JP2007116310A - Image information reproduction apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To properly control image blur by correctly judging operations in directions of panning and tilting executed by a photographer. <P>SOLUTION: The image information reproduction apparatus is provided with an imaging device for picking up dynamic images; an angular velocity detecting means for detecting an angular velocity of an photographing direction attached on the imaging device; and clear region moving means (S2-S4) for a moving clear region having high clearness in image information of an image frame from the center portion of the image frame, in a direction opposite to the direction where the angular velocity is generated, in response to the angular velocity detected by the angular velocity detecting means. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

The present invention detects image angular velocity in a panning and tilting direction of an imaging device that captures a moving image and suppresses discomfort to a viewer due to abrupt movement in the panning and tilting directions of a reproduced image. The present invention relates to a playback device.

As a conventional image information reproducing device, for example, a degree of change between successive frames of a video file, that is, a degree of change in motion of a video is calculated, and a change amount calculation means using the value as a change amount; The change amount calculated by the calculation means is displayed on the display screen of the display device, and the number of frames to be processed is specified by the specified number, the process is performed according to the processing request, and several frames worth An image editing apparatus having a time adjustment processing execution means for adjusting time is known (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

A moving speed detecting means for detecting a moving speed in the photographing direction by comparing the video signal of the current image with the video signal of the previous screen; and a sudden speed when the moving speed detected by the detecting means is equal to or higher than a certain speed. There is also known an electronic image pickup apparatus and a playback apparatus in which an image processing for obtaining a playback screen without moving an image, that is, a lens focus is adjusted to blur an image (see, for example, Patent Document 2).

Furthermore, it is a simulator in which different right and left deflection glasses are attached and a three-dimensional image is viewed by watching different video images displayed on the rear projection screen. By adding an image pattern in the reverse direction, the sense of speed is increased. A motion perception control device that prevents the occurrence of simulator sickness by adding an image pattern in the same direction is known (for example, see Patent Document 3).
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-98675 (first page, FIG. 1) Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 4-312074 (first page, FIG. 1) JP-A-9-269723 (first page, FIG. 1, FIG. 4, FIG. 5)

However, in the conventional example described in Patent Document 1 above, if two or more moving objects are moving at different speeds and different vectors in the shooting screen, two reference points (sample points) Since the motion vector is predicted in (area), it is not always the case that the photographer is aware of the pan and tilt that the photographer is performing. However, there is an unsolved problem that it is impossible to cope with the rapid movement of the photographer in the pann and tilt directions.

In addition, in the conventional example described in the above-mentioned Patent Document 2, if two or more moving objects are moving at different speeds and different vectors in the photographing screen, a two-point reference signal (sample point area) ) Is not necessarily recognizing the panning and tilting movements performed by the photographer, and the focus is controlled, so the image is not blurred. There is an unsolved problem that the entire image is uniformly blurred, and a portion with little movement in the screen is blurred and the resolution is lost.

Furthermore, in the conventional example described in the above-mentioned Patent Document 3, since the stimulus that does not move is displayed separately from the motion screen and the sickness is suppressed by displaying the rear projection screen, the stimulus to be displayed is originally an image. There is an unresolved problem that the stimulation is not related, so there is a sense of incongruity, and in the case of video for viewing such as a movie, it is often disturbed.
Therefore, the present invention has been made paying attention to the unsolved problems of the conventional example described above, and appropriately controls the image blur by accurately determining the panning and tilting operations performed by the photographer. An object of the present invention is to provide an image information reproducing apparatus capable of performing the above.

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an image information reproducing device according to an imaging device that captures a moving image, an angular velocity detection unit that detects an angular velocity in a shooting direction attached to the imaging device, and an angular velocity detected by the angular velocity detection unit. The image processing apparatus is characterized by comprising a clear area moving means for moving a clear area having high definition in the image information of the image frame from the center of the image frame in a direction opposite to the direction in which the angular velocity is generated.

In the first aspect of the invention, the angular velocity detection means detects the angular velocity in at least one of the shooting direction of the panning direction and the tilt direction of the image pickup device, and performs correction to move the sharp area in the direction opposite to the detected angular velocity. It is possible to make it appear as if it moves slowly on the screen, and it is possible to suppress viewer's sickness with a simple process.
Further, in the image information reproducing apparatus according to the second invention, in the first invention, the angular velocity detection means detects two gyroscopes that individually detect angular velocities in the Pann direction and the tilt direction, and the two gyroscopes. It has at least a low-pass filter that removes noise components from the angular velocity.

In the second invention, the angular velocities in the panning direction and the tilt direction of the imaging apparatus are detected by two gyros, and noise components are removed from the detected angular velocities by a low-pass filter, so the angular velocities in the panning direction and the tilt direction are accurately detected. can do.
Furthermore, in the first or second invention, the image information reproducing device according to a third invention has a filter means for increasing the blurring amount of the peripheral portion with respect to the center portion.
The central portion of the filter means is configured to move in a direction opposite to the direction in which the angular velocity is generated according to the angular velocity.

In the third aspect of the invention, the clear area can be easily moved by moving the filter characteristic of the filter means.
Still further, in the image information reproducing device according to the fourth invention, in the first or second invention, the clear region moving means sets the imaging unit that captures a moving image of the imaging device according to the angular velocity. It is characterized by having an imaging part moving means for moving in the direction opposite to the direction in which the image is generated.

In the fourth aspect of the invention, by moving the imaging unit itself, it is possible to move the image of one frame to be captured, and to reduce the image moving speed in the panning direction and / or the tilt direction.
Still further, in the image information reproducing apparatus according to the fifth invention, in the first or second invention, the clear region moving means moves the optical lens in a direction opposite to the direction in which the angular velocity is generated according to the angular velocity. An optical lens moving means is provided.

In the fifth aspect of the invention, by moving the optical lens in the direction opposite to the direction in which the optical lens is generated according to the angular velocity, it is possible to move the image picked up by the image pickup unit and reduce the moving speed of the image.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a schematic configuration of an embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes an imaging device such as a digital video camera for imaging a moving image, and an imaging lens 2 is provided on the front surface of a housing 1. In addition, piezoelectric gyros 3 and 4 serving as angular velocity sensors for individually detecting the angular velocities in the panning direction, that is, the yaw direction and the tilt direction, that is, the pitch direction, of the imaging apparatus 1 are disposed.

As shown in FIG. 2, the block diagram of the imaging apparatus 1 projects a subject image onto an imaging unit 6 composed of a CCD element via an imaging lens 2, and subject image data from the imaging unit 6 is frame by frame. The digital signal is converted by the A / D converter 7 and output to the image processing unit 8. The image processing unit 8 receives the angular velocity detection values in the Pann direction and the tilt direction output from the piezoelectric gyros 3 and 4 and receives the angular velocity ω in the Pann direction and the tilt direction detected by the angular velocity detection unit 9.
p and ωt are input, and a filtering process is performed to move the sharp region of image information for one frame in the peripheral direction in the direction opposite to the generation direction of the angular velocity with respect to the central portion according to the input angular velocities ωp and ωt. The corrected image information is formed and output to the signal processing unit 11. The signal processing unit 11 performs luminance signal processing and color signal processing on the reproduced image information processed by the image processing unit 8, and outputs and stores the processed corrected image information in the image memory 12. After being converted into an analog signal by the / A converter 13, it is output to the display device 14 constituted by a liquid crystal display, an organic EL display, or the like.

Here, as shown in FIG. 3, the angular velocity detection unit 9 receives the angular velocity detection values output from the piezoelectric gyros 3 and 4 and removes the influence of disturbance in the vicinity of the stationary state, and thus a low-pass filter 9 a.
And 9b, and A / D converters 9c and 9d for converting the filter output from the low-pass filters 9a and 9b, from which the influence of disturbance has been removed, into digital signals. The detected digital angular velocity values ωp and ωt output from the A / D converters 9 c and 9 d are supplied to the image processing unit 8. The sampling rate of the piezoelectric gyros 3 and 4 is preferably set to be the same as the sampling rate of the image frame or an integral multiple of the sampling rate so as to cause sampling at the same timing.

The image processing unit 8 executes captured image processing shown in FIG. 4 when a shooting switch (not shown) is turned on. In this captured image processing, first, in step S1, it is determined whether or not digital image information for one frame captured by the imaging unit 6 input from the A / D converter 7 is input, and digital for one frame is determined. When the image information is not input, it waits until it is input, and when the image information for one frame is input, the process proceeds to step S2, and the angular velocities ωp and ωt in the Pann direction and the tilt direction are obtained from the angular velocity detector 9. Then, the process proceeds to step S3, and the sharp area of the image information for one frame is moved from the center position of the image information in the direction opposite to the direction of the angular velocities ωp, ωt based on the read angular velocities ωp, ωt. The movement amounts x and y to be calculated are calculated.

Here, the positions of the movement amounts x and y at an arbitrary time are determined by the angular velocity signals obtained from the piezoelectric gyros 3 and 4.
Here, the angular velocities ωp (n) and ωt (n) obtained by the angular velocity detector 9 are used.
However, when n is a positive integer and sampling is performed at time s as shown in FIG. 5 from the start of shooting, the relationship with arbitrary time t is
t = n × s
It becomes.

ここで、mは撮影終了時の時間Tとした時、ｍ＝Ｔ／ｓで表され、kは定数である。 The movement amounts x and y in an arbitrary image frame are calculated by the following equations (1) and (2).

Here, m is represented by m = T / s, where k is a time T at the end of photographing, and k is a constant.

Next, the process proceeds to step S4, and a filter characteristic is set in which the sharpness at the position of the movement amount x is high and the blur amount increases as it goes to the peripheral portion based on the movement amount x calculated in step S3. By filtering the image information for one frame with the filter characteristics, the corrected image information is formed by moving the clear area by the movement amount x from the state of FIG. 6 in which the clear area is at the center, and then the process proceeds to step S5. Then, after the formed corrected image information is output to the signal processing unit 11, the process proceeds to step S6.

In this step S6, it is determined whether or not the photographing switch is turned off and the photographing is finished. When the photographing switch is in the on state, it is judged that photographing is continued, and the process returns to the step S1 to photograph. When the switch is in the OFF state, it is determined that the shooting has been completed, and the process is terminated.
In the processing of FIG. 4, the processing of steps S2 to S4 corresponds to the clear area moving means.

Next, the operation of the above embodiment will be described.
Now, it is assumed that the photographing switch of the imaging apparatus 1 is in an off state and photographing is stopped.
In this shooting stop state, the imaging unit 6 does not capture moving image information of the subject image.
When the shooting switch is turned on to shoot a moving image from this shooting stop state, the execution of the captured image processing of FIG. 4 is started.

For this reason, image information for one frame is output from the imaging unit 6, and when this is converted into digital image information by the A / D converter 7 and input to the image processing device 8, the image information for one frame is converted. In addition to reading, the angular velocity detection values ωp and ωt in the pan direction and the tilt direction at that time
Is read (step S2).
Then, based on the read angular velocity detection values ωp and ωt, the movement amount x in the Pann direction and the movement amount y in the tilt direction from the center point are calculated based on the equations (1) and (2) described above.

At this time, when the imaging device 1 shoots by gazing at a desired position, the imaging device 1 hardly moves in the panning direction and the tilt direction, and the detected angular velocity detection values ωp and ωt are substantially “0”. The fluctuation is within the dead band width.
For this reason, when the movement amount x in the Pann direction and the movement amount y in the tilt direction from the center point are calculated in the equations (1) and (2), both the movement amount x and the movement amount y are “0”. As shown in FIG. 6, the filter characteristic is set so that the center of the image information for one frame is a clear region as shown in FIG. 6, and the image information for one frame is filtered with this filter characteristic. Normal image information can be displayed by outputting the image information to the signal processing unit 11.

However, when a photographer photographs a moving body such as a vehicle or an animal that is moving at a relatively high speed, the imaging apparatus 1 is panned according to the moving speed of the moving body. When the camera is photographed, there is almost no movement in a certain direction and the movement path becomes a complicated movement path. Therefore, the movement of the imaging apparatus 1 repeats clockwise and counterclockwise panning according to the movement path of the animal, When this captured image information is played back, the playback screen moves rapidly, causing viewers to get sick.

However, according to the present invention, when the imaging device 1 moves in the panning direction and / or the tilting direction and images a subject, the angular velocity ωp in the panning direction and the tilting direction of the imaging device 1 is detected.
And ωt are accurately detected by the piezoelectric gyros 3 and 4, and based on the detected angular velocities ωp and ωt, the panning direction movement amount x and the tilt direction movement amount y are calculated based on the equations (1) and (2). The calculated movement amounts x and y become larger as the deviations per unit time of the angular velocities ωp and ωt become larger.

For this reason, when a filter characteristic is set so as to form a clear region at the position of the calculated movement amounts x and y, and image information for one frame is filtered by this filter characteristic, as shown in FIG. For example, when the image information is panned to the right, the clear area moves to the left by the movement amount x, and the clear area moves in the opposite direction with respect to the movement amount of the image information.
For this reason, the corrected image information is output to the signal processing unit 11 and reproduced by the display device 14 so that the moving speed of the clear area is displayed as if it was decelerated, and the visual moving speed of the clear area is reduced. It is possible to prevent the viewer from getting sick when the viewer visually recognizes the reproduced image.

This action is not limited to shooting a moving subject, but also when shooting a wide range of landscapes by panning or tilting, the movement amounts x and y from the center of the clear region according to the angular velocity generated at that time. Is calculated, the sharp area can be moved in the direction opposite to the photographer's panning direction and / or tilt direction, and the visual movement speed of the clear area can be obtained even if the photographer is not familiar with the characteristics of the imaging device 1. It is possible to reduce viewers' sickness.

Thus, according to the above embodiment, the posture change of the imaging device can be accurately detected by the piezoelectric gyros 3 and 4, and the amount of movement of the clear region in the image information for one frame according to the detected angular velocity. x, y are calculated, filter characteristics corresponding to the movement amounts x, y are set, and image information for one frame is filtered by the filter characteristics, so that corrected image information obtained by moving the clear region is obtained. Since it is formed, the clear area can be moved in the direction opposite to the moving direction of the imaging device with a simple configuration, and the clear area can be visually decelerated and displayed, making it sure to cause sickness to the viewer Can be prevented.

In this case, since the movement of the imaging device is detected with a gyro as in the conventional example and the image information is directly processed, it is only necessary to perform a filter process for moving the clear region, so the processing time is also short. In fact, good corrected image information can be formed.
In the above-described embodiment, the case where the image information filtering process according to the angular velocity is performed in the imaging apparatus 1 is described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the image information for one frame is used in the imaging apparatus 1. Is obtained and stored in a non-volatile memory such as a flash memory, and the non-volatile memory is set in an image reproducing device. The image reproducing device uses this image reproducing device to display image information based on the angular velocity. It is also possible to reproduce by performing a filtering process for moving the.

In the above-described embodiment, the case where the sharp region is moved according to the angular velocity by the filtering process has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the imaging unit moving mechanism that moves the imaging unit in the pan direction and the tilt direction. And moving the imaging unit movement mechanism based on the movement amounts x and y calculated according to the angular velocity, thereby moving the image information itself in the direction opposite to the direction in which the angular velocity is generated, thereby increasing the movement speed of the image information. You may make it decelerate. Similarly, an optical lens moving mechanism that moves the optical lens in the Pann direction and the tilt direction is provided, and the optical lens moving mechanism is moved based on the movement amounts x and y calculated according to the angular velocity, thereby obtaining the imaging unit 6. The image information itself may be moved in a direction opposite to the direction in which the angular velocity is generated to reduce the moving speed of the image information. In this case, sickness can be further suppressed by setting the filter characteristic to a predetermined characteristic that blurs the peripheral edge portion compared to the fixed center portion.

Furthermore, in the above embodiment, the case where the angular velocity is detected by the piezoelectric gyro has been described, but the present invention is not limited to this, and other types of gyros can be applied,
Furthermore, other angular velocity sensors can be applied.
In the above embodiment, the case where the angular velocities in both the Pann direction and the tilt direction are detected has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and at least one angular velocity in the Pann direction and the tilt direction is detected. Based on the detected angular velocity, the image information may be filtered so as to move the clear region.

1 is a schematic configuration diagram of an imaging apparatus showing an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a circuit configuration of the imaging apparatus in FIG. 1. It is a block diagram which shows the specific structure of the angular velocity detection part of FIG. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the captured image processing procedure performed with an image process part. It is explanatory drawing which shows the sampling state of a gyro output signal. It is explanatory drawing which shows the image information at the time of normal which has a clear area | region in the center part of image information. It is explanatory drawing which shows the image information of the state which the clear area | region moved to the reverse direction to the generation direction of angular velocity.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Imaging device, 2 ... Imaging lens, 3, 4 ... Piezoelectric gyro, 6 ... Imaging part, 7 ... A / D converter, 8 ... Image processing part, 9 ... Angular velocity detection part, 11 ... Signal processing part, 12 ... Image memory, 13
... D / A converter, 14 ... Display device

Claims (5)

An imaging device that captures a moving image, an angular velocity detection unit that detects an angular velocity in a shooting direction attached to the imaging device, and a sharp region with high definition in image information of an image frame according to the angular velocity detected by the angular velocity detection unit A clear area moving means for moving the image from the center of the image frame in a direction opposite to the direction in which the angular velocity is generated. The angular velocity detection means includes at least two gyros that individually detect angular velocities in the Pann direction and the tilt direction, and a low-pass filter that removes noise components from the angular velocities detected by the two gyros. The image information reproducing apparatus according to claim 1. The clear region moving means has a filter means in which a blurring amount at a peripheral portion is larger than a central portion, and moves the central portion of the filter means in a direction opposite to the direction in which the angular velocity is generated according to the angular velocity. The image information reproducing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image information reproducing apparatus is configured as follows. The clear region moving means includes an imaging unit moving means for moving an imaging unit that captures a moving image of the imaging device in a direction opposite to a direction in which the angular velocity is generated according to the angular velocity. 3. The image information reproducing apparatus according to 1 or 2. 3. The image information reproduction according to claim 1, wherein the clear area moving unit includes an optical lens moving unit that moves the optical lens in a direction opposite to a direction in which the angular velocity is generated according to the angular velocity. apparatus.

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