JP2003264764A - Image recording and reproducing device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To solve the problems that a main recording object becomes small when recording and reproducing are performed including a background and the information of the background or the like in recording is omitted when the main recording object is enlarged and recorded by using an optical zoom function in a conventional video camera which records and reproduces one image by the same magnification or the like. <P>SOLUTION: An image recording and reproducing device can simultaneously reproduce and display two images. In the two images, the second image is reproduced and displayed by a different magnification for the first image in at least a part of the first image. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2003,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image recording / reproducing apparatus capable of recording / reproducing an image.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Images recorded by a video camera are
Normally, they are displayed at the same magnification within one screen. For example, FIG. 1A is an example of a screen in which a state where a vehicle is traveling in a city where skyscrapers are built is recorded and reproduced and displayed. Figure 1 (a)
Looking at, you can see that the car is driving in the city. However, if the main object to be recorded is a running vehicle or a driver on the vehicle, the vehicle and the driver are displayed in a small size in FIG. 1A and can hardly be recognized. On the other hand, a conventional video camera can take an enlarged image of a car or a driver by using an optical zoom function. The optical zoom function is a function in which the magnification of the optical system installed in the video camera is variable, and the recording target can be enlarged for shooting. FIG. 1 shows an example of a screen in which the dotted line portion in FIG. 1A is enlarged and recorded by the optical zoom function and is displayed during recording.
It is (b). In FIG. 1B, the vicinity of the vehicle is enlarged and displayed, so that the facial expression of the driver driving the vehicle and the type of the vehicle can be clearly seen from the screen. As a method of enlarging an image, there is a method of enlarging a part of an existing image by an image processing technique, but an image enlarged by the optical zoom function can prevent a reduction in resolution of the enlarged image by the image processing.

[0003]

With the optical zoom function of the conventional video camera, the main object to be recorded can be enlarged and recorded as shown in FIG. 1 (b). But Figure 1
In the image shown in (b), the expression of the running car or driver is enlarged and displayed, so that the background city and the like cannot be recorded. For this reason, the recorded image shows that the vehicle is running, but it does not reflect the situation where the vehicle is traveling or in what state (the vehicle is congested, etc.). Information will be lost.

That is, in a conventional video camera or the like which records and reproduces in one screen at the same magnification, the main recording target becomes small when recording and reproducing including the background, and the main recording is performed by using the optical zoom function. When the subject was enlarged and recorded, information such as the background at the time of recording was missing.

[0005]

The image recording / reproducing apparatus has two
Two images can be reproduced and displayed at the same time, and the second image reproduces and displays at least a part of the first image at different magnifications with respect to the first image. Further, the image recording / reproducing apparatus displays the first image by reproducing the prerecorded first image signal, and displays the second image by enlarging a part of the first image. Further, the image recording / reproducing apparatus displays the first image by reproducing the prerecorded first image signal, and displays the second image by reproducing the prerecorded second image signal. To do.

Further, in the image recording / reproducing apparatus capable of recording the first image signal and the second image signal, the image recording / reproducing apparatus includes a first optical system for recording the first image signal. It has a first image sensor, a second optical system for recording a second image signal, and a second image sensor. At least one of the first optical system and the second optical system has a variable magnification. Further, the number of pixels of the second image sensor is different from that of the first image sensor.

Further, the first photographing section composed of the first optical system and the first image pickup device is detachable from the main body of the image recording / reproducing apparatus, and the main body of the image recording / reproducing apparatus and the first photographing section are
A signal can be transmitted by wire transmission or wireless transmission, and an image can be recorded in the main body of the image recording / reproducing apparatus with the first photographing section removed.

An image recording / reproducing apparatus capable of recording the first image signal and the second image signal, wherein the image recording / reproducing apparatus includes a first optical system for recording the first image signal. Second
And a second optical system for recording the image signal of the first optical system, and the image recording / reproducing apparatus has a first optical system that passes the first optical system and a second optical system that passes the second optical system. It has an image pickup device for picking up the light of 2.

The image recording / reproducing apparatus has a first light source and a second light source.
The light of is captured in different areas of the image sensor, and two lights are detected by one image sensor. In the image recording / reproducing apparatus, first control means for controlling transmission / non-transmission of light is arranged after the first optical system, and after the second optical system,
A second control unit for controlling transmission / non-transmission of light is arranged, and the first light and the second light imaged by the image sensor are
By switching between the control means and the second control means, two lights are alternately detected by one image sensor.

At least a part of the first optical system is exposed outside the image recording / reproducing apparatus when recording the first image signal, and inside the image recording / reproducing apparatus when not recording the first image signal. It can be stored in. Further, the first photographing unit including the first optical system is exposed to the outside of the image recording / reproducing apparatus, and the first photographing unit is set to 360 ° with respect to the image recording / reproducing apparatus.
It is a structure that can be rotated, allowing recording in any direction within 360 °.

Further, the image recording / reproducing apparatus can reproduce and display a plurality of images at the same time, and among the plurality of images, the other images have different magnifications for at least a part of the first images. To play and display. Further, the image recording / reproducing apparatus displays the first image by reproducing the first image signal recorded in advance, and displays the other images by enlarging a part of the first image. Further, the image recording / reproducing device displays each image by reproducing a plurality of image signals corresponding to the plurality of images. An image recording / reproducing apparatus capable of recording a plurality of image signals has the same number of optical systems and image pickup devices as the recordable image signals.

[0012]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. FIG. 2 shows an example of screen reproduction display by the image recording / reproducing apparatus of the present invention. The screen 1 shown in FIG. 2 records and reproduces and displays a state in which a vehicle is traveling in the city. Image 2 in the upper half of screen 1
Indicates that the background city is also included, and the image 3 in the lower half is an enlarged view of the area around the vehicle. In this embodiment, the image 2 and the image 3 are reproduced and displayed at the same time to form one screen, so that the periphery of the vehicle can be displayed without damaging the background. This makes it possible to see from the image 2 the situation at the time of recording, such as the place where the car is traveling and whether there is congestion, and from the image 3 it is possible to see the type of the running car and the facial expression of the driver. ing. Thus, by reproducing images of different magnifications simultaneously to form one screen, it is possible to see the surrounding situation at the time of recording and detailed information of the main target at once.

A display example of simultaneously displaying images of different magnifications will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 3 shows an embodiment of a screen in which two images are reproduced at the same time. One of the images A and B has a higher magnification than the other. Here, the image with a high magnification may be either the image A or the image B.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 3A, for image A,
This is an example in which the image B is displayed small. Image B for image A
Is arranged in the right corner of the screen in this embodiment, but is not limited to this and may be arranged anywhere in the screen. FIG. 3B shows an embodiment in which the screen is divided into left and right parts for display. Also, FIG.
(C) is an embodiment in which the screen is divided into upper and lower parts for display.
Further, FIG. 3D shows an embodiment in which two images are multi-windowed and freely arranged on the screen of the monitor. Figure 3
Although (a) to FIG. 3 (d) are examples in which display is performed using one monitor, the present invention is not limited to this, and for example, two monitors are used as shown in FIG. The image A and the image B may be displayed.

Next, a first embodiment of a method for simultaneously reproducing and displaying images having different magnifications will be described with reference to FIG. Figure 4
FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating an example in which two images are displayed simultaneously by image processing of the image recording / playback apparatus. The image signal used in this embodiment is an image including a background corresponding to FIG. If the portion to be enlarged and displayed is the portion surrounded by the dotted line, this portion is enlarged at the time of image reproduction to create FIG. 4B. Then, the original image and the enlarged image are reproduced and displayed at the same time to form the screen of FIG. Since this embodiment can be supported only by the reproducing function of the image recording / reproducing apparatus, it can be adapted to the already recorded image signal. Further, there is no need to change the recording function of the image recording / reproducing apparatus.

A second embodiment of a method for simultaneously reproducing and displaying images having different magnifications will be described. In the first embodiment,
Since a high-magnification image is created by enlarging and displaying a part of the screen by image processing, the resolution of the high-magnification image decreases. In order to prevent the resolution of the high-magnification image from decreasing, it is possible to simultaneously record the normal image and the high-magnification image at the time of recording and reproduce and display each image signal at the time of reproduction. Unlike the magnified image by image processing, the optical zoom function during recording does not cause deterioration in image quality, so the resolution of high-magnification images can be maintained. By this method, images with different magnifications can be reproduced and displayed at the same time without lowering the resolution.

An image recording / reproducing apparatus for recording images of two different magnifications will be described below. FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining the relationship between the optical system and the image pickup device of the image recording / reproducing apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIGS. 5 (a) 4a and 4b are optical systems 5a and 5a each including at least one optical lens.
Reference numeral b denotes an image sensor that detects light and converts it into an electric signal. The arrow in the figure indicates the light coming from the recording target.
The optical systems 4a and 4b are arranged so that light forms an image on the image pickup devices 5a and 5b. The image recording / reproducing apparatus of this embodiment has two sets of optical systems and image pickup elements,
It has a structure that can record images with different magnifications. Since one image needs to be recorded as a high-magnification image,
At least one of the optical system 4a and the optical system 4b must be a variable magnification optical system. The other optical system may use an optical system with a fixed magnification because it records only the entire image such as the background. Further, since an image sensor for recording only the whole image such as a background does not pose a problem even if the resolution is slightly lowered, an image sensor having a small number of pixels may be used for cost reduction and saving of recording capacity.

Another embodiment of the image recording / reproducing apparatus will be described with reference to FIG. 5 (b) 4c, 4d
Is an optical system composed of an optical lens, and 5c is an image sensor for detecting light and converting it into an electric signal. The arrow in the figure indicates the light coming from the recording target. Optical system 4c, 4d
Is arranged so that light forms an image on the image sensor 5c. Here, the light coming from the optical system 4c is reflected by the mirror 6c and the prism 7c and reaches the image sensor 5c. Further, the light coming from the optical system 4d passes through the prism 7c and reaches the image sensor 5c. The light from the optical systems 4c and 4d forms an image in a predetermined area on the image sensor 5c, and is converted into an electric signal. With such a configuration, different images can be detected by one image sensor.

Another embodiment of the image recording / reproducing apparatus will be described with reference to FIG. 5c, 4e, 4f
Is an optical system composed of an optical lens, and 5e is an image sensor for detecting light and converting it into an electric signal. The arrow in the figure indicates the light coming from the recording target. Optical system 4e, 4f
Is arranged so that light forms an image on the image sensor 5e. Here, the light coming from the optical system 4e is reflected by the mirror 6e and the prism 7e and reaches the image sensor 5e. A liquid crystal shutter 8 is provided between the mirror 6e and the prism 7e.
e is arranged to control transmission / non-transmission of light.
The light coming from the optical system 4f passes through the prism 7e and reaches the image sensor 5e. A liquid crystal shutter 8f is also arranged between the optical system 4f and the prism 7e to control transmission / non-transmission of light. The lights coming from the optical systems 4e and 4f are converted into electric signals by the image pickup device 5e. At this time, the liquid crystal shutters 8e and 8f are alternately switched and the respective light is alternately detected by the image sensor 5e, so that two different images can be detected by one image sensor.

Next, an embodiment of the structure of the image recording / reproducing apparatus will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 6 shows an image recording / reproducing apparatus 9
It shows an overview of a. Image recording / reproducing apparatus main body 1
A viewfinder 11a, a battery 12a, a liquid crystal monitor 16a, a microphone 15a, a holding band 14a, an operation button 13a, etc. are arranged at 0a. Further, optical lenses 17a and 18a forming an optical system are arranged on the front surface of the image recording / reproducing apparatus main body 10a. Optical lens 17
Since a and 18a receive light in substantially the same direction, they are arranged at substantially the same position and in the same direction. Optical lens 1
The light that has passed through 7a and 18a is converted into an electric signal by the image pickup device inside the image recording / reproducing apparatus. At this time, at least one of the lights is an image magnified by the variable magnification optical system.

FIG. 7 shows an overview of the image recording / reproducing apparatus 9b. The viewfinder 11b, the battery 12b, and the liquid crystal monitor 16 are provided on the image recording / reproducing apparatus main body 10b.
b, microphone 15b, holding band 14b, operation button 13
b, etc. are arranged. Further, an optical lens 17b forming an optical system is provided on the front surface of the image recording / reproducing apparatus main body 10b,
18b is arranged. Since the optical lenses 17b and 18b receive light in substantially the same direction, they are arranged at substantially the same position and in the same direction. In this embodiment, an optical system having a fixed magnification is used on one side, and a lens smaller than the optical lens 17b is used as the optical lens 18b constituting the optical system having a fixed magnification.

FIG. 8 shows an overview of the image recording / reproducing apparatus 9c. The viewfinder 11c, the battery 12c, and the liquid crystal monitor 16 are provided on the image recording / reproducing apparatus main body 10c.
c, microphone 15c, holding band 14c, operation button 13
c, etc. are arranged. Further, an optical lens 17c forming an optical system is arranged on the front surface of the image recording / reproducing apparatus main body 10c. An optical system including the optical lens 18c,
An image capturing unit 20a including an image sensor and the like is connected to the image recording / reproducing apparatus main body 10c via a signal line 19.
The image capturing unit 20a can be recorded even when it is detached from the image recording / reproducing apparatus main body 10c, so that not only the background of the recording target but also other landscapes can be recorded at the same time.

FIG. 9 shows an outline of the image recording / reproducing apparatus 9d. The viewfinder 11d, the battery 12d, the liquid crystal monitor 16 are provided on the image recording / reproducing apparatus main body 10d.
d, microphone 15d, holding band 14d, operation button 13
d etc. are arranged. Further, an optical lens 17d forming an optical system is arranged on the front surface of the image recording / reproducing apparatus main body 10d. The optical lens 18d can be housed in the image recording / reproducing apparatus main body 10d as shown in FIG. 9A when two images are not captured, and as shown in FIG. 9B when two images are recorded. The structure is exposed to the outside.

FIG. 10 shows an overview of the image recording / reproducing apparatus 9e. A viewfinder 11e, a battery 12e, and a liquid crystal monitor 16 are provided on the image recording / reproducing apparatus main body 10e.
e, microphone 15e, holding band 14e, operation button 13
e, etc. are arranged. An optical lens 17e that constitutes an optical system is arranged on the front surface of the image recording / reproducing apparatus main body 10e. An optical system including the optical lens 18e,
The image pickup unit 20b including an image pickup device is exposed from the image recording / reproducing apparatus main body 10e and can rotate at an arbitrary angle within 360 °. The image capturing unit 20b can freely rotate and record with respect to the image recording / reproducing apparatus main body 10e, and can record not only the background to be recorded but also other scenes at the same time.

In this embodiment, the image recording / reproducing apparatus reproduces and displays two images at the same time, but the present invention is not limited to this, and three or more images may be simultaneously reproduced and displayed. The image displayed at this time may be one image including a plurality of main targets to be recorded and a background, or may be a plurality of images including one main target and including a background and a landscape. The image recording / reproducing apparatus of this embodiment is an image recording / reproducing apparatus that records two images at the same time, but the invention is not limited to this, and three or more images may be recorded at the same time. The image recorded at this time is
There may be one main target to be recorded and one image including a background, or one main target and a plurality of images including a background and a landscape.

[0026]

The image recording / reproducing apparatus described above can simultaneously record / reproduce images of a plurality of magnifications, and in addition to the main object to be photographed, the surrounding scene at the time of photographing can also be reproduced / displayed at the same time.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a conventional example, which is a diagram showing a display example of an image recording / reproducing apparatus.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention, in which two images with different magnifications are reproduced and displayed at the same time.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention, which is a display example when two images are reproduced and displayed at the same time.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention, and is a diagram illustrating a two-image playback display method by image processing of an image recording / playback apparatus.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention and is a diagram showing a relationship between an optical system and an image pickup element of the image recording / reproducing apparatus.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention and is a diagram showing an overview of an image recording / reproducing apparatus.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing another embodiment of the present invention and is a diagram showing an overview of an image recording / reproducing apparatus.

FIG. 8 is a view showing another embodiment of the present invention and is a view showing an overview of an image recording / reproducing apparatus.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing another embodiment of the present invention and is a diagram showing an overview of an image recording / reproducing apparatus.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing another embodiment of the present invention and is a diagram showing an overview of an image recording / reproducing apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... Screen display example, 2 ... First image example, 3 ... Second image example (high magnification), 4a, 4b, 4c, 4d, 4e, 4f ... Optical system, 5a, 5b, 5c, 5e ... Imaging Element, 6c, 6e ... Mirror, 7c, 7e ... Prism, 8e, 8f ... Liquid crystal shutter, 9a, 9b, 9c, 9d, 9e ... Image recording / reproducing apparatus, 10a, 10b, 10c, 10d, 10e ... Image recording / reproducing apparatus Body, 11a, 11b, 11c, 11d, 11e ... Viewfinder, 12a, 12b, 12c, 12d, 12e ... Battery, 13a, 13b, 13c, 13d, 13e ... Operation button, 14a, 14b, 14c, 14d, 14e ... Holding band, 15a, 15b, 15c, 15d, 15e ... Microphone, 16a, 16b, 16c, 16d, 16e ... Liquid crystal monitor, 17a, 17b, 17c, 17d, 17e ... Optical lens, 18a, 18b, 18c, 18d, 18e ... Optical lens, 19 ... Signal line, 20a, 20b ... Imaging unit

Continued front page    (72) Inventor Koji Fujita             292 Yoshida-cho, Totsuka-ku, Yokohama-shi, Kanagawa             Ceremony Hitachi Digital Media Development Book             Department (72) Inventor Hirofumi Taguchi             292 Yoshida-cho, Totsuka-ku, Yokohama-shi, Kanagawa             Ceremony Hitachi Digital Media Development Book             Department F-term (reference) 5C022 AA13 AC41 AC54 AC77                 5C053 FA07 HA40 LA01

Claims (16)

[Claims] 1. An image recording / reproducing apparatus capable of reproducing an image, wherein the image recording / reproducing apparatus is capable of reproducing and displaying two images at the same time, and in the two images, a second image with respect to a first image is displayed. Is an image recording / reproducing apparatus which reproduces and displays at least a part of the first image at different magnifications. 2. The image recording / reproducing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image recording / reproducing apparatus displays the first image by reproducing a first image signal recorded in advance, and the second image is reproduced. The image recording / reproducing apparatus is characterized in that the image is displayed by enlarging a part of the first image. 3. The image recording / reproducing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image recording / reproducing apparatus displays the first image by reproducing a first image signal recorded in advance, and the second image is reproduced. An image recording / reproducing apparatus characterized in that an image is displayed by reproducing a second image signal recorded in advance. 4. An image recording / reproducing apparatus capable of recording the first image signal and the second image signal according to claim 3, wherein the image recording / reproducing apparatus records the first image signal. A first optical system and a first imaging device for recording, and a second optical system and a second optical system for recording a second image signal.
An image recording / reproducing apparatus having the image pickup device according to claim 1. 5. The image recording / reproducing apparatus according to claim 4, wherein at least one of the first optical system and the second optical system has a variable magnification. 6. The image recording / reproducing apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the number of pixels of the second image sensor is different from that of the first image sensor. 7. The image recording / reproducing apparatus according to claim 4, wherein a first optical system and a first image pickup device are provided.
Of the image recording / reproducing apparatus main body is detachable from the image recording / reproducing apparatus main body, and the image recording / reproducing apparatus main body and the first photographing section can transmit signals by wire transmission or wireless transmission. An image recording / reproducing apparatus, wherein the main body can record an image with the first photographing section removed. 8. An image recording / reproducing apparatus capable of recording the first image signal and the second image signal according to claim 3, wherein the image recording / reproducing apparatus records the first image signal. And a second optical system for recording a second image signal, wherein the image recording / reproducing apparatus has a first optical system that passes through the first optical system. And an image pickup device for picking up the second light passing through the second optical system. 9. The image recording / reproducing apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the image recording / reproducing apparatus is configured such that the first light and the second light are imaged in different regions of the image pickup device, and thereby, An image recording / reproducing apparatus characterized in that an imaging element detects two lights. 10. The image recording / reproducing apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the image recording / reproducing apparatus is provided with a first control means for controlling transmission / non-transmission of light after the first optical system. A second control unit that controls transmission / non-transmission of light is disposed after the second optical system, and the first light and the second light imaged by the image pickup device are supplied to the first optical system. The image recording / reproducing apparatus is characterized in that two light beams are alternately detected by one image pickup device by switching between the control unit and the second control unit. 11. The image recording / reproducing apparatus according to claim 4, wherein at least a part of the first optical system is for the first image. The image recording / reproducing apparatus, which is exposed to the outside of the image recording / reproducing apparatus when recording a signal, and can be housed in the image recording / reproducing apparatus when the first image signal is not recorded. . 12. The image recording / reproducing apparatus according to claim 4, wherein a first photographing section including the first optical system is the image recording / reproducing apparatus. When exposed to the outside of the reproducing apparatus, the first photographing unit is
An image recording / reproducing apparatus having a structure rotatable by 0 ° and capable of recording in any direction within 360 °. 13. An image recording / reproducing apparatus capable of reproducing images, wherein the image recording / reproducing apparatus is capable of reproducing and displaying a plurality of images at the same time. The image recording / reproducing apparatus is characterized in that at least a part of the first image is reproduced and displayed at different magnifications. 14. The image recording / reproducing apparatus according to claim 13, wherein the image recording / reproducing apparatus displays the first image by reproducing a first image signal recorded in advance, and the other image. Is an enlarged image of a part of the first image for display. 15. The image recording / reproducing apparatus according to claim 13, wherein the image recording / reproducing apparatus displays each image by reproducing a plurality of image signals corresponding to the plurality of images. Image recording / reproducing device. 16. An image recording / reproducing apparatus capable of recording a plurality of image signals according to claim 15, wherein the image recording / reproducing apparatus has the same number of optical systems as the recordable image signals. Characteristic image recording / reproducing apparatus.