KR101345212B1 - A method of performing camera function in a portable terminal - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a method of performing a camera function of a portable terminal, and more particularly, to a method of performing a camera function of a portable terminal capable of automatically converting a shooting mode by recognizing a change in an input image when performing a camera function. To this end, a method of performing a camera function of a portable terminal according to the present invention includes a preview process of previewing an image of a subject to be photographed, a frame rate determination process of determining a frame rate of an image input through a camera, and the determined frame rate. And a shooting mode changing process of automatically changing the shooting mode. Accordingly, since the shooting mode is automatically changed according to the change of the image input when the subject is photographed, the subject can be accurately photographed, and the user may need to manually operate to change the shooting mode.

Camera, Shooting Mode, Mode Switching, Frame Rate, Motion

Description

A method of performing camera function in a portable terminal

1 is an internal block diagram of a portable terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention.

2 is a flowchart illustrating a process of performing a camera function of a portable terminal according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

3 is a flowchart illustrating a process of determining a frame rate according to an embodiment of the present invention.

4A and 4B illustrate a process of determining a frame rate according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The present invention relates to a method of performing a camera function of a portable terminal, and more particularly, to a method of performing a camera function of a portable terminal capable of automatically changing a shooting mode by recognizing a change in an input image when performing a camera function.

Currently, portable terminals are being converted into a structure capable of transmitting high speed data in addition to voice communication functions. This is because if the mobile communication network of the IMT 2000 standard is implemented, high-speed data communication can be implemented in addition to voice communication using the portable terminal. Data that can be processed by the mobile terminal performing the data communication may be packet data and image data. In addition, a function of displaying a video signal by adding a camera or a TV receiver to the portable terminal is implemented. Therefore, the portable terminal having the camera as described above can take a picture of the subject and display it as a moving picture and a still picture, and can also transmit the captured picture screen.

On the other hand, a mobile terminal equipped with a camera takes a still image only once when the object is large or many, for example, when a horse is running while previewing a subject while performing a camera function. There is an inconvenience in not being able to shoot dynamic scenes properly.

In addition, in order to capture a moving subject, the user may not be able to photograph the moving subject while overtaking the moving subject while changing a shooting mode such as general shooting, continuous shooting, and video shooting using a menu of the portable terminal.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a method of performing a camera function of a portable terminal, which can automatically change a shooting mode of a camera according to a change in an image inputted when a subject is photographed using a camera function provided in the portable terminal.

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the following description, only parts necessary for understanding the operation according to the present invention will be described, and the description of other parts will be omitted so as not to obscure the gist of the present invention.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a method of performing a camera function of a portable terminal, comprising: previewing an image of a subject to be photographed, determining a frame rate according to a change of an image input during the preview process; And automatically changing the shooting mode according to the determined frame rate.

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

In the following description of the present invention, a detailed description of known functions and configurations incorporated herein will be omitted when it may make the subject matter of the present invention rather unclear.

Prior to the description of the present invention, the terms or words used in the specification and claims described below should not be construed as being limited to the common or dictionary meanings, and the inventors should consider their own invention in the best way. For the purpose of explanation, it should be interpreted as meaning and concept corresponding to the technical idea of the present invention based on the principle that it can be properly defined as the concept of term. Therefore, the configuration shown in the embodiments and drawings disclosed herein are only the most preferred embodiment of the present invention, and do not represent all of the technical idea of the present invention, which can be replaced at the time of the present application It should be understood that there may be various equivalents and variations.

As described above, the present invention relates to a camera function performing method of a portable terminal for automatically changing a shooting mode according to a change in an image input when a subject is photographed using a portable terminal having a camera function.

Before describing the present invention in detail, the mobile terminal will be described as an example of a mobile terminal for convenience of explanation, but the present invention is not limited thereto. That is, the portable terminal according to the embodiment of the present invention is a terminal for providing convenience to a user, and preferably, a mobile communication terminal, a mobile phone, a wired / wireless phone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), and a smart phone. It will be apparent that the present invention can be applied to an information communication device and a multimedia device having a camera device capable of photographing a subject, such as a phone and a digital camera, and applications thereof.

In the word used in the present invention, general shooting means taking a single still image, and continuous shooting means taking a plurality of still pictures continuously for an arbitrary time.

In addition, the frame rate refers to the number of frames captured for a predetermined time in a video continuously input when capturing a video, and uses fps (flame per second) as a unit.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings for convenience of explanation. First, a configuration of a portable terminal for performing a function according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described.

1 is a block diagram of a portable terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The illustrated portable terminal 100 includes a key input unit 110, a controller 120, a memory 130, a camera unit 140, an image processor 150, a display unit 160, and an audio processor 170.

The key input unit 110 has a key matrix structure (not shown), and may include a character key, a numeric key, various function keys, and an external volume key, and may control a key input signal corresponding to a key input by a user. )

In addition, the key input unit 110 may capture keys that can operate the camera at a predetermined position, that is, a camera power key used to enter the camera mode, a zoom key used to adjust a zoom level (ie, magnification), and an image. It has a shutter key for use.

The controller 120 controls the overall operation of the portable terminal 100 according to the embodiment of the present invention. In addition, the controller 120 switches the operation mode of the portable terminal 100 to the camera mode when the user requests the camera mode, and the display unit 160 enters the preview mode in which a preview screen for the image of the subject is displayed. do.

When the preview mode entry is completed, the controller 120 captures a first frame from the input image and stores the captured image in the memory 130. The second frame is captured from the image input after a predetermined time and stored in the memory 130. The controller 120 compares values for the same plurality of areas of the stored first frame and the second frame and calculates a ratio of the area where the value is changed. The controller 120 determines a frame rate for the input image using the calculated ratio. The operation of capturing the first frame and the second frame and calculating the changed rate of the value in the predetermined area to determine the frame rate continues until the input of the shutter key for shooting in the preview state.

The controller 120 controls the camera to capture a subject in a shooting mode corresponding to the frame rate determined when the shutter key for shooting is input. The shooting mode according to the frame rate may be a general shooting, continuous shooting, and moving picture shooting mode.

The memory 130 may include a program memory and a data memory, and stores various pieces of information selected based on various pieces of information and user selection information necessary for controlling the operation of the portable terminal 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention. . In particular, the present invention stores the still image and the moving image photographed in the shooting mode according to the first frame, the second frame, and the frame rate which are captured to determine the movement of the subject.

The camera module 140 may include a lens unit (not shown) that can be pulled out and pulled out. When a shutter key is input, the camera module 140 captures image data through the lens unit.

In addition, the camera unit 140 includes a camera sensor (not shown) for converting the photographed optical signal into an electrical signal, and a signal processor (not shown) for converting the analog image signal photographed from the camera sensor into digital data. .

The camera sensor may be a charge coupled device (CCD) sensor or a complementary metal oxide semi-conductor (CMOS) sensor, and the signal processor may be implemented by a digital signal processor (DSP). In addition, the camera sensor and the signal processor may be integrally implemented and may be implemented separately.

The image processor 150 performs a function of generating screen data for displaying an image signal output from the camera unit 140.

The image processor 160 processes the image signal output from the camera unit 140 in units of frames, and outputs the frame image data according to the characteristics and size of the display unit 170. In particular, according to an embodiment of the present invention, the image processor 160 may capture a moving image at a frame rate determined in the preview mode under the control of the controller 120.

In addition, the image processor 150 includes an image codec and performs a function of compressing the frame image data displayed on the display unit 160 in a set manner or restoring the compressed frame image data to the original frame image data. The image codec may be a JPEG codec, an MPEG4 codec, a wavelet codec, or the like.

In addition, it is assumed that the image processor 150 has an On Screen Display (OSD) function, and may output on-screen display data according to the screen size displayed by the control of the controller 120.

The display unit 160 may be formed of a liquid crystal display (LCD) or the like, and outputs various display data generated in the mobile communication terminal. In this case, when the LCD is implemented using a touch screen, the display unit 160 may operate as an input unit.

In addition, the display unit 160 displays an image signal output from the image processor 150 on a screen, and displays user data output from the controller 120.

The audio processor 170 modulates the electrical signal input from the microphone to convert the voice signal into voice data, and demodulates the encoded voice data input from the wireless transmitter / receiver (not shown) into an electrical signal and outputs the speaker to the speaker. do.

In addition, the audio processor 170 may include a codec for converting and playing a digital audio signal received by a wireless transmitter / receiver (not shown) into an analog signal or converting an analog audio signal generated from a microphone into a digital audio signal. It is preferable. The codec includes a data codec for processing packet data and an audio codec for processing an audio signal such as voice. The codec may be included in the controller 130.

2 is a flowchart illustrating a process of performing a camera function of a portable terminal according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

1 and 2, when the controller 120 detects a user's request to perform a camera function through a camera power key used to enter a menu key or enter a camera mode, the controller 120 previews an image of a subject on the display 160. Enter the preview mode (S210).

When the preview mode entry is completed, the controller 120 extracts the first frame and the second frame after a predetermined time from the input image, and then determines the frame rate FR according to the movement of the subject (S220).

The process of determining the frame rate FR by the controller 120 will be described with reference to FIGS. 3 to 4B as follows. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a process of determining a frame rate according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIGS. 4A and 4B are diagrams for describing a process of determining a frame rate according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 3, when the camera function is performed to enter the preview mode, the controller 120 controls the image processor 150 to include a subject 420 to be photographed through the camera 140. Capture the first frame 410 in the image to store in the memory 130, divide the first frame 410 into cells (C ₁ ~ C _N ) of a constant size to calculate the value of each cell Temporary storage (S221). The cell value may be RGB information indicated by each cell.

After a certain time, the controller 120 controls the image processor 150 to capture the second frame 430 from the image including the subject 440, store the second frame 430 in the memory 130, and then store the first frame 410. In the same manner as applied to the second frame 430 by dividing the cells of a predetermined size (C ₁ ~ C _N ) by calculating the value of each cell and temporarily stored (S222).

The time interval between the first frame and the second frame may be appropriately adjusted. The cell size and the number of cells for which the value is calculated may be changed. Each pixel constituting the captured frame may be configured with each cell, and in some cases, each cell may be configured with a plurality of pixels. When a cell is composed of a plurality of pixels, the average value of the pixels constituting the cell may be the value of the cell. In addition, the cell in which the value is calculated may calculate a value for all cells constituting the frame, and in order to reduce the amount of computation of the controller 120, the cell may calculate a value for only some cells.

The controller 120 calculates a ratio of cells whose values have been changed using the values of the cells calculated in steps S221 and S222 (S223). For example, a first frame of the _first cell value C is zero, the cell value is a C ₁ of the second frame is set to '1', the control part 120 is judged that the cell values of the C ₁ to change.

The controller 120 determines the frame rate FR according to the ratio of the changed cells obtained in step S223 (S224). If there is a lot of movement of the subject, the ratio of cells that change the value is high. Therefore, the frame rate is high. If there is no movement of the subject, the rate of the cells changes is low. Can be lowered.

When an image input through the camera unit 140 is processed in a frame unit through the image processor 130 under the control of the controller 120 and displayed on the display unit 160 according to the ratio of the cell whose value is changed, it is displayed in the image. The frame rate (FR) should be selected so that the subject movement can be expressed seamlessly.

For example, the frame rate FR according to the ratio of cells whose values change among the same cells constituting the first frame and the second frame may be configured as shown in Table 1, and the frames according to the percentage of cells whose values change. It is possible to change the rate FR.

Changed in value
Percentage of cells Frame rate
(FR) Changed in value
Percentage of cells Frame rate
(FR)
Less than 1%
One .
.
. .
.
. 2 to 3% 2 21-22% 11 4-5% 3 23-24% 12 6-7% 4 25-26% 13 8 to 9% 5 27-28% 14
10-11%
6 .
.
. .
.
.

When the frame rate FR is finally determined in step S224, the control unit 120 returns to step S220 of FIG. 2.

After the frame rate FR is determined for the image input in step S220, the controller 120 confirms that the photographing key is input by the user (S230). If it is not detected that the photographing key is input, the controller 120 continuously determines the frame rate FR according to the movement of the subject in the input image (S220).

If it is detected in step S230 that the photographing key is input, the controller 120 checks whether the photographing mode automatic conversion function according to the frame rate FR is set (S240). If the shooting mode automatic conversion function is not set in step S240, the control unit 120 performs subject shooting according to the shooting mode currently set (S245).

In operation S240, the automatic switching mode of the shooting mode is set, and the controller 120 compares the frame rate FR determined in step S220 with a lower limit value FR1 and an upper limit value FR2 of the preset frame rate. To perform.

The shooting mode according to the frame rate may be set as shown in Table 2 below.

Frame rate (FR) Shooting mode      FR <3 General shooting 3 ≤ FR ≤ 7 Continuous shooting     FR> 7 Movie shooting

As shown in Table 2, the lower limit of the frame rate may be set to 3 and the upper limit of 7.

If the frame rate FR determined in step S220 is less than the lower limit FR1 of the frame rate (S250), the controller 120 controls the portable terminal to perform a normal shooting mode so as to capture one still image and store the memory 130 In operation S270, it is stored.

If the frame rate FR is not smaller than the lower limit FR1 of the frame rate in step S250, the controller 120 determines that the frame rate FR is located between the lower limit FR1 and the upper frame rate FR2 of the frame rate. It is determined whether or not (S260). If the frame rate FR is a value positioned between the lower limit value FR1 and the upper limit value FR2 of the frame rate, the controller 120 controls the portable terminal to perform a continuous shooting mode to capture a plurality of still images within a predetermined time. This is then stored in the memory 130.

If the frame rate FR is not positioned between the lower limit FR1 and the upper limit FR2 of the frame rate (ie, the frame rate FR is greater than the upper limit) in step S260, the controller 120 controls the portable terminal 100. The controller performs the video recording mode by controlling and stores the captured video in the memory 130 (S290). In this case, the video may be captured at the frame rate FR determined in step S220.

After storing the still image and the moving image photographed in each shooting mode in the memory 130, the controller 120 determines whether the user inputs a photographing end key (S300). If it is detected in step S300 that the input of the shooting end key is not detected, the controller 120 controls the portable terminal 100 to preview the image of the subject input through the camera unit 140 to perform the preview mode on the display unit 160. (S210). In step S300, when the input of the photographing end key is detected, the controller 120 controls the portable terminal 100 to end the photographing function.

In the foregoing detailed description of the present invention, specific embodiments have been described, but various modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention. Therefore, the scope of the present invention should not be limited to the described embodiments, but should be defined by the appended claims and the equivalent scope thereof.

As described above, according to the method and apparatus for performing a camera function of the portable terminal of the present invention, the shooting mode is automatically changed according to the frame rate according to the change of the input image when the subject is photographed, so that the subject can be accurately photographed. The hassle of having to manually operate the portable terminal for the change can be reduced.

Claims (6)

In the camera function of the portable terminal, A preview process of previewing an image of a subject to be photographed; Capturing a first frame from an image input through a camera, and capturing the second frame after a predetermined time elapses after capturing the first frame; Dividing the captured first frame and the second frame into a set of pixels; Calculating an average value of information on the set of divided pixels; A frame rate determining process of determining a frame rate (FR) of the first frame and the second frame based on the calculated average value; And  And a shooting mode changing step of automatically changing a shooting mode according to the determined frame rate. The method of claim 1, The process of calculating the average value of the information And calculating only an average value of a predetermined partial pixel of the set of pixels. The method of claim 1, The shooting mode is Method of performing a camera function of a portable terminal, characterized in that it comprises at least one of the normal shooting mode, continuous shooting mode and video recording mode. The method of claim 3, If the shooting mode is a video recording mode Method of performing a camera function of a portable terminal, characterized in that for shooting at the frame rate determined in the frame rate determination process. The method of claim 1, The shooting mode change process The frame rate determined in the frame rate determination process and And a method of changing a shooting mode in comparison with a lower limit and an upper limit of a frame rate. 6. The method of claim 5, The shooting mode change process, If the frame rate is less than the lower limit of the frame rate, change the shooting mode to a normal shooting mode, If the frame rate is located between the lower limit and the upper limit of the frame rate, the shooting mode is changed to continuous shooting mode, And if the frame rate is greater than the upper limit of the frame rate, changing the shooting mode to a moving picture shooting mode.

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