JP2011119832A - Image display device and image display method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To alleviate deterioration in visibility and retrieval when a photographed image is displayed on a map in a thumbnail fashion. <P>SOLUTION: A thumbnail overlapping judgement portion 10 performs overlapping judgement for determining whether each thumbnail image overlaps with a part of other thumbnail images at least or not, when a thumbnail image of a photographed image is displayed at a position dictated by photographing position information on a map. A representative thumbnail image determination portion 11 carries out grouping for a plurality of thumbnail images using the determined result of overlapping determination and photographing date and time information, and determines a representative thumbnail image representing a group so as not to overlap with any thumbnail images other than the same group. A display control portion 12 displays the representative thumbnail image and a thumbnail image belonged to neither of the groups at a position on the map dictated by the photographing position information on a display section 13, while it displays the map on the display section 13. As for thumbnail images other than the representative thumbnail image in each group, they are not displayed, or they are displayed in association with the representative thumbnail image. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an image display device and an image display method for displaying captured images as thumbnails on a map.

  In recent years, services that allow a user to display a captured image or a thumbnail image that is a reduced image thereof on a map have started. For example, a service for displaying a photograph on a map on an Internet site is known. In addition, by using a positioning function such as GPS (Global Positioning System), it is possible to acquire the position when the image is taken by the photographing device, and it is possible to display it on the display without being particularly conscious of the user. On the displayed map, the captured image or its thumbnail image can be displayed at the position where it was captured.

  With such a technique, the user can intuitively know where each of a large number of captured images is captured, and can manage images more easily.

  However, when a large number of images are taken at a location where the user is close, a large number of thumbnail images are displayed at substantially the same position depending on the scale of the map to be displayed. In such a case, in order to display all the thumbnail images on the map, it is necessary to display them in a superimposed manner or at a position away from the shooting position so as not to overlap (for example, see Patent Document 1). Such a display method has led to a decrease in image visibility and searchability.

  On the other hand, Patent Document 2 discloses a technique for preventing a decrease in visibility by grouping a plurality of images and displaying a representative symbol of the group at an average photographing position of images included in the group. .

JP 2007-322847 A Japanese Patent No. 4102933

  In Patent Document 2, since grouping is performed by specifying a range, visibility cannot be improved unless the user can perform appropriate grouping when displaying an image. In addition, even images that are included in a group but do not overlap with other thumbnails may be grouped and replaced with the symbols of the group to which they belong, thus reducing the searchability for the user to search for the target image There was a risk of causing it.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above, and it is an object of the present invention to provide an image display device and an image display method capable of reducing deterioration in visibility and searchability when captured images are displayed as thumbnails on a map. To do.

  According to an aspect of the present invention, an image information acquisition unit that acquires a captured image, image information including shooting position information and shooting date / time information of the captured image, and a thumbnail image based on the captured image at an arbitrary size A thumbnail image generation unit to be generated, a map display setting unit that displays a map image of an arbitrary scale and range based on map information, the map image, and the thumbnail image superimposed on the map image and displayed on the display unit A duplication determination that determines whether or not the display control unit to be overlapped with the thumbnail images of the captured image having the captured position information included in the map image range based on the captured position information and the size of the thumbnail image And the thumbnail image determined by the overlap determination unit to overlap with another thumbnail image are included in the range of the map image based on the shooting date / time information. A representative image determination unit that groups the thumbnail images having the shooting position information into one group and sets any one of the thumbnail images included in the group as a representative image of the group, and the display control unit includes: The representative image is displayed based on the photographing position information, and a thumbnail image other than the representative image included in the group is controlled to be hidden or displayed in association with the representative image of the group. An image display device is provided.

  According to another aspect of the present invention, the image information including the photographed image, the photographing position information of the photographed image and the photographing date / time information, and the map information are acquired, and the thumbnail image based on the photographed image has an arbitrary size. Whether the thumbnail images of the captured images having the captured position information included in the range of the map image displayed on the display unit based on the map information overlap with each other. The duplication determination determined based on the size is performed, and the thumbnail image determined to overlap with another thumbnail image in the overlap determination includes the shooting position information included in the range of the map image based on the shooting date / time information. Group with other thumbnail images in one group, and select one of the thumbnail images included in the group as a representative image of the group The map image and the representative image are superimposed on the map image and displayed on the display unit, and thumbnail images other than the representative image included in the group are hidden, or the group image An image display method is provided that displays the image in association with the representative image.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the fall of visibility and search property when a picked-up image is displayed as a thumbnail on a map can be reduced.

It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the image display apparatus which concerns on embodiment of this invention. 3 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of the image display device illustrated in FIG. 1. It is a figure which shows the size and imaging | photography position of a thumbnail image displayed on a map. It is a figure which shows an example of arrangement | positioning of the thumbnail image displayed on a map. It is a figure which shows the other example of arrangement | positioning of the thumbnail image displayed on a map. It is a figure which shows the further another example of arrangement | positioning of the thumbnail image displayed on a map.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an image display apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, an image display device 1 according to the present embodiment includes an operation input unit 2, an image information recording medium 3, an image information access unit 4, a map information recording medium 5, and a map information access unit. 6, a map display setting unit 7, a thumbnail size setting unit 8, a thumbnail image generation unit 9, a thumbnail duplication determination unit 10, a representative thumbnail image determination unit 11, a display control unit 12, a display unit 13, A resetting unit 14, a setting storage memory 15, and a control unit 16 are provided.

  The operation input unit 2 receives an operation input from the user, such as a keyboard, mouse, number keys, cross key, remote control and its light receiving unit, and the like, operation input regarding the range of the map to be displayed and its scale, and thumbnail images to be displayed on the map The interface includes an operation input related to size (view angle) and an operation input related to selection of thumbnail images displayed on the map. The operation status is displayed on the display unit 13, and the user can perform the next operation input while viewing the current state of the image display device 1.

  The image information recording medium 3 is a photographed image (original image) photographed by a photographing device such as a general digital still camera or digital video camera, photographing position information indicating a position at the time of photographing, and date of photographing. And image information including shooting date / time information indicating the time (shooting date / time).

  The shooting position information may be automatically acquired at the time of shooting using a GPS function or the like provided in the shooting device, or may be directly input by the user. Any information may be used as long as the position can be uniquely specified on the map. The shooting date / time information is automatically acquired at the time of shooting using a clock capable of acquiring the date and time. The shooting position information and the shooting date / time information are recorded on the image information recording medium 3 together with the image as Exif (Exchangeable Image File Format).

  If the shot image is not a still image but a moving image, the shooting date / time is an arbitrary date / time from the date / time the movie was shot to the end date / time, and information indicating the position at the shooting date / time is shooting position information. And

  The image information recording medium 3 may be a recording medium having a recording capacity capable of recording the image information, such as a hard disk or an optical disk. The image information recording medium 3 is not limited to a recording medium fixed in the image display device 1, but is an SD card. It may be a recording medium such as a semiconductor memory that can be detached from the image display device 1.

  The image information access unit 4 is for transmitting and receiving information to and from the image information recording medium 3, and has a function as an image information acquisition unit. The image information access unit 4 performs information acquisition, rewriting, modulation, information management, and the like according to the image information recording medium 3.

  The map information recording medium 5 is, for example, 1 / 1,000,000, 1 / 500,000, 1/250, 100,000, 1 / 50,000, 1 / 10,000, 1 / 2,500, 1/500, Pre-stores map information including multiple scale maps such as 1/1000 scale and names of topography such as mountains, mountain ranges, rivers, bays and bays, and additional information such as names of buildings, scenic spots, and addresses is doing. Map information is filed at each scale, and if it is 1/5000, 1_5000. dat is 1/2500 if it is 1/2500. It may be recorded so that the scale can be understood by the file name such as dat.

  Similar to the image information recording medium 3, the map information recording medium 5 is a recording medium having a recording capacity necessary for recording the map information, and is any one of recording media such as a semiconductor memory, an optical disk, and a magnetic tape. May be.

  In addition, in order to update the map information recorded in the map information recording medium 5 and to add map information such as other countries / regions, the image display device 1 is connected to a LAN (Local Area Network), USB (Universal Serial Bus). Provide an access unit to acquire information from other recording media such as input / output terminals, optical disk drives, card media slots, etc., and provide a management unit to manage the version information of already recorded map information Also good.

  The map information access unit 6 is for transmitting and receiving information to and from the map information recording medium 5, and performs acquisition, rewriting, modulation, information management, and the like of information according to the map information recording medium 5.

  The map display setting unit 7 reads out map information from the map information recording medium 5 via the map information access unit 6 and outputs the map information to the display control unit 12 based on an operation input related to the scale and range of the map to be displayed. As described above, if the map information is filed for each scale, an operation input for selecting one from a plurality of scales is performed by the operation input unit 2, so that the map display setting unit 7 becomes a map information access unit. A map information file to be read out can be designated in FIG.

  With respect to the range of the map to be displayed, for example, if the size of the display frame of the map on the display unit 13 is a fixed value, the operation input unit 2 only needs to be able to specify and input the center of the map to be displayed by latitude and longitude. For example, if a map with a scale of 1/5000 is displayed in a display frame of 20 cm in length and 10 cm in width, 100 cm is 0.02 cm on the display. It is only necessary to read out a range of 500 m to 250 m, 250 m to the east and 250 m to the west.

  In addition, the map display setting unit 7 transmits image information of all original images whose shooting positions are included in the map reading range from the image information recording medium 3 via the image information access unit 4 based on the map reading range. The acquired original image is output to the thumbnail image generation unit 9, and the shooting position information of the original image is output to the thumbnail duplication determination unit 10 together with the map scale information.

  The thumbnail size setting unit 8 outputs size information of the thumbnail image to the thumbnail image generation unit 9 and the thumbnail duplication determination unit 10 based on an operation input related to the size of the thumbnail image that is a reduced image of the original image displayed on the map.

  For example, when the thumbnail size setting unit 8 directly inputs the vertical and horizontal dimensions of the thumbnail image in units such as centimeters (cm) from the operation input unit 2, the thumbnail size setting unit 8 also sets the value, or one or more predetermined values. When the operation input unit 2 can select from the options, a value corresponding to the selected option is output to the thumbnail image generation unit 9 and the thumbnail duplication determination unit 10.

  In setting the thumbnail image size, when the user directly inputs a value indicating the size, the input with the 10 (ten) key is used. When the user selects and inputs from a plurality of options, the cross key or the like. It is better to perform an input operation with the direction key and the enter button. The unit of size may be inches or pixels. In addition, when specifying a size from a plurality of options, selectable options are held in a memory (not shown) provided in the thumbnail size setting unit 8 and are read out and presented to the user as necessary. .

  The thumbnail image generation unit 9 generates a thumbnail image based on the original image acquired from the map display setting unit 7 and the size information acquired from the thumbnail size setting unit 8. The thumbnail image generation unit 9 generates a thumbnail image by resizing and re-encoding the original image once decoded.

  It should be noted that once generated thumbnail images are recorded in the image information recording medium 3 in association with the original images, and thereafter, when displaying thumbnail images of the same size as the original images, the thumbnail images are recorded again without being generated. The thumbnail image may be read out.

  The thumbnail duplication determination unit 10 displays a thumbnail on the map based on the scale acquired from the map display setting unit 7 and the shooting position information of the original image included in the display range and the size information of the thumbnail image acquired from the thumbnail size setting unit 8. When an image is displayed, duplication determination is performed to determine whether each thumbnail image overlaps at least a part with another thumbnail image. A determination result including information regarding the number of overlaps with other thumbnail images is output to the representative thumbnail image determination unit 11.

  The representative thumbnail image determination unit 11 groups a plurality of thumbnail images using the determination result of the thumbnail overlap determination unit 10 and the shooting date / time information of the original image corresponding to the thumbnail image, and overlaps with thumbnail images other than the same group. A representative thumbnail image representing the group is determined so as not to become a problem.

  The display control unit 12 displays the scale map set by the map display setting unit 7 on the display unit 13 within the set range, and controls to display each thumbnail image including the representative thumbnail image on the map.

  The display unit 13 includes a liquid crystal display or the like, and displays a map and a thumbnail image under the control of the display control unit 12. The display unit 13 is not limited to a display fixed to the image display device 1, and may be configured by a display device connected to the outside of the image display device 1.

  The resetting unit 14 acquires the information about the scale and the range of the map set by the map display setting unit 7 and the size information of the thumbnail image set by the thumbnail size setting unit 8 and stores them in the setting storage memory 15. Remember. Thereby, the setting storage memory 15 stores at least the latest information regarding the scale of the map, the information regarding the range, and the size information of the thumbnail image.

  The resetting unit 14 compares the input setting with the setting stored in the setting storage memory 15 when there is an input related to any of the map scale, range, and thumbnail image size from the operation input unit 2. If there is one or more non-matching settings, that is, if there is a setting change, each unit is controlled to perform generation of a thumbnail image, determination of duplication, determination of a representative thumbnail image, etc. according to the changed setting.

  The control unit 16 comprehensively controls each unit provided in the image display device 1.

  Next, the operation of the image display apparatus 1 will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. The following series of processing is executed under the control of the control unit 16 unless otherwise specified.

  When image display is started by turning on the power of the image display device 1 or an operation input from the operation input unit 2, first, in step S10, the map display setting unit 7 displays the scale of a selectable map and a readable range. It is displayed on the display unit 13 via the control unit 12, and the setting content selected by the user from this display is received from the operation input unit 2. Then, the map display setting unit 7 outputs information on the map scale and information on the range based on the operation input to the map information access unit 6 and the resetting unit 14. The resetting unit 14 stores in the setting storage memory 15 information regarding the scale of the map and information regarding the range input from the map display setting unit 7.

  Next, in step S20, the map information access unit 6 maps the specified range of the map information of the specified scale based on the information about the scale of the map and the information about the range input from the map display setting unit 7. Read from the information recording medium 5.

  Next, in step S30, the image information access unit 4 reads all the image information whose shooting position is within the range specified in step S10 from the image information stored in the image information recording medium 3.

  Next, in step S40, the thumbnail size setting unit 8 displays a settable thumbnail size or the like on the display unit 13 via the display control unit 12, and the thumbnail image to be displayed is displayed according to the operation input of the operation input unit 2 by the user. Set the size. Then, the thumbnail size setting unit 8 outputs the size information of the set thumbnail image to the thumbnail image generation unit 9, the thumbnail duplication determination unit 10, and the resetting unit 14. The resetting unit 14 stores the size information input from the thumbnail size setting unit 8 in the setting storage memory 15.

  Next, in step S50, the thumbnail image generation unit 9 generates a thumbnail image of the size set in step S40 from the original image read in step S30.

  When the captured image is a moving image, as described above, an arbitrary date and time from the start of shooting to the end of shooting is set as the shooting date and time, and information indicating the position at the shooting date and time is set as shooting position information. The thumbnail image generation unit 9 generates a thumbnail image of one image (still image) corresponding to the shooting date / time information and shooting position information.

  Next, in step S <b> 60, the thumbnail duplication determination unit 10 uses the scale acquired from the map display setting unit 7 and the shooting position information of the original image included in the display range and the size information of the thumbnail image acquired from the thumbnail size setting unit 8. Based on this, the above-described overlap determination is performed to determine whether there is a thumbnail image that overlaps with another thumbnail image at the display position on the map.

  As for the display position of the thumbnail image on the map, there should be a certain relationship between the value uniquely determined from the thumbnail image and the shooting position. For example, as shown in FIG. 3, when the size of the set thumbnail image is vertical s (m) × horizontal t (m), the intersection of bisectors that intersect perpendicularly is the center point of this thumbnail image. The center point may be displayed at the shooting position on the map.

  A method for determining overlap will be described. Assume that there are thumbnail images 22A, 22B, and 22C whose display positions on the map 21 are as shown in FIG. The thumbnail images 22A, 22B, and 22C have a size of vertical s (m) x horizontal t (m), and the scale of the map 21 is 1/1000.

  In FIG. 4A, the distances in the latitude direction and the longitude direction at the actual shooting positions between the thumbnail images 22A and 22B and between the thumbnail images 22A and 22C are ABh (m), ABv (m), and ACh (m), respectively. And ACv (m), the distances on the map 21 are ABh / 1000 (m) and ABv / 1000 (m), ACh / 1000 (m) and ACv / 1000 (m), respectively.

  Here, when the distance h in the latitude direction between two thumbnail images and the distance v in the longitude direction are satisfied, it is assumed that the two thumbnail images overlap when h <t and v <s hold.

  In the example of FIG. 4A, since the thumbnail images 22A and 22B satisfy ABh <t and ABv <s, it is determined that the thumbnail images 22A and 22B overlap. On the other hand, between the thumbnail images 22A and 22C, since ACh> t and ACv> s, it is determined that the thumbnail images 22A and 22C do not overlap.

  In step S60, the thumbnail duplication determination unit 10 performs duplication determination as described above to determine whether there is a thumbnail image that overlaps with another thumbnail image at the display position on the map, and for each thumbnail image, The number of thumbnail images is obtained, and the obtained determination result is output to the representative thumbnail image determination unit 11.

  If it is determined in step S60 that there is a thumbnail image that overlaps with another thumbnail image (step S60: YES), the process proceeds to step S70. If there is no thumbnail image that overlaps with another thumbnail image (step S60: NO), step S100 Proceed to

  In step S <b> 70, the representative thumbnail image determination unit 11 selects a plurality of thumbnail images having the largest number of overlapping images among the thumbnail images overlapping with other thumbnail images based on the determination result of the overlap determination input from the thumbnail overlap determination unit 10. Judge whether there is. If there is a plurality (step S70: YES), the process proceeds to step S90, and if there is one (step S70: NO), the process proceeds to step S80.

  In step S80, the representative thumbnail image determination unit 11 performs grouping to form a group including thumbnail images having the largest number of overlapping images, and determines a representative thumbnail image that is a thumbnail image representing the group.

  In the process of determining the grouping and representative thumbnail images, the representative thumbnail image determining unit 11 selects the original images of the thumbnail images having the largest number of overlapping images (the most overlapping thumbnail image) from the images read out in step S30. Compare the shooting date and time with the original images taken back and forth in time series. Then, the representative thumbnail image determination unit 11 groups the thumbnail image of the original image with the shortest interval and the above-mentioned most overlapped thumbnail image in the same group, and the original image with the shortest shooting date and time interval with respect to the most overlapped thumbnail image. Let the thumbnail image be the representative thumbnail image of this group.

  For example, in FIG. 5A, the shooting date and time of the original images corresponding to the thumbnail images 22A, 22B, 22C, and 22D are respectively March 27, 2009 12:30:10 and March 27, 2009 18:00. 20 minutes and 20 seconds, March 27, 2009 13:40:40, and March 27, 2009 13:00:30. In the example of FIG. 5A, the thumbnail image 22A that overlaps two of the thumbnail images 22B and 22D is the most overlapping thumbnail image.

  With respect to the original image of the thumbnail image 22A, the original image of the thumbnail image 22D has the shortest shooting date interval. Therefore, in this case, the representative thumbnail image determination unit 11 sets the thumbnail image 22D and the thumbnail image 22A as the same group, and sets the thumbnail image 22D as the representative thumbnail image of this group. In other words, among the thumbnail images 22A and 22D included in the group, the thumbnail image 22D that is not the thumbnail image 22A determined as the most overlapping thumbnail image is set as the representative thumbnail image.

  When there are a plurality of original images having the shortest shooting date and time intervals with respect to the original image of the most overlapped thumbnail image, for example, the shooting position information is referred to, and the shooting position of the original image of the most overlapped thumbnail image among them is referred to. The thumbnail images of the original images that are closest to each other may be in the same group as the most overlapping thumbnail images. The method for determining the representative thumbnail image is not limited to this, and the representative thumbnail image determining unit 11 may determine any one of the plurality of grouped thumbnail images as the representative thumbnail image. A new thumbnail image may be used as the representative thumbnail image.

  In step S90, the representative thumbnail image determination unit 11 performs grouping to form a group including the most overlapping thumbnail image with the oldest shooting date of the corresponding original image among the plurality of most overlapping thumbnail images, and represents the representative of the group. Determine the thumbnail image.

  For example, in FIG. 4A, it is assumed that the shooting date and time of the original image corresponding to the thumbnail images 22A, 22B, and 22C is the same as in the above-described example of FIG. In the example of FIG. 4A, the thumbnail image 22A and the thumbnail image 22B overlap each other, and these two are the most frequently overlapped thumbnail images.

  Of these two (thumbnail images 22A, 22B), the thumbnail image 22A has the oldest shooting date of the corresponding original image. With respect to the original image of the thumbnail image 22A, the original image of the thumbnail image 22C has the shortest shooting date interval. Therefore, in this case, the representative thumbnail image determination unit 11 sets the thumbnail image 22C and the thumbnail image 22A as the same group, and sets the thumbnail image 22C as the representative thumbnail image of this group.

  When the process of step S80 or step S90 ends, the process returns to step S60. In step S60 when returning from the processing of step S80 or step S90, the thumbnail duplication determination unit 10 determines the thumbnail image that has been made the representative thumbnail image in step S80 or step S90 and the thumbnail image that does not belong to any group. Duplicate judgment is performed. In the duplication determination in a state where a group is created, the thumbnail image determined as the representative thumbnail image is set as a duplication determination target, and thumbnail images other than the representative thumbnail images in the group are not included in the duplication determination target. The same applies when the process proceeds to step S80 or step S90 again.

  For example, in FIG. 6A, the shooting date and time of the original image corresponding to the thumbnail images 22A, 22B, 22C, and 22D is the same as in the example of FIG. 5A, and the shooting of the original image corresponding to the thumbnail image 22E is performed. The date and time is assumed to be 20:00 on March 27, 2009. In the example of FIG. 6A, the thumbnail image 22A overlaps with the thumbnail images 22B and 22D, the thumbnail image 22D overlaps with the thumbnail images 22A and 22E, and the two thumbnail images 22A and 22D are the most frequently overlapped thumbnail images. Yes.

  Of the two (thumbnail images 22A and 22D), the thumbnail image 22A has the oldest shooting date of the corresponding original image. With respect to the original image of the thumbnail image 22A, the original image of the thumbnail image 22D has the shortest shooting date interval. Therefore, in this case, the representative thumbnail image determination unit 11 sets the thumbnail image 22D and the thumbnail image 22A as the same group, and sets the thumbnail image 22D as the representative thumbnail image of this group (step S90).

  Thereafter, when returning to step S60, the thumbnail duplication determination unit 10 performs duplication determination of the thumbnail images 22B to 22E in a state as illustrated in FIG. In the state shown in FIG. 6B, duplication determination is performed by representing the group of thumbnail images 22A and 22D grouped in the previous process as a representative thumbnail image 22D. The thumbnail images 22A other than the representative thumbnail images grouped in the previous process are not shown in the state shown in FIG. 6B because they are removed from the overlap determination target because the overlap with other thumbnail images is eliminated.

  In FIG. 6B, the thumbnail image 22D and the thumbnail image 22E overlap each other, and these two are the most frequently overlapped thumbnail images.

  Of these two (thumbnail images 22D and 22E), the thumbnail image 22D has the shooting date and time of the corresponding original image being old. With respect to the original image of the thumbnail image 22D, the original image of the thumbnail image 22C has the shortest shooting date interval.

  Therefore, here, the representative thumbnail image determination unit 11 sets the thumbnail image 22C and the group having the thumbnail image 22D as the representative thumbnail image as the same group, and the thumbnail image 22C is a new thumbnail image 22A, 22C, 22D. A representative thumbnail image of the group is set (step S90).

  Thereafter, when returning to step S60 again, the thumbnail duplication determination unit 10 performs duplication determination of the thumbnail images 22B, 22C, and 22E in a state as shown in FIG. FIG. 6C shows a state in which a group of thumbnail images 22A, 22C, and 22D is represented by a thumbnail image 22C that is a representative thumbnail image. The thumbnail images 22A and 22D in the group are not shown in FIG. In the state of FIG. 6C, since there is no thumbnail image overlapping with other thumbnail images (step S60: NO), the process proceeds to step S100.

  In the example of FIG. 4A, after returning to step S60 after step S90 described above, the thumbnail duplication determination unit 10 performs duplication determination in the state shown in FIG. 4B. In the example of FIG. 5A, after returning to step S60 after the above-described step S80, the thumbnail duplication determination unit 10 performs duplication determination in the state shown in FIG. 5B. In the state of FIG. 4B and FIG. 5B, there is no thumbnail image overlapping with other thumbnail images (step S60: NO), the process proceeds to step S100.

  Through the above steps S60 to S90, the representative thumbnail image determination unit 11 removes thumbnail images other than the representative thumbnail images belonging to the group, that is, thumbnail images not belonging to any group, and representative thumbnail images of each group. The processing for determining the representative thumbnail image of the group by setting one thumbnail image of the plurality of thumbnail images overlapping each other and the thumbnail image having the closest shooting date / time to the same group as the representative thumbnail image is performed. It repeats until all the overlaps between thumbnail images that become images and thumbnail images that are not in the same group are eliminated.

  Thereby, the representative thumbnail image determination unit 11 can group a plurality of thumbnail images and determine a representative thumbnail image that does not overlap with thumbnail images other than the same group.

  In step S100, the display control unit 12 displays the set scale map on the display unit 13 within the set range based on the map information read by the map information access unit 6 in step S20. Control is performed so that each thumbnail image is displayed at the position indicated by the shooting position information of each thumbnail image above.

  When the processing of steps S70 to S90 is performed, that is, when the thumbnail images are grouped and the representative thumbnail image is determined, the display control unit 12 displays the representative thumbnail image and the thumbnail image that does not belong to any group. Is displayed at the position indicated by the shooting position information on the map, and thumbnail images other than the representative thumbnail images in each group are not displayed.

  In each example described above, screens such as those shown in FIGS. 4B, 5B, and 6C are displayed on the display unit 13. FIG. At this time, a conspicuous color display frame may be provided at the edge of the representative thumbnail image so that the user can easily determine the representative thumbnail image.

  When an instruction signal for selecting any one of the thumbnail images is input from the operation input unit 2 in response to a user operation during display of the screen on which the thumbnail image is displayed on the map as described above, the display control unit 12 acquires image information corresponding to the selected thumbnail image from the image information recording medium 3 via the image information access unit 4 and controls the display unit 13 to display the acquired original image.

  When the captured image is a moving image, the thumbnail image displayed on the map is one image (still image) in the moving image as described above, but an instruction signal for selecting a thumbnail image is input. If so, the display control unit 12 controls to reproduce and display a moving image corresponding to the selected thumbnail image.

  If the selected thumbnail image is a representative thumbnail image, the display control unit 12 displays each thumbnail image belonging to the group of the selected representative thumbnail images. The display format at this time is not particularly limited, and the thumbnail images may be sequentially switched and displayed, or may be displayed as a list.

  When an instruction signal for selecting any one of the thumbnail images in the group is input, the display control unit 12 displays the original image corresponding to the selected thumbnail image on the display unit 13 as described above. Control.

  Further, when the latest setting is stored in the setting storage memory 15 such as when displaying a screen on which a thumbnail image is displayed on the map, the map scale, range, When there is a new input relating to any of the thumbnail image sizes, the resetting unit 14 compares the input setting with the setting stored in the setting storage memory 15.

  If there is one or more settings that do not match, that is, if there is a setting change, the resetting unit 14 performs generation of a thumbnail image, determination of duplication, determination of a representative thumbnail image, etc. according to the changed setting. Control each part. As described above, when there is a change in at least one of the scale of the map to be displayed, the range, and the size of the thumbnail image, the display is always changed to an optimal display.

  As described above, in this embodiment, a plurality of thumbnail images are grouped using the determination result of duplication determination and shooting date / time information, and a representative thumbnail image determined from the grouped thumbnail images Thumbnail images that do not belong to any group are displayed on the map, and thumbnail images other than the representative thumbnail images in each group are not displayed. For this reason, only thumbnail images that reduce visibility because other thumbnail images are displayed on the map as they are are displayed on the map as they are based on the shooting position information. Since the thumbnail images that do not overlap with the images are displayed as they are, the visibility of the thumbnail images superimposed on the map is improved, and the reduction in searchability can be reduced.

  Also, the thumbnail images that are not displayed are grouped together with thumbnail images that are close to the shooting date and easy to guess the shooting content, and display of the representative thumbnail images can maintain searchability.

  It should be noted that thumbnail images other than the representative thumbnail images in each group may not be hidden, and may be displayed so that the same group can be visually recognized corresponding to the representative image. For example, the representative thumbnail image may be displayed first, and the other thumbnail images in the corresponding group may be displayed so as to overlap the representative thumbnail image. Further, another thumbnail image in the group corresponding to the representative thumbnail image may be displayed in the vicinity of the representative thumbnail image. In these cases, the thumbnail images in the group are displayed so as not to overlap with thumbnail images of other groups (including representative thumbnail images) and thumbnail images that do not belong to any group.

  In the present embodiment, the scale of the map to be displayed, the range, and the size of the thumbnail image are set by the user operation. However, the correspondence between the map scale, the range, and the size of the thumbnail image is set in advance, and the map scale is set. It is also possible to determine the range to be displayed and the size of the thumbnail image simply by specifying. Thereby, a user's setting operation can be simplified. In this case, the correspondence between the scale of the map, the range, and the size of the thumbnail image may be set in advance by the image display device 1 or may be set by the user.

  The functions of the image display apparatus according to the present embodiment may be realized by a computer by a program. This program may be read from a recording medium and taken into a computer, or may be transmitted via a communication network or the like and taken into a computer.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Image display apparatus 2 Operation input part 3 Image information recording medium 4 Image information access part 5 Map information recording medium 6 Map information access part 7 Map display setting part 8 Thumbnail size setting part 9 Thumbnail image generation part 10 Thumbnail duplication judgment part 11 Representative Thumbnail image determination unit 12 Display control unit 13 Display unit 14 Reset unit 15 Setting storage memory 16 Control unit 21 Map 22A, 22B, 22C, 22D, 22E Thumbnail image

Claims (8)

An image information acquisition unit that acquires image information including a captured image, shooting position information of the captured image, and shooting date and time information;
A thumbnail image generation unit that generates a thumbnail image based on the captured image at an arbitrary size;
A map display setting unit for displaying a map image of an arbitrary scale and range based on map information;
A display control unit that causes the display unit to display the map image and the thumbnail image superimposed on the map image;
An overlap determination unit that determines whether or not the thumbnail images of the captured images having the capturing position information included in the range of the map image overlap each other based on the capturing position information and the size of the thumbnail image;
Thumbnail images determined to overlap with other thumbnail images by the duplication determination unit are grouped into one group with other thumbnail images having the shooting position information included in the range of the map image based on the shooting date and time information. A representative image determination unit that uses any one of the thumbnail images included in the group as a representative image of the group,
The display control unit displays the representative image based on the shooting position information and hides a thumbnail image other than the representative image included in the group or displays it corresponding to the representative image of the group. An image display device that is controlled to perform.   The representative image determination unit sets a thumbnail image other than the thumbnail image determined to overlap with the other thumbnail images among the thumbnail images included in the group as a representative image, and the overlap determination unit determines the representative image and the representative image. The image display device according to claim 1, wherein groups are created until it is determined that thumbnail images not included in the group do not overlap with each other.   When at least one of the scale setting, the range setting, and the thumbnail image display size setting displayed on the display unit is changed, the duplication determination unit changes the setting according to the changed setting. The image display device according to claim 1, wherein the duplication determination is performed.   When an instruction signal for selecting the representative thumbnail image displayed on the map is input, the display control unit displays each thumbnail image of the group to which the selected representative thumbnail image belongs, and selects the displayed thumbnail image 4. The image display device according to claim 1, wherein when the instruction signal to be input is input, control is performed to display a captured image corresponding to the selected thumbnail image. 5. Obtaining image information including map image information including a shot image, shooting position information and shooting date and time information of the shot image,
Generate a thumbnail image based on the captured image at any size,
Based on the shooting position information and the size of the thumbnail image, whether or not the thumbnail images of the shooting images having shooting position information included in the range of the map image displayed on the display unit based on the map information overlap each other. Make duplicate judgment to judge,
Thumbnail images determined to overlap with other thumbnail images in the overlap determination are grouped into one group with other thumbnail images having the shooting position information included in the range of the map image based on the shooting date / time information. , One of the thumbnail images included in the group is determined as a representative image of the group,
The map image and the representative image are superimposed on the map image and displayed on the display unit, and thumbnail images other than the representative image included in the group are hidden or correspond to the representative image of the group An image display method characterized in that the image is displayed.   Among the thumbnail images included in the group, thumbnail images other than the thumbnail images determined to overlap with the other thumbnail images are used as representative images, and the representative image and thumbnail images not included in the group of representative images overlap each other. The image display method according to claim 5, wherein a group is created until it is determined that it does not become.   When at least one of map scale setting, range setting, and thumbnail image display size setting displayed on the display unit is changed, the duplication determination is performed according to the changed setting. The image display method according to claim 5 or 6. When an instruction signal for selecting the representative thumbnail image displayed on the map is input, each thumbnail image of the group to which the selected representative thumbnail image belongs is displayed.
8. The image display method according to claim 5, wherein when an instruction signal for selecting a displayed thumbnail image is input, a captured image corresponding to the selected thumbnail image is displayed.

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