JP2000324382A - Picture synthesizing and image pickup device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To attain photographing while easily contrasting each picture to be synthesized, and to obtain an uniform synthetic picture with high picture quality by setting the photographic condition of each picture of a synthetic picture to be constant. SOLUTION: Setting related with the photographic condition of a camera is made constant in the process of the successive recording of each picture being the constituting elements of a whole picture whose recording is scheduled so that each photographic condition related with each picture being the constituting elements can be made equivalent. A system controller 5 which controls the writing and reading of data for buffer memories 4, 7, and 10 is provided with a data comparator 52 which compares picture data to be synthesized and a generator 53 which generates all kinds of constituting data to be recorded in a recording medium, and all kinds of control is executed in response to instruction information from an operating part 6. Then, when the data comparator 52 judges that the continuity of plural EVF displayed screens to be synthesized is maintained, an autotrigger signal is outputted, and a photographic operation and a recording operation is executed.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image synthesizing and photographing apparatus and, more particularly, to an image synthesizing and photographing apparatus and a reproducing apparatus which are effective in connecting and photographing a plurality of screens in an image taking system.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In cameras and the like, a plurality of screens obtained by a single photographing operation are arranged side by side and combined to form a single screen, which is used as a means for generating a panoramic photographing screen or a multi-screen. Many. Such a splicing process is generally performed by a normal camera using a silver halide film. However, it is conceivable that the splicing process is performed using an electronic imaging device such as an electronic still camera or a video camera. That is, the splicing process can be used for generating a high-definition, high-definition, high-definition screen and a panoramic screen. Hereinafter, the reason why such a technique is required will be described. In the electronic imaging device as described above, in order to obtain an image signal, for example, CC
Although an imaging device such as D is used, its photoelectric conversion surface is usually composed of hundreds of thousands of pixel arrays. At present, an imaging device having several hundred thousand pixels is relatively easy to manufacture and the price is not expensive, and an imaging device conforming to the "NTSC" or "PAL" standard has been widely spread and adopted.

However, with an image sensor having several hundred thousand pixels, the image quality of the obtained image is satisfactorily satisfied with the above-mentioned standards such as "NTSC", but it has been made to realize higher image quality. The resolution is inadequate for HDTV, and at least several million pixels are required to obtain such high-quality images. This situation is not limited to the high-vision system, and is the same when, for example, an attempt is made to use it as a high-quality image input device applied to the printing field or the image processing field. However, as the number of pixels increases, not only does the yield of the imaging device become extremely low, but also the optical system, mechanical system, and electric system become complicated, so that such an imaging system becomes extremely expensive, and in reality, Is not used for anything other than specialized business use. A so-called multi-chip imaging system in which imaging devices are arranged side by side is also used to obtain a high-quality image. However, the optical system is complicated, so that it is not only expensive but also sensitive. Problem also arises. In addition, these systems
There is a problem that it is not compatible with a normal system such as the NTSC system used by general users. Therefore, a technique for obtaining a high-quality image equivalently by composing a single image by composing a plurality of screens using the connection shooting process is required. In the splicing shooting process, for example, in a silver halide film camera, one subject is divided into a plurality of screens and photographed, and then the developed screens are appropriately cut and pasted so that adjacent screens are continuous. . Here, the cut and paste will be described. There is no other way to shoot each screen adjacent to each other, while aiming at the subject with the viewfinder, there is no other way than to release the shutter with a so-called "mesure". Will usually be incorrect (not exactly right). Therefore, in order to match them, it is necessary to actually cut and paste each completed negative or print.

FIG. 9A shows an example of a splicing photograph. This example is a multi-screen obtained by arranging nine shooting screens at a time, three in each of the vertical and horizontal directions, that is, a total of nine screens. In contrast to a large shortage, by synthesizing each screen in this way, a high-resolution image is equivalently obtained. Here, each screen is displayed in the X direction and the Y direction.
As the display format corresponding to the directional coordinate position, (1, 1), (1, 2), (1,
3) Also, from upper left to lower left (1, 1), (2,
1), (3, 1) are displayed. FIG. 3B shows an example of a panoramic screen in which three screens are arranged in the horizontal direction. In this case, an image with a high resolution is obtained in the same manner. Each screen has (1, 1) as position information,
(1, 2) and (1, 3). As such a device, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2-178646 discloses a photographing device for simultaneously displaying a current image and a previously recorded past image on an electronic viewfinder to perform panoramic photographing.

[0005]

In a case where a plurality of images are to be connected and shot, if the shooting conditions of each image are different, when a composite image is reproduced, for example, a part of the image is darkened, resulting in overall unnaturalness. . Further, unlike the related art, when the current image and the image recorded in the past are displayed and photographed, the photographing conditions are different, so that it is difficult to perform a comparison operation between the images to be combined. Furthermore, if the imaging conditions such as the angle of view are different, it becomes difficult to combine the images. On the other hand, during continuous shooting of the camera, the shooting conditions are fixed,
There are some which make it easy to see when a series of images are reproduced after continuous shooting. However, no countermeasures have been proposed for the above-described problem when photographing is performed by displaying a current image and an image recorded in the past in order to combine images in a conventional apparatus.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide an image synthesizing and photographing apparatus which can easily photograph each image while synthesizing them so as to obtain a uniform and high-quality synthetic image.

[0007]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, an image synthesizing and photographing apparatus according to the present invention is configured to preliminarily record an image based on one image signal relating to a field of view to which the camera is currently directed. At least one image signal is displayed while projecting and contrasting an image based on another image signal obtained by reproducing the image on a part and another part on the same screen of a predetermined electronic monitor means. An image synthesizing and photographing apparatus configured to be capable of sequentially recording, wherein the photographing conditions relating to those of the respective images, which are the structural elements of the entire image to be recorded, are substantially equivalent. In the process of successively recording the respective images, the apparatus is configured to have means for making settings relating to shooting conditions of the camera constant. Here, the means is configured to make at least one of exposure, zoom, focus, color balance characteristics, sensitivity, and γ characteristics constant.

[0008]

According to the present invention, as described above, the sequential order of each of the constituent elements of the image to be recorded is adjusted so that the respective photographing conditions of the constituent elements of the entire image to be recorded are substantially equivalent. In the recording process, the settings relating to the shooting conditions of the camera are kept constant.

[0009]

Next, the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of an image synthesizing apparatus according to the present invention, in which an electronic still camera synthesizes a continuous screen adjacent to a recorded screen and shoots and records. In the present embodiment, an example will be described in which a still screen is obtained by connecting two screens as shown in FIG. 2A. To obtain the screen A, the left screen (1, 1) and the right screen (1, 2) are combined. Therefore, first, the screen (1, 1) is photographed and recorded. Thereafter, since the screen (1, 1) is already recorded on the recording medium, it is read out and reproduced (B in FIG. 2). Next, the screen (1,
When capturing a screen corresponding to 2), the screen obtained on the monitor partially overlaps the screen (1, 1) (FIG. 2).
(Part indicated by D)). At this time, in the screens (1, 1), at the time of joining, first, an image is shifted by performing a synchronization shift, and then blanking is applied to an unnecessary portion (E of E). Remove the shaded image. Similarly, screen (1, 2) is changed to screen (1,
After shifting in the direction opposite to 1) (the upper part of F), blanking is applied to unnecessary portions, and the unnecessary portions are removed like the second person. Thus, the two screens (1, 1) and (1, 2) are
When superimposed and projected on a monitor such as F (electronic view finder), it looks like G instep or B. The instep of G
This is an image when the overlapping portions of both screens match exactly, and B shows the screen when both screens are in a discontinuous state. Therefore, if the screen (1, 2) is photographed when both screens are in a continuous state like the back of G, a panoramic screen like A is obtained. In the present embodiment, the coincidence detection of the overlapped portion between the two screens is performed by electrical processing, and when they coincide, a trigger signal is generated to perform the photographing operation automatically or manually.

Referring to FIG. 1, the image pickup circuit 2 includes a CCD.
An image pickup device such as the above is built in, and the image formed on the image pickup device via the photographing lens 1 and converted into an electric signal is subjected to predetermined video processing and sent to the A / D converter 3 as an image signal. . The image data converted into a digital signal by the A / D converter 3 is stored in the buffer memory 4.
The image data read from the buffer memory 4 is written to the recording medium 9 via the buffer memory 7 and the recording / reproducing circuit 8 under the control of the system controller 5. As the recording medium 9, for example, an IC card memory or the like is used, but a magnetic disk or the like recorded as an analog signal can also be used. In this case, when recording and reading out the video signal from the imaging circuit 2, the present embodiment is used. For example, an A / D converter for converting to a digital signal for processing is provided.
At the time of image composition, the (1, 1) image B in FIG. 2 is read from the recording medium 9 and recorded in the buffer memory 7. This image B is read from the buffer memory 7 and recorded in the buffer memory 10. At this time, by making the corresponding image position addresses different for writing and reading,
Image shifting can be performed. On the other hand, the (1,2) image C output from the imaging circuit 2 and the A / D converter 3
Are once recorded in the buffer memory 4 and then also recorded in the buffer memory 10 while undergoing image shifting at the time of reading. However, the unnecessary portion of each image is not read. At this time, the two images are stored in the buffer memory 10.
The image G (the former or the second) is synthesized above. Then, the image G is read from the buffer memory 10 and converted into an analog signal by the D / A converter 11. This analog signal is sent to a display circuit 12 constituting an electronic monitor means, and an image is displayed (projected).
Observed by the user at F13. Note that writing and reading to and from the buffer memory 4 and writing and reading to and from the buffer memory 10 are always repeated in synchronization with the synchronization signal system of the electronic imaging apparatus. Shall be observed in real time.

The system controller 5 controls the writing and reading of data to and from the buffer memories 4, 7 and 10; a data comparator 52 for comparing image data to be combined; and various configuration data (multi-mode data) to be recorded on a recording medium. , Sub mode, position data, etc.), and performs various controls in response to instruction information from the operation unit 6. The data address controller 51 controls the writing / reading of the data in the buffer memories 4, 7 and 10, and superimposes the overlapping portions of the images (1, 1) and (1, 2) as shown in FIG. And project it. Therefore, as described above, the write address to the buffer memory 10 is converted so that the image data of the user B of FIG. 2E and the image data of the user B of FIG. Here, if the image data of the overlapping portion of the screens read from the buffer memories 4 and 7 is simply added and projected, the luminance level is doubled. Write to. The data comparator 52 compares the image data of the overlapping portion of the screens (1, 1) and (1, 2),
When they coincide, that is, when the difference between the two data becomes substantially zero, it is determined that the two screens are continuously connected, and an auto trigger signal is output. When the auto-trigger signal is output, it is determined that the shooting conditions are optimal, so the shutter is released to shoot and record. The configuration data generator 53
Generates configuration data such as an image synthesis processing mode and position data. Examples of the image synthesis processing mode include a high-vision mode, a panorama mode, a double-eye mode, and other arbitrary modes. Here, the arbitrary data indicates position data indicating a position in the processed combined image, for example, (1,1) in FIG. 2B or (1,2) in C. .

As described above, according to the present embodiment, when the data comparator 52 determines that the continuity of a plurality of screens to be synthesized displayed by the EVF is maintained, the auto trigger signal is output to perform the photographing operation and recording. The recording operation on the medium is executed. At this time, the screen configuration data at the time of shooting is recorded on the recording medium together with the image data. Also, when connecting and photographing a plurality of screens, if the shooting conditions of each screen are different, when a composite screen is generated, some screens become dark and unnaturalness occurs on the entire screen. Therefore, in the present embodiment, the shooting conditions of the screen to be combined are fixed to be the same.
The shooting conditions include shutter speed, aperture, exposure such as flash, zoom (angle of view), focus state, color balance characteristics such as white and black balance, sensitivity,
There are a γ characteristic, a pedestal level setting, a suppress characteristic, a photoelectric conversion characteristic, a field, a frame recording mode, and the like. The photographing conditions can be selected in advance by taking a test photograph, or the photographing conditions of the first screen can be fixed to the photographing conditions of the screen to be combined thereafter. Here, "fixing" means that setting change cannot be performed or a warning is displayed for manual setting, and in the automatic setting, it is fixed to the above-described first image capturing condition.

FIG. 3 is a flow chart showing an operation processing procedure when performing multi-shooting and image synthesis according to the above embodiment. When the mode operation starts (step S101),
The sub mode is selected (Step S102). As described above, the sub mode includes the high-vision mode, the panorama mode, the alignment mode, and the arbitrary mode. Selection of each mode is performed by key operation of the operation unit 6 in FIG. In the high-definition mode, as shown in FIG.
In a mode in which three screens in the X direction and two screens in the Y direction are combined, the screen positions Xmax and Ymax at the extreme ends are 2 and 3,
The total number of screens Nmax is 6. In the panorama mode, as shown in FIG. 3B, a plurality of images are arranged in the X direction and synthesized, and each screen position is represented by (1, Y), and the total number of screens Nma
x is set to an arbitrary number of 2 or more. The double mode is
This is a so-called similar shooting mode in which the ratio of the vertical size to the horizontal size of one original screen is kept constant, that is, the number of vertical and horizontal screens is the same, as shown in FIG. In this mode, the total number of screens Nmax is 2 2, 3 2, 4 2
, ... In the arbitrary mode, the number of screens arranged in the X and Y directions can be set arbitrarily, and the total number of screens Nmax = Xm
ax × Ymax. FIG. 6D shows the position of each screen constituting the composite screen with respect to the X and Y coordinates.

In the sub-mode selection processing procedure, as shown in FIG. 5, a sub-mode selection operation is started (step S2).
01) First, it is determined whether or not there has been a key input for selecting a sub mode from the operation unit 6 (step S20).
2) When there is a key input, it is determined whether the mode is the high-definition mode (step S203). If it is determined that the mode is the high-definition mode, Xmax = 3, Ymax
= 2 (step S209), and the routine goes to the process of step S103 in FIG. If it is determined in step S203 that the mode is not the high-definition mode, it is next determined whether or not the mode is the optional mode (step S204). If the mode is the optional mode, Xmax and Ymax are input (step S208), and the process returns. Step S10 in FIG.
Move to 3. If it is determined in step S204 that the mode is not the arbitrary mode, the total number of screens Nmax to be combined is input (step S205), and it is determined whether the mode is the panorama mode (step S206). If it is determined that the mode is the panorama mode, Xmax = Nmax, Ym
ax = 1 is set, and the process proceeds to step S103 in FIG. 1. If the mode is not the panorama mode, it is determined that the mode is the collateral mode, and Xmax and Ymax are set to the square root of Nmax (step S207). Move to step S103. In this case, Nmax must be a square number. However, if any other number is input, Nmax is replaced with a square number of a similar value at the same time that it is determined that the mode is the collation mode. There is no problem if you leave.

After the composition screen configuration is set,
In step S103 of FIG. 3, it is confirmed that the trigger input has been received (step S103), and the first screen ((X, Y) = (1, 1)) is photographed and recorded (step S104). Thereafter, the subsequent photographing conditions are fixed to the photographing conditions of the first image (step S105), and the screen position data (X, Y) is changed to the final frame screen position data (Xma).
(x, Ymax) is determined (step S1).
06), if it has been reached, the photographing condition fixedly set in step S105 is released (step S113), and the process ends. On the other hand, if it is determined in step S106 that the final frame screen position has not been reached, it is determined whether or not Y = Ymax (step S107).
Is increased by 1 (step S108), and Y =
If Ymax, X is increased by 1 and Y
Is reset to 1. Then, synchronization and blanking are reset to superimpose a blanking portion for the synthesis process for the next screen (step S109).
Thereafter, when it is confirmed that both screens are continuously connected (step S110), the photographing and recording operations are performed (step S111), and the process returns to step S106. In step S110, the determination that the adjacent screens are continuously connected can be made by the user observing the EVF, but as shown in FIG.
In the state where the trigger is output by the confirmation by (1), when the coincidence confirmation output of the image data is received from the data comparator 52 in the system controller 5 of FIG.
110A), the photographing and recording processes of step S111 can also be executed. As in this procedure, the accuracy and the operability (simplicity) are remarkably improved by using the automatic judgment by the electric processing under the intention of photographing (trigger operation) by a human.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of an apparatus for reproducing image data shot and recorded according to the present invention in a high-definition format. Image data read from a recording medium such as a memory card is converted into data of a predetermined format by an NTSC-compatible memory card interface 71, and the image data is converted to a high-definition frame memory 73.
The image address data is sent to the address converter 72,
The configuration data is supplied to the data decoder 74, respectively. The configuration data decoded by the data decoder 74 is sent to the system controller 75. The address converter 72 converts an image address transmitted from the interface 71 into an address (an address on a multi-composite screen) to be recorded in the high-definition frame memory 73. The system controller 75 includes the data decoder 7
4 and outputs a read / write control signal to / from the Hi-Vision frame memory 73. The high-definition frame memory 73 includes FIG.
(A) Six screen data are recorded, and a high-definition screen is read and output at the time of reading. As described above, in the reproducing apparatus as shown in FIG. 7, based on the position information of each screen of the composite image, the image is recorded in the high-vision frame memory 73, and the high-vision image is automatically reproduced.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing the configuration of image composition when the recording medium is a medium for recording an analog signal such as a magnetic disk. From the signal generation (SSG) circuit 81, the synchronization signals S1 and S2 are transmitted to the imaging circuit 82 and the recording / reproducing circuit 83.
And blanking signals BL1 and BL2 are supplied to blanking circuits 84 and 85, respectively. The image data obtained from the imaging circuit 82 is recorded on the recording medium of the recording / reproducing circuit 83, and is blanked by a blanking circuit 84 based on a blanking signal BL1. The recorded image data obtained from the recording / reproducing circuit 83 is blanked by a blanking circuit 85 based on a blanking signal BL2. The image data subjected to blanking by the blanking circuits 84 and 85 is mixed with the mixed circuit 86
And sent to the changeover switch 87. Image data from the imaging circuit 82 and image data from the recording / reproducing circuit 83 are supplied to the other two input terminals of the changeover switch 87. The image data selected by the changeover switch 87 is displayed on the EVF 88 based on the synchronization signal S0 from the signal generation circuit 81. Consider combining two screens as shown in FIG. Normally, S1 = S0, S2
= S0, BL1 = BL2 = OFF state. At the time of composition, S1 = S0 + H / 2 + OBL (here, OBL indicates a blanking portion in a double-frame portion of two screens), S2 = S0 +
H / 2-OBL, BL1 is right blanking ON, BL2
Is left blanking ON.

In this embodiment (corresponding to FIG. 8), FIG.
Has been described as an example, two screens (two frames) are projected on the same screen on the monitor.
Of course, the present invention can also be applied to the case of projecting and combining an arbitrary number of screens of frames or more. Now, in all the above embodiments, when screen configuration data is recorded on a recording medium, it does not adversely affect other data, and is compatible with conventionally used field / frame identification and frame number data. Needless to say.
In the above-described embodiment, when image data is recorded on a recording medium, information such as orthogonal transformation is applied to compress the information, and conversely, companding processing for reproducing the original data obtained by expanding the compressed data from the recording medium is performed. Although omitted, it is clear that it can be used as needed.

[0019]

As described above, in the image synthesizing and photographing apparatus according to the present invention, since the photographing conditions of each image of the synthetic image are set to be constant, it is possible to photograph each image while easily contrasting the images to be synthesized. Thus, a uniform and high-quality composite image can be obtained.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of an image synthesizing apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining the operation of the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an operation processing procedure according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating another example of a partial processing procedure in the processing of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a sub-mode selection operation processing procedure in the processing of FIG. 3;

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a positional relationship of a composite screen in a sub mode.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram of an apparatus that reproduces high-definition image data using image data read from a recording medium on which the present invention has been recorded.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an image reproducing apparatus when a magnetic disk is used as a recording medium in the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating an example of a multi-shooting screen and a panoramic shooting screen as examples of a composite screen.

[Explanation of symbols]

 REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 photographing lens 2, 82 imaging circuit 3 comparator 4, 7, 10 buffer memory 5, 75 system controller 6 operation unit 8 recording / reproducing circuit 9 recording medium 11 D / A converter 12 display circuit 13, 88 EVF 51 data address controller 52 Data comparator 53 Configuration data generation circuit 71 Memory card interface 72 Address converter 73 Frame memory for HDTV 74 Data decoder 81 Signal (SSG) generation circuit 83 Recording / playback circuit 84, 85 Blanking circuit 86 Mixing circuit 87 Switching switch

Claims (2)

[Claims] An image based on one image signal relating to a field of view to which the camera is currently directed, and an image based on another image signal obtained by reproducing a previously recorded image are predetermined electronically. An image synthesizing and photographing device configured to sequentially record at least the one image signal while projecting and contrasting on a part and another part on the same screen of a monitor means, wherein the recording is scheduled In the process of sequentially recording the images as the constituent elements, the settings relating to the shooting conditions of the camera are set to be constant so that the respective imaging conditions related to the images as the constituent elements of the entire image are substantially equivalent. An image synthesizing and photographing apparatus comprising: 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the exposure, zoom, focus,
The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein at least one of the color balance characteristic, the sensitivity, and the γ characteristic is set to be constant.