JP2006197523A - Mobile information terminal - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a digital camera which can photograph a desired photographing range while confirming an entire real field of view and can prevent erroneous operation by confirming a photographing state. <P>SOLUTION: In a digital camera 10, an image picked up by an imaging means via a photographing optical system is converted into image information of digital data and the image information is stored and preserved on a storage medium. The digital camera comprises: an image display unit 20 which displays a picture frame electronic image specifying a picture frame of an imaging range that can be picked up by the imaging means; a combiner 30 which reflects light from the image display unit 20 and transmits light from the real field of view in a direction of the glance of a photographer; and an erroneous operation preventing means for permitting an imaging operation by detecting that a main body 11 takes a prescribed imaging attitude and is located at an imaging position. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a portable information terminal having a digital camera function capable of shooting a still image or a moving image, and more particularly, a digital camera and a portable information terminal capable of shooting a desired shooting range by displaying a shooting range in a real field of view. About.

In recent years, digital cameras that convert images into electrical signals using semiconductor elements that react to light, such as CCD and MOS, instead of conventional silver halide cameras, and store them in storage media such as flash memory have become widespread. ing. Conventionally known as such a digital camera is a single-lens reflex digital camera. (For example, see Patent Document 1)
However, such a single-lens reflex digital camera has a problem that the camera configuration becomes complicated, such as lens arrangement, because the photographing optical system (lens → CCD) and the finder optical system are shared. In addition, since the field of view is physically limited by the finder, there is also a problem that the field of view at the time of shooting becomes narrow. Furthermore, since the field of view through the viewfinder is subjected to optical magnification, there is a problem that the field of view is different from the actual field of view.

On the other hand, in a digital camera provided with an electronic viewfinder (liquid crystal screen), an optical viewfinder is abolished.
However, in the case of such a digital camera, there is a problem that a part other than the photographing range in the real field of view cannot be confirmed through the viewfinder. Furthermore, there is a problem that the photographing direction and the visual field direction do not match.
Conventionally, in order to solve these problems, a digital camera has been proposed in which an optical finder optical system and an electronic viewfinder optical system are provided, and each optical system can be switched by a half mirror. (For example, see Patent Document 2)
JP-A-11-84479 JP 2003-283886 A (see FIG. 2 and paragraph numbers [0012] to [0021] etc.)

However, in the digital camera described in Patent Document 2 described above, the problem that the view is physically limited by the finder is not solved, and the scenery of the real field of view and the electronic image displayed by the electronic viewfinder are not displayed. They are not displayed in a superimposed manner.
In addition, the digital camera itself is in a predetermined shooting direction, that is, the digital camera itself is in the correct imaging posture and the photographer's line of sight is in the correct imaging position. It is desired to check whether or not it is necessary to prevent useless shooting due to an erroneous operation.

Against this background, it is possible to observe a wide range of real-field observations naturally, and easily identify the imaging range while comparing a wide range of observations, and check the shooting status to prevent erroneous operations. It is desired to develop a digital camera and a portable information terminal having a digital camera function.
The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and the object of the present invention is to capture a desired shooting range while confirming the entire real field of view, and in particular, a wide observation range can be taken naturally. An object of the present invention is to provide a portable information terminal having a digital camera function that can be observed, and that an imaging range can be specified while comparing a wide range of observation ranges, and that an imaging operation can be checked to prevent erroneous operations.

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention employs the following means.
The invention according to claim 1 is a portable information terminal that converts an image picked up by an image pickup unit through a photographing optical system into image information of digital data, stores the image information in a storage medium, and stores the image information.
An image display unit that displays an image frame electronic image that defines an image frame of an imaging range that can be imaged by the imaging unit, and reflects light from the image display unit and transmits light from a real field of view of the photographer's line of sight And a transmissible optical element that detects that the main body is in a predetermined imaging posture and an imaging position and permits an imaging operation to be performed.
The portable information terminal of the present invention includes not only a digital camera alone but also devices such as a mobile phone having a digital camera function.
Note that the image frame electronic image in this case changes as appropriate according to an operation such as zooming performed on the digital camera side.

With such a portable information terminal, an image display unit that displays an image frame electronic image that defines an image frame of an imaging range that can be imaged by the imaging unit, a light that reflects from the image display unit, and a line-of-sight direction of the photographer A transflective optical element that transmits light from the real field of view, so that the photographer can naturally observe a wide observation range (real image of the outside world image) through the transflective optical element. The virtual image of the image frame electronic image displayed on the image display unit is superimposed on the real field of view. Therefore, since the virtual image of the image frame electronic image superimposed on the real field of view seen through the transflective optical element defines the image frame, the photographer can easily recognize and capture a desired imaging range.
In addition, since it is provided with an erroneous operation prevention means for detecting that the main body is in a predetermined imaging posture and imaging position and permitting an imaging operation, it is impossible to perform an imaging operation when the camera is not in a predetermined imaging state, and shooting by an erroneous operation Can be prevented.

  In the above portable terminal, the erroneous operation preventing means detects an inclination of the main body and determines the imaging posture, and an imaging posture monitoring means that detects an imaging person's pupil by image processing and determines the imaging position of the main body. It is preferable that an imaging position detection unit is provided, whereby the imaging posture monitoring unit confirms that the main body is in a predetermined imaging posture, and the imaging position detection unit detects the photographer's line of sight at a predetermined imaging position. It is possible to determine that the camera is in a predetermined imaging state by confirming both.

According to the portable information terminal of the present invention described above, a photographer who uses a digital camera function naturally observes a real image in a wide observation range through a semi-transmissive optical element such as a combiner, and is superimposed on the real field of view. Since the desired imaging range (image frame) can be easily recognized and imaged by a virtual image of the image frame electronic image, unlike the shooting through the conventional viewfinder, the desired imaging range can be determined while directly viewing the imaging target. Intuitive settings can be taken.
Further, when the erroneous operation preventing means determines that the predetermined shooting state is not established, the shooting operation is not permitted, so that unnecessary shooting due to an erroneous operation can be reliably prevented.

Hereinafter, an embodiment of a portable information terminal according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
1 and 2 are external perspective views showing a configuration example of a digital camera as an example of a portable information terminal according to the present invention. FIG. 1 (a) is a state at the time of photographing, and FIG. 1 (b) is a state at the time of photographing. An example of an image frame display, FIG. 2 shows a storage state at the time of non-photographing.
The digital camera 10 converts an image (still image or moving image) captured through a photographing optical system combining various lenses and the like into image information of digital data through a semiconductor element (imaging means) such as a CCD or MOS, The image information is stored and stored in a storage medium such as a flash memory. The main body 11 of the digital camera 10 is provided with an openable image display device 20 that is taken out from the main body 11 and used at the time of photographing, and a combiner 30 that is a transflective optical element. As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the digital camera 10 configured in this manner opens the image display device 20 and the combiner 30, and shoots through the combiner 30 in a state where the proper position of the main body is pressed against the side of the photographer. Shoot while looking at the subject.

The main body 11 includes a shutter switch 14, in addition to a photographic lens 13 constituting the photographic optical system, outside a housing 12 containing a semiconductor element having a photographic optical system, a battery (power supply), various control mechanisms, a control board, and the like. Various operation switches such as zoom operation units 15a and 15b and a power switch 16 are provided. In the illustrated example, the shutter switch 14 and zoom operation portions 15a and 15b are provided on both the upper and lower side surfaces of the main body 11 so that the left and right hands can be operated. FIG. It is shown. An image display device 20 and a combiner 30 that are opened and used in a substantially Z-shape at the time of photographing are attached to the main body 11 so as to be swingable.
Note that the illustrated image display device 20 and the combiner 30 are housed in a space portion of an opening 11a that penetrates the main body 11 in a retracted state, and each side of the short side that is rectangular is pivotally supported by the main body 11. Opening and closing operation by swinging is possible.

The image display device 20 is an image display unit that displays an image frame electronic image in the imaging range that can be imaged on the display surface 21 in order to define an image frame in the imaging range captured by the imaging unit via the imaging lens 13. For example, a so-called thin display such as a liquid crystal display panel (LCD) or an organic EL display panel is used. The image display device 20 is fixed to, for example, a support member 22 that is pivotally supported by the main body 11, and the display surface 21 is directed to a surface that faces a combiner 30, which will be described later, in a stored state, that is, toward the inside of the housing 12. It has been.
The frame image electronic image displayed on the display surface 21 is linked to the operation of the zoom operation units 15a, 15b, and the like, for example, from a wide distant shooting that captures a wide range of subjects as in wide angle shooting. The imaging range that changes according to the zooming operation of the photographer is displayed on the image display device 20 until the telephoto shooting to zoom up.

The image frame electronic image displayed here defines the upper and lower sides and the left and right of the image frame by a pair of image frame lines L11 and R11 as shown in FIG. 5, for example. The image frame lines L11 and R11 display a pair of parallel left and right vertical lines that are opposed to each other with a space therebetween, and a horizontal line that extends perpendicularly from both ends to the center side. A rectangular area surrounded by L11 and R11 can be recognized as an image frame. As for the illustrated image frame lines L11 and R11, the central portion of the horizontal line is divided, but a complete rectangular image frame may be displayed by using a horizontal line connecting the left and right vertical lines.
Further, the pair of image frame lines L11 and R11 described above indicate the maximum image frame at the time of wide-angle shooting, and an imaginary line in the drawing is directed toward the center of the display surface 21 by the zooming operation by the photographer. The image frame of the smallest image frame that has been zoomed in most, with the four directions of top and bottom and left and right changing stepwise as shown by image frame lines L12, R12, L13, and R13, or continuously changing continuously. The lines are reduced to lines L13 and R13. Such an image frame change is a case where the deviation between the visible range and the captured range is not corrected, that is, when the parallax correction is not performed.

  The combiner 30 reflects the light from the image display device 20, that is, the light of the image displayed on the surface display unit 21 of the image display device 20, and also transmits the light from the real field of view of the photographer's line of sight. Type optical element. In other words, the combiner 30 has a free-form surface (three-dimensional aspheric surface) on at least one surface, transmits an external image (real image) that is a real field of view, and is displayed on the image display device 20. Is a semi-transmissive optical element that projects a virtual image of a picture frame electronic image superimposed on a real image of an external field image. In addition to the above-described transflective optical element, for example, a half mirror, a hologram element, or the like can be adopted as the combiner 30, and one of these may be selected and used as appropriate according to the purpose. Is possible.

Here, the structure of the combiner 30 is demonstrated concretely based on FIG.
This combiner 30 is a member having a concave curved reflecting surface 31 on the surface facing the surface display unit 21 in the retracted state, and at the time of shooting, the reflecting surface 31 and the surface display unit 21 are substantially opposed to each other. The main body 11 is opened so as to form a substantially Z shape. In this photographing state, light of the image frame electronic image is emitted diagonally forward from the surface display unit 21 of the image display device 20 through the opening 11 a, and this light (image frame electronic image) is reflected by the reflecting surface 31. Is reflected toward the rear end side (the photographer's head side).

Since the reflecting surface 31 functions as a concave mirror, in a shooting state in which the side surface that is the rear end side of the main body 11 is pressed against the head side of the photographer, the combiner 30 is seen in front of the combiner 30, that is, the combiner as viewed from the photographer. A virtual image of the image frame electronic image is formed and displayed farther than 30. This image frame electronic image is superimposed on the photographer's real field of view through a combiner 30 as shown in FIG. In this case, the image frame visible to the photographer becomes the virtual image frame lines L11 ′ and R11 ′ obtained by horizontally inverting the image frame lines L11 and R11 of the front surface display unit 21 shown in FIG. 5 and is superimposed on the real image in the real field of view. The
Further, in the combiner 30, the region where the reflecting surface 31 is formed is configured to transmit light from the photographer's real field of view, so that the photographer can visually recognize the scenery far away in the line of sight through the combiner 30 as a real image. It is like that.

In the present embodiment, the combiner 30 is a substantially rectangular curved plate member made of a transparent material such as acrylic or polycarbonate, and a reflective layer such as a metal film formed on one side thereof functions as a half mirror. The surface of this reflective layer becomes a reflective surface 31 that reflects light rays such as an image frame electronic image incident from the surface display unit 21 of the image display device 20 on the surface.
The combiner 30 is pivotally supported with respect to the main body 11 using a hinge or the like (not shown). The combiner 30 is not limited to a substantially rectangular shape, and may be a circular shape such as an ellipse.

The digital camera 10 having the above-described configuration detects the inclination of the main body 11 and detects the imaging posture as an erroneous operation preventing means that detects that the main body 11 is in the predetermined imaging posture and imaging position and permits the imaging operation. Imaging posture monitoring means for determining and imaging position detection means for determining the imaging position of the main body 11 by detecting the pupil of the photographer by image processing.
The imaging posture monitoring means includes a pair of inclination sensors 40 and 41 that detect the inclination of the main body 11. One tilt sensor 40 is installed at a proper position of the main body 11 and detects whether the imaging posture (tilt) of the main body 11 is within a predetermined range in the horizontal direction. The other tilt sensor 41 is also installed at an appropriate position of the main body 11 and detects whether the imaging posture of the main body 11 is within a predetermined range in the vertical direction. That is, the pair of tilt sensors 40 and 41 detects the tilt of the main body 11 in the horizontal direction and the vertical direction with reference to a predetermined imaging posture, and the current imaging posture is within a predetermined range from the detection result. Is to judge.

  The imaging position detection means includes a pupil detection camera 50 that captures an image of the photographer's pupil. The pupil detection camera 50 is arranged so that the imager's pupil is present in the imaging range when the main body 11 is at a predetermined imaging position. In the illustrated example, when the main body 11 is at a predetermined imaging position, that is, when the photographer intends to shoot and holds the main body 11 at the predetermined imaging position, as shown by a two-dot chain line in FIG. It is provided at a position where the pupil of the imager reflected on the 30 reflecting surfaces 31 is imaged. In this case, the pupil detection camera 50 is arranged at a predetermined imaging position where the photographer's pupil can be imaged with a correct imaging posture, specifically, on the wall surface on the rear end side of the opening 11 a provided in the main body 11. However, the present invention is not limited to this.

  The tilt sensors 40 and 41 and the pupil detection camera 50 described above are connected to the control unit 1 of the digital camera 10 as shown in FIG. The control unit 1 is provided with an erroneous operation prevention unit 2, and the detection results of the tilt sensors 40 and 41 are input to the imaging posture monitoring unit 3 in the erroneous operation prevention unit 2. The pupil detection camera 50 is connected to the imaging position detection unit 4 in the erroneous operation prevention unit 2 so that captured image data is input.

Hereinafter, the control in the erroneous operation preventing unit 2 described above will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.
When the shooting mode is selected in the first step S1, pupil detection is performed in the next step S2. In this pupil detection, image data captured by the pupil detection camera 50 is input to the imaging position detection unit 4, and the pupil of the photographer is detected by image processing. If the pupil is detected here, it can be determined that the photographer is at a predetermined imaging position with a willingness to shoot, in other words, the photographer and the digital camera 10 are in an appropriate positional relationship for photographing.
In step S3, the posture of the main body 11 is detected. In this posture detection, the imaging posture of the main body 11 is determined based on the detection result detected by the tilt sensors 40 and 41 and input to the imaging posture monitoring unit 3. That is, if the inclination in the horizontal direction and the vertical direction is small within a predetermined range, it can be determined that the main body 11 is in a predetermined imaging posture.

In response to the detection results of steps S2 and S3 described above, in the next step S4, it is determined whether or not a predetermined photographing permission condition is satisfied. That is, when it is determined that the imaging position detected by the pupil detection camera 50 and the imaging posture detected by the tilt sensors 40 and 41 satisfy a predetermined condition, it is assumed that a predetermined imaging permission condition is satisfied. It progresses to step S5 of "YES".
Thus, when the process proceeds to the next step 5, the operation of the shutter switch 14 is effective for releasing the photographing lock, so the process proceeds to the last step S6 and photographing is performed.

On the other hand, if “NO” is determined in step S4 described above that the predetermined photographing permission condition is not satisfied, the process returns to step S2 in which pupil detection is performed, and the predetermined photographing permission condition is satisfied in step S4. Until it becomes “YES”, the pupil detection (step S2) and the posture detection (step S3) are repeated.
By performing such control, since the shutter switch 14 cannot be operated when the digital camera 10 does not satisfy the predetermined photographing permission condition, an unnecessary photographing operation is erroneously performed even though there is no intention to photograph. Such an erroneous operation can be prevented.

By the way, in embodiment mentioned above, the pupil detection camera 50 imaged the imaging person's pupil reflected on the reflective surface 31 of the combiner 30, and the imaging position was judged by image-processing the image data, but below, A modification as described in (1) is also possible.
In the first modification shown in FIG. 8, the pupil detection camera 50 is provided at a position where the pupil detection camera 50 can directly capture the image of the photographer's pupil. In the illustrated example, the pupil detection camera 50 is attached in the vicinity of the wall surface on the front end side of the opening 11 a provided in the main body 11.
Further, as in the second modification shown in FIG. 9, the pupil of the imager may be directly imaged by the pupil detection camera 50 attached to the tip of the combiner 30.
Note that, in the first modification and the second modification, it is the same that the captured image data is subjected to image processing to determine the imaging position.

  In this way, in the above-described shooting state of the digital camera 10, the virtual image of the frame electronic image displayed on the surface display unit 21 is superimposed on the real image of the real field of view that the photographer can naturally see through the combiner 30. The For this reason, the photographer can determine and shoot a shooting range while simultaneously viewing the real image of the imaging target in the real field of view and the virtual image of the image frame indicating the imageable range. In other words, the photographer can superimpose an image frame of the actual shootable range in the real field of view, so it can respond to zooming operations etc. Thus, it is possible to easily set and capture a desired shooting range with an image frame that changes. In other words, it is easy to determine the desired imaging range while naturally viewing a wide range of imaging targets and the surrounding real field of view, and to make the shooting target intuitive by cutting out the desired shooting range from the real field of view with the image frame. Can be taken.

Further, if the digital camera 10 is determined not to be in a predetermined shooting state based on the inputs from the tilt sensors 40 and 41 and the pupil detection camera 50, the permission of the shooting operation cannot be obtained, and therefore an erroneous operation is not possible. Therefore, it is possible to reliably prevent useless shooting.
The same function as that of the digital camera described above can also be applied to a portable information terminal such as a mobile phone having a digital camera function.
In addition, this invention is not limited to embodiment mentioned above, In the range which does not deviate from the summary of this invention, it can change suitably.

1A and 1B are diagrams illustrating a first embodiment of a digital camera as an example of a portable information terminal according to the present invention, in which FIG. 1A is an external perspective view illustrating a shooting state, and FIG. is there. It is an external appearance perspective view which shows the storing state at the time of non-photographing about the digital camera of Fig.1 (a). It is a perspective view which shows the state which the photographer image | photographed using the digital camera of Fig.1 (a). It is explanatory drawing regarding the image frame display by the transflective optical element regarding the digital camera of Fig.1 (a), and imaging of the reflected pupil. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of an image frame electronic image displayed on an image display unit in the digital camera of FIG. It is a block diagram which shows the structural example of a misoperation prevention means. It is a flowchart which shows control of the misoperation prevention means shown in FIG. It is a figure which shows the 1st modification regarding the arrangement | positioning position of a pupil detection camera. It is a figure which shows the 2nd modification regarding the arrangement | positioning position of a pupil detection camera.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Control part 2 Misoperation prevention part 3 Imaging posture monitoring part 4 Imaging position detection part 10 Digital camera 11 Main body 11a Opening part 12 Case 13 Shooting lens 14 Shutter switch 15a, 15b Zoom operation part 20 Image display apparatus (image display part)
30 Combiner (semi-transmissive optical element)
31 Reflecting surface 40, 41 Tilt sensor 50 Pupil sensor

Claims (2)

A portable information terminal that converts an image captured by an imaging unit through a photographing optical system into image information of digital data, stores the image information in a storage medium, and stores the image information.
An image display unit that displays an image frame electronic image that defines an image frame of an imaging range that can be imaged by the imaging unit;
A transflective optical element that reflects light from the image display unit and transmits light from the real field of view of the photographer;
A portable information terminal comprising: an erroneous operation prevention unit that detects that the main body is in a predetermined imaging posture and imaging position and permits an imaging operation.   The imaging operation monitoring means for detecting the inclination of the main body to determine the imaging attitude and the imaging position detecting means for detecting the imaging person's pupil by image processing and determining the imaging position of the main body. The portable information terminal according to claim 1, further comprising:

Images