JP4591167B2 - Image processing method - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an image processing method for reproducing and displaying still image data recorded in an electronic album on an image display unit.

  In recent years, digital cameras and camera-equipped mobile phones have become widespread, and not only print and view the captured digital image data, but also record the digital image data on a recording medium such as a CD-R or DVD-R. It is used to create electronic albums and display them on a computer or TV monitor for enjoyment.

  When such an electronic album is reproduced, one of the recorded image data is displayed on the monitor screen, and is switched to the next image data at a predetermined interval (for example, about 5 to 10 seconds). The image data is displayed.

In addition, recent digital cameras are equipped with a moving image shooting function, which makes it possible to easily switch between moving images and still images. In this case, an electronic album in which digital image data in which moving image data and still image data are mixed can be created (see, for example, Patent Document 1).
JP 2000-293974 A

  Here, when an electronic album in which digital image data in which still images and moving images are mixed is played back in a slide show format, there are movements and changes on the screen when the moving images are played, so that the album viewer can enjoy watching However, the album viewer may be bored because the same image is only displayed for a certain period of time during still image playback.

  Also, when switching from a video to a still image, the display screen that has changed until then is displayed as if it was suddenly paused, so the rhythm of the image display worsens and the viewers feel uncomfortable. There was a risk of causing it.

The present invention has been made in view of such points, and an object thereof is to make it possible for an album viewer to enjoy an electronic album happily by devising a display format of still image data. .

To achieve the above object, the present invention sets a playback area to be displayed on the image display unit from the entire still image data, moving the position in the whole the still image data of the reproduction region, the magnitude It was made possible to perform playback display with movement by changing the.

That is, the invention of claim 1 is an electronic album image processing method including still image data as reproduction display image data,
A procedure for setting a playback area to be displayed on the image display unit from among the entire still image data ;
A procedure for identifying the position of a person's face in the still image data;
A procedure for identifying a boundary position in a landscape in the still image data based on information indicating color shades in the still image data;
When the position of a person's face in the still image data is specified, an image range including the specified person's face is set as an absolute display area, while the position of the person's face is not specified A procedure for setting an image range including at least a part of the boundary position as an absolute display area;
A procedure for reproducing the still image data so that the reproduction area includes the absolute display area in at least a part of the reproduction time of the still image data;
Wherein during reproduction of the still image data, characterized by comprising a procedure for time varying at least one of a position and size in the whole the still image data of the reproduction region.

Therefore, according to the present invention, a reproduction area to be displayed on the image display unit is set from the entire still image data . Further, the position of the person's face in the still image data is specified, and an image range including the specified person's face is set as an absolute display area. Here, when the position of the person's face is not specified, the boundary position in the landscape in the still image data is set as the absolute display area. This boundary position is specified based on information indicating the shade of color in still image data. Then, at least a part of the reproduction time of the still image data, the still image data is reproduced so that the reproduction area includes the absolute display area. During the reproduction of the still image data, at least one of the position and the size of the reproduction area in the entire still image data is changed over time.

The invention of claim 2 is the image processing method according to claim 1 ,
The playback time of a plurality of still image data recorded in the electronic album, and characterized in that set to be equal properly to each other, further comprising a procedure of reproducing the still picture data in the playback time to the set To do.

Therefore, according to the present invention, the reproduction time of the plurality of still image data of the electronic in album, is set to be equal properly to each other, the still image data is reproduced at the reproduction time, which is the set.

The invention of claim 3 is the image processing method according to claim 1 or 2 ,
The playback time of the still image data, the set to be equal properly and playback time of the moving image data recorded in the electronic album, further comprising the steps of reproducing the still image data in reproduction time to the set It is characterized by that.

Therefore, according to the present invention, the reproduction time of the still image data, is set to be equal properly and playback time of the moving image data of the electronic the album, the still image data is reproduced at the reproduction time, which is the set .

As described above, according to the first aspect of the invention, the position of the person's face in the still image data is automatically recognized and the image range including the person's face is set as the absolute display area. There is no need to bother to identify and identify a person's face in still image data, thereby improving work efficiency.

In addition, if the face of a person cannot be recognized, the boundary position in the landscape in the still image data is automatically recognized. It is possible to perform a video-like video expression such as panning or tilting over the other end. For example, in the case of a picture taken when bathing, it is possible to easily express a video-like image by specifying a horizontal line as a boundary position and panning the camera from left to right along this horizontal line. .

Conventionally, in order to shoot such a landscape movie, it was necessary to shoot a landscape in a state where the video camera was firmly fixed with both hands so as not to cause camera shake. In the present invention, since a similar operation is performed on the photographed photograph on the image processing software, anyone can easily create a landscape moving image without camera shake.

Since such a pan operation is performed on the image processing software, it is possible to display an easy-to-view landscape image without causing camera shake as in the case where a person takes a moving image of the landscape.

Furthermore, since the image range set as the absolute display area is displayed on the screen during at least a part of the playback time of the still image data, it is advantageous in recalling the situation at the time of shooting especially among the entire image. It is preferable to set a part (for example, a building in a sightseeing spot, the face of a person who traveled together) as an absolute display area, so that this characteristic part can be always appreciated when reproducing the still image data.

Further, to set the playback area to be displayed on the image display unit from the entire still image data, during playback of the still image data, so as to vary over time the size of the entire the still image data of the reproduction region In this way, while displaying the close-up features on the screen that are particularly advantageous for recalling the situation at the time of shooting (for example, buildings in sightseeing spots, faces of people who traveled together) Even the still image data can be displayed while changing the screen display like the moving image data , so that the album viewer can appreciate the album more interestingly .

For example, initially display the entire image, will expand stepwise as play area set is displayed on the entire screen, then varied such moving regeneration area in the still image data The video can be expressed and the album can be enjoyed happily without boring the viewer.

Furthermore, even when the playback area is moving as it is, the size of the playback area may be changed from the outer frame of the still image data , and the white edge of the photo may be displayed on the screen. It can be prevented from being displayed.

Further, if the movement or change of size of the position of the reproduction region to perform within the image area of the still image data, moving white edges, etc. of photos in a region outside the image range of the still image data is reproduced region Alternatively, it is preferable that there is no possibility of being displayed on the display screen when the size is changed, and it does not cause an uncomfortable feeling to the album viewer .

According to the invention of 請 Motomeko 2, the playback time of a plurality of still image data recorded in the electronic album from a set to be equal properly to each other, to reduce the uncomfortable feeling of the album viewer due to the difference of the reproduction time Thus, it is possible to switch the image display during album reproduction with good rhythm.

According to the invention of claim 3, since the reproduction time of the still image data to be equal properly and playback time of the moving image data, the display switching of the image data can be performed rhythm well, boring album viewer It is possible to play the album smoothly without making it happen.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. The following description of the preferred embodiments is merely exemplary in nature and is in no way intended to limit the invention, its application, or its application.

<Device configuration>
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the overall configuration of an image processing apparatus 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, 10 is a drive unit, 11 is an image processing unit for performing image processing on image data read by the drive unit 10, 12 is an information input unit for inputting information to the image processing unit 11, and 13 is It is a monitor (image display unit) that displays image data and various menus of image processing software.

  The drive unit 10 acquires (reads) data from a semiconductor medium Ms such as a flash memory in which image data including photographs and moving images taken by a digital camera is stored, and a CD-R or DVD-R. And a disk drive 2 that enables acquisition and writing of data from a plurality of types of large-capacity disk-shaped media Md. The semiconductor drive 1 preferably includes a plurality of insertion portions so as to be compatible with the types of flash memories such as CompactFlash (registered trademark), SmartMedia (registered trademark), and Memory Stick (registered trademark).

  The image processing unit 11 is configured by a computer including a CPU that performs information processing, a memory, and a hard disk. The image processing unit 11 stores image data read by the drive unit 10 in the hard disk and uses the installed image processing software to store the image data. It is possible to perform necessary image processing on the image.

  The information input unit 12 includes, for example, a keyboard and a mouse, and can perform necessary input to the image processing unit 11.

  The monitor 13 is composed of, for example, a CRT, a liquid crystal display device or the like, and displays image data stored in the image processing unit 11 and displays various menu screens of image processing software so that an operator can check. It is like that.

<Image processing menu screen>
Hereinafter, an image processing procedure for still image data will be described. First, image data including still image data is input to the image processing unit 11. Then, as shown in FIG. 2, a menu screen 20 in the moving image creation mode is displayed on the monitor 13, and only still image data among the input image data is displayed as a thumbnail on the monitor 13 screen.

Here, the moving image creation mode of FIG. 2 will be described. As shown in FIG. 2, the menu screen 20 in the moving image creation mode is provided with a plurality of thumbnail display frames 21 (six in FIG. 2) for displaying still image data input to the image processing unit 11 as thumbnails. A moving image-like button 22, a pass button 23, and an image quality adjustment button 24 are provided below the thumbnail display frame 21, respectively.

  Further, a message display frame 25 for displaying a message prompting the operator to select an image to be edited is provided at the lower left position of the menu screen 20, and a current display is displayed at the right position of the message display frame 25. A “next” button 26 for displaying images other than the six thumbnail images being displayed on the screen and a “return” button 27 for returning to the previous screen are provided.

The video style button 22 is intended to advance to the next menu screen for creating moving image data from the still image data selected. The pass button 23 is for determining that the created moving image data is canceled and displayed as still image data as it is. Further, the image quality adjustment button 24 is used for finely adjusting the color by changing the shade of the image displayed in the thumbnail display frame 21 every time the left and right buttons are pressed.

Here, when the operator presses the moving image-like button 22 to select one of the still image data displayed as thumbnails, the image processing unit 11 determines whether a person's face is reflected in the selected still image data. Determined. Here, when a person's face is shown, a menu screen 30 on which a person mode for setting the position of the person's face as shown in FIG. 3 as an absolute display area frame 34 to be described later is selected is displayed. On the other hand, when a person's face is not shown, a menu screen 50 in which the background mode is selected as shown in FIG. 5 is displayed.

First, the menu screen 30 with the person mode selected will be described with reference to FIG. As shown in FIG. 3, the menu screen 30 is provided with an image display frame 31 for displaying the selected still image data. A person mode button 32 and a landscape mode button 33 are provided so that the landscape mode can be switched. In the example shown in FIG. 3, since the portrait mode is selected, the button color of the landscape mode button 33 is displayed in a color that is less conspicuous than the portrait mode button 32 (for example, gray).

  At the position of the person's face in the image displayed in the image display frame 31, there is an absolute display area frame 34 (an area that is reproduced around the area when reproducing the electronic album) so as to surround the face. Is provided. In the image shown in FIG. 3, since two persons are arranged side by side, the absolute display area frame 34 is displayed at the position of each person's face.

  Further, a moving range frame 35 (a range in which a reproduction region to be displayed on the monitor 13 moves when reproducing an electronic album) is provided so as to include the two absolute display region frames 34 and 34. The movement range frame 35 is set based on the size and position of the absolute display area frames 34, 34. In the image shown in FIG. 3, the jaw position of the left person is higher than the jaw position of the right person. Is located on the lower side, and the top of the left person's head is lower than the top of the right person's head. Therefore, the lower reference of the movement range frame 35 is the jaw position of the left person, and the upper reference is It is set to be the top of the right person's head.

  In addition, an arrow line 36 indicating the moving display direction of the image at the time of moving image reproduction is displayed at the lower position of the moving range frame 35. In FIG. 3, arrows are displayed in a direction from the right side to the left side. The direction of the arrow line 36 can be arbitrarily changed by the operator. Specifically, when the black circle that is one end of the arrow line 36 is clicked, the black circle is changed to the tip of the arrow, and the moving display direction of the image is set to the direction from the left side to the right side.

  Further, when the image processing unit 11 does not automatically recognize the image display frame 31 at the lower position, but another person to be displayed is included in the image, the person is added by the operation of the operator. A person frame addition button 37 is provided. When the person frame addition button 37 is pressed, for example, the position of the person's face can be specified by clicking the upper left position of the face of the person to be added with the mouse and then clicking the lower right position of the face. It can be done.

  Note that the set absolute display area frame 34 and moving range frame 35 can be arbitrarily changed in size and position by the operator.

Also, as a premise, if the moving range frame 35 is the entire still image data , the album viewer can make a special setting by automatically detecting the absolute display region frame 34 by an image reproducing device such as a DVD player. It is possible to provide an electronic album that shows still image data like a moving image without performing it at all.

Further, a zoom-in / zoom-out button 38 for setting a zoom method at the time of moving image reproduction is provided on the right side of the person frame addition button 37. In FIG. 3, “zoom-in” is selected. In this case, assuming that the entire still image data is set as the moving range frame 35 at the start of moving image reproduction, for example, a reproduction area to be displayed on the monitor 13 screen. First, the entire still image data is displayed first, and then the size of the reproduction area is gradually reduced so that the absolute display area frame 34 is displayed on the entire screen of the monitor 13.

On the other hand, when “zoom out” is selected, if the entire still image data is set as the moving range frame 35 at the start of moving image reproduction, for example, as described above, the absolute display region frame 34 is first set as the reproduction region. The size of this reproduction area is enlarged step by step so that the image inside is enlarged and displayed on the entire screen of the monitor 13 and then the entire still image data is displayed on the entire screen of the monitor 13.

Here, the time required for the change of the screen display size to complete the movement in the moving range frame 35 within the play area, is set to be equal properly and playback time of the other of the moving image data recorded in the electronic album Yes. This setting is preferable because only the playback time of either moving image data or still image data becomes long and the album viewer does not feel uncomfortable. Also, the reproduction time of the plurality of still image data recorded in the electronic album, preferred for the same reason be set to be equal properly to each other. Note that the reproduction time of the still image data is not limited to this form, and may be arbitrarily set by the operator.

  In addition, a message display frame 39 is provided at a lower position of the person frame addition button 37 for displaying a message for prompting the operator to be careful about the operation and the next operation. Further, an OK button 40 for confirming the process performed on the image displayed in the image display frame 31 and a cancel button 41 for canceling the process are provided at the right position of the message display frame 39. It has been.

  Here, in the menu screen 30 shown in FIG. 3, the person mode button 32 for setting the person's face as the absolute display area frame 34 is selected, but when the operator presses the landscape mode button 33, it is shown in FIG. The menu screen 30 showing such a landscape mode is switched.

As shown in FIG. 4, when the landscape mode button 33 is selected, the image processing unit 11 analyzes information indicating the shade of color in the image data, and based on the shade information of the color, the boundary of the landscape in the image data A position 42 is identified. In the example shown in FIG. 4, the boundary line between the wall of the building and the ground is specified as the boundary position 42. This boundary position 42 is an absolute display area (in the embodiment, the range including all the images at the boundary position 42 is not regarded as the absolute display area, and the absolute display area may be calculated based on several images included therein. And is displayed on the monitor 13 screen for at least a part of the reproduction time of the still image data . An arrow line 36 indicating the moving display direction of the image during moving image reproduction is displayed so as to be substantially parallel to the specified boundary position 42.

Although not shown, the landscape mode playback area frame indicating a playback area during selection (rather than image monitor looking album viewer (image display region), only which positions in the whole still image data, how much For example, it means that an area is set as a reproduction area on a certain image monitor (image display area)), or the operator manually sets the image range or the color analyzed by the image processing unit 11 Based on the density information, a feature portion in an image of a building or the like may be automatically recognized and automatically set to include the feature portion. Further, a reproduction area frame having a predetermined size set in advance may be arranged with the boundary position 42 as the center.

Further, the moving distance in the still image data (e.g., the distance from the right edge of the still image data to the left) and on the basis of the reproduction time information such as the still image data, the left-hand side of the playing area frame at the end playback time still image data The size of the playback area frame that reaches the left end of the image may be automatically calculated and set.

In addition, the size of the playback area frame in landscape mode does not always have to be constant. For example, a part of the playback area frame is likely to protrude from the outer frame of the image range of still image data while the movement range is moving. In such a case, correction may be automatically performed so that the size is appropriately reduced.

That is, when the album viewer viewing the image data including still image data, since the playback area frame indicating a position and range of the still image data is set to always be included in the overall still image data The reproduction area frame does not protrude from the image range of the still image data , and an extra area is not projected, so that it is possible to express a moving image. Further, when the moving image data and still image data are mixed, the use of the present technical content in the still image represented by a sense to match the moving image data representing a still image data (I moving air moving image data It is possible to provide an electronic album expression that does not give a sense of incongruity even if the display is switched to “image expression”.

  Next, processing when a person's face is not shown in the image selected on the menu screen 20 in the moving image creation mode shown in FIG. 2 will be described. In this case, a menu screen 50 in which the background mode is selected is displayed as shown in FIG. As described above, when the landscape mode is selected, the image processing unit 11 analyzes the information indicating the shade of color in the image data, and the boundary position of the landscape in the image data is specified based on the shade information of the color. ing.

  FIG. 5 is an example of an image taken at a beach. In FIG. 5, a horizontal line 51a and a coastline 51b near the sand beach are specified as boundary positions. Then, arrow lines 52a and 52b indicating the moving display direction of the image at the time of moving image reproduction are displayed so as to be substantially parallel to the two boundary positions 51a and 51b, respectively. As described above, when two boundary positions are specified, only one of the selected arrow lines is displayed on the screen and the moving display direction is set by the operator selecting one of them.

<Image processing procedure>
Next, an image processing method according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. First, as shown in FIG. 6, in step S101, image data including still image data captured by a digital camera is input to the image processing unit 11, and the process proceeds to subsequent step S102.

In step S102, the moving image creation mode of the image processing software installed in the image processing unit 11 is activated, the menu screen 20 shown in FIG. 2 is displayed on the monitor 13, and the process proceeds to the subsequent step S103. In step S103, one of the still image data displayed as thumbnails is selected, and the process proceeds to subsequent step S104.

  In step S104, it is determined whether a person's face is shown in the selected image. If the determination in step S104 is “YES”, the process branches to step S105. In step S105, the person mode menu screen 30 shown in FIG. 3 is displayed on the monitor 13, and the process proceeds to the subsequent step S106.

  If the determination in step S104 is “NO”, the process branches to step S120. In step S120, the landscape mode menu screen shown in FIG. 4 or 5 is displayed on the monitor 13, and the process proceeds to step S121. The process in the landscape mode will be described in detail after the process in the person mode is described.

<Processing in person mode>
In step S106, the face of a person in the selected image is recognized and its position is specified, and an image range including the face of the person is set as the absolute display area frame 34, and the process proceeds to the subsequent step S107.

  In step S107, it is determined whether to additionally set the absolute display area frame 34 of the person in the image that has not been automatically recognized. If the determination in step S107 is “YES”, the process branches to step S108. In step S108, the absolute display area frame 34 is additionally set at the position of the face of the person in the image, and the process proceeds to the subsequent step S109. If the determination in step S107 is “NO”, the process branches directly to step S109.

  Next, in step S109, the moving range frame 35 is set based on the set position and size of the absolute display area frame 34, and the process proceeds to the subsequent step S110. In step S110, it is determined whether to change the moving display direction of the image during moving image reproduction.

  If the determination in step S110 is “YES”, the process branches to step S111. In step S111, the movement direction is changed by operating the arrow line 36 indicating the movement display direction, and the process proceeds to the subsequent step S112. If the determination in step S110 is “NO”, the process branches directly to step S112.

In step S112, a method for changing the screen display size of the image during moving image data reproduction is set. Specifically, whether to zoom in or zoom out the image is set, and the process proceeds to subsequent step S113.

In step S113, it is determined whether to change the menu screen of the currently displayed person mode to the background mode. If “YES” at step S113, the process branches to step S120. If the determination in step S113 is “NO”, the process ends, assuming that all the settings for expressing the still image data as moving image data have been completed.

<About processing in landscape mode>
In step S120, a landscape mode menu screen is displayed on the monitor 13, and the flow advances to step S121. In step S121, information indicating the shade of color in the image is analyzed, and the process proceeds to subsequent step S122.

  In step S122, the boundary position in the landscape in the image is detected based on the analyzed shade information of the color, and the process proceeds to subsequent step S123. In step S123, it is determined whether a plurality of boundary positions are detected.

  If the determination in step S123 is “YES”, the process branches to step S124. In step S124, the operator selects one of the plurality of boundary positions, and the process proceeds to subsequent step S125. If the determination in step S123 is “NO”, the process branches directly to step S125.

  In step S125, the selected boundary position is set as an absolute display area, and the process proceeds to subsequent step S126. Note that the range including all the images at the boundary position is not set as the absolute display area, but the absolute display area may be set based on several images (for example, buildings in a sightseeing spot) included therein. Absent.

  In step S126, a moving range frame is set based on the position and size of the set absolute display area, and the process proceeds to subsequent step S127.

  In step S127, it is determined whether to change the moving display direction of the image during moving image reproduction. If the determination in step S127 is “YES”, the process branches to step S128. In step S128, the moving direction is changed by operating the arrow line indicating the moving display direction, and the process proceeds to subsequent step S129. If the determination in step S127 is “NO”, the process branches directly to step S129.

In step S129, a method for changing the screen display size of the image during moving image data reproduction is set. Specifically, whether to zoom in or zoom out the image is set, and the landscape mode processing is terminated.

<About playback of electronic albums>
The moving image data based on the still image data created by performing the processing as described above is output from the image processing unit 11 to the disk drive 2, and the recording medium Md such as CD-R or DVD-R in the disk drive 2. An electronic album can be created by recording in

  This electronic album can be played back on a DVD player, a personal computer, or the like so that recorded images can be viewed.

In the present embodiment, when still image data exists in the given image data, moving image data based on at least one of the still image data is created, and the image when reproducing the electronic album Although the description has been given in the form of recreating the data, the present invention is not necessarily limited to this form, and if the image data in the recording medium is still image data , it is recorded as still image data as it is, The absolute display area and reproduction area frame data and the reproduction procedure necessary for expressing in a moving image style may be prepared in advance on the recording medium or the image reproduction apparatus side.

For example, an image reproducing apparatus such as a DVD player may have a program for recognizing a human face of a predetermined size or more included in the image data and expressing the face by moving from left to right in order. . In this case, the moving image data and still image data in the recording medium can express the still image data like a moving image when reproducing the electronic album without changing the originally recorded state. Can enjoy.

  Hereinafter, the reproduction processing of the created electronic album will be described. First, when an album viewer reads an electronic album by a DVD player or the like, a title menu (not shown) is displayed on the monitor screen, and reproduction of image data is started by selecting a reproduction button in the title menu.

It is assumed that the electronic album is displayed in a slide show format in which the image data is switched one after another at a fixed time. In the case of moving image data , the next image data is displayed when the reproduction time elapses. It has become.

Here, in the case of reproducing moving image data based on still image data edited in the moving image-like mode of the present invention, the expression format differs depending on the setting conditions associated with the moving image data.

  Specifically, for example, in the menu screen 30 shown in FIG. 3, the screen display size change mode is set to “zoom in”, and the direction of the arrow line 36 indicating the moving display direction of the playback area is changed from “left to right”. When set, first, the face of the left person among the faces of the two persons set as the absolute display area frames 34 and 34 is provided as a playback area in the entire monitor screen or a partial area of the display screen. Displayed in the display window (reproduction display frame), and then the reproduction area moves from the left to the right in the movement range frame 35, so that the image at that position is continuously displayed.

  Then, after the face of the right person set as the absolute display area frame 34 is displayed, an arbitrary image range (for example, the eyes and nose of the person) in the moving range frame 35 is zoomed in.

When the entire still image data is set as the movement range frame 35, first, the entire still image data is first displayed as a playback area in a display window (playback display) provided in the entire monitor screen or a partial area of the display screen. Next, the left person's face among the faces of the two persons set as the absolute display area frames 34 and 34 is zoomed in stepwise so as to be displayed on the monitor as a reproduction area. Then, after the image in the left absolute display area frame 34 is displayed on the monitor, the playback area is moved from left to right to display the image in the right absolute display area frame 34, so that the image at that position is continuous. Finally, the face of the right person set as the absolute display area frame 34 is displayed. As described above, when the reproduction of at least the absolute display area frames 34 and 34 within the movement range frame 35 is completed, the next image data is displayed.

  On the other hand, on the menu screen 30 shown in FIG. 3, when the screen display size change mode is set to “zoom out” and the movement display direction of the playback area is set to “right to left”, the movement is first performed. An arbitrary image range (for example, a person's eyes or nose) within the range frame 35 is displayed as a playback area in a display window provided in the entire monitor screen or a partial area of the display screen, and absolute display area frames 34 and 34 are displayed. Of the two human faces set as, the right person's face is zoomed out in stages so that it is displayed on the monitor as a playback area.

  Then, after the image in the right absolute display area frame 34 is displayed on the monitor, the playback area is moved from right to left to display the image in the left absolute display area frame 34, so that the image at that position is continuous. Finally, the face of the left person set as the absolute display area frame 34 is displayed. As described above, when the reproduction of at least the absolute display area frames 34 and 34 within the movement range frame 35 is completed, the next image data is displayed.

When the entire still image data is set as the movement range frame 35, first, the face of the right person among the faces of the two persons set as the absolute display area frames 34 and 34 is used as the playback area. The playback area is moved from right to left to display an image in the display screen provided in the entire monitor screen or a partial area of the display screen, and then in the absolute display area frame 34 on the left side. Images are displayed continuously.

Then, after the face of the left person set as the absolute display area frame 34 is displayed, the still image data is zoomed out step by step so that the entire still image data is displayed on the monitor, and then the reproduction ends and the next image is displayed. Data is displayed.

As described above, when the reproduction of all the image data including still image data and moving image data recorded in the electronic album is finished, the first title menu is displayed again and the reproduction is finished.

When the playback time of moving image data recorded in the electronic album is set to 10 seconds, for example, the playback time of moving image data based on still image data created according to the present invention is also set to 10 seconds. It is more preferable to do so because it is possible to switch the display of the image data with a good rhythm, and it is less likely to cause discomfort to the album viewer.

In addition, the display window provided in a partial area of the monitor display screen for displaying image data changes its position and size in the monitor display screen over time during reproduction of still image data. By doing so, it is preferable because it allows more diverse album expressions.

In this embodiment, the entire image is displayed on the screen as a playback area, and then the size of the playback area is reduced, the absolute display area is displayed on the screen, and the playback area is moved and displayed within the moving range. Display format or a display in which the absolute display area is displayed on the screen as a playback area, the playback area is moved and displayed within the moving range, and then the size of the playback area is enlarged to display the entire image. Still image data is reproduced and displayed in a format. However, the present invention is not limited to this display format. For example, a movement pattern of a reproduction area is set in advance (for example, from the upper left position to the upper right position of still image data ). If the absolute display area is set in the middle of the movement route, the image is branched from the preset movement route and the image in the absolute display area is displayed. After, it is also possible to display format as continue playing back the original travel route again.

As described above, the present invention is to set the playback area to be displayed on the monitor from the entire still image data, moving the position in the whole the still image data of the reproduction region, and change the size In other words, a highly practical effect that reproduction display with movement can be performed is obtained, so that it is extremely useful and has high industrial applicability.

1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of an image processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a figure which shows the menu screen of animation creation mode. It is a figure which shows the menu screen of a person mode. It is a figure which shows the menu screen of landscape mode. It is a figure which shows another menu screen of landscape mode. It is a flowchart figure of the image processing which concerns on this embodiment.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Drive unit 11 Image processing part 12 Information input part 13 Monitor 22 Movie-like button 31 Image display frame 32 Portrait mode button 33 Landscape mode button 34 Absolute display area frame 35 Movement range frame 36 Arrow line 42 Boundary position 100 Image processing apparatus

Claims (3)

An image processing method of an electronic album including still image data as reproduction display image data,
A procedure for setting a playback area to be displayed on the image display unit from among the entire still image data ;
A procedure for identifying the position of a person's face in the still image data;
A procedure for identifying a boundary position in a landscape in the still image data based on information indicating color shades in the still image data;
When the position of a person's face in the still image data is specified, an image range including the specified person's face is set as an absolute display area, while the position of the person's face is not specified A procedure for setting an image range including at least a part of the boundary position as an absolute display area;
A procedure for reproducing the still image data so that the reproduction area includes the absolute display area in at least a part of the reproduction time of the still image data;
Image processing method, characterized in that said during reproduction of the still image data, and a procedure for time varying at least one of a position and size in the whole the still image data of the reproduction region. The image processing method according to claim 1 ,
The playback time of a plurality of still image data recorded in the electronic album, and characterized in that set to be equal properly to each other, further comprising a procedure of reproducing the still picture data in the playback time to the set Image processing method. The image processing method according to claim 1 or 2 ,
The playback time of the still image data, the set to be equal properly and playback time of the moving image data recorded in the electronic album, further comprising the steps of reproducing the still image data in reproduction time to the set An image processing method.

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