JP2004199203A - Portable telephone with camera - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a portable telephone with a camera, which reads out more pieces of information from a colored bar code. <P>SOLUTION: The portable telephone has a comparison/determination means which compares/determines image data photographed by a camera and a data determination threshold value for each RGB data of three primary colors of red, green and blue; an analysis means which analyzes whether the image data is a color bar code based on the determination result of the comparison/determination means; and a character conversion means which, when the image data is a color bar code based on the analysis result, reads out the RGB data from the color bar code to convert the data into characters . <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO&NCIPI

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a camera-equipped mobile phone that recognizes a colorized barcode captured by a camera.
[0002]
[Prior art]
2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, mobile phones equipped with a camera have become widespread, and it has become common to add a function using photographing data of the camera. As a function using camera photographing data, a mobile phone that shoots a barcode in a close-up mode and reads out the barcode data has started to appear.
[0003]
As a conventional example of reading a print code, a color code of a book is captured by a CCD video camera, identified by a color code identification unit, and a dictionary in a field corresponding to the identified color code is included in a plurality of dictionaries included in the interactive dictionary. There is an "information processing system and information processing method" which is selected from the following and referred to (for example, see Patent Document 1).
[0004]
[Patent Document 1]
JP-A-9-6798
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, if a large amount of information is put in a generally used one-dimensional barcode, the barcode becomes long, and there is an inconvenience that the barcode cannot fit within the shooting range of the close-up mode. In addition, if the image is taken away from the barcode in order to widen the imaging range, the barcode reading accuracy is reduced, so that the readable barcode information is limited.
[0006]
In order to solve the above-described problems, a method called a two-dimensional barcode has been used. However, since a method of converting a character into a two-dimensional barcode is complicated, and printing accuracy is required. There is a problem that a printer for printing a two-dimensional bar code is expensive.
[0007]
Further, the “information processing system and information processing method” described in Patent Literature 1 specifies a word that cannot be specified only by voice using other information, and reads a colorized barcode. No means.
[0008]
The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and has as its object to provide a camera-equipped mobile phone.
[0009]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to solve such a problem, a camera-equipped mobile phone according to claim 1 controls an image inputting means for inputting a captured image as image data and a photographing operation of the image inputting means, and receives an image input by the image inputting means. A photographing operation control means for converting the image data into digital data; comparing the image data digitally converted by the photographing operation control means with a data determination threshold for each of the three primary colors of red, green and blue RGB data; Comparing and judging means, analyzing means for analyzing whether or not the image data is a color barcode based on the judgment result of the comparing and judging means; And character conversion means for reading RGB data from the barcode and converting the data into characters.
[0010]
According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided the camera-equipped mobile phone according to the first aspect, wherein the comparing and judging means performs a color judgment on the RGB data of the color barcode, and a data judgment threshold value used for the color judgment. It is characterized by changing.
[0011]
The camera-equipped mobile phone according to claim 3 is the camera-equipped mobile phone according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the comparing and determining means adds RGB correction data to a color barcode and shoots the RGB correction data. It is characterized in that an optimum data determination threshold is automatically calculated.
[0012]
According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the camera-equipped mobile phone according to the first aspect, the character conversion means converts the RGB data into characters according to a character table stored in a memory. .
[0013]
According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the camera-equipped mobile phone according to the fourth aspect, the character conversion means supports a plurality of barcode formats according to a plurality of character tables stored in a memory. And
[0014]
According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, there is provided the camera-equipped mobile phone according to the fourth aspect, wherein each operation of the mobile phone is controlled by following the character data converted by the character conversion means.
[0015]
According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, there is provided the mobile phone with a camera according to the third aspect, wherein the RGB correction data is arranged before the start data of the color barcode.
[0016]
According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a camera-equipped mobile phone according to any one of the first to seventh aspects, wherein the data determination threshold value can be increased.
[0017]
According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, in the camera-equipped mobile telephone according to the first aspect, the analyzing means analyzes the image data by detecting the presence or absence of start data and stop data on the barcode. Features.
[0018]
According to a tenth aspect of the present invention, there is provided the camera-equipped mobile phone according to the fourth or fifth aspect, wherein the character conversion means enables conversion into ASCII codes and kanji codes by expanding a character table. It is characterized by.
[0019]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
A circuit block diagram of a mobile phone charger and a mobile phone body will be described with reference to FIG. 7 regarding the configuration of the embodiment of the present invention.
[0020]
The battery pack 1 is a power source of the mobile phone, and is connected to each circuit. The ANT unit 2 transmits and receives wireless signals. The TRX 3 and the baseband processing unit 4 modulate and demodulate the input and output radio signals. The MCPU 5 is a circuit that mainly controls the functional operation of the mobile phone, and can transmit control parameters and commands of the camera module unit 18 to the camera control unit 17. The receiver 6 is a receiving section, and the microphone 7 is a transmitting section. The display unit 8 displays a telephone number, a clock, a service area / out of service area, a charging state / remaining battery level, a telephone directory, mail contents, and an image captured by a camera.
[0021]
The user IF unit 9 is a circuit that mainly recognizes an input of the number button 10 and transmits the input to the MCPU 5. The clock 11 is a circuit that transmits information on the date and time to the MCPU 5. The driver unit 12 is a circuit that receives a notification command at the time of an incoming call from the MCPU 4 and drives the sounder 13 or the vibrator 14. The sounder 13 is a speaker that emits a ring tone, and the vibrator 14 is a vibration motor that notifies an incoming call by vibration. The memory 15 stores data such as user information, a telephone directory, mail, downloaded images and music data, images captured by a camera, and parameters for camera control.
[0022]
The charging control unit 16 is a circuit that controls charging of the battery pack 1, detects connection with a charger, and notifies the MCPU 5 that charging is possible. Further, the voltage and the charging current of the battery pack 1 are monitored, and charging is continued until the battery voltage and the charging current reach a predetermined value. Further, it is possible to perform charge control in response to a charge start / stop signal from the MCPU 5.
[0023]
The camera control unit 17 is a circuit that controls the camera module unit 18, and can control the operation of the camera module unit 18 according to the camera parameters received from the MCPU 5. Further, image data photographed by the camera module section 18 is converted into digital data and transmitted to the MCPU 5.
[0024]
In this configuration, the camera-captured image is displayed on the display unit 8 via the MCPU 5, but the camera control unit 17 is provided with an image processing function such as insertion of frames and characters in image data and a digital zoom function. The image may be directly displayed on the display unit 8 from the control unit 17. The camera module section 18 can operate in accordance with a camera control signal received from the camera control section 17 and performs close-up shooting of a barcode by performing telephoto / close-up shooting such as focus adjustment and optical zoom. Is possible.
[0025]
FIG. 1 shows a circuit block diagram of a mobile phone according to the present invention. The circuit block diagram is almost the same as that of the conventional mobile phone, except that an RGB determination unit 19 is mounted.
[0026]
The RGB determination unit 19 receives the image data digitally converted by the camera control unit 17, and compares the R component, the G component, and the B component of the image data with a preset data determination threshold value. It is possible to determine whether it is low. The determination result is transmitted to the MCPU 5 via the camera control unit 17. In addition, the data determination threshold can be set to a value transmitted from the MCPU 5 via the camera control unit 17. Note that the RGB determination unit 19 is built in the camera control unit 17 and may be a single chip.
[0027]
Next, the operation of the embodiment of the present invention will be described. FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the operation of the embodiment according to the present invention.
[0028]
When reading of a color barcode is started by a user operation (T201), image data captured by the camera module unit 18 is sent to the camera control unit 17, and the image data is converted into digital data by the camera control unit 17. (T202). The digitally converted image data is sent to the RGB determination unit 19, and compared with the RGB threshold value received from the MCPU 5 in advance (T203). A method of comparing the image data with the RGB thresholds will be described later.
[0029]
The determination result of the image data is transmitted to the MCPU 5 (T204), and the MCPU 5 analyzes whether the image data is a color barcode (T205). Various analysis methods are conceivable depending on the type of barcode. For example, a method based on detection of the presence or absence of start data and stop data can be used.
[0030]
As a result of the analysis, if the image data is not a color barcode (T205, NO), a process for reading failure is performed. On the other hand, as a result of the analysis, if the image data is a color barcode (T205, YES), the MCPU 5 converts the color barcode data into a character (T206), and performs a process at the time of successful reading. An example of the character conversion method will be described later.
[0031]
Next, a method of reading a color barcode according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.
[0032]
FIG. 3 shows image data when a color barcode in which red, green, blue, purple, yellow, light blue, and black are printed on a white background is plotted on the vertical axis: red intensity (R Component), green intensity (G component), blue intensity (B component), the horizontal axis: a graph showing the horizontal coordinates of the barcode, and the result determined by comparing with an RGB threshold value. This is a table.
[0033]
In this explanatory diagram, for convenience of explanation, each of the RGB threshold values is set to one, and binary data of strong / weak is used. By judging as value data, it is also possible to perform more detailed color judgment.
[0034]
Further, since the RGB threshold value can be changed to the level received from the MCPU 5, it can be set to an optimal threshold value according to the shooting environment. When a white portion of the background is photographed, all the R, G, and B components become strong, and the result of the color determination is “white”. Similarly, the color determination is “red” when only the R component is strong, “green” when only the G component is strong, and “blue” when only the B component is strong. Further, according to the combination of RGB, the color judgment is “purple” when the R component and the B component are strong, “yellow” when the R component and the G component are strong, and “light blue” when the G component and the B component are strong. . If all the RGB components are weak, the determination is "black". As described above, the color judgment is performed based on the combination of the RGB data.
[0035]
Next, FIG. 4 shows an example of a color barcode character code table according to the present invention. This code table is merely an example, and the character code table can be enlarged by increasing the number of barcodes handled as one piece of data. Therefore, conversion to ASCII codes and kanji is also possible.
[0036]
The color bar code character code table shown in FIG. 4 is an example of a case where two bar codes are converted into a character as one set.
[0037]
For example, if the color barcode is “purple” or “red”, it indicates the character “A”, and if it is “black” or “green”, it indicates the character “Z”. When the color barcode is “black” or “black”, it indicates start data or stop data.Use at both ends of the color barcode to identify it as a color barcode, To prevent the reading and analysis of the data.
[0038]
FIG. 5 shows an example of printing a color barcode according to the present invention. The illustration of the color barcode is an example, and the present application is not limited to the print format shown in FIG. This color barcode printing example is an example in which the character “0123DEFG” is printed, and is a diagram showing a difference in printing length between the formats when the thinnest bar has the same thickness. Since the minimum value of the thinnest bar depends on the camera module that captures the barcode, the thickness of the thinnest bar in each format is unified.
[0039]
FIG. 5A shows an example of printing a color barcode according to the present invention, which is an example of a case where a character is converted into a color barcode using the character code table shown in FIG. In this example, start data and stop data are added to both ends of the color barcode, thereby limiting the data area of the barcode. Further, in this example, since the setting is such that two color barcodes are handled as one set of data, the combination of the color barcodes is half of the start data / stop data indicated by “black” and “black”. Corresponds to one barcode, and also serves to define the thickness of one barcode.
[0040]
FIG. 5B is a diagram when a barcode is printed in a conventional CODE39 format which is generally used. Since the length of the barcode is considerably longer than that of the color barcode according to the present invention shown in FIG. 5A, a camera having a narrow shooting range, such as a camera mounted on a mobile phone, can shoot the entire barcode. Can not.
[0041]
FIG. 5C shows a case where a barcode is printed in a commonly used conventional CODE128 format, similarly to FIG. 5B. Even the CODE 128 format is considerably long, and it is difficult to shoot with a camera module mounted on a mobile phone.
[0042]
As described above, by coloring the barcode, the length of the barcode can be reduced, and more data can be read.
[0043]
Next, another embodiment of the present invention will be described. FIG. 6 shows a color barcode printing example according to another embodiment. The configuration and operation of the mobile phone are the same as those described above, except that RGB correction data is added to the color barcode. Three red bars, one green bar and one blue bar are arranged before the start data, and the three components are photographed to determine the data of each of the R component, the G component, and the B component. The threshold value can be set to an optimum value.
[0044]
In general, image data captured by a camera greatly fluctuates depending on a surrounding environment such as brightness, and it is difficult to accurately identify a color. However, color correction is more accurately performed by the RGB correction data. Barcode reading can be realized.
[0045]
【The invention's effect】
As is apparent from the above description, in particular, in the case of the conventional camera mounted on the mobile phone, in order to recognize the barcode or the character, it is necessary to take a close-up, so the photographable range is narrowed, Although much information could not be obtained from the barcode, according to the camera-equipped mobile phone of the present invention, when a barcode is recognized by the camera of the mobile phone, even if the barcode is short, more information is obtained. Can be obtained. Recently, by using a two-dimensional barcode, a lot of information can be put in a narrow range. However, by applying the configuration and means of the present invention, the two-dimensional barcode can be used. Each dot is colored, and more information can be entered.
[0046]
According to the camera-equipped mobile phone according to the first aspect, the camera-equipped mobile phone according to the first aspect controls an image inputting means for inputting a captured image as image data, and a photographing operation of the image inputting means. Photographing operation control means for digitally converting the image data inputted by the means, image data digitally converted by the photographing operation control means, and a data determination threshold value, the RGB data of red, green and blue which are three primary colors A comparison / judgment means for comparing and judging each time, an analysis means for analyzing whether or not the image data is a color barcode based on the judgment result of the comparison / judgment means, and the image data being a color barcode based on the analysis result of the analysis means. In some cases, it has character conversion means for reading RGB data from a color barcode and converting it into characters. It can be read as much information from the color of barcode.
[0047]
According to the camera-equipped mobile phone of the second aspect, in the camera-equipped mobile phone of the first aspect, the comparison and judgment means performs color judgment on the RGB data of the color barcode, and judges data for use in color judgment. Since the threshold value is changed, an optimal threshold value can be set according to the shooting environment.
[0048]
According to the camera-equipped mobile phone according to the third aspect, in the camera-equipped mobile phone according to the first or second aspect, the comparing and judging means adds the RGB correction data to the color barcode and shoots the RGB correction data. Thus, since the optimum data determination threshold value is automatically calculated, the color barcode can be read more accurately.
[0049]
According to the camera-equipped mobile phone of the fourth aspect, in the camera-equipped mobile phone of the first aspect, the character conversion means converts the RGB data into characters according to a character table stored in a memory. Therefore, a lot of information can be read from the colorized barcode.
[0050]
According to the camera-equipped mobile phone set forth in claim 5, in the camera-equipped mobile phone set forth in claim 4, the character conversion means supports a plurality of barcode formats according to a plurality of character tables stored in a memory. Therefore, more types of barcodes can be read.
[0051]
According to the camera-equipped mobile phone of the sixth aspect, in the camera-equipped mobile phone of the fourth aspect, each operation of the mobile phone is controlled by following the character data converted by the character conversion means. The function control can be performed by reading information in the barcode.
[0052]
According to the camera-equipped mobile phone according to the seventh aspect, in the camera-equipped mobile phone according to the third aspect, the RGB correction data is arranged before the start data of the color barcode. Barcode reading can be realized.
[0053]
According to the camera-equipped mobile phone according to the eighth aspect, in the camera-equipped mobile phone according to any one of the first to seventh aspects, the data determination threshold value can be increased. More detailed color judgment can be performed.
[0054]
According to the camera-equipped mobile phone of the ninth aspect, in the camera-equipped mobile phone of the first aspect, the analysis means analyzes the image data by detecting the presence or absence of start data and stop data on the barcode. Therefore, identification of a color barcode and reading / analysis of extra data can be prevented.
[0055]
According to the camera-equipped mobile phone of the tenth aspect, in the camera-equipped mobile phone of the fourth or fifth aspect, the character conversion means can convert the character code into an ASCII code or a kanji code by expanding a character table. Therefore, more code conversion is possible.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a mobile phone according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of the mobile phone according to the embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of a color barcode reading method according to the present invention.
FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a color barcode character code table according to the present invention.
FIG. 5 is an explanatory view showing a printing example of a color barcode according to the present invention.
FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing a printing example of a color barcode according to another embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a conventional mobile phone.
[Explanation of symbols]
1 Battery pack 2 ANT section 3 TRX
4 Baseband processing unit 5 MCPU
6 Receiver 7 Microphone 8 Display unit 9 User IF unit 10 Number button 11 Clock 12 Driver unit 13 Sounder 14 Vibe 15 Memory 16 Charging control unit 17 Camera control unit 18 Camera module unit 19 RGB judgment unit

Claims (10)

Image input means for inputting a captured image as image data,
A photographing operation control unit that controls a photographing operation of the image input unit and converts the image data input by the image input unit into a digital signal.
Comparing and judging means for comparing and judging the image data digitally converted by the photographing operation control means and a data judgment threshold value for each of the three primary colors of red, green and blue RGB data;
Analysis means for analyzing whether or not the image data is a color barcode according to the determination result of the comparison determination means,
When the image data is a color barcode according to the analysis result of the analysis unit, a character conversion unit that reads the RGB data from the color barcode and converts the RGB data into characters.
A mobile phone with a camera, characterized by having: 2. The camera-equipped mobile phone according to claim 1, wherein the comparison determination unit performs a color determination on the RGB data of the color barcode, and changes the data determination threshold used for the color determination. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the comparing and judging means adds the RGB correction data to the color barcode, and automatically calculates the optimum data judgment threshold by photographing the RGB correction data. Or the mobile phone with a camera according to 2. 2. The camera-equipped mobile phone according to claim 1, wherein the character conversion unit converts the RGB data into characters according to a character table stored in a memory. 5. The camera-equipped mobile phone according to claim 4, wherein the character conversion unit supports a plurality of barcode formats according to a plurality of character tables stored in a memory. 5. The camera-equipped mobile phone according to claim 4, wherein each operation of the mobile phone is controlled according to the character data converted by the character conversion means. 4. The camera-equipped mobile phone according to claim 3, wherein the RGB correction data is arranged before start data of the color barcode. 8. The camera-equipped mobile phone according to claim 1, wherein the data determination threshold can be increased. 2. The camera-equipped mobile phone according to claim 1, wherein the analysis unit analyzes the image data by detecting presence / absence of start data and stop data on a barcode. 6. The camera-equipped mobile phone according to claim 4, wherein the character conversion unit is capable of converting the character table into an ASCII code or a kanji code by expanding the character table.

Images