JP2012151885A - Imaging apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To change video display on a display monitor in accordance with a function to be used and to improve operability in an imaging apparatus provided with the display monitor.SOLUTION: An imaging apparatus comprises: image pickup means; cutout video image generation means for cutting out a specific area in a picked-up video image picked up by the image pickup means to generate a cutout image enlarged at a specific magnification; video display means for displaying one or both of the picked-up video image picked up by the image pickup means and the cutout video image generated by the cutout image generating means; display video image control means for controlling a display method of a video image displayed by the video display means; manual focus operation means for the user to control a focus position of the image pickup means through manual operations; and manual zoom operation means for the user to control the zoom magnification of the image pickup means through manual operations. The display video image control means performs control so that the video display means displays a cutout video image when the user performs operation of the focus position and displays a normal picked up image when the user starts operating zoom magnification.

Description

  The present invention relates to an imaging apparatus including an imaging unit and a video display unit.

  As background art of this technical field, for example, there is JP-A-11-341331 (Patent Document 1). This publication aims to “provide an electronic imaging device capable of performing manual focus control quickly and reliably with a simple configuration”, and as means for solving the problems, “manual focus (including PF), autofocus, In the electronic imaging device that can switch between, the system control unit 80 controls the electronic zoom circuit 61 during manual focus, and displays a moving image of the subject at a predetermined magnification on the liquid crystal monitor 63 with respect to auto focus. Since the enlarged image is displayed on the liquid crystal monitor 63 during manual focus, it is easier to see whether the focus is good or not, and manual focus adjustment can be performed quickly and reliably. Since the enlarged moving image is displayed, focusing is ensured even for moving images. Door has been technology is disclosed that it is possible ".

JP-A-11-341331

  In recent digital video cameras and still cameras, a liquid crystal display for confirming a target, an angle of view, and the like at the time of imaging is generally mounted. However, while the number of pixels in image sensors is increasing, such as for high-definition images, small liquid crystal displays have a small number of pixels and a small pixel pitch, making it difficult to understand the details of the subject that you want to actually capture. However, it is difficult to check whether the focus and exposure are exactly correct, and it is difficult to adjust manually.

  In the above-mentioned Patent Document 1, a moving image of a subject is enlarged to a predetermined magnification and displayed on a liquid crystal monitor at the time of manual focus, thereby realizing that the user can operate manual focus while viewing the subject in detail. However, even during manual focus, if you want to change the zoom magnification, for example, it is easier to operate when the entire angle of view is visible than when viewing the details of the subject. It is more convenient.

  For example, by combining the interface for operating various camera functions and the control of the video display method on the liquid crystal display, the user can more easily see the liquid crystal display according to the application. By automatically controlling the display method of the liquid crystal display in combination with the image recognition result, it is thought that the user convenience will be improved by assisting the user to more easily see the liquid crystal display according to the application. However, for example, Patent Document 1 does not consider this point.

  Accordingly, in view of such circumstances, the present invention aims to improve the user convenience of the imaging apparatus, and in particular, to improve the convenience when the user uses various functions while looking at the display monitor. And

  The above-mentioned subject is achieved by the invention described in the claims as an example.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to improve user convenience of the imaging apparatus. In particular, it is possible to improve convenience when the user uses various functions while looking at the display monitor.

1 is a first schematic diagram illustrating an imaging apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a video display method according to the first embodiment of the present invention. It is a 1st figure which shows an example of the control sequence of the video display method which concerns on 1st Example of this invention. FIG. 3 is a second schematic diagram illustrating the imaging apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention. It is a 2nd figure which shows an example of the control sequence of the video display method which concerns on 1st Example of this invention. FIG. 5 is a third schematic diagram illustrating the imaging apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of video display method switching control according to the first embodiment of the present invention. It is a schematic diagram which shows the imaging device which concerns on 2nd Example of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the control method of the extraction area | region of the extraction image | video which concerns on 2nd Example of this invention. It is a 1st figure which shows an example of the control method of the video display method which concerns on 2nd Example of this invention. It is a schematic diagram which shows the imaging device which concerns on 3rd Example of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the video display method which concerns on 3rd Example of this invention.

  Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a first schematic diagram showing an imaging apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1, 0101 is an imaging unit, 0102 is a cut-out video generation unit, 0103 is a video display unit, 0104 is a display video control unit, 0105 is a manual focus operation unit, and 0106 is a manual zoom operation unit.

  In the image pickup apparatus shown in FIG. 1, the image pickup unit 0101 is an image pickup unit with variable zoom and focus, a lens group including a zoom lens and a focus lens, a shutter, an image pickup device such as CCD or CMOS, AGC, Display image composed of AD, camera signal processing DSP, moving image processing LSI, timing generator, etc., captured by photoelectric conversion, and reduced according to the resolution of the video data and the display area of the video display unit 0103 Output data. The display video data may be generated by thinning out the original video data for each predetermined pixel, or may be generated by performing image reduction processing by a filter operation using a moving image processing LSI. Video data is output to a video recording unit (not shown) to record a video or still image on a recording medium such as a DVD, BD, or HDD, or output and displayed on a TV monitor or PC display (not shown). It is possible. The cutout video generation unit 0102 selects a predetermined area of the video data output from the imaging unit 0101, enlarges the video in the area to the same magnification or a predetermined magnification, and outputs it as cutout video data. Here, equal magnification means that the resolution of the captured video is the same as the resolution of the video to be output, that is, output by dot by dot. The video display unit 0103 is a monitor unit such as a liquid crystal display attached to the imaging apparatus, and display video data output from the imaging unit 0101 based on control information on a video display method output from the display video control unit 0104, or Cutout video data output from the cutout video generation unit 0102 is acquired and displayed. An example of a video display method will be described later with reference to FIG. The display video control unit 0104 acquires information on the focus operation and zoom operation from the manual focus operation unit 0105 and the manual zoom operation unit 0106, determines the video display method of the video display unit 0103 based on the information, and controls the control information. Is output to the video display unit 0103. The method for determining the video display method will be described later with reference to FIG. The manual focus operation unit 0105 includes a focus position input interface such as a joy dial, a left / right button, and a lever. The manual focus operation unit 0105 calculates a control amount of the focus position based on input information of the focus position input interface, and an imaging unit based on the control amount. Controls the position of the focus lens 0101. This allows the user to manually control the focus position. Further, the manual focus operation unit 0105 outputs information on whether or not the focus operation is being performed to the display video control unit 0104. The manual zoom operation unit 0106 includes a zoom magnification input interface such as a joy dial, a left / right button, and a lever, calculates a control amount of the focus position based on input information of the zoom magnification position input interface, and performs imaging based on the control amount. The position of the zoom lens of the unit 0101 is controlled. As a result, the user can manually control the zoom magnification. Further, the manual zoom operation unit 0106 outputs information on whether or not the zoom operation is being performed to the display video control unit 0104. The calculation of the video display method control information performed by the display video control unit 0104, the calculation of the focus position control amount performed by the manual focus operation unit 0105, and the calculation of the zoom magnification control amount performed by the manual zoom operation unit 0106 are as follows. Usually, it is performed by a microcomputer in the camera, a camera signal processing DSP or a dedicated LSI.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a video display method according to the first embodiment of the present invention. In the video display shown in FIG. 2, display method control is executed by the display video control unit 0104, and video display is executed by the video display unit 0103. In FIG. 2, (a) is a liquid crystal display that displays a normal captured image, (b) is a liquid crystal display that displays a cut-out image, and (c) is a display image that is divided into two horizontal parts to display a normal image and cut-out image. FIG. 6D is a diagram of a liquid crystal display that displays a side-by-side display, and (d) shows a liquid crystal display that divides a display region into a small region and another region and displays a normal captured image and a cut-out image in an overlapping manner. Here, the normal captured image displayed on the image display unit 0103 corresponds to a reproduction of the display image data output in accordance with the resolution of the display area of the image display unit 0103 output from the image capture unit 0101. The cut-out video displayed on the video display unit 0103 corresponds to a reproduction of the cut-out video data output from the cut-out video generation unit 0102. In FIG. 2A, the dotted line is not the subject image displayed in the actual video, but shows the cut-out area of the cut-out video for convenience. The video in FIG. 2B is shown in FIG. ) Corresponds to a region displayed in the same magnification. As described above, since the image is displayed on the liquid crystal display at the same resolution as that of the actual captured image, the visibility is improved without being affected by image quality degradation due to the image reduction processing. For this reason, when the user shoots while checking the image on the liquid crystal display, it is necessary to check the state of autofocus and auto exposure near the subject of interest, or to perform manual focus and exposure operations more accurately. Can do. In this example, the cut-out video is displayed at the same magnification. However, the pixel pitch of the liquid crystal display is very small compared to that of a normal TV monitor or PC display. . At this time, for example, if enlargement processing is performed at an integral multiple, image quality deterioration due to interpolation processing can be suppressed as much as possible. In addition, when generating a cut-out video, the image cut-out area is determined and the magnification at the time of enlargement is set, for example, by setting some modes at the time of shipment and writing the set values to the EEPROM. It may be possible to select from an input interface shown in the figure, or a form in which the user can freely set an image cut-out area using a joy dial or touch panel (not shown). As a result, it is possible to improve visibility by easily displaying the region of interest of the user at the same magnification or magnification. In addition, as shown in FIG. 2C and FIG. 2D, a normal captured image and a cut-out image are displayed at the same time so that the user can see the entire angle of view and the detailed subject image at the same time. good. Thereby, at the time of shooting, it is possible to simultaneously confirm the overall composition and confirm focus and exposure in the vicinity of the subject. At this time, if two images are displayed side by side as shown in FIG. 2 (c), two images can be confirmed without overlapping, and if two images are displayed in an overlapping manner as shown in FIG. 2 (d). There is an advantage that two images can be confirmed while maintaining the aspect ratio of the images. In each drawing of FIG. 2, the characters “MF” or “MF x1” are described at the upper left of the display image. Here, MF indicates that the imaging apparatus performs focus control with manual focus, and x1 indicates that the image is displayed at the same magnification. In this way, the user may be able to confirm at a glance the current usage status by superimposing and displaying character information such as the state of each function of the imaging apparatus and the enlargement magnification of the cut-out video.

  FIG. 3 is a first diagram showing an example of a control sequence of the video display method according to the first embodiment of the present invention. The control sequence of the video display method in FIG. 3 is executed by the display video control unit 0104.

  In the control sequence of the video display method of FIG. 3, in ST0301, control is performed so that the video display unit 0103 displays a normal captured video after the imaging apparatus is activated. In ST0302, operation information indicating whether or not the user is operating the manual focus is acquired from the manual focus operation unit, and if an operation is detected, the process branches to ST0303, and if not detected, the process branches to ST0304. In ST0303, control is performed so that the video display unit 0103 displays the cut-out video. In ST0304, operation information indicating whether or not the user is operating manual zoom is acquired from the manual zoom operation unit, and if an operation is detected, the process branches to ST0305, and if not, the process branches to ST0306. In ST0305, control is performed so that the video display unit 0103 displays a normal captured video. In ST0306, it is determined whether or not there is a display end condition on the liquid crystal display, such as turning off the power of the imaging apparatus with a power switch (not shown). If there is a liquid crystal display end condition, the sequence is ended, and if not, the process is repeated from ST0303. In this way, by automatically controlling the different video display methods during manual focus operation and manual zoom operation, the user performs accurate focus operation while watching the cut-out video during manual focus operation, and normal operation during manual zoom operation It is possible to display a video according to the usage status of the user, such that the composition can be determined by checking the entire angle of view while viewing the captured video. In this sequence, the determination of the zoom operation is performed after the determination of the focus operation. However, this is an example, and the order may be reversed or the determination may be performed at the same time. Further, the image displayed during the manual focus operation may be a composite image as shown in FIGS. 2C and 2D instead of the cut-out image, and may be displayed during the manual focus operation and the manual zoom operation. The display method of the video to be displayed may be selected in advance by the user on the menu screen or the like so that the user can perform the operation while watching the desired video.

  FIG. 4 is a second schematic diagram showing the image pickup apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention. 4, 0101 is an imaging unit, 0102 is a cut-out video generation unit, 0103 is a video display unit, 0104 is a display video control unit, 0407 is a video recording unit, and 0408 is a recording operation unit.

  In the imaging device shown in FIG. 4, the imaging unit 0101, the cutout video generation unit 0102, and the video display unit 0103 perform the same operation as the example of the imaging device shown in FIG. The display video control unit 0104 obtains the recording operation information from the recording operation unit 0408, determines the video display method of the video display unit 0103 based on the information, and outputs the control information to the video display unit 0103. A method for determining the video display method will be described later with reference to FIG. The video recording unit 0407 includes a moving image processing LSI, compresses the video data output from the imaging unit 0101, and records the compressed video data on a recording medium such as a DVD, BD, or HDD. The recording operation unit 0408 includes a recording operation input interface such as a push button, and controls timing at which the video recording unit 0407 starts, pauses, or stops recording based on input information of the recording operation input interface. Further, the recording operation unit 0408 outputs information on whether or not a recording operation is being performed to the display video control unit 0104. Note that the recording timing control performed by the recording operation unit 0408 is normally performed by a microcomputer in the camera, a camera signal processing DSP, or the like.

  FIG. 5 is a second diagram showing an example of a control sequence of the video display method according to the first embodiment of the present invention. The control sequence of the video display method in FIG. 5 is executed by the display video control unit 0104.

  In the video display method control sequence of FIG. 5, in ST0501, operation information indicating whether or not there is a user operation for starting recording is acquired from the recording operation unit, and if an operation is detected, the process proceeds to ST0502 and detected. If not, the process ends. In ST0502, control is performed so that the video display unit 0103 displays a normal captured video regardless of the current video display method. As described above, in consideration of the fact that the user does not frequently perform manual control of focus and exposure during actual shooting, recording is started even when the video display unit 0103 displays the cut-out video. By automatically switching the display method to normal captured video at the timing, the user can confirm the entire angle of view and can perform comfortable operations. Further, the video displayed at the time of recording may be a composite video as shown in FIG. 2C or FIG. 2D instead of the normal captured video, It may be possible to improve the operability by using a menu screen or the like to select in advance whether or not to perform this control.

  FIG. 6 is a third schematic diagram illustrating the imaging apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 6, 0101 is an imaging unit, 0102 is a cut-out video generation unit, 0103 is a video display unit, 0104 is a display video control unit, 0105 is a manual focus operation unit, 0609 is an autofocus control unit, and 0610 is a focus control selection operation unit. is there.

  In the imaging device shown in FIG. 6, the imaging unit 0101, the cutout video generation unit 0102, the video display unit 0103, and the manual focus operation unit 0105 perform the same operation as the example of the imaging device shown in FIG. The display video control unit 0104 acquires information on the focus control selection operation from the focus control selection operation unit 0610, determines the video display method of the video display unit 0103 based on the information, and sends the control information to the video display unit 0103. Output. The method for determining the video display method and the display contents will be described later with reference to FIG. The autofocus control unit 0609 calculates an appropriate focus position for focusing based on video data output from the imaging unit 0101, and controls the position of the focus lens of the imaging unit 0101 based on the calculation result. The focus control selection operation unit 0610 includes a focus control selection operation input interface such as a push button. Based on the input information of the focus control selection operation input interface, the focus control of the imaging unit 0101 is controlled with the manual focus operation unit 0105. The auto focus control unit 0609 is switched over. The focus control selection operation unit 0610 outputs the input information of the focus control selection operation input interface to the display video control unit 0104. Note that the focus position calculation process performed by the autofocus control unit 0609 is normally performed by a microcomputer in the camera, a camera signal processing DSP, or the like.

  FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of video display method switching control according to the first embodiment of the present invention. The switching control of the video display method shown in FIG. In FIG. 7, (a) is a captured image in which the focus control method is autofocus and the image display method is normal, (b) is a focus control method is autofocus and the image display method is a cut-out image, and (c) is a focus control method. FIG. 4D is a diagram of a liquid crystal display when the image display method is a normal captured image with manual focus and FIG. 4D is a focus control method is manual focus and the image display method is a cut-out image. Each time the focus control selection operation unit 0610 receives an input once, the display video control unit 0104 performs focus adjustment in the order of FIG. 7A, FIG. 7B, FIG. 7C, and FIG. Switch between control method and video display method. This allows the user to switch between autofocus and manual focus, and between normal captured video display and clipped video display, with simple operations such as pressing the push button several times. The improvement in performance can be realized. Here, an operation using a push button has been described as an example, but control may be performed by operating a rotary dial or a touch panel.

  The above-described three configurations shown in FIGS. 1, 4, and 6 are described separately in order to clarify each effect, and of course, the imaging apparatus has all configurations and functions. It doesn't matter. In this case, for example, all images such as switching the video display method during manual focus operation and manual zoom operation, switching the video display method at the start of recording, or switching the video display method by operating the push button. Control of the display method may be validated, or the user may select necessary control from the menu screen.

  In this configuration, the video display unit 0103 displays one of the captured video output from the imaging unit 0101 and the cut-out video output from the cut-out video generation unit 0102 or a combination of both videos. An equivalent effect can also be realized by having a frame memory for storing video data of one screen sentence captured by the imaging unit 0101 and the video display unit 0103 controlling how to read data of each pixel of the frame memory. For example, when generating the display image shown in FIG. 2C, first, one line of the imaged image output from the image capturing unit 0101 is read at a fixed pixel interval, and then the data in the cut-out area is set at a fixed pixel interval. Read the line. This may be repeated for the number of lines of the liquid crystal display. As described above, the method of generating the display image by controlling the reading method of the frame memory is complicated in the control, but has an advantage that it is not necessary to generate the cut-out image data separately.

  Thus, according to the present embodiment, in an imaging apparatus having a display monitor such as a liquid crystal display, visibility is improved by displaying a part of an image at the same magnification or enlarged, and focus and exposure are performed manually. Improvement of operability and realization of user convenience can be realized by switching the display method according to the user's operation.

  FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram showing an imaging apparatus according to the second embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 8, 0101 is an imaging unit, 0102 is a cut-out video generation unit, 0103 is a video display unit, 0104 is a display video control unit, and 0811 is a subject recognition unit.

  In the imaging apparatus shown in FIG. 8, the imaging unit 0101 is an imaging unit with variable zoom and focus, and includes a lens group including a zoom lens and a focus lens, a shutter, an imaging device such as CCD or CMOS, AGC, Display image composed of AD, camera signal processing DSP, moving image processing LSI, timing generator, etc., captured by photoelectric conversion, and reduced according to the resolution of the video data and the display area of the video display unit 0103 Output data. The display video data may be generated by thinning out the original video data for each predetermined pixel, or may be generated by performing image reduction processing by a filter operation using a moving image processing LSI. Video data is output to a video recording unit (not shown) to record a video or still image on a recording medium such as a DVD, BD, or HDD, or output and displayed on a TV monitor or PC display (not shown). It is possible. The cutout video generation unit 0102 selects a predetermined area of the video data output from the imaging unit 0101, enlarges the video in the area to the same magnification or a predetermined magnification, and outputs it as cutout video data. The video display unit 0103 is a monitor unit such as a liquid crystal display attached to the imaging apparatus, and display video data output from the imaging unit 0101 based on control information on a video display method output from the display video control unit 0104, or Cutout video data output from the cutout video generation unit 0102 is acquired and displayed. The display video control unit 0104 obtains the subject recognition result from the subject recognition unit 0811, determines the video display method of the video display unit 0103 based on the result, and outputs the control information to the video display unit 0103. The subject recognition unit 0811 detects and tracks the subject by image recognition processing based on the video data output from the imaging unit 0101, and outputs the subject recognition result to the display video control unit 0104. In addition, the subject recognition unit 0811 determines the position and range of the cutout area of the cutout video generation unit 0102 based on the subject recognition result, and outputs the determined position and range to the cutout video generation unit 0102. Here, the subject refers to a featured area such as a person's face or a target of interest such as a moving object. To detect the subject, an existing face detection technique or a moving object detection technique may be used. For tracking the subject, it is sufficient to detect the subject between frames and correlate the detection results, or use an existing tracking technique such as optical flow or inter-frame difference. Note that the image recognition processing performed by the subject recognition unit 0811 is normally performed by a microcomputer in the camera, a camera signal processing DSP, a dedicated LSI, or the like.

  FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating an example of a method for controlling a cutout region of a cutout image according to the second embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 9, (a) is a picked-up image before and after the elapse of a certain frame, (b) is a diagram of a liquid crystal display that displays a corresponding clipped image before and after the elapse of a certain frame, 0901_1 is an extraction area before the elapse of a certain frame, and 0901_2. Is a cut-out area after a certain frame has elapsed, 0902_1 is a subject person before a certain frame has elapsed, and 0902_2 is a person subject after a certain frame has elapsed. Note that the dotted lines and arrows in FIG. 9A are displayed for convenience of explanation and are not subject images in the actual captured image. The operation of the method for controlling the cutout area of the cutout video will be described with reference to FIG. It is assumed that the user has displayed the area 0901_1 near the subject person 0902_1 at the same magnification on the liquid crystal display before the fixed frame has elapsed. At this time, the subject recognition unit 0811 detects the subject person 0902_1 included in the cutout area 0901_1. When a certain frame elapses and the subject person moves in the direction of the arrow in the figure, the subject person detects the subject person 0902_2 after movement by tracking processing by image recognition, and based on the amount of movement and the direction of movement, etc. Control to shift the cutout area. The control information is output to the cut-out video generation unit 0102, and the cut-out video generation unit changes the cut-out area based on the control information, so that even after the subject is moved and within the cut-out video as shown in FIG. 9B. It is possible to control so that the position of the lens does not change. As a result, even when the user wants to adjust the focus and exposure, it can automatically follow the area to be displayed at the same magnification or enlargement, and can easily achieve accurate focus and exposure alignment. In this example, the case where there is one subject has been described. However, when there are a plurality of subjects, the user can select a subject of interest using a touch panel (not shown) or the like, and the subject recognition unit 0811 can select each subject in the cut-out area. It is also possible to detect the position and area ratio of the subject, weight each of them, and determine the subject of interest. Also, if the subject moves forward or backward and the area in the clipped video of the subject changes, the magnification of the clipped video is controlled from the subject area so that it is always displayed at the same size. Also good. When subject tracking using image recognition is performed, if the subject movement speed is slow, tracking processing may be performed only within the cutout region to reduce processing costs. When the moving speed of the subject is fast and it goes out of the angle of view of the cutout area, tracking processing is performed with the full angle of view of the normal captured image, so that the subject outside the angle of view of the cutout area can also be tracked Just do it.

  FIG. 10 is a first diagram illustrating an example of the control method of the video display method according to the second embodiment of the present invention. 10, (a) is a picked-up image before and after the elapse of a certain frame, (b) is a diagram of a liquid crystal display that displays a corresponding clipped image before and after the elapse of a certain frame, 1001_1 is a cut-out area before the elapse of a certain frame, and 1001_2. Is a cut-out area after a certain frame has elapsed, 1002_1 is a first subject person before a certain frame has passed, 1002_2 is a first subject person after a certain frame has passed, and 1003 is a second subject person after a certain frame has passed. Note that the dotted line in FIG. 10A is displayed for convenience of explanation, and is not a subject image in an actual captured image. The operation of the video display method control method will be described with reference to FIG. It is assumed that the user has displayed the region 1001_1 near the first subject person 1002_1 at the same magnification on the liquid crystal display before the fixed frame has elapsed. The subject recognition unit 0811 performs subject detection processing every frame or every fixed frame even outside the cutout region 1001_1. When the subject recognition unit 0811 detects the second subject 1003 outside the cutout region 1001_2 after a certain frame has elapsed, the detection result is output to the display video control unit 0104. The video display method 0104 receives the detection result and controls to switch the display video to a normal captured video as shown in FIG. As a result, even if the user checks only the cut-out video and performs an operation, if a new subject enters within the angle of view of the image pickup, the entire angle of view is automatically switched. It is possible to easily confirm the subject and grasp the composition without missing the subject that has been loaded inside.

  Thus, according to the present embodiment, in an imaging apparatus having a display monitor such as a liquid crystal display, visibility is improved by displaying a part of an image at the same magnification or enlarged, and focus and exposure are performed manually. In addition to realizing improved operability, it is possible to improve user convenience by automatically changing the position and size of the enlarged display area and switching the video display method by image recognition.

  FIG. 11 is a schematic view showing an image pickup apparatus according to the third embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1101_1 denotes a first imaging unit, 1101_2 denotes a second imaging unit, 0102 denotes a cut-out video generation unit, 0103 denotes a video display unit, 0104 denotes a display video control unit, and 1111 denotes a stereo image processing unit.

  In the imaging apparatus shown in FIG. 11, the first imaging unit 1101_1 and the second imaging unit 1101_2 are imaging units with variable zoom and focus, respectively, and include a lens group including a zoom lens and a focus lens, a shutter, and a CCD. Alternatively, it is composed of an image sensor such as CMOS, AGC, AD, camera signal processing DSP, moving image processing LSI, timing generator, etc., and performs imaging by photoelectric conversion and outputs video data. The stereo image processing unit 1111 performs stereo image processing using video data output from the first imaging unit 1101_1 and the second imaging unit 1101_2, performs three-dimensional measurement of the subject, and performs parallax information, distance information, and 3 Dimensional position information and evaluation values indicating the reliability of 3D measurement are output as 3D information. In addition, one of the first image pickup unit 1101_1 and the second image pickup unit 1101_2, or a display stereo image obtained by reducing the image data obtained by combining both image data in accordance with the resolution of the display area of the image display unit 0103. Output data. The display stereo video data may be generated by thinning the original video data for every predetermined pixel, or may be generated by performing image reduction processing by a filter operation using a moving image processing LSI. Stereo image processing includes calibration processing such as lens distortion correction processing and parallelization processing, preprocessing such as low-pass filter processing for noise removal, feature amount calculation processing such as edge detection, normalized cross-correlation, Use stereo matching to obtain the disparity information by using various correlation calculation processes such as block matching such as sum of absolute difference and space-sweep method, etc., rank filter processing, labeling, etc. There are post-processing for removal, distance calculation processing for calculating distance information using parallax information, etc., and output of information obtained in the middle of processing, that is, for example, matching results when performing stereo matching processing, etc. it can. The cut-out video generation unit 0102 selects a predetermined region of the video data output from the first image pickup unit 1101_1 or the second image pickup unit 1101_2, expands the video in the region to the same magnification or a predetermined magnification, and extracts the cut-out video data. Output as. Here, the video cut-out region may be input from an interface (not shown) or may be determined based on various calculation results output from the stereo image processing unit 1111. An example of a method for determining the cutout area will be described later with reference to FIG. Further, the first cut-out video generated from the video data output from the first image pickup unit 1101_1 and the second cut-out video generated from the video data output from the second image pickup unit 1101_2 are combined to be stereo cut out. Video may be generated and output. The video display unit 0103 is a monitor unit such as a liquid crystal display attached to the imaging apparatus. Based on the video display method control information output from the display video control unit 0104, the display stereo video data output from the stereo image processing 1111, Alternatively, the cutout video data or the stereo cutout video data output from the cutout video generation unit 0102 is acquired and displayed. The display video control unit 0104 obtains input information of an interface (not shown) and various calculation results output from the stereo image processing unit 1111, determines a video display method of the video display unit 0103 based on the acquired calculation results, The control information is output to the video display unit 0103. Note that the stereo image processing performed by the stereo image processing unit 1111 is normally performed by a microcomputer, DSP, image processing LSI, or the like in the camera. Although the case where two imaging units are used is shown here as a configuration, the number of imaging units is not limited to two, and may be three or more imaging units installed at different positions. In addition, the stereo imaging unit 0201 may be configured using a mirror or a prism, and may have one imaging unit configured by one imaging element.

  FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating an example of a video display method according to the third embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 12, (a) shows a normal captured image of the left camera, (b) shows a normal captured image of the right camera, and (c) shows a cut-out composite image of the left and right cameras. FIG. 12 is a diagram of a liquid crystal display to be displayed, in which 1201_1 is a cut-out area in a captured image of the left camera, 1201_2 is a cut-out area in a captured image of the right camera, 1202_1 is a subject person in a captured image of the left camera, and 1202_2 is in a captured image of the left camera It is a subject person. Note that the dotted lines in FIG. 12A and FIG. 12B are displayed for convenience of explanation, and are not subject images in the actual captured image. The operation of the video display method control method will be described with reference to FIG. In the captured image of the left camera shown in FIG. 12A, the cut-out video generation unit 0102 cuts out the video of the area 1201_1 near the subject person 1202_1. The video cutout area may be determined by, for example, providing several modes at the time of shipment, writing the setting values to the EEPROM, and allowing the user to select and input from an input interface (not shown) by looking at the menu screen. A mode in which the user can freely set a video cut-out area using a joy dial or a touch panel (not shown) may be employed. The stereo image processing unit 1111 detects the subject person 1202_2 of the right camera corresponding to the subject person 1202_1 of the left camera by stereo matching processing, and outputs the detection result to the cutout video generation unit 0102. The stereo matching process may be performed by, for example, detecting the feature point in the region 1201_1 using the region 1201_1 as a template, and detecting the feature points in the region 1201_1 and corresponding to each feature point by the feature point-based matching processing. You may perform by detecting a point and integrating the weighted result and determining a corresponding | compatible area | region. The cut-out video generation unit 0102 determines the cut-out area 1201_2 in the captured image of the right camera so that the position of the subject person 1202_1 in the cut-out video of the left camera is substantially the same as the position of the subject person 1202_2 in the cut-out video of the right camera. . The clipped video generation unit 0102 generates and synthesizes the clipped videos of the left camera and the right camera, and displays the vicinity of the subject of each camera at the same magnification or magnification as shown in FIG. Is possible. In this example, the stereo matching process is performed on the captured image of the right camera on the basis of the left camera, but the stereo matching process may be performed on the captured image of the left camera on the basis of the right camera. In this way, by displaying the vicinity of the corresponding subject of the left and right cameras side by side at the same magnification or enlarged display, the user can perform the focus operation and the exposure operation while simultaneously checking the focus and exposure conditions of the captured images of the left and right cameras. Yes. For this reason, even if the focus and exposure conditions of the same subject slightly change between the cameras due to the difference in the angle of view of the left and right cameras, more accurate focus positions and exposure conditions between the cameras can be obtained. Unification can be performed, and the accuracy of stereo matching processing and three-dimensional measurement in stereo image processing can be improved.

  Thus, according to the present embodiment, in an imaging apparatus having a display monitor such as a liquid crystal display and having a plurality of imaging units, the vicinity of the corresponding subject between the imaging units is displayed at the same magnification or enlarged so that the user Can improve the visibility when adjusting the focus and exposure, thereby helping to improve the calculation accuracy of stereo image processing.

  In addition, this invention is not limited to an above-described Example, Various modifications are included. For example, the above-described embodiments have been described in detail for easy understanding of the present invention, and are not necessarily limited to those having all the configurations described. In addition, a part of the configuration of a certain embodiment can be replaced with the configuration of another embodiment, and the configuration of another embodiment can be added to the configuration of a certain embodiment.

  The preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described above.

  According to the present invention, in a video camera or a still camera having a display monitor such as a liquid crystal display, the user uses various functions while viewing the display monitor by switching the video on the display monitor with simple operation or automatic control. It is possible to improve convenience.

  Further, the present invention can be used for consumer cameras, surveillance cameras, and stereoscopic cameras.

0101 Imaging unit 0102 Cutout video generation unit 0103 Video display unit 0104 Display video control unit 0105 Manual focus operation unit 0106 Manual zoom operation unit 0407 Video recording unit 0408 Recording operation unit 0609 Autofocus control unit 0610 Focus control selection operation unit 0811 Subject recognition unit 0901_1 Extraction area 0901_2 before a certain frame elapses 0901_1 Subject person 0902_2 before a certain frame elapses Subject person 1001_1 After a certain frame elapses 1001_1 Extraction area 1001_2 before a certain frame elapses constant 1021 First subject person 1002_2 before the frame elapses First subject person after a certain frame elapses Object 1003 Second subject person 1101_1 after a certain frame elapses First imaging unit 1101_2 Second imaging unit 1111 Stereo image processing unit 1201_1 Extraction area 1201_2 in the captured image of the left camera Extraction area 1202_1 in the imaging image of the right camera Subject person 1202_2 in the captured image of the subject subject person in the captured image of the right camera

Claims (1)

Imaging means;
A cutout video generation unit that cuts out a specific area of the captured video captured by the imaging unit and generates a cutout video that is enlarged to a specific magnification;
Video display means for displaying one or both of a picked-up image picked up by the image pickup means or a cut-out video generated by the cut-out video generation means;
Display video control means for controlling the display method of the video displayed by the video display means;
Manual focus operation means for the user to manually control the focus position of the imaging means;
Manual zoom operation means for the user to manually control the zoom magnification of the imaging means;
With
When the display image control means detects the operation of the focus position from the manual focus operation means, the extracted image generated by the extraction image generation means is normal, and when the operation of the zoom magnification is detected from the manual zoom operation means. Control to select and display each captured video
An imaging apparatus characterized by the above.

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