JP2005039579A - Image management device and digital camera - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image management device capable of utilizing efficiently a storage medium without performing such a bothersome human work as to search and eliminate images with a low degree of necessity out of a plurality of image data stored in the storage medium. <P>SOLUTION: Image data control unit 3 of a digital camera 100 judges a degree of the necessity of the image data based on features (at least any one of brightness, a focusing degree, and a blurring degree caused by hand movement) of the image data stored in the storage medium 6, and then eliminates image data that have been judged as having the low degree of the necessity from the storage medium 6. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to an image management apparatus that manages image data captured by an image sensor and stored in a storage medium.

  Digital cameras that form a subject image on a solid-state imaging device such as a CCD, convert the image into digital image data, and store the digital image data in a storage medium such as a memory card are widely used. In recent years, digital cameras have become higher in image quality and require a large memory capacity to store images. For this reason, when a large number of photographs are taken, the free space of the storage medium is insufficient, and the occasional photo opportunity may be missed.

  In order to avoid such an unexpected situation, the user must always check the free capacity of the storage medium. Then, when there is no more free space, the stored image is reproduced by playing a stored image on the display device included in the digital camera body, selecting an erasable image from the image, and manually erasing the image. Had enough free space.

On the other hand, when the remaining storage area of a storage medium is low, an apparatus has been proposed in which image data that has been reproduced once is retrieved and automatically deleted to secure a new storage area (for example, Patent Documents). 1).
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 11-66694

  However, as described above, in the method of securing the free space of the storage medium by the user's operation, the user can always check the free space of the storage medium or reproduce the stored image on the display device and delete the image. Therefore, it is necessary to execute an erasing operation, which is inefficient and time consuming.

  Furthermore, in the method of automatically erasing image data that has been played once, the history of whether or not it has been played is a fixed criterion, but it is irrelevant to the importance of the image data, and important images are deleted by mistake. There is a possibility that.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and provides an image management apparatus that can efficiently use a storage medium that stores image data captured by an image sensor without performing complicated operations. The purpose is to do.

  An image management apparatus according to the present invention is an image management apparatus that manages image data captured by an image sensor and stored in a storage medium, and determining whether the image data is necessary based on characteristics of the image data And an image erasing unit for erasing the image data according to a determination result of the determination unit.

  This apparatus determines the necessity of the image data based on the characteristics of the image data, and erases the image data according to the determination result. This device determines the least necessary image data stored in the storage medium, and deletes the image data from the storage medium, so that this device performs an operation of a plurality of image data stored in the storage medium. The storage medium can be used efficiently without the need for humans to perform operations such as erasing those that are less necessary.

  An image management apparatus according to the present invention is an image management apparatus that manages a plurality of image data captured by an image sensor and stored in a storage medium, wherein arbitrary image data of the plurality of image data and other images A determination unit that determines necessity of the arbitrary image data and the other image data based on a difference from the data, and the arbitrary image data and the other image data according to a determination result of the determination unit; Image erasing means for erasing at least one of the above.

  This apparatus determines the necessity of the image data based on the difference between the image data stored in the storage medium, and erases the image data according to the determination result. This device determines the least necessary image data stored in the storage medium, and deletes the image data from the storage medium, so that this device performs an operation of a plurality of image data stored in the storage medium. The storage medium can be used efficiently without the need for humans to perform operations such as erasing those that are less necessary.

  The image management apparatus according to the present invention is an image management apparatus that manages image data captured by an image sensor, and stores the image data stored in a storage medium and the storage medium captured by the image sensor before storing the image data. A determination unit that determines the necessity of the image data before storage based on a difference from the image data of the image, and an image that stores the image data before storage in the storage medium according to a determination result of the determination unit Storage means.

  This apparatus determines the necessity of captured image data based on the difference between the image data captured by the image sensor and the image data stored in the storage medium, and stores the image data according to the determination result. It is stored in a medium. By not storing the image data determined to be less necessary in the storage medium, it is possible to delete the less necessary one from a plurality of image data stored in the storage medium without human beings. The storage medium can be used efficiently.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the image management apparatus which can utilize efficiently the storage medium which memorize | stores the image data imaged with the image pick-up element, without performing a complicated operation can be provided.

  FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of a digital camera for explaining an embodiment of the present invention. The digital camera 100 includes an imaging unit 1, a signal processing unit 2, an image data control unit 3, a RAM 4, a ROM 5, a storage medium 6, a display unit 7, and an operation unit 8.

  The imaging unit 1 includes an optical system including an imaging lens, a diaphragm mechanism, an autofocus mechanism, and the like, and a solid-state imaging device such as a CCD, and converts a subject image formed on the CCD via the optical system into an electrical signal. .

  The signal processing unit 2 is an A / D converter that converts a CCD output signal into a digital image signal, a color separation circuit that generates a luminance / color difference signal from the digital image signal, brightness correction, white balance correction, gamma correction, and sharpness correction. And a correction processing circuit such as contrast correction, and executes image signal processing.

  The image data control unit 3 includes a RAM 4 and a ROM 5, and constitutes a microprocessor. The image data control unit 3 performs JPEG compression / expansion processing on the image signal obtained by the signal processing unit 2, and stores the image data obtained by the compression processing. Controls storage in the medium 6, reproduction of image data stored in the storage medium 6 on the display unit 7, and the like.

  Further, the necessity of the image data stored in the storage medium 6 is determined, image data with low necessity is extracted from the image data, and part or all of the extracted image data is erased.

  The RAM 4 includes a volatile memory, and is used as a temporary storage area for the image signal acquired by the signal processing unit 2. The ROM 5 is composed of a non-volatile memory, and stores a program for controlling the imaging process.

  The storage medium 6 is a removable medium such as a smart media (registered trademark), a compact flash (registered trademark), or an SD memory card (registered trademark) that can be attached to and detached from the digital camera 10 main body. Image data having information is stored. The storage medium 6 is not limited to a removable medium, but may be an internal memory including a flash memory built in the digital camera 10 body.

  The display unit 7 is a display device such as a liquid crystal display (LCD), and displays shooting information and a through image, and reproduces and displays image data stored in the storage medium 6 during shooting.

  The operation unit 8 is an operation input unit of the digital camera 10 including a power switch, a mode change switch, a function selection button, a direction key, a shutter button, and the like, and a status signal generated by operating these keys is an image. Each function of the digital camera 10 is executed by being sent to the data control unit 3.

  Next, a method for erasing image data stored in the storage medium 6 of the digital camera 100 configured as described above will be described in the first to fifth embodiments.

(First embodiment)
In the present embodiment, when a plurality of substantially the same image data is stored in the storage medium 6, at least one of them is automatically deleted. Hereinafter, an operation procedure will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.

  First, the image data control unit 3 extracts the image data of the frame number n automatically assigned in the shooting order from the image data stored in the storage medium 6 (step S11). Then, the image data of the frame number n and the image data other than the frame number n stored in the storage medium 6 are subtracted and their absolute values are integrated (step S12).

  Next, the image data control unit 3 determines whether or not there is image data whose integrated value is equal to or less than a predetermined reference value (threshold) (step S13). It is determined that the image data of frame number n is the same as the image data of frame number n, it is determined that the necessity of the image data of frame number n is low, and the image data of frame number n is deleted (step S14).

  On the other hand, if there is no image data whose integrated value is less than or equal to the reference value, it is determined that the image data is different from the image data of frame number n, and the necessity of the image data of frame number n is high. The process proceeds to step S15 without erasing the image data. Here, the reference value may be a fixed value or a value set by the user.

Subsequently, the image data control unit 3 determines whether there is image data after the frame number n + 1 (step S15). As a result, if there is no image data after frame number n + 1, the operation is terminated. On the other hand, if there is image data after frame number n + 1, 1 is added to n (step S16).
Return to step S11.

  As described above, when a plurality of substantially the same image data is stored in the image data stored in the storage medium 6, at least one of the image data is automatically deleted, so that the user's hand is bothered. The free capacity of the storage medium 6 can be increased without any problems.

  In the above description, the image data control unit 3 can delete the image data manually instead of automatically deleting the image data, which will be described below with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.

  In FIG. 3, steps S21 to S23 are the same as steps S11 to S13 in FIG.

  If there is image data whose integrated value is less than or equal to the reference value in step S23, the image data control unit 3 determines that the necessity of the image data of frame number n is low, and stores the image data of frame number n in the RAM 4. (Step S24). On the other hand, if there is no image data whose integrated value is less than or equal to the reference value, it is determined that the image data of frame number n is highly necessary, and the process proceeds to step S25 without erasing the image data. Here, the reference value may be a fixed value or a value set by the user.

  Subsequently, the image data control unit 3 determines whether or not there is image data after the frame number n + 1 (step S25). If there is image data after the frame number n + 1, 1 is added to n (step S25). S26) Return to step S21.

On the other hand, if there is no image data after frame number n + 1,
The image data control unit 3 displays a thumbnail image of the image data stored in the storage medium 6 on the display unit 7, reads out the image data of the frame number stored in step S24 from the RAM 4, and as shown in FIG. Then, marking (x mark) is performed on the thumbnail image of the read image data to make it clear that it is an erasure candidate (step S27).

  The user operates the direction key of the operation unit 8 of the digital camera 10 body to move the cursor, and selects an image to be deleted from images marked with a cross. Then, the image data control unit 3 deletes the image selected by the user from the storage medium 6 (step S28). Note that the erasing operation of the selected image data may be either batch or sequential.

  Thus, since the user determines the image to be erased, it is possible to avoid accidentally erasing important image data from the storage medium 6.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, when image data stored in the storage medium 6 includes substantially the same image data, at least one of the image data is automatically deleted. For this reason, the free space of the storage medium 6 can be easily secured without bothering the user. In particular, when the continuous shooting (continuous frame advance shooting) function is used, the effect is great because the angle of view is often the same.

  The image data control unit 3 subtracts the image data picked up by the image pickup unit 1 and temporarily stored in the RAM 4 from each of all the image data stored in the storage medium 6 and adds up the absolute values. The image data stored in the RAM 4 may be stored in the storage medium 6 only when the integrated value exceeds the reference value.

  Further, the image data control unit 3 performs the above-described processing on the image data stored in the storage medium 6, but when a plurality of image data obtained by continuous shooting or the like is stored in the RAM 4, An integrated value of each difference may be taken for a plurality of image data stored therein, those whose integrated value is less than or equal to the reference value may be deleted, and only those whose integrated value exceeds the reference value may be stored in the storage medium 6. . Thereby, when the image data obtained by continuous shooting is substantially the same, the number of image data stored in the storage medium 6 can be reduced, and thus the storage medium 6 is efficiently used. be able to.

(Second Embodiment)
The present embodiment is a method for determining the necessity of image data stored in the storage medium 6 based on brightness and automatically erasing image data with low necessity. Hereinafter, the operation procedure will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.

First, the image data control unit 3 extracts the image data of the frame number n from the storage medium 6 (Step S31).
Then, the brightness of the image, which is a feature of the extracted image data, is calculated (step S32). The brightness of the image is obtained by integrating luminance components separated from the image data.

  Next, the image data control unit 3 determines whether or not the calculated brightness is equal to or less than a predetermined reference value (step S33). If the brightness is equal to or less than the reference value, the necessity of this image data is determined. It is determined that the image data is low, and the image data of frame number n is deleted (step S34). On the other hand, if the brightness exceeds the reference value, it is determined that the necessity of the image data is high, and the process proceeds to step S35 without erasing the image data. The reference value may be a fixed value or a value set by the user.

  Subsequently, the image data control unit 3 determines whether there is image data after the frame number n (step S35). As a result, if there is no image data after frame number n, the operation is terminated. On the other hand, if there is image data after frame number n, 1 is added to n (step S36) and the process returns to step S31.

  As described above, the necessity of the image data stored in the storage medium 6 is determined based on the brightness of the image data, and the image data with a low necessity is automatically deleted. Free space can be increased.

  In the above description, the method of automatically erasing image data whose brightness is equal to or less than the reference value is shown. However, the image data can be erased manually, and the flowchart of FIG. I will explain. In FIG. 6, the procedure of steps S41 to S43 is the same as that of steps S31 to S33 of FIG.

  When the brightness of the image is equal to or less than the reference value in step S43, the image data control unit 3 stores the image data of frame number n in the RAM 4 (step S44), and determines whether there is image data after frame number n. Determination is made (step S45). As a result, when there is image data after the frame number n, the image data control unit 3 adds 1 to n (step S46) and returns to step S41.

On the other hand, if it is determined that there is no image data after frame number n, the process proceeds to step S47.
Steps S47 and S48 are the same as S27 and S28 in the flow shown in FIG. 3 of the first embodiment.

  In this way, since the image to be erased is determined by the user, it is possible to avoid accidentally erasing from the storage medium 6 an image that is poor in performance but not desired to be erased.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, since the image brightness based on the image data is automatically deleted if it is less than the reference value, the free space of the storage medium 6 can be easily reduced without bothering the user. Can be secured.

  The image data control unit 3 obtains the brightness of the image data picked up by the image pickup unit 1 and temporarily stored in the RAM 4. Only when the brightness exceeds the reference value, the image data is stored in the storage medium 6. You may make it memorize.

(Third embodiment)
In the present embodiment, the necessity of the image data stored in the storage medium 6 is determined based on the degree of focus (a numerical value indicating whether or not the image is in focus), and image data with low necessity is automatically selected. It is a method of erasing. Hereinafter, the operation procedure will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.

  First, the image data control unit 3 extracts the image data of the frame number n from the storage medium 6 (Step S51), and calculates the degree of focus of the image for the extracted image data (Step S52). Here, the degree of focus of the image is obtained by differentiating and integrating the luminance components of the pixels in the vertical direction and the pixels in the horizontal direction of the image, and calculating the ratio of the high-frequency component included in the integrated value.

  For example, for the pixels in the horizontal direction of the image, the absolute value of the luminance value difference between adjacent pixels is obtained. This is performed for all of the horizontal directions, and the sum of absolute values of luminance value differences is obtained. Similarly, the sum of absolute values of luminance value differences for the pixels in the vertical direction is obtained. Finally, the two sums are multiplied to obtain the degree of focus.

  The image data control unit 3 determines whether or not the calculated focus degree is equal to or less than a predetermined reference value (step S53). If the focus degree is equal to or less than the reference value, the image data of the frame number n is necessary. Therefore, the image data of frame number n is erased (step S54). On the other hand, if the degree of focus exceeds the reference value, it is determined that the necessity of the image data of frame number n is high, and the process proceeds to step S55 without erasing the image data. The reference value may be a fixed value or a value set by the user.

  Subsequently, the image data control unit 3 determines whether or not there is image data after the frame number n (step S55). If there is no image data after the frame number n, the operation ends at that point. On the other hand, if there is image data after frame number n, 1 is added to n (step S56) and the process returns to step S51.

  Note that by applying the method of the present embodiment after extracting substantially the same image data by the method of the first embodiment, it is possible to accurately determine the image to be erased. Will be described. In FIG. 8, the procedure of steps S61 to S63 is the same as steps S11 to S13 of FIG.

  In step S63, when there is image data whose integrated value is less than or equal to the reference value, the degree of focus between the image data and the image data of frame number n is calculated (step S64). Then, it is determined that the necessity other than the image data having the highest focus degree is low, and the image data determined to be low necessity is temporarily stored in the RAM 4 (step S65). On the other hand, if there is no image data whose integrated value is less than or equal to the reference value, the process proceeds to step S66. Here, the reference value may be a fixed value or a value set by the user.

  Subsequently, the image data control unit 3 determines whether or not there is image data after the frame number n + 1 (step S66). If there is no image data after the frame number n + 1, the image data stored in step S65 is stored. Erasing is performed (step S68), and the operation is terminated. On the other hand, if there is image data after frame number n + 1, 1 is added to n (step S67) and the process returns to step S61.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, since the in-focus degree of the image based on the image data is automatically deleted, the free space of the storage medium 6 can be reduced without bothering the user. It can be secured easily. In addition, when almost the same image data is stored in the storage medium 6, the image data other than the one with the highest degree of focus is deleted, so that the result of the same image data that is in focus is deleted. It is possible to avoid accidentally deleting good image data.

  The image data control unit 3 obtains the degree of focus of the image data picked up by the image pickup unit 1 and temporarily stored in the RAM 4, and stores the image data only when the degree of focus exceeds the reference value. You may make it memorize | store in the medium 6. FIG.

  Further, in step S68, the image data control unit 3 does not automatically delete the image data, but may perform the deletion according to the instruction from the user by the method described in the first or second embodiment. good.

(Fourth embodiment)
In the present embodiment, the necessity of image data stored in the storage medium 6 is determined based on the degree of camera shake (a numerical value indicating whether or not the image is blurred), and image data with low necessity is automatically deleted. It is a method to do. The operation procedure will be described according to the flowchart shown in FIG.

  When the photographing mode is switched by the user's operation (step S71), the image data control unit 3 temporarily stores the two latest through images in the RAM 4 while displaying the through images on the display unit 7 (step S72). ).

  Next, it is determined whether or not the shutter button has been fully pressed (step S73). If the shutter button has not been fully pressed, the process returns to step S72 and waits. On the other hand, when the shutter button is fully pressed, the photographed image and the two latest through images are stored in the storage medium 6 together with the tag information and the thumbnail image, for example, as image data in the file format shown in FIG. 10 (step S74). .

  Subsequently, the image data control unit 3 determines whether or not the free capacity of the storage medium 6 is equal to or less than a predetermined amount (step S75). As a result, when the free capacity of the storage medium 6 exceeds the predetermined amount, the process returns to step S72 and waits. On the other hand, if the free capacity of the storage medium 6 is less than or equal to the predetermined amount, the image data stored in step S74 is read from the storage medium 6 and the difference between the two through images included in the tag information of the image data is integrated. Then, the image shake degree of the image based on the image data is calculated (step S76).

The image data control unit 3 determines whether or not the calculated hand shake degree is equal to or greater than a reference value (step S77). If the hand shake degree is equal to or greater than the reference value, the image data stored in step S74 is erased (step 78). ).
On the other hand, if the hand shake degree is not greater than or equal to the reference value, the process returns to step S72 to prepare for the next shooting.

As described above, according to this embodiment,
Since an image whose image shake based on the image data is equal to or higher than the reference value is automatically deleted, the free space of the storage medium 6 can be easily secured without bothering the user.

  Note that the image data control unit 3 performs subtraction processing of two through images at the time of image capturing by the image capturing unit 1 to calculate the hand shake degree, and the hand shake degree is stored in the storage medium 6 as tag information of the captured image data. You may make it memorize | store. According to this, since the image data control unit 3 can automatically delete image data with camera shake with reference to the tag information, the processing at the time of erasing the image can be speeded up. .

  Further, the image data control unit 3 obtains the hand shake degree of the image data picked up by the image pickup unit 1 and temporarily stored in the RAM 4, and stores the image data stored in the RAM 4 only when the hand shake degree is lower than the reference value. You may make it memorize | store in the medium 6. FIG.

  Further, in step S78, the image data control unit 3 does not automatically delete the image data, but may perform the deletion according to the instruction from the user by the method described in the first or second embodiment. good.

(Fifth embodiment)
In this embodiment, in a digital camera having both a clock function and a positioning function, a method of deleting image data taken at the same date and place from the image data stored in the storage medium 6 It is.

  FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of a digital camera for explaining the fifth embodiment of the present embodiment. The digital camera 200 includes an imaging unit 1, a signal processing unit 2, an image data control unit 3, a RAM 4, a ROM 5, a storage medium 6, a display unit 7, an operation unit 8, a clock unit 9, and a positioning unit 10. The photographing unit 1 to the operation unit 8 have the same configuration as that of the digital camera 100 shown in FIG.

  The clock unit 9 includes a vibrator that oscillates a predetermined reference frequency and a frequency dividing circuit, and generates date and time information that serves as a time stamp when the subject is photographed. The date and time information generated here is stored in the storage medium 6 by the image data control unit 3 together with the captured image and the thumbnail image as tag information, for example, in the file format shown in FIG.

  The positioning unit 10 includes a GPS sensor and a positioning calculation circuit, performs positioning calculation based on a navigation message received from a GPS satellite, and generates position information. The position information generated here is stored by the image data control unit 3 in the storage medium 6 in the file format shown in FIG. 12, for example, together with the captured image and the thumbnail image as tag information.

  Next, a method for erasing image data in the storage medium 6 to secure a free space in the digital camera 200 shown in FIG. 11 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

  First, the image data control unit 3 extracts image data having the same shooting date / time and shooting location from the image data stored in the storage medium 6, and sets the extracted plurality of image data as one image data group. A plurality of image data groups are obtained from all the image data stored in the storage medium 6 (step S81). Then, it is determined whether or not the number of image data included in each image data group is equal to or greater than a predetermined number (step S82).

  As a result, for the image data group including a predetermined number or more of image data, the image data included in the image data group is erased by the method described in the first to fourth embodiments (step S83), and the operation is performed. finish. On the other hand, for an image data group including a number of image data less than the predetermined number, the operation ends without performing the erasing operation.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, the image data stored in the storage medium 6 is grouped according to the shooting date and time and the shooting location, and only the first to first groups for which the number of image data is a predetermined number or more. The image data stored in the storage medium 6 is erased by the method described in the fourth embodiment. That is, since all image data stored in the storage medium 6 is not erased, the storage capacity of the storage medium 6 can be secured more efficiently than the methods described in the first to fourth embodiments. Can do.

  In addition, it is also possible to combine each method demonstrated in 1st-4th embodiment, and, thereby, determination of the necessity of image data can be performed more accurately.

The figure which shows schematic structure of the digital camera for describing embodiment of this invention The figure which shows the flow for demonstrating operation | movement of the digital camera for describing 1st Embodiment of this invention. The figure which shows the flow for demonstrating operation | movement of the digital camera for describing 1st Embodiment of this invention. The figure which shows an example of the display screen of the display part of the digital camera for describing 1st Embodiment of this invention The figure which shows the flow for demonstrating operation | movement of the digital camera for describing 2nd Embodiment of this invention. The figure which shows the flow for demonstrating operation | movement of the digital camera for describing 2nd Embodiment of this invention. The figure which shows the flow for demonstrating operation | movement of the digital camera for describing 3rd Embodiment of this invention. The figure which shows the flow for demonstrating operation | movement of the digital camera for describing 3rd Embodiment of this invention. The figure which shows the flow for demonstrating operation | movement of the digital camera for describing 4th Embodiment of this invention. The figure which shows an example of the file format of image data The figure which shows schematic structure of the digital camera for describing 5th Embodiment of this invention The figure which shows an example of the file format of image data The figure which shows the flow for demonstrating operation | movement of the digital camera for describing 5th Embodiment of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Imaging part 2 Signal processing part 3 Image data control part 4 RAM
5 ROM
6 Storage medium 7 Display unit 8 Operation unit 100 Digital camera

Claims (8)

An image management apparatus that manages image data captured by an image sensor and stored in a storage medium,
Determining means for determining the necessity of the image data based on the characteristics of the image data;
An image management apparatus comprising: an image erasing unit that erases the image data in accordance with a determination result of the determination unit. The image management apparatus according to claim 1,
The image management apparatus includes at least one of the brightness, the degree of focus, and the degree of camera shake. An image management apparatus that manages a plurality of image data captured by an image sensor and stored in a storage medium,
Determination means for determining the necessity of the arbitrary image data and the other image data based on a difference between the arbitrary image data of the plurality of image data and the other image data;
An image management apparatus comprising: an image erasing unit that erases at least one of the arbitrary image data and the other image data according to a determination result of the determination unit. The image management apparatus according to claim 3,
The determination means determines that the necessity other than the image data having the highest degree of focus is low among the arbitrary image data and the image data in which the difference between the image data is less than a threshold value. ,
The image erasing unit is an image management apparatus for erasing image data determined to have low necessity. The image management apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
The image erasing unit is an image management device for erasing image data determined to have low necessity according to an instruction from the outside. The image management apparatus according to claim 1,
The determination unit obtains the number of image data included in the group of image data grouped based on at least one of the imaging date and time and the imaging location of the image data, and the number of the image data exceeds the predetermined number. An image management apparatus for determining the necessity only for image data included in the image data. An image management device that manages image data captured by an image sensor,
Determination means for determining the necessity of the image data before storage based on a difference between the image data stored in the storage medium and image data before being stored in the storage medium imaged by the image sensor;
An image management apparatus comprising: an image storage unit that stores the image data before storage in the storage medium according to a determination result of the determination unit. A digital camera comprising the image management apparatus according to claim 1.

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