JP5854333B2 - Image output device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an image output apparatus capable of reducing the amount of data while suppressing deterioration in image quality.

  In recent years, stores providing games such as game centers have many image output devices that take pictures and output sticker prints. Such an image output device generally captures a user, who is a subject, with a camera attached to the device, displays the obtained photographed image on a tablet display, etc., and inputs characters or figures with an attached touch pen. The ones that have an editing function called drawing are becoming common. Then, the edited and edited image is combined with the captured image, and the combined image is printed by a printer and provided to the user.

  Further, the image output device includes a communication unit so that a captured image or a composite image created by the image output device can be transmitted and stored to an external server device via a network and distributed to a user's mobile phone or the like. An image distribution system has appeared.

  With regard to a technique for distributing such an image to a mobile phone, for example, Patent Document 1 discloses a terminal such as an arbitrary mobile phone, PHS, PDA, etc. via a communication line. A technique for transmitting data to and displaying it is disclosed.

JP 2001-245290 A

  In the above-described image output apparatus, a captured image or a composite image edited by the user is printed on a sticker sheet and provided to the user, so that a relatively high-definition image is often used for printing. That is, an image having a large number of pixels is prepared by an attached camera of the image output apparatus, and an edit input for this image is received and printed on a sticker sheet. Therefore, an image used in the image output apparatus is displayed on a general screen. In many cases, the amount of data is larger than that of a conventional image.

  For this reason, when a captured image or a composite image created by the image output device is uploaded to the server device without being compressed, there is a problem that it takes a very long time. On the other hand, when an image is compressed at a high compression rate in order to reduce the amount of data, there is a problem that image quality is likely to be deteriorated, so that it is not suitable as a browsing image provided to a user.

  The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and an object thereof is to provide an image output apparatus capable of reducing the amount of data while suppressing deterioration in image quality.

An image output apparatus according to the present invention includes a photographing means for photographing a subject and outputting a photographed image, an editing means for accepting an edit on the photographed image, and the photographed image and an edited image edited by the editing means. In the image output apparatus including a synthesis unit that generates a synthesized image, an extraction unit that extracts each of image regions corresponding to a plurality of parts of the subject from the photographed image, and attention in each image region extracted by the extraction unit When a pixel corresponding to an edge is not included in the pixel area including the pixel, the smoothing process is performed on the pixel of interest, and when the pixel corresponding to the edge is included in the pixel area, the smoothing process is prohibited. Smoothing means, encoding means for encoding image data obtained from the smoothing means, and a transmitter for transmitting the image data encoded by the encoding means to the outside With the door, a predetermined value indicating whether the criteria to perform the smoothing process, and wherein the varied in at least two image area said extracting means extracts.

  In the image output apparatus according to the present invention, the smoothing unit includes a pixel value of the target pixel and a pixel value of each peripheral pixel in a pixel region including the target pixel and a plurality of peripheral pixels in the captured image or the composite image. A means for calculating a difference between the pixel value, a means for determining whether or not the pixel area includes a peripheral pixel in which the difference is equal to or greater than a predetermined value, and a pixel value of the target pixel if the pixel is determined to include the peripheral pixel Output means for outputting the average value of each pixel in the pixel area as the pixel value of the pixel of interest when it is determined that the peripheral pixel is not included, and the pixel value output by the output means Based on the above, image data subjected to smoothing processing is generated.

The image output apparatus according to the present invention includes a second extracting means for extracting a specific image area corresponding to a specific site of the object from the captured image, for a particular image region said second extraction means extracts The smoothing process is performed, and the smoothing process is not performed on areas other than the specific image area.

The image output apparatus according to the present invention, the pre-Symbol variables characterizing the smoothing process, and wherein the varied in at least two image area said extracting means extracts.

  An image output device according to the present invention comprises: image processing means for generating image data for printing that is not subjected to smoothing processing by the smoothing means and encoding by the encoding means, based on the captured image or composite image; And printing means for printing on the sticker paper based on the image data for printing generated by the image processing means.

  In the present application, a part of a user's face contour, eyes, hair, and other strong edges in an image photographed by the image output device, that is, a part where a color difference exists to some extent is not deteriorated. The colors of pixels composed of similar colors such as cheeks are averaged. By encoding such an image, the amount of image data can be reduced while maintaining image characteristics suitable for the image output apparatus.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to reduce the data amount of the image data while maintaining the image quality, so that the communication cost can be suppressed, the time for uploading the image data from the image output device to the external server device, and The time for downloading image data from the external server to the user's terminal can be shortened.

It is a perspective view which shows the external appearance of the image output device which concerns on this Embodiment. It is a perspective view which shows the external appearance of the image output device which concerns on this Embodiment. It is a block diagram which shows typically the structure of the image output device which concerns on this Embodiment. It is a block diagram which shows typically the structure of the image output device which concerns on this Embodiment. It is a block diagram which shows an example of a functional structure of an image process part. It is a schematic diagram explaining the pixel area | region set by the area | region setting part. It is a flowchart which shows the procedure of the process which the image output device which concerns on this Embodiment performs. It is a flowchart which shows the production | generation procedure of the image data for transmission. 12 is a flowchart illustrating a part of a procedure of processing executed by the image processing unit according to the second embodiment.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be specifically described with reference to the drawings showing embodiments thereof.
Embodiment 1 FIG.
1 and 2 are perspective views showing the appearance of the image output apparatus according to the present embodiment. The image output apparatus is a box-type apparatus having a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape as a whole, and is provided with a partition so as to be divided in substantially half in the vertical direction. The image output apparatus is divided into an imaging space R1 and an editing space R2 by this partition. FIG. 1 shows an external perspective view mainly viewed from the photographing space R1 side of the image output apparatus, and FIG. 2 shows an external perspective view of the image output apparatus mainly viewed from the editing space R2 side.

  As shown in the perspective view of FIG. 1, the imaging space R1 is a space surrounded by a frame that forms a substantially rectangular parallelepiped. The shooting space R1 is a space for accepting the input of a fee from the user and for taking a picture of the user. The photographing space R1 is provided with a receiving unit 1 that accepts a predetermined fee on the outside, and devices such as a camera 21 and a display 22 for photographing a user on an inner wall surface corresponding to a partition with the editing space R2. An imaging unit 2 including is provided.

  The reception unit 1 includes a coin insertion slot 10 that accepts coin insertion, a coin selector 11 that determines the authenticity of coins inserted from the coin insertion slot 10, and various types of information such as the total amount of coins inserted or the amount remaining. And a display panel 12 for displaying. The coin selector 11 determines the authenticity of the coin inserted from the coin insertion slot 10 and sends a determination signal. The coin selector 11 discharges a coin to a coin return port (not shown) when the coin is determined to be false or while it is set not to accept a coin. The display panel 12 is composed of a liquid crystal panel, a segment LED, etc., and receives a control signal to prompt the insertion of coins, a charge to be inserted, the total amount to be inserted, the remaining amount, or another user is shooting and accepts the insertion of a coin A message indicating that it has not been displayed.

  The display panel 12 and the coin selector 11 included in the receiving unit 1 are connected to a control mechanism housed in a first housing described later, and a determination signal, a control signal, and the like are transmitted to the control mechanism. Send and receive.

  The user can receive a service by the image output device by inserting coins corresponding to a predetermined fee from the coin insertion slot 10 of the reception unit 1.

  In the imaging space R1, that is, inside the imaging booth, each device constituting the imaging unit 2 is installed. A first housing 20 containing a control mechanism for controlling each device is installed at the lower part of the wall surface that partitions the space with the editing space R2 inside the photographing booth. A camera 21 is installed above the first housing 20 and at a height that is approximately the height of the standing user. A touch panel display 22 that displays a preview screen based on a video signal output from the camera 21 and accepts a user operation is set below the camera 21. Further, a strobe lamp 23 for irradiating the subject with light is provided so as to surround the camera 21 and the display 22. Speakers 24 and 24 for outputting music and guidance voice are installed on the upper portion of the first housing 20.

  The camera 21, the display 22, the strobe lamp 23, and the speakers 24 and 24 constituting the photographing unit 2 are respectively connected to a control mechanism installed in the first housing 20.

  The camera 21 is a digital camera that includes an imaging element such as a lens group, a diaphragm, a shutter, and a CCD (Charge Coupled Device) in order to photograph a user as a subject. The camera 21 takes a picture by acquiring and storing a still image from the imaging device by operating a shutter by a timer function. While the camera 21 is activated, the camera 21 outputs a digitized video signal output from the image sensor to the control mechanism. The control mechanism outputs a captured image for displaying a preview screen based on the video signal.

  The display 22 has a liquid crystal panel for displaying an operation screen for guiding operations during shooting and a preview screen, and accepts an image output from the control mechanism based on a video signal output from the camera 21 in real time. To display. Further, the display 22 is a touch panel type, and a signal including information on a position on the screen at a location touched by the user is output to the control mechanism.

  The strobe lamp 23 is a lighting device in the photographing booth and functions as a flash when taking a picture. In the present embodiment, the strobe lamp 23 is divided into seven as shown in the figure, and the timing of each light emission is taken by the camera 21 via the control base included in the control mechanism (the operation of the shutter). ) Is controlled in synchronization with

  The outer periphery of the photography booth is covered with a light-shielding sheet material (not shown). This sheet material blocks external light, prevents peeping from the outside, and realizes a private space where the user can freely pose in the shooting booth.

  In addition, the sheet material viewed from the inside of the photographing booth has uniform color tone and brightness. When viewed from the camera 21, the rear side of the user has the same color tone and lightness of the sheet material, so that the chroma key process for making the area other than the area in which the user is visible transparent becomes possible, as will be described later.

  The user enters the shooting booth, operates the operation screen according to the guidance displayed on the display 22 and the guidance voice output from the speakers 24, 24, determines the pose by receiving illumination from the strobe lamp 23, and uses the camera 21. A photo shoot can be performed. First, the user can select a foreground image and / or a background image that decorates a photograph taken by the user from an operation screen displayed on the touch panel display 22. When the user selects the foreground image and / or the background image, the display 22 displays an image output in real time from the camera 21 via the control mechanism, that is, a captured image output from the camera 21, and the selected foreground. A print result preview screen based on the image and / or the background image is displayed. The user can determine a pose while confirming the preview screen, and execute a photo shoot.

  When a photograph is taken, the control mechanism acquires a still image stored by the camera 21 and copies it as an image for later accepting an editing operation by the user and an image for later printing out.

  Next, each component installed in the editing space R2 shown in the perspective view of FIG. 2 will be described. The editing space R2 is a space behind the wall where the camera 21, display 22, strobe / lamp 23, speakers 24 and 24, and the first housing 20 are installed, and the user can take photographs. This is a space where an image can be edited after shooting. The editing space R2 shown in FIG. 2 is partitioned from other spaces by a curtain-like sheet material (not shown) attached to a bar extending from the upper surface of the photographing space R1. The editing space R <b> 2 is provided with a substantially rectangular parallelepiped second housing 30 having the following components inside and outside.

  One side surface of the second housing 30 is in contact with a wall surface that is a partition with the imaging space R1, and a photographed image and other images are edited on the opposing surfaces of the other three side surfaces, respectively. A first editing unit 4a and a second editing unit 4b having an interface for the above are provided. On the other side, a printing unit 5 is provided for printing out the edited image on a predetermined photo sticker sheet. In addition, a control mechanism that controls each component of the first editing unit 4 a, the second editing unit 4 b, and the printing unit 5 is installed in the second housing 30.

  Note that the surfaces of the first casing 20 and the second casing 30 that are in contact with each other communicate with each other through an opening (not shown) of each, and are installed inside the first casing 20. The control mechanism of the photographing unit 2 and the control mechanism of the first editing unit 4a, the second editing unit 4b, and the printing unit 5 installed in the second housing 30 are connected by a plurality of cables. Has been.

  The first editing unit 4a includes a tablet display 40a that displays an operation screen for editing a photographed image and other images, two touch pens 41a and 42a, and a speaker 43a. Note that the second editing unit 4b described later also includes a tablet display 40b, two touch pens 41b and 42b, and a speaker 43b. The tablet displays 40a and 40b, the touch pens 41a, 42a, 41b, and 42b, and the speakers 43a and 43b of the first editing unit 4a and the second editing unit 4b are installed so as to face the opposing surfaces of the second housing 30, respectively. Has been. The tablet displays 40 a and 40 b, the touch pens 41 a, 42 a, 41 b and 42 b and the speakers 43 a and 43 b are connected to a control mechanism inside the second housing 30.

  The printing unit 5 displays a printer 50 that is installed inside the second housing 30 and prints an image on a predetermined sheet, a seal discharge port 51 through which the printed sheet is discharged from the printer, and various types of information. Display panel 52. The display panel 52 is connected to a control mechanism installed inside the second housing 30, and the printer 50 is also connected to the control mechanism inside the second housing 30.

  The user can perform operations such as selecting an image to be printed by the first editing unit 4a or the second editing unit 4b and graffiti on the selected image after completing the shooting by the shooting unit 2 in the shooting booth. On the tablet displays 40a and 40b of the first editing unit 4a and the second editing unit 4b, both the image acquired by executing the photography and the selected foreground image and / or background image are displayed. The The tablet displays 40a and 40b are configured to accept operations by the touch pens 41a, 42a, 41b, and 42b installed together, and the user selects an image to be printed by the touch pens 41a, 42a, 41b, and 42b, and selects the selected image. Operations such as insertion of characters and stamp-like patterns.

  The control mechanism performs a correction process on the photographed image by an image processing unit 7 (see FIG. 3) described later. When the editing by the user is completed, the selected foreground image and / or background image, and characters, designs, and the like based on the editing result are combined with the print output image after the correction process. The combined image is printed on a predetermined sticker sheet by a printer 50 installed in the second housing 30 and discharged to the sticker discharge port 51 as a photographic sticker. The user can obtain the completed photo sticker from the sticker discharge port 51, thereby realizing a photo sticker photographing providing service.

  3 and 4 are block diagrams schematically showing the configuration of the image output apparatus according to this embodiment. 3 mainly shows configurations of the control unit 6, the image processing unit 7, the power supply unit 8, the communication unit 9, and the receiving unit 1 described below. FIG. 4 shows the photographing unit 2, the first editing unit 4a, and the first unit. 2 shows the configuration of the editing unit 4b and the printing unit 5. As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the image output apparatus includes a control unit 6 that controls each component, an image processing unit 7 that corrects a captured image, a power supply unit 8 that supplies power from an AC power source, A communication unit 9 capable of communicating with an external network N such as the Internet, a reception unit 1 including the above-described coin insertion slot 10, coin selector 11 and display panel 12, a camera 21, a display 22, a strobe lamp 23, and a speaker 24. , 24, a first editing unit 4a including a tablet display 40a, two touch pens 41a and 42a and a speaker 43a, and a second editing unit including a tablet display 40b, two touch pens 41b and 42b and a speaker 43b. 4b, a printer 50, a printing unit 5 including a seal discharge port 51 and a display panel 52, and a bus connecting the units 00 and by the constructed. The control unit 6, the image processing unit 7, the power supply unit 8, the communication unit 9, and the bus 100 correspond to control mechanisms installed inside the first casing 20 and the second casing 30.

  As described above, the hardware constituting each of the receiving unit 1, the photographing unit 2, the first editing unit 4a, the second editing unit 4b, and the printing unit 5 is photographed so that it can be operated by the user of the image output apparatus. It is installed in the space R1 and the editing space R2, and is connected to the bus 100 in the control mechanism installed in the first housing 20 and the second housing 30. On the other hand, the control unit 6, the image processing unit 7, the power supply unit 8, and the communication unit 9 are included in a control mechanism installed inside the first casing 20 and the second casing 30. Are connected to the bus 100.

  The control mechanism includes a plurality of personal computers (hereinafter referred to as PC: Personal Computer) installed in the first housing 20 and the second housing 30, the above-described reception unit 1, imaging unit 2, and first editing. And a control base for controlling each hardware constituting the unit 4a, the second editing unit 4b, and the printing unit 5 from a PC. Note that the functions of each of the plurality of PCs are divided depending on the control target. For example, the PC that controls the reception unit 1 of the imaging space R1, the PC that controls the imaging unit 2, the PC that controls the first editing unit 4a and the second editing unit 4b, and the captured image are subjected to image processing. The PC that is output by the printing unit 5 is configured so that the functions are divided and operated. In the present embodiment, in order to mainly describe image processing, a first PC that virtually controls the receiving unit 1, the photographing unit 2, the first editing unit 4a, and the second editing unit 4b, and a printing unit that performs image processing. It will be described below that each component is controlled by the operation with the second PC that outputs at 5.

  The control unit 6 includes a CPU 60 provided in the first PC that controls hardware of each component, a memory 61 such as a DRAM (Dynamic Random Access Memory) that temporarily stores information generated by the operation of the CPU 60, An HDD (Hard Disk Drive) 62 for storing various data, and a capture / chroma keyboard 63 for capturing a still image as a photographed image from the video signal output from the camera 21 of the photographing unit 2 and executing chroma key processing. included.

  The CPU 60 reads and executes a later-described control program 6P stored in the HDD 62, thereby accepting a judgment signal from the coin selector 11 of the accepting unit 1, and sending a control signal to the display panel 12 in accordance with the accepted judgment signal. Send out and realize acceptance of a predetermined charge. Further, the CPU 60 reads out and executes the control program 6P, thereby performing control to synchronize the photographing with the camera 21 of the photographing unit 2 and the operation with the strobe lamp 23, and the print photographed by the camera 21 and stored. A process of acquiring an image for output; a process of acquiring a video signal output from the camera 21 as a captured image for a preview screen and an editing screen via the capture / chroma keyboard 63; a process of displaying on the display 22; Various processes such as a process of accepting editing by the first editing unit 4a and the second editing unit 4b are executed.

  The HDD 62 stores a control program 6P for the CPU 60 to control the hardware of each component. When the CPU 60 reads the control program 6P from the HDD 62 to the memory 61 and executes it, control of each hardware and various software functions are realized.

  In addition to the control program 6P, the HDD 62 includes a foreground / background image to be combined with a photographed printout image, and a foreground / background image to be displayed on the display 22 of the photographing unit 2 together with the photographed image. Is remembered. The HDD 62 further includes images used for operation screens displayed on the display 22 of the photographing unit 2, images used for editing screens displayed on the tablet displays 40a and 40b of the first and second editing units 4a and 4b, Data such as a text file and voice data such as guidance voices output to the speakers 24, 24, 43a, and 43b are stored. The HDD 62 also includes a composite image obtained by executing a composite process with a print output image, foreground image, and / or background image acquired from the camera 21 by the CPU 60 when the user has taken a picture. An edited image obtained by the editing process is stored.

  The capture / chroma keyboard 63 acquires, for example, 30 still images per second from the received video signal and outputs them, and recognizes pixels of a predetermined color tone and brightness from each captured still image, and has a certain range. Hardware having a chroma key function for transparentizing and outputting an alpha value (transparency) for pixels having the same color and lightness. The capture / chroma keyboard 63 is connected to receive a video signal output from the camera 21. The still image after the capture and chroma key processing is written in a memory (not shown) built in the capture / chroma keyboard 63. The CPU 60 reads a still image from the memory as a photographed image for preview, performs a chroma key process, and executes a process for displaying on the preview screen of the display 22.

  In addition, the capture / chroma keyboard 63 can set the number of still images acquired every second by the driver software, and a predetermined color tone and lightness to be made transparent, for example, RGB values. The CPU 60 instructs to make the color tone and lightness of the area in which the sheet material located behind the user in the image photographed by the camera 21 is shown transparent. As a result, the CPU 60 can obtain a person image of only the person who has been subjected to the chroma key processing with the capture / chroma keyboard 63, and can display a preview screen superimposed on the foreground image and / or the background image.

  The image processing unit 7 stores a CPU 70 provided in the second PC for controlling the hardware of each component, a memory 71 such as a DRAM for temporarily storing information generated by the operation of the CPU 70, and various data. An HDD 72 and a graphic board 73 that receives an image and a drawing command and performs a drawing process are included. The image processing unit 7 alone can operate as an apparatus that performs image processing to be described later on a target image.

  The CPU 70 reads out and executes an image processing program 7P, which will be described later, stored in the HDD 72, thereby realizing image processing for processing an image photographed by the camera 21 by photographing based on the control of the control unit 6. Specifically, under the control of the control unit 6, an image taken by the user and photographed by the camera 21 is delivered to the image processing unit 7. The CPU 70 obtains a photographed image from the control unit 6, writes it in the memory 71, and executes image processing so as to improve the appearance such as making the user's face in the image a small face. .

  The HDD 72 stores an image processing program 7P for the CPU 70 to perform image processing such as processing on the acquired image. The image processing program 7P may be a copy of the image processing program recorded on a recording medium such as a CD-ROM or DVD (not shown) in the HDD 72, or may be acquired via the communication unit 9.

  The graphic board 73 is hardware for drawing an image in a built-in memory (not shown) based on the received image and drawing command. The CPU 70 uses the graphic board 73 to perform image processing on the image acquired from the control unit 6 and temporarily stored in the memory 71. Specifically, the CPU 70 gives an image and a drawing command accompanying the image processing to the graphic board 73 to perform the drawing processing, and acquires the image obtained by the drawing processing in the memory 71.

  The power supply unit 8 realizes power supply from the AC power supply to each component as well as the first PC and the second PC. The image output apparatus is provided with a power switch (not shown) for turning on the power, and is connected to the power supply unit 8. The power supply unit 8 detects the on / off of the power switch, and switches the operation / operation of the image output apparatus. The power supply unit 8 includes a UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supply) unit 80. Even when the power from the AC power supply is suddenly cut off by the UPS unit 80, damage to each component can be reduced. When the power switch is switched off, the UPS unit 80 outputs a power failure signal to the CPU 60, and the CPU 60 performs predetermined termination processing when the power failure signal is detected, and turns off the power of the entire image output apparatus.

  The communication unit 9 includes a PHS unit 90 and is connected to the control unit 6 (CPU 60) via the internal bus 100. The PHS unit 90 is connected to an external network N such as the Internet to realize data transmission / reception. The CPU 60 can transmit and receive data by communicating with other devices on the external network N via the PHS unit 90 of the communication unit 9. In the image output apparatus according to the present embodiment, the CPU 60 connects image data after being shot and edited to an external network N together with identification information such as a user's name and mail address or a URL of a transmission destination (not shown). It has a function of transmitting (uploading) to the server device. With this function, the user's own image stored in the server device can be viewed from the mobile phone or home PC, and the user's own image data stored in the server device can be downloaded to the mobile phone or PC. Realize a service that can.

  In the present embodiment, after the user edits the image taken by the image output device, the photo sticker is created by printing on the sticker paper, and the amount of data is reduced by encoding the image edited by the user. The number is reduced and then uploaded to the server device.

  The main user of the image output device is a woman, and in order to make the face of the woman look beautiful, sharp parts are required for important parts of the face such as eyes and hair, but the skin part may be intentionally blurred. Required. In order to satisfy such a requirement, the image output apparatus according to the present embodiment does not blur the parts extracted as edges, such as the contours of the user's face, eyes, nose, mouth, and hair included in the image. In addition, the entire image is smoothed by paying attention to the color difference between the pixels. Then, the image output device encodes the image data after the smoothing process to reduce the data amount of the image uploaded to the server device.

  Hereinafter, the smoothing process and the encoding process executed by the image output apparatus will be described. FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a functional configuration of the image processing unit 7. In the example illustrated in FIG. 5, only the functional configuration related to the smoothing process and the encoding process is illustrated, and the configuration of other functions included in the image processing unit 7 is not illustrated. The functional configuration of the image processing unit 7 is realized by the CPU 70 reading and executing the image processing program 7P stored in the HDD 72.

  The image processing unit 7 includes an area setting unit 701, a difference calculation unit 702, a process determination unit 703, a smoothing processing unit 700 including an average value calculation unit 704 and an output unit 705, and an encoding unit 750 as functional configurations.

  An image to be smoothed (hereinafter referred to as a processing target image) is a captured image taken by the camera 21 or a composite image edited by the user, and is stored in the HDD 62 under the control of the control unit 6. It shall be. When executing the smoothing process, the image processing unit 7 reads the processing target image data stored in the HDD 62 into the memory 71. Further, the image processing unit 7 secures a storage area in the memory 71 having the same size as the processing target image as a work area.

  The area setting unit 701 sets a pixel area including the target pixel and eight peripheral pixels surrounding the target pixel when an arbitrary pixel of the processing target image is the target pixel. FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram for explaining a pixel region set by the region setting unit 701. In the 3 × 3 pixel region shown in FIG. 6, the central pixel is a target pixel, and the pixel value is represented by P [x] [y]. At this time, the pixel values of the eight peripheral pixels corresponding to the target pixel are, for example, P [x−1] [y−1], P [x] [y−1], P [x + 1] [y−1], P [x-1] [y], P [x + 1] [y], P [x-1] [y + 1], P [x] [y + 1], P [x + 1] [y + 1] . Each functional component in the smoothing processing unit 700 is configured so that the pixel value of each pixel in the pixel region set by the region setting unit 701 can be referred to as appropriate.

  The difference calculation unit 702 calculates the difference between the pixel value of the pixel of interest and the pixel values of each peripheral pixel. That is, the difference calculation unit 702 calculates | P [x] [y] −P [x + i] [y + j] | (where i, j = −1, 0, +1 and i = j ≠ 0). The difference calculated by the difference calculation unit 702 is sent to the process determination unit 703.

  The process determination unit 703 determines whether or not to perform the smoothing process based on the difference between the pixel value of the target pixel and the pixel values of each peripheral pixel, which is the calculation result of the difference calculation unit 702. In the present embodiment, in the pixel region set by the region setting unit 701, when all the differences between the pixel value of the pixel of interest and the pixel values of each peripheral pixel are less than a predetermined value, the process determining unit 703 When it is determined that the process is to be executed and at least one peripheral pixel having a pixel value difference equal to or greater than a predetermined value is included, the process determination unit 703 determines that the smoothing process is not performed. That is, when the pixel corresponding to the edge is not included in the set pixel area, the smoothing processing unit 700 according to the present embodiment performs the smoothing process with reference to the surrounding pixels, and within the set pixel area. When even one pixel corresponding to the edge is included, the smoothing process is prohibited.

  The average value calculation unit 704 calculates an average value of pixel values for pixels included in the set pixel area (a total of nine pixels including the target pixel and eight peripheral pixels). In the present embodiment, when even one pixel corresponding to an edge is included in the set pixel area, the smoothing process is prohibited, so the process by the average value calculation unit 704 may be omitted.

  The output unit 705 performs a process of outputting the pixel value of the target pixel and writing it in the storage area secured in the memory 71. When the output determination unit 703 determines that the smoothing process is to be performed, the output unit 705 outputs the average value calculated by the average value calculation unit 704 as the pixel value of the target pixel, and prohibits the smoothing process. If it is determined, the pixel value of the original target pixel is output. The smoothing processing unit 700 generates the image data after the smoothing process in the storage area secured in the memory 71 by performing the above-described processing on each pixel constituting the processing target image.

  The encoding unit 750 encodes the image data generated by the smoothing processing unit 700. For encoding image data, a known encoding method can be used. For example, a JPEG method known as an irreversible method and a PNG method known as a reversible method can be used.

Hereinafter, processing executed by the image output apparatus will be described.
FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a procedure of processing executed by the image output apparatus according to this embodiment. The CPU 60 provided in the control unit 6 of the image output apparatus determines whether or not a coin satisfying a predetermined fee is inserted from the coin insertion slot 10 (step S1). If it is determined that no coin satisfying the predetermined fee has been inserted (S1: NO), the CPU 60 returns to step S1 and waits until it is determined that a coin satisfying the predetermined fee has been inserted. During this time, the CPU 60 outputs a control signal to the display panel 12 so as to display the total amount of coins already inserted on the display panel 12.

  When the CPU 60 determines in step S1 that coins satisfying a predetermined fee have been inserted (S1: YES), the CPU 60 displays a guidance information screen on the display panel 12, and further displays an operation screen on the display 22 of the photographing unit 2, Further, a guidance voice is output from the speaker (step S2), and the user is prompted to enter the shooting booth and execute shooting. Thereby, the provision of the photo print service is started.

  The CPU 60 determines whether the foreground image and / or the background image to be combined is selected by operating the operation screen on the display 22 and the photographing is executed and completed (step S3). Specifically, when a foreground image and / or a background image is selected, counting for operating the shutter is started, and a preview screen is displayed on the display 22. Then, the CPU 60 determines that the count has been incremented, operates the shutter, and executes photography. The shooting is completed depending on whether the user operates a button or the like indicating that the image is determined by looking at the preview screen, or whether a predetermined number of times of shooting such as six times is completed. If the CPU 60 determines that shooting has not been completed (S3: NO), it returns the process to step S3 and waits until shooting is completed.

If the CPU 60 determines that shooting has been completed (S3: YES), the CPU 60 acquires a photographed image from the camera 21 by operating the shutter, and associates it with the selected foreground image and / or background image in the memory 61. Save (step S4). The CPU 60 displays the guidance information screen on the display 22, displays the operation screen on the tablet displays 40a and 40b of the first editing unit 4a or the second editing unit 4b, and outputs guidance voices through the speakers 24 and 24 ( Step S5), prompting the user to move to the editing space R2 and perform an editing operation.

  Next, the CPU 60 transfers the photographed image stored in the memory 61 to the image processing unit 7 to execute image processing (step S6). The CPU 60 accepts editing on the operation screen of the tablet displays 40a and 40b (step S7). At this time, the image of the user displayed on the operation screen may be an image after image processing. In this case, the CPU 60 performs chroma key processing on the captured image that has been processed to make a small face after image processing, using the capture / chroma keyboard 63 to create an image of only the person, and displays the foreground image and / or background image on the operation screen. And overlaid on the display.

  The CPU 60 determines whether the editing is completed due to the operation for instructing the completion of editing and whether the image processing by the image processing unit 7 is completed (step S8). If the CPU 60 determines that either editing or image processing by the image processing unit 7 has not been completed (S8: NO), the process returns to step S8 and waits until both are completed.

  When the CPU 60 determines that both editing and image processing have been completed (S8: YES), the processed image that has been processed by the image processing by the image processing unit 7, information such as characters or images of the editing result, A synthesis process is performed on the background image and / or the foreground image selected and associated and stored in the memory 61 to generate a synthesized image (step S9).

  Next, the CPU 60 generates image data for transmission to the external server device based on the generated composite image (step S10). At this time, the CPU 60 gives an instruction to the image processing unit 7 to perform a smoothing process on the composite image, and further performs an encoding process to generate image data for transmission.

  The image processing unit 7 sends the image data for transmission subjected to the smoothing process and the encoding process in step S <b> 10 to the control unit 6. The control unit 6 stores the image data acquired from the image processing unit 7 in the HDD 62. Then, under the control of the control unit 6, the encoded image data stored in the HDD 62 is transmitted to an external server device via the communication unit 9.

  In addition, the CPU 60 displays the composite image generated in step S9 on the operation screen and outputs it to the printer 50 of the printing unit 5 to instruct printing output (step S11). At this time, the CPU 60 may accept a print layout selection and a print instruction on the operation screen.

  The CPU 60 determines whether or not printing has been completed (step S12). If it is determined that printing has not been completed (S12: NO), the process returns to step S12 and waits until it is determined that printing has been completed. To do. When the CPU 60 determines that the printing in the printer 50 is completed (S12: YES), the CPU 60 displays a guidance display indicating that the printing is completed on the display panel 52, the first editing unit 4a, or the second editing unit 4b of the printing unit 5. The information is displayed on the tablet displays 40a and 40b, guidance voices are output from the speakers 43a and 43b (step S13), and the process is terminated.

  At this time, since the printed photo sticker is discharged to the sticker discharge port 51, the user can obtain the photo sticker in which the user is photographed. Thus, the provision of a photo print service is realized.

  Next, details of step S10 of the flowchart shown in FIG. 7 will be described. FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing a procedure for generating image data for transmission. The image processing unit 7 acquires data of a composite image that is a processing target image from the HDD 62 in the control unit 6 (step S101). The acquired composite image data is stored in the memory 71 in the image processing unit 7. Further, the image processing unit 7 secures a storage area having the same size as the processing target image (composite image) in the memory 71 as a work area (step S102).

  Next, the region setting unit 701 sets a pixel of interest from a plurality of pixels constituting the acquired composite image (step S103), and sets a pixel region by designating surrounding pixels around the pixel of interest (step S104). . At this time, the region setting unit 701 sets a pixel region to be processed by designating a maximum of eight peripheral pixels adjacent to the target pixel.

  Next, the difference calculation unit 702 calculates the difference between the pixel value of the target pixel and the pixel values of each peripheral pixel (step S105). The process determining unit 703 determines whether or not to perform the smoothing process on the target pixel by determining whether or not all the differences calculated in step S105 are less than a predetermined value (step S106).

  When the process determining unit 703 determines that the pixel of interest is to be smoothed, that is, when all the differences calculated in step S105 are less than a predetermined value (S106: YES), the average value calculating unit 704 An average value of the pixel values of the target pixel and each peripheral pixel in the pixel region is calculated (step S107). The output unit 705 outputs the calculated average value as the pixel value of the pixel after the smoothing process, and writes it in the storage area secured in the memory 71 (step S108).

  On the other hand, when the process determining unit 703 determines that the smoothing process is prohibited for the target pixel, that is, when the difference calculated in step S105 includes a predetermined value or more (S106: NO), the output The unit 705 outputs the pixel value of the original target pixel as it is and writes it in the storage area secured in the memory 71 (step S109).

  Next, the smoothing processing unit 700 determines whether or not processing has been performed for all pixels of the processing target image (step S110). If the processing has not been completed for all the pixels (S110: NO), the smoothing processing unit 700 gives an instruction to the region setting unit 701 to reset an unprocessed pixel as a target pixel (step S111). ), The process proceeds to step S104.

  When the processing for all the pixels is completed (S110: YES), image data subjected to smoothing processing is generated in the storage area in the memory 71. The encoding unit 750 encodes the image data generated in the storage area in the memory 71 (step S112). For encoding image data, a known encoding method such as JPEG method or PNG method can be used.

   As described above, in the present embodiment, a portion having strong edges such as the contour of the user's face, eyes, hair, etc. in the image photographed by the image output device, that is, a portion where a color difference exists to some extent. Without degrading the color, it is possible to average the colors of pixels composed of similar colors such as the user's cheek. By encoding such an image, the compression rate can be increased while maintaining image characteristics suitable for the image output apparatus.

  In the present embodiment, the amount of image data can be reduced while maintaining the image quality required by the image output device, so the time for uploading image data from the image output device to an external server device, and The time for downloading image data from the external server device to the user's terminal can be shortened, and the communication cost can be suppressed.

In the flowchart illustrated in FIG. 8, the configuration has been described in which a composite image is acquired and smoothing processing is performed on the acquired composite image. However, the captured image output by the imaging unit 2 is acquired and acquired. May be the target of the smoothing process. In this case, each process shown in FIG. 8 may be executed after obtaining a photographed image. That is, the transmission image data generation process shown in step S10 in FIG. 7 is not limited to the timing after the composite image in step S9 is acquired, but after the photographed image in step S4 is acquired. It can be executed at any timing.
Further, when the image output apparatus accepts a transmission instruction from the user, the processing shown in FIG. 8 may be executed to generate the transmission image data and the transmission processing.

In this embodiment, it is determined whether smoothing processing is performed based on a predetermined value set in advance. However, whether the smoothing processing is performed by the administrator of the image output apparatus or the user himself / herself. It may be configured to accept a change in a threshold value (predetermined value) that is a criterion for determining whether or not.
In the present embodiment, the configuration is such that 8 pixels around the pixel of interest are selected and a 3 × 3 pixel region is set, but the number of peripheral pixels constituting the pixel region can be changed as appropriate. There may be a configuration in which pixel regions of 5 × 5, 7 × 7, etc. are set.

Embodiment 2. FIG.
In the first embodiment, the above-described smoothing process is performed on the entire image photographed by the photographing unit 2 of the image output device. However, since the subject in the image output device is mainly the face of the user, You may make it apply the smoothing process of this application only to an area | region.
In the second embodiment, as an example of a configuration in which an image region corresponding to a specific part of a subject is extracted from a photographed image and the smoothing process of the present application is applied only to the extracted image region, An example in which a corresponding face area is extracted and the smoothing process of the present application is applied only to the extracted face area image will be described. Note that the configuration of the image output apparatus according to the second embodiment is exactly the same as that of the first embodiment, and thus the description thereof is omitted.

  FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing a part of a procedure of processing executed by the image processing unit 7 according to the second embodiment. The image processing unit 7 acquires a composite image that is a processing target image from the HDD 62 in the control unit 6 (step S201). The acquired composite image is stored in the memory 71 in the image processing unit 7. Further, the image processing unit 7 secures a storage area having the same size as the processing target image (composite image) in the memory 71 as a work area (step S202).

  The image processing unit 7 extracts a face area from the image (step S203), and determines, for each pixel constituting the image, a pixel that belongs to the face area and a pixel that does not belong to the face area. In addition, since the composite image may include graffiti or the like by the user, it is preferable to extract the face area for the photographed image obtained from the photographing unit 2. The extraction of the face area is performed using various existing techniques such as skin color detection and template matching. In the extraction of the face area in step S203, an area obtained by slightly enlarging the outline of the user's face may be extracted as the face area. Such a process can prevent the outline of the user's face from being blurred by a normal smoothing process described later.

  Next, the area setting unit 701 sets a target pixel from a plurality of pixels constituting the acquired composite image (step S204), and determines whether or not the set target pixel is a pixel belonging to the face area (step S205). ). If it is determined that the pixel of interest is a pixel belonging to the face area (S205: YES), a pixel area is set by setting peripheral pixels around the pixel of interest (step S206).

  Next, the difference calculation unit 702 calculates the difference between the pixel value of the target pixel and the pixel values of each peripheral pixel (step S207). The process determining unit 703 determines whether or not to perform the smoothing process on the target pixel by determining whether or not all the differences calculated in step S207 are less than a predetermined value (step S208).

  When the process determining unit 703 determines that the pixel of interest is to be smoothed, that is, when all the differences calculated in step S207 are less than a predetermined value (S208: YES), the average value calculating unit 704 The average value of the pixel values of the target pixel and each peripheral pixel in the pixel area is calculated (step S209). The output unit 705 outputs the calculated average value as the pixel value of the pixel after the smoothing process, and writes it in the storage area secured in the memory 71 (step S210).

  On the other hand, when the process determining unit 703 determines that the smoothing process is prohibited for the pixel of interest, that is, when the difference calculated in step S207 includes a value greater than or equal to a predetermined value (S208: NO), output is performed. The unit 705 outputs the pixel value of the original target pixel as it is and writes it in the storage area secured in the memory 71 (step S211).

  On the other hand, when it is determined in step S205 that the set target pixel is not a pixel belonging to the face area (S205: NO), the smoothing processing unit 700 performs normal smoothing processing on the target pixel (step S212). . Here, in the normal smoothing process, for example, the average value of the pixel values of all the pixels included in the pixel region regardless of whether or not the pixel region including the target pixel includes the pixel corresponding to the edge. Is calculated, and the average value is output as the pixel value of the pixel after smoothing. Further, as a normal smoothing process, a known method such as a smoothing process using a median filter may be used. After performing the normal smoothing process, the smoothing processing unit 700 writes the pixel value in the storage area secured as the work area, and shifts the process to step S213.

  Next, the smoothing processing unit 700 determines whether or not processing has been performed for all the pixels of the processing target image (step S213). When the processing for all the pixels has not been completed (S213: NO), the smoothing processing unit 700 gives an instruction to the region setting unit 701 to set an unprocessed pixel as a target pixel (step S214). The process proceeds to step S205.

  When the processing for all the pixels is completed (S213: YES), image data subjected to smoothing processing is generated in the work area of the memory 71. The encoding unit 750 encodes the image data generated in the work area of the memory 71 (step S215). For encoding image data, a known encoding method such as JPEG method or PNG method can be used.

  The image processing unit 7 sends the image data obtained by encoding in step S215 to the control unit 6. The control unit 6 stores the image data acquired from the image processing unit 7 in the HDD 62. Then, under the control of the control unit 6, the encoded image data stored in the HDD 62 is transmitted to an external server device via the communication unit 9.

  As described above, in the second embodiment, the smoothing process of the present application is applied only to the face area, and the contours of the parts such as the eyes, nose, and mouth constituting the user's face are not deteriorated. Since only the skin portion can be blurred, an image suitable for provision to the user can be generated.

  In the second embodiment, the smoothing process of the present application is applied to the face area. However, the smoothing process of the present application is applied to any area that can be extracted or set separately from the other areas, and the other areas are processed. It is good also as a structure which performs a normal smoothing process.

  In the second embodiment, when it is determined that the pixel does not belong to the face area, the normal smoothing process is performed. However, the normal smoothing process may not be performed. The second embodiment merely shows an example in which the smoothing process of the present application is applied only to a specific part such as a face region, and does not define an image processing method for a region other than the specific part.

Embodiment 3 FIG.
In the first embodiment, it is configured to determine whether to perform the smoothing process using one determination criterion (threshold value), but different threshold values are set for a plurality of regions extracted from the processing target image. It is good also as a structure. In addition, a variable smoothing process may be performed between at least two regions by setting variables that characterize the smoothing process (for example, a blurring amount and a coefficient to be averaged).

  In general, a sheet material suitable for chroma key processing such as a green back is provided in a photographing booth of an image output apparatus. The image output apparatus creates mask data (alpha data) for distinguishing between a person and a background based on a photographed image obtained by photographing a person in a photographing booth. Also, using a known face recognition technique, the parts constituting the face such as the eyes, nose, mouth, contour, skin part, hair, etc. of the face are extracted, and the extracted result is created as mask data (alpha data).

  For this reason, in the image output apparatus, it is possible to perform processing for each image region corresponding to a specific part (or prohibit processing for the image region corresponding to the specific part) by referring to the mask data. .

By using such mask data, a threshold value that is a criterion for determining whether or not to perform the smoothing process is relatively low, for example, for a skin portion that uses a skin mask, and hair that uses a hair mask. The portion can be set relatively high, and the smoothing process can be performed on each portion (image region). If the threshold is set low, the smoothing process is likely to be executed. Conversely, if the threshold is set high, the smoothing process is not likely to be executed. For this reason, by setting the threshold values of the skin part and the hair part as described above, the skin part can be blurred as much as possible, and the hair part can be prevented from being blurred as much as possible. Can be generated.
In addition, since a portion having a high color difference in the skin portion and a portion having a low color difference in the hair portion may be dust in the image, an effect of erasing such dust can be expected.

  Furthermore, by using the mask data, it is possible to vary the variable characterizing the smoothing process according to the extracted image region. For example, a smoothing process may be performed on each part by relatively increasing the blurring amount of the skin portion and relatively decreasing the blurring amount of the hair portion. Increasing the blurring amount can be realized, for example, by increasing the number of times of smoothing processing on the target pixel, or by reducing the coefficient to be averaged (coefficient related to the pixel), and reducing the blurring amount. In this case, it can be realized by bringing the coefficient to be averaged close to 1.

  Furthermore, in the image provided by the image output device, for the eyes that are important parts for the evaluation of the reflection, the eye mask is used, and the smoothing process is prohibited for the eyes. Processing can be performed.

  Note that these processes may be performed in duplicate or exclusively. For example, for pixels processed in the smoothing process for the previous skin part, priority may be given to the process, such as skipping the pixel in the subsequent smoothing process for the hair part.

  The embodiment disclosed this time is to be considered as illustrative in all points and not restrictive. The scope of the present invention is defined by the terms of the claims, rather than the meanings described above, and is intended to include any modifications within the scope and meaning equivalent to the terms of the claims.

2 photographing unit 5 printing unit 6 control unit 7 image processing unit 70 CPU
72 HDD
7P image processing program 700 smoothing processing unit 701 region setting unit 702 difference calculation unit 703 process determination unit 704 average value calculation unit 705 output unit 750 encoding unit

Claims (5)

Image capturing means for capturing an image of a subject and outputting the captured image, editing means for accepting editing of the captured image, and combining means for combining the captured image and the edited image edited by the editing means to generate a composite image In an image output device comprising:
Extraction means for extracting image regions corresponding to a plurality of parts of the subject from the captured image, respectively;
When a pixel corresponding to an edge is not included in a pixel area including a target pixel in each image area extracted by the extraction unit, a smoothing process is performed on the target pixel, and a pixel corresponding to an edge is included in the pixel area Is included, smoothing means for prohibiting the smoothing process;
Encoding means for encoding image data obtained from the smoothing means;
Transmission means for transmitting the image data encoded by the encoding means to the outside,
An image output apparatus characterized in that a predetermined value indicating a criterion for determining whether or not to execute the smoothing process is made different in at least two image regions extracted by the extraction means. The smoothing means includes
Means for calculating a difference between a pixel value of the target pixel and a pixel value of each peripheral pixel in a pixel region including the target pixel and a plurality of peripheral pixels in the captured image or the composite image;
Means for determining whether or not the pixel region includes a peripheral pixel in which the difference is equal to or greater than a predetermined value;
The pixel value of the target pixel is output when it is determined that the peripheral pixel is included, and the average value of each pixel in the pixel region is determined as the pixel value of the target pixel when it is determined that the peripheral pixel is not included. Output means for outputting as
2. The image output apparatus according to claim 1, wherein image data subjected to smoothing processing is generated based on the pixel value output by the output means. A second extracting means for extracting a specific image region corresponding to a specific part of the subject from the captured image;
Claims, characterized in that said second extracting means performs said smoothing process on the specific image area extracted, are so not subjected to the smoothing processing with respect to regions other than the specific image area The image output device according to claim 1 or 2. A variable characterizing the previous SL smoothing process, the image output apparatus according to claim 1 or claim 2, wherein varying at least two image areas the extraction means extracts. Image processing means for generating image data for printing that is not subjected to smoothing processing by the smoothing means and encoding by the encoding means, based on the captured image or composite image;
The image output apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4 , further comprising: a printing unit that performs printing on a sticker sheet based on the printing image data generated by the image processing unit.

Images