JP2005323007A - Recording reproducer and recording reproducing method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a data recording method which specifies photography forbidden regions in image data outputted from a camera photographing part, does an image quality deterioration process of target regions and records photographs. <P>SOLUTION: The recording reproducer comprises a camera photographer 102, a compressing/expanding part 103 for compressing/expanding picture signals, a random-accessible recording medium 104, a display 105 for displaying a picture, an image region specifying part 107 for designating a specific region in a taken image, and a communication part 108 communicable with an external communication apparatus 110. It communicates with the external communication apparatus 110, specifies photography forbidden regions in an input image based on photography managing information obtained by the communication, and proceeds an image quality deterioration process to the specified regions. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a recording / reproducing apparatus and a recording / reproducing method for specifying a photographing prohibited area in an input image from a camera imaging unit, performing image processing on the specified area, and restricting photographing.

  Currently, ultra-compact video recording / playback devices equipped with camera image sensors, such as card-size movies, digital cameras, and camera-equipped mobile phones, have become widespread. Even small-sized video recording / playback devices can record high-pixel high-quality video. Since these video recording / playback devices do not have any particular restrictions on the shooting of video data, the video can be recorded with high image quality at any time by pressing the shooting button. For this reason, copyright infringement and privacy infringement are problems.

  As a conventional apparatus for solving such a problem, the user is notified of the presence of the camera device by irradiating the spot light from the camera detection means and detecting the reflected light when the spot light is reflected by the camera device. There is a camera detection device (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing the conventional camera detection apparatus.
In FIG. 5, reference numeral 501 denotes a camera device. Reference numeral 502 denotes a scanning device for irradiating spot light for detecting the camera device 501. The spot light source 503, the scanning mechanism 504 that moves the spot light source 503 up and down, left and right, and spot light reflected by the camera device 501. Is provided. A camera detection unit 506 includes a position memory 507 that receives an output from the scan mechanism 504 and a microcomputer 508 that receives an output from the optical sensor 505. Reference numeral 509 denotes an alarm output / report unit that reports camera detection to the user through an alarm output.

The operation of the camera detection apparatus configured as described above will be described.
The scanning device 502 controls the scanning mechanism 504 to move the spot light source 503 in the vertical and horizontal directions to scan the spot light around. When the spot light is reflected by the lens portion of the camera device 501, the optical sensor 505 detects the reflected light and outputs it to the microcomputer 508 of the camera detection unit 506. The scan mechanism 504 outputs the scan angle information of the spot light source 503 to the position memory 507, and the microcomputer 508 receives the scan angle information when the reflected light detection signal is received from the optical sensor 505 from the position memory 507. Obtain the presence of camera equipment. When the camera detection unit 506 confirms the presence of the camera device 501, the alarm output / report unit 509 reports the presence of the camera device to the user using a notification sound or light.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2002-197562 (FIG. 5)

  However, although the conventional camera detection device can detect a camera device existing in the vicinity and notify the presence or absence of the camera device, since the camera device 501 itself has no shooting restriction, the camera owner has to take a picture. If the button is pressed, the subject can be photographed, and copyright infringement becomes a problem in public places where photographing is prohibited, such as museums, movie theaters, or theaters. Nowadays, with the spread of small camera devices and camera-equipped mobile phones, high image quality and downsizing of devices, the number of people who always carry camera devices is increasing, making it easy to shoot high-quality images. Therefore, the recording deterrence in the restricted shooting place is lower than before, and the camera device can record and play back that can be legally restricted for copyright protection or privacy protection. A device is needed.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and provides a recording / reproducing apparatus and a recording / reproducing method capable of restricting photographing of a subject that requires copyright protection or privacy protection. Objective.

  In order to solve the above problems, a recording / reproducing apparatus according to claim 1 of the present invention is a recording / reproducing apparatus for recording / reproducing photographing data of a subject, images the subject, and converts the imaging data of the subject into predetermined image data. A camera imaging unit that outputs the data, a compression / decompression unit that compresses and decompresses the image data, a display unit that displays the image data in a visible manner, and shooting management information that specifies a shooting prohibited area of the subject. A communication unit that receives wireless communication; an image region specifying unit that specifies a shooting restriction region corresponding to a shooting prohibited region specified by the shooting management information from image data output from the camera imaging unit; and the shooting The camera imaging unit and a control unit that controls the compression / decompression unit so as to perform predetermined image processing on the image data in the restricted area. .

  Further, the recording / reproducing apparatus according to claim 2 of the present invention is the recording / reproducing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the photographing management information includes that the predetermined area of the imaging data is prohibited from being photographed, or all areas are A photographing prohibition flag indicating whether photographing is prohibited, and position information representing the photographing prohibited area as a two-dimensional coordinate point are provided.

  The recording / reproducing apparatus according to claim 3 of the present invention is the recording / reproducing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the image region specifying unit obtains the photographing management information from image data output from the camera imaging unit. A device to be transmitted is detected, and the photographing restriction region is specified based on a two-dimensional coordinate system having the origin of the position of the photographing management information transmitting device and the position information.

  The recording / reproducing apparatus according to a fourth aspect of the present invention is the recording / reproducing apparatus according to the third aspect, wherein the control unit is configured to apply the photographing restriction area to the entire image data output from the camera imaging unit. When the ratio occupied by is less than or equal to a predetermined value, the camera imaging unit and the compression / decompression unit are controlled to perform image quality reduction processing of the shooting restricted area.

  The recording / reproducing apparatus according to claim 5 of the present invention is the recording / reproducing apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the image quality reduction processing of the photographing restricted area is performed by focus control, mask processing, and filter processing performed by the camera imaging unit. , And a compression rate control performed by the compression / decompression unit, or a combination thereof.

  The recording / reproducing apparatus according to a sixth aspect of the present invention is the recording / reproducing apparatus according to the third aspect, wherein the control unit is configured to apply the photographing restriction region to the entire image data output from the camera imaging unit. In the case where the ratio occupied by is greater than or equal to a predetermined value, recording of image data output from the camera imaging unit onto a recording medium is prohibited.

  According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, there is provided a recording / reproducing method for recording / reproducing photographed data of a subject, wherein an imaging step of photographing the subject, converting the photographed data of the subject into predetermined image data, and outputting it. And a communication step for receiving radiography communication for management information specifying the subject shooting prohibition area, and specifying a shooting restriction area corresponding to the shooting prohibition area specified by the shooting management information from the image data. An image area specifying step, an image processing step for performing predetermined image processing on the photographing restricted area, a compression / expansion step for compressing and expanding the image data after the image processing, and an image after the image processing And an image display step for displaying the data in a visible manner.

  The recording / reproducing method according to an eighth aspect of the present invention is the recording / reproducing method according to the seventh aspect, wherein the photographing management information includes that the predetermined area of the imaging data is prohibited from being photographed or all areas are A photographing prohibition flag indicating whether photographing is prohibited, and position information representing the photographing prohibited area as a two-dimensional coordinate point are provided.

  The recording / reproducing method according to claim 9 of the present invention is the recording / reproducing method according to claim 8, wherein the image region specifying step detects a device that transmits the shooting management information from the image data, It is a step of specifying the photographing restricted area based on a two-dimensional coordinate system having the position of the photographing management information transmitting device as an origin and the position information.

  The recording / reproducing method according to a tenth aspect of the present invention is the recording / reproducing method according to the ninth aspect, wherein the image processing step is such that a ratio of the photographing restricted area to the entire image data is a predetermined value. In the following cases, it is a step of performing image quality reduction processing of the photographing restricted area.

  The recording / reproducing method according to an eleventh aspect of the present invention is the recording / reproducing method according to the tenth aspect, wherein the image quality reduction processing of the photographing restricted area includes focus control, mask processing, filter processing, and compression rate control. It is one or a combination of a plurality of features.

  Further, in the recording / reproducing method according to claim 12 of the present invention, in the recording / reproducing method according to claim 9, when the ratio of the photographing restricted area to the whole of the image data is a predetermined value or more, Recording of image data on a recording medium is prohibited.

  According to the recording / reproducing apparatus of the present invention, the shooting management information indicating the shooting prohibited area of the subject is received by wireless communication, and the shooting prohibition among the image data output from the camera imaging unit based on the shooting management information is received. Since the shooting restriction area corresponding to the area is specified and the image data of the subject is recorded by performing image quality reduction processing on the image data included in the shooting restriction area, the height of the subject included in the shooting restriction area is determined. Image quality recording can be prohibited, and by installing a communication device that transmits the shooting management information in the vicinity of a subject that requires copyright protection or privacy protection, copyright infringement of the subject can be prevented. It is possible to prevent or protect privacy.

(Embodiment 1)
FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a recording / reproducing apparatus according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention and a diagram showing an external communication device that communicates with the recording / reproducing apparatus.

  In FIG. 1, reference numeral 101 denotes a recording / reproducing apparatus main body. A camera imaging unit 102 includes a lens, a CCD, a lens / zoom motor driver, a CDS / ADC / AGC unit, a camera signal processing unit, and the like. In the first embodiment, a CCD is used as the photoelectric conversion element of the camera imaging unit 102, but an imaging element such as a CMOS sensor may be used. A compression / decompression unit 103 compresses the video signal output from the camera imaging unit 102 and decompresses the compressed video signal. The compression / decompression unit 103 includes a video signal input I / F, a video compression / decompression unit, a frame memory, and the like. The compression / decompression unit 103 compresses the video signal output from the camera imaging unit 102 at the previous stage during shooting, and the recording medium unit 104 during playback. Decompresses the compressed data read from. For compression / decompression of digital video signals, the JPEG system, the MPEG system, or other compression / decompression systems are used. A recording medium unit 104 writes and reads compressed video data, and includes a semiconductor memory, a DMA controller, and a recording medium I / F. In addition to the semiconductor memory, the recording medium may be a disk recording medium such as an HDD or a DVD-RAM, or a magnetic recording medium such as a tape. Reference numeral 105 denotes a display unit that displays a video signal in a visible manner. The display display unit 105 is composed of an LCD, an LCD driver, and the like. The display display unit 105 displays the input video when shooting a subject, and displays the playback video when reproducing recorded data. Reference numeral 106 denotes a user I / F that accepts user input and notifies the control unit 109, and includes a record button, a menu button, a cursor button, and the like. Reference numeral 107 denotes an image area specifying unit that specifies a shooting prohibited area on the image data output from the camera imaging unit 102 based on the shooting management information obtained from the communication unit 108 and the image data obtained from the camera imaging unit 102. It consists of a frame memory and a signal processing unit. Reference numeral 108 denotes a communication unit that performs communication with the external communication device 110. In the first embodiment, IrDA communication is used as a communication unit between the communication unit 108 and the external communication device 110, but other communication methods such as BlueTooth, wireless LAN, and mobile communication may be used. Reference numeral 109 denotes a control unit that controls each device in the recording / reproducing apparatus 101, and includes a CPU, a memory, and the like. Reference numeral 110 denotes an external communication device that transmits photographing management information described later.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating the configuration of the imaging management information transmitted from the external communication device 110.
The shooting management information 301 includes a shooting prohibition flag 302 and position information 303. The shooting prohibition flag 302 is a flag indicating whether or not the recording operation of the recording / playback apparatus 101 is possible, and is a flag indicating whether a predetermined area of the imaging data is prohibited from shooting, or whether all areas of the imaging data are prohibited from shooting. It consists of the flags shown. The position information 303 is composed of information on the number of constituent points constituting the photographing prohibited area and coordinate information of each point, and the coordinate information of each point is represented by an X coordinate and a Y coordinate.

The operation of the recording / reproducing apparatus 101 configured as described above will be described below.
During normal recording and reproduction, the camera imaging unit 102 converts light input from the lens into an electrical signal by the CCD, and converts it into a digital video signal by the CDS / ADC / AGC unit. The digital video signal undergoes signal processing such as filter processing in the video signal processing unit, and is sent to the compression / decompression unit 103. The compression / decompression unit 103 receives the output from the camera imaging unit 102 and compresses the digital video signal using the JPEG or MPEG system. The compressed data is sent to the recording medium unit 104, and is written and recorded in the semiconductor memory of the recording medium unit 104 using a DMA controller.

  At the time of reproducing the recording data, the compressed data read from the recording medium unit 104 is sent to the compression / decompression unit 103 via the DMA controller, and the digital video signal is decompressed. The expanded digital video signal is sent to the display display unit 105 and displayed on the LCD.

  Next, an operation in the case where the photographing prohibited area is specified and the recording of the imaging data is restricted will be described with reference to FIG.

  FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing an operation in which the recording / reproducing apparatus 101 specifies a shooting prohibited area and restricts shooting of the shooting prohibited area.

  First, the flow is started in the photographing standby state (step 201, hereinafter referred to as “S201”). The communication unit 108 determines whether or not there is communication from the external communication device 110 (S202). If there is no communication from the external communication device 110, the communication standby state is continued. On the other hand, when there is communication from the external communication device 110, the photographing management information 301 transmitted by the external communication device 110 is acquired (S203).

  The image region specifying unit 107 determines whether the photographing prohibition region is a predetermined region or all regions of the image data output from the camera imaging unit 102 based on the photographing prohibition flag 302 of the photographing management information 301 (S204). .

  When the shooting prohibited area is all of the image data output from the camera imaging unit 102, the control unit 109 does not perform the shooting recording operation even when the shooting button in the user I / F 106 is pressed. These devices are controlled (S209), a warning display indicating the photographing restriction is displayed on the display unit 105, and the photographing operation is terminated (S210).

  If the shooting prohibited area is a predetermined area of the imaging data, the image area specifying unit 107 is an area on the image data output from the camera imaging unit, and is set to the shooting prohibited area specified by the shooting management information. A shooting restriction area, which is a corresponding area, is specified (S205).

  Here, a method of specifying the shooting restricted area of the image area specifying unit 107 will be described with reference to FIG.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an input image 401 obtained by the image area specifying unit 107 receiving an output from the camera imaging unit 102. In FIG. 4, reference numeral 402 denotes an IrDA transmission unit of the external communication device 110 in the input image 401. The image area specifying unit 107 detects the IrDA transmission unit 402 in the input image 401 from the shape, the light emission period of the LED, and the like. The IrDA transmission unit 402 is the origin 403, and the horizontal direction of the IrDA transmission unit 402 is the X axis 404, A two-dimensional coordinate system with the vertical direction as the Y axis 405 is set. Next, based on the position information 303 included in the shooting management information 301, the constituent points of the shooting restriction area 407 are calculated, and the area surrounded by connecting the constituent points is specified as the shooting restriction area 407. Here, the size of the external communication device transmission unit 402 in the input image 401 varies depending on the zoom magnification and the shooting distance, but by determining the size of the unit vector of the coordinate axis from the shape of the IrDA transmission unit 402. Then, the accurate shooting restriction area 407 is specified. Note that two points may be designated as the constituent points, and the photographing restriction region 407 may be specified by connecting the two points, two points that are symmetrical with the origin, and the two designated points. 1 may be designated, and the imaging restricted area 407 may be specified by calculating a circle having a radius from the origin 403 to the designated constituent point and a center point from the origin 403.

  The image area specifying unit 107 determines the ratio of the shooting restriction area 407 specified as described above to the input image 401 (S206). If the shooting restriction area 407 is equal to or larger than a certain range of the input image 401, the control is performed. The unit 109 controls each device of the recording / playback apparatus 101 so as not to perform the shooting / recording operation even when the shooting button in the user I / F 106 is pressed (S209), and displays a warning display indicating shooting limitation on the display display unit 105. Display and finish the shooting operation (S210).

  If the shooting restriction area 407 is below a certain range of the input image 401, image quality reduction processing is performed on the shooting restriction area 407 (S207). Image quality reduction processing includes focus motor control of the camera imaging unit 102 that shifts the focus with respect to the object to be restricted, filter processing control of video signals in the camera imaging unit 102, mask processing by image processing such as mosaic processing and OSD superimposition processing, This is performed by either compression rate control in the compression / decompression unit 103 or by a combination of a plurality of processes. When the focus motor control is performed, the image of the shooting restriction area 407 that has undergone the image quality reduction process becomes a blurred image that is out of focus, and when the filter process control is performed, the image becomes a blurred image with a dropped edge. In addition, in the image processing, when mosaic processing is performed, a mosaic-like video is obtained. When OSD superimposition processing is performed, the image is masked by the OSD. When compression rate control is performed, video with conspicuous block noise is obtained.

  When the shooting button of the user I / F unit 106 is pressed after the image quality reduction process is performed on the shooting restriction area 407, the recording operation of the image data subjected to the image quality reduction process is performed (S208). Is finished (S210).

  As described above, according to the recording / reproducing apparatus according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention, the image management information indicating the image capturing prohibition area is received by wireless communication, and the image output from the camera imaging unit 102 based on the image capturing management information. Since the image capturing restriction area 407 corresponding to the image capturing prohibition area is specified in the data, image quality reduction processing is performed on the image data included in the image capturing restriction area 407, and the subject image data is recorded. The high-quality shooting and recording of the subject included in the shooting restriction area 407 can be prohibited, so that a communication device that transmits the shooting management information is installed in the vicinity of the subject that requires copyright protection or privacy protection. By doing so, it is possible to prevent copyright infringement of the subject or to protect privacy.

  The recording / reproducing apparatus according to the present invention can perform image recording by performing image quality reduction processing on a specific area of a camera input image based on shooting management information transmitted from an external communication device. This is useful in that it is possible to prevent copyright infringement or protect privacy by using a small precision recording apparatus.

1 is a block diagram of a recording / reproducing apparatus according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention and a diagram showing an external communication device. 4 is a flowchart showing the operation of the recording / reproducing apparatus according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. It is a schematic diagram which shows the structure of imaging | photography management information. It is a figure showing the imaging | photography management information transmission part on the image output from a camera imaging part, coordinate reference information, and position information. It is a block diagram showing the conventional camera detection apparatus.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 101 Recording / reproducing apparatus 102 Camera imaging part 103 Compression / decompression part 104 Recording medium part 105 Display display part 106 User I / F
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 107 Image area | region identification part 108 Communication part 109 Control part 110 External communication apparatus 301 Shooting management information 302 Shooting prohibition flag 303 Position information 304 Number of coordinate information 305 Coordinate information of each point 306 Coordinate data 401 Input image 402 Shooting management information transmission part 403 Origin 404 X-axis 405 Y-axis 406 Point coordinates 407 Shooting restriction area 501 Camera device 502 Scan device 503 Spot light source 504 Scan mechanism 505 Optical sensor 506 Camera detection unit 507 Position memory 508 Microcomputer 509 Alarm output / report unit

Claims (12)

In a recording / reproducing apparatus for recording / reproducing photographing data of a subject,
A camera imaging unit that images a subject, converts the imaging data of the subject into predetermined image data, and outputs;
A compression / decompression unit for compressing and decompressing the image data;
A display unit for displaying the image data in a visible manner;
A communication unit that receives, by wireless communication, shooting management information that specifies a shooting prohibited area of the subject;
An image area specifying unit for specifying a shooting restriction area corresponding to a shooting prohibited area specified by the shooting management information from the image data output from the camera imaging unit;
A control unit that controls the camera imaging unit and the compression / decompression unit so as to perform predetermined image processing on image data in the imaging restriction region;
And a recording / reproducing apparatus. The recording / reproducing apparatus according to claim 1,
The photographing management information includes a photographing prohibition flag indicating whether a predetermined region of the imaging data is prohibited from photographing or all regions are prohibited from photographing, and positional information representing the photographing prohibited region as a two-dimensional coordinate point. With
And a recording / reproducing apparatus. The recording / reproducing apparatus according to claim 2.
The image area specifying unit detects a device that transmits the shooting management information from image data output from the camera imaging unit, and a two-dimensional coordinate system having the position of the shooting management information transmitting device as an origin and the position Identifying the restricted shooting area based on the information,
And a recording / reproducing apparatus. The recording / reproducing apparatus according to claim 3.
The control unit captures the camera image so as to perform image quality reduction processing of the image capturing restriction region when a ratio of the image capturing restriction region to the entire image data output from the camera image capturing unit is equal to or less than a predetermined value. And the compression / decompression unit,
And a recording / reproducing apparatus. The recording / reproducing apparatus according to claim 4,
The image quality reduction processing of the shooting restricted area is any one or a combination of focus control performed by the camera imaging unit, mask processing, filter processing, and compression rate control performed by the compression / decompression unit.
And a recording / reproducing apparatus. The recording / reproducing apparatus according to claim 3.
When the ratio of the shooting restriction area to the entire image data output from the camera imaging unit is equal to or greater than a predetermined value, the control unit outputs the image data output from the camera imaging unit to a recording medium. Prohibit recording,
And a recording / reproducing apparatus. In a recording / reproducing method for recording / reproducing photographing data of a subject,
An imaging step of imaging a subject, converting the imaging data of the subject into predetermined image data, and outputting;
A communication step of receiving, by wireless communication, shooting management information that specifies a shooting prohibited area of the subject;
An image area specifying step for specifying a shooting restricted area corresponding to a shooting prohibited area specified by the shooting management information from the image data;
An image processing step for performing predetermined image processing on the photographing restricted area;
A compression / decompression step for compressing and decompressing the image data after the image processing;
An image display step for displaying the image data after the image processing in a visible manner,
And a recording / reproducing method. The recording / reproducing method according to claim 7,
The photographing management information includes a photographing prohibition flag indicating whether a predetermined region of the imaging data is prohibited from photographing or all regions are prohibited from photographing, and positional information representing the photographing prohibited region as a two-dimensional coordinate point. With
And a recording / reproducing method. The recording / reproducing method according to claim 8,
In the image region specifying step, a device that transmits the shooting management information is detected from the image data, and the shooting restriction is performed based on a two-dimensional coordinate system having the position of the shooting management information transmission device as an origin and the position information. A step of identifying a region,
And a recording / reproducing method. The recording / reproducing method according to claim 9,
The image processing step is a step of performing image quality reduction processing of the shooting restricted area when a ratio of the shooting restricted area to a whole of the image data is equal to or less than a predetermined value.
And a recording / reproducing method. The recording / reproducing method according to claim 10,
The image quality reduction processing of the shooting restricted area is any one of focus control, mask processing, filter processing, and compression rate control, or a combination of a plurality of them.
And a recording / reproducing method. The recording / reproducing method according to claim 9,
When the ratio of the shooting restricted area to the entire image data is a predetermined value or more, recording of the image data on a recording medium is prohibited.
And a recording / reproducing method.

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