JP2008242812A - Image playback device and program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To retrieve, playback and display a scene desired by a user from among a plurality of continuous images. <P>SOLUTION: A control part 32 is provided with an image analyzing part 51a, a graphic preparation part 51b, and a display control part 51c. The image analyzing pat 51a analyzes the visual characteristics of each image as the object of playback. A graphic preparation part 51b prepares a characteristic graph correlatively expressing the visual characteristics of each image analyzed by the image analyzing part 51a. A display control part 51c displays the characteristic graph prepared by the graph preparation part 51b at a display part, and when an arbitrary position on the characteristic graph is designated, displays the image having the visual characteristics corresponding to the designated position at the display part. Thus, it is possible to integrate the visual characteristics of each image as the object of playback into a graph, and to retrieve, playback and display a scene desired by a user. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an image reproducing apparatus suitable for use in an imaging apparatus such as a digital camera, and more particularly to an image reproducing apparatus suitable for use in reproducing and displaying a plurality of continuous images.

In general, an imaging apparatus such as a digital camera has a still image or moving image shooting function and a playback function for playing back and displaying the shot image on a monitor screen. Here, when a moving image is played back, there is a method of selectively thumbnailing scenes having a large characteristic change in the images constituting the moving image and displaying them in time series (for example, Patent Document 1).
JP 2005-277847 A

  According to the method described above, the contents of the moving image can be grasped from the thumbnail images arranged in time series before the moving image is reproduced and displayed. However, since all scenes cannot be converted into thumbnails, a scene desired by the user cannot be found and reproduced and displayed.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and an object of the present invention is to provide an image reproduction apparatus and program capable of finding and reproducing and displaying a scene desired by a user from a plurality of continuous images.

  An image reproduction apparatus according to claim 1 of the present invention includes an image storage means for storing a plurality of continuous images, a display means for displaying each image stored in the image storage means, and a visual of each image. Image analysis means for analyzing the characteristics, graph creation means for creating a characteristic graph that correlates the visual characteristics of the images analyzed by the image analysis means, and the characteristic graph created by the graph creation means And a display control means for displaying on the display means an image corresponding to the visual characteristic at the designated position when an arbitrary position on the characteristic graph is designated. To do.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the image reproducing apparatus according to the first aspect, the visual characteristic is color information, and the graph creating means creates a characteristic graph that correlates the color information of each image. It is characterized by that.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided the image reproducing apparatus according to the second aspect, further comprising a graph color designating unit for designating color information to be graphed, wherein the graph creating unit includes the color information designated by the graph color designating unit. A characteristic graph is created.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the image reproducing device according to the second or third aspect, the color information includes any one color of R, G, B, C, Y, M, or W. Features.

  According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the image reproducing device according to the first aspect, the visual characteristic is luminance information, and the graph creating means creates a characteristic graph that correlates the luminance information of each image. It is characterized by that.

  A sixth aspect of the present invention is the image reproducing apparatus according to the first aspect, further comprising a graph type designating unit for designating a graph type, wherein the graph creating unit stores the characteristic graph of the type designated by the graph type designating unit. It is characterized by creating.

  According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in the image reproducing device according to the sixth aspect, the graph type includes any one of a line graph, a bar graph, and a band graph.

  According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, in the image reproducing device according to the first aspect, the graph creating means stores the analysis data obtained by the image analyzing means in association with each image, and stores the same image next time. It is characterized by referring to this when graphing visual characteristics.

  According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, in the image reproducing device according to the first aspect, each image stored in the image storage means is a moving image.

  A tenth aspect of the present invention is the image reproducing apparatus according to the first aspect, wherein each image stored in the image storage means is a plurality of still images.

  According to an eleventh aspect of the present invention, in the image reproducing apparatus according to the first aspect, the display means includes a first display means and a second display means, and the first display means includes the plurality of continuous display means. An image is displayed, and the second display means displays the characteristic graph.

  A twelfth aspect of the present invention is the image reproducing apparatus according to the first aspect, further comprising position display means for indicating a corresponding position symbol of the characteristic graph corresponding to the image displayed on the display means, wherein the display control means is An arbitrary position on the characteristic graph is designated by moving a corresponding position symbol of the characteristic graph displayed by the position display means.

  According to a thirteenth aspect of the present invention, in the image reproducing apparatus according to the first aspect, the display unit simultaneously displays the image stored in the image storage unit and the characteristic graph.

  A program according to a fourteenth aspect of the present invention is a program executed by a computer for reproducing a plurality of continuous images and displaying the images on a display device, and the computer has a visual characteristic of each image. Analysis function, a function of creating a characteristic graph that correlatively represents the visual characteristics of each image obtained by the analysis process, and displaying the characteristic graph on the display device, When an arbitrary position is specified, a function of displaying an image corresponding to the visual characteristic of the specified position on the display device is realized.

  According to the present invention, by visualizing the visual characteristics of a plurality of continuous images, a scene desired by the user can be found from a plurality of continuous images and reproduced and displayed.

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

  FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an external configuration when a digital camera is taken as an example of an imaging apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 (a) is mainly a front configuration, and FIG. It is a perspective view which shows the structure of a back surface.

  The digital camera 1 has a photographing lens 3, a self-timer lamp 4, an optical viewfinder window 5, a strobe light emitting unit 6, a microphone unit 7 and the like on the front surface of a substantially rectangular thin plate-like camera body 2, and the (user) For example, a power key 8 and a shutter key 9 are provided on the right end side.

  The power key 8 is a key operated every time the power is turned on / off, and the shutter key 9 is a key for instructing a photographing timing at the time of photographing.

  Also, on the back of the digital camera 1, a shooting mode (R) key 10, a playback mode (P) key 11, an optical viewfinder 12, a speaker unit 13, a macro key 14, a strobe key 15, a menu (MENU) key 16, a ring A key 17, a set (SET) key 18, a display key (DISP) 19, a display unit 20, and the like are provided.

  The shooting mode key 10 is operated automatically from the power-off state to automatically turn on the power and shift to the still image shooting mode. On the other hand, by repeatedly operating from the power-on state, the still image mode and the moving image mode are switched. Set cyclically. The still image mode is a mode for photographing a still image. The moving image mode is a mode for shooting a moving image. When the playback mode key 11 is operated from the power-off state, the playback mode key 11 is automatically turned on to enter the playback mode.

  The optical viewfinder 12 is used for optically confirming a subject to be photographed by a user during photographing. The speaker unit 13 outputs sound. The macro key 14 is operated when switching between normal shooting and macro shooting in the still image shooting mode. The strobe key 15 is operated when switching the light emission mode of the strobe light emitting unit 6.

  The menu key 16 is operated when selecting various menu items. The ring key 17 is formed integrally with cursor keys for selecting items in the vertical and horizontal directions, and the set key 18 located at the center of the ring key 17 sets an item selected at that time. When to operate.

  A display key (DISP) 19 is a key for instructing switching of the display mode. In the present embodiment, this display key 19 is used as a graph display instruction key to be described later.

  The display unit 20 is composed of a color liquid crystal panel with a backlight. The display unit 20 performs monitor display of a through image as an electronic viewfinder in the shooting mode, and reproduces and displays the selected image and the like in the reproduction mode.

  Although not shown, the digital camera 1 has a memory card slot for attaching / detaching a memory card used as a recording medium, a serial interface connector for connecting to an external personal computer, etc., for example, USB (Universal). Serial Bus) connector and the like are provided.

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an electronic circuit configuration of the digital camera 1.

  In the digital camera 1, a lens optical system 22 including a focus lens and a zoom lens (not shown) constituting the photographing lens 3 is provided so as to be movable within a predetermined range in the optical axis direction by driving a motor 21. . A CCD 23 serving as an image pickup element is disposed behind the optical axis of the lens optical system 22. The CCD 23 receives light passing through the photographing lens 3 and acquires image data corresponding to the amount of received light.

  In the recording mode, which is the basic mode, the CCD 23 is scanned and driven by a timing generator (TG) 24 and a driver 25, and outputs a photoelectric conversion output corresponding to a light image formed at regular intervals for one screen.

  The photoelectric conversion output of the CCD 23 is appropriately gain-adjusted for each primary color component of RGB in the state of an analog value signal, sampled and held by the sample hold circuit 26, and converted into digital data by the A / D converter 27. The In the color process circuit 28, color process processing including pixel interpolation processing and γ correction processing is performed to generate digital luminance signals Y and color difference signals Cb, Cr, which are sent to a DMA (Direct Memory Access) controller 29. Is output.

  The DMA controller 29 once writes the luminance signal Y and the color difference signals Cb and Cr in the internal buffer according to the composite synchronization signal, the memory write enable signal, and the clock signal output from the color process circuit 28, and then the DRAM interface ( DMA transfer to DRAM 31 via (I / F) 30.

  The control unit 32 controls the entire digital camera 1. The control unit 32 is constituted by a microcomputer including a CPU, a ROM storing a program executed by the CPU, a RAM used as a work memory, and the like.

  The controller 32 reads the luminance and color difference signals from the DRAM 31 via the DRAM interface 30 and then writes them into the VRAM 34 via the VRAM controller 33. The digital video encoder 35 periodically reads the luminance and color difference signals from the VRAM 34 via the VRAM controller 33, generates a video signal based on these data, and outputs the video signal to the display unit 20.

  The display unit 20 functions as a monitor display unit (electronic finder) during photographing. The display unit 20 performs display based on the video signal from the digital video encoder 35, thereby displaying an image based on the image information captured from the VRAM controller 33 at that time in real time.

  In this way, when the image at that time is displayed in real time as a monitor image on the display unit 20, for example, when the shutter key 9 is pressed at a timing at which still image shooting is desired, a trigger signal is generated.

  In response to the trigger signal, the control unit 32 immediately stops the path from the CCD 23 to the DRAM 31 immediately after the DMA transfer of the luminance and color difference signals for one screen captured from the CCD 23 to the DRAM 31 is completed. , Transition to the record storage state.

  In this recording and storage state, the control unit 32 outputs the luminance and color difference signals for one frame written in the DRAM 31 to 8 pixels × 8 pixels for each of Y, Cb, and Cr components via the DRAM interface 30. The data is read in units called basic blocks, and written in a JPEG (Joint Photographic Coding Experts Group) processing block existing inside the image processing unit 37. The image processing unit 37 compresses data by a process such as ADCT (Adaptive Discrete Cosine Transform), Huffman coding which is an entropy coding method.

  The control unit 32 reads the code data obtained by the data compression as a data file of one image from the image processing unit 37 and writes it in the recording memory 38. The memory 38 includes a memory card that is detachably mounted as a recording medium in addition to an internal memory such as a flash memory built in the main body in advance. With the compression processing of the luminance and color difference signals for one frame and the completion of writing all the compressed data to the memory 38, the control unit 32 activates the path from the CCD 23 to the DRAM 31 again.

  The control unit 32 is further connected with an audio processing unit 39, a USB interface (I / F) 40, and a strobe driving unit 41.

  The audio processing unit 39 performs input / output processing of audio data including A / D conversion and D / A conversion. At the time of moving image shooting, the audio processing unit 39 digitizes and captures an analog audio signal input from the microphone unit (MIC) 7 in synchronization with the moving image data. Further, at the time of reproduction, the audio processing unit 39 converts the audio data separated from the moving image data with audio into analog and outputs it through the speaker unit (SP) 13 provided on the back side of the digital camera 1.

  The USB interface 40 performs communication control when image data and other information are transmitted / received to / from another information terminal device such as a personal computer connected by wire via a USB connector. The strobe drive unit 41 charges a strobe capacitor (not shown) at the time of shooting, and then drives the strobe light emitting unit 6 to flash based on control from the control unit 32.

  In addition to the shutter key 9 described above, the key input unit 36 includes a power key 8, a shooting mode key 10, a playback mode key 11, a macro key 14, a strobe key 15, a menu key 16, a ring key 17, and a set key. 18 and a display key 19. Signals associated with these key operations are sent directly to the control unit 32.

  Also, when shooting a moving image instead of a still image, a moving picture processing group (MPEG) or motion-JPEG is a moving picture processing block that exists inside the image processing unit 37 when the shutter key 9 is pressed. The captured moving image is data-compressed by a technique such as (Joint Photographic Experts Group) and recorded in the memory 38. When the shutter key 9 is operated again, the recording of the moving image data is finished.

  On the other hand, in the playback mode, which is the basic mode, the control unit 32 selectively reads out the image data recorded in the memory 38, and the image processing unit 37 compresses the image data in a procedure that is completely opposite to the procedure of data compression in the recording mode. Decompress the image data. The decompressed image data is held in the DRAM 31 via the DRAM interface 30, and then the content held in the DRAM 31 is stored in the VRAM 34 via the VRAM controller 33, and the image data is periodically read out from the VRAM 34. A video signal is generated and reproduced by the display unit 20.

  When the selected image data is not a still image but a moving image, the control unit 32 sequentially reproduces and displays a plurality of frames of still image data constituting the moving image data in chronological order. When the reproduction of all the still image data is completed, for example, the still image data positioned at the head is displayed until the next reproduction instruction is given.

  FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of the control unit 32.

  The control unit 32 is functionally divided into a processing unit 51 and a storage unit 52. The processing unit 51 corresponds to a CPU or ROM, and the storage unit 52 corresponds to a ROM or RAM.

  In the present embodiment, the processing unit 51 of the control unit 32 includes an image analysis unit 51a, a graph creation unit 51b, and a display control unit 51c. The image analysis unit 51a analyzes the visual characteristics of each image to be reproduced. “Visual characteristics” refers to characteristics that allow the user to intuitively associate a shooting scene, and specifically, color information and luminance information of an image. The graph creation unit 51b creates a characteristic graph that correlates the visual characteristics of each image analyzed by the image analysis unit 51a. The display control unit 51c displays the characteristic graph created by the graph creation unit 51b on the display unit 20, and when an arbitrary position on the characteristic graph is designated, an image having visual characteristics corresponding to the designated position Is displayed on the display unit 20.

  The storage unit 52 includes a program storage unit 52a and a setting data storage unit 52b. The program storage unit 52a stores various program data including a program for realizing the present invention. The setting data storage unit 52b stores various setting data necessary for creating a graph.

  Next, the operation of the embodiment will be described.

  Assume that a moving image composed of a plurality of scenes as shown in FIG. 4 is reproduced and displayed. An image a, an image b, an image c,... In the figure are obtained by extracting characteristic scenes included in the moving image in chronological order. For example, the image a is a green meadow, the image b is a red flower, and the image c is an image c. Each shot of a white flower scene.

  First, when reproducing a moving image, a graph type is set through a graph type setting screen 61 as shown in FIG. The graph type setting screen 61 is displayed on the display unit 20 by operating the menu key 16, for example. In the example of FIG. 5, three types of “line graph”, “bar graph”, and “band graph” are prepared as specifiable graphs. When the user designates an arbitrary graph type by operating the cursor key or the like on the graph type setting screen 61, setting data indicating the designated graph type is stored in the setting data stored in the storage unit 52 provided in the control unit 32. Stored and held in the unit 52b.

  Here, when the user instructs the moving image playback mode by a predetermined operation, the following processing is executed.

  FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the processing operation of the digital camera 1 when playing back a moving image. The process shown in this flowchart is stored in the program storage unit 52a in the form of a program code.

  That is, when there is a moving image playback instruction, the control unit 32 first reads out data of a moving image designated as a playback target from the memory 38, and displays the first frame image on the display unit 20 as an initial screen (step). S11).

  FIG. 7 shows an example of the initial screen. An image of the first frame is displayed on the screen of the display unit 20, and a horizontally long reproduction toolbar 71 is displayed at the bottom of the display screen. The left end of the playback toolbar 71 indicates the playback start position, and the right end indicates the playback end position. When playback is started, the display pointer (corresponding position symbol) 71a moves to the right in real time in conjunction with the playback operation. It has become. As will be described later, an arbitrary position of the characteristic graph 72 can be designated by moving the display pointer (corresponding position symbol) 71a in a state where the characteristic graph 72 is displayed (see FIG. 9).

  Here, when the user instructs to display a graph by pressing the display key 19 (Yes in Step S12), the control unit 32 determines whether or not analysis data regarding the moving image already exists (Step S13). If a graph of the same moving image has been displayed in the past, the analysis data at that time is stored in the memory 38 in association with the moving image, but does not exist when the graph is displayed for the first time.

  If the corresponding analysis data exists (Yes in step S13), a characteristic graph 72 representing the visual characteristics of the entire moving image is created based on the analysis result (step S16). At this time, even if the corresponding analysis data exists, the analysis data may be further analyzed to obtain a more detailed characteristic graph. For example, when only analysis data R, G, and B exists, it can be obtained by further analyzing W, Y, M, and C data. Then, when this analysis result is obtained, the control unit 32 may associate this with the moving image and store it in the memory 38.

  When the corresponding analysis data does not exist (No in step S13), the control unit 32 analyzes each image constituting the moving image (step S14). Specifically, first, the moving image is divided into frame units to obtain images of each scene. For these images, R, G, and B color information and luminance information are extracted in units of pixels to obtain a histogram as shown in FIG. In FIG. 8A, the horizontal axis indicates brightness, and the vertical axis indicates the number of pixels. The brightness on the horizontal axis is expressed by, for example, 256 gradations.

  Here, the analysis processing is performed for each image. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the above-described histogram may be obtained based on the difference information by analyzing two consecutive images.

  Here, the intensity of the pixel of each color is obtained by accumulating a value obtained by multiplying the brightness on the horizontal axis and the number of pixels on the vertical axis by the number of gradations for each color of R, G, and B. If the intensity of this pixel is represented only by the vertical axis, it is as shown in FIG. In this example, the R component is the strongest, followed by B and G in that order. When similar analysis processing is performed for each scene of the moving image and these results are connected in time series order, a characteristic graph 72 of the entire moving image as shown in FIG. 9 is obtained.

  Returning to FIG. 6, when the analysis result of the moving image to be reproduced is obtained, the control unit 32 stores this in the memory 38 in association with the moving image (step S15). By storing the analysis results in this way, the graph specified by the user can be easily created by reusing them in the next graph display, and the same analysis process can be repeated many times. Repeated waste can be eliminated.

  If the reproduction target is not a moving image but a plurality of images obtained by continuous shooting, the analysis results may be added in a predetermined format for each of these images. Thereby, even when each image is used individually, the analysis result can be used.

  Subsequently, the control unit 32 creates a characteristic graph 72 representing the visual characteristics of the entire moving image based on the analysis result (step S16). At that time, the control unit 32 refers to the setting data storage unit 52b, determines the currently set graph type, and creates a characteristic graph 72 corresponding to the graph type.

  The control unit 32 displays the created characteristic graph 72 so as to overlap the currently displayed image (step S17). FIG. 9 shows a graph display example at that time. In this example, the change in the color information of R, G, B of the moving image is represented by a line graph.

  It should be noted that the characteristic graph displayed in an overlapping manner here may be displayed in a semi-transparent or fully-transparent manner so as not to interfere with image display as much as possible.

  Here, for example, when the user wants to see a red flower scene, the left and right cursor keys included in the ring key 17 are operated, and the R component is strong in the characteristic graph 72 as shown in FIG. The display pointer 71a of the reproduction toolbar 71 is moved to the position P. When the display pointer 71a of the reproduction toolbar 71 is moved, the control unit 32 receives this as a display change instruction (Yes in step S18).

  The display change instruction method is not limited to moving the playback toolbar. For example, a touch panel is mounted on the display device, and a display change instruction may be input by touching a desired position on the characteristic graph, or instead of displaying the playback toolbar, A display pointer may be displayed. That is, any position on the characteristic graph may be identified.

  Thereby, the control unit 32 searches the memory 38 for an image having the corresponding visual characteristic based on the position of the display pointer 71a after the movement (step S19), and displays it instead of the currently displayed image. (Step S20). At this time, the characteristic graph 72 may be automatically deleted, or may be explicitly deleted by the user pressing the display key 19 again.

  FIG. 11 shows an example of the image after the display change. In this example, a red flower scene is displayed as an image corresponding to the position P. In this state, for example, when the set key 18 is pressed, reproduction of a moving image is started from the scene.

  In this way, by visualizing the visual characteristics of a moving image to be reproduced, a shooting scene can be associated with the change in the graph, and a desired scene can be found and selectively displayed. In particular, by graphing color information as visual characteristics, it becomes possible to grasp the flow of each scene of a moving image from the color changes of R, G, and B and to find a desired scene intuitively.

  In the above embodiment, a line graph is displayed as the characteristic graph 72 as an example. However, it is also possible to display it in the form of a bar graph as shown in FIG. 12 or a band graph as shown in FIG. . The type of graph to be displayed can be designated on the graph type setting screen 61 shown in FIG.

  In the embodiment, the characteristic graph 72 is displayed so as to be superimposed on the currently displayed image as shown in FIGS. 9 and 10, but the characteristic graph 72 is not overlapped with the currently displayed image. It may be displayed in another area. In this way, it is possible to perform a scene selection operation using the characteristic graph 72 while confirming the image on the screen.

  Further, two display units are physically provided, a plurality of continuous images are displayed on one display unit, and a characteristic graph 72 is displayed in association with the continuous images on the other display unit. Also good.

  Moreover, as shown in FIG. 14, the structure which displays the composite color of R, G, B for each scene in order of a time series may be sufficient. In the example of FIG. 14, the playback toolbar 73 also functions as a characteristic graph, and the playback toolbar 73 is divided for each scene and the composite color of each scene is displayed. When the user operates the left and right cursor keys included in the ring key 17 to move the display pointer 73a, an image of the scene corresponding to the moving position is displayed. As described above, displaying the composite color of R, G, and B is advantageous in that it does not obstruct the displayed image because a large graph display area is not required.

  Further, the color information to be graphed may be arbitrarily designated through the graph color setting screen 62 as shown in FIG. In the example of FIG. 15, in addition to “R, G, B”, each color of “R”, “G”, “B” can be individually specified. When each color is designated individually, a characteristic graph of only the designated color is displayed. FIG. 16 shows an example of the characteristic graph 74 displayed when “R” is designated. By displaying such a characteristic graph 74, a desired scene can be found by paying attention to only a specific color.

  In addition to the primary colors of “R”, “G”, and “B”, “C (cyan)”, “Y (yellow)”, “M (magenta)”, “W (white)”, and the like. It is good also as a structure which can be designated arbitrarily from these including the color of these.

  In addition, as shown in FIG. 17, an element to be graphed may be arbitrarily designated through the graph element setting screen 63. In the example of FIG. 17, “color” and “brightness” can be designated. When “brightness” is designated, the luminance information of each pixel constituting the image is extracted as a visual characteristic, and a characteristic graph is generated in which the average value of the luminance information is correlated and expressed in each scene. FIG. 18 shows an example of the characteristic graph 75 displayed when “brightness” is designated. In this example, the average value of the luminance information of each scene is represented by a bar graph. By displaying such a characteristic graph 75, it is possible to easily find a scene that can be distinguished by the contrast of the image, such as a dark scene (for example, a night view).

  In the above-described embodiment, the position on the characteristic graph 72 is designated by the moving operation of the display pointer 71a of the playback toolbar 71. However, the position on the characteristic graph 72 is directly touched with a finger by using, for example, a touch panel. It may be specified by.

  Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 19, the display pointer 71a of the reproduction toolbar 71 may be fixed, and the characteristic graph 72 may be moved with reference to the position of the display pointer 71a. FIG. 19 shows an example in which the display pointer 71a of the playback toolbar 71 is fixed at the center position, and the characteristic graph 72 is moved left and right by operating the left and right cursor keys. When the left cursor key is operated in the state of FIG. 19A, the characteristic graph 72 shifts to the left as shown in FIG. The position corresponding to the display pointer 71a on the characteristic graph 72 is recognized as the current designated position.

  In the above-described embodiment, the description has been given assuming that a moving image is reproduced and displayed. However, the present invention is not limited to a moving image, and may be applied to, for example, a plurality of images obtained by continuously capturing still images. Is possible.

  Further, the reproduction target image is not limited to the one obtained by the photographing function of the digital camera 1 but may be one provided from an external device.

  In the above-described embodiment, the digital camera has been described as an example. However, for example, any electronic device that has an image reproduction and shooting function, such as a personal computer, a mobile phone with a camera, or a PDA (Personal Digital Assistant). It is applicable to.

  In short, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment as it is, and can be embodied by modifying the constituent elements without departing from the scope of the invention in the implementation stage. Moreover, various inventions can be formed by appropriately combining a plurality of constituent elements disclosed in the embodiment. For example, some components may be deleted from all the components shown in the embodiment. Furthermore, constituent elements over different embodiments may be appropriately combined.

  In addition, the method described in the above-described embodiment is a program that can be executed by a computer. The program can be written on a medium and applied to various apparatuses, or the program itself can be transmitted through a transmission medium such as a network and applied to various apparatuses. A computer that implements this apparatus reads a program recorded on a recording medium or a program provided via a transmission medium, and performs the above-described processing by controlling operations by this program.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an external configuration when a digital camera is taken as an example of an imaging apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 (a) is mainly a front configuration, and FIG. It is a perspective view which shows the structure of a back surface. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an electronic circuit configuration of the digital camera in the embodiment. FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a functional configuration of a control unit provided in the digital camera according to the embodiment. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of each scene of a moving image of the digital camera in the embodiment. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of a graph type setting screen of the digital camera in the embodiment. FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a processing operation at the time of moving image reproduction of the digital camera in the embodiment. FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of an initial screen when playing back a moving image of the digital camera in the embodiment. FIG. 8 is a diagram for explaining an image analysis method of the digital camera in the embodiment. FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating an example of a characteristic graph displayed when the digital camera plays back a moving image according to the embodiment. FIG. 10 is a diagram showing the relationship between the characteristic graph of the digital camera and the display pointer of the playback toolbar in the embodiment. FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of an image after the display change of the digital camera in the embodiment. FIG. 12 is a diagram showing an example when the characteristic graph of the digital camera in the embodiment is displayed in the form of a bar graph. FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example when the characteristic graph of the digital camera in the embodiment is displayed in the form of a band graph. FIG. 14 is a diagram showing an example when the composite color of each scene is displayed as a characteristic graph of the digital camera in the embodiment. FIG. 15 is a diagram showing an example of a graph color setting screen of the digital camera in the embodiment. FIG. 16 is a diagram showing an example of a characteristic graph displayed when the color “R” is designated on the graph color setting screen. FIG. 17 is a diagram showing an example of a graph element setting screen of the digital camera in the embodiment. FIG. 18 is a diagram showing an example of a characteristic graph displayed when “brightness” is designated on the graph element setting screen. FIG. 19 is a diagram showing an example of moving and displaying the characteristic graph of the digital camera in the embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Digital camera, 2 ... Camera body, 3 ... Shooting lens, 4 ... Self-timer lamp, 5 ... Optical finder window, 6 ... Strobe light emission part, 7 ... Microphone part, 8 ... Power key, 9 ... Shutter key, 10 ... Shooting mode key, 11 ... Playback mode key, 12 ... Optical viewfinder, 13 ... Speaker unit, 14 ... Macro key, 15 ... Strobe key, 16 ... Menu (MENU) key, 17 ... Ring key, 18 ... Set (SET) key , 19 ... Display key, 20 ... Display, 21 ... Motor, 22 ... Lens optical system, 23 ... CCD, 24 ... Timing generator (TG), 25 ... Driver, 26 ... Sample hold circuit (S / H), 27 ... A / D converter, 28 ... color process circuit, 29 ... DMA controller, 30 ... DRAM interface (I / F), 31 ... DRA 32 ... Control unit, 33 ... VRAM controller, 34 ... VRAM, 35 ... Digital video encoder, 36 ... Key input unit, 37 ... Image processing unit, 38 ... Memory, 39 ... Audio processing unit, 40 ... USB interface (I / F), 41 ... Strobe drive unit, 51 ... Processing unit, 51a ... Image analysis unit, 51b ... Graph creation unit, 51c ... Display control unit, 52 ... Storage unit, 52a ... Program storage unit, 52b ... Setting data storage unit, 61 ... Graph type setting screen, 62 ... Graph color setting screen, 63 ... Graph element setting screen, 71 ... Reproduction toolbar, 71a ... Display pointer, 72 ... Characteristic graph, 73 ... Reproduction toolbar, 73a ... Reproduction toolbar, 74 ... Characteristic graph 75 ... Characteristic graph.

Claims (14)

Image storage means for storing a plurality of consecutive images;
Display means for displaying each image stored in the image storage means;
Image analysis means for analyzing visual characteristics of each image;
A graph creation means for creating a characteristic graph that correlatively represents the visual characteristics of each image analyzed by the image analysis means;
The characteristic graph created by the graph creating means is displayed on the display means, and when an arbitrary position on the characteristic graph is designated, an image corresponding to the visual characteristic at the designated position is displayed on the display means. An image reproduction apparatus comprising: a display control means for performing the above operation. The visual characteristic is color information,
2. The image reproducing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the graph creating means creates a characteristic graph that correlates the color information of each image. A graph color specifying means for specifying color information to be graphed is provided.
3. The image reproducing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the graph creating unit creates a characteristic graph relating to the color information designated by the graph color designating unit.   4. The image reproducing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the color information includes one of R, G, B, C, Y, M, and W. The visual characteristic is luminance information,
2. The image reproducing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the graph creating means creates a characteristic graph that correlatively represents luminance information of each image. It has a graph type specification means to specify the graph type,
2. The image reproducing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the graph creating unit creates a characteristic graph of a type specified by the graph type specifying unit.   The image reproducing apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the graph type includes any one of a line graph, a bar graph, and a band graph.   The graph creating means stores the analysis data obtained by the image analyzing means in association with each image, and refers to this when graphing the visual characteristics of the same image next time. Item 2. The image reproducing device according to Item 1.   2. The image reproduction apparatus according to claim 1, wherein each image stored in the image storage means is a moving image.   2. The image reproducing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein each image stored in the image storage means is a plurality of still images. The display means includes first display means and second display means,
The first display means displays the plurality of consecutive images;
The image reproduction apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the second display unit displays the characteristic graph. A position display means for indicating a corresponding position symbol of the characteristic graph corresponding to the image displayed by the display means;
2. The image reproduction according to claim 1, wherein the display control means designates an arbitrary position on the characteristic graph by moving a corresponding position symbol of the characteristic graph displayed by the position display means. apparatus.   2. The image reproducing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the display unit simultaneously displays the image stored in the image storage unit and the characteristic graph. A program that is executed by a computer that displays a plurality of continuous images and displays these images on a display device,
In the computer,
A function of analyzing and processing the visual characteristics of each image;
A function of creating a characteristic graph that correlatively represents the visual characteristics of the images obtained by the analysis process;
A function of displaying the characteristic graph on the display device and displaying an image corresponding to the visual characteristic at the designated position on the display device when an arbitrary position on the characteristic graph is designated. A program characterized by

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