JP2010028540A - Film scanner and image processing method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a film scanner and an image processing method capable of digitizing motion picture films stored in unsatisfactory conditions without deteriorating the quality and at a low cost. <P>SOLUTION: The film scanner has: an illuminating means for emitting light to an object film which is placed on a belt and formed by superimposing a transparent film B and an original film A to be digitized, the film B imparted with markers on the same positions as sprocket holes on both sides of the original film A and the same width as that of the original film A; a belt conveyance means for allowing the belt to slide in a predetermined direction while keeping the positional relation between the sprocket holes of the film A and the markers of the film B; at least one image capturing means for photographing the object film from the upper part and storing a captured image in an image storage means. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a film scanner and a film scanning method, and more particularly to a film scanner and an image processing method for digitizing moving picture film data.

A conventional scanner for motion picture film mounts a film on a film feeder, shoots one frame with a digital camera, and feeds the film for one frame with a film feeder. In the film feeder, film perforation (film feed hole) is used on the basis of the position of the film (for example, see Non-Patent Document 1).
IMAGICA XE products from IMAGICA Technologies Inc.

  However, perforations are often damaged in films that are not well preserved or filmed by movie projectors. In conventional movie film scanners, the film is loaded into the film feeder using perforation, and when scanning, the position of the perforation is used as a reference. There is a problem that it cannot be mounted or the position of each frame is shifted. Although it is possible to copy a film whose perforation is damaged to a new film, there is a problem that the copying causes a deterioration in quality and the copying is expensive.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and provides a film scanner and a film scanning method capable of realizing digitization of a moving image film having a poor storage state at low cost without degrading quality. For the purpose.

  FIG. 1 is a principle configuration diagram of the present invention.

The present invention (Claim 1) is a film scanner for digitizing moving picture film data,
Shooting in which a marker indicating the reference position of the frame is provided at the same position as the feed holes on both sides of the original film A to be digitized, and the transparent film B having the same width as the original film and the original film A are overlapped Subject,
A belt 5 for sliding a subject to be photographed in a predetermined direction;
Photographing at least one photographing means 2 for photographing a photographing object placed on the belt 5 from above and storing the photographed image in an image storage means;
Illuminating means 1 for irradiating light to a photographing position of a photographing target;
Belt feeding means 3 for sliding the belt in a predetermined direction while maintaining the positional relationship between the feeding hole of the film A and the marker of the film B.

The present invention (Claim 2) reads out an image taken from the image storage means 6 and extracts a marker row from the image;
Means for extracting a frame region of the film A based on the marker row;
Means for storing the extracted region in the image storage means;
The image processing means further comprises:

The present invention (Claim 3) is an image processing method for processing a captured image,
A marker indicating the reference position of the frame is provided at the same position as the feed holes on both sides of the original film A to be digitized, and a transparent film B having the same width as the original film is combined with the film that is combined with the original film A. Reading the image from the image storage means storing the photographed image (step 1);
Extract a marker string from the image (step 2),
Extract the frame area of film A based on the marker row (step 3),
The extracted area is stored in the image storage means (step 4).

  As described above, according to the present invention, a marker that draws a film that is used many times for screening, such as general holding films and educational films, or that is not well preserved, corresponding to the position of the hole in the film is drawn. The other film is prepared, and the original film is extracted from the image photographed while being superimposed on the original film, and is associated with the marker, whereby the original film can be digitized at low cost.

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

  FIG. 3 shows an example of the configuration of a scanner according to an embodiment of the present invention.

  The scanner shown in FIG. 1 includes a light box 1, a digital camera 2, a belt feed unit (roller) 3, a scan control unit 4, a film positioning belt 5, an image storage unit 6, and an image processing unit 7.

  The light box 1 irradiates light to the filming position of the film placed on the film positioning belt 5.

  The digital camera 2 photographs the film placed on the film positioning belt 5 from above, and stores the photographed image in the image storage unit 6.

  The belt feeding unit (roller) 3 rotates to move the film positioning belt 5 in a predetermined direction.

  The scan control unit 4 controls the movement of the roller 3 so as to synchronize with the shooting speed of the digital camera 2.

  The film positioning belt 5 slides in a predetermined direction as the roller 3 rotates. Assume that the film slides while maintaining the positional relationship of the perforation corresponding to the marker of the film having the same width as the film to be digitized.

  The image storage unit 6 stores the image acquired from the digital camera 2 and stores the image processed by the image processing unit 7.

  The image processing unit 7 reads an image captured by the digital camera 2 from the image storage unit 6, extracts an image of the film to be digitized, and based on the position of the marker associated with the perforation, The frame area of the film is extracted and stored in the image storage unit 6.

  In the present invention, first, a film A8 to be digitized as shown in FIG. 4 and a transparent film B9 on which markers are drawn are used. The film B has the same width as the film A, and is provided with a marker serving as a substitute for perforation. The film A and the film B are overlapped and placed on the light box 1, and the whole including the perforation part a and the marker part b is photographed with the digital camera 2. At this time, the film B on which the marker is drawn is placed on the light box 1 side, and the film A to be digitized is placed on the digital camera 2 side.

  As a result, the roller 3 rotates under the control of the scan control unit 4, and the film A and the film B are slid in a predetermined direction while maintaining the positional relationship between the perforation and the marker, and photographed by the digital camera 2. As shown in FIG. 5, the resulting digital image data covers a region c larger than the movie film A, in which a marker b indicates a reference position e instead of perforation a.

  There are various types of film, such as 8/16/35/70 mm. In this embodiment, the film on which the marker is drawn can be changed by changing the type of film to be digitized. Is possible. In addition, the film B on which the marker is drawn is formed into a loop shape, so that the film B and the film A to be digitized are separated from each other after filming on the light box 1, and the film A to be digitized is wound up. The film B can be wound around a reel (not shown) and circulated on the belt 5 for use.

  3 and 4, only one digital camera 2 is shown. However, the present invention is not limited to this example, and a large number of digital cameras are arranged in parallel to shoot a plurality of films in parallel. Thus, the speed can be increased.

  When the image data area shown in FIG. 5 is captured by the digital camera 2, the captured data is stored in the image storage unit 6. When a predetermined film range is photographed, the image processing unit 7 reads the image data photographed from the image storage unit 6, detects the marker b, and uses it as a reference position of the photographed image data. Only the image partial area of the movie film is extracted and used as digital image data.

  The operation of the image processing unit 7 will be described below.

  FIG. 6 is a flowchart of the image processing of the scanner according to the embodiment of the present invention.

  Step 101) The image processing unit 7 reads from the image storage unit 6 continuous images obtained by simultaneously photographing the perforation row a and the marker row b on both sides of the original film A.

  Step 102) A marker of the acquired continuous image is extracted. As a method of detecting the marker, the image data of the marker and the appearing area (left and right edges) are known, so the area that may appear and print is the same as or close to the marker data. There is a method such as pattern matching, etc. that searches by shifting the position.

  Step 103) The frame area of the original film A is extracted using the extracted marker as a reference position.

  Step 104) The frame area detected in Step 103 is stored in the image storage unit 6.

  The operation of the image processing unit 7 described above can be constructed as a program and installed in a computer used as the image processing unit for execution, or distributed via a network.

  Further, the constructed program can be stored in a portable storage medium such as a hard disk, a flexible disk, or a CD-ROM, and can be installed or distributed in a computer.

  The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various modifications and applications can be made within the scope of the claims.

  The present invention can be applied to a technique for digitizing a moving image film.

It is a principle block diagram of this invention. It is a figure for demonstrating the principle of this invention. 2 is a configuration example of a scanner according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a figure which shows the film and scanner in one embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the imaging | photography area | region and the image data area | region to digitize in one embodiment of this invention. 6 is an image processing flowchart of a scanner according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Illumination means, light box 2 Photographing means, digital camera 3 Belt feeding means, belt feeding part (roller)
4 Scan Control Unit 5 Belt 6 Image Storage Unit, Image Storage Unit 7 Image Processing Unit 8 Digitization Target Film (Film A)
9 Marker-drawn film (film B)
a perforation b marker c area d image data area used e reference position

Claims (3)

A film scanner for digitizing moving film data,
Shooting in which a marker indicating the reference position of the frame is provided at the same position as the feed holes on both sides of the original film A to be digitized, and the transparent film B having the same width as the original film and the original film A are overlapped Subject,
A belt for sliding the object to be photographed in a predetermined direction;
At least one photographing means for photographing the photographing object placed on the belt from above and storing the photographed image in an image storage means;
Illuminating means for irradiating light to the photographing position of the photographing object;
Belt feeding means for sliding the belt in a predetermined direction while maintaining the positional relationship between the feeding hole of the film A and the marker of the film B;
A film scanner comprising: Means for reading the photographed image from the image storage means and extracting the marker row from the image;
Means for extracting a frame region of the film A based on the marker row;
Means for storing the extracted region in the image storage means;
The film scanner according to claim 1, further comprising image processing means comprising: An image processing method for processing a captured image,
A marker indicating the reference position of the frame is provided at the same position as the feed holes on both sides of the original film A to be digitized, and the original film A is overlapped with the transparent film B having the same width as the original film. Read the image from the image storage means storing the image of the film,
Extracting a marker string from the image;
Based on the marker row, the frame area of the film A is extracted,
An image processing method, wherein the extracted area is stored in the image storage means.

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