JP2010200195A - Electronic camera - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an electronic camera capable of improving ease of operation in moving image recording. <P>SOLUTION: An image sensor 16 has an imaging plane for capturing a field and repeatedly outputs a field image. An I/F 38 carries out moving image recording processing for recording, as a moving image, field images repeatedly output from the image sensor 16. A CPU 26 starts the I/F 38 when a person belonging to the field indicates an action drawing a circle with his/her arm around his/her face, and stops the I/F 38 when the same person indicates an action making the arms cross each other in front of the face. The moving image recording processing is started/stopped in accordance with a motion of the person who appears in the field. Accordingly, the need of a button operation for starting/stopping the moving image recording processing is eliminated and ease of operation is improved. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an electronic camera, and more particularly, to an electronic camera that records image data representing a scene captured by an imaging surface in response to detection of a specific pattern appearing in the scene.

  An example of this type of camera is disclosed in Patent Document 1. According to this background art, when a photographer as a subject points his palm toward the electronic camera, the shape and color of the palm are recognized by the electronic camera, and a shutter release operation is executed.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2002-252806

  However, the background art does not assume moving image recording processing, and there is a limit to improvement in operability during moving image recording.

  Therefore, a main object of the present invention is to provide an electronic camera capable of improving the operability at the time of moving image recording.

  An electronic camera according to the present invention (10: reference numeral corresponding to the embodiment; the same applies hereinafter) includes an imaging unit (16) that repeatedly outputs an object scene image, and an object scene image repeatedly output from the imaging unit as a moving image Recording means (38) for recording, start means (S57) for starting recording means when an object satisfying the first condition appears in the object scene, and when an object satisfying the second condition appears in the object field Stop means (S67) for stopping the recording means is provided.

  Preferably, the first condition includes a first motion condition that an object of interest in the object scene exhibits a first motion, and the second condition is a second condition in which an object of interest in the object field exhibits a second motion. Includes movement conditions.

  Preferably, the information processing apparatus further includes registration means (S53) for registering an attribute of an object satisfying the first condition, and the second condition is an attribute condition that the attribute of the object of interest in the object field is in accordance with the attribute registered by the registration means. including.

  Preferably, the activation unit activates the recording unit when a first time has elapsed since the appearance of an object satisfying the first condition.

  Preferably, a deletion unit (S11) for deleting a part of the moving image corresponding to the second time until the appearance of an object satisfying the second condition among the moving images recorded by the recording unit is further provided.

  An imaging control method according to the present invention comprises an imaging device (16) that repeatedly outputs an object scene image, and an electronic camera including a recording means (38) that records the object scene image repeatedly output from the imaging device as a moving image ( The imaging control method executed by 10), wherein an activation step (S57) for activating the recording means when an object satisfying the first condition appears in the object scene, and an object satisfying the second condition is captured A stop step (S67) for stopping the recording means when it appears in the field is provided.

  According to the present invention, the moving image recording process is started / stopped according to the condition of the object appearing in the object scene. Therefore, it is not necessary to operate a button on the camera for starting / stopping moving image recording, and operability is improved.

  The above object, other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description of embodiments with reference to the drawings.

It is a block diagram which shows the basic composition of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of one Example of this invention. It is an illustration figure which shows an example of the allocation state of the evaluation area and object detection area in an imaging surface. FIG. 3 is an illustrative view showing one example of a dictionary referred to by the embodiment in FIG. 2; (A) is an illustrative view showing an example of the object scene captured by the embodiment in FIG. 2, (B) is an illustrative view showing another example of the object scene captured by the embodiment in FIG. 2, (C ) Is an illustrative view showing another example of the object scene captured by the embodiment in FIG. 2. FIG. 3 is a timing chart showing a part of the operation of the embodiment in FIG. 2; It is a flowchart which shows a part of operation | movement of CPU applied to the FIG. 2 Example. It is a flowchart which shows a part of other operation | movement of CPU applied to the FIG. 2 Example. FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing still another portion of behavior of the CPU applied to the embodiment in FIG. 2; FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing yet another portion of behavior of the CPU applied to the embodiment in FIG. 2;

[Basic configuration]
Referring to FIG. 1, the electronic camera of the present invention is basically configured as follows. The imaging means 1 repeatedly outputs an object scene image. The recording unit 2 records the object scene image repeatedly output from the imaging unit 1 as a moving image. The recording means 2 is activated by the activation means 3 when an object satisfying the first condition appears in the object scene, and is stopped by the stopping means 4 when an object satisfying the second condition appears in the object scene.

As described above, the moving image recording process is started / stopped according to the condition of the object appearing in the object scene. Therefore, it is not necessary to operate a button on the camera for starting / stopping moving image recording, and operability is improved.
[Example]

  Referring to FIG. 2, the digital video camera 10 of this embodiment includes an optical lens 12 and an aperture unit 14. The optical image of the object scene is irradiated onto the imaging surface of the image sensor 16 through these members. The imaging surface is covered by a primary color Bayer array color filter (not shown). Therefore, in each pixel, a charge having color information of any one of R (Red), G (Green), and B (Blue) is generated by photoelectric conversion.

  When the power is turned on, the CPU 26 activates the driver 18 for moving image capturing processing under the moving image capturing task. In response to the vertical synchronization signal Vsync generated every 1/60 seconds, the driver 18 exposes the imaging surface and reads out the charges generated on the imaging surface in a raster scanning manner. From the image sensor 16, raw image data representing the object scene is output at a frame rate of 60 fps.

  The camera processing circuit 20 performs processing such as color separation, white balance adjustment, and YUV conversion on the raw image data of each frame output from the image sensor 16 and outputs image data in YUV format. Raw image data output from the camera processing circuit 20 is written into the SDRAM 32 through the memory control circuit 30.

  The LCD driver 34 reads the image data thus stored in the SDRAM 32 through the memory control circuit 30 every 1/60 seconds, and drives the LCD monitor 36 based on the read image data. As a result, a real-time moving image (through image) representing the scene is displayed on the monitor screen.

  In addition to the above-described processing, the camera processing circuit 20 provides the AE evaluation circuit 22 and the AF evaluation circuit 24 with the Y component of the image data obtained by YUV conversion, that is, Y data.

  The AE evaluation circuit 22 integrates part of Y data belonging to the evaluation area EVA shown in FIG. 3 among the Y data given from the camera processing circuit 20 every 1/60 seconds, and outputs an integrated value, that is, a luminance evaluation value. To do. On the other hand, the AF evaluation circuit 24 integrates the high frequency components of some Y data belonging to the same evaluation area EVA among the Y data given from the camera processing circuit 20 every 1/60 seconds, and the integrated value, that is, the focus evaluation value. Is given to the CPU.

  The CPU 26 executes AE processing with reference to the luminance evaluation value under the imaging parameter adjustment task, and sets the aperture amount and the exposure time for obtaining the appropriate exposure amount in the aperture unit 14 and the driver 18. As a result, the brightness of the moving image output from the LCD monitor 36 is appropriately adjusted. The CPU 26 also executes a continuous AF process with reference to the focus evaluation value under the imaging parameter adjustment task, and places the optical lens 12 at the focal point. As a result, the sharpness of the moving image output from the LCD monitor 36 keeps a high value continuously.

  The CPU 26 executes pattern recognition processing focusing on the latest one frame of image data stored in the SDRAM 32 under a recording control task. In the pattern recognition process, the human image belonging to the object detection area DET shown in FIG. 3 is collated with each of the patterns PT1 and PT2 stored in the dictionary DIC shown in FIG.

  The pattern PT1 represents the posture of the person at the time when the operation of drawing a circle with an arm around the face is completed. The pattern PT2 represents the posture of the person when the operation of crossing arms in front of the face is completed. Therefore, the pattern recognition process corresponds to a process of comparing the static posture of the person every 1/60 seconds with each of the patterns PT1 and PT2 among the dynamic actions of the person.

  In this embodiment, “person movement” is synonymous with “person movement”, “person behavior”, “person action”, and the like.

  When a person matching the pattern PT1 appears in the object detection area DET while the moving image recording process is stopped, the recording control task executes a reset & start of the timer TM1 that measures 3 seconds, and further corresponds to the pattern PT1. The color of the person indicating the posture to be performed (the color of the person: specifically, the color of the clothes worn by the person) is registered in the register RGST1 as attribute information. When a timeout occurs in the timer TM1, a recording start command is issued from the recording control task to the moving image imaging task.

  The moving image capturing task requests the I / F 38 to start the moving image recording process in response to the thus issued recording start command. The I / F 38 creates a moving image file on the recording medium 40, reads the image data stored in the SDRAM 32 through the memory control circuit 30, and writes the read image data to the created moving image file.

  When a person image matching the pattern PT2 appears in the object detection area DET while the moving image recording process is activated, the recording control task detects the color of the person showing the pattern PT2, and the detected color is registered in the register RGST1. It is determined whether or not it matches the color registered in. If the two colors of interest match, the recording control task issues a recording end command to the moving image imaging task.

  The moving image capturing task requests the I / F 38 to end the moving image recording process in response to the recording end command thus issued. The I / F 38 stops writing the image data to the moving image file and closes the moving image file. Thereafter, the moving image capturing task requests the I / F 38 to delete image data corresponding to the last 3 seconds of the image data stored in the moving image file. The requested image data is deleted from the moving image file by the I / F 38.

  When the object scene belonging to the object detection area DET changes in the order of FIG. 5 (A) → FIG. 5 (B) → FIG. 5 (C), the processing operation is executed as follows. Note that, according to FIGS. 5A to 5C, the person HM1 disappears from the object detection area DET after showing an operation of drawing a circle with his / her arm around the face. The person HM1 appears again in the object detection area DET after several tens of seconds, and shows an operation of crossing arms in front of the face.

  The pattern PT1 is recognized when the person HM1 completes the operation of drawing a circle with his arms around the face. The clothing color of the person HM1 is registered in the register RGST1, and the moving image recording process is started after 3 seconds (see FIG. 6). When the person HM1 appears again in the object detection area DET and shows an operation of crossing arms in front of the face, the pattern PT2 is recognized. Since the color of the clothes of the person HM1 matches the color registered in the register RGST1, the moving image recording process is promptly stopped (see FIG. 6). Of the recorded moving images, the moving image corresponding to the last 3 seconds is deleted from the recording medium 40 (see FIG. 6).

  The CPU 26 executes a plurality of tasks in parallel including a moving image imaging task shown in FIG. 7, an imaging parameter adjustment task shown in FIG. 8, and a recording control task shown in FIGS. Note that control programs corresponding to these tasks are stored in the flash memory 42.

  Referring to FIG. 7, in step S1, a moving image capturing process is executed. As a result, a through image is output from the LCD monitor 36. In step S3, it is determined whether or not a recording start command has been issued. When the determination result is updated from NO to YES, the process proceeds to step S5 to request the I / F 38 to start the moving image recording process. The I / F 38 creates a moving image file on the recording medium 40, reads the image data stored in the SDRAM 32 through the memory control circuit 30, and writes the read image data to the created moving image file.

  In step S7, it is determined whether or not a recording end command has been issued. When the determination result is updated from NO to YES, the process proceeds to step S9 to request the I / F 38 to end the moving image recording process. The I / F 38 stops writing the image data to the moving image file and closes the moving image file. In step S11, the I / F 38 is requested to delete image data corresponding to the last 3 seconds of the image data stored in the moving image file. As a result, the requested image data is deleted by the I / F 38. When the process of step S11 is completed, the process returns to step S3.

  Referring to FIG. 8, in step S21, the exposure amount and focus are initialized, and in step S23, it is determined whether or not a vertical synchronization signal Vsync has been generated. When the determination result is updated from NO to YES, the luminance evaluation value is fetched from the AE evaluation circuit 22 in step S25, and the AE process is executed in step S27. As a result, the brightness of the moving image displayed on the LCD monitor 36 is appropriately adjusted. In step S29, the focus evaluation value is fetched from the AF evaluation circuit 24, and in step S31, continuous AF processing is executed. Thereby, the sharpness of the moving image displayed on the LCD monitor 40 is continuously maintained at a high value. When the process of step S31 is completed, the process returns to step S23.

  Referring to FIG. 9, in step S41, flag FLG is set to “0”. The flag FLG is a flag for identifying whether the moving image recording process is in a start state or a stop state. FLG = 0 indicates a stop state, while FLG = 1 indicates a start state.

  In step S43, it is determined whether or not the vertical synchronization signal Vsync is generated. When the determination result is updated from NO to YES, the process proceeds to step S45, and pattern recognition processing for searching for the pattern PT1 and / or PT2 from the latest one-frame object scene image stored in the SDRAM 32 is executed.

  In step S47, it is determined whether or not the pattern PT1 has been successfully recognized. In step S49, the state of the flag FLG is determined. If the pattern PT1 is successfully recognized in the state where the flag FLG indicates “0” (= the moving image recording process is stopped), YES is determined in steps S47 and S49, and the timer TM1 is reset and started in step S51. Execute. In a succeeding step S53, the color of the person showing the posture corresponding to the pattern PT1 is registered in the register RGST1. When the registration process is completed, the process returns to step S43.

  If the pattern PT1 is successfully recognized in the state where the flag FLG indicates “1” (= the moving image recording process is activated), NO is determined in step S49, and the processes in steps S51 to S53 are executed. It returns to step S43, without doing.

  If “NO” in the step S47, it is determined whether or not a timeout has occurred in the timer TM1 in a step S55. When the determination result is updated from NO to YES, a recording start command is issued in step S57, and the flag FLG is updated to “1” in step S59. When the update process is completed, the process returns to step S43.

  If “NO” in the step S55, it is determined whether or not the pattern PT2 is successfully recognized in a step S61. If the determination result is YES, the color of the person showing the posture corresponding to the pattern PT2 is detected in step S63, and whether or not the detected color matches the color registered in the register RGST1 is determined in step S65. . If the two colors of interest match, a recording end command is issued in step S67, and the timer TM1 is stopped in step S69. In step S71, the flag FLG is updated to “0”. When the update process is completed, the process returns to step S43.

  If “NO” in the step S61, the process returns to the step S43 without executing the processes after the step S63. If NO in step S65, the process returns to step S43 without executing the processes in and after step S67.

  As can be seen from the above description, the image sensor 16 has an imaging surface for capturing the object scene and repeatedly outputs the object scene image. The I / F 38 executes a moving image recording process in which the object scene image repeatedly output from the image sensor 16 is recorded as a moving image. The CPU 26 activates the moving image recording process when a person belonging to the scene shows an action of drawing a circle around the face with his arms (S57), and when the same person shows an action of crossing his arms in front of the face The movie recording process is stopped (S67).

  As described above, the moving image recording process is started / stopped according to the movement of the person appearing in the scene. Therefore, the button operation for starting / stopping the moving image recording process becomes unnecessary, and the operability is improved.

  In this embodiment, since the moving image capturing task is activated by performing pattern recognition processing on the captured image data, parts such as a remote control light receiving unit are unnecessary, and downsizing and cost reduction can be realized. it can.

  In this embodiment, the color of the clothes of the person showing the posture corresponding to the pattern PT1 is registered in the register RGST1, but instead, the face of the person showing the posture corresponding to the pattern PT1 is displayed. It may be registered in the register RGST1.

  In this embodiment, it is assumed that a person is captured in the object detection area DET (see FIGS. 5A to 5C). For example, the same clothes as a baseball team uniform are used. It is also conceivable to capture a plurality of worn persons in the object detection area DET. Then, the above-described embodiment in which the clothes color is registered in the register RGST1 may be suitable for photographing a set of a plurality of persons wearing the same clothes.

  Further, in this embodiment, a consumer digital video camera is assumed, but the present invention can also be applied to a surveillance camera. Here, if the lighting of the light appearing in the scene is used as the start condition of the video recording process and the same light is turned off as the stop condition of the video recording process, only the monitoring video in the time zone when the light is on Can be monitored and recorded.

  In this embodiment, a moving image file is created on an external recording medium. However, the moving image file may be created in a memory built in the electronic camera body.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Digital video camera 16 ... Image sensor 20 ... Camera processing circuit 26 ... CPU
32 ... SDRAM
42: Flash memory

Claims (6)

Imaging means for repeatedly outputting an object scene image;
Recording means for recording the object scene image repeatedly output from the imaging means as a moving image;
Start means for starting the recording means when an object satisfying the first condition appears in the object scene, and stop means for stopping the recording means when an object satisfying the second condition appears in the object scene Equipped with an electronic camera. The first condition includes a first motion condition that an object of interest in the object scene exhibits a first motion,
The electronic camera according to claim 1, wherein the second condition includes a second motion condition in which an object of interest in the object scene exhibits a second motion. Registration means for registering an attribute of an object satisfying the first condition;
3. The electronic camera according to claim 1, wherein the second condition includes an attribute condition that an attribute of an object of interest in the object scene is along an attribute registered by the registration unit.   4. The electronic camera according to claim 1, wherein the activation unit activates the recording unit when a first time has elapsed since the appearance of an object satisfying the first condition.   5. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a deletion unit that deletes a part of the moving image corresponding to a second time until the appearance of an object that satisfies the second condition among the moving images recorded by the recording unit. The electronic camera described in Crab. An imaging control method executed by an electronic camera including an imaging unit that repeatedly outputs an object scene image, and a recording unit that records the object scene image repeatedly output from the imaging unit as a moving image,
A starting step of starting the recording means when an object satisfying the first condition appears in the object scene; and a stopping step of stopping the recording means when an object satisfying the second condition appears in the object field. An imaging control method is provided.

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