JP2010193183A - Image display device, image display program, and storage medium - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To effectively use an image obtained by photographing, or the like by use of a technology of subject recognition. <P>SOLUTION: The image display device includes a display part for displaying the image, a storage part for storing the image, an image searching part for searching the image photographed on a date identical to a specific date from the images stored in the storage part upon startup, an image extracting part for extracting an image having the highest smiling face evaluation value of a subject among the images searched by the image searching part, and a display control part for displaying the image extracted by the image extracting part on the display part as a startup image. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an image display device that displays an image, an image display program, and a storage medium.

  In general, various techniques for subject recognition for recognizing (detecting) a face of a subject included in a still image or a moving image have been proposed. A digital camera has been proposed in which subject recognition is used to automatically recognize the face of the main subject included in the shooting range and to focus on the recognized face for shooting (see Patent Document 1). ). Recently, using this subject recognition, it is determined whether or not the face of the main subject included in the shooting range is a smile, and a smile shooting mode that can automatically shoot when it is determined to be a smile A digital camera equipped with is also provided.

  Of the images taken with such a digital camera, the acquired images are often stored as browsing images in a computer or the like. Also, the stored images include images that are important memories for the user and images that are memorable. However, at present, such an image is left as it is unless the user browses it.

  The present invention relates to a subject recognition technique and an image display apparatus, an image display program, and a storage medium that can effectively use an image acquired by photographing using the technique.

  In order to solve the above-described problems, an image display device according to the present invention includes a display unit that displays an image, a storage unit that stores the image, and an image stored in the storage unit at the time of startup from a specific month. An image search unit for searching for an image taken on the same month and day, an image extraction unit for extracting an image with the highest smile evaluation value of the subject among the images searched by the image search unit, and the image And a display control unit that displays the image extracted by the extraction unit on the display unit as a startup image.

  In addition, the image search unit further includes a registration operation unit that is operated when registering one or a plurality of the specific month and day, and an information acquisition unit that acquires the month and date at the time of activation. When a plurality of the specific dates are registered by operation of the operation unit, among the plurality of registered specific dates, the date closest to the date of startup after the date of startup It is preferable to search for an image photographed on the same month and date using the specific month and date.

  Further, the display control unit further includes a calculation unit that calculates a remaining number of days until the specific month and day from the month and date at the time of starting and the specific month and day used by the image search unit. It is preferable that the display unit displays the remaining number of days until the specific date calculated by the calculation unit simultaneously with the activation image.

  In addition, when there are a plurality of images having the highest smile evaluation value of the main subject, the previous image extraction unit preferably extracts an image having the newest shooting year from these images.

  In addition, it is preferable to include a face detection unit that detects the presence or absence of a face from the image, and an evaluation value calculation unit that calculates the smile evaluation value for the face detected by the face detection unit.

  According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided an imaging apparatus comprising: the above-described image display apparatus; and an image acquisition unit that acquires an image using captured subject light.

  The image display program of the present invention includes an image search step for searching for an image taken on a specific date from an image stored in the storage unit at the time of activation, and an image search step performed by the image search step. Among them, it is possible to cause a computer to execute an image extraction process for extracting an image with the highest smile evaluation value of a subject and a display control process for displaying the image extracted by the image extraction process as a startup image. is there.

  Further, the above-described image display program is stored as a storage medium, and the image display program can be read by a computer.

  According to the present invention, for example, an image having a high smile evaluation value is displayed as a startup image among images taken on a predetermined month, such as an anniversary for the user, so that the user observes the startup image. For example, it is possible to reconfirm images taken on a specific date such as important memories or dates of events that occurred in the past. According to this, the subject recognition technique can be used as another function of imaging such as displaying an image.

It is a figure which shows the structure of a digital camera. It is a figure which shows the component of a face used when calculating a smile evaluation value. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of the process at the time of imaging. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of a process at the time of starting of a digital camera. It is a figure which shows the list of the image memorize | stored in a storage medium, a photography month, and a smile evaluation value. It is a figure which shows the structure of the digital camera in the case of displaying remaining days other than a starting image. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of a process at the time of starting of a digital camera in the case of displaying remaining days other than a starting image.

  FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of a digital camera 10 using the present invention. As is well known, the digital camera 10 photoelectrically converts the subject light captured by the imaging optical system 15 by the imaging element 16 and acquires image data from the electrical signal (image signal) after the photoelectric conversion.

  The imaging optical system 15 includes a plurality of lenses such as a zoom lens and a focus lens (not shown). The zoom lens is moved along the optical axis L when the magnification at the time of shooting is changed, and the focus lens is moved along the optical axis L when the focus is adjusted at the time of shooting.

  The image pickup device 16 is configured by, for example, a charge coupled device (CCD), a complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS), or the like. The image sensor 16 converts subject light captured by the imaging optical system 15 into signal charges (photoelectric conversion), and accumulates the converted signal charges. Thereafter, the signal charge accumulated in the image sensor 16 is output to the AFE circuit 21 as an image signal.

  The driver 17 controls driving of the image sensor 16. Controlling the driving of the image sensor 16 includes accumulating signal charges in each pixel of the image sensor 16 and outputting the accumulated signal charges. In addition, the driver 17 controls whether to drive all the pixels of the image sensor 16 or some of the pixels.

  For example, at the time of photographing, the driver 17 drives all the pixels of the image sensor 16 to execute accumulation of signal charges using each pixel and signal charges accumulated in each pixel. A set of image signals output from the image sensor 16 at this time is image data obtained at the time of shooting. On the other hand, when the camera is ready for shooting but the release button 48 is not operated, that is, in a so-called shooting standby state, the driver 17 controls the thinning of the image sensor 16 so that it is accumulated in some pixels. Output signal charge. At this time, a collection of image signals output from the image sensor 16 is through image data.

  The AFE (Analog Front End) circuit 21 includes an AGC circuit and a CDS circuit (not shown). The AFE circuit 21 performs analog processing such as gain control and noise removal on the input image signal. The image signal subjected to the analog processing is output to the DFE circuit 22.

  A DFE (Digital Front End) circuit 22 converts the image signal subjected to analog processing by the AFE circuit 21 into a digital image signal. The converted digital image signals are collected frame by frame and recorded in the buffer memory 23 as image data. Reference numeral 24 denotes a timing generator (TG), and the driving timing of the driver 17, the AFE circuit 21, and the DFE circuit 22 is controlled by the TG 24.

  The image processing circuit 30 performs image processing such as color interpolation processing, gamma processing, white balance processing (hereinafter referred to as WB processing), contour compensation processing, and the like on the image data stored in the buffer memory 23. For example, when the image data stored in the buffer memory 23 is image data obtained at the time of shooting, the image processing circuit 30 applies, for example, a storage method such as a JPEG method to the image data after the image processing described above. Format processing (image post-processing) for compression is performed. After this processing, the image processing circuit 30 generates thumbnail image data and JPEG image data compressed in accordance with the set resolution. In addition to the image data, viewer image data may be generated. These image data are memory card, magnetic disk, and optical as image files with additional information such as model information of the digital camera 10, shooting information such as exposure conditions, and shooting date and smile evaluation value described later. It is written in a storage medium 35 such as a disk. Reference numeral 36 denotes a media slot.

  On the other hand, when the image data stored in the buffer memory 23 is through image data, the image processing described above is performed and then output to the display control circuit 38 via the CPU 45. Note that, in the above-described shooting standby state, the above-described imaging element 16 outputs image signals at predetermined intervals, and thus the through image data is sequentially written in the buffer memory 23. The image processing circuit 30 performs the above-described image processing each time through image data is written in the buffer memory 23 and outputs the processed image data to the display control circuit 38. Thereby, a so-called live view display is performed in which through images are displayed on the LCD 39 at predetermined intervals. In addition to the live view display, the LCD 39 displays an image based on image data obtained by shooting, a display of a setting image when setting the digital camera 10, and a startup time of the digital camera 10 described later. Display of a start-up image (start-up image) is executed.

  The CPU 45 controls each part of the digital camera 10 by executing a control program (not shown). When the setting operation unit 47 is operated, a sequence based on the operation of the setting operation unit 47 is executed. That is, the setting operation unit 47 can be operated when setting shooting conditions, image resolution, and the like, and can perform an anniversary registration operation described later. Further, when the release button 48 is operated, an imaging process is executed. In addition to the known AE processing and AF processing, the imaging processing includes image processing on image data generated from an image signal output from the image sensor 16.

  The CPU 45 has functions of a face detection unit 51, an evaluation value calculation unit 52, an information acquisition unit 53, an image search unit 54, and an image extraction unit 55. The face detection unit 51 performs face detection on the image data obtained when the imaging process is executed. Examples of face detection in the face detection unit 51 include face detection by pattern matching and feature amount extraction. Pattern matching is a method in which a plurality of pattern data indicating face patterns are prepared in advance, and a face is detected based on whether or not there is an area that matches any pattern in the pattern data. In addition, feature amount extraction is to detect a face included in an image by obtaining feature amounts of eyes, nose, mouth and the like. When a face is detected, an address indicating the position of the detected face is stored in the built-in memory 31.

  The evaluation value calculation unit 52 calculates a smile evaluation value for the face detected by the face detection unit 51. The smile evaluation value represents the degree of smile, and the smile evaluation value increases as the smile increases. The smile evaluation value is calculated using, for example, a smile evaluation table 56. The smile evaluation table 56 is stored in the built-in memory 31 in advance.

  The smile evaluation table 56 is a table in which components, coefficients, and evaluation points are associated with each other. Examples of the component include “brow”, “eyes”, and “mouth”. The coefficient indicates a weight for each component, and numerical values such as 2, 4 and 5 can be mentioned. The evaluation point includes a reference image of each component and its evaluation point. The coefficient and the evaluation point are set such that the maximum value of the calculated smile evaluation value is “100”.

  For example, in the case of the component “eyebrow”, the evaluation point is set low for the reference image in which the angle of the eyebrow is increased, and the evaluation point is set higher as the angle is decreased. In the case of the component “eyes”, the evaluation point is set low for the reference image with the pupil closed, and the evaluation point is set higher as the pupil opens. It should be noted that the evaluation point is set to be negative for the reference image with closed eyes. In the case of the component “mouth”, the reference image in which the angles at both ends are lowered has a low evaluation point, and the evaluation point is set to be higher as the angles at both ends are increased.

  The evaluation value calculation unit 52 calculates a smile evaluation value in the image data using the face detected from the image data. First, the evaluation value calculation unit 52 extracts each component in the smile evaluation table 56 from the detected face. For example, as shown in FIG. 2, in the case of an image PI1 with a girl as a subject, the face detection unit 51 described above detects the girl's face. In this case, from the detected face area (area 61 indicated by a two-dot chain line in the figure), the component “eyebrow” (reference numerals 62 and 63 indicated by the dotted line in the figure) and the component “eye” (dotted line in the figure). , And the component “mouth” (reference numeral 66 indicated by a dotted line in the figure) are specified. The evaluation value calculation unit 52 obtains an evaluation point for each component from each component specified from the image data and the smile evaluation table 56. Then, after multiplying the evaluation point obtained for each component by a coefficient indicating the weight for each component, a smile evaluation value is calculated by adding them. The smile evaluation value calculated by the evaluation value calculation unit 53 is recorded as supplementary information of the image file. The smile evaluation value does not need to be supplementary information of the image file. For example, table data in which the file name, shooting date, and smile evaluation value of the image file are associated with each other is created in the storage medium 35 and shooting is performed. It is also possible to update each time. In addition, “eyebrows”, “eyes”, and “mouth” are listed as the constituent elements, but “face orientation and inclination” and the like may be included in the constituent elements.

Returning to FIG. 1, when the digital camera 10 is activated, the information acquisition unit 53 acquires information on the date of activation (hereinafter referred to as activation date). The information acquisition unit 53 may have a known clock function, for example, or may have a communication function with an external device such as a GPS function, for example. The image search unit 54 may acquire the information from the image file stored in the storage medium 35 when the digital camera 10 is started up. Search for an image file based on it. Here, the anniversary is a date that is memorable for the user or a date when an important memory has occurred. Is mentioned. One or more of the anniversary information 57 can be registered by operating the setting operation unit 47 described above. The anniversary information 57 registered by operating the setting operation unit 47 is stored in the built-in memory 31.

  The search of the image file by the image search unit 54 is executed by the following method. For example, when the number of registered anniversary information 57 is one, the image search unit 54 uses the anniversary date based on the registered anniversary information 57 as a search condition, The image file obtained by shooting on the same day is searched. Since the incidental information of the image file includes information on the shooting date, the information is taken on the same date as the anniversary date from the shooting date information and the anniversary information. Identify the image file.

  On the other hand, when there are a plurality of registered anniversary date information 57, the startup month of the registered anniversary date 57 is referred to by referring to the startup month date information acquired by the information acquisition unit 53. Anniversary information 57 that is the date after the date and the date of the anniversary closest to the activation date is read out. Then, using the anniversary date based on the read anniversary information 57 as a search condition, an image file photographed on the same month as the anniversary date is specified. If there is no registered anniversary information 57, the image search unit 54 does not execute image file search. Even when no image file is stored in the storage medium 35, the image search unit 54 does not search for an image file.

  The image extraction unit 55 extracts image data to be displayed on the LCD 39 when the digital camera 10 is activated. As described above, the image file captured on the same month and day as the anniversary is specified by the image search unit 54. The image extraction unit 55 extracts image data to be displayed on the LCD 39 at the time of activation from the image file specified by the image file search by the image search unit 54. For example, when only one image file is specified by the search by the image search unit 54, the image data constituting the image file is extracted. The extracted image data is registered as image data to be displayed at the time of activation (hereinafter referred to as activation image data).

  On the other hand, when a plurality of image files are specified by the search by the image search unit 54, the image extraction unit 55 reads a smile evaluation value from the accompanying information attached to each of the plurality of image files. Then, the image extraction unit 55 extracts the image data constituting the image file having the highest smile evaluation value among the smile evaluation values read from the plurality of image files. For example, when there are a plurality of image files having the highest smile evaluation value, the image extraction unit 55 reads out the shooting dates stored as supplementary information of these image files, and configures the image file that becomes the latest shooting year. Image data to be extracted. The startup image data extracted by the image extraction unit 55 is output to the display control circuit 38 and displayed on the LCD 39 as a startup image at startup. Note that when the image file search by the image search unit 54 is not executed, the image data extraction process by the image extraction unit 55 is also not executed. In such a case, preset image data may be used as startup image data.

  Next, the flow of processing at the time of shooting by the digital camera of the present embodiment will be described based on the flowchart of FIG. Note that the processing of the flowchart of FIG. 3 is executed when the state of the digital camera is in a shooting standby state.

  Step S101 is an imaging process. When the release button 48 is operated by the user, the exposure condition at the time of imaging is determined by the AE process, and the focus adjustment is executed by the AF process. After these processes, the image sensor 16 is controlled based on the determined exposure condition, and an image signal is output from the image sensor 16. This image signal is an analog image signal, and is first subjected to analog processing by the AFE circuit 21. When input to the DFE circuit 22, the analog image signal is converted into a digital image signal. The digital image signals are collected for each frame and recorded in the buffer memory 23 as image data. The image data recorded in the buffer memory 23 is read by the image processing circuit 30 and subjected to the above-described image processing.

  Step S102 is face detection processing. The CPU 45 detects whether or not there is a subject's face in the image based on the image data, using the image data obtained by the imaging process in step S101. When a face is detected by this face detection, the CPU 45 sets a rectangular area including the detected face as a face area, and acquires address information of pixels that are the face area.

  Step S103 is an evaluation value calculation process. Since the address information of the pixel serving as the face area has been acquired by the face detection process in step S102, the CPU 45 refers to the address information of the pixel and extracts the facial feature amount. It should be noted that by extracting the facial feature amount, the constituent elements of the face can be specified. Thereafter, the CPU 45 reads the smile evaluation table 56 stored in the built-in memory 31 and calculates a smile evaluation value for the detected face from the smile evaluation table 56 and the face feature amount detected from the image data.

  When face detection processing using feature amount extraction is performed, it is not necessary to calculate the face feature amount during the process of step S103. In this case, the smile evaluation value for the image data may be obtained after identifying each component based on the feature amount extracted by the face detection process using feature amount extraction.

  Step S104 is image file recording processing. Since the smile evaluation value is calculated in step S103, the CPU 45 creates incidental information that summarizes information indicating the shooting date and smile evaluation value, shooting information such as exposure conditions, and camera model information. An image file in which the auxiliary information and the image data are collected is recorded in the storage medium 35. In this way, every time shooting is performed, an image file in which the shooting date and smile evaluation value are included as additional information is recorded in the storage medium 35.

  FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the flow of processing when the digital camera 10 is activated. Note that the flowchart of FIG. 4 is executed when the digital camera 10 is activated.

  Step S201 is processing to determine whether or not there is registered anniversary information 57. The CPU 45 refers to the built-in memory 31 to determine whether or not anniversary information 57 is stored. If the date of the anniversary is registered by the operation of the setting operation unit 47 by the user in the past, the anniversary information 57 is stored in the built-in memory 31. In this case, the CPU 45 determines Yes and proceeds to step S202. On the other hand, when the anniversary date 57 has not been registered by the user operating the setting operation unit 47 in the past, the anniversary date 57 is not stored in the built-in memory 31. In such a case, the CPU 45 determines No and proceeds to step S212.

  If the determination in step S201 is Yes, the process proceeds to step S202. Step S202 is processing to determine whether or not a plurality of anniversary information 57 is registered. If registration of the month and day that is the anniversary is performed a plurality of times by the operation of the setting operation unit 47 by the user described above, the anniversary information 57 for each registration, that is, the plurality of anniversary information 57 is stored in the built-in memory 31. Has been. In such a case, the CPU 45 determines Yes and proceeds to step S203. On the other hand, when the anniversary information 57 is registered only once by the operation of the setting operation unit 47 by the user described above, only one anniversary information 57 is stored in the built-in memory 31. In such a case, the CPU 45 determines No and proceeds to step S205.

  Step S203 is processing to acquire the startup date. The process of step S203 is executed by the CPU 45.

  Step S204 is a process of reading the anniversary information 57 most after the startup month and day. Since the start date of starting the digital camera 10 is acquired by executing step S203, the CPU 45 is the most recent start date after the start date among the anniversary information 57 stored in the internal memory 31. Anniversary information 57 that is the closest date is read.

  On the other hand, if the determination in step S202 is No, that is, if only one anniversary information 57 is stored in the built-in memory 31, the process proceeds to step S205.

  Step S205 is processing for reading the anniversary information 57. By performing the process in step S202, it is determined that only one anniversary information 57 is stored in the built-in memory 31, and in this case, by performing the process in step S205, One memorial day information 57 stored is read by the CPU 45 as it is.

  When one anniversary information 57 is read from the built-in memory 35 by the process of step S204 or step S205, the process proceeds to step S206.

  Step S206 is processing for determining whether there is an image file stored in the storage medium 35. The CPU 45 refers to the presence or absence of the image file stored with reference to the storage medium 35. If there is an image file stored in the storage medium 35, the CPU 45 determines Yes in step S206 and proceeds to step S207. On the other hand, if there is no image file stored in the storage medium 35, the CPU 45 determines No in step S206 and proceeds to step S212. Note that the process for determining whether or not an image file is stored in the storage medium 35 is executed after the process of reading the anniversary information 57, but the present invention is not limited to this. It is also possible to execute the process before determining whether 57 is stored.

  Step S207 is a process of searching for an image file based on the read anniversary date information 57. First, the CPU 45 sets the date of the anniversary based on the read anniversary information 57 as a search condition. After this setting, the CPU 45 reads the shooting date from the supplementary information of the image file stored in the storage medium 35, and determines whether or not the date is the same as the anniversary date as the search condition. The image file of the same month as the anniversary date is specified.

  Step S208 is processing to determine whether or not there are a plurality of image files specified by the search. The CPU 45 specifies an image file having the same date as the anniversary date by performing the process of step S207. That is, in the process of step S208, the CPU 45 determines the number of the specified image files. For example, if there are a plurality of image files that have the same date as the anniversary date, the CPU 45 determines Yes in step S208 and proceeds to step S209. On the other hand, if there is one image file having the same date as the anniversary date, the CPU 45 determines No in step S208 and proceeds to step S212.

  Step S209 is processing for specifying an image file having the highest smile evaluation value. In step S208, it is determined that there are a plurality of image files having the same month and date as the anniversary date. The CPU 45 reads smile evaluation values from the incidental information of the image file on the same month and date as the anniversary. Then, the CPU 45 specifies an image file having the highest smile evaluation value among the read smile evaluation values.

  Step S210 is processing for determining whether or not there are a plurality of image files having the highest smile evaluation value. In step S209, the image file with the highest smile evaluation value is identified. For example, when a plurality of image files having the highest smile evaluation value are specified, the CPU 45 determines Yes in step S210 and proceeds to step S211. On the other hand, when there is one image file with the highest smile evaluation value, the CPU 45 determines No in step S210 and extracts image data constituting the image file with the highest smile evaluation value. In this case, the process proceeds to step S212. The extracted image data may be thumbnail image data or JPEG image data.

  Step S211 is processing for specifying the newest image file of the shooting year. If the determination in step S210 is Yes, that is, if there are a plurality of image files having the highest smile evaluation value, the process of step S211 is executed. The CPU 45 reads the shooting date from the incidental information of the image file having the highest smile evaluation value, and specifies the image file having the latest shooting year. After specifying the image file, the CPU 45 extracts image data constituting the specified image file.

  Note that No is determined in the determination process of step S201, that is, there is no registered anniversary information 57, or No is determined in the determination process of step S206, that is, there is no image file stored in the storage medium 45. In this case, image data set in advance as image data to be displayed at startup is set as startup image data.

  Step S212 is processing for registering startup image data. For example, when image data constituting the specified image file is extracted, the CPU 45 registers the image data as startup image data. On the other hand, when there is no image file stored in the storage medium 35 or when anniversary information is not registered, the CPU 45 registers preset image data as startup image data.

  Step S213 is processing to display a startup image. The activation image data registered in step S212 is output to the display control circuit 38. The display control circuit 38 causes the LCD 39 to display a startup image based on the startup image data.

  FIG. 5 shows a case where “image 1” to “image 7” are stored in the storage medium 35. For example, if “1.30”, “2.15”, “10.15” are registered as anniversary dates, and the starting date is “1.18”, as the nearest anniversary information 57, “1.30” is selected.

  The images stored in the storage medium 35 are “10.17” for “Image 1”, “Image 2”, and “Image 7”, and “10” for “Image 3” and “Image 4”. The shooting date of “1.30”, “image 5”, and “image 6” is “2.15”. That is, the images photographed on the same month as the anniversary “1.30” are “image 3” and “image 4”. Note that the smile evaluation value of “Image 3” is “96”, the shooting year is “2007”, the smile evaluation value of “Image 4” is “96”, and the shooting year is “2005”. The “image 3” with the latest shooting year is extracted, and this “image 3” is displayed as the startup image. Similarly, if the starting date is after “1.31”, “2.15” is selected as the anniversary information 57, and an image is extracted in the same manner.

  As a result, an image of the same month as the anniversary is displayed as the activation image, so that the user can recall the anniversary or the important day memories for the user. In addition, since the image with the highest smile evaluation value is displayed as an image on the same month as the anniversary, it is possible to use the technique of the subject item type in processing other than imaging. In many cases, the stored image file is an image file taken on an important date or anniversary for the user. That is, if a plurality of anniversary information 57 is registered, the image extracted as the activation image of the digital camera 10 changes if the month and day when the digital camera is activated are different. That is, the startup image displayed when the digital camera 10 is started can be given a width, and the startup image can be interested.

  In the present embodiment, when there are a plurality of image files having the same month and date as the anniversary date, the image file having the highest smile evaluation value is specified, and the image data constituting the image file is registered as startup image data. For example, if there are multiple image files that have the same month and date as the anniversary date, or if there are multiple image files with the highest smile evaluation value, slide display using these image files It is also possible to display an index. For example, in the case of slide display, the image files with the highest smile evaluation values may be displayed in order.

  In the present embodiment, when there are a plurality of image files having the same date as the anniversary date, the image data constituting one image file is registered as startup image data. In this case, unless shooting is performed on the same month as the newly registered anniversary date, the same image data will always be registered as startup image data if it is activated before a specific anniversary date. And displayed as a startup image. For this reason, for example, the history of the start date of the digital camera and the history of the image data registered as the startup image data is stored, and the image file that is the basis of the image data extracted as the startup image data in the past is stored. It is also possible to exclude it from the search target image file. According to this, even if it is the same anniversary, since a different image can be displayed as a starting image, the interest with respect to the starting image displayed is not spoiled.

  In this embodiment, the case where there is an image file shot on the same month as the anniversary date has been described, but there may be no image file shot on the same month date as the anniversary date. . In such a case, preset image data may be used as the startup image data. If a plurality of anniversary dates are registered, the date closest to the startup date It is also possible to select the anniversary information 57 and execute an image file search using the date of the anniversary based on the selected anniversary information 57 as a search condition.

  In the present embodiment, when there is only one anniversary information 57, the date based on the anniversary information 57 is used as a search condition, and when there are a plurality of anniversary information 57, the start date and after The search condition is the month and day based on the anniversary information 57 that is closest to the startup date. However, the number of days from the startup month and the anniversary date set as the search condition is, for example, one month or more apart. In some cases, when an image taken on the anniversary date is displayed as a startup image, the user feels uncomfortable. In such a case, for example, within two weeks, an image file acquired on the same month and day as the anniversary date only when the remaining days from the startup month to the anniversary are the preset number of days. Should be specified. On the other hand, when the remaining number of days from the start date to the anniversary date is equal to or more than the number of days that can be set in advance, the image file search process and the image data extraction process are not performed, The image file having the highest smile evaluation value is specified from the image files that use the image data as the start-up image data or are stored on the date other than the registered anniversary, and the image file is configured. It is also possible to register image data as startup image data. According to this, only when it is close to the anniversary, the image acquired on the same month as the anniversary is displayed as the startup image, so that the startup month is approaching the anniversary. Can do.

  In this embodiment, an image captured on the same month as the anniversary date is displayed as the startup image. However, an image captured on the same month date as the anniversary date is displayed as the startup image. In addition, the number of days remaining until the anniversary can be displayed. Hereinafter, functions similar to those of the present embodiment will be described with the same reference numerals. As shown in FIG. 6, as a function of the CPU 45, in addition to the functions of the detection unit 51, the evaluation value calculation unit 52, the information acquisition unit 53, the image search unit 54, and the image extraction unit 55, Have. The number-of-days calculator 71 calculates the number of days remaining until the anniversary by calculating the difference between the startup date acquired by the information acquisition unit 53 and the date of the anniversary set as a search condition. The calculated remaining number of days is output to the display control circuit 38.

  Hereinafter, the startup process in this case will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

  Step S301 is processing to determine whether or not there is registered anniversary information 57. Since the process in step S301 is the same as the process in step S201, the details thereof are omitted here. For example, if registration of the month and day as the anniversary has been performed by the user's operation of the setting operation unit 47 in the past, the anniversary information 57 is stored in the built-in memory 31. In this case, the CPU 45 determines Yes and proceeds to step S302. On the other hand, when the anniversary date 57 has not been registered by the user operating the setting operation unit 47 in the past, the anniversary date 57 is not stored in the built-in memory 31. In such a case, the CPU 45 determines No and proceeds to step S313.

  If the determination in step S301 is Yes, the process proceeds to step S302.

  Step S302 is processing to determine whether or not a plurality of anniversary information 57 is registered. The process of step S302 is the same process as step S202. If a plurality of anniversary information 57 is stored in the built-in memory 31, the CPU 45 determines Yes and proceeds to step S303. On the other hand, if only one anniversary information 57 is stored in the built-in memory 31, the CPU 45 determines No and proceeds to step S305.

  Step S303 is a process of acquiring the startup date. The process in step S303 is the same as that in step S203.

  Step S304 is a process of reading the anniversary information 57 most after the startup month and day. The process of step S304 is the same process as step S204.

  If the determination in step S302 is No, the process proceeds to step S305. Step S305 is processing to read the anniversary information 57. The process of step S305 is the same process as step S205.

  When one anniversary information 57 is read from the internal memory 35 by the process of step S304 or step S305, the process proceeds to the process of step S306.

  Step S306 is processing for determining whether there is an image file stored in the storage medium 35. The process in step S306 is the same as that in step S206. If there is an image file stored in the storage medium 35, the CPU 45 sets the determination in step S306 to Yes, and proceeds to step S307. On the other hand, if there is no image file stored in the storage medium 35, the CPU 45 determines No in step S306 and proceeds to step S313.

  Step S307 is processing for searching for an image file based on the read anniversary information 57. The process of step S307 is the same process as step S207.

  Step S308 is processing to determine whether or not there are a plurality of image files specified by the search. The process of step S308 is the same process as step S208. If there are a plurality of identified image files, the CPU 45 determines Yes in step S308 and proceeds to step S309. On the other hand, if there is one specified image file, the CPU 45 determines No in step S308 and extracts the image data constituting the specified image file. In this case, the process proceeds to step S312.

  Step S309 is processing for specifying an image file having the highest smile evaluation value. The process in step S309 is the same as that in step S209.

  Step S310 is processing for determining whether or not there are a plurality of image files having the highest smile evaluation value. The process of step S310 is the same process as step S210. If a plurality of image files having the highest smile evaluation value are identified, the CPU 45 determines Yes in step S310 and proceeds to step S311. On the other hand, if there is one image file with the highest smile evaluation value, the CPU 45 determines No in step S310 and extracts the image data constituting the image file with the highest smile evaluation value. In this case, the process proceeds to step S312.

  Step S311 is processing for specifying the newest image file of the shooting year. The process of step S311 is the same process as step S211. After specifying the newest image file of this shooting year, the CPU 45 extracts the image data constituting the specified image file.

  Step S312 is processing for calculating the remaining number of days from the startup month to the anniversary. The CPU 45 calculates the number of remaining days from the start month to the anniversary by calculating the difference between the selected anniversary date and the startup month. The information on the remaining days is output to the display control circuit 38.

  Step S313 is processing to register start-up image data. The process in step S313 is the same as the process in step S212.

  Step S314 is a process of displaying the startup image and the remaining days. The activation image data registered in step S313 is output to the display control circuit 38. The display control circuit 38 causes the LCD 39 to display a startup image based on the startup image data. Since the display control circuit 38 receives information on the number of remaining days until the anniversary, the display of the number of remaining days is executed together with the display of the start-up image. As a result, the display of the remaining days until the anniversary is displayed together with the display of the activation image, and if the activation month and day are different, the display of the remaining days is updated. Thereby, the countdown display until the anniversary is executed, so that the user can re-recognize the anniversary. The remaining days may be displayed superimposed on the startup image, or may be displayed in a region different from the region where the startup image is displayed.

  In the present embodiment, the case where the subject included in the image is a single person has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the present invention is applicable even when the subject included in the image is a plurality of persons. Can be applied. In this case, the average smile evaluation value of the faces of a plurality of persons may be used as the smile evaluation value in the image data, and the highest smile evaluation value among the smile evaluation values for each detected face is It may be a smile evaluation value in the image file. Moreover, the smile evaluation value of the largest face area among a plurality of persons can be set as the smile evaluation value in the image data. Further, when face image data is registered in advance, and there is a face having the same feature amount as the registered face image data from image data acquired by photographing, a smile evaluation value for the registered face Can be a smile evaluation value for the image data.

  In the present embodiment, the image file stored in the storage medium is an image file obtained when shooting is performed with a digital camera to which the storage medium is attached, but the image file stored in the storage medium is However, it is not necessarily limited to an image file acquired by photographing with a digital camera in which a storage medium is mounted. In other words, digital cameras such as image files obtained by shooting with other digital cameras, image files obtained by connecting to the Internet, image files obtained by image editing, and image files that are the basis of animation images and graphic images When a storage medium storing an image file obtained by a method other than shooting using the camera is attached to the digital camera of the present invention, an image file used as startup image data is extracted from these image files, and an image is extracted from the image file. It is also possible to read data.

  For example, when an image file stored in a storage medium is an image file obtained by another digital camera, if a smile evaluation value is stored as incidental information of the image file, the image file is taken by another digital camera. Can be handled as an image file to be compared with the smile evaluation value. On the other hand, if the smile evaluation value is an image file that is not stored as supplementary information, face detection and smile evaluation value calculation processing is performed on these image files in the shooting standby state, and the smile evaluation value is converted into an image. The incidental information of the file may be used. The same applies to an image file obtained by connecting to the Internet, an image file obtained by image editing, or an image file consisting of an image file that is the basis of an animation image or graphic image. Since the smile evaluation value is not attached as supplementary information, for example, a smile evaluation value may be calculated in a shooting standby state, and the smile evaluation value may be stored as supplementary information of the image file.

  In this embodiment, all image files stored in the storage medium are targeted. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and only the image files stored in a specific folder among the folders provided in the storage medium are targeted. Also good. In photographing using a digital camera, in addition to an image intended by the user, an image not intended by the user may be acquired. In this case, the image file that is the basis of the image intended by the user is previously recorded in a folder generated on the storage medium, and the image file with the highest smile evaluation value is selected from the image files stored in the folder. After the extraction, image data used as startup image data may be read from the image file.

  In addition to this, for example, a “smiling shooting mode” is provided in which the face of the subject is detected and shooting is automatically executed without operating the release button when the detected face is determined to be a smile. In digital cameras, image files shot in this "Smile mode" and image files shot in other modes are stored in different folders, and image files shot in "Smile mode" The stored folder may be a folder from which the startup image is extracted. Furthermore, when shooting in “Smile mode”, if the smile level (level) when shooting is performed in advance can be set in multiple stages, the smile level when shooting is performed is the highest. It is also possible to set a high image file as an extraction target image file and extract an image file used as startup image data from the extraction target image file.

  In this embodiment, a digital camera is taken as an example. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the present invention can be applied to any electronic device including a display unit. In this case, examples of the electronic device include a digital information camera, a portable information terminal such as a mobile phone and a portable game machine, and a computer. In addition, the present invention can be applied not only to starting up such an electronic device but also to an application program executed on the electronic device. In this case, an image display program capable of executing any one of the functions of the CPU 45 shown in FIG. 1 and the processing shown in the flowchart of FIG. 4 or each of the functions of the CPU 45 shown in FIG. 6 and the processing shown in the flowchart of FIG. May be installed in advance on the computer. The image display program may be stored in a computer-readable storage medium such as a memory card, an optical disk, or a magnetic disk, and the image display program may be executed or installed by causing the computer to read the image display program. .

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Digital camera, 35 ... Storage medium, 38 ... Display control circuit, 39 ... LCD, 45 ... CPU, 51 ... Face detection part, 52 ... Evaluation value calculation part, 53 ... Information acquisition part, 54 ... Image search part, 55 ... Image extraction part, 71 ... Days calculation part

JP 2007-282119 A

Claims (8)

A display for displaying an image;
A storage unit for storing the image;
An image search unit for searching for an image taken on the same month and day from an image stored in the storage unit at startup;
An image extraction unit that extracts an image having the highest smile evaluation value of the subject among the images searched by the image search unit;
A display control unit for causing the display unit to display an image extracted by the image extraction unit as a startup image;
An image display device comprising: The image display device according to claim 1,
A registration operation unit operated when registering one or more of the specific month and day;
An information acquisition unit for acquiring the date of startup,
When a plurality of the specific month and day are registered by the operation of the registration operation unit, the image search unit includes a plurality of registered specific month and day after the month at the time of activation and the activation An image display device, wherein an image photographed on the same month and day as the specific month and day is searched using the specific month and day closest to the hour and month. The image display device according to claim 2,
A calculation unit that calculates the number of days remaining until the specific month and day from the month and date at the start and the specific month and day used by the image search unit;
The display control unit causes the display unit to display the remaining number of days until the specific date calculated by the calculation unit simultaneously with the startup image. The image display device according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
The image extraction device, wherein when there are a plurality of images having the highest smile evaluation value of the main subject, the image extraction unit extracts an image having the latest shooting year from these images. The image display device according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
A face detection unit for detecting the presence or absence of a face from the image;
An evaluation value calculation unit for obtaining the smile evaluation value for the face detected by the face detection unit;
An image display device comprising: An image display device according to any one of claims 1 to 5,
An image acquisition unit for acquiring an image using the captured subject light;
An imaging apparatus comprising: An image search step of searching for an image taken on a specific date from an image stored in the storage unit at the time of startup;
An image extraction step of extracting an image having the highest smile evaluation value of the subject among the images searched by the image search step;
A display control step of displaying the image extracted by the image extraction step as a startup image;
An image display program capable of causing a computer to execute.   A storage medium in which the image display program according to claim 7 is stored, and the image display program can be read by a computer.

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