JP2006254116A - Imaging device and method, and recording medium - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an imaging device which previously checks the situation of a moving end of a camera before recording at a time of pan/tilt imaging operation. <P>SOLUTION: The device includes a gyroscope 119 which detects movement of the imaging device, an operation status discrimination part 127 which discriminates operation status of a camera, a cut out circuit 105 which cuts out an arbitrary extended region, and a resizing circuit 107 which creates extended display data from image data of a recording area and an extended area. The device cuts out image data for a predetermined number of pixels in a moving direction of the camera which detects at the time of pan/tilt imaging, automatically displays the object image of a predetermined range out of recording ranges by extendedly displaying on a display device, and prevents imaging failure at the time of pan/tilt imaging. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to an imaging method and apparatus, and more particularly to a method for displaying a captured subject video.

  In recent years, in conventional video camera devices, the increase in the number of pixels / resolution of CCDs has been progressing in order to improve the quality of still images. At the time of shooting, only a predetermined area necessary for recording is selected from all the pixels of the CCD. After cutting out, performing predetermined signal processing, compression, and the like, it is recorded on a recording medium. In addition, a subject image output from the CCD is displayed on a display device such as an LCD, and the subject recorded during shooting can be confirmed (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

  By the way, fixed shooting in which the camera is stationary is used as the basic shooting method for the video camera device, but camera work such as pan / tilt movement is used as the basic shooting method. In addition, follow-up shooting is also performed as a general shooting technique in which a camera is moved to follow a walking person. In addition, current camera devices such as the camera shake correction technique described above are also used. Technology that assists the photographer and assists the photographer is built into the camera, allowing the photographer to easily shoot stable high-quality images without camera shake. Yes.

In addition, the above-described camera shake correction can perform processing for limiting the correction at the time of shooting such as pan / tilt to reduce the effect of the camera shake correction and obtain a natural shot image. Furthermore, there is a method of obtaining a more natural panning characteristic by detecting the photographing posture of the imaging apparatus and changing the correction restriction characteristic (see, for example, Patent Document 2).
JP 2001-169172 A JP 2002-207232 A

  When shooting using a video camera device, when performing follow-up shooting such as camera work such as pan / tilt or follow-up shooting of a pedestrian, the photographer should focus on the LCD display. In addition, since the video displayed on the LCD display device is equivalent to the recorded video, it is difficult for the photographer to know the situation of the camera destination before shooting and recording. Depending on the situation of the destination, the photographer There was a problem that the recorded video was unintended. However, with conventional video camera devices, the effect on camera shake correction at the time of pan / tilt operation transition and at the time of return is taken into account. There was no support or assistance for photographers.

  The present invention solves the above-described conventional problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide an imaging apparatus and an imaging method capable of confirming in advance the status of the camera movement destination before recording during pan / tilt operation.

  In order to solve the above-described conventional problems, an imaging apparatus according to the present invention (Claim 1) includes an imaging unit that images a subject, an output unit that reads out a pixel output of the imaging unit as image information, and the pixel output. A control means for controlling the output means so as to cut out image information of one or more arbitrary extension areas together with a predetermined recording area, and the recording area obtained from the output means and the image information of the extension area. And an extended display data generating means for generating extended display data, a display means for displaying display data generated from the image information in a visible manner, and an image recording means for recording the image information. Is.

  The image pickup apparatus according to the present invention (claim 2) is the image pickup apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the predetermined recording area is an area having an angle of view of a predetermined size recorded in an image recording unit. The extended area is an area used for extended display in which the cutout position and the number of cutout pixels are set by the control means.

  The image pickup apparatus according to the present invention (Claim 3) is the image pickup apparatus according to Claim 1, wherein the extended display data generating means obtains image information of the recording area and the extended area obtained from the output means. The extended display data for the display means is created by combining and resizing processing.

  The image pickup apparatus according to the present invention (claim 4) is the image pickup apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the extended display data is image data of a subject picked up by the image pickup means and recorded on the recording medium. And a non-recording area that is displayed only on the display device and not recorded on the recording medium.

  An image pickup apparatus according to the present invention (Claim 5) is the image pickup apparatus according to any one of Claims 1 to 4, wherein the extended display data created by the extended display data generation means is displayed. A display mode and a normal display mode for displaying display data of only the predetermined recording area are provided.

  An image pickup apparatus according to the present invention (claim 6) is the image pickup apparatus according to claim 5, wherein, in the extended display mode, a recording range indicating the recording area on a display screen on which the extended display data is displayed. A frame is displayed.

  Moreover, the imaging device according to the present invention (Claim 7) is the imaging device according to any one of Claims 1 to 6, wherein the setting of the extension region is performed by an instruction from the outside to the control means. This is performed by selecting a desired number of cut-out pixels from a plurality of set pixel numbers and selecting a desired cut-out position from a plurality of set positions.

  The image pickup apparatus according to the present invention (claim 8) is the image pickup apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the cut-out position setting mode includes at least a wide display mode, a vertical expansion mode, and a full expansion mode. The mode is a mode in which both sides of the recording area are cut out by a predetermined number of pixels as the extended area, and the vertical display mode is a mode in which the upper and lower sides of the recording area are cut out by a predetermined number of pixels as the extended area. The full display mode is a mode in which a predetermined number of pixels are cut out around the recording area as the extended area.

  Further, an imaging apparatus according to the present invention (Claim 9) is the imaging apparatus according to any one of Claims 1 to 6, further comprising motion information acquisition means for detecting a motion of the imaging apparatus, and acquiring the motion information. When a predetermined camera operation state is detected by the means, the number of extracted pixels and the extracted position of the extension area are set.

  An imaging apparatus according to the present invention (Claim 10) is characterized in that in the imaging apparatus according to Claim 9, the motion information acquisition means is composed of an angular velocity sensor that detects motion in at least two directions. Is.

  An imaging apparatus according to the present invention (invention 11) is the imaging apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the predetermined camera operation state includes at least pan / tilt shooting and follow shooting, and a shooting state involving camera movement. It is one of these.

  An imaging device according to the present invention (Claim 12) is the imaging device according to Claim 9, wherein the camera operation state is composed of a moving direction and a moving speed of the camera detected by the motion information acquisition means. It is determined by the movement information.

  The imaging device according to the present invention (Claim 13) is the imaging device according to Claim 9, wherein the extended region is a region cut out by a predetermined number of pixels in the moving direction detected by the motion information acquisition unit. It is set as these, It is characterized by the above-mentioned.

  The imaging apparatus according to the present invention (invention 14) is the imaging apparatus according to claim 13, wherein the number of pixels in the extension region is selected and set by a user in advance or from the motion information acquisition means. It is automatically set according to the detected moving speed.

  An imaging method according to the present invention (Claim 15) includes a pixel output acquisition step for acquiring a pixel output obtained by imaging a subject, and a pixel output obtained in the pixel output acquisition step together with a predetermined recording area. An image information cutting step for cutting out image information of two or more arbitrary extension areas, an extension display data generation step for generating extension display data from the image information of the recording area and the extension area, and the image information. A display step of displaying the display data on the display device, and a writing step of performing signal processing on the image information and writing to the recording medium.

  According to the imaging method of the present invention (invention 16), in the imaging method according to claim 15, the predetermined recording area is an area having an angle of view of a predetermined size used for image recording. The area is an area used for extended display, and its cutout position and the number of cutout pixels can be set.

  According to the imaging method of the present invention (Claim 17), in the imaging method according to Claim 15, in the extended display data generation step, the image information of the recording area and the extended area is combined and resized. The extended display data is created.

  According to the imaging method of the present invention (invention 18), in the imaging method according to claim 15, the extended display data is display data of an imaged subject, and a recording area recorded on the recording medium; In this case, the recording medium is composed of a non-recording area that is displayed only on the display device and is not recorded on the recording medium.

  An imaging method according to the present invention (Claim 19) is the imaging method according to any one of Claims 15 to 18, wherein an extended display mode for displaying the extended display data in the display step, and the display And a normal display mode for displaying display data of only the predetermined recording area in the step.

  The image pickup method according to the present invention (claim 20) is the image pickup method according to claim 19, wherein, in the extended display mode, a recording range indicating the recording area on a display screen on which the extended display data is displayed. A frame is displayed.

  The imaging method according to the present invention (Claim 21) is the imaging method according to any one of Claims 15 to 20, wherein the setting of the extension region is performed by a plurality of set pixel numbers according to an instruction from the outside. This is performed by selecting a desired number of cutout pixels and selecting a desired cutout position from a plurality of set positions.

  An imaging method according to the present invention (Claim 22) is the imaging method according to Claim 21, and includes at least a wide display mode, an up / down display mode, and a full display mode as the cut-out position setting mode. The display mode is a mode in which both sides of the recording area are cut out by a predetermined number of pixels as the extended area, and the upper and lower display mode is a mode in which the upper and lower sides of the recording area are cut out by a predetermined number of pixels as the extended area. The full display mode is a mode in which a predetermined number of pixels are cut out around the recording area as the extended area.

  An imaging method according to the present invention (Claim 23) is the imaging method according to Claim 22, in the imaging method according to any one of Claims 15 to 20, and motion information for detecting a motion of the imaging device. The method further includes an acquisition step, wherein when the predetermined camera operation state is detected in the motion information acquisition step, the number of extracted pixels and the extracted position of the extension region are set. .

  The imaging method according to the present invention (Claim 24) is the imaging method according to Claim 23, wherein the motion information acquisition step acquires motion information from an angular velocity sensor that detects motion in at least two directions. It is characterized in that the movement of the imaging device is detected.

  The imaging method according to the present invention (Claim 25) is the imaging method according to Claim 23, wherein the camera operation state is at least one of an imaging state involving camera movement including pan / tilt imaging and follow imaging. It is characterized by that.

  An imaging method according to the present invention (Claim 26) is the imaging method according to Claim 23, wherein the camera operation state is constituted by a moving direction and a moving speed of the camera detected by acquiring the motion information. It is determined by the movement information.

  The imaging method according to the present invention (Claim 27) is the imaging method according to Claim 23, wherein the extension area is an area cut out by a predetermined number of pixels in the moving direction detected by acquiring the motion information. It is set as these, It is characterized by the above-mentioned.

  The imaging method according to the present invention (Claim 28) is the imaging method according to Claim 27, wherein the number of pixels in the extension area is set by a user in advance or detected from the motion information. It is automatically set according to the moving speed.

  A recording medium according to the present invention (Claim 29) stores a processing program for executing the functions of the imaging apparatus according to any one of Claims 1 to 14 in a computer-readable manner. It is what.

  A recording medium according to the present invention (Claim 30) is characterized in that the processing steps of the imaging method according to any one of Claims 15 to 28 are stored in a computer-readable manner.

  According to the imaging method and apparatus of the present invention, during pan / tilt shooting and follow shooting, an image of a predetermined range in the camera moving direction is automatically displayed on the LCD in addition to the recording range, and the visual field in the moving direction is widened. Since the situation can be confirmed before recording, shooting failures during pan / tilt shooting and follow shooting can be prevented.

Hereinafter, an imaging device and an imaging method according to embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
Embodiment 1 FIG.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of an imaging apparatus according to the present invention.

  In FIG. 1, an imaging lens 101 includes an imaging lens group, an iris, and the like, and a CCD 102 extracts a subject image incident from the imaging lens 101 as an electrical signal. A lens driving motor 103 drives the imaging lens 101 to perform zoom / focus operations. The CDS / AGC / ADC 104 samples and holds the output from the CCD 102, performs AD conversion, and outputs digital video data. The cutout circuit 105 stores the output data of the CDS / AGC / ADC 104 in the memory 111 and then cuts out a necessary image data area. The DSP 106 performs noise removal, contour enhancement, luminance signal processing, and color signal processing of the image data, and inputs / outputs moving image / still image video data to the subsequent stage. The resizing circuit 107 includes a luminance signal horizontal / vertical filter and a color signal horizontal / vertical filter, and enlarges / reduces image data. The OSD 108 performs character / image synthesis on the captured image data, and the NTSC encoder 103 converts the input digital video data into an NTSC analog TV signal and outputs it. The camera timing control 110 generates a CCD driving pulse for extracting a signal from the CCD 102. The memory 111 is constituted by an SDRAM, and is used for a temporary memory for storing pixel data input from the CCD 102 and a frame memory for still image processing / moving image processing. The LCD display unit 112 displays the analog signal output from the NTSC encoder 109 on the LCD panel. Here, the above-described clipping circuit 105, DSP 106, resizing circuit 107, OSD 108, NTSC encoder 109, and camera timing control 110 are integrated as a one-chip LSI (camera DSP 126), and the memory 111 is a common resource. The circuit block can be shared and used.

  Further, the microphone 122 is a microphone for voice input, collects surrounding voice and outputs it as an electrical signal. The speaker 124 is a speaker for outputting sound, and is used for generating a beep sound during operation and outputting sound when reproducing recorded data. The audio amplifier 123 includes an audio input audio amplifier and an audio output speaker amplifier, and performs audio input / output processing. The A / V codec 113 compresses / decompresses video / audio data. The audio AD / DA 125 performs AD conversion of input audio during recording, and DA conversion of digital data output from the A / V codec 113 during reproduction. The memory 114 is composed of SDRAM, and is used as a work memory of the A / V codec 113 and temporary storage of video data, audio data, and compressed data. The recording medium 115 is composed of a removable memory card or the like, and is used for storing compressed video / audio data. The camera microcomputer 116 controls camera signal processing and the entire system, and the CPU 117 controls compression / decompression operation by the A / V codec 113 and reading / writing of the recording medium 115. The memory 118 is constituted by a flash ROM, SDRAM, or the like, and has a role of storing a work memory / program of the CPU 117. The gyro sensor 119 detects the movement of the imaging device, and the gyro amplifier 120 amplifies the output from the gyro sensor 119. The user I / F 121 includes a recording button, menu operation keys, and the like, and receives an operation input from the user.

  Next, a recording / reproducing operation of the imaging apparatus according to the first embodiment having the above-described configuration will be described. First, when the operation mode is the moving image recording mode, the subject video signal output from the CCD 102 is converted into digital image data by the CDS / AGC / ADC 104 and stored in the temporary storage area of the memory 111. Here, a CCD having a resolution of total effective pixels 1600 × 1200 is used, and it is driven with effective pixels 1260 × 960 pixels during movie shooting, and data of 1260 × 960 pixels is output to the temporary storage area on the memory 111. It shall be stored sequentially.

  Next, 720 × 480 pixel data necessary for moving image recording is extracted from the image data on the temporary storage area by the extraction circuit 105, and is input to the subsequent DSP, so that noise removal processing, contour enhancement processing, color signal processing, After the luminance signal processing is performed, recording data and display data are generated. The generated display data is added with time information and GUI by the OSD 108, input to the NTSC encoder 109, converted into an analog TV signal, and displayed on the LCD display unit 112.

  On the other hand, video data for recording is input to the A / V codec 113 and compressed together with audio data input via the microphone 122, the audio amplifier 123, and the audio AD / DA 125, and an MPEG2 program stream is generated. Thus, the data is recorded and stored in the recording medium 115.

  Next, when the operation mode is the still image recording mode, the total effective pixels 1600 × 1200 of the CCD 102 are output and temporarily stored in the memory 111 when the user captures a still image. Next, after all the pixel data is cut out by the cut-out circuit 105 and subjected to pre-processing for still image, color signal processing, and luminance signal processing by the DSP 106, the subsequent stage is performed at an I / F different from that for moving image recording. Input to A / V codec. In the A / V codec, still image data is compressed in the JPEG format and recorded and stored in the recording medium 115. In addition to 1600 × 1200, the still image recording angle of view can be set to 1280 × 960 and 640 × 480, and image data corresponding to the set angle of view is cut out by the cutting circuit 105. Further, as a monitor mode during standby for still image shooting, the entire recording area is cut out from the 1600 × 1200 pixel data output from the CCD 102 by the cutting circuit 105 to cut out 720 × 480 pixels, and the DSP 106 performs color signal processing and luminance signal. After processing, display data is generated. That is, when the recording angle of view is 1600 × 1200, the entire 1600 × 1200 data of the CCD 102 output is thinned to cut out 720 × 480 pixels, and when the recording angle of view is 1280 × 960, 1280 × 960 of the CCD 102 output. The entire recording area of pixels is cut out and cut out. When the recording angle of view is 640 × 480, the entire recording area of 640 × 480 pixels is cut out as it is. The 640 × 480 pixel data is resized to 720 × 480 pixels by the resizing circuit 107. Next, the generated display data is added with time information and GUI by the OSD 108, input to the NTSC encoder 109, converted to an analog TV signal, displayed on the LCD display unit 112, and the subject in the still image shooting standby state Monitor display is realized.

  Also, when shooting a moving image, the output of the gyro sensor 119 is amplified by the gyro amplifier 120, read by the camera microcomputer 116, the amount of pixel movement is calculated from the swing angle, and the subject image data from the CCD 102 is offset so as to cancel the amount of movement. The cut-out position is adjusted by the cut-out circuit 105, and the camera shake correction is performed by adjusting the recording area.

  Next, the operation at the time of moving image reproduction will be described. In the reproduction mode, the record file information is read from the recording medium 115, the thumbnail is generated by the A / V codec 113, and the thumbnail data is output to the DSP 106. A thumbnail display screen generated from the thumbnail data by the resizing circuit 107 and the OSD 108 is displayed on the LCD display unit 112. When the camera microcomputer 116 detects an instruction to start playback of a specific file from the user I / F from the thumbnail screen, the corresponding MPEG2 program stream is read from the recording medium 115 and decoded by the A / V codec 113. The decoded video data and audio data are output to the DSP 106 and the audio AD / DA 125, respectively. The video data is added with a display of file reproduction information or the like by the OSD 108, converted to an analog TV signal by the NTSC encoder 109, displayed on the LCD display unit 112, and the audio data is DA-converted by the audio AD / DA 125, and an audio amplifier After being amplified by the speaker amplifier in 123, the sound is output to the speaker 124.

  In addition, as an explanation of the operation at the time of still image reproduction, only the difference from that at the time of moving image reproduction will be explained. The difference from the playback of moving images is that the data is output, resized by the resize circuit 107, and output to the NTSC encoder 109.

  As described above, when a CCD with a resolution of 1600 x 1200 total effective pixels is used during normal operation, a maximum of 1260 x 960 pixel data is output from the CCD during video recording, of which 720 x 480 pixels are cut out to record video It is used for. At the time of standby for still image recording, 720 × 480 pixels are cut out by thinning out the entire recording area from the pixel data of the recording area output from the CCD, and used as display data.

That is, out of the total effective pixels of the CCD, only the pixels used for video recording are cut out and used, and only the necessary pixels are not used. In particular, in the first embodiment, the cutting circuit 105 performs recording. In addition to the necessary recording area, at least one extended area adjacent to the recording area is cut out, and the image data in both areas are combined and resized by the resize processing circuit 107 for LCD display. It is configured to create data.
For this reason, the subject video displayed on the LCD display unit 112 and the subject video recorded on the recording medium 115 are different.

  The operation described above in the first embodiment will be described below. First, the display mode will be described. In the first embodiment, there are a normal display mode and an extended display mode as display modes. In the normal display mode, the recorded subject image is equivalent to the subject image displayed on the LCD. This is a normal display mode. In the extended display mode, the recorded subject image and the subject image displayed on the LCD are different, and a wider range of subject images are displayed on the LCD display unit.

  When the extended display mode is selected, at least the extraction position can be selected from the three modes of the wide display mode, the vertical display mode, and the full display mode, and the number of extracted pixels is set to at least high, middle, low The three stages can be selected.

Here, the extraction position and the number of extracted pixels will be described with reference to FIG.
FIG. 2A is an explanatory diagram of the normal clipping position and the number of pixels. The total CCD output pixel 201 is a total effective pixel output from the CCD, which is 1260 × 960 pixels in the first embodiment. The recording area 202 has 720 × 480 pixels and is used as normal recording data. The LCD display data 203 is YUV data for LCD display during normal display. FIG. 2B is an explanatory diagram of the wide display mode, in which both sides of the recording area 202 are cut out as extended areas 204.

  FIG. 2C is an explanatory diagram of the vertical display mode, in which the upper and lower sides of the recording area 202 are cut out as extended areas 204. FIG. 2D is an explanatory diagram of the full display mode, in which the periphery of the recording area 202 is cut out as an extended area 204.

  Table 1 is a table showing an example of setting the number of cut-out pixels in the extended display area, and can be set in three stages of high, middle, and low as shown in the table in view of visual elements of the display device. Note that X and Y in the table correspond to the symbols X and Y in FIG.

  Next, the operation of each unit of the imaging device when the above-described extended area is extended and displayed on the display device will be described. The camera microcomputer 116 recognizes from the user I / F 121 that the user has set the extended display mode on the menu screen as shown in FIG. 3 generated by the OSD 108, and sequentially controls each unit. Here, a case where the cut-out position is set to the wide display mode and the cut-out pixel number is set to the middle will be described.

  When the extended display mode is set by the user, the subject image data output from the CCD 102 is normally cut out only by 720 × 480 pixels by the cutting circuit 105 in the camera DSP 126, and the extended area ( In this example, 180 × 480 pixels) is cut out in two areas on the left and right side surfaces of the recording area. The extracted data is subjected to noise removal processing, color signal processing, and luminance signal processing in each area by the DSP 106, and the data in the recording area is output to the A / V codec 113 as recording data, and is recorded in parallel. The data of the area and the extended area is output to the resizing circuit 107. The resizing circuit 107 creates 1080 × 480 pixel data obtained by combining the data of both areas, and generates extended display data of 720 × 480 pixels by resizing processing. Then, after the dotted line frame display is superimposed as a recording range frame indicating the time information and the recording range in the OSD 108, it is converted into an analog TV signal by the NTSC encoder 109 and displayed on the LCD display device 112.

  Note that the difference when setting other modes is that, in the wide display mode, when the number of extracted pixels is set to high, the resized original image is 1260 × 480, and when set to low, the resized original image is The point of 900 × 480 is different from the case of the middle setting described above.

  Also, when the cropping position is in the vertical display mode, the extended areas above and below the recording area are cut out. When the cropping pixel number setting is high, the resizing source image is 720 x 840, the middle setting Is different in that the resized original image is 720 × 720, and in the case of low setting, the resized original image is 720 × 600.

  Also, when the cropping position is in full display mode, the area around the recording area is cut out.When the cropping pixel number setting is set to high, the resizing source image is 1260 × 840, and in the middle setting, The difference is that the resized original image is 1080 × 720, and in the case of the low setting, the resized original image is 900 × 600.

  As described above, in the first embodiment, the cutout circuit 105 cuts out at least one extended area in addition to the recording area, and the resizing circuit 107 expands from the recording area data and the extended area data. Due to the configuration to create display data, the LCD automatically displays a subject image outside the recording range in addition to the recording range, expanding the field of view of the photographer and checking the situation around the recording area Therefore, shooting failure during pan / tilt shooting can be prevented.

  Although the extended display in the moving image shooting mode has been described in the first embodiment, the present invention can be similarly applied to the still image shooting mode, such as a still image angle of view of 640 × 480 pixels or 1260 × 480 pixels. It can be suitably applied even in a shooting standby state when a recording angle of view smaller than the total effective pixels of the CCD is set, and the photographer's field of view can be expanded and a situation around the recording area can be confirmed even when shooting a still image. Shooting failure during tilt shooting can be prevented.

  In the first embodiment, the cutout position is set as shown in FIG. 2 and the number of pixels is set as shown in Table 1 as the extension area. However, the resolution of the CCD to be used and the resolution and inch size of the LCD to be displayed are set. Depending on the video / still image shooting mode and the angle of view of the recording area, different clipping positions and the number of pixels to be clipped may be set. Can display a good subject image, and the photographer's field of view can be expanded and the situation around the recording area can be confirmed, so that shooting failure during pan / tilt shooting can be prevented.

  In the first embodiment, a CCD sensor having a total effective pixel of 1600 × 1200 is used as an image sensor. However, the present invention is also suitable for use when a higher-resolution CCD sensor, CMOS sensor, or other image sensor is used. can do.

  In the first embodiment, 720 × 480 pixels are used as the angle of view of the recording image and the display image. However, the present invention may be applied to a system with a high-definition angle of view such as 1920 × 1080 pixels. A recording angle of view may be used.

  In the first embodiment, a dotted line frame display is used as a recording range frame indicating a recording range. However, an arbitrary recording range frame such as a solid line frame or an image frame may be used in consideration of color and design. good.

  In the first embodiment, MPEG2 is used as the compression method and a removable memory card is used as the recording medium. However, there is no particular limitation, and other moving image compression methods such as DV format, MPEG4, Motion JPEG, etc. may be used. However, other recording media such as magnetic tape, hard disk drive, DVD-RAM, DVD-RW, optical disk, magneto-optical disk, and semiconductor memory may be used as the recording medium.

  In addition, each component of the imaging apparatus of FIG. 1 described in the first embodiment is not limited to hardware processing, and software-executable processing may be performed by software.

  In addition, a storage medium in which a program code of software that realizes the function of the first embodiment described above is stored in a flexible disk, a hard disk, etc., a magnetic disk, an optical disk, a magneto-optical disk, a nonvolatile memory card, etc. The function of the first embodiment can be obtained even when the system or apparatus reads out and executes the program code stored in the storage medium.

Embodiment 2. FIG.
An imaging apparatus according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. Here, only differences from the imaging apparatus according to Embodiment 1 will be described, and description of similar points will be omitted. The difference between the imaging apparatus according to the second embodiment and the imaging apparatus according to the first embodiment is that, in the imaging apparatus according to the second embodiment, pan / tilt shooting and follow shooting operations by the photographer are performed by the operation state determination unit 127. This is a point where an area obtained by determining and cutting out a predetermined number of pixels in the detected moving direction is set as an extension area.

First, as a difference, the extraction position and the number of extracted pixels of the extended area will be described.
FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of the extension area in the second embodiment. FIG. 5A is a diagram showing the cutout position of the extended area when panning in the right direction. The CCD total effective pixel 501 is the total effective pixel output from the CCD in the moving image mode, and 1260 in the second embodiment. × 960 pixels. The recording area 502 has 720 × 480 pixels and is used as normal recording data. The extended area 504 is cut out from the right side of the recording area 502 corresponding to the camera moving direction 505, and the LCD display YUV data 503 can be obtained by combining and resizing the recording area and the extended area. FIG. 5B is a diagram showing an extended area when panning leftward, and the extended area 504 corresponding to the moving direction 505 is cut out from the left side of the recording area 502. FIG. 5C is a diagram showing an extended area when the tilting operation is performed in the upward direction. The extended area 504 corresponding to the moving direction 505 is cut out from the upper side of the recording area 502. FIG. 5D is a diagram showing an extended area when the tilting operation is performed in the downward direction. The extended area 504 corresponding to the moving direction 505 is cut out from the lower side of the recording area 502. 6 (a), 6 (b), 6 (c), and 6 (d) are diagrams showing the cutout position of the extended area when the camera is moved in an oblique direction, corresponding to the moving direction 505. FIG. The expanded area 504 is cut out from the periphery of the recording area 502.

  Table 2 is a table showing the setting of the number of cut-out pixels in the extended area, and can be set in three stages of high, middle, and low as shown in the table in view of visual elements of the display device. X and Y in the table correspond to symbols X and Y in FIGS.

  Next, the overall operation of the imaging apparatus according to the second embodiment will be described. First, when the user I / F 121 detects that the extended display mode is set on the menu screen as shown in FIG. 4 generated by the OSD 108 and the camera microcomputer 116 recognizes it, each part is controlled in sequence.

  The gyro sensor 119 detects vertical shaking in the pitch direction and horizontal shaking in the yaw direction, and outputs angular velocity information in two directions. The output angular velocity information is amplified by the gyro amplifier 120 and taken in by the AD conversion port of the camera microcomputer 116. Here, the capturing is repeatedly performed in units of 1 msec corresponding to about 10 times the number of frames per second by the built-in timer function of the camera microcomputer 116. The captured angular velocity information is subjected to filter processing, integration processing, phase compensation, gain adjustment, clip processing, and the like by the operation state determination unit 127 to determine the photographing operation. That is, it is determined whether it is a pan / tilt shooting / follow shooting operation or a camera shake operation. In addition, the camera operation information including the movement direction and the movement speed can be obtained by the operation state determination unit 127. When the operation state determination unit 127 determines that the camera shake operation is performed, the pixel movement amount is calculated from the swing angle, and the extraction position adjustment of the subject image data from the CCD 102 is performed so as to cancel the movement amount. The camera shake correction is performed by adjusting the recording area. Note that when pan / tilt shooting / follow shooting operations are detected, the effects of the above-mentioned camera shake correction are adjusted at the time of transition to operation and at the time of return, and control is performed to increase responsiveness and produce a natural recorded image. Yes.

  When the operation state determination unit 127 determines that the pan / tilt shooting / follow shooting operation has been performed, the subject image data output from the CCD 102 is normally cut out only by 720 × 480 pixels by the cutting circuit 105 in the camera DSP 126. Further, the detected extended area in the pan / tilt direction (here, assuming that panning is performed in the right direction and the number of extracted pixels is set to the middle setting (180 × 480 pixels)) is extracted from the right side surface of the recording area. The cut out data is subjected to noise removal processing, color signal processing, and luminance signal processing in each area by the DSP 106, and the data in the recording area is output to the A / V codec 113 as recording data. The data in the expansion area is output to the resizing circuit 107. The resizing circuit 107 creates 900 × 480 pixel data obtained by combining the data of both areas, and generates expanded display data 720 × 480 pixel data by resizing processing. The OSD 108 superimposes a dotted line frame display as a recording range frame indicating the time information and recording range, and then converts the analog TV signal into an NTSC encoder 109 and displays it on the LCD display unit 112.

  Note that the basic operation described above is performed even when the number of pixels other than those described above is set and when pan / tilt operations in other directions are performed. When panning, the left side of the recording area is cut out. When the cutout pixel setting is high, the resized original image is 990 x 480, and when low is set, the point is 810 x 480. Is different.

  In the up / down tilt operation, the upper side of the recording area is cut out in the up tilt operation, the down side is cut out in the down tilt operation, and the resized original image is 720 × when the cut pixel setting is set to high. The difference is that the point is 660, the middle setting is 720 × 600, and the low setting is 720 × 540.

  In addition, in the diagonal operation, two areas on the direction side detected when the movement in the biaxial direction is detected are cut out, and the cut-out pixel setting is 990 × 660 when the high setting is set, and 900 × is set when the middle setting is set. The difference is that it is 600, and in the case of the low setting, it is 810 × 540.

  As described above, in the second embodiment, when the pan / tilt shooting / follow shooting operation is detected by the motion determination unit 127, the cutout circuit 105 performs at least one or more recordings in addition to the recording area. Since the extended area is cut out and extended display data is created from the recording area data and the extended area data by the resizing circuit 107, the LCD display unit 112 is out of the recording range in addition to the recording range during the pan / tilt operation. The subject image in the specified range is automatically displayed, the field of view of the photographer expands in the camera movement direction, and the situation around the recording area in the movement direction can be checked, thus preventing shooting failures during pan / tilt shooting be able to.

  In the second embodiment, the extended display in the moving image shooting mode has been described. However, the present invention can be similarly applied to the still image shooting mode, such as a still image angle of view of 640 × 480 pixels or 1260 × 960 pixels. It can be suitably applied even in a shooting standby state when a recording angle of view smaller than the total effective pixels of the CCD is set, and the photographer's field of view can be expanded and a situation around the recording area can be confirmed even when shooting a still image. Shooting failure during tilt shooting can be prevented.

  Further, in the second embodiment, as the setting of the extension area, the extraction position is set as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, and the number of pixels to be extracted in the moving direction is set as shown in Table 2, but the resolution and display of the CCD to be used are displayed. Depending on the resolution and inch size of the LCD to be used, the difference in video / still image shooting mode, and the angle of view of the recording area, you may set different clipping positions and the number of pixels to be clipped. Depending on the moving speed, the number of pixels to be cut out may be automatically selected from high / middle / low settings, which is optimal for the imaging apparatus system to be applied. With this setting, a good subject image can be displayed especially from a visual point of view, the field of view of the photographer in the direction of camera movement can be expanded, and the situation around the recording area can be confirmed. It is possible to prevent the shooting failure of the time.

  In the second embodiment, a CCD sensor having a total effective pixel of 1600 × 1200 is used as the image sensor. However, the present invention is also suitable for use when a higher resolution CCD sensor, CMOS sensor, or other image sensor is used. can do.

  In the second embodiment, 720 × 480 pixels are used as the angle of view of the recording image and the display image. However, the present invention may be applied to a system with a high-definition angle of view such as 1920 × 1080 pixels, or for still images. A recording angle of view may be used.

  In the second embodiment, a dotted line frame display is used as a recording range frame indicating a recording range. However, a recording range frame such as a solid line frame or an image frame may be used in consideration of color and design.

  In the second embodiment, MPEG2 is used as a moving image compression method, JPEG is used as a still image compression method, and a removable memory card is used as a recording medium. However, the moving image compression method is DV format. , MPEG1, MPEG4, Motion JPEG and other moving image compression methods may be used, the still image compression format may be other compression methods such as JPEG 2000, and the recording medium is magnetic tape, hard disk drive, DVD-RAM, DVD-RW, optical Other recording media such as a magnetic disk, an optical disk, and a semiconductor memory may be used.

  1 described in the second embodiment is not limited to hardware processing, and software-executable processing may be performed by software.

  In addition, a storage medium in which a program code of software that realizes the function of the second embodiment described above is stored in a flexible disk, a hard disk, or the like, a magnetic disk, an optical disk, a magneto-optical disk, or a nonvolatile memory card is stored in a system or The function of the second embodiment can be obtained even when the system or apparatus reads out and executes the program code stored in the storage medium.

Embodiment 3 FIG.
The imaging method of the third embodiment will be described using the flowchart of FIG.
The third embodiment is a method for realizing the image pickup apparatus according to the first embodiment by software. In addition to the recording area, at least one extended area is cut out, and the recording area data and the extended area data are used. The function to create and display extended display data is implemented by software. Here, in the system or apparatus to which the third embodiment is applied, the subject image and audio are input as digital data by an input / output device, and the CPU / MPU of the system or apparatus is a work memory in the system, System resources such as a recording medium such as a hard disk can be freely used.

  First, the entire process in the normal state will be described with reference to FIG. 7. When recording a moving image, motion information, subject image, and audio digital data are input from the input device to the memory in the system at the input step. S601). Here, the data format is that the video data is CCD RAW data, the data of total effective pixels 1600 × 1200 pixels is input, the audio data is the 16-bit PCM data format, the motion information of the imaging device is the moving direction, and the moving speed. Assume that there are two. Next, a recording area of 720 × 480 pixels is cut out from the subject data on the system memory in the image cutting step (S602). In the image processing / sound processing step, noise removal, contour enhancement, luminance signal processing, and color signal processing are performed on the image data to create recording data and display data, and filter sound data ( S603). Next, in the compression step, image data and audio data are compressed in the MPEG2 format to generate an MPEG2 program stream (S604). In the recording step, the obtained program stream is stored in a recording medium in the system (S605). In the display step, the display data obtained in the image processing step is output to the display device to display the subject image (S606).

Next, when the operation mode is the still image recording mode, the difference from the moving image mode is that the angle of view of the image data to be cut out in the image cutout step is different from that in the image processing step. And compressing in the JPEG format in the compression step.
The still image recording angle of view can be set to 1280 × 960 and 640 × 480 in addition to 1600 × 1200.

In addition, as a monitor mode during standby for still image shooting, the entire recording area is thinned out from the image data acquired in the input step to cut out 720 × 480 pixels, each signal processing is performed in the image processing step, and display data is created. After superimposing the time information and the GUI, the subject monitor display is performed in the display step.

  Next, at the time of moving image reproduction, the MPEG2 stream recorded on the recording medium in the compressed data reading step is read and decoded in the expansion step to obtain video data and audio data (S607, S608). In the image output step / sound output processing step, addition to video data such as character data and GUI and equalization processing to the audio data are performed, and display / sound output is performed in the display step (S609, S610).

  Still image playback differs from movie playback in that a JPEG file is read and decompressed, and the decompressed data is resized to 720 x 480 pixels required for display in the display step in the image output step. Different.

  Next, the extended display featured in the third embodiment will be described. Since the extended area used for the extended display has the same setting as the cut-out position in FIG. 2 and the number of cut-out pixels in Table 1 used in the first embodiment, description of each extended area is omitted. Processing in the image cutout step (S602) when the extended display mode is set by the user will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

First, the display mode setting by the user is determined in the display mode determination step (S701, S702). Based on the mode determination, the setting of the cut-out position and the number of cut-out pixels of the extended region is acquired, and the cut-out position and the number of pixels are set (S703, S704).
Here, it is assumed that an upper / lower display mode in which the upper and lower sides of the recording area are cut out as an extended area, and middle setting (720 × 120) are set.

Next, the recording area and the extended area are cut out from the input image data obtained from the input step, and stored in the memory in the system (S705, S707).
Using the recording area of 720 × 480 pixels obtained from the above step and the extended area data of 720 × 120 pixels × 2 areas, in the image processing step (S603), both areas are subjected to the above processing, After the extended area and the recording area are combined, resizing processing is performed to generate extended display data of 720 × 480 pixels. Further, a dotted frame display is superimposed as a recording range frame indicating the time information and the recording range, and is output to the display device in a display step (S606).

  As described above, in the third embodiment, at least one extended area is cut out in addition to the recording area in the image cutting step (S602), and the recording area data and the extended area are expanded in the image processing step (S603). By creating extended display data from the area data by resizing processing, the display device automatically displays a subject image in a predetermined range outside the recording range in addition to the recording range, expanding the field of view of the photographer, Since the situation around the recording area can be confirmed, shooting failure during pan / tilt shooting can be prevented.

  Although the extended display in the moving image shooting mode has been described in the third embodiment, the present invention can be similarly applied to the still image shooting mode, and the CCD total effective pixels such as the still image angle of view of 640 × 480 pixels. Can be suitably adapted to the shooting standby state when a small recording angle of view is set, and the photographer's field of view can be expanded and the situation around the recording area can be confirmed even during still image shooting. Can prevent failure.

  Further, in the third embodiment, as the extension area setting, the extraction position is set as shown in FIG. 2 and the number of extraction pixels is set as shown in Table 1. Depending on the resolution, video / still image shooting mode, and angle of view of the recording area, you may set different clipping positions and the number of pixels to be clipped. Since the subject image can be displayed, which is favorable from the viewpoint of view, the photographer's field of view is widened and the situation around the recording area can be confirmed, it is possible to prevent shooting failures during pan / tilt shooting.

  In the third embodiment, a CCD sensor having total effective pixels of 1600 × 1200 is used as an image sensor for image data input from the outside. However, a higher-resolution CCD sensor, a CMOS sensor, or other image sensor is used. In this case, it can be suitably adapted.

  In the third embodiment, 720 × 480 pixels are used as the angle of view of the recording image and the display image. However, the present invention may be applied to a system with a high-vision angle of view such as 1920 × 1080 pixels. A recording angle of view may be used.

  In the third embodiment, a dotted line frame display is used as a recording range frame indicating a recording range. However, a recording range frame such as a solid line frame or an image frame may be used in consideration of color and design.

  In the third embodiment, MPEG2 is used as a compression method and a hard disk drive is used as a recording medium. However, there is no particular limitation, and other moving image compression methods such as DV format, MPEG4, Motion JPEG, etc. may be used. As the recording medium, other recording media such as a magnetic tape, a DVD-RAM, a DVD-RW, an optical disk, a magneto-optical disk, and a semiconductor memory may be used.

  In addition, a storage medium in which the program code of the third embodiment described above is stored in a flexible disk, a hard disk, an optical disk, a magneto-optical disk, a non-volatile memory card, or the like is supplied to the system or apparatus. Even if the program code stored in the storage medium is read and executed, the function of the third embodiment can be obtained.

Embodiment 4 FIG.
The imaging method according to the fourth embodiment is a method for realizing the imaging apparatus according to the second embodiment with software. The moving region of the image sensor is detected, and an extended region set in the moving direction is automatically cut out and resized. The function to create and display extended display data by software is implemented by software. Here, in the system or apparatus to which the fourth embodiment is applied, the subject image and audio are input as digital data by an input / output device, and the CPU / MPU of the system or apparatus is a work memory in the system, System resources such as a recording medium such as a hard disk can be freely used.

Further, description of the normal recording / reproducing operation that is common to the third embodiment will be omitted, and only differences from the third embodiment will be described.
The difference is that the camera operation information is acquired in the input processing step (S601) in FIG. 7 and the pan / tilt operation is detected from the camera operation information in the image cutting step (S602). Thus, the feature of the fourth embodiment is that the extended display corresponding to the camera operation and the moving direction is automatically performed by setting and cutting out the extended region, and this point is mainly described. Do.

Here, the extended area used in the fourth embodiment has the same setting as the cut-out position in FIG. 5 and the number of cut-out pixels in Table 2 used in the second embodiment, and thus the description of each extended area is omitted. To do.
Here, it is assumed that the tilt operation has been performed in the upward direction, and the cut-out pixel number setting is set to the middle setting.

First, the image cutting step (S602) will be described using the flowchart of FIG.
In the camera operation information acquisition step, camera operation information, image data, and audio data are acquired from the imaging input device (S801). Here, the camera operation information includes a moving direction and a moving speed.

  Next, when the extended display mode is set, operation determination is performed based on the obtained camera operation information, and pan / tilt shooting / follow shooting operation is detected (S802, S803). Here, it is assumed that the upward tilt operation has been determined. Next, the extraction position is extracted from the camera operation information, and the setting value is extracted from the user setting for the number of pixels to be extracted, and the extended area is extracted (S804). Here, based on the detected movement information, the cutout position is set to the upper side of the recording area, and the number of cutout pixels is set to middle. Based on this setting, a recording area of 720 × 480 pixels and an extended area of 720 × 120 pixels are cut out from image data of 1600 × 1200 pixels in the memory and stored in the memory in the system (S805, S807).

  Using the recording area of 720 × 480 pixels and the extended area data of 720 × 120 pixels obtained from the above, in the image processing step (S603), both areas are subjected to the processing described above, After combining the recording areas, resize processing is performed to generate extended display data of 720 × 480 pixels. Further, the generated extended display data is output to the display device in a display step (S606) after a dotted frame display is superimposed as a recording range frame indicating time information and a recording range.

  As described above, in the fourth embodiment, at least one extended area is added to the recording area in the image extraction step (S602) corresponding to the camera operation information acquired in the input step (S601). In the image processing step (S603), the expanded display data is generated by the resizing process from the recording area data and the extended area data, so that the display device has a predetermined range outside the recording range in addition to the recording range. The subject video is automatically displayed in the camera movement direction, the photographer's field of view is expanded, the situation around the recording area can be confirmed, and shooting failure during pan / tilt shooting can be prevented.

  Although the extended display in the moving image shooting mode has been described in the fourth embodiment, the present invention can be similarly applied to the still image shooting mode, and the CCD total effective pixels such as the still image angle of view of 640 × 480 pixels. Can be suitably adapted to the shooting standby state when a small recording angle of view is set, and the photographer's field of view can be expanded and the situation around the recording area can be confirmed even during still image shooting. Can prevent failure.

  In the fourth embodiment, as the setting of the expansion area, the cutout position is set as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 and the number of pixels is set as shown in Table 2. However, the resolution of the external input device to be used and the display device to be displayed Depending on the resolution, video / still image shooting mode, and angle of view of the recording area, you may set different cropping positions and the number of pixels to be cropped. It may be changed, and the number of pixels to be cut out may be automatically selected from high / middle / low settings according to the speed detected from the camera operation information. This makes it possible to display subject images that are particularly good from a visual point of view, broaden the field of view of the photographer, and check the situation around the recording area. It is possible to prevent.

  In the fourth embodiment, a CCD sensor having total effective pixels of 1600 × 1200 is used as an image sensor for image data input from the outside. However, a higher resolution CCD sensor, CMOS sensor, or other image sensor is used. In this case, it can be suitably adapted.

  In the fourth embodiment, 720 × 480 pixels are used as the angle of view of the recording image and the display image. However, the present embodiment may be applied to a system with a high-definition angle of view such as 1920 × 1080 pixels. A recording angle of view may be used.

  In the fourth embodiment, the dotted line frame display is used as the recording range frame indicating the recording range. However, a recording range frame such as a solid line frame or an image frame may be used in consideration of color and design.

  In the fourth embodiment, MPEG2 is used as the compression method and a hard disk drive is used as the recording medium. However, there is no particular limitation, and other moving image compression methods such as DV format, MPEG4, Motion JPEG, etc. may be used. As the recording medium, other recording media such as a magnetic tape, a DVD-RAM, a DVD-RW, an optical disk, a magneto-optical disk, and a semiconductor memory may be used.

  In addition, a storage medium storing the program code of the above-described Embodiment 4 in a flexible disk, a hard disk, an optical disk, a magneto-optical disk, a nonvolatile memory card, or the like is supplied to the system or apparatus, and the system or apparatus Even if the program code stored in the storage medium is read and executed, the function of the fourth embodiment can be obtained.

  The imaging method and apparatus according to the present invention can automatically display a subject image in a predetermined range outside the recording range in addition to the recording range on the display device, thereby confirming a situation around the recording area. This is useful as a subject display method.

Configuration diagram of imaging apparatus according to first and second embodiments of the present invention Explanatory drawing of the cutting-out position of the expansion area in Embodiment 1, 3 of this invention Menu screen in Embodiment 1 of the present invention Menu screen in Embodiment 2 of the present invention Explanatory drawing of the cutting-out position of the expansion area in Embodiment 2, 4 of this invention Explanatory drawing of the cutting-out position of the expansion area in Embodiment 2, 4 of this invention FIG. 7 is a flowchart for explaining normal recording / reproducing operations in the third and fourth embodiments of the present invention. The flowchart figure explaining the expansion area | region extraction process in Embodiment 3 of this invention The flowchart figure explaining the extended area extraction process in Embodiment 4 of this invention

Explanation of symbols

101 Imaging lens 102 CCD
103 Lens drive motor 104 CDS / AGC / ADC
105 cutting circuit 106 DSP
107 Resizing circuit 108 OSD
109 NTSC encoder 110 Camera timing control 111 Memory 112 LCD display unit 113 A / V codec 114 Memory 115 Recording medium 116 Camera microcomputer 117 CPU
118 Memory 119 Gyro sensor 120 Gyro amplifier 121 User I / F
122 Microphone 123 Audio amplifier 124 Speaker 125 Audio AD / DA
126 Camera DSP
127 Operation state determination unit 201 CCD total effective pixel 202 recording area 203 LCD display YUV data 204 extended area 301, 401 menu screen 302, 402 menu item 303, 403 menu determination cursor 501 CCD total effective pixel 502 recording area 503 LCD display YUV data 504 Expansion area 505 Camera moving direction S601 Input step S602 Image extraction step S603 Image processing / audio processing step S604 Compression step S605 Recording step S606 Display step S607 Compression data reading step S608 Expansion step S609 Image output / audio output processing step S610 Display Step S701 Display mode setting step S702 Display mode determination step S703 Expansion area setting determination step S704 Expansion area setting Step S705 Recording area / extended area extraction step S706 Recording area extraction step S707 Memory storage step S801 Camera operation information acquisition step S802 Display mode determination step S803 Camera operation state determination step S804 Expansion area setting step S805 Recording area / extension area extraction Step S806: Recording area extraction step S807 Memory storage step

Claims (30)

Imaging means for imaging a subject;
Output means for reading out the pixel output of the imaging means as image information;
Control means for controlling the output means to cut out image information of one or more arbitrary extension areas together with a predetermined recording area from the pixel output;
Extended display data generating means for generating extended display data from the image information of the recording area and the extended area obtained from the output means;
Display means for displaying display data generated from image information in a visible manner;
Image recording means for recording image information;
An imaging apparatus characterized by that. The imaging device according to claim 1,
The predetermined recording area is an area having an angle of view of a predetermined size recorded in the image recording means, and the extended area is used for extended display, with the cutout position and the number of cutout pixels set by the control means. Is an area to be
An imaging apparatus characterized by that. The imaging device according to claim 1,
The extended display data generating means combines the recording area obtained from the output means and the image information of the extended area, and creates extended display data for the display means by resizing processing.
An imaging apparatus characterized by that. The imaging device according to claim 1,
The extended display data is image data of a subject imaged by the imaging means, and is composed of a recording area recorded on the recording medium and a non-recording area that is displayed only on the display device and not recorded on the recording medium. To be
An imaging apparatus characterized by that. The imaging apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
An extended display mode for displaying the extended display data created by the extended display data generation means; and a normal display mode for displaying display data only for the predetermined recording area.
An imaging apparatus characterized by that. The imaging device according to claim 5.
In the extended display mode, a recording range frame indicating the recording area is displayed on a display screen displaying the extended display data.
An imaging apparatus characterized by that. The imaging apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 6,
The extension area is set by selecting a desired number of cut-out pixels from a plurality of set pixel numbers and selecting a desired cut-out position from a plurality of set positions in accordance with an external instruction to the control means. The
An imaging apparatus characterized by that. The imaging device according to claim 7.
The cut-out position setting mode includes at least a wide display mode, a vertical extension mode, and a full extension mode. The wide display mode is a mode in which both sides of the recording area are cut out by a predetermined number of pixels as the extension area. The up / down display mode is a mode in which the upper and lower sides of the recording area are cut out by a predetermined number of pixels as the extended area, and the full display mode is cut out by a predetermined number of pixels around the recording area as the extended area. It is a mode to put out,
An imaging apparatus characterized by that. The imaging apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 6,
A motion information acquisition unit configured to detect a motion of the imaging apparatus, and when the predetermined camera operation state is detected by the motion information acquisition unit, the number of extracted pixels and the extraction position of the extension region are set;
An imaging apparatus characterized by that. The imaging apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the motion information acquisition unit includes an angular velocity sensor that detects motion in at least two directions.
An imaging apparatus characterized by that. The imaging apparatus according to claim 9, wherein
The predetermined camera operation state is at least one of shooting states involving camera movement, including pan / tilt shooting and follow shooting.
An imaging apparatus characterized by that. The imaging apparatus according to claim 9, wherein
The camera operation state is determined by movement information configured by a movement direction and a movement speed of the camera detected by the movement information acquisition unit.
An imaging apparatus characterized by that. The imaging apparatus according to claim 9, wherein
The extended area is set as an area cut out by a predetermined number of pixels in the moving direction detected by the motion information acquisition means.
An imaging apparatus characterized by that. The imaging device according to claim 13.
The number of pixels in the extension area is set by the user in advance, or is automatically set according to the moving speed detected from the motion information acquisition unit.
An imaging apparatus characterized by that. A pixel output acquisition step for acquiring a pixel output obtained by imaging a subject;
An image information cutout step of cutting out image information of one or more arbitrary extension areas together with a predetermined recording area from the pixel output obtained in the pixel output acquisition step;
Extended display data generation step for generating extended display data from image information of the recording area and the extended area;
A display step of displaying display data generated from the image information on a display device;
A writing step of performing signal processing on image information and writing to a recording medium,
An imaging method characterized by the above. The imaging method according to claim 15, wherein
The predetermined recording area is an area having an angle of view of a predetermined size used for image recording, and the extended area is an area used for extended display, and the cut-out position and the number of cut-out pixels are Is configurable,
An imaging method characterized by the above. The imaging method according to claim 15, wherein
In the extended display data generation step, the image information of the recording area and the extended area is combined, and extended display data is created by resizing processing;
An imaging method characterized by the above. The imaging method according to claim 15, wherein
The extended display data is display data of an imaged subject, and includes a recording area recorded on the recording medium, and a non-recording area that is displayed only on a display device and not recorded on the recording medium.
An imaging method characterized by the above. The imaging method according to any one of claims 15 to 18,
An extended display mode for displaying the extended display data in the display step; and a normal display mode for displaying display data for only the predetermined recording area in the display step.
An imaging method characterized by the above. The imaging method according to claim 19, wherein
In the extended display mode, a recording range frame indicating the recording area is displayed on a display screen displaying the extended display data.
An imaging method characterized by the above. The imaging method according to any one of claims 15 to 20,
The extension area is set by selecting a desired number of cut-out pixels from a plurality of set pixel numbers and selecting a desired cut-out position from a plurality of set positions according to an instruction from the outside.
An imaging method characterized by the above. The imaging method according to claim 21, wherein
The cut-out position setting mode includes at least a wide display mode, a vertical display mode, and a full display mode, and the wide display mode is a mode for cutting out both sides of the recording area as a predetermined number of pixels as the extended area. The up / down display mode is a mode in which the upper and lower sides of the recording area are cut out as a predetermined number of pixels as the extended area, and the full display mode is a predetermined number of pixels around the recording area as the extended area. It is a mode to cut out,
An imaging method characterized by the above. The imaging method according to any one of claims 15 to 20,
A motion information acquisition step for detecting the motion of the imaging apparatus; and when the predetermined camera operation state is detected in the motion information acquisition step, the number of extracted pixels and the extracted position of the extension region are set. ,
An imaging method characterized by the above. The imaging method according to claim 23, wherein
The movement information acquisition step detects movement of the imaging device by acquiring movement information from an angular velocity sensor that detects movement in at least two directions.
An imaging method characterized by the above. The imaging method according to claim 23, wherein
The camera operating state is at least one of shooting states involving camera movement, including pan / tilt shooting and follow shooting.
An imaging method characterized by the above. The imaging method according to claim 23, wherein
The camera operating state is determined by movement information configured by a movement direction and a movement speed of the camera detected by acquiring the movement information.
An imaging method characterized by the above. The imaging method according to claim 23, wherein
The extended region is set as a region cut out by a predetermined number of pixels in the moving direction detected by acquiring the motion information.
An imaging method characterized by the above. The imaging method according to claim 27, wherein
The number of pixels in the extended region is set by the user in advance, or automatically set according to the moving speed detected from the motion information.
An imaging method characterized by the above.   15. A recording medium storing a processing program for executing the function of the imaging apparatus according to claim 1 in a computer-readable manner.   29. A recording medium in which processing steps of the imaging method according to claim 15 are stored in a computer-readable manner.

Images