JP2011091660A - Imaging apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an imaging apparatus that can adjust white balance based on image data intended by a user. <P>SOLUTION: The imaging apparatus includes: an imager; a display unit that can display an image captured by the imager and has a touch panel function for receiving an input from a user; white balance adjuster for adjusting white balance of an image captured by the imager; and a specifying unit for specifying an area having color information as same as color information of a position in which an input is received from the user, from the image displayed by the display unit. The white balance adjuster makes white balance adjustment of an image captured by the imager based on the color information of the area specified by the specifying unit. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an imaging apparatus, and more particularly to an imaging apparatus having a white balance adjustment function.

  Patent Document 1 discloses an electronic camera that performs white balance adjustment based on image data in a rectangular area (50 pixels × 50 pixels) around an arrow cursor position displayed on a viewfinder.

  Thereby, this electronic camera can perform white balance adjustment using a predetermined region of the image to be captured.

JP 2001-136539 A

  However, in the electronic camera disclosed in Patent Document 1, the color of the region of 50 pixels × 50 pixels around the position selected by the arrow cursor is not always white. Therefore, there is a risk that white balance adjustment may be performed based on image data at a position not intended by the user in the image data.

  The present invention solves such a problem, and an object thereof is to provide an imaging apparatus capable of performing white balance adjustment based on image data intended by a user.

  In order to solve the above problems, an imaging apparatus according to the present invention includes an imaging unit, a display unit capable of displaying an image captured by the imaging unit, and having a touch panel function for receiving an input from a user, and an imaging unit. A white balance adjusting unit that adjusts the white balance of the image captured by the image processing unit, and a specifying unit that identifies an area having color information equivalent to the color information at the position received from the user in the image displayed by the display unit The white balance adjustment means adjusts the white balance of the image captured by the imaging means based on the color information of the area specified by the specifying means.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the imaging device which can perform white balance adjustment based on the image data which a user intends can be provided.

The block diagram which shows the structure of the digital video camera 100 Flow chart for explaining the white balance adjustment function of the digital video camera 100 Schematic diagram of display on liquid crystal monitor 270 when using the white balance adjustment function of digital video camera 100 Schematic diagram of display on liquid crystal monitor 270 when using the white balance adjustment function of digital video camera 100

[1. Embodiment 1]
An example in which the present invention is applied to a digital video camera will be described with reference to the drawings.

[1-1. Overview〕
The digital video camera 100 has a white balance adjustment function. The liquid crystal monitor 270 of the digital video camera 100 has a touch panel function. The user can select a part of the image displayed on the liquid crystal monitor by touching the surface of the liquid crystal monitor 270.

  The digital video camera 100 performs white balance adjustment based on image information at a position where a touch operation is received from the user.

[1-2. Constitution〕
[1-2-1. Electrical configuration)
The electrical configuration of the digital video camera 100 according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of the digital video camera 100. The digital video camera 100 captures a subject image formed by an optical system including a zoom lens 110 and the like with a CCD image sensor 180. The image data generated by the CCD image sensor 180 is subjected to various processes by the image processing unit 190 and stored in the memory card 240. The image data stored in the memory card 240 can be displayed on the liquid crystal monitor 270. Hereinafter, the configuration of the digital video camera 100 will be described in detail.

  The optical system of the digital video camera 100 includes a zoom lens 110, an OIS 140, and a focus lens 170. The zoom lens 110 can enlarge or reduce the subject image by moving along the optical axis of the optical system. The focus lens 170 adjusts the focus of the subject image by moving along the optical axis of the optical system.

  The OIS 140 includes a correction lens that can move in a plane perpendicular to the optical axis. The OIS 140 reduces the shake of the subject image by driving the correction lens in a direction that cancels the shake of the digital video camera 100.

  The zoom motor 130 drives the zoom lens 110. The zoom motor 130 may be realized by a pulse motor, a DC motor, a linear motor, a servo motor, or the like. The zoom motor 130 may drive the zoom lens 110 via a mechanism such as a cam mechanism or a ball screw. The detector 120 detects where the zoom lens 110 exists on the optical axis. The detector 120 outputs a signal related to the position of the zoom lens by a switch such as a brush in accordance with the movement of the zoom lens 110 in the optical axis direction.

  The OIS actuator 150 drives the correction lens in the OIS 140 in a plane perpendicular to the optical axis. The OIS actuator 150 can be realized by a planar coil or an ultrasonic motor. The detector 160 detects the amount of movement of the correction lens in the OIS 140.

  The CCD image sensor 180 captures a subject image formed by an optical system including the zoom lens 110 and generates image data. The CCD image sensor 180 performs various operations such as exposure, transfer, and electronic shutter.

  The image processing unit 190 performs various processes on the image data generated by the CCD image sensor 180. The image processing unit 190 performs processing on the image data generated by the CCD image sensor 180 to generate image data to be displayed on the liquid crystal monitor 270 or to store image data to be stored in the memory card 240 again. Or generate. For example, the image processing unit 190 performs various processes such as gamma correction, white balance correction, and flaw correction on the image data generated by the CCD image sensor 180. In addition, the image processing unit 190 compresses the image data with respect to the image data generated by the CCD image sensor 180 by a compression format or the like conforming to the JPEG standard. The image processing unit 190 can be realized by a DSP or a microcomputer.

  The controller 210 is a control means for controlling the whole. The controller 210 can be realized by a semiconductor element or the like. The controller 210 may be configured only by hardware, or may be realized by combining hardware and software. The controller 210 can be realized by a microcomputer or the like.

  The memory 200 functions as a work memory for the image processing unit 190 and the controller 210. The memory 200 can be realized by, for example, a DRAM or a ferroelectric memory.

  The liquid crystal monitor 270 can display an image indicated by image data generated by the CCD image sensor 180 and an image indicated by image data read from the memory card 240. The liquid crystal monitor 270 has a touch panel function. When a specific point on the liquid crystal monitor 270 is touched by the user, the controller 210 can recognize where on the liquid crystal monitor 270 is touched by the user.

  The gyro sensor 220 is composed of a vibration material such as a piezoelectric element. The gyro sensor 220 vibrates a vibration material such as a piezoelectric element at a constant frequency, converts a force generated by the Coriolis force into a voltage, and obtains angular velocity information. By obtaining angular velocity information from the gyro sensor 220 and driving a correction lens in the OIS in a direction to cancel out the shaking, the digital video camera 100 corrects camera shake by the user.

  The card slot 230 is detachable from the memory card 240. The card slot 230 can be mechanically and electrically connected to the memory card 240. The memory card 240 includes a flash memory, a ferroelectric memory, and the like, and can store data.

  The internal memory 280 is configured by a flash memory, a ferroelectric low memory, or the like. The internal memory 280 stores a control program for controlling the entire digital video camera 100 and the like.

  The operation member 250 is a member that receives an image capturing instruction from the user. The zoom lever 260 is a member that receives a zoom magnification change instruction from the user.

[1-2-2. Correspondence with the present invention)
The CCD image sensor 180 is an example of an imaging unit of the present invention. The liquid crystal monitor 270 is an example of the display means of the present invention. The controller 210 is an example of the white balance adjusting means of the present invention. The controller 210 is an example of the specifying unit of the present invention.

[1-3. (White balance adjustment)
White balance adjustment in the digital video camera 100 will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 2 is a flowchart for explaining the white balance adjustment function in the digital video camera 100. FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram for explaining a user interface when setting the white balance adjustment in the digital video camera 100.

  The user can set the digital video camera 100 to the shooting mode by operating a mode setting button (not shown) (S100). When the digital video camera 100 is set to the shooting mode, the controller 210 determines whether or not the white balance adjustment mode is selected by the user (S110).

  If it is determined that the user has selected the white balance adjustment mode, the controller 210 determines whether or not the liquid crystal monitor 270 has been touched by the user (S120). For example, as shown in FIG. 3, the user can touch an arbitrary point on the liquid crystal monitor 270 using a touch pen or the like.

  If it is determined that the liquid crystal monitor 270 is touched by the user, the controller 210 specifies an area having the same color as the color of the touched point (S130). Here, the region of the same color is a region existing in an uninterrupted range around the touched point. Next, how to specify the same color range will be described.

  First, the image processing unit 190 converts RGB data captured by the CCD image sensor 180 into HSV data. Here, the HSV data is data composed of H (hue), S (saturation), and V (intensity). In this way, in the chromatic color region of the HSV data, unlike RGB data, it is pure color information that does not include brightness. Therefore, HSV data is suitable for specifying a color as compared with RGB data. The controller 210 refers to the HSV data to detect a color area equivalent to the color of the point touched by the user.

  When the equivalent color area is specified, the liquid crystal monitor 270 displays a thick line on the outline of the specified area (S140). When the thick line is displayed, the liquid crystal monitor 270 displays, as shown in FIG. 4, for example, asking the user whether white balance adjustment may be performed based on the color information in the thick line (S140).

  When this display is performed, the controller 210 determines whether or not white balance adjustment is permitted by the user (S150). If it is determined that the user has permitted, the controller 210 performs white balance adjustment based on the color information within the bold line (S160).

As described above, the digital video camera 100 according to the present embodiment specifies an area having a color equivalent to the color of the point selected by the user, and performs white balance adjustment based on the color information of the specified area. . Thus, the user can cause the digital video camera 100 to perform appropriate white balance by selecting only one point.
[2. Other Embodiments]
As described above, the first embodiment has been described as the embodiment of the present invention. However, the present invention is not limited to these. Therefore, other embodiments of the present invention will be described collectively in this section.

  The optical system and drive system of the digital camera 100 according to the present embodiment are not limited to those shown in FIG. For example, although FIG. 1 illustrates an optical system having a three-group configuration, a lens configuration having another group configuration may be used. In addition, each lens may be composed of one lens or a lens group composed of a plurality of lenses.

  In the first embodiment, the CCD image sensor 180 is exemplified as the imaging unit, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, it may be composed of a CMOS image sensor or an NMOS image sensor.

  In addition to automatically specifying the range, the WB adjustment range is not limited to the method of selecting a polygon when the photographer touches a plurality of points. It can also be performed by a method of selecting a quadrangular area having a diagonal of two points or a circular area having a radius.

  The present invention can be applied to an imaging apparatus such as a digital video camera or a digital still camera.

100 Digital Camera 110 Zoom Lens 120 Detector 130 Zoom Motor 140 OIS
150 OIS Actuator 160 Detector 170 Focus Lens 180 CCD Image Sensor 190 Image Processing Unit 200 Memory 210 Controller 220 Gyro Sensor 230 Card Slot 240 Memory Card 250 Operation Member 260 Zoom Lever 270 Liquid Crystal Monitor 280 Internal Memory

Claims (1)

Imaging means;
Display means capable of displaying an image picked up by the image pickup means and having a touch panel function for receiving an input from a user;
White balance adjusting means for adjusting white balance of an image captured by the imaging means;
A specifying means for specifying an area having color information equivalent to the color information of the position where the input is received from the user, of the image displayed by the display means,
The white balance adjustment unit performs white balance adjustment of an image captured by the imaging unit based on color information of an area specified by the specifying unit.
Imaging device.

Images