JP2002189585A - Image processor, image processing system, image processing method and storage medium - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image processor capable of surely and efficiently printing and outputting images desired by a user. SOLUTION: An analysis means and a control means 102 analyze digital images inside a storage means 120 by the luminance of the images and the histogram of a spatial frequency and perform control regarding the printing of the digital images in a printing means 113 on the basis of the analyzed result. Thus, in the digital images inside the storage means 120, only excellent images excluding failure images are printed in the printing means 113.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to, for example, an image processing apparatus, an image processing system, an image processing method, and a processing step for executing the same, which are used in an apparatus or system for printing digital images. Is related to a storage medium stored in a readable manner.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, technologies relating to printers capable of printing with high definition such as computer images and photographs, scanners capable of digitizing printed matter with high definition, and electronic devices such as digital cameras that handle digital images have been developed. Are rapidly developing, and with this, the electronic devices are becoming widespread. Therefore, digital images are more familiar to users than ever before.

[0003]

When printing a digital image on a personal computer (hereinafter simply referred to as a "personal computer") with a printing device, or printing a digital photographed image stored in a digital camera with a printing device. The user confirms the image by displaying the image on a display of a personal computer or a display of a digital camera, determines whether or not to print the image, and if printing, An operation for printing the image is performed, and if not, an operation for displaying the next image is performed.

However, in the conventional digital image printing method, as described above, it is necessary to display the images one by one and perform the corresponding operation for each image by determining whether or not to print the images. Such an operation is very troublesome for the user, and this problem is remarkable particularly when many images are to be printed.

There is also a printing method in which dozens of images can be printed together by a simple operation, such as printing all the stored images, but among a plurality of images to be printed,
For example, when the image is a photographed image, an image that failed to be photographed may be included. Specifically, a photographed image that was completely black due to photographing with the lens cap attached, a photographed image with a slow shutter speed and blurred, or the whole image was out of focus and blurred A photographed image may be included. Therefore, in such a case, an image including an image that is not desired by the user is eventually printed, so that resources such as paper and ink and printing time are wasted.

Accordingly, the present invention has been made to eliminate the above-mentioned disadvantages, and an image processing apparatus, an image processing system, and an image processing method capable of reliably and efficiently printing out an image desired by a user. It is an object of the present invention to provide a computer-readable storage medium storing computer-readable storage medium and processing steps for executing the processing.

[0007]

For such a purpose,
A first invention is an image processing apparatus that performs a process for outputting an image, comprising: an analysis unit that analyzes a target image; and a control unit that controls output of the target image based on an analysis result of the analysis unit. And characterized in that:

[0008] In a second aspect based on the first aspect,
The analysis unit performs the analysis based on at least one of a luminance histogram of the target image, a spatial frequency histogram of the target image, and information on the image acquisition added to the target image in advance. And

[0009] In a third aspect based on the first aspect,
Display means for displaying a target image based on the analysis result by the analysis means; and input means for inputting an instruction from a user based on the display on the display means, wherein the control means Output control of the target image is performed based on an instruction from the means.

In a fourth aspect based on the first aspect,
The control means performs print output control as the output control.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an image processing apparatus capable of operating a digital image, wherein at least one of storage means for storing the digital image and storage means for storing the digital image connected by the connection means. Storage means, printing means for printing the digital image in the storage means, analysis means for analyzing the digital image in the storage means, and digital image processing by the printing means based on the analysis result of the analysis means. It is characterized by comprising control means for controlling printing.

A sixth invention is an image processing system in which a plurality of devices are communicably connected to each other, wherein at least one of the plurality of devices is one of the first to fifth embodiments.
And a function of the image processing apparatus according to any one of the above.

A seventh invention is an image processing method for outputting an image, comprising: an analysis step of analyzing a target image; and a control step of controlling output of the target image based on the analysis result in the analysis step. And characterized in that:

According to an eighth aspect, in the seventh aspect,
The analysis step includes a luminance histogram of the target image,
The method includes a step of performing the analysis based on at least one of information on a spatial frequency histogram of the target image and information on the image acquisition added to the target image in advance.

According to a ninth aspect, in the eighth aspect,
The information on the image acquisition includes information on a shooting condition.

A tenth invention according to the seventh invention, further comprising a display step of displaying a target image based on the analysis result in the analysis step, wherein the control step is based on the display in the display step. Controlling the output of the target image in accordance with an instruction from the user.

According to an eleventh aspect based on the seventh aspect, the control step includes a step of performing print output control as the output control.

According to a twelfth aspect of the present invention, a processing program for implementing the functions of the image processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 5 or the functions of the image processing system according to claim 6 is provided.
It is a storage medium that is readable by a computer.

According to a thirteenth aspect of the present invention, a computer readable storage medium stores the processing steps of the image processing method according to any one of the seventh to eleventh aspects.

A fourteenth invention is an image processing apparatus for designating the output of an image to be stored, wherein the designating means designates a plurality of images to be output, and the analyzing means analyzes the image designated by the designating means. And control means for controlling an output instruction of the target image based on the analysis result of the analysis means.

In a fifteenth aspect based on the fourteenth aspect, the analysis means analyzes at least one of a histogram and attribute information of the image.

In a sixteenth aspect based on the fourteenth aspect, the control means controls permission of the output instruction.

A seventeenth invention is an image processing method for designating an output of an image to be stored, comprising: a designation step of designating a plurality of images to be output; and an analysis step of analyzing the image designated in the designation step. And a control step of controlling an output instruction of the target image based on the analysis result in the analysis step.

In an eighteenth aspect based on the seventeenth aspect, the analyzing step includes a step of analyzing at least one of a histogram and attribute information of the image.

In a nineteenth aspect based on the seventeenth aspect, the control step includes a step of controlling permission of the output instruction.

[0026]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

The present invention is applied to, for example, an electronic apparatus 100 having a digital image processing function as shown in FIG. The electronic device 100 according to the present embodiment is the same as the electronic device 100 shown in FIG.
, The CPU 102, the ROM 104, the RAM 1
And a memory controller / bus bridge 101 to which a memory slot 106 is connected, and a graphic controller 1 to which an LCD 108 as a display unit is connected.
07, an input device controller 106 to which a keyboard 110 as an operation unit and a scanner 111 as an image reading unit are connected, and a parallel controller 112 to which a printer 113 as a printing unit is connected via a PCI bus 103. The configuration is such that communication is possible.

The CPU 102 (Central Processing Unit) controls the overall operation of the electronic device 100 and creates various histograms from digital image data to be printed, which will be described later in detail, and actually prints the data on the printer 113. It also performs information processing such as determining whether or not it is.

Memory controller / bus bridge 101
Has a function of a memory controller for the CPU 102 to access the ROM 104, the RAM 105, or the memory slot 106, and a function of a bus bridge between the CPU 102 and peripheral controllers (the graphic controller 107, the input device controller 106, and the parallel controller 112). Have. The PCI bus 103
The bus authority is managed by the memory controller / bus bridge 101.

The ROM 104 functions as a read-only memory of the CPU 102 via the memory controller / bus bridge 101, and stores a processing program and the like for performing control processing and information processing in the CPU 102. The RAM 105 functions as a readable memory of the CPU 102 via the memory controller / bus bridge 101, and is used as a work area of a processing program executed by the CPU 102, a digital image storage area, and the like. In the memory slot 106, a removable storage medium 120 in which digital image data and the like are stored is set.

The graphic controller 107 has a CP
According to the control from U102, images, characters, etc.
A process for displaying the information 08 is performed. LCD108
Is a display unit capable of displaying images, characters, and the like, and is controlled by the graphic controller 107.

The input device controller 109 controls operations of the keyboard 110, the scanner 111 and the like. The keyboard 110 is an operation unit for the user to perform an operation for issuing various operation instructions to the electronic device 100. The scanner 111 reads a printed matter or the like from the printer 113 as an image.

The parallel controller 112 controls the operation of the printer 113. The printer 113 has a function of printing not only a normal image but also a photograph or the like.

FIG. 2 shows the most characteristic operation of the electronic device 100. That is, the ROM 104 stores a processing program according to the flowchart of FIG.
Is read and executed, the electronic device 100 operates as follows.

Step S200: The user inserts the memory card 120 in which digital image data (hereinafter simply referred to as "image") of a photographed image obtained by photographing with a digital camera or the like is stored in the memory slot 106. (Step S200). Step S201: The CPU 102 sets the memory card 1
When it is detected that the memory card 20 has been inserted into the memory slot 106, it is determined whether or not an image is stored in the memory card 120.

Step S202: If the result of determination in step S201 is that no image is stored in the memory card 120, the CPU 102 sends a message indicating this to the LCD controller 107 via the graphic controller 107.
This is displayed at 108, and then the present processing is terminated.

Step S203: If the result of determination in step S201 is that an image is stored in the memory card 120, the CPU 102 determines whether the image is to be printed on all of the memory card 120 or by means of a DCF file or the like to be described later. , Image analysis is performed to detect a failed image. Specifically, for example, the CPU 102
A histogram of the luminance and the spatial frequency is created for all the images stored in the memory card 120 or for the image specified to be printed, and the histogram of the luminance is concentrated almost in the vicinity of black as shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 4, it is determined whether the luminance histogram is concentrated substantially in the vicinity of white or the spatial frequency histogram is concentrated in the low frequency component. If the histogram corresponds to any of these, The corresponding image is recognized as a failed image.

Step S204: The CPU 102 displays, on the LCD 108 via the graphic controller 107, a message indicating "would you like to print all the images in the memory card 120 or the image designated for printing?" Wait for instructions. When an input is made from the keyboard 110 by the user, the CPU 102 determines whether or not the input indicates that “all images in the memory card 120 or images designated for printing” are to be printed.

Step S205: If the result of determination in step S204 is not "print all images in memory card 120 or a print-designated image", the CPU
Reference numeral 102 denotes a graphic controller 107 which stores all images in the memory card 120 or images designated for printing.
(Thumbnail display) on the LCD 108 via the.
At this time, for the failed image recognized in step S203, the CPU 102 displays the fact on the LCD 108 together with the thumbnail image of the failed image. The user checks the thumbnail image displayed on the LCD 108, and selects an image desired to be printed using the keyboard 110. The CPU 102 recognizes the selection on the keyboard 110, and then proceeds to step S208 described below.

Step S206: If the result of determination in step S204 is "print all images in memory card 120 or print-designated images", the CPU
Reference numeral 102 designates all images in the memory card 120 or images designated to be printed as print targets.

Step S207: The CPU 102 displays, on the LCD 108 via the graphic controller 107, only the failed image recognized in step S203 out of all the print targets in step S206 or the images designated for printing (thumbnail display). I do. Also,
In addition to the thumbnail display, the CPU 102 sends a message or the like indicating “Do you want to print all or print-designated images?”
7 and is displayed on the LCD 108, and waits for an instruction from the user. When an input is made from the keyboard 110 by the user, the CPU 102 determines whether to print all the failed images by the input.
All the images in 0 or the images designated to be printed are to be printed, and if it is instructed not to print all the failed images, the images other than the failed images in the memory card 120 are to be printed.

Step S208: The CPU 102 prints out the image data by supplying the image data to be printed determined in step S205 or step S207 to the printer 113 via the parallel controller 112. This processing ends.

In the present embodiment, as a method of determining a failed image, the luminance and the spatial frequency histogram of the target image are determined in a state where the luminance histogram is concentrated almost in the vicinity of black as shown in FIG. In the case, as shown in FIG. 4 above, when the luminance histogram is concentrated almost in the vicinity of white, or when the spatial frequency histogram is concentrated in low frequency components, Is used as a failed image, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the following method may be used.

For example, when the target image is an image obtained by photographing with a digital camera, a DCF (Desi
gn rule for Camera File Sys
tem), the image (in this case, J
The PEG-compressed image) has imaging condition information (imaging parameters) added thereto. Therefore, whether or not the image is a failure image is determined based on the shooting parameters.

FIG. 5 shows an example of photographing conditions (items) for a digital camera of a certain manufacturer and parameters thereof. If the shooting parameters added to the target image and the state of the histogram of the luminance and spatial frequency of the target image are as follows, the target image is recognized as a failed image. The case where the “shutter speed” is slow and the spatial frequency histogram is concentrated on low frequency components, or the luminance histogram is concentrated near black. The case where the “shooting mode” has priority on the aperture, the “shutter speed” is slow, and the spatial frequency histogram is concentrated on low frequency components, or the luminance histogram is concentrated on black. A case where the image is taken in a state where the “subject distance” is long and the “flash” is emitted, and the spatial frequency histogram is concentrated on low frequency components, or the luminance histogram is concentrated near black. “Shutter speed” is prioritized, “Lens aperture” is the same as “Lens minimum F value”, and spatial frequency histogram is concentrated on low frequency components, or luminance histogram is concentrated near black If you are. A case where the histogram of the luminance is concentrated almost in the vicinity of white, the histogram of the spatial frequency is concentrated in the low-frequency component, the "subject distance" is short, and the image is shot with the "flash" emitted.

Another object of the present invention is to supply a storage medium storing program codes of software for realizing the functions of the host and the terminal according to the present embodiment to a system or an apparatus, and to provide a computer (or a computer) of the system or apparatus. Needless to say, the present invention can also be achieved by a CPU or an MPU) reading and executing a program code stored in a storage medium. In this case, the program code itself read from the storage medium implements the functions of the present embodiment, and the storage medium storing the program code constitutes the present invention. As a storage medium for supplying the program code, a ROM, a floppy (registered trademark) disk, a hard disk, an optical disk, a magneto-optical disk, a CD-ROM, a CD-R, a magnetic tape, a nonvolatile memory card, or the like may be used. it can. In addition, by executing the program code read by the computer, not only the function of the present embodiment is realized, but also based on the instruction of the program code,
It goes without saying that the OS or the like running on the computer performs part or all of the actual processing, and the functions of the present embodiment are realized by the processing.
Further, after the program code read from the storage medium is written to a memory provided in an extension function board inserted into the computer or a function extension unit connected to the computer, the function extension is performed based on the instruction of the program code. C provided on board and function expansion unit
It goes without saying that a PU or the like performs part or all of the actual processing, and the processing realizes the functions of the present embodiment.

Further, in the present embodiment, when printing is performed, the characteristics of the image are analyzed to control the printing. However, the present invention is not limited to this. When specifying that printing is to be performed, a plurality of specified images are analyzed (analysis of image histograms, attribute information, and the like), and an image determined to be unsuitable for printing should be printed. May be cancelled. At this time, all images may be checked one by one, or designated images may be checked one by one. Naturally, the present invention is not limited to the print specification, but may be applied to a slide show specification for sequentially displaying the specified images on a display or a plurality of images to be transmitted by e-mail or fax. Applicable. Even in such a case, it is particularly effective to specify several images at once instead of specifying the output while checking each image one by one. It is possible to prevent output of unnecessary images.

[0048]

As described above, according to the present invention, output control (print output control and the like) of the target image is performed based on the analysis result of the target image (histogram and attribute information of the image). Thus, for example, when printing out a digital image stored in the storage unit, it is determined whether or not the digital image is a failed image (an image that failed to be photographed) based on the analysis result of the digital image,
According to the result, it is possible to control whether to print out or not to print out, so that the user determines whether to display and print images one by one as in the related art. It is not necessary to perform the operation for each image, and even when printing many images collectively, only good images from which failed images have been automatically removed can be printed.

The failed image is, for example, a photographed image which is completely black due to photographing with the lens cap attached, according to the histogram of the brightness and spatial frequency of the target image or photographing condition information (photographing parameters). And
It is possible to recognize a photographed image in which the shutter speed is slow and camera shake occurs, or a photographed image that is out of focus and totally blurred.

Further, in the case where the output of the target image is controlled in accordance with the instruction from the user, it is possible to reliably output only the image necessary for the user.

Therefore, according to the present invention, the user
A desired image can be output reliably and efficiently.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of an electronic device to which the present invention has been applied.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of the electronic device.

FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining an example (Example 1) of a luminance histogram of a target image used in detecting a failed image in the electronic device.

FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining an example (Example 2) of a luminance histogram of a target image used when detecting a failed image in the electronic device.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of shooting parameters of a target image used in detecting a failed image in the electronic device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 100 electronic device 101 memory controller / bus bridge 102 CPU (central processing unit) 103 PCI bus 104 ROM 105 RAM 106 memory slot 107 graphic controller 108 LCD 109 input device controller 110 keyboard 111 scanner 112 parallel controller 113 printer 120 memory card

Claims (19)

[Claims] 1. An image processing apparatus for performing a process for outputting an image, comprising: analysis means for analyzing a target image; and control means for controlling output of the target image based on an analysis result of the analysis means. An image processing apparatus comprising: 2. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the analysis unit is configured to perform the analysis based on at least one of a luminance histogram of the target image, a spatial frequency histogram of the target image, and information related to image acquisition added to the target image in advance. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein: 3. A method according to claim 1, wherein said analysis means includes:
Display means for displaying a target image; and input means for inputting an instruction from a user based on the display on the display means. The control means, based on the instruction from the input means,
The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein output control of the target image is performed. 4. The control means as the output control,
2. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein print output control is performed. 5. An image processing apparatus capable of operating a digital image, comprising: a storage unit for storing a digital image; and a storage unit for storing a digital image connected by a connection unit, A printing unit that prints the digital image in the storage unit; an analysis unit that analyzes the digital image in the storage unit; and a control unit that controls printing of the digital image by the printing unit based on an analysis result of the analysis unit. An image processing apparatus comprising a control unit for performing the operation. 6. An image processing system in which a plurality of devices are communicably connected to each other, wherein at least one of the plurality of devices is the image processing apparatus according to claim 1. An image processing system having the following functions. 7. An image processing method for outputting an image, comprising: an analysis step of analyzing a target image; and a control step of controlling output of the target image based on an analysis result in the analysis step. An image processing method characterized by the following. 8. The analyzing step includes: a histogram of a luminance of the target image, a histogram of a spatial frequency of the target image,
The image processing method according to claim 7, further comprising the step of performing the analysis based on at least one of information on the image acquisition preliminarily added to the target image. 9. The image processing method according to claim 8, wherein the information on image acquisition includes information on a photographing condition. 10. A display step for displaying a target image based on an analysis result in the analysis step, wherein the control step outputs the target image in accordance with an instruction from a user based on the display in the display step. The image processing method according to claim 7, further comprising a step of performing control. 11. The image processing method according to claim 7, wherein said control step includes a step of performing print output control as said output control. 12. A computer readable storage of a processing program for implementing the functions of the image processing apparatus according to claim 1 or the functions of the image processing system according to claim 6. A storage medium characterized by the above-mentioned. 13. A storage medium, wherein the processing steps of the image processing method according to claim 7 are readable by a computer. 14. An image processing apparatus for designating output of an image to be stored, a designating means for designating a plurality of images to be output, an analyzing means for analyzing the image designated by the designating means, An image processing apparatus comprising: a control unit configured to control a target image output instruction based on an analysis result obtained by the unit. 15. The image processing apparatus according to claim 14, wherein said analysis means analyzes at least one of a histogram and attribute information of said image. 16. The image processing apparatus according to claim 14, wherein said control means controls permission of said output instruction. 17. An image processing method for designating an output of an image to be stored, comprising: a designation step of designating a plurality of images to be output; an analysis step of analyzing the image designated in the designation step; Controlling the output instruction of the target image based on the analysis result in the step. 18. The image processing method according to claim 17, wherein the analyzing step includes a step of analyzing at least one of a histogram and attribute information of the image. 19. The image processing apparatus according to claim 17, wherein the control step includes a step of controlling permission of the output instruction.