JP2013051490A - Display control device, imaging device and display control program - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To solve the problem in which, for example, when a through-the-lens image display, in which a subject image is sequentially displayed, is carried out, if luminance of a display device is frequently adjusted every time when brightness of a surrounding environment is changed, it is difficult for a user to judge, when brightness of a displayed subject image is changed, whether the change is caused by a luminance adjustment of the display device or caused by a change in an exposure value.SOLUTION: The display control device comprises: a display part; an illuminance detection part which detects brightness of a surrounding area; a posture detection part which detects a posture of the display part; and a control part which changes luminance of the display part on the basis of brightness detected by the illuminance detection part, when the posture detection part detects a posture change exceeding a predetermined posture change amount.

Description

  The present invention relates to a display control device, an imaging device, and a display control program.

In order to alleviate the discomfort that the user feels due to the difference in brightness between the observation screen of the display device and the surrounding environment, a technique for acquiring the illuminance of the surrounding environment with a sensor and changing the luminance of the light source of the display device is known .
[Prior art documents]
[Patent Literature]
[Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-264668

  When displaying a subject image on a display device provided in the camera, for example, when performing a live view display that sequentially displays a subject image, the brightness is frequently adjusted each time the brightness of the surrounding environment changes. When the brightness of the displayed subject image changes, the user may be unsure whether the change is caused by brightness adjustment of the display device or a change in exposure value.

  The display control apparatus according to the first aspect of the present invention includes a display unit, an illuminance detection unit that detects ambient brightness, a posture detection unit that detects the posture of the display unit, and a posture in which the posture detection unit is predetermined. And a control unit that changes the luminance of the display unit based on the brightness detected by the illuminance detection unit when a change in posture exceeding the amount of change is detected.

  The imaging device in the 2nd aspect of this invention is provided with an imaging part and said display control apparatus.

  The display control program according to the third aspect of the present invention includes a posture detection step for detecting the posture of the display unit, and when a change exceeding a predetermined posture change amount is detected by the posture detection step, The computer is caused to execute an illuminance detection step for detecting the brightness and a control step for changing the luminance of the display unit based on the brightness detected by the illuminance detection step.

  It should be noted that the above summary of the invention does not enumerate all the necessary features of the present invention. In addition, a sub-combination of these feature groups can also be an invention.

1 is a system configuration diagram of a camera according to an embodiment. It is a back perspective view of a camera which shows signs that a subject image is displayed. It is a figure which shows the example of the expansion | deployment state of a vari-angle monitor. It is a figure which shows a mode that the brightness | luminance histogram was superimposed on the live view image. It is a flowchart explaining the operation | movement regarding display control. It is explanatory drawing explaining the data format of an illumination table. It is a flowchart explaining the process of luminance adjustment.

  Hereinafter, the present invention will be described through embodiments of the invention, but the following embodiments do not limit the invention according to the claims. In addition, not all the combinations of features described in the embodiments are essential for the solving means of the invention.

  FIG. 1 is a system configuration diagram of a camera 10 according to the present embodiment. The camera 10 includes a system control unit 11 and directly or indirectly controls each element constituting the camera 10. The system control unit 11 communicates with the system memory 12. The system memory 12 is an electrically erasable / recordable non-volatile memory, and is composed of, for example, an EEPROM (registered trademark). The system memory 12 records constants, variables, setting values, programs, and the like necessary when the camera 10 operates so that they are not lost even when the camera 10 is not operating. In particular, various setting values set by the user are classified into a plurality of menu items of the camera 10 according to the type, and are managed together with a menu screen presented to the user.

  The camera 10 includes an optical system 20. The optical system 20 mainly includes a zoom lens, a focus lens, a lens group 21 including a camera shake correction lens, and a shutter 22. The subject image enters the optical system 20 along the optical axis and forms an image on the imaging surface of the image sensor 31.

  The imaging element 31 is an element that photoelectrically converts an optical image that is a subject image that is transmitted through the optical system 20 and is, for example, a CCD or CMOS sensor. The subject image photoelectrically converted by the image sensor 31 is converted from an analog signal to a digital signal by the A / D converter 32.

  The subject image converted into the digital signal is sequentially processed as image data. The image data converted into a digital signal by the A / D converter 32 is temporarily stored in the internal memory 34 under the control of the memory control unit 33. The internal memory 34 is a random access memory that can be read and written at high speed, and for example, a DRAM, an SRAM, or the like is used. The internal memory 34 serves as a buffer memory that waits for the order of image processing when image data is continuously generated at high speed in continuous shooting and moving image shooting. The image processing unit 35 also serves as a work memory in the image processing and compression processing performed by the image processing unit 35, and also serves to temporarily store image data processed for a predetermined purpose. Furthermore, constants, variables, setting values, programs, and the like recorded in the system memory 12 are appropriately developed and used for controlling the camera 10. Therefore, the internal memory 34 has a sufficient memory capacity corresponding to these roles. The memory control unit 33 controls how much memory capacity is allocated to what work.

  The image processing unit 35 converts the image data into an image file according to a predetermined image format in accordance with the set shooting mode and an instruction from the user. For example, when a JPEG file is generated as a still image, image processing such as color conversion processing, gamma processing, and white balance processing is performed, and then adaptive discrete cosine conversion is performed to perform compression processing. Also, when an MPEG file is generated as a moving image, intra-frame coding and inter-frame coding are applied to a frame image as a continuous still image generated by reducing the number of pixels to a compression process. Do.

  The still image file and the moving image file processed by the image processing unit 35 are recorded on the recording medium 50 from the internal memory 34 via the recording medium IF 38 under the control of the memory control unit 33. The recording medium 50 is a non-volatile memory that is configured with a flash memory or the like and is detachable from the camera 10. However, the recording medium 50 is not limited to a removable type, and may be a recording medium such as an SSD built in the camera 10. At this time, the still image file and the moving image file recorded on the recording medium 50 are output to the outside through a wired USB, a wireless LAN, or the like.

  The image data processed by the image processing unit 35 generates display image data in parallel with the image data processed for recording. Normal display image data is image data with a small number of pixels, which is obtained by copying and thinning image data to be processed for recording. That is, normal display image data generated according to the image data processed for recording has RGB information that is the same color information as the recording image data. The display image data generated in this way is converted into an R signal that is a red signal, a G signal that is a green signal, and a B signal that is a blue signal by the display control unit 36 and is output to the display unit 37. At the same time, the display control unit 36 outputs a luminance adjustment signal (L signal) for adjusting the luminance of the backlight of the display unit 37.

  The display unit 37 is a liquid crystal display unit including an LCD panel and a backlight. The display unit 37 receives the RGB signal and the luminance adjustment signal output from the display control unit 36, and adjusts the luminance of the backlight while generating the gradation of the RGB signal at each pixel of the LCD panel, thereby displaying the display image. Display the data so that it is visible to the user.

  Regardless of the presence or absence of recording, if the image processing unit 35 sequentially generates image data for display according to the output of the image sensor 31 and outputs it to the display unit 37, live view display as a through image can be realized. Therefore, the display unit 37 can realize reproduction display after still image and moving image shooting, and live view display before shooting and during moving image shooting.

  Further, the display control unit 36 can also display the information accompanying the image data to be displayed and the menu screen recorded in the system memory 12 on the display unit 37 alone or superimposed on the display image. . The display control unit 36 prohibits display by the display unit 37 when a non-display instruction is given by operating the operation member 39.

  Although the camera 10 includes a plurality of operation members 39 that receive operations from the user, the system control unit 11 detects that these operation members 39 have been operated, and executes an operation corresponding to the operation. Further, the camera 10 includes a release switch 40 as a kind of the operation member 39. The release switch 40 includes a push button 40a for still image shooting and a push button 40b for moving image shooting. The system control unit 11 executes still image shooting when a push button for still image shooting is pressed. Also, the moving image shooting starts when the push button for moving image shooting is first pressed, and the moving image shooting is ended when the push button is pressed next.

  The illuminance sensor 41 detects the brightness of the outside world as an observation environment in which the user observes the display unit 37. The system control unit 11 acquires the output of the illuminance sensor 41 and calculates the illuminance value of the outside world.

  The attitude sensor 44 detects the attitude of the display unit 37. The attitude sensor 44 is, for example, an acceleration sensor having sensitivity in three axial directions orthogonal to each other. The system control unit 11 acquires the output of the attitude sensor 44 and calculates the attitude of the display unit 37. Specifically, with the gravitational direction as a reference axis, two axes orthogonal to this are set, and how many times the display unit 37 is inclined with respect to these three axes is calculated.

  The display unit 37 is supported by a support unit 63 having a displacement mechanism 64 that is displaced relative to the camera body in which the image sensor 31 is disposed. Thereby, the display part 37 can change the direction of a display surface with respect to a camera main body in the range of a fixed angle. That is, the display unit 37 supported by the support unit 63 is a so-called vari-angle monitor. Therefore, the illuminance sensor 41 that detects the brightness as the observation environment of the display unit 37 is provided on the supporting unit side to be displaced. Similarly, a posture sensor 44 that detects the posture of the display unit 37 is also provided on the side of the supporting unit that is displaced. A specific arrangement position will be described later.

  The tilt sensor 45 detects the tilt angle of the camera body. The system control unit 11 acquires the output of the tilt sensor 45 and calculates the posture of the camera body. As the tilt sensor, for example, a triaxial acceleration sensor can be used similarly to the posture sensor 44. In this case, the system control unit 11 can calculate the posture of the camera body independently of the output of the posture sensor 44.

  Alternatively, the inclination sensor 45 may be a rotation angle detection brush that detects the rotation angle of the displacement mechanism 64. In this case, the system control unit 11 calculates the posture of the camera body by adding the rotation angle based on the output of the tilt sensor 45 to the posture of the display unit 37 calculated from the output of the posture sensor 44. Of course, an acceleration sensor may be employed as the tilt sensor 45, and a rotation angle detection brush may be employed as the attitude sensor 44. In this case, the system control unit 11 calculates the attitude of the display unit 37 by adding the rotation angle based on the output of the attitude sensor 44 to the attitude of the camera body calculated from the output of the tilt sensor 45.

  The display control unit 36 changes the display control according to the attitude of the display unit 37 calculated by the system control unit 11 and the illuminance value of the outside world. Specific change processing will be described later.

  The zoom lens, focus lens, and camera shake correction lens are controlled by the lens control unit 42, change the angle of view of the subject image, focus a specific area of the subject image on the light receiving surface of the image sensor 31, and cancel out camera shake. A stable imaging state is maintained on the light receiving surface of the image sensor 31. The shutter 22 is controlled by the exposure control unit 43 to realize a set shutter speed.

  FIG. 2 is a rear perspective view of the camera showing how a subject image is displayed. In particular, the display unit 37 is housed in the camera body, and the display surface is directed outward. The display unit 37 is supported by a frame-shaped support unit 63, and the support unit 63 is connected to the camera body via a displacement mechanism 64. The displacement mechanism 64 realizes rotation around the X axis parallel to the bottom surface of the camera body and rotation around the Y axis perpendicular to the X axis. That is, the display unit 37 constitutes a vari-angle monitor by the action of the displacement mechanism 64.

  Further, as illustrated, the illuminance sensor 41 and the attitude sensor 44 are disposed between the display unit 37 and the displacement mechanism 64 in the support unit 63. Thus, by disposing each sensor in the vicinity of the display unit 37, the state of the display unit 37 can be detected more accurately.

  On the rear surface of the camera 10, in addition to the display unit 37, a cross key 52 for selecting a menu item or the like as the operation member 39, a confirmation button 53 for confirming the selected item, a mode switching button 54 for switching the mode, and a display unit A display button 55 for switching ON / OFF of display in 37, a menu button 56 for displaying menu items, and a push button 40b for moving image shooting are provided. The push button 40a for taking a still image is provided on the front side of the grip portion together with the power button 57 for switching the power ON / OFF of the camera 10.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of a developed state of the vari-angle monitor. As shown in FIG. 3A, when the support portion 63 is rotated about 45 degrees around the X axis from the state shown in FIG. 2, the display surface of the display portion 37 is obliquely tilted backward and downward with respect to the camera body. Such a deployed state is employed, for example, at the time of high-angle shooting for shooting with both hands raised.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 3B, when the support portion 63 is rotated about 135 degrees around the X axis from the state of FIG. 2 and then rotated about 180 degrees around the Y axis, the display surface of the display section 37 is The camera tilts backward and upward relative to the camera body. Such an unfolded state is used, for example, at the time of low-angle shooting for shooting a subject near the ground. Alternatively, a user who holds the camera body with both hands at the time of reproducing a captured image is adopted as a state in which the display surface is easy to see.

  When the posture of the display unit 37 is changed from the state of FIG. 2 to each state of FIG. 3, for example, it can be said that the environment for observing the display surface also changes greatly. When changing from the state of FIG. 2 to the state of FIG. 3A in an environment under sunlight, the display surface may be shaded. When displaying an image or the like in a bright environment, the display control unit 36 increases the output of the L signal to increase the luminance of the backlight. However, if the luminance is maintained as it is even when the display surface is shaded, the display control unit 36 Feels dazzling. This is not preferable from the viewpoint of power consumption.

  Further, when the indoor lighting environment is changed from the state shown in FIG. 2 to the state shown in FIG. 3B, a situation in which the illumination light directly hits the display surface can be considered. In this case, even if the periphery of the display surface becomes bright, the visibility of the displayed image or the like is significantly lowered if the output of the L signal is kept small. Therefore, when the attitude of the display unit 37 changes greatly, the display control unit 36 should change the luminance of the backlight in accordance with the illuminance of the surrounding environment.

  On the other hand, frequent changes in the brightness of the backlight with only a slight change in the ambient environment will not only lower the visibility but also change the brightness of the image during the live view. There is also a possibility that the user's judgment may be mistaken whether it is due to a change in the brightness or a change in the brightness of the backlight. If it is the former, a difference will be produced in the photographed image as a photographing result, but if it is the latter, it will not affect the photographing result. Therefore, luminance control that follows only the illuminance change in the surrounding environment may not be preferable.

  Therefore, in the present embodiment, when the attitude of the display unit 37 changes beyond a predetermined attitude change amount, the luminance of the backlight is changed according to the output of the illuminance sensor 41 at that time. The posture change amount serving as the threshold value is recorded in the system memory 12 as a value calculated in advance experimentally and simulationally.

The illuminance in the vicinity of the display surface of the display unit 37 generally changes greatly when the normal of the display surface changes in the vertical direction. Further, when the normal of the display surface changes in the horizontal direction following the change in the vertical direction, some change occurs. On the other hand, when the display unit 37 rotates around the normal direction of the display surface, even if the postures of the camera body and the display unit 37 change, the change in illuminance near the display surface is expected to be poor. Therefore, the system control unit 11 evaluates the detected change in posture divided into the above components. Specifically, for example, the detected change in posture is converted into a change in the normal direction of the display surface, the value obtained by multiplying the change angle in the vertical direction by a factor of 1.0, and the change angle in the horizontal direction by a factor of 0. A value obtained by adding the value multiplied by .5 is defined as a posture change evaluation value f. The rotation around the normal direction is not added to the posture change evaluation value f. The system control unit 11 determines whether or not the posture change evaluation value f exceeds a threshold fP ₀ that is predetermined as the posture change amount.

For example, when 45 degrees is set as the threshold fP ₀ , when the entire camera 10 is tilted more than 45 degrees around the X axis, which is the horizontal axis in the figure, with the display unit 37 being accommodated in the camera body from the state of FIG. The posture change evaluation value f exceeds the threshold fP ₀ of 45 degrees. Moreover, as it is the attitude of the camera body by using a displacement mechanism 64 be changed from the state in FIG. 2 to the state of FIG. 3 (b), the posture change evaluation value f to exceed the 45-degree threshold fP ₀ Become. Furthermore, when the entire camera 10 is rotated more than 90 degrees around the Y axis, which is the vertical axis in the drawing, while the display unit 37 is housed in the camera body from the state of FIG. 2, the posture change evaluation value f becomes the threshold value fP _0. It will exceed 45 degrees.

Therefore, in the present embodiment, the posture change evaluation value f (P _t −P _s ) for the difference between the reference posture P _s that starts detecting the posture change and the current posture P _t , which is the current posture, sets the threshold value fP ₀ . When it exceeds, the output of the illuminance sensor 41 is obtained and the luminance of the backlight is changed. The user can recognize that the brightness of the backlight has changed due to his / her own change in the posture of the display unit 37.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a state in which the luminance histogram 71 is superimposed on the live view image. The luminance histogram 71 represents the distribution of luminance values of the currently displayed subject image. Specifically, the luminance histogram 71 has a plurality of luminance division bands from dark to light on the horizontal axis, and represents the total number of images belonging to each luminance division band in the vertical axis direction as a frequency. When the image is acquired by changing the exposure condition, the shape of the luminance histogram 71 changes. On the other hand, the change in the luminance of the backlight does not affect the luminance value of the subject image, so that the shape of the luminance histogram 71 does not change. Therefore, if the brightness of the image changes when the posture of the display unit 37 is not changed, the user visually recognizes the change in the luminance histogram 71, and thus the change in the brightness of the image is caused by the change in the exposure condition. I can recognize that.

  Next, a series of display control processes will be described. FIG. 5 is a flowchart for explaining operations related to display control. The flow in the figure starts when the camera 10 is turned on.

  In step S101, the system control unit 11 determines whether the current mode is a shooting mode or a playback mode. If it is determined that the playback mode is selected, the process proceeds to step S102.

  When the reproduction mode is started, the system control unit 11 first obtains the output of the illuminance sensor 41 and calculates the illuminance value around the display unit 37 in step S102. Then, the process proceeds to step S 103, the brightness value is determined with reference to the correspondence table of the ambient illuminance value and the backlight brightness value recorded in the system memory 12, and transmitted to the display control unit 36. The display control unit 36 converts the luminance value received from the system control unit 11 into an L signal and transmits it to the display unit 37 to adjust the backlight of the display unit 37.

The system control unit 11 proceeds to step S104, to obtain the output of the orientation sensor 44, and acquires the posture of the display unit 37 at the present time as a reference attitude P _s. In step S105, the system control unit 11 passes the reproduction image data developed by the image processing unit 35 to the display control unit 36, and starts displaying the reproduction image.

The system control unit 11 proceeds to step S106, to obtain the output of the orientation sensor 44 every predetermined time, obtains the current position P _t, which is the current position of the display unit 37, and updates. In step S107, the posture change evaluation value f (P _t −P _s ) described above is calculated, and it is determined whether or not this value exceeds the threshold fP ₀ .

  When it is determined that the value has exceeded, the process proceeds to step S108, and the system control unit 11 acquires the output of the illuminance sensor 41 in the same manner as in step S102, and calculates the illuminance value around the display unit 37. In step S <b> 109, the system control unit 11 determines a luminance value in the same manner as in step S <b> 103, and transmits it to the display control unit 36. The display control unit 36 converts the luminance value received from the system control unit 11 into an L signal and transmits it to the display unit 37 to adjust the backlight of the display unit 37. That is, the brightness adjusted in step S103 is changed in step S109.

If it is determined in step S107 that the posture change evaluation value f (P _t −P _s ) does not exceed the threshold fP ₀ , the system control unit 11 skips step S108 and step S109.

  In step S110, the system control unit 11 determines whether or not the user has instructed a shooting mode. If it is determined that the instruction has been given, the process proceeds to step S113. If it is determined that no instruction has been given, the process proceeds to step S111.

  In step S111, the system control unit 11 determines whether or not the user has instructed to turn off the power. If it is determined that the instruction has been given, the process proceeds to step S112, the reproduction display is terminated, and the power of the camera 10 is turned off. If it is determined that no instruction has been given, the process returns to step S106 again to continue the reproduction mode.

  If it is determined in step S101 that the shooting mode is selected, or if it is determined in step S110 that the shooting mode is specified, the system control unit 11 proceeds to step S113, acquires the output of the illuminance sensor 41, and displays the periphery of the display unit 37. The illuminance value is calculated. In step S114, the brightness value is determined with reference to the correspondence table of the ambient illuminance value and the backlight brightness value, and is transmitted to the display control unit 36. The display control unit 36 converts the luminance value received from the system control unit 11 into an L signal and transmits it to the display unit 37 to adjust the backlight of the display unit 37.

The system control unit 11 proceeds to step S115, to obtain the output of the orientation sensor 44, and acquires the posture of the display unit 37 at the present time as a reference attitude P _s. In step S116, the system control unit 11 passes the live view image data obtained by sequentially processing the output from the image sensor 31 by the image processing unit 35 to the display control unit 36, and starts live view display.

  Then, the system control unit 11 proceeds to step S117 and determines whether or not there is a shooting instruction from the user. If it is determined that there is no shooting instruction, the process proceeds to step S118 while the live view display is continued.

The system control unit 11 proceeds to step S118, the obtained output of the orientation sensor 44 every predetermined time, obtains the current position P _t, which is the current position of the display unit 37, and updates. Then, in step S119, it calculates the above-described posture change evaluation value _{f (P} t -P _s), which determines whether above a threshold fP _0.

  If it judges that it exceeded, it will progress to step S120, and the system control part 11 will acquire the output of the illumination intensity sensor 41 similarly to step S113, and will calculate the illumination intensity value of the display part 37 periphery. In step S <b> 121, the system control unit 11 determines a luminance value in the same manner as in step S <b> 114, and transmits it to the display control unit 36. The display control unit 36 converts the luminance value received from the system control unit 11 into an L signal and transmits it to the display unit 37 to adjust the backlight of the display unit 37. That is, the brightness adjusted in step S114 is changed in step S121.

If it is determined in step S119 that the posture change evaluation value f (P _t −P _s ) does not exceed the threshold fP ₀ , the system control unit 11 skips steps S120 and S121.

  In step S122, the system control unit 11 determines whether or not a playback mode is instructed by the user. If it is determined that the instruction has been given, the process proceeds to step S102. If it is determined that no instruction has been given, the process proceeds to step S123.

  In step S123, the system control unit 11 determines whether the user has instructed to turn off the power. If it is determined that the instruction has been given, the process proceeds to step S124, the live view display is terminated, and the camera 10 is turned off. If it is determined that no instruction has been given, the process returns to step S117 again to continue the live view display in the shooting mode.

  If it is determined in step S117 that there has been a shooting instruction, the system control unit 11 proceeds to step S125. In step S125, the system control unit 11 performs a shooting operation. Specifically, when the user pushes down the still image shooting push button 40 a, the system control unit 11 performs focus adjustment by the lens control unit 42, and the exposure control unit 43 applies the focus to the image sensor 31. Exposure adjustment is performed, and the output of the image sensor 31 is transferred to the image processing unit 35. When the user pushes the push button 40b for moving image shooting, the system control unit 11 continuously delivers the output of the image sensor 31 to the image processing unit 35. During this time, the system control unit 11 continuously performs focus adjustment and exposure adjustment.

After a series of photographing operations are completed, the system controller 11 proceeds to step S126, to obtain the output of the orientation sensor 44, and acquires the posture of the display unit 37 at the present time as a reference attitude P _s. During this time, in step S127, the image processing unit 35 converts the received image data into an image file according to a predetermined image format. Then, the system control unit 11 receives an image processing completion signal from the image processing unit 35, and starts confirmation playback display immediately after shooting in step S128.

The system control unit 11 proceeds to step S129, to obtain the output of the orientation sensor 44 every predetermined time, obtains the current position P _t, which is the current position of the display unit 37, and updates. Then, in step S130, it calculates the above-described posture change evaluation value _{f (P} t -P _s), which determines whether above a threshold fP _0.

  If it is determined that the value has exceeded, the process proceeds to step S131, and the system control unit 11 acquires the output of the illuminance sensor 41 in the same manner as in step S113, and calculates the illuminance value around the display unit 37. In step S132, the system control unit 11 determines the luminance value in the same manner as in step S114, and transmits the luminance value to the display control unit 36. The display control unit 36 converts the luminance value received from the system control unit 11 into an L signal and transmits it to the display unit 37 to adjust the backlight of the display unit 37. That is, the brightness adjusted in step S114 is changed in step S132.

If it is determined in step S130 that the posture change evaluation value f (P _t −P _s ) does not exceed the threshold fP ₀ , the system control unit 11 skips steps S131 and S132.

  In step S133, the system control unit 11 determines whether a preset confirmation playback display time has elapsed. When it is determined that it has not elapsed, the process returns to step S129, and when it is determined that it has elapsed, the process returns to step S117.

In the flow described above, as the timing of detecting the reference position P _s, the time to start a live view display (step S115), upon completion of the photographing operation (step S126), the time of switching to the reproduction mode (step S104) Adopted. According to the above flow, since live view display is always executed in the shooting mode, the time point when the live view display is started includes the time point when the mode is switched to the shooting mode. The timing of detecting the reference position P _s is not limited thereto, may be another timing may be periodically updated regardless of the specific timing.

  In the flow described above, the environmental illuminance is acquired immediately before the luminance adjustment is performed. That is, the illuminance value serving as a reference for brightness adjustment is based on the immediately preceding sensing result. In this case, the illuminance sensor 41 may accidentally be behind the user's finger. If the detection result is used as it is, the system control unit 11 determines that the surrounding environment is dark and increases the luminance of the backlight. End up. Therefore, the system control unit 11 records the illuminance value calculated by acquiring the output of the illuminance sensor 41 at regular time intervals as an illuminance table, and the system control unit 11 determines the luminance value of the backlight based on the illuminance table. To decide. Thus, by determining the luminance value of the backlight based on the illuminance table, even if the illuminance sensor 41 is hidden by the user's finger at a certain point in time, the subject image has a brightness that is more easily visible to the user. Can be displayed.

  FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram for explaining the data format of the illuminance table. As shown in the figure, two illuminance tables are prepared: a current table and a past table. The current table stores illuminance values calculated after the camera 10 is turned on. On the other hand, the past table stores the illuminance value at the previous use. Each illuminance table is configured to store, for example, four illuminance values together with the acquisition time. In addition, since a new value is calculated for the illuminance value at regular time intervals, the illuminance value is deleted from the oldest acquisition time and rewritten to a new value.

  Therefore, immediately after power-on, there may be a situation where the illuminance values corresponding to all IDs in the current table are not yet available. In addition, each illuminance value stored in the past table is a value calculated in the vicinity of the time when the power is turned off during the previous use. In particular, one of these is the illuminance value calculated from the output of the illuminance sensor 41 acquired together with the power-off instruction. When the power is turned off in the current use state, the system control unit 11 moves each value of the current table to the past table and resets the current table.

  Using these tables, luminance adjustment (steps S103, S109, S114, S121, S132) in the flow of FIG. 5 is executed. In this case, the acquisition of environmental illuminance is not limited to the timing immediately before each brightness adjustment, but is executed at regular time intervals and the result is stored in the current table.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart for explaining processing of brightness adjustment (steps S103, S109, S114, S121, and S132). As described above, the illuminance values corresponding to all IDs in the current table are not aligned unless a certain time has elapsed since the power was turned on. Therefore, the system controller 11 reads the current table stored in the system memory 12, checks whether the environmental illuminance acquired number written in the current table has reached the prescribed value n _0. For example, according to the current table of FIG. 6, the prescribed value n ₀ can be defined as the same number as the number of storages (= 4). Of course, it may be defined to be less than the stored number.

If the specified value n ₀ has been reached, the system control unit 11 proceeds to step S 202, calculates a value obtained by averaging the n ₀ illuminance values, and thereby determines the luminance value of the backlight of the display unit 37. (Step S203). Specifically, the luminance value is determined with reference to the correspondence table of the averaged illuminance value and backlight luminance value recorded in the system memory 12. When the luminance value is determined, the process proceeds to step S208.

Does not reach the defined value _{n 0} in step S201, the system controller 11 proceeds to step S204, reads the Past table recorded in the system memory 12. In step S205, the current time is acquired.

In step S206, the system control unit 11 calculates the illuminance value by weighted average processing using these pieces of information. Specifically, the weighted average process is performed as follows. First, the ambient illuminance is acquired when the power is turned off the last time, and the illuminance value and the acquisition time are added to the past table. to check whether the set time does not exceed the T _0. If it exceeds, the illuminance value of the past table is not referred to, and the averaging process is performed using only the calculated illuminance value in the current table.

On the other hand, if not, the illuminance value of the past table is taken into account. That is, the illuminance value acquired at the previous use is referred to as the case where it is estimated that the current use environment of the camera 10 is close to the previous use environment. Accordingly, the time T ₀ is set to such a degree that this assumption is considered to hold.

When referring to the illuminance values in the past table, a weighting coefficient is assigned between 0 and 1 according to the elapsed time calculated from the corresponding acquisition time for each illuminance value. On top of that, it performs the weighted averaging process together with the illuminance value less than the predetermined value n ₀ already described in the current table. That is, the illuminance value in the current table is weighted relatively higher than the illuminance value in the past table, and the weighted average process is performed. The display control unit 36 determines the luminance value of the backlight of the display unit 37 based on the value thus calculated (step S207). Specifically, the luminance value is determined with reference to the correspondence table of the averaged illuminance value and backlight luminance value recorded in the system memory 12. When the luminance value is determined, the process proceeds to step S208.

  In step S208, the system control unit 11 transmits the determined luminance value to the display control unit 36, and the display control unit 36 converts the luminance value received from the system control unit 11 into an L signal and transmits the L signal to the display unit 37. Then, the backlight of the display unit 37 is adjusted.

  In addition, you may perform the process which excludes the value which shows an abnormal value among the illumination intensity values contained in a past table and a current table. For example, when a certain illuminance value is smaller or larger than a threshold with respect to the preceding and following illuminance values, it can be determined as an abnormal value. Further, generally, the visibility is higher when the backlight of the display unit 37 is brighter than when the backlight is dark. Therefore, regardless of the past table or the current table, the higher the illuminance value, the higher the weight. In addition, about the above weighting, the addition of 0 as a weighting coefficient can also avoid the addition of a specific illumination value.

  In the embodiment described above, the triaxial acceleration sensor is employed as the attitude sensor 44, but various other sensors can be employed as a matter of course. Even if the angle information about the three axes is not output, the posture change amount may be detected ON / OFF by installing a plurality of position sensors that combine rolling balls and photo interrupters, for example.

  Even when the same posture change is detected, the luminance control of the backlight may be changed depending on the orientation of the camera body. For example, even when the posture of the display unit 37 is the same, the luminance is changed between when the camera body is facing upward from the horizontal plane and when it is facing downward.

  In the embodiment described above, the display unit 37 is described as a liquid crystal display unit. However, a self-luminous display unit such as an organic EL can be applied instead of a liquid crystal. In this case, the brightness of each pixel may be adjusted instead of adjusting the backlight.

  In the embodiment described above, the camera 10 which is a compact digital camera has been described as an example of the imaging apparatus. However, other types of cameras may be used. Specifically, it can be applied to an interchangeable lens single-lens reflex camera, a mirrorless single-lens camera, a video camera, a camera-equipped mobile phone, and the like.

  As mentioned above, although this invention was demonstrated using embodiment, the technical scope of this invention is not limited to the range as described in the said embodiment. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications or improvements can be added to the above-described embodiment. It is apparent from the scope of the claims that the embodiments added with such changes or improvements can be included in the technical scope of the present invention.

  The order of execution of each process such as operations, procedures, steps, and stages in the apparatus, system, program, and method shown in the claims, the description, and the drawings is particularly “before” or “prior to”. It should be noted that the output can be realized in any order unless the output of the previous process is used in the subsequent process. Regarding the operation flow in the claims, the description, and the drawings, even if it is described using “first”, “next”, etc. for convenience, it means that it is essential to carry out in this order. It is not a thing.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Camera, 11 System control part, 12 System memory, 20 Optical system, 21 Lens group, 22 Shutter, 31 Image sensor, 32 A / D converter, 33 Memory control part, 34 Internal memory, 35 Image processing part, 36 Display Control unit, 37 Display unit, 38 Recording medium IF, 39 Operation member, 40 Release switch, 41 Illuminance sensor, 42 Lens control unit, 43 Exposure control unit, 44 Attitude sensor, 45 Tilt sensor, 50 Recording medium, 52 Cross key, 53 Confirm button, 54 Mode switching button, 55 Display button, 56 Menu button, 57 Power button, 63 Support, 64 Displacement mechanism, 71 Luminance histogram

Claims (11)

A display unit;
An illuminance detector that detects ambient brightness;
An attitude detection unit for detecting the attitude of the display unit;
And a control unit that changes the luminance of the display unit based on the brightness detected by the illuminance detection unit when the posture detection unit detects a change in posture exceeding a predetermined amount of posture change. Control device. An imaging unit;
An imaging device comprising the display control device according to claim 1. A support unit for the display unit having a displacement mechanism for displacing the display unit relative to the imaging unit;
The imaging device according to claim 2, wherein the illuminance detection unit is provided in the support unit.   The imaging device according to claim 3, wherein the illuminance detection unit determines the luminance in consideration of a displacement amount by the displacement mechanism.   5. The imaging apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the control unit displays information related to a luminance value of an image acquired by the imaging unit on the display unit at least before and after changing the luminance. 6.   The imaging apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the posture detection unit detects a change based on a posture at a predetermined timing.   The imaging apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the timing is a time point when live view display is started.   The imaging device according to claim 6 or 7, wherein the timing is a time point when a photographing operation is completed.   The imaging apparatus according to any one of claims 6 to 8, wherein the timing is a time point when the mode is switched to one of a photographing mode and a reproduction mode. A storage unit for storing a plurality of brightness information detected by the illuminance detection unit;
The imaging device according to claim 2, wherein the control unit changes the luminance of the display unit based on the plurality of brightness information stored in the storage unit. A posture detection step for detecting the posture of the display unit;
An illuminance detection step of detecting ambient brightness when a change exceeding a predetermined posture change amount is detected by the posture detection step;
The display control program which makes a computer perform the control step which changes the brightness | luminance of the said display part based on the brightness detected by the said illumination intensity detection step.

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