JP2007293555A - Image reproduction device, its control method, and its control program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To find out an image which is not usually viewed. <P>SOLUTION: Images i51 to i54 or the like are grouped into groups 51 to 54 based on photographic dates. When any image is displayed as a main image, the representative image of another group including the image to which a photographic scene applied to the image included in the group to which the main image is belonging is applied is displayed. When the displayed representative image is selected, the image included in the group to which the representative image is belonging is displayed. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an image reproducing device, a control method thereof, and a control program thereof.

Since digital still cameras have become easier, users can easily take pictures. For this reason, an extremely large number of images are stored, and there may be many images that cannot be viewed. For this reason, various ideas have been made for browsing images. For example, there are layouts that are laid out according to image attributes (Patent Document 1) and search conditions that specify search conditions and search for images that have different conditions from the specified search conditions (Patent Document 2).
JP-A-8-329135 JP-A-11-224262

In addition, a target document is acquired from a server, and another document is selected from related information of the document (Patent Document 3), and an image that achieves both reliability and randomness when searching for image data. There is also a search system (Patent Document 4).
JP 2000-259484 A JP 2005-275738

  However, it may be insufficient to find and display images that are not viewed.

  It is an object of the present invention to find and display an image that cannot be viewed.

  According to the image reproducing apparatus of the present invention, a large number of sets of image data and keyword data in which image data representing an image obtained by photographing and keyword data representing a keyword of the image are associated with each other are obtained at the photographing time. Reading means for reading image data and keyword data representing a desired main image from a recording medium recorded in groups based on the display screen, and displaying a main image represented by the image data read by the reading means In response to the input of the related image display command from the first display control means, the related image display command input means, and the related image display command input means for controlling the display device to display the first display Group detection means for detecting a group to which the main image displayed under the control of the control means belongs; and Image data included in a group different from the group of main images detected by the group detecting means, and keyword data associated with the image data included in the group of main images detected by the group detecting means Of the image data associated with the keyword data representing the same keyword as the represented keyword, the related representative image represented by the representative image data is displayed on the display screen on which the main image is displayed. And a second display control means for controlling the display device so that the display is smaller.

  The present invention also provides a control method suitable for the image reproducing apparatus. That is, according to the present invention, the reading means includes a large number of sets of image data and keyword data in which image data representing an image obtained by photographing and keyword data representing a keyword of the image are associated with each other. The image data representing the desired main image and the keyword data are read from the recording medium recorded in groups based on the photographing time, and the first display control means uses the image data read by the reading means. The display device is controlled to display the main image represented on the display screen, and the first display control is performed in response to the group detection unit receiving the related image display command input from the related image display command input unit. The group to which the main image displayed under the control of the means belongs is detected, and the second display control means detects the group detection. Image data included in a group different from the group of main images detected by the means and represented by keyword data associated with the image data included in the group of main images detected by the group detection means Of the image data associated with the keyword data representing the same keyword as the keyword, the related representative image represented by the representative image data is smaller than the size of the main image on the display screen on which the main image is displayed. The display device is controlled to display.

  The present invention also provides a program for executing the control method of the image reproducing apparatus.

  According to the present invention, a large number of sets of image data and keyword data associated with each other are grouped and recorded on the recording medium based on the image photographing time. Image data representing a desired main image and keyword data are read from the recording medium, and the main image represented by the read image data is displayed on the display screen. When a related image display command is input, a group of displayed main images is detected. Image data included in a group different from the detected group and associated with keyword data representing the same keyword as the keyword represented by the keyword data associated with the image data included in the main image group Among the existing image data, the related representative image represented by the representative image data is displayed smaller than the size of the main image. A representative image of an image having the same keyword as that of an image in the group to which the main image belongs and belonging to another group different from the main image group is displayed as the representative related image.

If the same keyword associated with an image included in the group to which the main image belongs is related to one of the images included in the other group, the related representative image of the other group is displayed. Therefore, an image unexpected by the user may be displayed. Normally, images that are not viewed can also be found.

  The selection means for selecting the related representative image, and the related representative image selected by the selection means is displayed as a new main image, and is included in the group to which the image data representing the related representative image selected by the selection means belongs It is preferable to further include third display control means for controlling the display device so as to display the in-group image represented by the image data to be displayed smaller than the size of the new main image. The related representative image can be displayed as a new main image.

  A main image displayed under the control of the first display control means in response to the frame advance command input means for inputting the frame advance command and the frame advance command input by the frame advance command input means. 4th display control means which controls a display apparatus so that the image represented by the image data in the group in which the image data showing can be displayed on a display screen as a new main image may be further provided.

  The second display control means controls the display device so that, for example, a keyword represented by keyword data associated with image data representing the related representative image together with the related representative image is displayed on the display screen. Is.

  FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of the present invention and is a block diagram showing an electrical configuration of a digital still camera.

  The overall operation of the digital still camera is controlled by the control circuit 10.

  The digital still camera is provided with buttons 2 such as a power button, a shutter release button, a mode switch, and a menu button. The output signal from the buttons 2 is input to the control circuit 10. The mode switch sets the shooting mode, playback mode, etc.

  The control circuit 10 is also connected with a clock 11 for measuring the shooting date and time, and a memory 12 for storing operation programs and other data.

  The digital still camera according to this embodiment can communicate with other devices. For this purpose, a communication control circuit 3 and a communication circuit 4 are provided in the digital still camera. An operation program for controlling operations described later can also be received by the communication circuit 4. The operation program received by the communication circuit 4 is given to the memory 12 via the communication control circuit 3 and the control circuit 10 and stored therein. When the operation program is stored in the memory card, the operation program can be read from the memory card and installed in the digital still camera.

  When the photographing mode is set, the subject is photographed by the imaging circuit 1. Image data representing the subject image is input to the control circuit 10. In the control circuit 10, predetermined signal processing such as gamma correction and color balance adjustment is performed and input to the display control circuit 5. When the display device 6 is controlled by the display control circuit 5, the subject image is displayed on the display screen of the display device 6.

  When the shutter release button is pressed, image data representing the subject image is input to the control circuit 10 as described above. Data representing the shooting date and time measured by the clock 11 is also input to the control circuit 10. In the control circuit 10, an image file is generated, and image data, shooting date / time data, and the like are stored in the generated image file. In this embodiment, the images are grouped based on the shooting date and time. Data indicating the image group represented by the image data is also stored in the image file. Furthermore, in this embodiment, a shooting scene (keyword) indicating what kind of scene the image to be shot represents can be given. Data indicating the shooting scene is also stored in the image file. The generated image file is given to the memory card 8 via the memory card interface 7 and recorded.

  When the reproduction mode is set, an image file representing a desired image is read from a large number of image files recorded on the memory card 8. The read image file is given to the display control circuit 5 via the memory card interface 7 and the control circuit 10. When the display device 6 is controlled by the display control circuit 5, an image represented by the image file read from the memory card 8 is displayed on the display screen of the display device 6.

  FIG. 2 shows an example of the file structure (data structure) of an image file.

  The image file includes a header recording area and an image data recording area.

  In the image data recording area, image data obtained by photographing as described above is recorded.

  Header information such as image file management data is recorded in the header recording area. In particular, in this embodiment, as described above, the data indicating the shooting date and time, the data indicating the group, and the data indicating the shooting scene and the degree of association of the shooting scene are also recorded in the header recording area. Using these shooting date / time data, group data, shooting scene data, and relevance data, it is possible to display an image that is not normally found.

  FIG. 3 is an example of a shooting scene candidate.

  The photographic scene candidate represents a scene that can be selected by the user. Photography scene candidates include people, flowers, greenery, sky, autumn leaves, landscapes, beaches, snow, sunsets, night views, fireworks, parties, pets, dishes, buildings, vehicles, and characters. Needless to say, the user may be able to select a shooting scene other than these shooting scene candidates.

  FIG. 4 is an example of a display screen of the display device 6.

  When a menu button included in the buttons 2 is pressed during shooting, a shooting scene setting menu appears on the display screen 20. When the shooting scene setting menu that appears is selected, a shooting scene selection menu 22 for selecting a shooting scene of the image 21 being shot is displayed in the right corner of the display screen 21. In the shooting scene selection menu 22, a scene suitable for the shot image 21 is selected from the shooting scene candidates and displayed. Image 21 shows a child in the sea. Characters 23 for “person” representing a person scene, characters 24 for “beach” representing a beach scene and characters 25 “landscape” representing a landscape scene are selected. Displayed in menu 22.

  These shooting scenes are determined by a digital still camera based on an image obtained by shooting. For example, when a face image is detected from the images by the face detection process, “person” is determined as the shooting scene. For other scenes, the shooting scene is determined based on the color ratio.

  The user can input the degree of association between these scenes and the displayed image 21. Of the characters displayed in the shooting scene setting menu 22, the character whose character color is reversed in black and white (in this example, indicated by hatching 26) is the selected character (shooting scene). . The selected shooting scene changes from the currently selected shooting scene to the upper or lower shooting scene in response to pressing of the upper or lower button of the up / down / left / right buttons included in the buttons 2. When the right button is pressed among the up / down / left / right buttons, the degree of association increases, and when the left button is pressed, the degree of association decreases. When the right button or the left button is pressed, the relevance of the selected shooting scene is input. In this embodiment, three levels of relevance can be set. If the relevance is 0, data indicating the shooting scene is not stored in the image file. When the determination button is pressed, data representing the set degree of association and data representing the shooting scene are stored in the image file.

  FIG. 5 to FIG. 8 show captured images, and a shooting scene and the like are also displayed.

  FIG. 5 is an image 31 of a woman with soft ice cream. As a shooting scene of such an image 31, “person” is set as the relevance level 3 and “cooking” is set as the relevance level 1 (relationship level is represented by an asterisk). The shooting date and shooting time are also set. Further, the group of images 31 is set as “August 10, 2005 noon” from the shooting date and shooting time.

  FIG. 6 is an image 32 of a river landscape. As the shooting scene of such an image 32, “landscape” is set as the relevance level 3 and “sky” is set as the relevance level 1. Further, the group of images 32 is set as “September 20, 2005 evening” from the shooting date and shooting time.

  FIG. 7 is an image 33 of a car and a dog. As a shooting scene of such an image 33, “vehicle” is set as a relevance level 3 and “pet” is set as a relevance level 3. The group of images 33 is set as “October 10, 2005 morning” from the shooting date and shooting time.

  FIG. 8 is an image 34 of a person entering a hot spring. As a shooting scene of such an image 34, “landscape” is set as a relevance level 2 and “person” is set as a relevance level 3. A group of images 34 is set as “November 3, 2005 night” from the shooting date and shooting time.

  In this way, the image is associated with the shooting scene, the degree of association, and the group. Specifically, as described above, data representing the shooting scenes and the like is stored in the header area of the image file in which the image data representing the image is recorded in the image data recording area.

  FIG. 9 is a block diagram showing an electrical configuration of the image reproducing apparatus.

  The overall operation of the image reproduction apparatus is controlled by the control circuit 40. The control circuit 40 is supplied with an output signal from an operating unit 47 including a photo surfing key, a determination button, and the like. Further, an image database (hard disk drive and hard disk) 46 is connected to the control circuit 40. In the image database 46, as described above, a large number of image files in which data representing shooting scenes and the like are stored are recorded. Further, a display device 45 for displaying an image represented by an image file recorded in the image database 46 is connected to the control circuit 40. Further, a memory 48 is also connected to the control circuit 10.

  The image playback device includes a memory card interface 42 and a CD-ROM (compact disk-read only memory) drive 44. Image files recorded on the memory card 41 and the CD-ROM 43 are read by the memory card interface 42 and the CD-ROM drive 44. The read image file is given to the image database 46 and recorded.

  In addition, a CD-ROM on which an operation program for performing an operation to be described later is loaded into the image reproduction apparatus, and the operation program is read, whereby the operation program is installed in the image reproduction apparatus.

  FIG. 10 shows how many image files are classified in the image database 46.

  As described above, images obtained by shooting are grouped based on the shooting date and time. Within a day, 8 am to 11 am is defined as morning, 11 am to 15 am noon, 15 am to 17 pm evening, and 17 pm to 9 pm. Of course, it is needless to say that other times are specified at midnight or early morning. An unambiguous group is determined by a combination of morning, noon, evening, night, etc. determined by the shooting time and the shooting date. For example, in the case of an image taken on August 21, 2005, group 51 of “August 21, 2005 morning”, group 52 of “noon of August 21, 2005”, “2005 It is divided into group 53 of “August 21 evening” and group 54 of “August 21, 2005 night”. Images i51, i52, i53, i54 classified by these groups 51, 52, 53, 54 belong to the respective groups. The same applies to other shooting dates.

  FIG. 11 shows the “August 21, 2005 noon” group.

  As images belonging to the group 52, images 61 to 73 (corresponding to the image i52 in FIG. 12) are shown. In addition, the shooting scenes of these images 61 to 73 are also illustrated with a star indicating the degree of relevance.

  Further, in FIG. 11, group shooting scene information 75 is also displayed. The group shooting scene information 75 indicates all shooting scenes assigned to images belonging to the group, and includes a relevance level obtained by adding all the relevance levels of the shooting scenes for each shooting scene. The group shooting scene information 75 indicates what kind of shooting scene an image belongs to that group. Group shooting scene information is created for each group and stored in the image database 46 corresponding to each group.

  12 and 13 are flowcharts showing the processing procedure of the image reproduction apparatus. 14 to 17 show display screens of the display device 45 included in the image reproduction device.

  In this embodiment, a desired image (main image) that the user wants to browse and an image (group image, related image) related to the main image are displayed.

  Referring to FIG. 14, on display screen 100 of display device 45, a relatively large area at the center is defined as main display area 111 for displaying the main image. A sub display area 112 is defined around the main display area 111. In the sub display area 112, a group image, a related image, and the like related to the main image are displayed as will be described later.

  Referring to FIG. 12, operating device 47 is operated by the user, and the main image is selected (step 81). The selected main image is displayed in the main display area 111 of the display screen 100 (step 82).

  Then, the group to which the selected main image belongs is detected (step 83). An image file (image data) representing an image (in-group image) belonging to the detected group is read from the image database 46 (step 84). Reduction processing is performed so that the in-group image represented by the read image file is smaller than the size of the main image displayed in the main display area 111. The reduced in-group image is displayed in the sub display area 112 of the display screen 100 (step 85).

  Referring to FIG. 15, main image 113 selected by the user is displayed in main display area 111. In the sub display area 112, a reduced group image 114 within the group to which the main image 113 belongs is displayed. What kind of image is included in the group to which the main image belongs by looking at the reduced group image 114, that is, what is the same date as the date when the main image was taken, and at almost the same time zone You can check if an image was taken.

  Returning to FIG. 12, if the photo surfing key is pressed while the main image is displayed in the main display area 111 and the reduced group image 114 is displayed in the sub display area 112 (YES in step 86) ( Input of related image display command), an image having the same shooting scene as the shooting scene assigned to the image of the group to which the main image displayed in the main display area 111 belongs (identified from the group shooting scene information described above) belongs Another group (a group different from the group to which the main image displayed in the main display area 111 belongs) is detected (step 87 in FIG. 13).

  The detected representative images of other groups are reduced, and the reduced representative images are displayed in the sub display area 112 as representative related images (step 88). The representative image may be an image taken first in the group or may be determined in advance by the user.

  Referring to FIG. 16, main image 113 is displayed in main display area 111. In the sub display area 112, representative images 121 to 126 in a group to which an image having one of the shooting scene information of the group shooting scene information of the group to which the main image 113 belongs are displayed. Near these representative images 121 to 126, a common shooting scene is displayed for the shooting scene of each representative image and the shooting scene information of the shooting scene information of the group to which the main image 113 belongs. Further, a cursor 120 is displayed around one representative image 121 among these representative images 121 to 126. The cursor 120 moves so as to surround the next representative image in response to pressing of an arrow button included in the operation device 47. Since the representative images 121 to 126 have a relatively small relationship with the main image, an image unexpected for the user is displayed.

  Returning to FIG. 13, when the enter button included in the controller 47 is pressed (YES in step 89), the representative image surrounded by the cursor is displayed as a new main image in the main display area (step 90). If the mode does not shift to another mode (NO in step 91), the group to which the new main image belongs is detected (step 83), and the image data of the group to which the new main image belongs is read (step 84), The in-group image is displayed in the sub display area (step 85).

  Referring again to FIG. 16, it is assumed that the determination button is pressed when the representative image 121 is surrounded by the cursor 120. Then, as shown in FIG. 17, the representative image 121 becomes a new main image and is displayed in the main display area 111. In the sub display area 112, an image 127 included in the group to which the new main image belongs is displayed.

  FIG. 18 to FIG. 22 show modifications, and show the back of a digital still camera.

  In the embodiment described above, images are reproduced using an image reproducing device different from that of the digital still camera. However, in the modification described below, an image reproducing process is performed using a digital still camera. It is.

  Referring to FIG. 18, a display screen 135 is formed on the entire rear surface of digital still camera 130. A tele-wide button 131 is provided on the upper right of the display screen 135. At the lower right of the display screen 135, there are provided a menu / OK button 132 and an up / down / left / right button 133 in which an up / down / left / right arrow can be pressed. The up / down / left / right button 133 has an annular shape, and a photo surfing key 124 is provided at the center thereof.

  A playback mode is set by a mode switch (not shown), and a desired image is displayed on the display screen 131 as a main image 140. When the right arrow (frame advance button) of the up / down / left / right button 133 is pressed, the image of the next frame of the main image 140 displayed on the display screen 135 is displayed on the display screen 135 as the main image 141 as shown in FIG. Is displayed.

  When the photo surfing key 134 is pressed, a sub display area 137 appears on the right side of the display screen 135 as shown in FIG. The area excluding the sub display area 137 is the main display area 136. In the main display area 136, the main image 141 displayed on the display screen 135 before the photo surfing key 134 is pressed is displayed. In the sub display area 137, a related representative image 151 of the main image 141 displayed in the main display area 136 is displayed. That is, representative images of other groups that include images having the same shooting scene as the shooting scenes included in the group to which the main image 141 belongs are displayed in the sub display area 137.

  One related representative image 151 of the related representative images 151 is surrounded by a cursor 161. When the up arrow or down arrow of the up / down / left / right button 133 is pressed, the related representative image 151 surrounded by the cursor 161 changes.

  When the menu / OK button 134 is pressed, the related representative image 151 surrounded by the cursor 161 is displayed as a new main image 142 in the main display area 136 as shown in FIG. In the sub display area 137, the related representative image 152 of the new main image 142 is displayed.

  When the photo surfing key 134 is pressed again, the sub display area 137 disappears from the display screen 135 and the main image 142 is displayed over the entire display screen 135.

  As described above, the related representative image can be displayed on the display screen provided on the back surface of the digital still camera 130.

It is a block diagram which shows the electric constitution of a digital still camera. It is an example of the file structure of an image file. It is an example of a photographing scene candidate. It is an example of the image currently displayed on the display screen. It is an example of the image obtained by imaging | photography. It is an example of the image obtained by imaging | photography. It is an example of the image obtained by imaging | photography. It is an example of the image obtained by imaging | photography. It is a block diagram which shows the electric constitution of an image reproduction apparatus. It shows how captured images are grouped. It is an example of the grouped image. It is a flowchart which shows a part of reproduction | regeneration processing procedure. A main display area and a sub display area are shown. It is an example of the image currently displayed on the display screen. It is an example of the image currently displayed on the display screen. It is an example of the image currently displayed on the display screen. It is an example of the image currently displayed on the display screen. A digital still camera is shown from the back. A digital still camera is shown from the back. A digital still camera is shown from the back. A digital still camera is shown from the back. A digital still camera is shown from the back.

Explanation of symbols

6,45 display device
10, 40 Control circuit
46 Image Database
47 Controller

Claims (6)

A large number of sets of image data and keyword data in which image data representing an image obtained by photographing and keyword data representing a keyword of the image are associated with each other are grouped and recorded based on the photographing time. Reading means for reading image data representing a desired main image and keyword data from a recorded recording medium,
First display control means for controlling the display device to display a main image represented by the image data read by the reading means on a display screen;
Related image display command input means,
Group detecting means for detecting a group to which a main image displayed under the control of the first display control means belongs in response to input of a related image display command from the related image display command input means; And keyword data associated with the image data included in the group of the main images detected by the group detection unit, the image data included in a group different from the group of the main images detected by the group detection unit The related representative image represented by the representative image data among the image data associated with the keyword data representing the same keyword as the keyword represented by is displayed on the display screen on which the main image is displayed. Second display control means for controlling the display device so as to display smaller than the size;
An image reproducing apparatus comprising: The selection means for selecting the related representative image, and the related representative image selected by the selection means is displayed as a new main image and included in the group to which the image data representing the related representative image selected by the selection means belongs Third display control means for controlling the display device so as to display the in-group image represented by the image data to be displayed smaller than the size of the new main image;
The image reproducing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: A frame feed command input means for inputting a frame feed command, and a main image displayed under the control of the first display control means in response to the frame feed command input by the frame feed command input means Fourth display control means for controlling the display device so that the image represented by the image data in the group including the image data representing is displayed on the display screen as a new main image;
The image reproducing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: The second display control means controls the display device so that a keyword represented by keyword data associated with image data representing the related representative image together with the related representative image is displayed on a display screen. is there,
The image reproduction apparatus according to claim 1. A plurality of sets of image data and keyword data in which the reading means associates image data representing an image obtained by photographing and keyword data representing a keyword of the image are grouped based on the photographing time. Read the image data and the keyword data representing the desired main image from the divided recording medium,
A first display control means for controlling the display device so as to display a main image represented by the image data read by the reading means on the display screen;
In response to the input of the related image display command from the related image display command input means, the group detection means detects the group to which the main image displayed under the control of the first display control means belongs. ,
Image data included in a group different from the group of main images detected by the group detection unit, wherein the second display control unit includes image data included in the group of main images detected by the group detection unit; The main image is displayed as the related representative image represented by the representative image data among the image data associated with the keyword data representing the same keyword as the keyword represented by the associated keyword data. Controlling the display device to display on the display screen smaller than the size of the main image;
A method for controlling an image reproducing apparatus. A large number of sets of image data and keyword data in which image data representing an image obtained by photographing and keyword data representing a keyword of the image are associated with each other are grouped and recorded based on the photographing time. A procedure for reading image data representing a desired main image and keyword data from a recorded recording medium,
A procedure for controlling the display device to display a main image represented by the read image data on the display screen;
A procedure for detecting a group to which a main image displayed under the display control belongs in response to an input of a related image display command from the related image display command input means;
A keyword representing the same keyword as the keyword represented by the keyword data associated with the image data included in the detected main image group, the image data included in a group different from the detected main image group The display device displays the related representative image represented by the representative image data among the image data associated with the data on the display screen on which the main image is displayed smaller than the size of the main image. A program for controlling a computer of an image reproducing apparatus to execute a procedure for controlling the image.

Images