JP2006253795A - Digital camera - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a digital camera capable of displaying an picked up image at a proper rotation angle at all times. <P>SOLUTION: The digital camera capable of outputting an image to an external monitor 20 of external connection and of displaying the image at the same time when the image is displayed on a built-in monitor 9 includes an attitude sensor for sensing the attitude of the camera and produces image data for a built-in monitor to be displayed on the built-in monitor and external output image data to be displayed on the external monitor. The digital camera sequentially reads an output of the attitude sensor in image display and applies image rotation processing to the external output image data in response to an output of the attitude sensor. On the other hand, the digital camera applies no rotation processing to the built-in monitor image but displays the image data on the built-in monitor 9. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a digital camera, which can display captured images at an appropriate rotation angle (orientation).

  Most digital cameras have both a liquid crystal monitor (built-in monitor) that can display images and a video output function. Not only can the captured image be displayed on the built-in monitor, but the video output function can be used to display it on a TV screen or the like. Can do. In particular, the camera of Patent Document 1 has a posture sensor that detects a camera posture, and records the camera posture at the time of shooting in association with an image, so that a video output image can be displayed at an appropriate rotation angle. The appropriate rotation angle indicates a state in which the vertical direction of the image matches the vertical direction recognized by the photographer, and the vertical direction recognized by the photographer is mostly the vertical direction of the actual subject.

  There is also a camera that detects a change in the posture of the camera and automatically changes the rotation angle of the image (see, for example, Patent Document 2).

JP 2000-188715 A JP-A-1-202722

  The method of recording camera posture information at the time of shooting in an image is effective when displayed on a stationary TV monitor or the like, but is not necessarily effective when displayed on a built-in monitor of the camera. Because the camera is a portable device, the posture can be freely changed, the direction of the built-in monitor itself changes accordingly, and the viewer does not know in what camera posture (monitor posture) the image confirmation is performed. This point is not considered in Patent Documents 1 and 2.

The invention according to claims 1 to 4 includes an imaging device and a built-in monitor that displays an image captured by the imaging device, and simultaneously displays an image on an external monitor connected to the external monitor. Applies to digital cameras that can output and display. An orientation sensor for detecting the orientation of the camera; display image generation means for generating internal monitor image data to be displayed on the internal monitor; and external output image data to be displayed on the external monitor; Control means for sequentially reading the output of the attitude sensor at the time of display and performing image rotation processing on the image data for external output according to the output of the attitude sensor, while displaying the image data for the built-in monitor on the built-in monitor without performing rotation processing It comprises.
According to a second aspect of the present invention, image rotation processing is performed so that the display image on the external monitor has an appropriate rotation angle when the camera is in substantially the same posture as when photographing.
According to a third aspect of the present invention, an image recorded on an image recording medium after imaging is displayed on an internal monitor and an external monitor.
According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided recording means for reading the output of the attitude sensor at the time of shooting, adding attitude information corresponding to the sensor output to the image data, and recording it on a recording medium, and utilizing the attitude information added to the image data When the image display mode to be set is set, image rotation processing is performed on the image data for external output based on the posture information. When the mode is not set, the external output is performed according to the output of the posture sensor at the time of image display. The image rotation processing is performed on the image data for use.
The inventions of claims 5 and 6 are applied to a digital camera having an imaging device and a built-in monitor that displays an image captured by the imaging device. And an attitude sensor for detecting the attitude of the camera, a recording means for reading the output of the attitude sensor at the time of shooting, adding attitude information according to the sensor output to the image data and recording it on a recording medium, and an image display on the built-in monitor Sometimes the output of the orientation sensor is read, and the rotation of the display image is made appropriate for the built-in monitor image data by taking into account both the orientation sensor output and the orientation information added to the image data. And control means for performing processing.
According to the sixth aspect of the present invention, an image can be output and displayed on an externally connected external monitor simultaneously with the image display on the built-in monitor, and the image data for external output to be displayed on the external monitor can be displayed. Then, based on the posture information added to the image data, an image rotation process for making the rotation angle of the display image appropriate is performed.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the built-in monitor image data to be displayed on the built-in monitor and the external output image data to be displayed on the external monitor are separately generated, and the output of the posture sensor is displayed during image display. Accordingly, the image data for external output is subjected to image rotation processing according to the above, so that the display image on the external monitor can be quickly set to an appropriate rotation angle simply by changing the posture of the camera. On the other hand, since the image data for the built-in monitor is not subjected to the rotation process, the image can be prevented from being displayed at an undesired rotation angle on the built-in monitor.
According to the invention of claim 5, posture information corresponding to the output of the posture sensor is added to the image data and recorded on the recording medium, and the output of the posture sensor is read when the image is displayed on the built-in monitor, and the posture sensor output Since the image rotation process is performed in consideration of both the posture information and the posture information, the built-in monitor can always display an image at an appropriate rotation angle regardless of the posture of the camera.

-First embodiment-
A first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.
FIG. 1 is a control block diagram of the digital camera 100 in the present embodiment. A subject light beam that has passed through a photographing lens (not shown) forms an image on a light receiving surface of an image sensor 1 such as a CCD. The image sensor 1 is controlled in its operation timing by the timing generator 2 and outputs an image signal corresponding to the light intensity of the formed subject image. The image signal is converted into a digital signal by the A / D converter 3 and then stored in the image memory 4 which is a primary buffer.

  The image signal stored in the image memory 4 is subjected to various image processing in the image processing circuit 5 to generate image data. The image data is compressed by the compression / decompression circuit 6 as necessary, stored in the memory 7 as a secondary buffer, and then recorded from the memory 7 onto a recording medium (for example, a memory card) 8.

  On the other hand, the camera 100 is provided with a liquid crystal monitor 9 on which an image recorded on the recording medium 8 can be read and displayed. In this case, an image to be displayed is first read from the recording medium 8 into the memory 7, decompressed by the compression / expansion circuit 6, and sent to the display circuit 10 via the image processing circuit 5. The display circuit 10 displays the input image on the liquid crystal monitor 9. Furthermore, the camera 100 has a video output terminal 11, and image data input to the display circuit 10 can be converted into a video signal by the video output circuit 12 and output. Therefore, if the video output terminal 11 is connected to a video input terminal of an external monitor (for example, a television) with a video cable, an image recorded on the recording medium 8 can be displayed on the external monitor.

  2 and 3 show an example in which the camera 100 and the external monitor 20 are connected by a video cable CB, and an image is displayed on the liquid crystal monitor 9 and the external monitor 20 of the camera 100. The liquid crystal monitor 9 is provided on the back of the camera. When the camera is in a horizontal posture as shown in the figure, the monitor screen is horizontally long. In all cases, the image is displayed at the original rotation angle (in a state where the rotation processing is not performed).

  Since FIG. 2 is an image taken in a horizontal posture, there is no problem with the original rotation angle. On the other hand, since FIG. 3 is an image of a standing person taken in a vertical posture, the rotation angle is inappropriate as it is, and it is difficult to confirm the image. Therefore, in this embodiment, the orientation of the camera 100 is detected during image reproduction, and the rotation angle of the image to be displayed on the external monitor 20 is set based on the detection result. The posture sensor 31 shown in FIG. 1 detects at least three postures of the camera 100, that is, a horizontal posture, a vertical posture of the grip, or a vertical posture of the grip, and inputs the detected values to the CPU 32.

  In order to make the rotation angle of the image appropriate, the camera may be in the posture at the time of shooting. Since the image of FIG. 3 is taken with the grip in the vertical position, the grip is changed to the vertical position as shown in FIG. Along with this, the CPU 32 recognizes the posture change based on the output of the posture sensor 31, and performs a rotation process of 90 degrees counterclockwise on the image data for video output. As a result, the image is displayed on the external monitor 20 at an appropriate rotation angle. When a vertically long image is displayed on a horizontally long screen, the image is automatically reduced and the entire image is displayed.

  On the other hand, the image data to be displayed on the liquid crystal monitor 9 is not subjected to any rotation processing regardless of whether or not the posture is changed. This is because the orientation of the liquid crystal monitor itself is also changed from landscape orientation to portrait orientation by changing the orientation of the camera 100, so that the image has an appropriate rotation angle without performing image rotation processing. If a rotation process equivalent to that described above is performed on an image for a liquid crystal monitor, an inappropriate rotation angle is obtained as shown in FIG.

  Conventionally, the same image data input to the display circuit 10 is sent to the liquid crystal monitor 9 and the video output circuit 12. In the present embodiment, since the image rotation angle may be different between the liquid crystal monitor 9 and the external monitor 20 as described above, the display circuit 10 includes image data for displaying the liquid crystal monitor (image data for built-in monitor), Video output image data (external output image data) is generated separately, and only the video output image data is subjected to a rotation process as necessary and outputted.

FIG. 6 shows a flowchart for realizing the above-described operation.
When the image reproduction mode is set by the camera 100 and an image to be displayed is selected from the recording medium 8, the CPU 32 executes this program. In step S1, the liquid crystal monitor image data stored in the display circuit 10 is displayed at the original rotation angle (without rotation processing). Next, in the rotation processing of the image data for video output, the output of the attitude sensor 31 is read in step S2, and it is determined whether or not the current camera attitude is the horizontal attitude in step S3. If it is a horizontal posture, image data for video output is output at the original rotation angle in step S4.

If step S3 is negative, the process proceeds to step S5, and it is determined whether or not the grip is in the upward vertical posture. If the determination is affirmative, the process proceeds to step S6, and the video output image is output in a state rotated 90 degrees counterclockwise from the original rotation angle. If step S5 is negative, that is, if the grip is in the vertical position, the video output image data is output in a state rotated 90 degrees clockwise from the original rotation angle in step S7.
After steps S4, S6 and S7, the process returns to step S2.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, when an image is displayed on both the liquid crystal monitor 9 and the external monitor 20 of the camera, the image on the external monitor 20 can be rotated only by changing the posture of the camera. Even if the rotation angle of the initial display image is not appropriate, it can be easily corrected to an appropriate rotation angle. Incidentally, it is conceivable to rotate the image by using some operation member provided in the camera. However, in this case, the rotation angle and the rotation direction must be specified, which is troublesome. In the method according to the present embodiment, since the posture of the camera may be changed so that the image on the liquid crystal monitor 9 is appropriate, the appropriate rotation angle can be set quickly without being confused about the rotation angle and the rotation direction. In addition, only the image on the external monitor is rotated, and the image on the liquid crystal monitor is not rotated. Therefore, the image on the liquid crystal monitor does not have an inappropriate rotation angle.

  Here, as described in the background art, there is also a method of detecting the camera posture at the time of shooting, adding the detection result to the image data as posture information, and reading the posture information at the time of display to set the rotation angle of the image. . However, this method has several drawbacks. When shooting is performed with the selection setting of whether or not to record posture information being “not recorded” inadvertently, the image is not displayed at an appropriate rotation angle. Since this kind of posture information cannot be added later, there is no choice but to change the rotation angle by a troublesome operation each time it is displayed. Further, for example, when the camera 100 is taken with an oblique posture, the posture intended by the photographer does not match the posture recognized by the camera 100, and the image may not be displayed in the orientation intended by the photographer. . According to the present embodiment, when the image is displayed, the image is always displayed at the rotation angle intended by the photographer only by placing the camera 100 in the horizontal position or the vertical position.

  However, if posture information at the time of photographing is added to the image data, it is effective when the image data is captured and displayed on a personal computer (PC) or the like. If the image display software on the PC side has a function of reading posture information and performing image rotation processing, in many cases, it is possible to display the image at an appropriate rotation angle without manually correcting the rotation angle. Therefore, it is desirable that the camera of this embodiment also has a function of adding posture information to image data. However, in the case of display by video output, as described above, it is advantageous to perform rotation processing according to the camera posture at the time of image display, so the camera records posture information but does not utilize it.

  Alternatively, it may be possible to select whether to perform rotation processing based on posture information at the time of shooting or to perform rotation processing based on the camera posture at the time of image display. For example, it is possible to select whether or not to perform rotation processing based on the camera posture at the time of display, and to perform rotation processing based on posture information only when it is selected not to perform this.

  In the above, the case where an image recorded on a recording medium is displayed has been described. However, depending on the model of the camera, there is a case where imaging is repeated when the power is turned on, and the obtained image is sequentially updated and displayed on the liquid crystal monitor 9. . Such a display form is called, for example, a through image display, and the liquid crystal monitor 9 can be used instead of the finder. If the camera is connected to an external monitor, it is possible to display a through image on the external monitor, and the present invention can be applied in this case as well.

-Second Embodiment-
A second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.
In the present embodiment, rotation processing is performed on image data in consideration of both posture information at the time of shooting and camera posture at the time of display. Therefore, the CPU 32 reads the output of the posture sensor 31 at the time of shooting and adds posture information based on the output to the image data. The image data to which the posture information is added is recorded on the recording medium 8 through the same route as described above. When the image reproduction mode is set, the orientation information of the image to be displayed is read out, the camera orientation at that time is detected, and the rotation angle of the image data for the liquid crystal monitor is determined by the combination thereof.

Specific examples are shown in FIGS.
FIG. 7 shows an example of reproducing and displaying an image taken with the grip side in the vertical position. The CPU 32 recognizes that the grip is an image taken at the upper vertical position by referring to the posture information added to the image data. On the other hand, if the output of the posture sensor 31 at that time is read and the grip is in the upward vertical posture, the current posture and the posture at the time of photographing match, so it is not necessary to perform rotation processing on the image data. The image is displayed as it is. As a result, the display shown in FIG. If it is determined from the posture sensor output that the posture is the current horizontal posture, the image is displayed in a state rotated 90 degrees counterclockwise from the state of (b). As a result, the display shown in FIG. If it is determined from the posture sensor output that the current grip is in the vertical position, the image is displayed in a state rotated 180 degrees from the state (b). As a result, the display shown in FIG. In (a), (b), and (c), the orientation of the image is appropriate.

  FIG. 8 shows an example of reproducing and displaying an image taken in a horizontal posture. The CPU 32 recognizes that the image is taken in the horizontal posture by taking the posture information into consideration. On the other hand, when the output of the posture sensor 31 at that time is read and it is determined that the posture is the horizontal posture, the current posture and the posture at the time of photographing coincide with each other. This is displayed (FIG. 8A). If it is determined from the attitude sensor output that the current grip is in the upper vertical position, the image is displayed in a state rotated 90 degrees clockwise from the state (a) (FIG. 8B). Further, when it is determined from the attitude sensor output that the current grip is in the vertical position below, it is displayed in a state rotated 90 degrees counterclockwise from the state (a) (FIG. 8C). In (a), (b), and (c), the orientation of the image is appropriate.

  In this way, the rotation angle for making the image have an appropriate orientation is uniquely determined by the combination of the camera posture at the time of shooting (posture based on posture information) and the posture at the time of display, as shown in FIG. It is advisable to make a table in advance and store it in the memory.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure in this embodiment.
When the image reproduction mode is set by the camera 100 and an image to be displayed is selected from the recording medium 8, the CPU 32 executes this program. In step S51, the posture information added to the image is read to recognize the posture at the time of shooting. In step S52, the output of the attitude sensor 31 is read to recognize the current camera attitude. In step S53, the rotation angle corresponding to the combination of the posture at the time of photographing and the current posture is extracted from the table. In step S54, the image is rotated at the extracted rotation angle and displayed on the liquid crystal monitor 9. Then, it returns to step S52 and repeats said process.

  Incidentally, FIG. 10 shows a flow relating to image display on the liquid crystal monitor 9, but when the display on the external monitor 20 is also performed at this time, for the image data for the external monitor, only the orientation information at the time of shooting is used and the rotation angle. You can decide. Since the external monitor 20 does not assume changing the orientation of the screen, in many cases, the image can be displayed at an appropriate rotation angle with only the posture information.

1 is a control block diagram of a digital camera according to an embodiment of the present invention. The figure which shows the state which displayed the image on both the liquid crystal monitor and external monitor of a camera in 1st Embodiment. It is the same figure as FIG. 2, and shows an example in which the rotation angle (direction) of the image is inappropriate. The figure which shows the state which made the rotation angle of the image appropriate by changing the attitude | position of a camera. The figure which shows the example in which the rotation angle of the display image of a liquid crystal monitor becomes inaccurate. The flowchart which shows the procedure of the image rotation process according to a camera attitude | position. The figure which shows a mode that an image is displayed with a suitable rotation angle irrespective of a camera attitude | position in 2nd Embodiment. The same figure as FIG. The figure which shows the table which matched image rotation angle with the combination of the camera attitude | position at the time of imaging | photography, and the camera attitude | position at the time of image display. The flowchart which shows the procedure of the image rotation process using the said table.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Image pick-up element 5 Image processing circuit 9 Liquid crystal monitor 8 Recording medium 10 Display circuit 11 Video output terminal 12 Video output circuit 20 External monitor 31 Attitude sensor 32 CPU
100 cameras

Claims (6)

An imaging device and a built-in monitor that displays an image captured by the imaging device, and at the same time as displaying an image on the built-in monitor, can output and display an image on an externally connected external monitor. In the camera
An attitude sensor for detecting the attitude of the camera;
Display image generation means for generating internal monitor image data for display on the internal monitor and external output image data for display on the external monitor;
When the image is displayed, the output of the posture sensor is sequentially read, and the image data for external output is subjected to image rotation processing according to the output of the posture sensor, while the image data for built-in monitor is not subjected to rotation processing and is A digital camera comprising control means for displaying on a monitor.   The said control means performs the said image rotation process so that the display image of the said external monitor may become an appropriate rotation angle, when a camera becomes the substantially same attitude | position as the time of imaging | photography. Digital camera.   The digital camera according to claim 1, wherein the image displayed on the internal monitor and the external monitor is an image recorded on an image recording medium after imaging. A recording unit that reads the output of the posture sensor at the time of shooting, adds posture information according to the sensor output to image data, and records it on a recording medium,
When an image display mode that utilizes posture information added to the image data is set, the control means performs image rotation processing on the image data for external output based on the posture information, and the mode is not set. 4. The digital camera according to claim 3, wherein when setting, the image data for external output is subjected to image rotation processing in accordance with the output of the posture sensor at the time of image display. In a digital camera having an imaging device and a built-in monitor that displays an image captured by the imaging device,
An attitude sensor for detecting the attitude of the camera;
A recording unit that reads the output of the posture sensor at the time of shooting, adds posture information according to the sensor output to image data, and records it on a recording medium;
When the image is displayed on the built-in monitor, the output of the posture sensor is read, and both the output of the posture sensor and the posture information added to the image data are taken into account, and the display image is displayed on the built-in monitor image data. A digital camera comprising: control means for performing image rotation processing for making the rotation angle appropriate.   Simultaneously with the image display on the built-in monitor, it is possible to output and display an image on an externally connected external monitor, and the control means can output image data for external output to be displayed on the external monitor. 6. The digital camera according to claim 5, wherein an image rotation process is performed to make the rotation angle of the display image appropriate based on the posture information added to the image data.

Images