograms;
FIG. 8 is a diagram for explaining image composition;
FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating still another processing example of the image capturing apparatus in FIG. 1;
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Image pick-up part, 2 Processing apparatus, 3 Monitor, 11 Cold mirror, 12, 13 Dichroic mirror, 14 thru | or 17 CCD, 18 Encoder, 21 Infrared irradiation apparatus, 31 Infrared generator, 32 Slit light generation apparatus

Claims (2)

Invisible light irradiation means for irradiating a subject with infrared or ultraviolet light as invisible light ;
Separation means for separating visible light and invisible light from incident light;
Visible light receiving means for receiving the separated visible light;
Invisible light receiving means for receiving the separated invisible light; and
An output means for outputting an image signal output from the visible light receiving means and the invisible light receiving means;
Processing means for determining a position of a subject from the invisible light image signal and determining whether the subject is a registered subject from the visible light image signal corresponding to the position of the subject. An image pickup apparatus. An invisible light irradiation step of irradiating the subject with infrared or ultraviolet light as invisible light ;
A separation step of separating visible light and invisible light from incident light;
A visible light receiving step for receiving the separated visible light;
An invisible light receiving step for receiving the separated invisible light;
An output step of outputting an image signal obtained as a result of light reception in the visible light reception step and the invisible light reception step;
Determining the position of a subject from the invisible light image signal, and determining whether the subject is a registered subject from the visible light image signal corresponding to the position of the subject. Image capturing method.

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