JP2008141328A - Portable telephone set with camera and photography mode setting method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a portable telephone set with a camera capable of precisely determining rainy weather and automatically setting a rainy weather photography mode. <P>SOLUTION: The portable telephone set with a camera has: a camera part 23; a pressure sensor 14 where a plurality of pressure sensitive contact points in which contact point resistance value changes in accordance with the intensity of pressure added from outside are placed on the identical plane; and a control unit 20 for determining whether or not it is rainy on the basis of changes in resistance value at each pressure sensitive contact point of the pressure sensor 14. When the control unit 20 determines that it is rainy, it sets the photography mode of the camera part 23 to the rainy weather photography mode. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a camera-equipped mobile phone.

  In recent years, mobile phones equipped with a camera function have been provided. This type of camera-equipped mobile phone is equipped with a setting mode for setting parameters such as white balance and image quality, and the user can set the parameters freely according to the shooting environment. it can. However, parameter setting is cumbersome and inconvenient for users who are unfamiliar with camera photography.

In view of this, a camera-equipped mobile phone that can automatically set parameters according to the shooting environment has been proposed (see Patent Document 1). This camera-equipped mobile phone is provided with a clock function and a GPS function, and based on the current time information and position information acquired by these functions, weather information regarding the current position can be acquired from the weather information service server. it can. Then, the weather is determined based on the weather information, and the parameters are automatically set. Thereby, for example, a process of obtaining a high-saturation image can be automatically performed in rainy weather.
JP 2004-333839 A

  However, the camera-equipped mobile phone described in Patent Document 1 has the following problems.

  The meteorological information provided from the meteorological information service server is meteorological information for the entire region including the current position, and is not meteorological information for pinpoints in the region. For this reason, even if the current weather in the region is assumed to be raining, there are places where it is not raining depending on the location of the region. Since pinpoint weather information cannot be provided in this way, it may be determined that it is raining and high saturation image processing is executed even though it is not raining.

  Moreover, it is necessary to mount a GPS function in order to obtain weather information, and the cost increases accordingly.

  Furthermore, since it is necessary to acquire weather information using data communication, the communication cost becomes a big burden with respect to a user.

  An object of the present invention is to provide a camera-equipped mobile phone that can solve the above-described problems and that can accurately determine rainy weather and automatically set it to rainy weather photography mode.

  In order to achieve the above object, the camera-equipped mobile phone of the present invention includes an imaging unit capable of setting a rainy day shooting mode used for shooting in rainy weather and a normal shooting mode used for normal shooting in weather other than rainy weather. A pressure sensor in which a plurality of pressure-sensitive contacts whose contact resistance values change according to the magnitude of pressure applied from the outside are arranged on the same plane, and a rainy weather based on a change in resistance value at each pressure-sensitive contact of the pressure sensor A control unit that determines whether or not, when the control unit determines that it is raining, the shooting mode of the imaging means is set to the rainy shooting mode, and when it is determined that it is not raining, The imaging mode of the imaging means is set to the normal imaging mode.

  In the above configuration, when the raindrop hits the pressure sensor, the resistance value of the pressure-sensitive contact of the portion hit by the raindrop changes, so it can be determined whether it is rainy or not based on the change in the resistance value. . According to such rainy weather judgment based on the presence or absence of raindrops, it is possible to make pinpoint weather judgments, even though it is not raining, as was the case with weather judgment using the weather information provision service. Therefore, there is no problem that it is determined that the weather is raining and high saturation image processing is executed. Further, there is no need to use a GPS function or a weather information providing service.

  According to the present invention, since rainy weather determination is performed based on the presence or absence of raindrops, it is possible to accurately determine whether or not the weather at the shooting location is rainy as compared to the weather determination using the weather information providing service.

  Further, since it is not necessary to use a GPS function or a weather information providing service, the cost can be reduced accordingly.

  Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  1A and 1B are diagrams showing an overview of a camera-equipped mobile phone according to an embodiment of the present invention, in which FIG. 1A is a schematic view seen from the display surface side, and FIG. It is the seen schematic diagram. The camera-equipped mobile phone according to the present embodiment has a folding structure having a waterproof function, and FIG. 1 shows an opened state.

  As shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B, the housing 10 has a folded structure, and in an open state, the display unit 11 and the key input unit 12 are provided on one side, and the other side is provided. A camera lens 13 and a pressure sensor 14 are provided on the surface side.

  The display unit 11 includes a display device typified by a liquid crystal display (LCD), and can display various information handled in the mobile phone, such as information input through the key input unit 12 and the camera lens 13. The key input unit 12 includes a plurality of keys for operating the mobile phone. For example, operations such as camera activation and shooting can be performed through the key input unit 12.

  The pressure-sensitive sensor 14 is a sensor that can detect pressure applied from the outside, specifically, pressure generated by raindrops. The pressure-sensitive sensor 14 is configured by, for example, a pressure-sensitive contact sheet in which a plurality of pressure-sensitive contacts whose contact resistance values change depending on pressure are arranged in the same plane. The pressure-sensitive contact has a structure in which two electrode sheets are arranged to face each other via a spacer, and the contact resistance value changes according to the pressure applied to the upper surface of the contact portion. By detecting a change in the contact resistance value at each pressure-sensitive contact, it is possible to detect the magnitude and distribution of the pressure applied to the sensor portion of the pressure-sensitive sensor 14, thereby determining the intensity and amount of rain. be able to. The pressure sensor 14 outputs a signal indicating a resistance value at each pressure sensitive contact.

  FIG. 2 shows the main functions of the camera-equipped mobile phone according to the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 2, the camera-equipped mobile phone according to the present embodiment includes a control unit 20, a storage unit 21, a dedicated LSI 22, and a camera unit 23 in addition to the configuration shown in FIG. FIG. 2 mainly shows a part related to camera photographing, and a part related to a mobile phone function, for example, a configuration such as a communication function is omitted.

  The storage unit 21 is a semiconductor memory represented by a ROM, and stores various programs and data necessary for operating the mobile phone. The camera unit 23 is an imaging device having a data transfer structure composed of a CCD and a MOS, and photographing is performed through the camera lens 13 shown in FIG. The dedicated LSI 22 controls the operation of the camera unit 23. These camera unit 23 and dedicated LSI 22 are imaging means.

  The control unit 20 receives an input from the key input unit 12 and controls the operation of each unit. Specifically, the control unit 20 controls the operation of the camera unit 23 via the dedicated LSI 22, performs image processing on data captured by the camera unit 23, loads the data into the storage unit 21, and stores the storage unit 21. Necessary data is read out from the display unit 11 and displayed on the display unit 11. Moreover, if the control part 20 receives the input to the effect of operating the rainy weather automatic detection function from the key input part 12, it will perform a rainy weather automatic detection process. In the rainy day automatic detection process, it is determined whether or not it is rainy based on the output from the pressure sensor 15. If it is determined that it is raining, the shooting mode of the camera unit 23 is automatically set to the raining mode. In cases other than rainy weather, the shooting mode of the camera unit 23 is set to the normal mode.

  Here, the rainy mode will be briefly described. When shooting in the rain, since raindrops (water droplets) and the like are shot together, the shot image becomes unclear. For this reason, when shooting in rainy weather, it is preferable to perform image processing with a hue different from that during normal shooting (when shooting in fine weather, cloudy weather, etc.). The rainy day mode is a mode for performing processing suitable for shooting in rainy weather (processing for changing contrast and saturation to values suitable for shooting in rainy weather). Note that the normal mode includes various modes that are used in existing mobile phones and are suitable for shooting in fine weather or cloudy weather, and the user can freely set these modes.

  Next, the operation of the camera-equipped mobile phone according to the present embodiment will be described. The operation is basically the same as that of an existing mobile phone, except that the shooting mode is automatically changed to the rainy weather mode when it rains and shooting mode automatic switching control is performed to perform image processing suitable for shooting in rainy weather. Therefore, here, the operation of the photographing mode automatic switching control will be specifically described.

  FIG. 3 shows a procedure of the photographing mode automatic switching control by the control unit 20. First, the control unit 20 determines whether or not an instruction signal for starting the camera is received from the key input unit 12 (step S10). When the instruction signal is received, the control unit 20 determines whether or not a function setting signal for turning on the automatic rainy weather detection function is received from the key input unit 12 (step S11).

  When the function setting signal is received in step S11, the control unit 20 performs rain detection processing. In the rain detection process, the control unit 20 examines the magnitude and distribution of the pressure applied to the sensor unit based on the output of the pressure sensor 14. And the control part 20 judges whether it is rainy based on the magnitude | size and distribution of the pressure (step S13). During rainy weather, raindrops hit the sensor part of the pressure-sensitive sensor 14, and therefore it can be determined whether it is rainy from the magnitude and distribution of the pressure. In addition, as shown in FIG. 1B, the pressure-sensitive sensor 14 is disposed on the surface of the housing 10 on which the camera lens 13 is provided. It effectively hits the sensor part of the pressure-sensitive sensor 14. It should be noted that it is desirable for the user to hold the mobile phone toward the rain so that raindrops hit the sensor part of the pressure-sensitive sensor 14 when performing camera photography.

  If it is determined in step S13 that it is not raining, the control unit 20 sets the shooting mode to the normal mode (step S14). If it is determined that it is raining, the control unit 20 sets the shooting mode to the rainy mode. Set (step S15). If the function setting signal is not received in step S11, the shooting mode is set to the normal mode in step S14.

  When the normal mode is set, the dedicated LSI 22 performs image processing suitable for shooting in fine weather or cloudy weather on the captured image data supplied from the camera unit 23. When the rainy weather mode is set, the dedicated LSI 22 performs image processing suitable for photographing in rainy weather on the photographed image data supplied from the camera unit 23.

  According to the photographing mode automatic switching control, it is determined whether or not it is raining by detecting the pressure generated by the raindrops hitting by the pressure sensor 14, so that the weather determination using the weather information providing service is performed. In comparison, it can be accurately determined whether or not it is raining.

  Further, since it is not necessary to use a GPS function or a weather information providing service, the cost can be reduced accordingly.

  Note that when shooting in the rain, since raindrops (water droplets) and the like are shot together, the shot image becomes unclear, but the effect of the rain on the image varies depending on how it rains. For example, when shooting in light rain (light rain), the captured image is entirely white and blurred, and in heavy rain (heavy rain), the trail of raindrops is a white line. It looks like this. For this reason, it is desirable to perform different image processing for shooting in light rain and shooting in heavy rain.

  Hereinafter, an operation in the case of performing different image processing depending on the raining state will be specifically described.

  First, the rain detection process using the pressure sensor 14 performed by the control unit 20 will be specifically described. FIG. 4 shows one procedure for rain detection processing. The pressure sensor 14 is activated (step S110), and the magnitude and range of the pressure applied to the sensor part of the pressure sensor 14 are measured (steps S111 and S112). Next, it is determined whether or not the measured pressure is greater than or equal to a threshold value (step S113). If the pressure is greater than or equal to the threshold, it is determined that the rain is heavy (step S114).

  When the magnitude of the pressure is less than the threshold value, it is determined whether or not the pressure range is equal to or greater than the threshold value (step S115). If the pressure range is greater than or equal to the threshold, it is determined that there is light rain (step S116). When both the magnitude and range of the pressure are less than the threshold value (both steps S113 and S114 are “N”), the weather is other than rainy weather (weather, such as sunny and cloudy, here referred to as normal weather). Is determined (step S117). After any of the determinations in steps S114, S116, and S117 is made, the pressure sensor 14 is stopped.

  FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining the weather determination principle based on the output of the pressure-sensitive sensor 14. The vertical axis indicates the magnitude of pressure, and the pressure is higher on the upper side and lower on the lower side in the drawing. The horizontal axis indicates the size of the range where pressure is applied, and the range is wider toward the right side and narrower toward the left side in the drawing. In FIG. 5, a measurement state A (a state where raindrops hit the sensor unit), which is a condition of the region, is schematically shown in the upper right region. Similarly, in the upper left, lower right, and lower left areas, measurement states B to D that are conditions of the respective areas are shown. The measurement state A shows a state of heavy descending. The measurement state B shows a state in which the raindrops hit a narrow range, but a large raindrop is falling. The measurement state C shows a light rain state. The measurement state D shows a state where a small amount of rain is falling slightly. In FIG. 5, the upper right and upper left areas 51 are determined to be heavy rain, the lower right area 52 is determined to be light rain, and the lower left area 53 is determined to be weather other than rainy weather.

  Next, image processing in the shooting mode according to the raining condition will be described. FIG. 6 shows one procedure of the image processing.

  When the weather is not rainy, the user performs camera shooting with the rainy automatic detection function turned off. In this case, the control unit 20 determines that the rainy day automatic detection function is in an off state (step S301, “No”), and causes the dedicated LSI 22 to perform camera shooting control in accordance with the user's input operation (step S301). S302). Then, the dedicated LSI 22 is caused to perform image processing suitable for photographing in clear weather or cloudy weather on the image data output from the camera unit 23 (step S303).

  In case of rain, the user turns on the rain automatic detection function and performs camera shooting. In this case, the control unit 20 determines that the rainy day automatic detection function is on (step S301, “Yes”). Then, the rain detection process shown in FIG. 4 is executed (step S304), and it is determined whether the rain state is normal, light rain, or heavy rain (steps S305, S306, S307).

  If it is determined in step S305 that it is normal, the process proceeds to step S302. If it is determined in step S306 that there is light rain, the control unit 20 causes the dedicated LSI 22 to perform camera shooting control according to the user's input operation (step S308), and the image data output from the camera unit 23 is processed. The dedicated LSI 22 is caused to perform image processing suitable for shooting in light rain (step S309). If it is determined in step S306 that there is heavy rain, the control unit 20 causes the dedicated LSI 22 to perform camera shooting control according to the user's input operation (step S310), and for the image data output from the camera unit 23 Then, the dedicated LSI 22 is caused to perform image processing suitable for photographing in heavy rain (step S311).

  After any one of steps S303, S309, and S311 is executed, the camera is stopped.

  When shooting in light rain, the image becomes dull in white. In step S309, the image data output from the camera unit 23 has the contrast and sharpness set in normal weather (set in sunny or cloudy weather). Saturation correction processing is performed so as to be higher than As the saturation correction processing, for example, there is a method in which image data output from the camera unit 23 is separated into Y (luminance) data and C (color difference) data, and correction is performed on the C data.

  On the other hand, when shooting in heavy rain, raindrops appear as white lines, and when the background color is dark, the white lines due to the raindrops stand out. For this reason, in step S311, for the image data output from the camera unit 23, the area corresponding to the white line portion due to raindrops is interpolated with the color of the adjacent area (background color). Specifically, the luminance of each pixel of the image is determined based on the Y data, and a pixel whose luminance is lower than a predetermined threshold is determined as a dark pixel. A region where dark pixels are gathered is determined as a background region, and it is determined whether there are white pixels in the background region. If there is a white pixel, the white pixel is interpolated with the color of the dark pixel adjacent to it. Thereby, it is suppressed that the white line by raindrops is conspicuous.

  The camera-equipped mobile phone according to the embodiment described above is an example of the present invention, and the configuration and operation thereof can be applied as appropriate without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

  For example, in addition to the operation at the key input unit 12, an operation using the pressure sensor 14 is also possible. In this case, based on an input instruction from the key input unit 12, the control unit 20 sets one of the input operation mode by the pressure sensor 14 and the rain detection mode by the pressure sensor 14. In the input operation mode, the control unit 20 controls the operation of the mobile phone based on the output of the pressure sensitive sensor 14. For example, when the user performs an operation of pressing the right side of the sensor portion of the pressure-sensitive sensor 14, the control unit 20 sets the zoom function of the camera to the telephoto side according to the operation and performs an operation of pressing the left side. If so, set the zoom function of the camera to the wide-angle side. The zoom operation from the telephoto side to the wide angle side or from the wide angle side to the telephoto side is performed in stages.

  In addition to automatic rain detection using the pressure sensor 14, it is also possible to manually set the rain mode through an input operation at the key input unit 12. In this case, the control unit 20 executes each rainy mode process of S309 and S311 shown in FIG. 6 according to the input operation at the key input unit 12. For example, when shooting outdoors where rain has fallen from a place with a roof, the user can freely switch the rain mode (heavy rain / light rain) through the key input unit 12 and shoot.

  The present invention can be applied to all portable electronic devices having a camera function and a waterproof function in addition to a camera-equipped mobile phone.

It is a figure which shows the external view of the mobile phone with a camera which is one Embodiment of this invention, Comprising: (a) is the schematic diagram seen from the display surface side, (b) is the schematic diagram seen from the side in which the camera lens was provided. It is. It is a block diagram which shows the main functions of the mobile phone with a camera shown in FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure of photographing mode automatic switching control by a control unit illustrated in FIG. 2. It is a flowchart which shows one procedure of the rain detection process by the control part shown in FIG. It is a figure for demonstrating the weather determination principle based on the output of a pressure sensor. It is a flowchart which shows one procedure of the image processing according to the state of how to rain.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Case 11 Display part 12 Key input part 13 Camera lens 14 Pressure sensor 20 Control part 21 Memory | storage part 22 Dedicated LSI
23 Camera section

Claims (5)

An imaging means capable of setting a rain shooting mode used for shooting in rainy weather and a normal shooting mode used for normal shooting in weather other than rain,
A pressure sensor in which a plurality of pressure-sensitive contacts whose contact resistance values change according to the magnitude of pressure applied from the outside are arranged in the same plane;
A controller that determines whether or not it is raining based on a change in resistance value at each pressure-sensitive contact of the pressure sensor,
When it is determined that it is raining, the control unit sets the shooting mode of the imaging unit to the rainy shooting mode, and when it is determined not to be rainy, the shooting unit of the imaging unit is set to the normal shooting mode. A camera-equipped mobile phone.   The control unit measures the magnitude and range of the pressure applied from the outside based on a change in resistance value at each pressure-sensitive contact, and if the magnitude of the pressure is equal to or greater than a first threshold value, the controller It is determined that it is raining, and the rainy day shooting mode is set to a mode in which the captured image data is interpolated with the color of the area adjacent to the area reflected in the image as a miracle of raindrops. The camera-equipped mobile phone according to claim 1.   The control unit measures the magnitude and range of the pressure applied from the outside based on a change in resistance value at each pressure-sensitive contact, the magnitude of the pressure is less than a first threshold, and the When the pressure range is equal to or greater than the second threshold, it is determined that the rain is light, and the rainy day shooting mode is corrected so that the saturation is higher than that in the normal shooting mode for the shot image data. The camera-equipped mobile phone according to claim 1, wherein a mode for performing processing is set.   The control unit measures the magnitude and range of the pressure applied from the outside based on a change in resistance value at each pressure-sensitive contact, the magnitude of the pressure is less than a first threshold, and the The camera-equipped mobile phone according to claim 1, wherein when the pressure range is less than the second threshold, it is determined that the weather is other than rainy weather. The contact resistance value varies depending on the imaging means that can be set between the rain shooting mode used for shooting in rainy weather and the normal shooting mode used for normal shooting in non-rainy weather, and the pressure applied from the outside A shooting mode setting method performed in a camera-equipped mobile phone including a plurality of pressure-sensitive contacts arranged in the same plane,
Determining whether or not it is raining based on a change in resistance value at each pressure-sensitive contact of the pressure sensor;
If it is determined to be rainy, setting the shooting mode of the imaging means to the rainy shooting mode;
A shooting mode setting method comprising: a step of setting the shooting mode of the imaging means to the normal shooting mode when it is determined that it is not rainy.

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