JP4371219B2 - Digital camera - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a digital camera capable of identifying feature points of a person and recording photographed image data in a folder corresponding to the identification result.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, many techniques for identifying a person from image data have been known, including a system that authenticates a person by registering a fingerprint or iris feature point in advance and collating it with the feature point. Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 9-251534 describes in detail how to identify eyes as a person by extracting eyes, nose, mouth, etc., registering them as feature points, and comparing them with feature points extracted from the input image. Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-232934 discloses a method for increasing the accuracy of a dictionary image when registering feature points extracted in this way. Examples of applying these technologies to cameras are given below.

  Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2001-309225 discloses a camera in which data such as face coordinates, dimensions, eye positions, head poses, and the like recognized by a face recognition algorithm are recorded together with image data in an image memory. Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2002-232761 discloses an image recording apparatus that records in association with identification information of a subject that has been read in advance on a captured image. Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2002-333651 discloses a photographing apparatus that generates a recording signal by comparing preliminarily stored appearance information and photographing face information. This appearance information is recorded together with the priority.

On the other hand, a technique of a digital camera that can facilitate retrieval at the time of reproduction by grouping and recording captured images into a predetermined group at the time of recording has also been disclosed. Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2002-211049 discloses an image processing apparatus that groups related photographed image data according to photographing time and manages them centrally. Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2003-162709 discloses an image processing apparatus that creates a new folder in response to a state change associated with a user operation of an image capturing apparatus. Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2003-189215 discloses a recording apparatus capable of associating a photographic recording mode with a folder for managing photographic images. Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2003-338999 discloses an image filing apparatus that adds link information to image data and groups them.

  The invention of applying the above-described technique for identifying a subject to a camera is that a technique that has been conventionally performed in a large-scale computer system can be performed by a camera alone. Actually, when an image is taken with a camera using a subject identification technique, an unprecedented operation sequence as a camera is required. Further, there has been no technology disclosed by associating the subject identification technology with the folder creation method described above.

An object of the present invention is to provide a digital camera that can facilitate retrieval during reproduction by storing image data in a folder corresponding to a main subject by incorporating the above-described new operation sequence.

In order to solve the above problems, the invention of claim 1 is characterized in that an extraction means for extracting a feature portion of a subject from image data and classifying the image data into a predetermined group according to the feature portion extracted by the extraction means. A classifying unit, a discriminating unit for discriminating a priority given in advance to the characteristic part extracted by the extracting unit, and a recording for recording the image data on a recording medium according to the classification result classified by the classifying unit And a detecting means for detecting whether or not the recording medium has an area for storing the image data of the group classified by the classification means, and the classification means includes a plurality of extraction means from the same image data. When the feature parts having different levels are extracted, the classification unit assigns the image data to a group corresponding to the feature part determined to have a higher priority by the determination unit. And when the detection means detects that the recording medium does not have an area for storing the image data of the group, the recording means is an area corresponding to the next highest priority feature group. And recording the image data . That is, if there is no folder corresponding to a subject with a high priority, it is stored in the folder with the next highest priority.

The invention of claim 2, wherein the recording means, the image data, on a recording medium having an area for storing multiple images at data belonging to the same group, the group to which the classification means classifies It is characterized by recording in a corresponding area. That is, image data is recorded in a folder created in advance on the memory card.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, the image forming apparatus according to the third aspect further includes a creating unit for creating an area on the recording medium that collectively stores the image data classified by the classifying unit. That is, a folder corresponding to the extracted and classified feature points can be automatically created on the memory card.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating the main functions of the digital camera of the present invention. The taking lens 101 includes a zoom lens for continuously changing the focal length and a focus lens for adjusting the focus. These lenses are driven by a driver 113. Here, the driver 113 includes a zoom driving mechanism and its driving circuit for the zoom lens, and a focus driving mechanism and its driving circuit for the focus lens, which are controlled by the CPU 112, respectively. The photographing lens 101 forms a subject image on the imaging surface of the image sensor 103. The image sensor 103 is a photoelectric conversion image sensor that outputs an electrical signal corresponding to the light intensity of the subject image formed on the image pickup surface, and a CCD type or MOS type solid state image sensor is used. The image sensor 103 is driven by a driver 115 that controls the timing of signal extraction.

A diaphragm 102 is provided between the photographing lens 101 and the image sensor 103. Aperture 10
2 is driven by a driver 114 having an aperture mechanism and its drive circuit. The imaging signal from the solid-state imaging device 103 is input to the analog signal processing circuit 104, and processing such as correlated double sampling processing (CDS) is performed in the analog signal processing circuit 104. The imaging signal processed by the analog signal processing circuit 104 is converted from an analog signal to a digital signal by the A / D converter 135.

  The A / D converted signal is subjected to various image processing such as edge enhancement, gamma correction, and white balance correction in the digital signal processing circuit 106. The buffer memory 105 is a frame memory that can store data for a plurality of frames imaged by the image sensor 103, and the A / D converted signal is temporarily stored in the buffer memory 105. The digital signal processing circuit 106 reads the data stored in the buffer memory 105 and performs each process described above, and the processed data is stored in the buffer memory 105 again.

The CPU 112 is connected to the digital signal processing circuit 106 and drivers 113 to 115 and performs sequence control when the camera operates. An AE calculation unit 1121 of the CPU 112 performs an exposure calculation based on an image signal from the image sensor, and an AWB calculation unit 1122 performs a calculation for setting a white balance parameter. The feature point extraction calculation unit 1123 extracts feature points such as the shape, position, and size of the subject from the image data according to a predetermined algorithm. The storage unit 1125 stores the results calculated by these various calculation units as necessary, and also stores various types of information regarding the feature points extracted by the feature point extraction calculation unit 1123. This information will be described later. Further, the extracted feature points and the information thereof can be arbitrarily added, changed, or deleted from the storage unit 1125 by the user.

The AF method of the digital camera in this embodiment employs a contrast method. This contrast AF will be described here. In this method, there is a correlation between the degree of blurring of the image on the image sensor 103 and the contrast, and focusing is performed using the fact that the contrast of the image is maximized when there is a focus. The magnitude of the contrast can be evaluated by the magnitude of the high-frequency component of the imaging signal. In other words, the AF calculation unit 1124 is a BP (not shown)
A high frequency component of the imaging signal is extracted by F (band pass filter), and an AF calculation is performed based on the focus evaluation value using a value obtained by integrating the absolute value as a focus evaluation value. The CPU 112 adjusts the focus lens position of the photographing lens 101 using the calculation result of the AF calculation unit 1124, and performs a focusing operation.

  The operation member 116 connected to the CPU 112 includes a power switch 1161 for turning on / off the camera, a half-press switch 1162 and a full-press switch 1163 that are turned on / off in conjunction with the release button, and a camera displayed on the monitor 109. A setting button 1164 for selecting various menu contents, an up / down (U / D) button 1165 for updating a reproduced image, and the like are provided. The setting button 1164 can select and set alphabets, hiragana, katakana, simple kanji, etc. in combination with the U / D button 1165 in order to name the extracted feature points. In addition, the U / D button 1165 is used to select a desired person from a plurality of extracted persons, or to manually drive the zoom lens to the telephoto or wide side during photographing.

  When the subject brightness is low, the flash 117 is caused to emit light. This strobe is a pre-flash that emits auxiliary light in advance before shooting to prevent red-eye to prevent or reduce the redness of the person's eyes when using the strobe and to measure subject brightness in advance at low brightness It also has functions. In addition to the feature point information described above, the storage unit 1125 also stores the peak value of the evaluation value detected from the AF calculation result, the corresponding lens position, and the like. The image data that has been subjected to various processes by the digital signal processing circuit 106 is temporarily stored in the buffer memory 105 and then recorded on an external storage medium 111 such as a memory card via the recording / reproducing signal processing circuit 110. When recording image data in the storage medium 111, data compression is generally performed in a predetermined compression format, for example, the JPEG method. The recording / reproduction signal processing circuit 110 performs data compression when image data is recorded on the external storage medium 111 and decompression processing of the compressed image data reproduced from the external storage medium 111.

  The monitor 109 is a liquid crystal (LCD) display device for displaying a captured subject image and displaying various setting menus for shooting and reproduction. Here, it is also used when image data recorded in the storage medium 111 is reproduced and displayed. When displaying an image on the monitor 109, the image data stored in the VRAM 107 which is a part of the buffer memory 105 is read out, and the digital image data is converted into an analog video signal by the D / A converter 108. Then, an image is displayed on the monitor 109 using the analog video signal.

Here, the relationship between the buffer memory 105 and the VRAM 107 when extracting feature points will be described. When image data for display is reproduced on the monitor 109, data obtained by thinning the image data for still image from the image data for still image to the image data for display is continuously output from the image sensor at a constant cycle (for example, 30 frames / second). Is done. The image data is subjected to predetermined processing, and the monitor 109
The data is further thinned out so as to have the number of pixels corresponding to the number of vertical and horizontal pixels, and continuously recorded in the VRAM 107. The data in the VRAM 107 is reproduced as a display image on the monitor 109 through the D / A converter 108. The image data in the VRAM 107 is also used as data for extracting feature points. When extracting feature points, first, image data in the VRAM 107 is recorded again in the buffer memory 105 at a predetermined timing. Here, only a predetermined range (for example, 80% in both the vertical and horizontal directions) of the central portion of the data recorded in the VRAM 107 is recorded in the buffer memory 105.

The reason why the image data is recorded again from the VRAM 107 to the buffer memory 105 in this way is as follows. If the arithmetic processing capability of the CPU 112 is sufficiently high, feature points can be extracted at the rate of 30 frames / second as described above, but the arithmetic capability of the CPU 112 employed in the digital camera is often not so high. Therefore, the feature points can be extracted by re-recording the image data from the VRAM 107 to the buffer memory 105 at a rate suitable for the feature point extraction calculation according to the calculation capability of the CPU 112. In this case, of course, the display update image data is output from the VRAM 105 at a normal rate, so the display update rate does not slow down. Note that the image data for performing the AE calculation and the AF calculation is data output from the above-described image sensor 103 and before being thinned out to the VRAM 107.

In this digital camera having the feature point extraction function in this way, the feature point extraction function can be used to effectively check the focus of the subject before and after shooting. This will be described using the flow of FIGS.

First, FIGS. 2 and 3 are flowcharts for explaining that the focus is confirmed in relation to the photographing operation.
If it is detected in step S101 that the power source of the digital camera is turned on, it is determined in step S102 whether or not the extraction mode for extracting feature points is set. As an example of the extraction mode setting method, the extraction mode is selected and set from various shooting modes displayed on the LCD monitor 109 by operating the setting button 1164 (not shown). If the extraction mode is not set in step S102, the process proceeds to step S108.

If it is determined in step S102 that the extraction mode is set, step S1 is executed.
Proceeding to 03, the feature point of the subject is extracted from the output of the image sensor 13 at a predetermined timing, and the subject from which the feature point is extracted is identified and displayed on the LCD monitor 109 together with the through image from the image sensor. An example of identification display is shown in FIG. In FIG. 11, a solid square display surrounding the face portion of the person at the center of the screen indicates that the face of this person has been extracted. The inside of the broken line in FIG. 11 is an enlarged display around the extracted person's face, details of which will be described later.

In step S104, the extracted feature point or a predetermined area including the feature point is set as the AF area. When the subject is a face up, the pupil portion is further set as the AF area. When a plurality of feature points are extracted in the screen, the feature point having the largest area is set as the AF area. Alternatively, when the same feature point as the extracted feature point is stored in advance in the storage unit 1125, the AF area is set according to information about the feature point (for example, priority order information). Details of the feature point information will be described later.

In step S105, it is determined whether or not the focus confirmation mode is set for the subject in the AF area. The setting method in this case is the same as in the extraction mode setting described above, and an item for confirming the focus of the extracted subject is selected from the shooting mode setting menu displayed by operating the setting button 1164 ( Not shown). The focus confirmation and the above-described extraction mode can be set or canceled at an arbitrary timing. If the focus is not confirmed, the process proceeds to step S107, and if the focus is confirmed, the process proceeds to step S106.

In the focus confirmation step S106, as shown in FIG. 11, a predetermined range including the AF area set based on the extracted feature points is enlarged to a partial area on the LCD monitor 109 and superimposed on the entire screen data. And display. The detailed flow of step S106 will be described later with reference to FIG. In step S107, it is determined whether another feature point is selected as the AF area. This selection is performed using the U / D button 1165. If no other feature point is selected, the process proceeds to step S108. If another feature point is selected, the process returns to step S104 to newly set the selected feature point as an AF area. Up to this point, the half-press SW 1162 may not be pressed.

In step S108, it is determined whether the half-press SW 1162 and the full-press SW 1163 are pressed. If the full press SW 1163 has not been pressed, the process returns to step S102. If it is determined that the full press SW 1163 has been pressed, the process proceeds to step S109 in FIG.

In step S <b> 109, the subject is exposed by the image sensor 103 with a predetermined shutter speed and aperture value according to the calculation result of the AE calculation circuit 1121, and the image data output from the image sensor 103 is recorded in the buffer memory 105. In step S110, it is determined whether or not the setting for confirming the focus of the captured image is set. The setting of whether or not to check the focus after shooting is performed by selecting the item of performing the focus check after shooting using the setting button 1164 before shooting as in the case of setting the extraction mode described above. Keep it.

If it is determined in step S110 that the focus confirmation is not performed, the process proceeds to step S115. If it is determined that the focus confirmation is set, the process proceeds to step S111. Details of the focus confirmation in step S111 will be described with reference to FIG. 4 in the same manner as the focus confirmation operation in step S106 described above. The display at this time is enlarged and displayed in a broken-line square as shown in FIG. 11 as in the focus confirmation display before photographing. This enlarged display range is a predetermined range including the AF area whose position and size are stored in the storage unit 1125 immediately before the full press SW 1163 is pressed.

Of course, the full-press SW 1163 may be pressed to extract the feature points again from the captured image data, and then the subject corresponding to the extracted feature points may be enlarged and displayed. In that case, instead of newly extracting feature points from the entire captured image, only a predetermined range including the AF area set before imaging is extracted. This shortens the time required for extraction. Thus, by extracting the subject from the image data after shooting, the main subject portion can be surely enlarged and displayed even when the main subject moves.

In step S112, it is confirmed whether a recording instruction has been issued. An example of a recording instruction method for the focus confirmation screen will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 12 is a diagram showing a case where the recording instruction menu is superimposed on FIG. 11 showing the screen explaining the focus confirmation. When the full press SW 1163 is pressed, a selection menu for recording instructions is further superimposed on the screen on which the enlarged screen around the AF area is superimposed on the entire photographing screen on the LCD monitor 109 as shown in FIG. From here, the photographer uses the U / D button 1165 to select either YES or NO. If YES is selected, the process proceeds to step S115, and if neither YES nor NO is selected, the process proceeds to step S113. In step S113, it is determined whether or not NO is selected. If NO is selected, the process proceeds to step S116, and the image data recorded in the buffer memory 105 is deleted. As an example of this erasing method, the image data on the buffer memory 105 is not recorded in the memory card 111, but the image data obtained by the next photographing can be overwritten in the buffer memory 105.

If NO is not selected in step S113, the process proceeds to step S114, and it is determined whether or not a predetermined time has elapsed since the photographing was completed. If the predetermined time has not elapsed, the process returns to step S112 to wait for a recording instruction. If the predetermined time has elapsed, the process proceeds to step S115 to record on the memory card. In this way, by default, as shown in FIG. 12, “YES” surrounded by a double square is selected, and once taken image data is recorded in the memory card 111 unless there is an instruction to delete it from the photographer. Like to do. Here, the fixed time may be about 1 second, but this time may be changed according to the photographer's preference.

After performing recording processing such as white balance processing, gamma processing, or compression processing on the image data, the image data is recorded in a predetermined folder of the memory card 111 in step S115. The folder for recording will be described later in detail with reference to FIG. 5 or FIG. When recording or deletion is completed in this way, a series of photographing operations is terminated.

Next, the focus confirmation described so far will be described in detail using the flow of FIG. In step S <b> 201, a screen obtained by enlarging a predetermined area around the AF area is superimposed on the LCD monitor 109 on a screen corresponding to all angles of view of image data captured by the image sensor 103 and recorded in the buffer memory 105. An example of this display is shown in FIG. FIG. 11 shows that the face portion of the person surrounded by the square at the center of the screen is the extracted subject. Here, the extracted face portion of the person is set as an AF area, and a predetermined portion including the AF area is enlarged and displayed in a small screen surrounded by a broken line at the lower right of the screen. The superimposed display position is not limited to the lower right as described above, and any of the upper right, lower left, upper left, and center of the screen can be selected using the setting button 1164 and the U / D button 1165.

The enlarged display is performed electronically, and the zoom magnification at the time of initial display is set to about 4 to 5 times by default. Also for this zoom operation, the setting button 1164 and the U / D button 1164 are used. When the image is displayed on the LCD monitor 109, the image data of the image sensor 103 is thinned out and displayed. However, the image data can be enlarged until the resolution of the LCD and the image sensor 103 are equal. For example, if the number of pixels of the LCD monitor 109 is 100,000 pixels and the number of pixels of the image sensor 103 is 1 million pixels, the image is normally displayed on the LCD monitor 109 with a resolution of 1/10. You can zoom up.

In step S202, as described above, it is determined whether or not the superimposed display position of the small screen in the screen has been selected. If it is not selected, the process proceeds to step S204. If it is selected, the process proceeds to step S203, and the enlarged small screen is moved to the position selected here. In step S204, it is determined whether or not a zoom instruction has been issued. If the zoom is not instructed, the process proceeds to step S206. If instructed, the zoom is zoomed up to the maximum zoom magnification as described above as long as the zoom is instructed in step S205.

In step S206, it is determined whether or not it is set to stop the superimposed display. This is shown in FIG.
This is done by performing a cancellation setting opposite to the focus confirmation setting in step S105. If it is not set to stop the superimposed display, this routine is terminated in the display state as it is, and if it is set to stop, the superimposed display is stopped in step S207 and this routine is terminated.

Next, a folder selection method for recording in step S115 in FIG. 3 will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. Conventionally, photographed image data is stored in a folder having a name based on the photographing date and time automatically created by a digital camera regardless of the contents of the photographed image. However, when there are a lot of reproduced images when the image data is reproduced later, it is troublesome to search for a desired image later if it is classified and stored only by the date and time. End up. In particular, when there are a lot of image data of a person photographed at the same time, it is difficult to find the image data of the person who wants to see. In order to solve this, in this embodiment, the image data automatically captured is stored in a folder corresponding to the main subject in the captured image data.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a case where image data is stored in each folder corresponding to each main subject. In step S301 in FIG. 5, first, the folder name in the memory card 111 inserted in the digital camera is read. In step S302, it is determined whether or not a folder corresponding to the selected feature point exists in the memory card 111. If the corresponding folder already exists in the memory card 111, the process proceeds to step S304, and if not, the process proceeds to step S303. In step S303, a folder corresponding to the selected feature point is newly created in the memory card 111, and the process proceeds to step S304. In step S304, each image data is stored in the corresponding folder, and this step is finished.

Even if multiple feature points are extracted from the image data, pay attention only to the selected feature points as described here, and if there is no folder corresponding to the selected feature points, a new one is added. You can create a folder.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating another embodiment in which a plurality of feature points are extracted from image data. Here, a method for storing image data in a predetermined folder based on the priority order assigned to the feature points will be described. In this case, first, the feature point information corresponding to the subject is recorded in advance in the storage unit 1125 by the user of the digital camera. FIG. 8 shows an example of a recording state of feature points recorded in the storage unit 1125 and corresponding feature point information.

In FIG. 8, feature points with names such as TARO, HANAKO, JIRO, and SABURO are registered as feature points together with priority levels set. As the feature point information for TARO, there is a priority order when selecting the AF area described above, and this is set to the first order. Thus, for example, if TARO and JIRO are simultaneously extracted in the shooting screen, the area including TARO is preferentially set as the AF area. This priority order is also set in advance using the setting button 1164 and the U / D button 1165. This priority can be changed at any time. It may not be set initially like SABURO.

As the feature point information of TARO, the date when the feature point of TARO is registered is recorded next as the registration date. Here, the registration date indicated by (1) is the date of the first registration of TARO (2), (3) is different from (1), for example, the side of the TARO taken in a sideways, backwards, glasses, etc. It shows the date when other feature points were added and registered. In this way, the accuracy of identifying a person with respect to the extracted feature points is improved by registering a plurality of feature points as the same person depending on the presence or absence of glasses or a bag. The registered content of this feature point can be displayed on the LCD monitor 109 and arbitrarily added or deleted. In addition to priorities, simple comments other than the date of registration, processing methods (white balance setting, contour compensation processing setting, etc.) that are effective during recording or playback when this feature point is detected, distance to the feature point, etc. It may be recorded.

The actual data of the feature points set to be registered in this way are recorded in order as TARO (1) and HANAKO (1) in the lower feature point data area. Here, the actual data is data obtained by normalizing the eye width of both eyes of the extracted feature points, the relative positional relationship between the eyes and the nose, the shape of the face, and the like to a predetermined size.

The recording unit 1125 may also record the feature point information and the reduced image at the time of registration of the actual subject extracted in addition to the feature point data described above. Thus, subject information can be reliably added or deleted while confirming the subject on the LCD monitor 109.

In step S401 in FIG. 6, priority information corresponding to the feature points extracted from the above-described feature point information recorded in the storage unit 1125 is determined. In step S402, a folder created in the memory card 111 is read. In step S403, the highest priority is determined from the priority determined in step S401, and it is determined whether or not the folder corresponding to the feature point is in the memory card 111. If there is a corresponding folder, the process proceeds to step S407. If there is no corresponding folder, the process proceeds to step S404, where it is determined whether there is a folder corresponding to the next priority feature point. If there is, the process proceeds to step S407, and if not, the process proceeds to step S405.

In step S405, it is determined whether the determination of the presence / absence of a folder has been completed for all extracted feature points. If not completed, the process returns to step S404, and if completed, the process proceeds to step S406. In step S406, a folder corresponding to the feature point corresponding to the highest priority is created from the extracted feature points because there is no folder corresponding to all the extracted feature points in the memory card 111, and the process proceeds to step S407. In step S407, image data is written in the folder corresponding to the extracted feature point, and the recording step is terminated.

In the description of FIG. 6, when there is no folder corresponding to the highest priority feature point, the folder corresponding to the feature point of the next priority is searched. However, as described in FIG. You may create a folder corresponding to. Furthermore, when manually setting the AF area, the subject selected by the photographer as the subject of the AF area from among the plurality of subjects is not always the highest priority feature point. The corresponding feature point may be the highest priority feature point.

Further, when a plurality of feature points are extracted, the same image data may be stored in folders corresponding to all the extracted feature points. In this case, if there is no folder corresponding to the memory card 111, a new folder is created. However, in the case of a group photo or the like, since the number of folders becomes very large, it is preferable to determine the maximum number of folders.

On the other hand, such a method of storing the same image data in the corresponding folder is not preferable for the memory card 111 or the like having a limited recording capacity. A recording method for avoiding this will be described below. First, image data is stored only in one specific folder, and other folder name information in which the image data is to be stored is also recorded. On the other hand, the folder name information in which the image data is stored is stored in other folders. By recording only the name of the folder in which the image data is recorded in this way, it is possible to prevent the recording capacity from being unnecessarily reduced. When image data is recorded on the memory card 111 in this way, the folder name information stored in each folder may become meaningless if the image data is moved from the memory card 111 to another large-capacity memory or the like. There is. To avoid this, when moving image data from the memory card 111 to another large-capacity memory, the same image data should be stored for each folder based on the recorded folder name information. Good.

FIG. 9 shows the folder names written in the memory card 111 and the image data file names stored therein in a tree structure. In FIG. 9, a folder named 01NIKON is taken without being set in the extraction mode, or stores image data in which no feature points are extracted even if the image is taken in the extraction mode. Folder. Further, image data in which only a subject to which a feature point is simply extracted and no name is given is captured here. Of course, a separate folder for storing only image data without a subject name may be created and stored there. At this time, the folder name is 04NANASHI, the image data file name is DSC04001, etc., and a name that can be distinguished from other folders and image data files.

The folders 02TARO and 03HANAKO in FIG.
Alternatively, it is a folder for storing image data obtained by photographing the person HANAKO with the highest priority.

FIG. 10 shows the file structure of image data named DSC02002. The image data file is composed of an image data area for recording image data output from an actual image sensor and a feature point information area for recording information about feature points extracted from the image data. In the feature point information area, the priority, the extracted position coordinates, the size of the feature point, and the information about the AF area when this image data is captured are recorded in this case. Among these, as the size information of the feature points, the coordinates of the upper left and lower right corners of the rectangle including the detected feature points are recorded. As the AF area information, the upper left and lower right coordinates are recorded. In this case, the same information as the position information and size information of the TARO having the first priority is recorded.

In FIG. 10, all extracted feature point information and AF area information are recorded together with image data. By discriminating the recorded feature point information, it is convenient when searching for image data in which a specific person is photographed from the respective image data stored in a plurality of folders. On the other hand, of course, it is possible to record only the highest priority feature point (in this case, TARO) information together with the image data. Similarly, only AF area information may be recorded together with image data. Of course, both top priority feature point information and AF area information may be recorded.

Up to this point, the case where only one memory card 111 is attached to the digital camera has been described. On the other hand, there are various types of memory cards 111 in the market, such as those having not only different storage capacities but also different external shapes and driving methods. Therefore, the digital camera may be provided with a plurality of memory card 111 insertion slots so that a plurality of types of memory cards 111 can be used. In such a case, the memory card 111 to be recorded may be changed according to the above-described image data classification. Of course, when recording on each memory card 111, a folder corresponding to the classification is created.

Next, the confirmation of the focus of the reproduced image will be described with reference to FIG. In step S501, it is determined whether the operation mode of the digital camera is set to the playback mode. This setting uses the setting button 1164 as before. If it is determined that the playback mode is set, the image data recorded from the memory card 111 is read in step S502. In step S503, it is determined whether or not the focus confirmation is set. If focus confirmation has not been set, the process proceeds to step S505. If focus confirmation has been set, the process proceeds to step S504. The contents of the focus confirmation operation here are the same as in step S106 in FIG. However, it is not necessary to bother extracting feature points from the image data at the time of reproduction. The small screen for focus confirmation immediately after discriminating the top-priority feature point information or AF area information recorded together with the image data explained in FIG. Can be displayed superimposed. Of course, zooming in with electronic zoom is also possible.

When the focus confirmation is completed, the process proceeds to step S505 to determine whether or not the reproduction mode is completed. If it is determined that the playback mode has ended, this sequence ends. If it is determined that the playback mode is still being continued, the process returns to step S502 to continue playback of the image in accordance with the photographer's instruction. .

It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the digital camera by this invention. 5 is a flowchart illustrating an operation sequence of the digital camera according to the present invention. 5 is a flowchart illustrating an operation sequence of the digital camera according to the present invention. 5 is a flowchart for explaining an operation of confirming a focus of the digital camera according to the present invention. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a recording operation of the digital camera according to the present invention. It is a flowchart explaining other recording operation | movement of the digital camera by this invention. 4 is a flowchart for explaining an operation sequence during playback of the digital camera according to the present invention. It is a figure explaining the feature point information memorize | stored in the memory | storage part of the digital camera by this invention. It is a figure explaining the storage state of the folder and data file in the memory card with which the digital camera by this invention is mounted | worn. It is a figure explaining the structure of the data file in the memory card with which the digital camera by this invention is mounted | worn. It is a figure explaining the example of an enlarged screen display in the display part of the digital camera by this invention. It is the figure which superimposed and displayed the recording confirmation message in the display part of the digital camera by this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 101 Shooting lens 102 Diaphragm 103 Image pick-up element 104 Analog signal processing part 105 Buffer memory 106 Digital signal processing part 108 D / A converter 109 LCD monitor 110 Recording / reproduction | regeneration signal processing part 111 External storage medium 112 CPU
113 Lens Drive Unit 114 Aperture Drive Unit 115 Image Sensor Drive Unit 107 VRAM
116 Operation member 117 Strobe 121 Lens position detection unit 135 A / D converter 1121 AE calculation unit 1122 AWB calculation unit 1123 Feature point extraction calculation unit 1124 AF calculation unit 1125 Storage unit 1161 Power switch 1162 Half-press switch 1163 Full-press switch 1164 Setting button 1165 Up / Down button

Claims (3)

Extracting means for extracting a characteristic part of the subject from the image data;
Classification means for classifying the image data into a predetermined group according to the characteristic part extracted by the extraction means;
A discriminating unit for discriminating a priority given in advance to the characteristic part extracted by the extracting unit;
Recording means for recording the image data on a recording medium according to the classification result classified by the classification means;
Detecting means for detecting whether the recording medium has an area for storing the image data of the group classified by the classification means,
When the extracting unit extracts a plurality of different feature parts from the same image data, the classifying unit assigns the classification unit to a group corresponding to the feature part determined to have a higher priority by the determining unit. Classifying the image data;
When it is detected by the detection means that there is no area for storing the image data of the group in the recording medium, the recording means puts the image data in an area corresponding to a group of feature parts having the next highest priority. A digital camera characterized by recording . It said recording means, wherein the image data, on a recording medium having an area for storing multiple images at data belonging to the same group, it is recorded in the area corresponding to the group to which said classification means classifies The digital camera according to claim 1.   2. The digital camera according to claim 1, further comprising creation means for creating an area for collectively storing image data classified by the classification means in the recording medium.

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