JP4922106B2 - Camera, panorama shooting guide display method applied thereto, panorama shooting guide display program - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention includes a camera, a panorama shooting guide display method applied thereto, a panorama shooting guide display program, and more specifically, a panorama shooting mode for shooting a panorama image that forms a single image by combining a plurality of images. The present invention relates to a panorama shooting guide display method and a panorama shooting guide display program for displaying guide information for guiding shooting in the panorama shooting mode of the camera.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, various types of cameras having a panoramic shooting mode for shooting a panoramic image that forms a single image by pasting together a plurality of images have been put into practical use.

  Also, with this type of camera, various forms of panorama shooting guide display methods and display programs for displaying guide information when shooting in the panorama shooting mode have been proposed and put into practical use.

  Here, panoramic photography refers to an angle of view that can be photographed with one image acquired by a single photographing operation in a case where normal photographing is performed using a camera such as a digital camera. ) For a wide range that exceeds), for example, by combining (joining) a plurality of images taken by moving the camera in the vertical or horizontal direction with respect to the horizontal line. It is to obtain an image. Such panoramic photography is a photography technique that is frequently used, for example, mainly in landscape photography, and is conventionally performed.

  For a plurality of images obtained by performing panoramic shooting, the edges of each image are bonded together to generate one image. Therefore, at the time of panoramic shooting, on the premise that composite processing for pasting images together is performed, shooting of each image is performed while securing a certain overlapping area between the images when shooting multiple images. There is a need.

  In addition, in order to paste together a plurality of images shot in this manner, an image composition processing technique is required. Therefore, the panorama shooting function by this method can handle the shot images as digital data. This function is suitable for digital cameras.

  In recent years, since image composition processing technology has improved, when photographing adjacent images during panoramic photography, it is not required that the preceding and following images be exactly the same. However, when there is no overlap area between adjacent images, it is impossible to perform a composition process for pasting (joining). Therefore, during panorama shooting, it is an essential requirement to perform shooting so that an overlapping area of a predetermined amount or more for the pasting is ensured.

  On the other hand, if panoramic shooting is performed by moving the camera in the left-right direction (horizontal direction), if there is a vertical shift, the overlap area will be the vertical shift. In order to decrease, the panorama image finally produced | generated will become a horizontally long image in which the height dimension is extremely short.

  Therefore, when performing panoramic photography, for example, if a tripod or a monopod is used, it is possible to suppress the deviation in the direction orthogonal to the moving direction of the camera as described above.

  However, when a normal user performs panoramic shooting on a trip or the like, there is a current state of normal use that is mostly by hand-held shooting with a camera held in hand.

  Therefore, taking into account that panoramic shooting is performed by hand-held shooting without using a tripod, etc., and that a user unfamiliar with the operation performs panoramic shooting, a guide means for guiding the movement of the camera during panoramic shooting is provided. Various cameras have been conventionally proposed by, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Nos. 2000-299804 and 2000-101895.

  The means disclosed in the above Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2000-299804 is a method for capturing a region having a predetermined width (an image corresponding to an overlapping region), which is a joint between previously captured images, during the shooting operation in the panoramic shooting mode. The monitor image is transparently displayed so that an appropriate connection position can be visually recognized.

Further, the means disclosed in the above Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2000-101895 makes it easy to adjust the shooting position by superimposing a fixed mark, a movement mark, and a target frame on the display screen at the time of shooting. It is to do.
JP 2000-299804 A JP 2000-101895 A

  However, according to the means disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2000-299804, a shooting position is determined by comparing a part of a previously captured image with a monitor image of an image to be captured next time. However, if there is no clear characteristic part in the image of the joint part, for example, if the monotonous landscape is continuous, the joint part image is displayed in an overlapping manner. Even so, there are situations in which it is difficult to match both by relying on the user's visual recognition, and it cannot be said to be a reliable guide means.

  In addition, according to the means disclosed in the above Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2000-101895, since it is only necessary to move the camera so that the displayed marks are aligned, it is relatively easy to match the two. It can be said that it is an effective means even in the case of monotonous landscapes where the eyes are not clear.

  In this way, when a plurality of types of marks are superimposed on the monitor image and used as a panoramic shooting guide means by matching the marks, the displayed marks are relied upon when moving the camera. Therefore, the idea of displaying a mark that is easy to align is an important point.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described points, and an object thereof is to visually display a guide display that guides the camera so that the camera can be easily moved during the shooting operation in the panoramic shooting mode. By providing a camera that is easy to understand and capable of smoothly and reliably performing a series of shooting operations for panorama shooting, a panorama shooting guide display method, and a panorama shooting guide display program corresponding thereto is there.

  In order to achieve the above object, a camera according to the present invention detects a movement of a camera in a panorama shooting mode for shooting a panorama image that forms a single image by combining a plurality of images. A panorama control unit that controls the shooting operation in the panorama shooting mode based on the movement of the camera detected by the detection unit, and the movement of the camera detected by the detection unit during shooting in the panorama shooting mode. And a guide display control unit for displaying guide information for guiding the movement of the camera. The guide display control unit includes a movement mark indicating a relative position of the camera with respect to a subject and the movement mark is moved. A pair of guide marks consisting of a goal mark indicating the target position to be reached is displayed, and the shape of the goal mark is allowed when images are pasted together. In accordance with the relative positional deviation amount of the image to be characterized by such a shape that allows deviation with respect to the position to be reached of the moving mark.

  The panorama shooting guide display method according to the present invention is a guide display method in which guide information for panorama shooting is displayed based on the movement of the camera when the movement of the camera is detected. A pair of guide marks consisting of a movement mark indicating a target position indicating the target position to which the movement mark should move and reach is displayed, and the shape of the goal mark is the relative position of the image allowed at the time of image fitting According to the amount of deviation, the shape of the moving mark is allowed to be displaced to the target position.

The panorama shooting guide display program according to the present invention is a guide display program for causing a computer of a camera to execute displaying panoramic image shooting guide information on the camera based on the movement of the camera. A step of displaying a pair of guide marks composed of a movement mark indicating the relative position of the camera with respect to the subject and a goal mark indicating the target position to which the movement mark should move and reach, and the shape of the goal mark as an image It is characterized by having a step of allowing the displacement of the movement mark to the target position of the image in accordance with the relative displacement amount of the image that is permitted at the time of alignment.

  According to the present invention, a guide display that guides the camera so that the camera can be easily moved during the shooting operation in the panorama shooting mode is displayed visually intelligibly, and a series of shooting operations for panorama shooting is smoothly performed. It is possible to provide a camera that can be reliably and reliably performed, a panorama shooting guide display method, and a panorama shooting guide display program corresponding thereto.

  The present invention will be described below with reference to the illustrated embodiments.

  FIG. 1 is a block configuration diagram showing an outline of the internal configuration of a camera according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the action when the camera of the present embodiment operates in the shooting mode, and particularly shows the details of the action when operating in the panoramic shooting mode. 3 to 8 are diagrams for explaining the operation in the panoramic shooting mode in the camera of the present embodiment. Among these, FIG. 3 is a diagram conceptually showing a subject (landscape) that is a subject of panorama shooting, a shooting range by one shooting operation, and a moving direction of the camera at the time of panorama shooting. FIG. 4 is a diagram conceptually showing the processing of steps S1 to S3 (shooting operation in shooting mode and determination processing of panoramic shooting mode) in the flowchart of FIG. FIG. 5 is a diagram conceptually showing the processing of steps S5 to S15 (second image capturing operation in the panorama image capturing mode) in the flowchart of FIG. FIG. 6 is a diagram conceptually illustrating the processing of steps S9 to S15 (third image capturing operation in the panorama image capturing mode) in the flowchart of FIG. FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a display example of the process of step S11 (Tm trajectory display) in the flowchart of FIG. FIG. 8 is a diagram showing another display example of the process of step S11 (Tm trajectory display) in the flowchart of FIG. 9 and 10 are diagrams for explaining the basis of the setting conditions for the display sizes of Gm and Tm. Among these, FIG. 9 is a diagram showing the concept of the amount of deviation that can be allowed between two adjacent images when performing panoramic photography with the camera of FIG. FIG. 10 is a diagram conceptually showing the sizes of Gm and Tm set from the allowable shift amount between the images shown in FIG. FIG. 11 is a time chart conceptually showing an outline of motion vector detection processing in the camera of the present embodiment.

  The camera 1 of the present embodiment is configured so that an optical image of a subject incident through an optical lens is photoelectrically converted by an imaging device to obtain electronic photographed image data, which can be stored in a storage medium as digital data. A digital camera having a panoramic shooting mode configured to shoot a panoramic image that forms a single image by combining a plurality of images as an aspect of a shooting operation.

  The camera 1 includes a panorama control unit 10a that performs operation control in the panorama shooting mode, and includes a CPU 10 that is a control circuit that controls electrical control of the entire camera 1 and an optical lens, and forms an optical image of a subject. A lens 11 to be transmitted, a shutter 12 that restricts an incident light beam from an object that is transmitted through the lens 11, and an optical object image formed by the lens 11 to receive a photoelectric conversion process and perform electrical conversion. A photoelectric conversion element that generates and outputs a simple signal, for example, an image sensor 13 made of CCD, CMOS, and the like, receives a signal output from the image sensor 13, converts it into digital data, and generates and outputs a digital image signal. The imaging unit 14 and a processing circuit that receives the digital image signal output from the imaging unit 14 and performs various signal processing in the panoramic shooting mode An image processing unit 15 having a panorama synthesizing unit 15a that performs panoramic image synthesis processing on the obtained image data, a RAM 16 that is a temporary memory that temporarily stores image data being processed, and the movement of the camera 1 are detected. A motion vector determination unit 17 that is a detection unit, a ROM 19 that stores various data such as various control programs and setting information for operation control of the camera 1, an image sensor 13, and an image capture unit 14 are generated in advance. A display unit 21 for displaying an image based on the image signal and various setting information, a display drive unit 20 for driving the display unit 21, and a display system for controlling the display unit 21 via the display drive unit 20. A display control unit 18 that is a control circuit and the image signal acquired by the camera 1 are converted into image data in a recording format, and the image signal is transferred to a recording medium (not shown). A recording / reproducing unit 22 that performs a recording process and performs a compression / decompression process for reading out image data recorded on a recording medium and converting the image data into an image signal that can be handled by the camera 1, and various types of cameras provided in the camera 1 An operation unit 24 that receives an instruction signal from an operation member and transmits the instruction signal to the CPU 10, and a control line 23 that connects the above constituent blocks in the camera 1 and constructs a flow path of an electric signal are mainly configured. ing.

  The panorama control unit 10a included in the CPU 10 controls the shooting operation in the panorama shooting mode based on the movement of the camera 1 detected by the motion vector determination unit 17 serving as a detection unit.

  The display control unit 18 is a display-system control circuit that controls the display unit 21 via the display drive unit 20 as described above, and displays an image in response to image signals from the imaging unit 14 and the image processing unit 15. In addition to performing normal display control such as displaying a menu including various information stored in advance in the ROM 19 or the like, in addition to this, the motion vector determination unit 17 detects when shooting in the panoramic shooting mode. It functions as a guide display control unit that displays guide information for guiding the movement of the camera 1 based on the movement of the camera 1.

  As described in detail later, the guide information includes a movement mark (target mark Tm) indicating the relative position of the camera 1 with respect to a subject and a goal mark Gm indicating a target position to which the movement mark should move and reach. A pair of guide marks or the like.

  An operation when the camera 1 of the present embodiment configured as described above is activated in the shooting mode and a shooting operation is performed will be described.

  First, when a power button (not shown) included in the operation unit 24 of the camera 1 is operated by a user to turn on the power and the camera 1 starts up in a shooting mode, the CPU 10 starts up an initial circuit of the internal circuit. After executing a series of activation processes such as the activation process, a release instruction signal from a release button (not shown) included in the operation unit 24 is waited. Then, the process proceeds to step S1 in FIG.

  In this state, the user directs the lens 11 of the camera 1 to a subject desired to be shot and starts a shooting preparation operation. Here, a subject as shown in FIG. 3 is considered as an example of a subject to be photographed.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the range L of the subject to be photographed is a landscape having a sufficiently wide range with respect to the photographing range that the camera 1 can photograph by one photographing operation. Here, each range of frames L1, L2, and L3 indicated by dotted lines in FIG. 3 indicates a shooting range obtained by one shooting operation of the camera 1 respectively.

  In such a case, in order to photograph the photographing range L as one image, the camera 1 is set to a panoramic photographing mode and panoramic photographing is performed.

  In the panoramic shooting operation, the shooting range L is divided and shot by performing the shooting operation a plurality of times while moving the camera 1 in the direction of the arrow X in FIG. That is, after each range of the frames L1, L2, and L3 indicated by the dotted lines in FIG. 3 is sequentially photographed from one end side (left end in the example of FIG. 3) to obtain a plurality of images (here, three images), This is a series of operations for combining images (three images) into a single image.

  In the example shown in FIG. 3, the moving direction of the camera 1 is set to the arrow X direction, and shooting is performed three times in order from the left end of the desired shooting range L. In this case, it is necessary to take an image between adjacent images in consideration of an overlapping region Lx having a predetermined width or more.

  Returning to FIG. 2, in step S <b> 1, the CPU 10 stands by until a release instruction signal is received. When the release instruction signal is received, the process proceeds to the next step S <b> 2.

  Here, when the release instruction signal is in a standby state, the display unit 21 of the camera 1 displays as shown in FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 4A, a monitor image in a range indicated by a frame L1 shown in FIG.

  The monitor image is as follows. That is, when the camera 1 is activated in the shooting mode, the light beam from the subject passes through the lens 11 and passes through the shutter 12 in the open state and enters the camera 1. At this time, the subject image is formed on the light receiving surface of the image sensor 13 by the action of the lens 11. In response to this, under the control of the CPU 10, the imaging device 13 and the imaging unit 14 perform photoelectric conversion processing to continuously generate electrical image signals and store them in the RAM 16. The image processing unit 15 performs predetermined image processing on the image data. For this image data, the display control unit 18 changes the image size for display, superimposes necessary information, and drives the display unit 21 via the display drive unit 20 to display a corresponding image. Display continuously. The images continuously displayed on the display unit 21 in this way are referred to as monitor images.

  Further, in the photographing mode, a focus mark FM having a predetermined form is displayed in a state of being superimposed on the monitor image at a substantially central portion of the display unit 21. This focus mark FM is an index display indicating a target area for focus adjustment. As the focus mark FM, data stored in the form of image information or the like in the ROM 19 or the like in advance is used.

  That is, in order to display the focus mark FM on the display unit 21, the display control unit 18 performs a display control process in which the data read from the ROM 19 is superimposed on the image data of the monitor image in a predetermined manner under the control of the CPU 10. . Thereby, the monitor image on which the focus mark FM is superimposed is displayed on the display unit 21.

  Subsequently, in step S2, the CPU 10 executes a first shooting operation process (1st shooting process). The photographing operation processing executed here is a series of photographing operations performed under the control of the CPU 10 in response to a release instruction signal generated when the user operates the release button, for example. This photographing operation process is the same as the photographing operation process normally performed in a general digital camera. Therefore, the detailed description of the operation is omitted.

  Further, in the camera 1 of the present embodiment, when the above-described shooting operation process is executed, the display unit 21 darkens only for a moment as shown in FIG. 4B in order to notify the user to that effect. Or a display change such as a decrease in display brightness is made. In FIG. 4B, the display area of the display unit 21 indicated by a dotted line indicates that the display area is dark or the display brightness is reduced. Thereafter, the process proceeds to step S3.

  Here, instead of the display process such as darkening or luminance reduction, the user may be notified by sounding, or the process of sounding may be performed in addition to the display process. .

  Next, in step S3, the CPU 10 checks whether or not the operation mode is set to the panoramic shooting mode. If it is confirmed that the panorama shooting mode is not set, the process returns to step S1 and the subsequent processes are repeated.

  Note that in an ordinary camera, the operation mode that can be set in the shooting mode usually has many other operation modes in addition to the panorama shooting mode. In order to avoid complicated description of the above, description of the action in the operation mode of another form is omitted. Therefore, in the process of step S3 described above, the process returns to step S1 even when a mode other than the panoramic shooting mode is set.

  On the other hand, if it is confirmed in step S3 that the panorama shooting mode is set, the process proceeds to the next step S5.

  In step S <b> 5, the CPU 10 and the display control unit 18 execute processing for displaying the panorama direction marks P, PU, PD, PL, and PR (see FIG. 4C) superimposed on the monitor image of the display unit 21. Thereafter, the process proceeds to step S6.

  As described above, the panorama direction mark is an index that is displayed immediately after the first shooting operation when the panorama shooting mode is set, and indicates the direction in which the camera 1 can move when performing panorama shooting. The moving direction information to be shown is shown.

  That is, the index group indicated by symbols P, PU, PD, PL, and PR in FIG. 4C is collectively referred to as a panorama direction mark. Among these, symbol P is an index indicating that the panorama shooting mode is set. When the panorama shooting mode is set, a direction mark described later is displayed.

  Further, symbols PU, PD, PL, and PR are direction marks that suggest the moving direction of the camera, where PU is the upper direction of the display screen, PD is the lower direction of the display screen, and PL is the left direction of the display screen. PR is an arrow-shaped indicator that suggests the right direction of the display screen.

  For the panorama direction mark, data stored in the form of image information or the like in the ROM 19 or the like in advance is used. When the panorama direction mark is displayed on the display unit 21, the display control unit 18 superimposes the data read from the ROM 19 on the image data of the monitor image in a predetermined manner under the control of the CPU 10. I do.

  In the example shown in FIG. 4C, the panorama mark P and all four direction marks PU, PD, PL, and PR are displayed as the panorama direction mark. There is also a form. For example, if information (desired direction information) about the moving direction of the camera 1 when the panoramic shooting mode is executed is set in advance, only the direction mark corresponding to the direction information set by the user is set. Can also be displayed.

  Next, in step S <b> 6, the CPU 10 controls the motion vector determination unit 17 to execute a motion vector detection process for detecting the camera movement state. Thereafter, the process proceeds to step S7.

  Here, an outline of the motion vector detection processing by the motion vector determination unit 17 will be described with reference to the time chart of FIG.

  First, when the camera 1 is operated in the shooting mode, the image generation operation is continuously executed by the imaging device 13, the imaging unit 14, the image processing unit 15, and the like. The image signal generated in this way is displayed on the screen of the display unit 21.

  The image acquisition timing in this case is performed, for example, every 1/60 seconds (sec.) As shown in FIG. Further, continuously generated image signals are taken as data into the RAM 16 which is a temporary memory as shown in FIG.

  The motion vector detection process is performed based on the image data captured in the RAM 16. For example, the difference calculation (p1−p3) between the arbitrary image data indicated by the symbol p1 in FIG. 11B and the image data indicated by the symbol p3, which is an image after a predetermined time has elapsed, is determined as a motion vector determination. This is done in part 17. The difference data (motion vector) as the calculation result is output as shown in FIG.

  In response to this, the display control unit 18 performs processing for creating guide information g1 and g2 related to the guide marks as shown in FIG. 11E, or displays the monitor image on the monitor image as shown in FIG. Display control is performed to output a display image in which the guide mark is superimposed.

  Returning to FIG. 2, in step S <b> 7, the CPU 10 confirms whether or not the camera has moved based on the detection result in the process of step S <b> 6 described above. If it is determined that there is no camera movement, the process returns to step S6 described above, and the same process is repeated thereafter.

  On the other hand, if it is confirmed that the camera has moved, it is determined by the user that the camera 1 has been moved in the predetermined direction for panoramic photography, and the process proceeds to the next step S8.

  In step S8, the CPU 10 determines a direction corresponding to the direction in which the camera 1 is moved, that is, the panoramic shooting direction, based on the detection result in the process of step S6 described above.

  Subsequently, in step S9, the CPU 10 drives and controls the display driving unit 20 via the display control unit 18 to display a guide mark including the goal mark Gm and the target mark Tm at a predetermined position in the screen of the display unit 21. Execute the process. Thereafter, the process proceeds to step S10.

  Here, the guide mark displayed on the display unit 21 is an index for guiding the movement of the camera at the time of panoramic photographing, and data stored in the form of image information or the like in the ROM 19 or the like in advance is used. That is, in order to display the guide mark (Gm, Tm) on the display unit 21, the display control unit 18 superimposes the data read from the ROM 19 on the image data of the monitor image in a predetermined manner under the control of the CPU 10. Perform control processing.

  Of the guide marks, the target mark Tm is an index that moves on the monitor image of the display unit 21 as the user moves the camera 1 and is a movement mark. It shows the position.

  The goal mark Gm is a target position that the target mark Tm (moving mark) should move on the monitor image of the display unit 21 when the user moves the camera 1, and is an appropriate position for panoramic photography. Is shown.

  In the example shown in FIG. 5B and the like, the goal mark Gm is a rectangular frame and an index indicating a region including a target arrival position displayed in the frame and indicated by a rectangular shape smaller than the frame, The display form is composed of cross-shaped indexes formed so as to intersect at the center of the frame.

  In addition, the target mark Tm is displayed in a rhombus-shaped frame in the example shown in FIG.

  Here, the operation corresponding to the processing of steps S5 to S9 described above will be described.

  First, from the state in which the panorama direction mark shown in FIG. 4C is displayed in the process of step S5 described above, the motion vector detection process is executed in the process of next step S6, and the process of step S7 is performed. If the movement of the camera 1 is confirmed, the process proceeds to step S8.

  That is, in the first shooting operation (steps S1 to S5), after the shooting in the range indicated by the frame L1 in FIG. 5A is performed, the user continues to display the frame in FIG. 5A. The camera 1 is moved in the direction indicated by the arrow X in order to perform shooting in the range indicated by L2. FIG. 5B shows a state in which the camera 1 is slightly moved in the arrow X direction from a state immediately after photographing the range of the frame L1 in FIG.

  Here, the CPU 10 detects the movement of the camera 1 in the process of step S7. Then, the CPU 10 determines the panoramic shooting direction in the process of step S8, and then, in the process of step S9, the pair of guide marks of the target mark Tm and the goal mark Gm is displayed on the display unit 21 in FIG. Display as shown.

  In this case, the guide mark is displayed according to the determined panoramic shooting direction. Further, when the movement of the camera 1 is started, the goal mark Gm and the target mark Tm are displayed at positions separated from each other at both ends on the display screen of the display unit 21.

  Specifically, the pair of guide marks at the start of movement is displayed in a direction along the movement direction at the start of movement of the camera 1 detected by the motion vector determination unit 17, and one goal mark Gm is closer to the previous shooting range. The other target mark Tm is displayed in the moving direction, that is, in a position near the next shooting range. The display position in the height direction on the display unit 21 is displayed on the approximate center line of the screen for both Gm and Tm.

  In the example shown in FIG. 5B, the movement direction of the camera 1, that is, the panoramic shooting direction, is the arrow X direction, so the goal mark Gm is a position near the left end of the display unit 21 and is substantially on the center line in the height direction. The target mark Tm is displayed at a position near the right end of the display unit 21 and substantially on the center line in the height direction.

  Returning to FIG. 2, in step S10, the CPU 10 continuously executes the motion vector detection process. Thereafter, the process proceeds to step S11.

  In step S <b> 11, the CPU 10 performs a process of updating the display of the display unit 21 by drivingly controlling the display driving unit 20 via the display control unit 18 based on the detection result of the motion vector detection process of step S <b> 10 described above. .

  That is, the display of the monitor image is updated according to the movement of the camera 1 in the arrow X direction from the state of FIG. 5B, and the goal mark Gm is displayed on the display unit 21 as shown in FIG. The target mark Tm is fixedly displayed on the subject on the monitor image while being fixedly displayed at a predetermined position (left end position) within the display frame. That is, the target mark Tm is fixed with respect to the subject, but when the display of the monitor image is updated as the camera 1 moves, the target mark Tm is displayed within the display screen frame of the display unit 21. The mark Tm appears to move in the direction opposite to the moving direction X of the camera 1.

  Therefore, in the present embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 5C, 5 </ b> D, and 5 </ b> E, movement when the target mark Tm moves within the display screen of the display unit 21 as the camera 1 moves. The trajectory Tr is also displayed.

  Here, the target mark Tm and its movement locus Tr are sequentially moved and displayed in accordance with the movement amount of the camera 1 calculated by a predetermined calculation process based on the detection result of the motion vector detection process in the process of step S10 described above. I am doing so.

  Thus, displaying the target mark Tm and its movement trajectory Tr has the following advantages.

  For example, the target mark Tm passes (overruns) the fixed position of the goal mark Gm on the display screen of the display unit 21 as in the display example of FIG. 7, or the target mark Tm as in the display example of FIG. The target mark Tm may be lost in the display screen while the camera 1 is moving, such as when Tm goes outside the display screen of the display unit 21. In such a case, since the movement locus Tr is always displayed, there is an advantage that the position of the target mark Tm can be easily confirmed.

  In step S12 of FIG. 2, the CPU 10 performs a process of confirming whether or not the target mark Tm and the goal mark Gm match. In this case, whether or not the target mark Tm and the goal mark Gm match is determined in the direction along the moving direction X of the camera 1 calculated by a predetermined calculation process based on the detection result of the motion vector detection process. This is determined by checking whether or not the total amount of movement has reached a predetermined amount.

  Here, the predetermined amount serving as a determination criterion is, for example, the linear separation distance in the X direction on the display screen of Tm and Gm at the start of movement, and the movement direction (X in the total movement amount of the camera 1) By confirming whether or not the movement amount in (direction) matches, it is determined whether Tm and Gm match. Thereafter, the process proceeds to step S13.

  In step S13, the CPU 10 executes a predetermined match display process. Thereby, as shown in FIG. 5 (F), the display unit 21 performs a display in a state where the goal mark Gm and the target mark Tm match, that is, a guide mark match display Gg. At this time, the monitor image of the subject in the range indicated by the frame L2 in FIG. Thereafter, the process proceeds to step S14.

  Here, the sizes of the goal mark Gm and the target mark Tm are set as follows. That is, as shown in FIG. 10, the vertical dimension of the goal mark Gm is Gy, and the horizontal dimension of the goal mark Gm is Gx. The vertical dimension of the target mark Tm is Ty, and the horizontal dimension of the target mark Tm is Tx.

  On the other hand, when shooting a plurality of images in the panoramic shooting mode, it is necessary to capture each image with an overlapping area for image composition processing for joining adjacent images. However, when taking a picture, for example, taking into account hand-held photography etc., it is not easy to always ensure this overlapping area accurately, so it is necessary to allow a certain amount of deviation from the necessary overlapping area. There is. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 9, the allowable deviation in the horizontal direction is ± Δx / 2 as the allowable deviation of the overlapping area (indicated by the width dimension Lx in FIG. 9) of the adjacent images L1 and L2 captured in the panoramic imaging mode. The allowable deviation in the vertical direction is ± Δy / 2.

In this case, the size of each of the goal mark Gm and the target mark Tm is
Gx−Tx = Δx
Gy−Ty = Δy
Set as

  As described above, in this embodiment, the size of the area including the target arrival position of the goal mark Gm is displayed larger than the index size of the target mark Tm (moving mark). Display control for this purpose is performed by the display control unit 18.

  Further, regarding the shapes of the goal mark Gm and the target mark Tm, in the example shown in FIG. 5B, a rectangular frame display is mainly used. However, the shape of the goal mark Gm is not limited to this. A shape that allows a deviation of the target mark Tm (moving mark) with respect to an area including the target position of the goal mark Gm in accordance with the relative positional deviation amount (Δx, Δy) that is allowed when the images are pasted together. It only has to be made. The display control in this case is also performed by the display control unit 18.

  Returning to FIG. 2, in step S <b> 14, the CPU 10 confirms whether the camera 1 is in a stationary state based on the detection result of the motion vector determination unit 17. In this case, whether or not the camera 1 is in a stationary state is determined by, for example, the amount of movement of the camera 1 based on the detection result of the motion vector determination unit 17 being equal to or less than a predetermined amount after the processing in steps S12 and S13 described above. It is judged by confirming whether or not. Here, after waiting for the camera 1 to be stationary, the process proceeds to the next step S15.

  In step S15, the CPU 10 executes a shooting operation process for the next shot, that is, the range L2 in FIG. Thereafter, the process proceeds to step S16.

  By this photographing operation process, the display on the display unit 21 is changed in display, for example, as shown in FIG. In FIG. 5G, the display area of the display portion 21 indicated by a dotted line indicates that the display area is dark or the display luminance is reduced.

  In step S16, the CPU 10 checks whether or not an end instruction signal is generated. This end instruction signal is, for example, a signal generated when the user operates a predetermined operation member that is linked to the operation unit 24. That is, when the user intends to end the shooting operation in the panoramic shooting mode, the user operates a predetermined operation member. In response to this operation, the operation unit 24 transmits a predetermined end instruction signal to the CPU 10.

  Therefore, when the end instruction signal is confirmed by the CPU 10, the series of panorama shooting modes is ended (end).

  If the end instruction signal is not confirmed here, the process returns to step S9 described above, and the subsequent processes are repeated.

  As described above, the match state of the guide mark (Gm, Tm) is confirmed in the process of step S12 described above, the guide mark match display Gg is made in the process of step S13, and the camera 1 is stationary in the process of step S14. The status is confirmed.

  In this state, the photographing process of step S15 is executed. In this photographing process, for example, when the guide mark match display Gg is displayed and the stationary state is confirmed, the photographing operation is automatically executed. Alternatively, when the guide mark match display Gg is displayed and the stationary state is confirmed, the user may be notified of photographing permission by some display or pronunciation. In this case, the user manually performs a predetermined release operation or the like in response to the photographing permission notification.

  Each size of the goal mark Gm and the target mark Tm is set in consideration of the allowable shift amount of the camera 1 as described above, and the goal mark Gm is displayed larger than the target mark Tm. It has become so. Therefore, when the target mark Tm enters the region including the target arrival position of the goal mark Gm, the guide mark match display Gg is always displayed at the center position of the goal mark Gm that is fixed.

  Returning to FIG. 2, the process returns from the process of step S <b> 16 to the process of step S <b> 9, for example, when performing a shooting operation for the next shot in the panoramic shooting mode, that is, the range L <b> 3 in FIG. . The operation is substantially the same as the processing in steps S9 to S16 described above, and is as shown in FIGS.

  That is, in the process of step S9, guide marks (Gm, Tm) shown in FIG. 6B are displayed. When the movement of the camera 1 is detected by the process of step S10, the process of step S11 is received. Then, as shown in FIG. 6C, the display control unit 18 executes display control processing for sequentially displaying the movement of the target mark Tm and the movement trajectory Tr together with the display update of the monitor image. The Then, after the guide mark match display Gg is displayed as shown in FIG. 6D in the process of step S12, the process waits for the camera 1 to be stationary in the process of step S14, and the process of step S15. Then, the photographing operation is executed as shown in FIG. Finally, in the process of step S16, the end instruction signal is confirmed, and the process returns to the process of step S9 again for the next shot, or the series of processes is ended.

As described above, according to the above-described embodiment,
When panoramic shooting is performed in the panoramic shooting mode, a pair of guide marks are displayed so that an appropriate overlapping area between a plurality of images can be secured, and a target that is moved and displayed according to the movement amount of the camera 1 Appropriate panoramic photography can be performed simply by moving the camera 1 so as to match the mark Tm with the goal mark Gm fixedly displayed on the display screen and serving as the target arrival position.

  Further, the target mark Tm displayed in accordance with the movement of the camera 1 is displayed together with the movement trajectory Tr. Therefore, even if an unintended operation is added during the movement of the camera 1, the target mark Tm is displayed. It is easy to always set the camera 1 by moving it to an appropriate target position without losing sight. Therefore, it is possible to suppress shooting mistakes when performing panoramic shooting.

  By the way, the display form of the guide mark is not limited to the example shown in the above-described embodiment, and various forms can be considered. 12-15 is a figure which shows the modification about a guide mark.

  In the guide mark of one modification shown in FIG. 12, the goal mark Gm intersects a circular frame having a substantially circular shape and four cutouts at intervals of 90 degrees at an approximate center position of the frame. It has a form composed of a cross-shaped index consisting of a straight line drawn until reaching each end edge.

  Further, the target mark Tm is a circular index that substantially matches the inner circumference of the circular frame of the goal mark Gm or is displayed in a small size, and is externally located at a position corresponding to the four notches of the goal mark Gm. It is set as the form which has the protrusion part which protrudes toward. The target mark Tm is displayed on a horizontal straight line of the cross-shaped index of the goal mark Gm at the start of movement.

  In the guide mark of another modification shown in FIG. 13, the goal mark Gm is in the form of a target index consisting of a double ellipse, and the target mark Tm is an arrow index that flies according to the direction of movement relative to this target. Forming.

  In the guide mark of another modified example shown in FIG. 14, the goal mark Gm is a straight line reaching both end edges in the vertical direction of the display screen, and protrudes in the opposite direction with respect to the moving direction at a substantially central portion thereof. It is made into the form which consists of a semicircle-shaped part to do.

  The target mark Tm is assumed to be in the form of an annular index so that it can be fitted inside the semicircular portion of the goal mark Gm.

  On the other hand, the guide mark of still another modification shown in FIG. 15 has a form in which the display frame itself of the display unit 21 is the goal mark Gm, and the target mark Tm is a rectangular frame index having a size smaller than the goal mark Gm. It is.

  That is, in this case, the state shown in FIG. 15A is the state at the start of movement, and the state shown in FIG. 15B shows a state where the moving direction of the camera 1 has shifted. In this state, only a part of the rectangular shape is displayed as the target mark Tm, so that the same effect as when the movement trajectory Tr is displayed in the above-described embodiment can be obtained.

  FIG. 15C shows a state where the goal mark Gm matches the target mark Tm.

  In the above-described embodiment, an example is shown in which the moving direction of the camera 1 in the panoramic shooting mode is the horizontal direction. However, the moving direction of the camera 1 is not limited to this, and is moved in the vertical direction. Panorama shooting can also be performed.

  FIG. 16 shows an outline of the photographing range and a display screen display example when the moving direction of the camera in the panoramic photographing mode is set to the vertical direction (vertical direction) with respect to the photographing range L in the camera of the above-described embodiment. It is a figure shown notionally.

  In FIG. 16A, images of each range of frames L1, L2, and L3 indicated by dotted lines are captured for the range L of the subject to be imaged, and a panoramic image is generated from the plurality of images thus obtained. Shows when to do.

  FIG. 16B shows a state in which the panorama direction marks P, PU, PD, PL, and PR displayed in the case of this example are displayed superimposed on the monitor image on the display unit 21.

  FIG. 16C shows a state in which guide marks (Gm, Tm) displayed in the case of this example are displayed superimposed on the monitor image of the display unit 21.

  In the case of this example, the moving direction of the camera 1 is indicated by an arrow Y in FIG. Therefore, the shooting order is the order of frames L1, L2, and L3. Accordingly, the goal mark Gm is a substantially central portion in the horizontal direction of the screen and at a predetermined position near the lower side of the display unit 21, and the target mark Tm is a substantially central portion in the horizontal direction of the screen and Each is displayed at a predetermined position near the upper side.

  In this modification, only the moving direction of the camera 1 in the panoramic shooting mode is different from that of the above-described embodiment, and the operation itself is substantially the same as that of the above-described embodiment.

  Further, in the above-described embodiment and the above-described modification, the case where the shooting range of the display unit 21 is set to the horizontal position is shown, but separately from this, for example, panoramic shooting can be performed by vertical position shooting. . That is, even if panoramic shooting is performed with the camera 1 held in a vertical position so that the rectangular shooting range is vertically long, a shooting operation with the same action is executed. Also in this case, the moving direction of the camera can be either horizontal or vertical.

  In the above-described embodiment, it has been described that the display control unit 18 that is hardware performs display control of Gm and Tm. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the CPU 10 may naturally replace the software process.

  Note that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various modifications and applications can of course be implemented without departing from the spirit of the invention. For example, the present invention can be applied to a camera unit built in an electronic device such as a mobile phone.

  Further, the above embodiments include inventions at various stages, and various inventions can be extracted by appropriately combining a plurality of disclosed constituent elements. For example, even if some constituent elements are deleted from all the constituent elements shown in the embodiment, the problem described in the column of the problem to be solved by the invention can be solved, and the effect described in the effect of the invention Can be obtained as an invention.

1 is a block configuration diagram showing an outline of an internal configuration of a camera according to an embodiment of the present invention. The flowchart which shows the detail of the effect | action when operate | moving especially in panoramic imaging mode among the effects when the camera of FIG. It is a figure explaining the effect | action at the time of the panorama photography mode in the camera of FIG. 1, Comprising: The object (landscape) used as the object of panorama photography, the imaging range by one imaging operation, and the moving direction of the camera at the time of panoramic photography FIG. FIG. 3 is a diagram conceptually illustrating processing in steps S1 to S3 in the flowchart of FIG. 2 (shooting operation in shooting mode and determination processing of panoramic shooting mode). The figure which shows notionally the process (2nd imaging | photography operation | movement in a panoramic imaging mode) of step S5-S15 in the flowchart of FIG. The figure which shows notionally the process (3rd imaging | photography operation | movement in panorama imaging | photography mode) of step S9-S15 in the flowchart of FIG. The figure which shows the example of 1 display of the process (trajectory display of Tm) of step S11 in the flowchart of FIG. The figure which shows another display example of the process (trajectory display of Tm) of step S11 in the flowchart of FIG. FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining the basis for setting conditions for the display size of guide marks displayed in the panorama shooting mode in the camera of FIG. 1, and can be allowed between two adjacent images when performing panorama shooting with the camera of FIG. 1. The figure which shows the concept of deviation | shift amount. The figure which shows notionally the size of the guide mark set from the allowable deviation | shift amount between the images shown in FIG. The time chart which shows the outline | summary about the motion vector detection process in the camera of FIG. 1 notionally. The figure which shows the modification of the guide mark displayed at the time of the panoramic photography mode in the camera of one Embodiment of this invention. The figure which shows another modification of the guide mark displayed at the time of the panoramic photography mode in the camera of one Embodiment of this invention. The figure which shows the other modification of the guide mark displayed at the time of the panoramic photography mode in the camera of one Embodiment of this invention. The figure which shows another modification of the guide mark displayed at the time of the panoramic photography mode in the camera of one Embodiment of this invention. In the camera according to the embodiment of FIG. 1, an outline of a shooting range and a display example of a display screen conceptually when the moving direction of the camera in the panoramic shooting mode is perpendicular to the shooting range L (up and down direction). FIG.

Explanation of symbols

1 …… Camera 10 …… CPU
10a: Panorama control unit 11: Lens 12 ... Shutter 13 ... Imaging device 14 ... Imaging unit 15 ... Image processing unit 15a ... Panorama synthesis unit 16 ... RAM
17 …… Motion vector determination unit 18 …… Display control unit 19 …… ROM
20 …… Display drive unit 21 …… Display unit 22 …… Recording / reproducing unit 23 …… Control line 24 …… Operation unit Gm …… Goal mark Tm …… Target mark

Claims (8)

In a camera equipped with a panorama shooting mode for shooting a panoramic image that forms a single image by pasting a plurality of images,
A detection unit for detecting movement of the camera;
A panorama control unit for controlling the shooting operation in the panorama shooting mode based on the movement of the camera detected by the detection unit;
A guide display control unit for displaying guide information for guiding the movement of the camera based on the movement of the camera detected by the detection unit during shooting in the panoramic shooting mode;
With
The guide display control unit displays a pair of guide marks including a movement mark indicating a relative position of the camera with respect to a subject and a goal mark indicating a target position to which the movement mark should move and reach, and the shape of the goal mark The camera has a shape that allows a shift of the moving mark with respect to the target position of the moving mark in accordance with a relative positional shift amount of the image that is allowed when the images are pasted together.   The camera according to claim 1, wherein the guide display control unit controls the size of the target position area of the goal mark to be displayed larger than the index size of the movement mark.   2. The camera according to claim 1, wherein the guide display control unit controls the pair of guide marks to be displayed in a direction along a movement direction at the start of movement of the camera detected by the detection unit. .   The camera according to claim 2, wherein the guide display control unit controls the movement mark and the goal mark to be displayed at spaced positions on both ends of the display screen when the camera starts to move.   The camera according to claim 1, wherein the guide display control unit performs control so that a movement locus of the movement mark is displayed in accordance with the movement of the camera.   The camera according to claim 1, wherein the guide display control unit performs control so that movement direction information indicating a direction in which the camera can move is displayed immediately after the first photographing operation. In the guide display method for displaying the guide information for panoramic shooting based on the movement when the movement of the camera is detected,
A pair of guide marks consisting of a movement mark indicating the relative position of the camera to the subject and a goal mark indicating the target position to which the movement mark should move and reach,
A panoramic photographing guide display method characterized in that the shape of the goal mark is a shape that allows a shift of the movement mark to a target position of the image in accordance with a relative positional shift amount of the image that is allowed at the time of image fitting. In the guide display program for causing the computer of the camera to display the guide information for panoramic image shooting on the camera based on the movement when the movement of the camera is detected,
Displaying a pair of guide marks composed of a movement mark indicating the relative position of the camera with respect to the subject and a goal mark indicating the target position to which the movement mark should be moved;
As the shape of the goal marks, in accordance with the relative positional deviation amount of the image that is acceptable at the time of image lamination, characterized by the step of a shape that allows deviation in the position to be reached of the moving mark panorama guide Display program.

Images