JP2006246209A - Image generator - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To generate an image file name reflecting the contents of image data. <P>SOLUTION: In the case that an image indicated by an image file 51 is similar to the one for an image file 50 generated immediately before, a digital still camera defines "EPSA0011. jpg" for which the last one digit of the part "0010" of the file name "EPSA0010. jpg" of the image file 50 is increased by 1 as a file name of the image file 51. When the image indicated by an image file 60 is not similar to the one of the image file 50 generated immediately before, the digital still camera defines "EPSA0020. jpg", for which the second last digit of the part "0010" of the file name "EPSA0010. jpg" of the image file 50 is increased by 1 as the file name of the image file 60. In this manner, whether the image files are similar to each other is decided easily by the image file names. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a file name generation method in a digital still camera.

  In recent years, digital still cameras using an image sensor, such as a CCD, have become widespread. A digital still camera generally generates a unique file name that does not overlap with a captured image file. For example, a digital still camera generates a file name by using a method of including a sequential number in the shooting order in the file name and including a shooting date and time in the file name.

  Also, in recent years, digital still cameras have developed a relationship between images by generating different file names for each shooting mode for a series of images shot in different shooting modes, for example, panorama shooting mode and continuous shooting mode. And a mode that enables efficient file operations such as browsing and erasing files.

JP-A-10-177646 JP-A-11-261937 JP 2002-44601A

  However, the serial number and shooting date / time included in the file name do not reflect the content of the shot image. Therefore, in order to confirm the relationship between images, for example, whether the images are similar to each other, the images must be displayed and confirmed one by one. Further, the mode of generating the file name according to the shooting mode does not consider the content of the shot image. For this reason, it is difficult to infer from the file name whether or not images taken using the normal shooting mode are similar to each other.

  The present invention has been made in view of such a problem, and an object of the present invention is to generate a file name that can identify similarity according to the content of a captured image.

In order to solve at least a part of the problems described above, the present invention has the following configuration. That is, in the image generation device,
An image data generation unit that converts an electrical signal input via the image sensor into digital data and generates first image data;
Comparative image information recording means for recording at least one of the second image data or information relating to the second image data as the comparison image information in the first recording unit;
Similarity determination means for determining similarity between the first image data and the second image data based on the first image data and the comparison image information;
Identification information generating means for generating identification information for identifying that the first image data and the second image data are similar according to the determination result;
Image file generating means for generating an image file using the first image data;
Association means for associating the image file with the identification information;
The gist includes an identification information recording unit that records the associated image file and the identification information in a second recording unit.

  According to the present invention, the similarity between image data can be determined based on the content of the image data, and identification information that can identify similarity is recorded in association with the image file. Therefore, the similarity relationship between image files can be easily recognized, and efficient file operation and file management can be performed. Further, it is possible to determine the similarity of the image files without displaying the contents of the image files, and to improve browsing efficiency.

In the image generating apparatus of the present invention,
The similarity determination means further includes:
Based on the first image data and the comparison image information, a first feature amount that is information representing the characteristics of the first image data, and second information that represents the characteristics of the second image data. Feature amount acquisition means for acquiring the feature amount of
Similarity calculating means for calculating a similarity indicating the degree of similarity between the first image data and the second image data based on the first feature quantity and the second feature quantity;
The similarity determination may be performed based on the similarity.

  According to the present invention, since the similarity is calculated based on the feature amount obtained by analyzing the content of the image data, the accuracy of similarity determination can be improved.

In the image generating apparatus of the present invention,
The similarity determination means further includes:
Dividing means for dividing the first image data and the second image data into a plurality of regions;
The feature amount acquisition means acquires the first feature amount and the second feature amount for each of the divided regions,
The similarity calculation means may calculate the similarity based on the first feature value and the second feature value.

  According to the present invention, by dividing image data into a plurality of regions and acquiring feature amounts for each region, it is possible to calculate the degree of similarity considering the distribution of feature amounts. In addition, local similarity can be determined.

In the image generating apparatus of the present invention,
The similarity calculation means may calculate the similarity for each region.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to determine the similarity of the composition and arrangement of the subject from the similarity for each region, and the accuracy of the similarity determination can be improved.

In the image generating apparatus of the present invention,
The comparison image information recording unit may record the second feature amount as the comparison image information in advance.

  According to the present invention, the recording capacity of the first recording unit can be used efficiently. Further, since it is not necessary to calculate the feature amount from the second image data, the processing load can be reduced.

In the image generating apparatus of the present invention,
When the comparison image information is the second image data, the similarity determination unit may analyze the second image data and acquire the second feature amount.

  Since there are a plurality of types of feature amounts, according to the present invention, it is possible to appropriately acquire feature amounts suitable for similarity determination when performing similarity determination processing.

In the image generating apparatus of the present invention,
The comparative image information is the second image data,
The similarity determination unit may determine the similarity based on a difference between pixel values of corresponding pixels of the first image data and the second image data.

  The process of calculating the difference between pixel values can be quickly calculated with a light processing load. Therefore, according to the present invention, it is possible to improve the processing efficiency of image data similarity determination.

In the image generating apparatus of the present invention,
The similarity determination means further includes:
Correlation coefficient calculating means for calculating a correlation coefficient between the first image data and the second image data based on the first image data and the comparison image information,
The similarity may be determined based on the correlation coefficient.

  According to the present invention, since similarity can be determined based on the correlation between image data to be compared, the accuracy of similarity determination can be improved.

In the image generating apparatus of the present invention,
The similarity determination means further includes:
First low-resolution image data, which is image data in which the resolution of the first image data is lowered, is generated, and second image data in which the resolution of the second image data is lowered based on the comparison image information Low resolution image data acquisition means for acquiring the low resolution image data of
The similarity may be determined based on the first low resolution image data and the second low resolution image data.

  According to the present invention, by performing similarity determination using reduced image data, it is possible to reduce the amount of calculation and the processing load.

In the image generating apparatus of the present invention,
The similarity determination means further includes:
Thumbnail acquisition means for acquiring a first thumbnail that is thumbnail image data of the first image data and acquiring a second thumbnail that is thumbnail image data of the second image data based on the comparison image information Prepared,
The similarity may be determined based on the first thumbnail and the second thumbnail.

  Since the thumbnails are stored in advance in the image data, according to the present invention, they can be easily obtained and the processing efficiency can be improved.

In the image generating apparatus of the present invention,
The first image data and the second image data may be RAW data.

  According to the present invention, by using RAW data, it is possible to make a similarity determination with higher accuracy than using image file data that has been subjected to various processes on image data and compressed.

  In the image generating apparatus of the present invention, the first recording unit may be configured as a part of the second recording unit. According to the present invention, it is possible to efficiently utilize the recording area of the image generation apparatus.

In the image generating apparatus of the present invention,
In addition,
Prior to the determination of the similarity, it is determined whether or not an imaging interval representing a time interval from the imaging of the second image data to the imaging of the first image data has exceeded a predetermined time. A shooting interval determination means for
The similarity determination means may not execute the similarity determination when it is determined that the shooting interval has passed the predetermined time or more.

In the image generation apparatus of the present invention,
In addition,
Prior to the determination of similarity, the subject represented by the first image data based on the shooting conditions at the time of shooting the second image data and the shooting conditions at the time of shooting the first image data Photographing condition judging means for judging the similarity with the subject represented by the second image data;
The similarity determination unit, when the shooting condition determination unit determines that the subject represented by the first image data and the subject represented by the second image data are dissimilar, The similarity determination may not be executed.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to determine similarity based on objective information such as shooting conditions and shooting intervals prior to similarity determination based on the contents of image data, so that processing efficiency can be improved.

In the image generating apparatus of the present invention,
The association unit may set the identification information as a file name of the image file.

  According to the present invention, since the identification information can be set to the image file name, the similarity between the image files can be easily recognized and the convenience can be improved.

In the image generating apparatus of the present invention,
The identification information generating means may generate the identification information in a format that conforms to a DCF (Design Rule for Camera File system) format.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to generate an image file name that can identify the similarity of an image file in a format that conforms to a widely used DCF format, so that convenience can be improved.

In the image generating apparatus of the present invention,
The image file generation means generates the image file in a format conforming to the JPEG format having accompanying information,
The association unit may set the identification information in the incidental information.

  The incidental information can be easily browsed and set. Therefore, according to the present invention, it is possible to easily determine the similarity between image files by browsing the supplementary information.

In the image generating apparatus of the present invention,
The identification information recording unit may record the identification information in the second recording unit in association with identification information for identifying the image file.

  According to the present invention, by recording the association information between the image file and the identification information separately from the image file, the similarity relationship of the plurality of image files can be managed collectively.

As a second configuration of the present invention, in an image processing apparatus,
Image data acquisition means for generating first image data;
Comparative image information recording means for recording at least one of the second image data or information relating to the second image data as the comparison image information in the first recording unit;
Similarity determination means for determining similarity between the first image data and the second image data based on the first image data and the comparison image information;
Identification information generating means for generating identification information for identifying that the first image data and the second image data are similar according to the determination result;
Image file generating means for generating an image file using the first image data;
Association means for associating the image file with the identification information;
The gist of the present invention is to include identification information recording means for recording the associated image file and the identification information in a second recording unit.

  According to the present invention, an image file and identification information can be associated with each other according to the similarity of acquired image data. Therefore, the file operation efficiency can be improved.

  In the present invention, the various aspects described above can be applied by appropriately combining or omitting some of them. In addition to the configuration as the image generation apparatus and the image processing apparatus described above, the present invention assigns the file name of the image file to the image generation apparatus, the image file name generation method using the image processing apparatus, the image recording apparatus, and the image processing apparatus. It can also be configured as a computer program for generating, a recording medium on which the computer program is recorded in a computer-readable manner, and the like. In any configuration, the above-described aspects can be appropriately applied. As a computer-readable recording medium, various media such as a flexible disk, a CD-ROM, a DVD-ROM, a magneto-optical disk, an IC card, and a hard disk can be used.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in order based on examples.
A. First embodiment:
When the digital still camera 10 of the first embodiment determines that the content of the captured image is similar to the content of the image captured immediately before, the digital still camera 10 generates an image file name that can identify the similarity. The configuration of the digital still camera 10 according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS.

A1. Digital still camera configuration:
FIG. 1A is a front view of the digital still camera 10 in the present embodiment, and FIG. 1B is a rear view of the digital still camera 10 in the present embodiment. FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram illustrating functional blocks of the digital still camera 10 according to the present embodiment. As shown in FIGS. 1A, 1B, and 2, the digital still camera 10 includes a release button 11, a lens 12, a card slot 13, a liquid crystal panel 14, an operation unit 15, a CPU 20, An internal clock 21, a CCD 22, an image processing circuit 23, a buffer memory 24, and a ROM 25 are provided. The ROM 25 includes a similarity calculation module 26, a similarity determination module 27, and an image file name generation module 28. Each module is configured by software. Each module may be configured in hardware. Each functional block is controlled by the CPU 20.

  When the digital still camera 10 detects that the release button 11 has been pressed, the digital still camera 10 starts photographing processing. The interface 40 is an interface for connecting the memory card 30 and is configured as a part of the card slot 13. The liquid crystal panel 14 is installed on the back surface of the digital still camera 10. The liquid crystal panel 14 displays an image file recorded on the memory card 30 or a thumbnail stored in the image file. The operation unit 15 receives various operations by the user, for example, setting of shooting conditions such as resolution and shooting mode, and instructions for browsing the image file.

  The CCD 22 is an image sensor in which R, G, and B filters are arranged in accordance with a predetermined rule for each constituent pixel. The CCD 22 converts light information input via the lens 12 into an electrical signal, and generates digital image data. The CCD 22 generates a copy of the generated image data, passes one to the image processing circuit 23, and stores the other in the buffer memory 24.

  The image processing circuit 23 performs various image processing, such as color conversion processing, white balance processing, and compression processing, on the digital image data transferred from the CCD 22 to generate a JPEG format image file.

  The internal clock 21 is a clock that counts time by a timer with a preset time as a reference.

  The buffer memory 24 temporarily records the image data taken immediately before, the image file name of the image file generated based on the image data, the shooting date and time of the image file, and the image data delivered from the CCD 22. Memory. The buffer memory 24 will be described in detail with reference to FIG.

  FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram illustrating the contents of the buffer memory 24 in the present embodiment. The buffer memory 24 includes a pre-image information recording area 100 and an image information recording area 150. The pre-image information recording area 100 includes an image data recording area 110, a shooting date / time recording area 120, and an image file name recording area 130.

  In the image data recording area 110, the image data 111 generated immediately before is recorded. The image data 111 is RAW data. The RAW data indicates image data generated by the CCD 22 and represents image data in an untouched state before development processing such as white balance adjustment and sharpness processing is performed. In this embodiment, the RAW data 111 generated by the digital still camera 10 has 2400 pixels in the height direction (hereinafter referred to as pixels) and 3200 pixels in the width direction, as shown in the figure. It is composed of the number of pixels.

  In the shooting date and time recording area 120, the time when the image data 111 was generated, that is, the shooting time when the immediately preceding image file was shot is recorded. As shown in the drawing, the shooting date and time of the image data 111 is “2005/1/10 9:30:12”. In the image file name recording area 130, an image file name of an image file generated using the image data 111 is recorded. As illustrated, the image file name of the image file generated using the image data 111 is “EPSA0020.jpg”.

  The image information recording area 150 includes an image data recording area 160. In the image data recording area 160, image data 161 generated by the CCD 22 is recorded. Similar to the image data 111, the image data 161 is RAW data before being subjected to development processing.

  The similarity calculation module 26 calculates a similarity indicating whether or not the image data recorded in the buffer memory 24 is similar to the image data generated by the CCD 22.

  The similarity determination module 27 determines whether the image data recorded in the buffer memory 24 and the image data generated by the CCD 22 are similar based on the similarity calculated by the similarity calculation module 26. To do.

  The image file name generation module 28 generates an image file name that can be identified as similar according to the determination result by the similarity determination module 27, and generates the image file generated by the image processing circuit 23 as the generated image file. Recorded on the memory card 30 by name.

  The structure of the image file name in this embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 4 (a) and 4 (b). The structure of the image file name in this embodiment conforms to the image format for digital cameras defined by JEITA (Japan Electronics and Information Technology Industries Association). As shown in FIG. 4A, the image file name 200 includes an image file name 210 “EPSA0020” and an extension 220 “jpg”. The image file name 210 is composed of 8 characters as shown in FIG. The first four characters are free character areas that can be freely set by the camera model or manufacturer, and the last four characters are file numbers that represent the file number in four digits. Change the file number to prevent duplicate image file names.

A2. Image recording processing:
FIG. 5 is a flowchart for explaining the image recording process in this embodiment. When the digital still camera 10 detects that the release button 11 has been pressed (step S10), a process for generating an image file (step S11) and a process for generating an image file name (step S12) are performed in parallel. To process.

A2-1. Image file generation processing:
The image file generation process will be described in detail with reference to FIG. 6, and the image file name generation process will be described in detail with reference to FIG. FIG. 6 is a flowchart for explaining image file generation processing in this embodiment. The digital still camera 10 uses the CCD 22 to perform A / D conversion on the electric signal input through the lens, and generates RAW data (step S20). At this time, the CPU 20 records a copy of the generated RAW data in the buffer memory 24 (step S21). This is because the image file name generation process (FIG. 6: Step S12) is executed in parallel with the image file generation process.

  The digital still camera 10 performs image processing, for example, resolution setting, color reproduction processing, and color conversion processing on the image data (step S22), compresses, and converts the image data into an image file that conforms to the JPEG format ( Step S23).

A2-2. Image file name generation processing:
FIG. 7 is a flowchart for explaining image file name generation processing in this embodiment. It is a detail of the process in step S12 of FIG. The digital still camera 10 refers to the internal clock 21 (step S30), acquires the shooting date / time (step S31), refers to the shooting date / time recording area 120 of the buffer memory 24 (step S32), and is shot immediately before. The shooting date and time of the file is acquired from the obtained image (step S33). The digital still camera 10 calculates a shooting interval from each acquired shooting date and time (step S34), and determines whether or not the shooting interval is shorter than the threshold ThTime (step S35). The threshold ThTime is a short time and is preferably within 5 minutes. The threshold ThTime may be set to a long time of 1 hour, 1 day, or more.

  If the shooting interval is longer than the threshold ThTime (step S35: NO), the digital still camera 10 determines that the image data 111 and the image data 161 are dissimilar and performs a process of generating a normal image file name ( Step S39).

  If the shooting interval is shorter than the threshold ThTime (step S35: YES), the digital still camera 10 calculates the similarity between the image data 111 and the image data 161 (step S36). In the present embodiment, the similarity is calculated using the pixel values of the image data, for example, R, G, B values, the average value of the luminance values, the mode value, and the intermediate value. In addition to these three feature amounts, a histogram of RGB values and luminance values may be used.

  The average value is a value obtained by dividing the total pixel value of each pixel by the number of pixels, and represents a so-called arithmetic average. The intermediate value represents a central value when pixel values are sorted in a magnitude relationship. The mode value represents a pixel value set for the largest number of pixels. The calculation formula for similarity is shown in Formula 1. Note that image X and image Y represent two image data to be compared, and n represents the number of types of feature values. Simi represents the similarity, Cix represents the value of the feature quantity Ci of the image X, Ciy represents the value of the feature quantity Ci of the image Y, and Wi represents the weight coefficient of the feature quantity Ci.

Formula 1

  The similarity Simi takes a value in the range of -1 <Simi <1, and the closer to 1, the more similar the image data.

  In the present embodiment, n is 3 because there are three feature values: an average value, a mode value, and an intermediate value. That is, the similarity is a value obtained by subtracting 1 from the sum of values obtained by weighting the differences between the feature amounts.

  The digital still camera 10 determines whether or not the calculated similarity is less than the threshold value ThSimi (step S37). If the similarity is less than the threshold ThSimi (step S37: YES), the digital still camera 10 determines that the image data 161 is similar to the image data 111, and an image file indicating that they are similar A name is generated (step S38). If the similarity is equal to or greater than the threshold ThSimi (step S37: NO), the digital still camera 10 determines that the image data 161 is dissimilar to the image data 111, and generates a normal image file name ( Step S39).

  Details of the similar image file name generation process (step S38) and the normal image file name generation process (step S39) will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. FIG. 8 is a flowchart for explaining similar image file name generation processing in this embodiment. If it is determined that the image data 161 is similar to the image data 111, the digital still camera 10 refers to the image file name recording area 130 of the buffer memory 24 (step S40), and the image file 161 generated immediately before is stored. An image file name is acquired (step S41). The digital still camera 10 increments the first digit of the file number of the acquired image file name by 1 to generate an image file name. (Step S42).

  The similar image file name generation process will be schematically described with reference to FIG. The horizontal axis t shown in FIG. 10A represents the time axis. As shown in FIG. 10A, the image file 50 is generated at time T1, the image file 51 is generated at time T2, and the image file 52 is generated at time T3. No other image file is generated between the image file 50 and the image file 51 and between the image file 51 and the image file 52.

  When the image represented by the image file 51 is similar to the image file 50 generated immediately before, the digital still camera 10 indicates the file number of the image file name “EPSA0010.jpg” of the image file 50. The image file name of the image file 51 is “EPSA0011.jpg” obtained by incrementing the first digit of the 4-digit “0010” by one. Similarly, when the image represented by the image file 52 is similar to the image file 51 generated immediately before, the digital still camera 10 represents the file number of the image file name “EPSA0011.jpg” of the image file 51. The image file name of the image file 52 is “EPSA0012.jpg” obtained by incrementing the first digit of the lower four digits “0011” by one.

  FIG. 9 is a flowchart for explaining normal image file name generation processing in the present embodiment. If it is determined that the image data 161 is dissimilar to the image data 111, the digital still camera 10 refers to the image file name recording area 130 of the buffer memory 24 (step S50), and the image file 161 generated immediately before is stored. An image file name is acquired (step S51). The digital still camera 10 generates an image file name by setting the first digit of the file number of the acquired image file name to 0 and incrementing the second digit of the file number. (Step S52).

  The normal image file name generation process will be schematically described with reference to FIG. The horizontal axis t shown in FIG. 10B represents the time axis. FIG. 10B shows a case where the image file 60 is generated instead of the image file 51 at time T2, and the image file 70 is generated instead of the image file 52 at time T3. When the image represented by the image file 60 is not similar to the image file 50 generated immediately before, the digital still camera 10 determines the “0010” portion of the image file name “EPSA0010.jpg” of the image file 50. The image file name of the image file 60 is “EPSA0020.jpg” obtained by incrementing the lower second digit by 1. Similarly, when the image represented by the image file 70 is not similar to the image file 60 generated immediately before, the digital still camera 10 has the image file name “EPSA0020.jpg” of “0020” of the image file 60. The image file name of the image file 70 is “EPSA0030.jpg” obtained by incrementing the last second digit of the portion by 1.

  After completing the image file generation process and the image file name generation process, the digital still camera 10 records the generated image file on the memory card 30 with the generated image file name (step S13).

  The digital still camera 10 updates the image data 111 stored in the image data recording area 110 with the image data 161 recorded in the image data recording area 160 of the buffer memory 24. The shooting date / time recording area 120 is updated, and the image file name recording area 130 is updated with the image file name generated in step S12 (step S14).

A3. Hierarchical structure:
FIG. 11 schematically shows a hierarchical structure of image files recorded on the memory card 30 in this embodiment. As shown in the figure, a DCIM directory is generated below the ROOT directory, and a 100ABCDE directory is generated below the DCIM directory. The 100ABCDE directory is a directory whose name can be set by each digital still camera manufacturer. As shown in the figure, the EPSA0020. jpg, EPSA0021. jpg, EPSA0030. An image file such as jpg is recorded.

  When an image file name is generated by using the image file name generation method of the present embodiment, the second digit of the file number of the image file names of similar image files is the same. The image file names of dissimilar image files differ in the second digit of the file number. Therefore, similar image files such as EPSA0020. jpg and EPSA0021. jpg, EPSA0040. jpg and EPSA0041. jpg and EPSA0042. As shown in the figure, jpg is grouped so that it can be easily recognized that there is a similar relationship.

  According to the digital still camera of the first embodiment described above, similarity between image data can be calculated using various feature amounts that can be acquired from image data, and similarity can be identified based on the similarity. A simple image file name can be generated and assigned. Therefore, the user can make a similarity determination reflecting the contents of the image data by viewing only the image file name without browsing the image file, thereby improving the efficiency of the file operation.

  Further, according to the present invention, when changing the file number of the image file name, if they are similar, the lower first digit is incremented, and if they are dissimilar, the lower second digit is incremented. Since the names are generated, it is preferable that the image file names can be managed in time series while explicitly showing the similarity relationship between the image files.

  In this embodiment, since the image file name is generated in a format compliant with the DCF format, it is possible to generate an image file name that can identify similarity while maintaining compatibility with other models. it can. Therefore, for example, there is an advantage that the image file stored in the memory card 30 can be output to a printer compatible with the DCF format and printed as it is.

  Further, in this embodiment, since the feature amount can be obtained by using the RAW data and the similarity can be calculated, it is more accurate than calculating the similarity from the feature amount of the image data in the developed JPEG format. A high degree of similarity can be calculated. For example, the similarity of image data in various modes such as a color image and a black and white image, a clear mode, and a vivid mode can be calculated with high accuracy.

  Further, according to this embodiment, since the RAW data 111 is stored in the image data recording area 110, various feature amounts can be acquired as appropriate. For example, the user can flexibly select a feature amount to be used and a weighting factor for calculating the feature amount.

B. Second embodiment:
In the first embodiment described above, for each piece of generated image data, similarity determination with the image data generated immediately before is performed, and an image file name is generated. In the second embodiment, when the digital still camera 10 has shot in the continuous shooting mode, the second and subsequent image files of the continuously shot image data are not subjected to similarity determination. Therefore, the image file name is generated assuming that it is similar to the image file taken immediately before.

B1. Continuous shooting mode:
FIG. 12 is a schematic diagram for explaining the continuous shooting mode in the second embodiment. The horizontal axis represents the time axis. In the present embodiment, when the release button 11 is pressed in the continuous shooting mode and the shooting process is performed, the digital still camera 10 controls the CCD 22 and continues at short time intervals, in this embodiment, at 0.5 second intervals. The four image data GD1, GD2, GD3, and GD4 are generated. As illustrated, the image data GD1 is generated at time t1, the image data GD2 is generated at time t2, the image data GD3 is generated at time t3, and the image data GD4 is generated at time t4. The time intervals between time t1 and time t2, time t2 and time t3, and time t3 and time t4 are 0.5 seconds.

  Since the image data GD1 to GD4 taken in the continuous shooting mode are as short as the shooting interval of 0.5 seconds, it is difficult to think that the shooting target has changed greatly, and generally the images shot in the continuous shooting mode. Since the data is often similar to the image data photographed immediately before, in this embodiment, it is determined that the image data GD1 to GD4 photographed in the continuous photographing mode are similar, and the image file name is set. Generate. That is, the image data GD2 is similar to the image data GD1, the image data GD3 is similar to the image data GD2, and the image data GD4 is determined to be similar to the image data GD3, and a similar image file name is generated. To do.

B2. Image file name generation processing:
FIG. 13 is a flowchart for explaining image file generation processing in this embodiment. When the digital still camera 10 detects that the release button 11 has been pressed, it starts image file name generation processing. The digital still camera 10 refers to the set shooting mode (step S60), and determines whether or not the shooting mode is the continuous shooting mode (step S61). If it is not the continuous shooting mode (step S61: NO), the digital still camera 10 performs an image file name generation process from step S30.

  If the continuous shooting mode is selected (step S61: YES), the digital still camera 10 performs a process of generating an image file name of the image data GD1 imaged on the first image (step S62). The process of step S62 is the process of step S30 to step S39 described in FIG.

  The digital still camera 10 records the image file name generated from the image data GD1 in the buffer memory 24 (step S63), performs similar image file name generation processing, and generates the image file name of the next image data GD2 taken. (Step S64). The process of step S64 is the process of step S40 to step S42 described in FIG.

  The digital still camera 10 records the generated image file name in the image file name recording area 130 of the buffer memory 24 (step S65), and generates the image file name of the image file that was last shot and generated in the continuous shooting mode. Whether or not (step S66). If the image file name of the image file that was captured and generated last is not generated (step S66: NO), the process returns to step S64 and the process is repeated. If the image file name of the image file that was captured and generated last is generated (step S66: YES), the process ends.

  According to the digital still camera 10 of the second embodiment described above, it is determined that the image data shot in the continuous shooting mode is similar, and the process of calculating the similarity is omitted, and the image file name is generated. can do. Therefore, it is possible to generate an image file name that can identify similarity, and to improve the overall processing efficiency.

C. Third embodiment:
In the first embodiment and the second embodiment described above, the digital still camera 10 generates an image file name that can identify the similarity between the captured image file and the previously captured image file. . In the third embodiment, a program having image file name generation means is installed in a personal computer.

C1. Function block:
FIG. 14 is an explanatory diagram illustrating functional blocks of the image processing apparatus 600 according to the third embodiment. The image processing apparatus 600 is a general personal computer including a CPU 601, a ROM 603, a RAM 610, a card slot 602, and an image storage unit 620. The ROM 603 includes an image acquisition module 604, an image processing module 605, a similarity calculation module 606, a similarity determination module 607, and an image file name generation module 608. The memory card 650 stores RAW data and the generation date and time of each image data.

  The image acquisition module 604 acquires image data from the memory card 650 via the card slot 602. In this embodiment, all the image data stored in the memory card is acquired and temporarily stored in the RAM 610. Image data necessary for processing may be acquired from the memory card 650 as appropriate.

  The image processing module 605 performs color interpolation processing, color suppression processing, color conversion processing, white balance processing, and the like on the image data, executes JPEG encoding, and generates JPEG format image data. The same function as that of the image processing circuit 23 in the first embodiment is provided.

  Similarity calculation module 606, similarity determination module 607, and image file name generation module 608 are similar to similarity calculation module 26, similarity determination module 27, and image file name generation module 28 described in the first embodiment. Process. However, the image file name generation module 608 stores the image file generated by the image processing module 605 in the image storage unit 620 with the generated image file name.

  Since the image processing apparatus 600 performs the same processing as the processing of FIGS. 5 to 9 described in the first embodiment, detailed description of the processing is omitted. However, step S10 in FIG. 5 of the first embodiment is replaced with “acquire image data from memory card 650” instead of “detection of release button press”, and step S13 is replaced with “record on memory card”. “Record in image storage”.

  According to the third embodiment described above, an image file name that can identify similarity between image data can be generated for image data acquired from the outside, and convenience can be improved.

C. Variation:
(1)
In the above-described embodiment, the similarity is calculated based on the feature amount of the image data, and the similarity between the image data 111 and the image data 161 is determined. For example, the similarity may be determined using a simple difference between pixel values of corresponding pixels between the image data 111 and the image data 161. The correspondence of pixels between pixel data will be schematically described with reference to FIG.

  FIG. 15 is a schematic diagram for schematically explaining the correspondence of pixels between image data in the modification. The image data 300 and the image data 310 are 42-pixel image data of 7 pixels vertically and 6 pixels horizontally. In order to describe each pixel position of the image data 300, the subscript in the width direction is “i” and the subscript in the height direction is “j”. i and j are natural numbers, i ≦ 7 and j ≦ 6. The pixel position of the image data 300 is represented by X (i, j). As with the image data 300, the pixel position of the image data 310 is represented by Y (i, j). The pixel value at the pixel X (i, j) is represented by “Xij”, and the pixel value at the pixel Y (i, j) is represented by “Yij”.

  The “corresponding pixel” represents the same pixel position, that is, a pixel in which the same value is set for i and j. For example, as illustrated, the pixel X (2, 3) of the image data 300 and the pixel Y (2, 3) of the image data 310 are corresponding pixels.

  In this modification, the digital still camera 10 calculates the sum of the simple differences between all corresponding pixels as the difference Diff, and when the difference Diff is less than the threshold ThDiff, both image data are similar. Judge. The equation for calculating the difference Diff is Equation 2 shown below.

Formula 2

  The digital still camera 10 performs “difference calculation processing” instead of “similarity calculation processing” in step S36 of FIG. 7 described in the first embodiment, and performs determination processing “similarity> ThSimi in step S37. If “difference <ThDiff” instead of “”, similarity determination can be performed using the difference.

  According to the present modification, the processing for calculating the degree of difference based on the simple difference can be easily performed with a light processing load, and thus the processing efficiency can be improved.

(2)
The digital still camera 10 may perform similarity determination using a correlation coefficient in place of similarity and difference in determining similarity between image data. A correlation coefficient is a value representing the degree of correlation between two variables. In this modification, when the correlation coefficient cor is larger than the threshold Thcor, it is determined that the two image data are similar. The correlation coefficient is calculated by Equation 3 using the luminance values of the two image data to be compared. Note that i and j are subscripts representing pixel positions. When two image data to be compared are image data P and image data Q, the pixel value at pixel p (i, j) of the image data P is Pij. The pixel value at the pixel q (i, j) of the image data Q is Qij. Also, values such as an average value and an intermediate value are calculated for each of R, G, and B values.

Formula 3

  The digital still camera 10 performs “correlation coefficient calculation processing” instead of the “similarity calculation processing” in step S36 of FIG. 7 described in the first embodiment, and the determination processing “similarity < If “correlation coefficient> Thcor” instead of “ThSimi”, the similarity determination can be performed using the correlation coefficient.

  The correlation coefficient takes a value in the range of -1 <cor <1, and it can be determined that the closer to 1, the more similar the image data. Therefore, the accuracy of similarity determination can be controlled by adjusting the threshold Thcor within a range of -1 <cor <1.

(3)
The threshold values ThSimi, ThDiff, and Thcor described above may be set in advance, or may be arbitrarily set by the user. If each threshold value can be arbitrarily set by the user, it is possible to flexibly cope with the user's shooting mode and similar judgment criteria considered by the user.

(4)
In the first embodiment described above, the feature amount is acquired from the entire image data 111 and 161, and the similarity is calculated based on the acquired feature amount. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the image data 111 and 161 may be divided into a plurality of blocks and a feature amount may be acquired for each block. The block division of the image data will be described using the image data 111 as an example with reference to FIG.

  FIG. 16 is a schematic diagram for explaining block division of image data in this modification. The image data 111 is RAW data of 2400 pixels in the width direction and 1800 pixels in the height direction. The image data 111 is divided into four in the width direction and four in the height direction, and is divided into 16 blocks B1 to B16. All blocks are the same size. As shown in block B1, the number of pixels in the width direction of one block is 600 pixels, and the number of pixels in the height direction is 450 pixels. Similarly, the digital still camera 10 divides the image data 161 into 16 blocks. A difference in feature amount may be calculated for each divided block, and a similarity may be calculated from the difference. Further, similarity determination may be performed for each divided block, and similarity determination may be performed by comprehensively determining the similarity of each block. Since there is a high possibility that an important subject has been photographed in the central portion of the image, the similarity may be determined in consideration of the similarity of the central portion.

  By dividing into blocks, it is possible to use features of luminance values and color distribution as feature amounts, so that the accuracy of similarity determination can be improved. It is also possible to make a similarity determination in consideration of the composition and arrangement of images. An average value, a mode value, and an intermediate value may be calculated for each block to acquire a feature amount, and this may be used.

(5)
In the first embodiment described above, the image file name is generated as the identification information in order to identify the similarity between the image files, but the present invention is not limited to this. It is only necessary that the image file is associated with information for identifying similarity. For example, as shown in FIG. 17, identification information that can identify similarity may be set in the Exif information 500 of the image file.

  FIG. 17 is an explanatory diagram illustrating Exif information in this modification. In the Exif information 50, an image file name, a shooting date / time when the image data was shot, color space information, shutter speed, focal length, and the like are set. The manufacturer note is an area where the manufacturer of the digital still camera 10 can freely set information. The image file name excluding the extension of the image file having the Exif information 500 is EPSA0014. In this modification, the image file name excluding the extension of an image file similar to this image file is set in the maker note. As shown in the drawing, since the similar file name 510 of the manufacturer note is set to “EPSA0013”, the image file EPSA0014 represents that it is similar to EPSA0013.

  Since the Exif information is supplementary information that can be easily set and referred to, according to this modification, information that can identify the similarity between image files can be easily set in association with the image file. . The image file name that can be visually recognized by the user is generated with a serial number, but it is suitable when information that can identify the similarity between image data is associated with the image file.

(6)
Further, as in the above-described modification (5), not only the method of setting the identification information that can identify the similarity between the image data in the Exif information, but also the identification information that can identify the similarity between the image files. Alternatively, it may be separately generated as an identification information file and stored in the memory card 30. It is preferable that similarity relationships between image files can be managed collectively.

(7)
In each of the above-described embodiments, the similarity determination is performed using RAW data, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, reduced image data obtained by reducing RAW data may be used, or similarity determination may be performed using compressed JPEG format image data. Also, JPEG format image data or RAW data thumbnail images may be used.

(8)
Further, in each of the above-described embodiments, the similarity determination is performed using the raw data before the development process. However, the image data during the development process, that is, the contrast adjustment or the like reflecting the set shooting conditions is performed. Similarity determination may be performed using image data that has undergone sharpness processing. This is suitable when it is desired to make a similarity determination based on image data reflecting imaging conditions.

(9)
In the first embodiment described above, RAW data is recorded in the image data recording area 110, and the similarity determination is performed using this image data. However, the present invention is not limited to this. As indicated by a broken line in FIG. 3, the feature amount 400 of the image data captured immediately before may be recorded in the image data recording area 110. In this way, the recording area of the buffer memory 24 can be used effectively. Further, since it is not necessary to recalculate the feature amount of the image data taken immediately before from the RAW data, the calculation amount can be reduced and the processing efficiency can be improved.

(10)
In the first embodiment described above, the image file name conforming to the DCF format is generated. However, the present invention is not limited to this. An image file name that does not conform to the DCF format may be used. For example, “DCS001 — 0.jpg” or “DCS001 — 1.jpg” may be used.

(11)
In the first embodiment described above, the similarity with one piece of image data taken immediately before is calculated, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, it may be compared with two or more previously captured image data. In this case, there is a possibility that similar files increase. In this case, in the first embodiment, similarity is represented by the first digit of the image file name, and up to 10 image file names representing similarity can be created. The image file name may be expressed.

(12)
In the first embodiment described above, the shooting time of the image data 111 generated immediately before is recorded in the shooting date / time recording area 120. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, when a JPEG image file is recorded in the image data recording area 110 instead of the RAW data 111, the shooting date and time recorded in the Exif information, which is supplementary information of the image file, is used. Also good.

(13)
In the first embodiment described above, prior to similarity determination processing (steps S36 and S37), image data that is highly likely not to be similar based on the shooting interval is regarded as dissimilar without performing similarity determination. The determination is made, but the determination is not limited to the shooting interval. For example, if the focal lengths recorded in the Exif information shown in FIG. 17 differ by a predetermined threshold or more, it may be determined that they are dissimilar. Further, for example, similarity may be determined using GPS (Global Positioning System) information. The GPS information is information such as latitude, lightness, and altitude obtained using an artificial satellite. For example, when the latitude / longitude of the image data to be compared is a predetermined distance or more, it may be determined that the image data is obviously dissimilarly taken as being taken at another place.

(14)
In the first embodiment described above, the similarity determination is performed using the image data generated immediately before, but the image data is not limited to the image data generated immediately before. Further, it may be image data taken before or may not consider time series.

(15)
In the first embodiment described above, the pre-image information recording area 100 is configured in the buffer memory 24. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the pre-image information recording area 100 may be configured in the memory card 30.

(16)
In the first embodiment described above, the similarity is determined by obtaining the correlation coefficient of the pixel values, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the similarity may be determined by calculating a correlation coefficient using a histogram according to Equation 4 shown below. Note that xi represents the histogram of the image X, and yi represents the histogram of the image Y.

Formula 4

  According to this modification, the similarity can be determined according to the atmosphere of the entire image data regardless of the individual pixel positions.

  Although various embodiments of the present invention have been described above, it is needless to say that the present invention is not limited to these embodiments and can take various configurations without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

Explanatory drawing which illustrates schematic structure of the digital still camera in 1st Example. Explanatory drawing which illustrates the functional block of the digital still camera in 1st Example. Explanatory drawing which illustrates the content of the buffer memory in 1st Example. Explanatory drawing explaining the structure of the image file name in 1st Example. 6 is a flowchart for explaining image recording processing in the first embodiment. 6 is a flowchart for explaining image file generation processing in the first embodiment; 6 is a flowchart for explaining image file name generation processing in the first embodiment; 6 is a flowchart for explaining similar image file name generation processing in the first embodiment. 7 is a flowchart for explaining normal image file name generation processing in the first embodiment. The schematic diagram which illustrates the process outline | summary of the digital still camera in 1st Example. FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram for schematically explaining recorded contents of a memory card in the first embodiment. The schematic diagram explaining the continuous imaging | photography mode in 2nd Example. 12 is a flowchart for explaining image file name generation processing in the second embodiment. Explanatory drawing which illustrates the functional block of the image processing apparatus in 3rd Example. The schematic diagram explaining typically the correspondence of the pixel between the image data in a modification. The schematic diagram explaining the block division | segmentation of the image data in a modification. Explanatory drawing which illustrates the content of Exif information in a modification.

Explanation of symbols

10 ... Digital still camera 11 ... Release button 12 ... Lens 13 ... Card slot 14 ... LCD panel 15 ... Operation unit 20 ... CPU
21 ... Internal clock 22 ... CCD
23 ... Image processing circuit 24 ... Buffer memory 25 ... ROM
26 ... Similarity calculation module 27 ... Similarity determination module 28 ... Image file name generation module 30 ... Memory card 50, 51, 52, 53 ... Image file 100 ... Pre-image information Recording area 110 ... Image data recording area 111 ... Image data 120 ... Shooting date / time recording area 130 ... Image file name recording area 150 ... Image information recording area 160 ... Image data recording area 161 ... Image data 200 ... Image file name 210 ... Image file name 220 ... Extensions 300, 310 ... Image data 400 ... Features 510 ... Maker note 600 ... Image Processing unit 601 ... CPU
602 ... Interface 603 ... ROM
604 ... Image acquisition module 605 ... Image processing module 606 ... Similarity calculation module 607 ... Similarity determination module 608 ... Image file name generation module 610 ... RAM
650 ... Memory card

Claims (21)

An image generation device,
An image data generation unit that converts an electrical signal input via the image sensor into digital data and generates first image data;
Comparative image information recording means for recording at least one of the second image data or information relating to the second image data as the comparison image information in the first recording unit;
Similarity determination means for determining similarity between the first image data and the second image data based on the first image data and the comparison image information;
Identification information generating means for generating identification information for identifying that the first image data and the second image data are similar according to the determination result;
Image file generating means for generating an image file using the first image data;
Association means for associating the image file with the identification information;
An image generation apparatus comprising: an identification information recording unit that records the associated image file and the identification information in a second recording unit. The image generation apparatus according to claim 1,
The similarity determination means further includes:
Based on the first image data and the comparison image information, a first feature amount that is information representing the characteristics of the first image data, and second information that represents the characteristics of the second image data. Feature amount acquisition means for acquiring the feature amount of
Similarity calculating means for calculating a similarity indicating the degree of similarity between the first image data and the second image data based on the first feature quantity and the second feature quantity;
An image generation apparatus that determines the similarity based on the similarity. The image generation apparatus according to claim 2,
The similarity determination means further includes:
Dividing means for dividing the first image data and the second image data into a plurality of regions;
The feature amount acquisition means acquires the first feature amount and the second feature amount for each of the divided regions,
The similarity calculation means is an image generation device that calculates the similarity based on the first feature quantity and the second feature quantity. The image generation device according to claim 3,
The similarity calculation means is an image generation device that calculates the similarity for each region. The image generation apparatus according to any one of claims 2 to 4,
The comparison image information recording unit is an image generation device that records the second feature amount as the comparison image information in advance. The image generation apparatus according to any one of claims 2 to 4,
When the comparison image information is the second image data, the similarity determination unit analyzes the second image data and acquires the second feature amount. The image generation apparatus according to claim 1,
The comparative image information is the second image data,
The similarity determination unit is an image generation device that determines the similarity based on a difference between pixel values of corresponding pixels of the first image data and the second image data. The image generation apparatus according to claim 1,
The similarity determination means further includes:
Correlation coefficient calculating means for calculating a correlation coefficient between the first image data and the second image data based on the first image data and the comparison image information,
An image generation apparatus that determines the similarity based on the correlation coefficient. The image generation apparatus according to claim 1,
The similarity determination means further includes:
First low-resolution image data, which is image data in which the resolution of the first image data is lowered, is generated, and second image data in which the resolution of the second image data is lowered based on the comparison image information Low resolution image data acquisition means for acquiring the low resolution image data of
An image generation apparatus that determines the similarity based on the first low-resolution image data and the second low-resolution image data. The image generation apparatus according to claim 1,
The similarity determination means further includes:
Thumbnail acquisition means for acquiring a first thumbnail that is thumbnail image data of the first image data and acquiring a second thumbnail that is thumbnail image data of the second image data based on the comparison image information Prepared,
An image generation apparatus that determines the similarity based on the first thumbnail and the second thumbnail. The image generation apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 10,
The image generating apparatus, wherein the first image data and the second image data are RAW data. The image generation apparatus according to claim 1,
The first recording unit is an image generation device configured as a part of the second recording unit. The image generation apparatus according to claim 1,
In addition,
Prior to the determination of the similarity, it is determined whether or not an imaging interval representing a time interval from the imaging of the second image data to the imaging of the first image data has exceeded a predetermined time. A shooting interval determination means for
The similarity determination unit is an image generation device that does not perform the determination of similarity when it is determined that the predetermined interval has passed. The image generation apparatus according to claim 1,
In addition,
Prior to the determination of similarity, the subject represented by the first image data based on the shooting conditions at the time of shooting the second image data and the shooting conditions at the time of shooting the first image data Photographing condition judging means for judging the similarity with the subject represented by the second image data;
The similarity determination unit, when the shooting condition determination unit determines that the subject represented by the first image data and the subject represented by the second image data are dissimilar, An image generation apparatus that does not execute the determination of similarity. 15. The image generation apparatus according to claim 1, wherein
The association unit is an image generation device that sets the identification information as a file name of the image file. The image generation apparatus according to claim 15, wherein
The identification information generation means generates the identification information in a format that conforms to a DCF (Design Rule for Camera File system) format. 15. The image generation apparatus according to claim 1, wherein
The image file generation means generates the image file in a format conforming to the JPEG format having accompanying information,
The association means is an image recording image generating device that sets the identification information in the incidental information. 15. The image generation apparatus according to claim 1, wherein
The identification information recording means records the identification information in the second recording unit in association with identification information for identifying the image file. An image processing apparatus,
Image data acquisition means for generating first image data;
Comparative image information recording means for recording at least one of the second image data or information relating to the second image data as the comparison image information in the first recording unit;
Similarity determination means for determining similarity between the first image data and the second image data based on the first image data and the comparison image information;
Identification information generating means for generating identification information for identifying that the first image data and the second image data are similar according to the determination result;
Image file generating means for generating an image file using the first image data;
Association means for associating the image file with the identification information;
An image processing apparatus comprising: an identification information recording unit that records the associated image file and the identification information in a second recording unit. An image identification information generation method performed by an image generation apparatus,
An electrical signal input via the image sensor is converted into digital data, and first image data is generated,
As the comparison image information, at least one of the second image data or the information related to the second image data is recorded in the recording unit,
Determining the similarity between the first image data and the second image data based on the first image data and the comparison image information;
According to the determination result, generating identification information for identifying that the first image data and the second image data are similar,
Generating an image file using the first image data;
An image identification information generation method for associating the image file with the identification information. An image identification information generation method performed by an image processing apparatus,
Obtain first image data,
As the comparison image information, at least one of the second image data or the information related to the second image data is recorded in the recording unit,
Determining the similarity between the first image data and the second image data based on the first image data and the comparison image information;
According to the determination result, generating identification information for identifying that the first image data and the second image data are similar,
Generating an image file using the first image data;
An image identification information generation method for associating the image file with the identification information.

Images