JP2011070601A - Device, and method for managing image, and computer program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To reduce memories for work required in photographing an object such as a visiting card with characters written using a camera and registering the characters on the object in a telephone directory or the like. <P>SOLUTION: An image management device determines the number of pixels corresponding to the size of characters of the object, photographs and stores photographed data of the determined number of pixels, recognizes the characters of the object from the stored photographed data, generates and stores storage data of the number of pixels that can visualize the characters of the object, from the stored photographed data and then deletes the photographed data. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a technique for recognizing characters of an image as character data.

  In recent years, many mobile terminals such as mobile phones are equipped with a digital camera, and the number of pixels to be captured is increasing. A business card is photographed using the digital camera, and a photographed image of the business card is stored in a portable terminal.

  On the other hand, miniaturization of portable terminals is progressing, and accordingly, the size of the display screen is limited.

  Therefore, when an entire business card is displayed on one screen as in a normal landscape photograph, small characters such as telephone numbers cannot be read and cannot be viewed unless enlarged.

  Therefore, a technique for improving the operability unique to a business card by devising the display of a captured image of the business card has been proposed.

  For example, when a portion where a telephone number is described is displayed, it is displayed in an enlarged manner, and it is possible to input a telephone number while displaying a portion where a telephone number is described (Patent Literature). 1 etc.).

  In addition, a character is recognized from a captured image of a business card, a telephone number or the like is registered in the phone book, and a captured image of the business card is registered as an icon.

  Since the camera is highly functional and the resolution is high, the phone number can be read because the image is clear even when enlarged, and the character of the image can be recognized and converted to character data. It has become.

JP 2006-71827 A

  However, since the cameras have become more sophisticated and the number of pixels has been increased (resolution has been increased), the size of the data of the captured images of business cards has become large.

  On the other hand, mobile terminals that are becoming increasingly sophisticated and multifunctional have functions that require a large amount of work memory when operating. Further, when a plurality of functions are operated in parallel, a working memory having a capacity combined with working memories necessary for the operation of each function is required.

  However, in portable terminals that are becoming smaller in addition to higher functionality and multi-function, there is a limit to the memory that can be mounted, and effective use of work memory is desired.

  Therefore, the present invention has an object to reduce a working memory required when a subject on which characters such as business cards are written is photographed with a camera and characters of the subject are registered in a telephone directory or the like. .

  An image management apparatus according to an aspect of the present invention includes a determination unit that determines the number of pixels according to a character size of a subject, and an imaging unit that captures the subject and outputs shooting data of the determined number of pixels. Shooting data storage means for storing shooting data output by the imaging means, character reading means for recognizing characters of the subject from shooting data stored in the shooting data storage means, and shooting data storage means Storage data generation means for generating storage data of the number of pixels that can visually recognize the character of the subject from the captured data stored in the storage data storage means for storing the storage data, Have

  The image management apparatus having the above configuration can reduce a work memory required when a subject on which characters such as business cards are written is photographed by a camera and characters of the subject are registered in a telephone directory or the like. .

It is a figure which shows the example of the screen at the time of the external appearance of a mobile telephone, and a telephone directory display. It is a figure which shows the place which looked at the mobile phone at the time of business card photography from the front. It is a figure which shows the example of the transition of a screen when the personal information of a telephone directory is displayed on a display. It is a figure which shows the flow etc. of the imaging | photography data in a business card registration process. It is a block diagram which shows the example of a functional structure of a mobile telephone. It is a figure which shows the example of a structure and content of a conversion table. It is a figure which shows the example of a structure and content of telephone directory data. It is a flowchart of the business card registration process of a mobile phone. It is a flowchart of the business card image display process of the personal information registered in the telephone directory.

<Embodiment>
A camera mounted on a portable terminal or the like has a main purpose of photographing landscapes and people, and a camera with high resolution is preferable so that a beautiful photographed image is obtained.

  However, what is required for a photographed image of a business card is not that it is a beautiful image, but that the characters on the business card can be read, that the characters on the business card can be recognized by OCR (Optical Character Recognition), etc. For example, the mark can be visually recognized.

  Therefore, the resolution required for a photographed image photographed by a camera is inevitably different from that required for a photographed image obtained by photographing a landscape or the like, and that required for a photographed image obtained by photographing a business card.

  The mobile terminal or the like of the embodiment has a business card registration function for capturing a business card with a camera and registering it in the phone book separately from capturing a landscape or the like.

  Hereinafter, a mobile phone having the business card registration function of the embodiment will be described.

  FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of the appearance of a mobile phone 1000 according to the embodiment and a screen when a phone book is displayed.

  The cellular phone 1000 is a so-called foldable cellular phone, and FIG. 1 shows the opened cellular phone 1000 as viewed from the front.

  The cellular phone 1000 includes a first housing 1001, a second housing 1002, and a hinge 1003 that couples these.

  The first housing 1001 includes a display 2000.

  When the user displays the phone book, the display 2000 displays two screens side by side. A personal information display screen 2010 and a soft key display screen 2020.

  The personal information display screen 2010 is a screen for displaying the contents of personal information registered in the phone book, and displays character data such as a telephone number and icons 2001 as personal information. As the icon 2001, a face photograph, a design, and the like can be displayed. In FIG. 1, a horizontal business card icon 2001 is displayed.

  The soft key display screen 2020 is a screen for displaying soft keys used in an operation for displaying a phone book. The displayed soft keys differ depending on the contents displayed on the personal information display screen 2010 and the position of the cursor.

  For example, the soft key “correct” displayed on the soft key display screen 2020 in FIG. 1 is a key for correcting the currently displayed personal information. “Call” is a key for making a call to a telephone number displayed on the personal information display screen 2010. “Menu” is a key for displaying a menu.

  The second housing 1002 includes operation keys. The operation keys are classified into a soft key corresponding key 10, a function key 20, and a character input key 30.

  Of the keys 10 corresponding to the soft keys, the key 11 corresponds to a central soft key, which is “call” in FIG. The key 13 and the key 14 correspond to the left soft key “modify” and the soft key “menu”, respectively.

  Of the soft key corresponding keys 10, the key 12 is a key used to move the cursor displayed on the display 2000 up, down, left and right. Hereinafter, it is referred to as “cursor key 12”.

  The key “call” of the function key 20 is a telephone call key, and the key “disconnect” is a telephone call disconnect key. The key “Clear” is a key for erasing characters when inputting characters.

  The character input key 30 is a so-called numeric keypad, and is a key for inputting characters associated with each key. In FIG. 1, numbers are described for each key, but “A” to “W” are associated with the numbers. For example, “A” is assigned to the key “1”, and “K” is assigned to the key “2”.

  Here, the usage of the business card registration function in the mobile phone 1000 will be described with reference to FIGS.

  A case where a business card is photographed will be described with reference to FIG. In addition, the case of referring to a taken business card will be described with reference to FIG. In describing these, reference is made to FIG.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a flow of shooting data in the business card registration process. Details of each functional unit such as the imaging unit 1300 in FIG. 4 will be described in the section <Function>.

  First, a case where a business card is photographed will be described. In the embodiment, when a business card is photographed by starting the camera in the “business card photographing mode” using the business card registration function, it is automatically registered in the telephone directory.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the mobile phone 1000 viewed from the front during business card photography.

  In order to register a business card, a user first takes a business card.

  Specifically, the camera (corresponding to the imaging unit 1300 in FIG. 4) is activated in the “business card shooting mode” to enable the business card registration function. When the camera is activated, guide frames 2101 are displayed at the four corners of the display 2000 in order to align the images of business cards to be photographed.

  The user presses the key 11 corresponding to “shooting” so that the business card image fits in the guide frame 2101 displayed on the display 2000. In this case, the business card may be turned upside down and the characters may lie down. The image may be rotated manually or automatically every 90 degrees later. If the image is recognized by OCR and the character recognition rate is low, the image is rotated. Again, the image is recognized again by OCR and rotated when the recognition rate is the highest. The obtained image may be an image in which the direction of the business card is correct.

  The business card image 3001 photographed by the imaging unit 1300 is stored in the business card registration work storage unit 3000 (see FIG. 4).

  From this business card image 3001, character data such as a name is recognized by the character recognition unit 1500, and the name or the like is stored in the phone book storage unit 3200 (see the phone book data 3210 in FIG. 4).

  The business card image 3001 is stored in the business card image storage unit 3100 as a business card image 3101 in which the orientation of characters is correctly corrected. The business card image 3101 is given an identifier, for example, “G002”.

  When this business card image 3101 is stored, the business card image 3001 in the business card registration work storage unit 3000 is deleted. In other words, the business card registration work storage unit 3000 only needs to have an area in which the business card image 3001 can be stored.

  Next, FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of screen transition when the user displays personal information in the phone book on the display 2000. FIG. In FIG. 3, an inverted character or a bold rectangle indicates a position focused by the cursor.

  The user operates the menu or the like to display the personal information of “Oyama △ male” from the telephone directory (see screen 2201 in FIG. 3). On the screen 2201, the telephone number is focused by the cursor.

  This screen 2201 is displayed on the display 2000 by the phone book display unit 1700 from the phone book data 3210 stored in the phone book storage unit 3200 and the business card image 3101 stored in the business card image storage unit 3100 ( (See screen 2201 in FIG. 4). A business card image 3101 with “G002” set as the “image” of the phone book data 3210 as an identifier is displayed.

  Here, the user operates the cursor key 12 to move the cursor to the icon 2001 (see the cursor 2204 on the screen 2202 in FIG. 3).

  In the state of the screen 2002, the user presses the key 11 corresponding to “enlarge” to instruct the enlargement display of the icon 2001.

  In accordance with a user instruction, the icon 2001 is enlarged and displayed (see screen 2203 in FIG. 3). Here, when the user further presses the key 11 corresponding to “enlarge” and instructs enlargement display, a further enlarged business card image is displayed. When the key 14 corresponding to “reduction” is pressed and reduction display is instructed, a reduced business card image is displayed. When the cursor key 12 is pressed to give an instruction to change the display position, the displayed business card portion moves in response to the instruction. In these displays, the business card image 3101 stored in the business card image storage unit 3100 is read and used as necessary.

  The reason why the user enlarges and displays the business card icon 2001 is to know information that the user wants to know. For example, in order to confirm whether or not the telephone number registered in the telephone directory is correct, the telephone number described on the business card is viewed, and the company logo described on the business card is confirmed.

  The difference between the business card image 3001 stored in the business card registration work storage unit 3000 and the business card image 3101 stored in the business card image storage unit 3100 is the number of pixels.

  The business card image 3001 is an image having the number of pixels that the character recognition unit 1500 can perform character recognition. The number of pixels varies depending on performance such as OCR for character recognition.

  On the other hand, the business card image 3101 is an image having a number of pixels that allows humans to visually recognize characters when displayed on the display 2000 (see screen 2203 in FIG. 3). Since the size of characters printed on the business card is limited, the number of pixels of the business card image 3101 can be determined in advance.

  The number of pixels is usually smaller in the business card image 3101 than in the business card image 3001. Accordingly, the compressed data to be stored is often smaller for the business card image 3101. For example, the data of the business card image 3001 in JPEG format is 960 KB (kilobytes), and the data of the business card image 3001 in JPEG format is compressed and becomes as small as 240 KB.

<Function>
Hereinafter, functions of the mobile phone 1000 will be described with reference to FIG.

  FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a functional configuration of the mobile phone 1000.

  The mobile phone 1000 has a call function and a mail function that the mobile phone normally has, but FIG. 5 shows only functional units related to the business card registration process.

  In FIG. 5, dotted arrows indicate the flow of business card data.

  The mobile phone 1000 includes an interface unit 1100, a business card registration control unit 1200, an imaging unit 1300, a shooting mode setting unit 1400, a character recognition unit 1500, a reduced image generation unit 1600, a telephone directory display unit 1700, a display 2000, and a business card registration work memory. A unit 3000, a business card image storage unit 3100, and a telephone directory storage unit 3200.

  The interface unit 1100 includes an operation key of the second casing 1002 and has a function of detecting an operation from the user, for example, a key press.

  The business card registration control unit 1200 has a function of issuing an instruction to each functional unit described below to perform a business card registration process.

  The imaging unit 1300 is a so-called camera and has a function capable of shooting in a plurality of shooting modes. Here, the shooting mode refers to the number of pixels and the number of colors of the shot image of the shooting data output by the imaging unit 1300.

  For example, there is a mode for outputting shooting data of 640 × 480 pixels of 16 colors.

  The shooting mode for shooting by the imaging unit 1300 is set by the shooting mode setting unit 1400.

  The imaging unit 1300 also stores shooting data as a result of shooting in the business card registration work storage unit 3000 in a predetermined format. This predetermined format is notified from the shooting mode setting unit 1400.

  Hereinafter, “photographing data” refers to pixel data. The “photographed image” refers to an image displayed on the display based on the photographing data.

  The shooting mode setting unit 1400 has a function of determining a shooting mode and setting the determined shooting mode in the imaging unit 1300. The method for determining the shooting mode will be described in the section <Method for determining shooting mode>.

  The character recognition unit 1500 is a so-called OCR, and has a function of recognizing characters of a captured image and outputting them as character data. The character recognition unit 1500 also has a function of notifying the shooting mode setting unit 1400 of the following two pieces of information.

  The first is information regarding the size of characters that can be recognized by the character recognition unit 1500 itself and the format of image data that can be processed. For example, it notifies that the character size is “vertical 5 dots”, the format “JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts Group)”, and the like.

  The second is information regarding the orientation of the captured image recognized by the character recognition unit 1500. The information regarding the orientation is information indicating how many times the photographed image needs to be rotated in order for the characters of the photographed image to be in the correct orientation. For example, when the captured image is tilted, the tilt angle is notified as information related to the orientation. When the captured image is upside down, “180 degrees” is notified as the direction information. Information other than the angle may be notified as information related to the direction.

  The reduced image generation unit 1600 has a function of generating photographic data for storage from the photographic data stored in the business card registration work storage unit 3000. The reduced image generation unit 1600 corrects the orientation of the photographic image of the photographic data stored in the business card registration work storage unit 3000 based on the information regarding the orientation of the photographic image notified by the character recognition unit 1500, and determines it in advance. Image data for storage having a certain number of pixels is generated.

  Further, the reduced image generation unit 1600 has a function of storing the generated image data for storage in the business card image storage unit 3100.

  The phone book display unit 1700 has a function of displaying a phone book. Specifically, the personal information is read from the telephone directory storage unit 3200 and displayed on the display 2000. Further, the photographed data is read from the business card image storage unit 3100 and displayed on the display 2000 as an icon 2001.

  The display 2000 includes a display panel such as a liquid crystal display, and has a function of displaying an image captured by the imaging unit 1300, personal information of a telephone directory, and the like.

  The business card registration work storage unit 3000 has a function of storing shooting data output by the imaging unit 1300 (hereinafter, also referred to as “working shooting data”). In FIG. 4, the work shooting data is data of a business card image 3001.

  The business card image storage unit 3100 has a function of storing image data for storage (hereinafter sometimes referred to as “image data for storage”). The stored photographing data is stored in association with the identifier. In FIG. 4, the stored shooting data is data of the business card image 3101.

  The telephone directory storage unit 3200 has a function of storing personal information such as telephone numbers. The personal information includes an image identifier for displaying the icon 2001. This identifier is the same as the identifier associated with the shooting data stored in the business card image storage unit 3100.

  All or part of the functions described above are realized by the CPU of the mobile phone 1000 executing a program recorded in the memory or the like of the mobile phone 1000.

<Data>
Next, data used in the mobile phone 1000 according to the embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS.

  FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of the configuration and contents of the conversion table 1410.

  This conversion table 1410 is a table used by the shooting mode setting unit 1400 to determine what shooting mode should be set in the imaging unit 1300.

  Before describing the conversion table 1410, a method for determining the shooting mode to be set by the shooting mode setting unit 1400 will be described.

<How to determine the shooting mode>
The shooting mode setting unit 1400 determines a shooting mode to be set in the imaging unit 1300 according to the performance of the character recognition unit 1500.

  Specifically, the shooting mode setting unit 1400 inquires of the character recognition unit 1500 about the minimum character size that can be recognized by the character recognition unit 1500 and the format that the character recognition unit 1500 can process. The minimum character size is indicated by the number of vertical dots of one character.

  The shooting mode setting unit 1400 determines a shooting mode that can be shot with a number of dots that exceeds the character size that can be recognized by the character recognition unit 1500 as a shooting mode to be set in the imaging unit 1300.

  It is possible to know in advance the minimum size of printed characters used in ordinary business cards. Therefore, the number of pixels necessary for the business card photographed image can be obtained from the size of the business card (for example, 91 mm × 55 mm), the minimum size of printed characters, and the like.

  The shooting mode setting unit 1400 determines a shooting mode that can guarantee the number of pixels necessary for the shot image of the business card as a shooting mode to be set in the imaging unit 1300 from among a plurality of shooting modes that can be set in the imaging unit 1300. When there are a plurality of shooting modes that can guarantee the number of pixels required for the business card shot image, the shooting mode with the smaller number of pixels is selected.

  By doing so, the business card registration work storage unit 3000 can store image data that can be recognized by the character and that is not wasteful.

  In addition, since the shooting mode is determined based on the performance inquired of the character recognition unit 1500, the character recognition unit 1500 is upgraded, or the character recognition unit 1500 having a different performance is replaced. However, there is no need to change other functional units.

  Note that the shooting mode setting unit 1400 notifies the imaging unit 1300 of the format received from the character recognition unit 1500. The imaging unit 1300 stores the shooting data in the notified format in the business card registration work storage unit 3000 in the notified format. This is to allow the photographed data to be directly passed to the character recognition unit 1500 for character recognition.

  Hereinafter, the conversion table 1410 will be described. This conversion table 1410 is stored in the photographing mode setting unit 1400 internally.

  The conversion table 1410 has a character size 1411, the number of pixels 1412, and a format 1413.

  A character size 1411 indicates a character size. Specifically, the vertical size of the character is indicated by the number of dots.

  The number of pixels 1412 indicates the number of pixels of the shooting data. That is, it indicates the minimum number of pixels that the business card shooting data should have.

  A format 1413 indicates a format of shooting data that can be processed by the character recognition unit 1500. “-” Indicates a bitmap.

  For example, it is assumed that the character size recognizable by the character recognition unit 1500 is “9 dots” and the processable format is “JPEG”. The shooting mode setting unit 1400 sets, in the character recognition unit 1500, a shooting mode capable of shooting a shot image of 1412 “320 × 240” dots or more corresponding to the character size 1411 “5 to 10” dots. Also. The shooting mode setting unit 1400 notifies the character recognition unit 1500 of “JPEG” as the format.

  Next, FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration and contents of the phone book data 3210.

  The phone book data 3210 is one piece of personal information, and usually a plurality of phone book data 3210 is stored in the phone book storage unit 3200.

  The phone book data 3210 includes items 3211 and contents 3212.

  An item 3211 indicates an item included in the phone book data 3210.

  A content 3212 indicates the content of the item indicated by the item 3211.

  For example, the item 3211 “name” indicates to whom the telephone book data 3210 is data, and the content 3212 is “○ mountain Δ male”. Therefore, the phone book data 3210 is personal information of “○ Yama △ male”.

  The item 3211 “image” indicates an identifier of an image related to the personal information of the telephone directory data 3210, and its content 3212 is “G002”. Therefore, the image identified by the identifier “G002” stored in the business card image storage unit 3100 is an image related to “Oyama △ male”.

<Operation>
Hereinafter, the operation of the mobile phone 1000 according to the embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 8 and 9.

  FIG. 8 is a flowchart of the business card registration process of the mobile phone 1000. FIG. 9 is a flowchart of business card image display processing of personal information registered in the telephone directory.

  A case where the user of the mobile phone 1000 registers a business card will be described with reference to FIG.

  The user selects the “business card shooting mode” from the menu and performs an operation to activate the camera.

  The interface unit 1100 that has detected an operation of starting the camera in the “business card photographing mode” (step S100) instructs the business card registration control unit 1200 to start the business card registration process.

  Upon receiving the instruction, the business card registration control unit 1200 inquires and acquires information related to the performance of the character recognition unit 1500 (step S110).

  Specifically, the character recognition unit 1500 is inquired of the character recognition unit 1500 about the minimum character size that can be recognized by the character recognition unit 1500 and the format that can be processed by the character recognition unit 1500 (step S200).

  The shooting mode setting unit 1400 that has received the performance information from the character recognition unit 1500 refers to the conversion table 1410 and determines the shooting mode. The method for determining the shooting mode is as described above in <Method for determining shooting mode>.

  The shooting mode setting unit 1400 that has determined the shooting mode sets the determined shooting mode in the imaging unit 1300, notifies the format received from the character recognition unit 1500, and activates the imaging unit 1300 (step S120).

  The activated imaging unit 1300 displays guide frames 2101 at the four corners of the display 2000 and displays captured images on the display 2000 (see FIG. 2).

  Here, the user presses the soft key 11 corresponding to “shoot” so that the image of the business card fits in the guide frame 2101 displayed on the display 2000.

  The interface unit 1100 that detects the pressing of the soft key 11 corresponding to “shoot” (step S130) notifies the imaging unit 1300 that the key has been pressed.

  Upon receiving the notification, the imaging unit 1300 generates the working shooting data in the format notified from the shooting mode setting unit 1400 and stores it in the business card registration work storage unit 3000 (step S140, business card image of FIG. 4). 3001).

  The interface unit 1100 that has notified the imaging unit 1300 that the soft key 11 corresponding to “shoot” has been pressed notifies the business card registration control unit 1200 that the imaging has been performed.

  Upon receiving the notification, the business card registration control unit 1200 requests the character recognition unit 1500 to recognize the character data from the work shooting data stored in the business card registration work storage unit 3000.

  Upon receiving a request to recognize the character data, the character recognition unit 1500 recognizes the character of the photographed image (see the business card image 3001 in FIG. 4) generated from the work photographing data, and uses the recognized character data as the business card registration control unit. It is passed to 1200 (step S150, step S210).

  Note that when registering the image data of a photographed business card by compressing it with JPEG or the like, it is desirable to keep the business card image data stored before compression upward. This is because JPEG is not lossless compression, and the image deteriorates every time the image is rotated after the original business card image is restored.

  In addition, the character recognition unit 1500 passes information related to the orientation of the captured image determined at the time of character recognition to the business card registration control unit 1200 (steps S160 and S220).

  The business card registration control unit 1200 to which the information related to the direction of the character information is passed passes the received information about the direction and requests the reduced image generation unit 1600 to generate the shooting data for storage.

  The reduced image generation unit 1600 that has received the request to generate the storage shooting data generates storage shooting data (see the business card image 3101 in FIG. 4) from the work shooting data and the information regarding the received orientation. It is stored in the business card image storage unit 3100. When storing, an identifier is assigned and stored in association with the identifier (step S170).

  The reduced image generation unit 1600 that stores the stored shooting data passes the associated identifier to the business card registration control unit 1200.

  Further, the reduced image generation unit 1600 deletes the work shooting data stored in the business card registration work storage unit 3000. That is, the area where the work shooting data is stored in the business card registration work storage unit 3000 is released (step S180).

  The business card registration control unit 1200 to which the character data is passed from the character recognition unit 1500 and the identifier is passed from the reduced image generation unit 1600 generates phone book data 3210 from the character data and the identifier and stores it in the phone book storage unit 3200. (See step S190, phone book data 3210 in FIG. 4 or FIG. 7).

  Next, a case where a business card image is displayed from personal information registered in the phone book by the user will be described with reference to FIG.

  The user performs an operation of designating information display by designating an individual registered in the telephone directory.

  The interface unit 1100 that has detected the operation for instructing the display of personal information (step S300) instructs the telephone directory display unit 1700 to start the display process of personal information.

  Receiving the instruction, the phone book display unit 1700 reads the designated personal phone book data 3210 (see FIG. 7) from the phone book storage unit 3200 (step S400).

  Further, the phone book display unit 1700 reads the identifier of the image set as the content 3212 of the item 3211 “image” of the read phone book data 3210 (step S410). Next, the telephone directory display unit 1700 reads out the stored shooting data associated with the read out identifier from the business card image storage unit 3100. The phone book display unit 1700 generates an icon 2001 (see FIG. 1), which is a smaller image, using the read storage data.

  The phone book display unit 1700 displays the read phone book data 3210 and the generated icon 2001 on the display 2000 (see step S310, screen 2201 in FIG. 4).

  Here, the user performs an operation for instructing movement of the cursor or an operation for instructing enlargement of the image.

  The interface unit 1100 that has detected the user's instruction (step S320) notifies the telephone directory display unit 1700 of the detected instruction.

  When the instruction is an instruction for enlarging an image (step S320: enlargement of image), the phone book display unit 1700 stores the stored shooting data associated with the identifier read from the phone book data 3210 as a business card image memory. The data is read from the unit 3100, displayed on the display 2000 (step S330), and waits for a user instruction.

  If the instruction is an end instruction (step S320: end), the telephone directory display unit 1700 ends the process.

  If the instruction is an instruction for other processing (step S320: other processing), other processing is performed according to the instruction (step S340), and the user's instruction is waited.

<Supplement>
As mentioned above, although embodiment of this invention was described, this invention may be as follows not only the said form.
(1) The character recognition unit 1500 according to the embodiment obtains the correct orientation of the business card based on the character recognition rate when recognizing characters from the work shooting data. Specifically, first, characters are recognized from the work shooting data. If the character recognition rate is lower than a predetermined value, the image data is further rotated 90 degrees or 180 degrees to recognize characters. Imaging data when the character recognition rate is the highest is regarded as the correct orientation of the subject.
(2) In the embodiment, each time a business card is photographed, it is registered in the phone book. However, it is also possible to register a plurality of work shooting data and then register them in the phone book.
(3) In the embodiment, the reduced image generation unit 1600 deletes the working shooting data after generating the saving shooting data from the working shooting data. However, in the case where the stored shooting data is not generated, the character recognition unit 1500 may delete the working shooting data after recognizing the character.
(4) The mobile phone 1000 may realize all or a part of each component shown in FIG.
(5) The mobile phone 1000 may be realized by all or part of the components shown in FIG. 5 or the like by a computer program, or may be implemented in any other form.

  In the case of a computer program, a program written on any recording medium such as a memory card or CD-ROM may be read and executed by a computer, or a program may be downloaded and executed via a network. Also good.

In the embodiment described above, the following notes are also disclosed.
(Appendix 1)
An image capturing device that captures an imaging target and obtains captured data, and an image management device that can cooperate with an output device,
An imaging means for acquiring imaging data for an imaging target including characters captured by the image imaging device;
Character reading means for recognizing characters from the photographed data;
A determining unit that determines the number of pixels of the captured image data to be stored in accordance with the size of the character included in the imaged data and the size of the character that can be read by the character reading unit;
A storage data storage means capable of storing the generated visually recognizable image data;
Saving data generating means for generating visible saving data and an identifier corresponding thereto from the photographing data, and storing the generated saving data and identifier in the saving data storage means;
Output means for outputting the storage data to the output device;
An image management apparatus comprising:
(Appendix 2)
Image capturing means for capturing an imaging target and acquiring captured data;
An imaging means for capturing an imaging target including characters and acquiring imaging data;
Character reading means for recognizing characters from the photographed data;
A determining unit that determines the number of pixels of the image data to be stored that can be visually recognized according to the size of the character included in the photographed data and the size of the character that can be read by the character reading unit;
A storage data storage means capable of storing the generated visually recognizable image data;
Save data generation means for generating visible save data and an identifier corresponding to the save data from the image data, and storing the generated save data and the identifier in the save data storage means;
Designating means for designating an identifier of storage data to be displayed from the storage data stored in the storage data storage means;
Display means for displaying storage data of the designated identifier on the screen;
An image management apparatus comprising:

10 Soft Key Corresponding Key 20 Function Key 30 Character Input Key 1000 Mobile Phone 1100 Interface Unit 1200 Business Card Registration Control Unit 1300 Imaging Unit 1400 Shooting Mode Setting Unit 1410 Conversion Table 1500 Character Recognition Unit 1600 Reduced Image Generation Unit 1700 Phone Book Display Unit 2000 Display 2001 Icon 2101 Guide frame 2204 Cursor 3000 Business card registration work storage unit 3001 3101 Business card image 3100 Business card image storage unit 3200 Telephone book storage unit 3210 Telephone book data

Claims (6)

Determining means for determining the number of pixels according to the size of the character of the subject;
Imaging means for imaging the subject and outputting imaging data of the determined number of pixels;
Shooting data storage means for storing shooting data output by the imaging means;
Character reading means for recognizing characters of the subject from shooting data stored in the shooting data storage means;
Storage data generation means for generating storage data for the number of pixels capable of visually recognizing characters of the subject from the shooting data stored in the shooting data storage means;
An image management apparatus comprising: a storage data storage unit that stores the storage data. The image management apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the determination unit determines the number of pixels of the shooting data that allows the character reading unit to recognize the character of the subject. When the character recognition unit recognizes a character from the photographed data, if the character recognition rate is lower than a predetermined value, the character reading unit further rotates the imaging data by 90 degrees or 180 degrees to recognize the character, The image management apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein imaging data when the recognition rate is high is regarded as a correct orientation of the subject and is replaced with the imaging data. The character reading unit deletes the photographic data after the character is recognized from the photographic data stored in the photographic data storage unit and after the storage data is stored in the storage data storage unit. The image management device according to any one of claims 1 to 3. An image management method for causing an image management apparatus that captures a subject and stores data for storage to manage the data,
Determine the number of pixels according to the size of the character of the subject,
Shooting the subject, outputting shooting data of the determined number of pixels,
The output shooting data is stored in shooting data storage means,
The character of the subject is recognized from the shooting data stored in the shooting data storage means;
From the shooting data stored in the shooting data storage means, generating storage data of the number of pixels that can visually recognize the character of the subject,
Storing the storage data in a storage data storage means;
An image management method for deleting the photographing data after the storage data is stored in the storage data storage means. A computer program that takes an image of a subject and causes an image management device that stores data for storage to manage the data,
Execute the decision process to decide the number of pixels according to the size of the subject character,
Shooting the subject, and executing an imaging process for outputting shooting data of the determined number of pixels,
Causing the shooting data storage means to store the shooting data output in the shooting process;
A character reading process for recognizing the character of the subject from the shooting data stored in the shooting data storage means;
From the shooting data stored in the shooting data storage means, the storage data generation processing for generating the storage data of the number of pixels that can visually recognize the character of the subject,
Causing the storage data storage means to store the storage data,
A computer program for executing processing for deleting the photographing data after the storage data is stored in the storage data storage means.

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