JP2013055540A - Image processor, imaging apparatus and system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide technique for easily registering and changing setting of subject information on a person and image processing.SOLUTION: An image processor includes: a storage section for storing setting information on image effect processing for giving a prescribed image effect to an image obtained by imaging authentication data showing a feature point of an authentication object and the authentication object; a subject authentication section for extracting the feature point for an object image of a processing object, detecting a main subject from a field of the object image and determining whether the detected main subject is matched with the authentication object or not on the basis of the authentication data; an image processing section for performing image processing and the image effect processing according to the setting information when a determining result by the subject authentication section is true on the object image; and a control section for recording and registering the authentication data on the feature point of the main subject in the storage section with the detected main subject as a new authentication object when the determining result is false.

Description

  The present invention relates to an image processing device, an imaging device, and a system.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in a digital camera or the like, subject information such as a face about an individual person and image processing settings to be applied are registered in advance, and when a registered person is imaged and detected, the person is preferentially image processed. Technology has been developed to improve the appearance.

  In addition, when the digital camera captures a registered person with another digital camera by transferring the subject information and image processing settings of the registered person to the other digital camera, for example, the person There is a technique for processing an image with good appearance (see Patent Document 1).

JP 2010-213090 A

  However, in the prior art, when registering or changing subject information or image processing settings of individual persons, it is necessary to perform the registration based on an operation instruction by a user or the like.

  In view of the above-described problems of the conventional technology, an object of the present invention is to provide a technology capable of easily registering or changing subject information of a person and setting of image processing.

  In order to solve the above-described problem, an aspect of an image processing apparatus illustrating the present invention is an image effect processing for providing a predetermined image effect to authentication data indicating a feature point of an authentication target and an image obtained by capturing the authentication target. A storage unit that stores setting information, a feature point is extracted from the target image to be processed, a main subject is detected from the object scene of the target image, and the detected main subject is set as an authentication target based on the authentication data. A subject authentication unit that determines whether or not they match, an image processing unit that performs image effect processing based on setting information, and a determination result that is false when the determination result by the subject authentication unit is true together with image processing on the target image In this case, a control unit is provided that records and registers authentication data of feature points of the main subject in the storage unit with the detected main subject as a new authentication target.

  The control unit may add processing information of the image effect processing applied to the target image by the image processing unit to the target image.

  In addition, an interface unit for inputting / outputting data to / from the external device may be provided, and the control unit may output the target image to the external device via the interface unit.

  In addition, the target image is subjected to image effect processing in advance, and processing information of the applied image effect processing is added, and when the determination result is false, the control unit uses the processing information as setting information of the main subject, It may be stored and registered in the storage unit together with the authentication data.

  In addition, when a plurality of main subjects different from the authentication target are recognized by the subject authentication unit, the control unit is configured to select a main subject located in an in-focus area among the plurality of main subjects based on imaging information added to the target image. And the processing information may be setting information for the main subject located in the focus area.

  Further, when the determination result is true, the image processing unit may compare the processing information added to the target image with the setting information of the main subject, and perform unprocessed image effect processing on the target image.

  In addition, the image processing unit changes the setting of the image effect processing to a setting different from the setting information in accordance with the imaging information added to the target image or the state of the main subject determined to be the authentication target, and the image effect processing is targeted. It may be applied to the image.

  The control unit may count the number of times the image processing unit has changed the setting of the image effect processing from the setting information, and may update the setting information to the changed setting when the number of times is a predetermined number or more.

  One aspect of an imaging apparatus that exemplifies the present invention includes an imaging unit that captures an image of an object scene and generates an image, and the image processing apparatus of the present invention.

  One aspect of the system illustrating the present invention includes a plurality of image processing apparatuses of the present invention.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to easily register or change the subject information of a person and the setting of image processing.

The block diagram which shows an example of a structure of the system which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention Figure showing an example of an authentication file Flow chart of imaging operation processing of digital camera Flow chart of image playback processing of digital camera Flow chart of system operation processing Figure showing another example of an authentication file

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a configuration of a system according to an embodiment.

  The system of this embodiment is composed of two digital cameras 1a and 1b. The two digital cameras 1a and 1b in the present embodiment are assumed to have the same configuration, and each component is denoted by the same two-digit numeral added with an a or b letter. The configuration of the digital camera 1a will be described below, but the same applies to the digital camera 1b.

  The digital camera 1a of the present embodiment includes an imaging optical system 11a, an imaging device 12a, a DFE 13a, a CPU 14a, a memory 15a, a media I / F 16a, a communication I / F 18a, a monitor 19a, and an operation unit 20a that receives user operations. The DFE 13a, the memory 15a, the media I / F 16a, the communication I / F 18a, the monitor 19a, and the operation unit 20a are each connected to the CPU 14a.

  The imaging optical system 11a includes a plurality of lens groups including a zoom lens and a focusing lens. The lens position of the imaging optical system 11a is adjusted in the optical axis direction by a lens driving unit (not shown). For simplicity, the imaging optical system 11a is illustrated as a single lens in FIG.

  The image pickup device 12a is a device that picks up an image of the object scene formed by the light beam that has passed through the image pickup optical system 11a. The output of the image sensor 12a is input to the DFE 13a. The imaging device 12a of the present embodiment may be a progressive scanning solid-state imaging device (CCD or the like) or an XY addressing solid-state imaging device (CMOS or the like).

  A plurality of light receiving elements are arranged in a matrix on the light receiving surface of the image sensor 12a. In each light receiving element of the imaging element 12a, red (R), green (G), and blue (B) color filters are arranged according to a known Bayer array. Therefore, each light receiving element of the imaging element 12a outputs an image signal corresponding to each color by color separation in the color filter. Thereby, the image pick-up element 12a can acquire a color image.

  Here, in the photographing mode of the digital camera 1a, the image pickup device 12a picks up a still image or a recorded image (main image) of a moving image in response to a full press operation of a release button constituting the operation unit 20a. Further, the imaging element 12 in the shooting mode captures a composition confirmation image (through image) at a predetermined time interval even during shooting standby. The through image data is output by thinning-out readout from the image sensor 12a. The through image data is used for image display on the monitor 19a, various arithmetic processes by the CPU 14a, and the like.

  The DFE 13a is a digital front-end circuit that performs A / D conversion of an image signal input from the image sensor 12a and signal processing such as defective pixel correction. The DFE 13a forms an imaging unit together with the imaging device 12a in the present embodiment.

  The CPU 14a is a processor that comprehensively controls each unit of the digital camera 1a. For example, the CPU 14a executes autofocus (AF) control by a known phase difference method or contrast method, a known automatic exposure (AE) calculation, and the like based on the output of the image sensor 12a. Further, the CPU 14a operates as the subject authentication unit 21a and the image processing unit 22a by executing the control program.

  The subject authentication unit 21a performs a known face detection process on the image data of the main image (target image) captured by the image sensor 12a or read from an external device such as the digital camera 1b, and the main subject in the scene The face of the person who is is detected. For example, the subject authentication unit 21a extracts feature points such as eyebrow, eye, nose, and lip end points from an image by a known feature point extraction process, and based on these feature points, an image region of a person's face ( Hereinafter, a face area) is detected. The subject authentication unit 21a extracts feature points of the detected person's face, and compares them with authentication data, which is a feature point of the face of the person to be authenticated registered and stored in the memory 15a described later, based on correlation processing or the like. Then, it is determined whether or not the detected person matches the person to be authenticated registered in the memory 15a.

  The image processing unit 22a performs various types of image processing (for example, color interpolation processing, gradation conversion processing, contour enhancement processing, white balance adjustment) on the digital image signal for one frame output from the DFE 13a. Further, the image processing unit 22a according to the present embodiment registers in advance in the memory 15a together with authentication data which is a feature point of the person's face when the subject imaged by the subject authentication unit 21a is determined to be an authentication target. Image effect processing is performed on the main image based on stored setting information of image effect processing that gives predetermined image effects such as skin beautification processing, eye enhancement processing, and small face processing. When the person captured in the main image by the subject authentication unit 21a is not the authentication target, the image processing unit 22a may perform the image effect processing that is initially set in advance, or may not perform the image effect processing. It may be.

  The memory 15a stores image data captured by the digital camera 1a, a control program executed by the CPU 14a, and the like. Further, the memory 15a of the present embodiment stores an authentication file made up of authentication data of a person registered as an authentication target and setting information of applied image effect processing, which is referred to by the subject authentication unit 21a and the image processing unit 22a. , Remember for each person. FIG. 2 shows an example of an authentication file for a person registered as an authentication target. In addition, the memory 15a temporarily stores, for example, image data in a pre-process and a post-process of image processing by the image processing unit 22a.

  In the present embodiment, an authentication file is generated for each person. However, an authentication table in which authentication data and setting information are associated with each person in a list may be used. The memory 15a can be a non-volatile semiconductor memory or the like.

  The recording I / F 16a is formed with a connector for connecting the storage medium 17a. Then, the recording I / F 16a executes data writing / reading with respect to the storage medium 17a connected to the connector. The storage medium 17a is composed of a hard disk, a memory card incorporating a semiconductor memory, or the like. In FIG. 1, a memory card is shown as an example of the storage medium 17a.

  The communication I / F 18a controls data transmission / reception with an external device such as the digital camera 1b connected via a known wired or wireless communication line in accordance with a predetermined communication standard.

  The monitor 19a is a liquid crystal monitor or the like, and displays various images according to instructions from the CPU 14a.

  The operation unit 20a includes, for example, a release button, a power button, a command dial, a cross-shaped cursor key, a determination button, and the like. The operation unit 20a receives various inputs of the digital camera 1a from the user. For example, the operation unit 20a is used for operation switching of the operation mode of the digital camera 1a, input operation on a setting screen, and the like. Note that the digital camera 1a according to the present embodiment has a person registration mode in which a person who is to be registered as an authentication target in the subject authentication unit 21a is registered by a user's manual operation as an operation mode.

Next, with respect to the operations of the digital cameras 1a and 1b according to the present embodiment shown in FIG. And (C) system operation processing will be described. The operations of (A) and (B) will be described with the digital camera 1a, but the same applies to the digital camera 1b. Further, in the memory 15a of the digital camera 1a, the authentication file shown in FIG. 2 composed of authentication data and setting information of a plurality of persons is registered and recorded in advance in the person registration mode by the registration operation of the operation unit 20a by the user. It is assumed that Furthermore, the authentication file of a plurality of persons is also stored in the memory 15b of the digital camera 1b, but the registered person may not be the same as that of the digital camera 1a.
(A) Imaging Operation Processing of Digital Camera Imaging operation processing by the digital camera 1a will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. If the person detected by the subject authentication unit 21a is not an authentication target, the image processing unit 22a performs an initial image effect process. Further, the digital camera 1a has a still image mode and a moving image mode having a single shooting mode and a continuous shooting mode as shooting modes. Then, the digital camera 1a assumes that the still image mode of the single shooting mode is set in advance as the shooting mode, and generates an image file of a still image (main image).

  The CPU 14a accepts a power-on instruction by turning on the power button on the operation unit 20a by the user, and turns on the digital camera 1a. The CPU 14a initializes the digital camera 1a. The CPU 14a causes the image sensor 12a to capture a through image at a frame rate such as 30 fps, and causes the monitor 19a to display the through image. The CPU 14a starts processing from step S101.

  Step S101: The subject authentication unit 21a of the CPU 14a performs a known face detection process on the through image, and detects a person's face from the captured scene. If the subject authentication unit 21a cannot detect a person's face, the CPU 14a preferably acquires the next through image.

  Step S102: The CPU 14a determines whether or not a control signal based on a half-press operation of a release button constituting the operation unit 20a by the user has been received. When receiving the control signal, the CPU 14a calculates a photometric value of the object scene using the through image, and obtains an exposure condition by a known AE calculation. The CPU 14a proceeds to step S103 (YES side). On the other hand, if the control signal is not received, the CPU 14a proceeds to step S101 (NO side) and acquires the next through image.

  Step S103: The subject authentication unit 21a compares the feature point of the person's face detected in step S101 with the feature point in the authentication file of the person to be authenticated registered in the memory 15a based on correlation processing or the like. . The subject authentication unit 21a determines whether or not the detected person matches the person to be authenticated. The subject authenticating unit 21a proceeds to step S104 (YES side) when the detected person is the authentication target, and proceeds to step S105 (NO side) when the detected person is not the authentication target.

  Step S104: The image processing unit 22a sets the image effect process for the detected person based on the setting information of the image effect process in the detected person authentication file. For example, the image processing unit 22a first determines whether or not the setting of whether or not to perform image effect processing is ON in the setting information of the authentication file shown in FIG. When the setting is ON, the image processing unit 22a sets the individual image effect processing, and, as shown in FIG. 2, the eye enhancement processing and the small face processing are set to ON, and the skin beautification processing is set to OFF. On the other hand, the image processing unit 22a maintains the initial setting when the setting of whether to perform the image effect processing is OFF.

  Here, the image processing unit 22a of the present embodiment sets the image effect processing for the detected person based on the determination result by the subject authentication unit 21a and the setting information of the authentication file, but is not limited thereto. The image processing unit 22a may temporarily set the initial setting and the setting information of the authentication file according to the exposure conditions, the imaging date and time, the size of the detected human face area, and the like.

  For example, when the exposure value of the exposure condition is large, the image processing unit 22a determines that the object scene is a bright environment such as a clear sky field, and that sufficient brightness is ensured. Even if the skin beautification process is set to ON in the setting information, it is preferable to temporarily set the skin beautification process to OFF. On the other hand, when the exposure value is small, the image processing unit 22a determines that the object scene is a dark environment such as a room or night, and that sufficient brightness cannot be secured. Even when the skin beautification process is set to OFF, it is preferable to temporarily set the skin beautification process to ON.

  On the other hand, the image processing unit 22a determines, for example, daytime, nighttime, or season based on the imaging date and time, and temporarily changes the setting to a setting suitable for the imaging date and time, which is different from the setting information in the initial setting or authentication file. It is preferable to set.

  Further, the image processing unit 22a obtains a ratio of the detected human face area in the through image, and temporarily changes and sets the setting to a setting different from the initial setting or the setting information in the authentication file according to the ratio. Also good. For example, when the proportion of the person's face area is large and the setting of the skin beautifying process is set to OFF, the image processing unit 22a preferably changes the skin beautifying process to ON temporarily and sets it. On the other hand, when the ratio of the face area of the person is small and the small face processing setting is set to OFF, the image processing unit 22a preferably sets the small face processing to ON.

  Finally, the image processing unit 22a detects the facial expression of the detected person based on a known facial expression detection process, and temporarily sets the initial setting or setting different from the setting information in the authentication file according to the detection result. May be changed. For example, when the facial expression of the person is detected as a smile by the facial expression detection process and the setting of the eye enhancement process is set to ON, the image processing unit 22a preferably sets the eye enhancement process to OFF. . Thereby, emphasis such as laughter of the person can be avoided, and a more natural expression can be achieved.

  The CPU 14a preferably counts the number of such temporary changes by the image processing unit 22a for each image effect process and person. By counting the number of times, the image processing unit 22a can perform finer image effect processing on a person.

  Step S105: The CPU 14a determines whether or not an imaging instruction for a full press operation of a release button constituting the operation unit 20a by the user has been received. When receiving an imaging instruction, the CPU 14a causes the imaging device 12a to capture an image of the object scene, and the process proceeds to step S106 (YES side). On the other hand, if the CPU 14a has not accepted the imaging instruction, the CPU 14a proceeds to step S101 (NO side). The CPU 14a acquires the next through image, and performs the processes of steps S101 to S105.

  Step S106: The CPU 14a causes the image sensor 12a to image the object scene in the still image mode of the single shooting mode. The image processing unit 22a performs various types of image processing on the digital image signal output from the DFE 13a. When the person detected by the subject authentication unit 21a is authenticated as an authentication target in step S103, the image processing unit 22a performs the image effect processing set in step S104 on the still image. On the other hand, when it is authenticated that the person detected in step S103 is not an authentication target, the image processing unit 22a performs an initial image effect process on the still image.

  Step S107: The CPU 14a generates the processed image data as a still image file and records it in the storage medium 17a or the like. Note that the CPU 14a of the present embodiment generates an image file of a still image in a format compliant with, for example, the Exif (Exchangeable image file format for digital still cameras) standard, the TIFF / EP standard, etc., and exposure conditions, imaging date and time, etc. At the same time, information on various image processing and image effect processing performed by the image processing unit 22a is added.

  The CPU 14a preferably adds the number of times that the image processing unit 22a temporarily changes the setting of the image effect processing according to the exposure condition, which is counted in step S104, to the image file.

  Step S108: The CPU 14a returns the setting of the image effect processing set in the image processing unit 22a in step S104 to the initial setting, and ends the series of processing.

In addition, when the setting of the image effect processing by the image processing unit 22a is changed due to the exposure condition or the like, the CPU 14a sets the number of temporary changes of one image effect processing for a certain person to be a predetermined number (for example, 3 times) or more. In such a case, it is preferable to update the setting of one image effect process in the person's authentication file to a temporarily changed setting. The CPU 14a overwrites and saves the authentication file of the person whose setting information has been updated in the memory 15a.
(B) Image Reproduction Processing of Digital Camera Image reproduction processing by the digital camera 1a will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. Note that the digital camera 1a of the present embodiment has a playback mode in which the captured still image or moving image is played back and displayed on the monitor 19a as an operation mode. In addition, the still image is a main image, and the image file of the still image is subjected to various image processing and image effects performed by the image processing unit 22a along with the exposure conditions, the imaging date and time, and the like by the imaging operation processing of (A). It is assumed that processing information is added.

  The CPU 14a accepts a power-on instruction by turning on the power button on the operation unit 20a by the user, and turns on the digital camera 1a. The CPU 14a initializes the digital camera 1a. The CPU 14a sets the operation mode to the reproduction mode in response to an operation instruction from the operation unit 20a by the user, and starts processing from step S201.

  Step S201: The CPU 14a reads an image file of a still image designated by the user according to the operation of the operation unit 20a by the user. The CPU 14a reproduces and displays the still image of the read image file on the monitor 19a. At the same time, the CPU 14a acquires information such as exposure conditions, imaging date and time, various image processing and image effect processing performed by the image processing unit 22a, which are added to the image file.

  Step S202: The subject authentication unit 21a performs a known face detection process on the displayed still image to detect a human face from the field of the still image. If the subject authentication unit 21a fails to detect a person's face (NO side), the series of processing ends. On the other hand, when the subject authentication unit 21a detects a person's face, the process proceeds to step S203 (YES side).

  Step S203: The subject authentication unit 21a compares the feature point of the person's face detected in step S202 with the feature point in the authentication file of the person to be authenticated registered in advance in the memory 15a based on correlation processing or the like. . The subject authentication unit 21a determines whether or not the detected person matches the person to be authenticated. The subject authentication unit 21a proceeds to step S204 (YES side) when the detected person is the authentication target, and proceeds to step S206 (NO side) when the detected person is not the authentication target.

  Step S204: For example, the CPU 14a displays a dialog such as “Do you want to perform image effect processing?” On the monitor 19a and inquires of the user whether or not to perform image effect processing. When the CPU 14a receives a response from the user via the operation unit 20a and responds that the image effect process is not performed (NO side), the CPU 14a ends the series of processes. On the other hand, if the CPU 14a receives a response to perform image effect processing, the CPU 14a proceeds to step S205 (YES side).

  Step S205: The CPU 14a displays a dialog such as “Would you like to perform image effect processing based on the setting of the authentication file?” On the monitor 19a in order to set the image effect processing by the image processing unit 22a to the user. An inquiry is made as to whether or not to perform image effect processing based on the setting information of the authentication file. CPU14a receives a user's response via the operation part 20a. When the CPU 14a receives a response to perform image effect processing based on the setting of the authentication file, for example, the CPU 14a displays a list of image effect processing set to ON in the detected authentication file of the person on the monitor 19a. The image processing unit 22a sets the image effect processing displayed as a list on the monitor 19a, and performs the set image effect processing on the still image. On the other hand, when the CPU 14a receives a response not to perform the image effect processing based on the setting of the authentication file, the CPU 14a displays a list of the default image effect processing on the monitor 19a, and the image processing unit 22a displays the initial setting. Image effect processing is performed on a still image. The CPU 14a proceeds to step S212.

  The CPU 14a refers to the image effect processing information added to the still image file to determine whether the image effect processing set in the detected person authentication file has already been performed, It may be determined whether or not to perform image effect processing based on the setting information of the authentication file. The image processing unit 22a may perform only unprocessed image effect processing on the still image among the image effect processing set in the authentication file.

  Step S206: For example, the CPU 14a displays a dialog such as “Do you want to perform image effect processing?” On the monitor 19a, and performs image effect processing on a still image in which a non-registered person is captured. Inquire whether or not. When the CPU 14a receives a response from the user via the operation unit 20a and does not perform image effect processing, the CPU 14a proceeds to step S210 (NO side). On the other hand, if the CPU 14a receives a response to perform image effect processing, the CPU 14a proceeds to step S207 (YES side).

  Note that the CPU 14a refers to the image effect processing information added to the image file of the still image to determine whether or not at least the initial image effect processing is performed, and an unregistered person is captured. It may be determined whether or not to perform image effect processing on the still image.

  Step S207: For example, the CPU 14a displays a list of the default image effect processing on the monitor 19a. The image processing unit 22a performs image effect processing displayed as a list on the monitor 19a on a still image.

  Step S208: For example, the CPU 14a displays a dialog such as “Would you like to perform authentication registration for the detected person?” On the monitor 19a and inquires of the user whether or not to register. The CPU 14a moves to step S209 (YES side) in the case of a response to accept and register a user's response via the operation unit 20a, and moves to step S212 (NO side) in the case of a response not to register.

  Step S209: The CPU 14a generates an authentication file for the person detected in step S202, and records and registers it in the memory 15a. That is, when there is one person detected by being captured in the still image, the CPU 14a uses the person's feature point detected by the subject authentication unit 21a in step S202 as authentication data. In addition, the CPU 14a creates setting information in which the image effect process performed in step S207 is set to ON. The CPU 14a newly generates an authentication file of the detected person using the authentication data and the setting information, and records and registers it in the memory 15a.

  In addition, when there are a plurality of persons captured and detected in the still image, the CPU 14a sets the feature points of each person detected by the subject authentication unit 21a in step S202 as the respective authentication data. At the same time, the CPU 14a compares the position of the in-focus area added to the image file with the face area of each person, and identifies the person located in the in-focus area. The CPU 14a determines that the image effect processing performed in step S207 has been performed on the person located in the in-focus area, and creates setting information for the person who has set the executed image effect processing to ON. On the other hand, the CPU 14a creates setting information in which the image effect processing is set to OFF for a person located outside the focus area. The CPU 14a generates an authentication file for each person using the authentication data and the setting information, and records and registers it in the memory 15a.

  Step S210: Similar to step S208, the CPU 14a displays, for example, a dialog such as “Would you like to perform authentication registration for the detected person?” On the monitor 19a and inquires of the user whether or not to register. . In the case of a response to accept and register a user's response via the operation unit 20a, the CPU 14a proceeds to step S211 (YES side), and in the case of a response not to register (NO side), the series of processing ends. .

  Step S211: As in step S209, the CPU 14a generates an authentication file for the person detected in step S202, records it in the memory 15a, and registers it. The CPU 14a ends a series of processes.

Step S212: The CPU 14a displays the still image processed in step S205 or step S207 on the monitor 19a, and ends a series of processing.
(C) System Operation Processing With reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. 5, as a system operation, the main image captured by the digital camera 1b is transferred to the digital camera 1a, and the digital camera 1a is based on the received main image. A case where the operation process is performed will be described. That is, the digital cameras 1a and 1b of the present embodiment have a data transfer mode in which data such as a captured still image or moving image is transferred to an external device as an operation mode. In addition, the still image is a main image, and the image file of the still image includes various images applied by the image processing unit 22b of the digital camera 1b together with the exposure condition, the shooting date and time, and the like by the imaging operation process of (A). Information on processing and image effect processing is added.

  Here, as shown in FIG. 5, the operation of the system is similar to the image reproduction process of (B) shown in FIG. 4, and the same process is given the same step number and detailed description is omitted. To do.

  The difference between the operation processing of the system shown in FIG. 5 and the image reproduction processing of (B) shown in FIG. 4 is that step S201 is changed to data transfer between the digital cameras 1a-1b in step S301.

  That is, in step S301, the CPUs 14a and 14b set the operation mode to the data transfer mode according to the operation instructions of the operation units 20a and 20b by the users of the digital cameras 1a and 1b. The CPU 14b of the digital camera 1b reads an image file of the specified still image in accordance with the operation of the operation unit 20b by the user. The CPU 14b transmits the read image file to the digital camera 1a via, for example, the communication I / F 18b. The CPU 14a of the digital camera 1a receives the image file transmitted from the digital camera 1b via the communication I / F 18a and records it in the memory 15a or the storage medium 17a. However, the data transfer between the digital cameras 1a and 1b may be performed by exchanging the storage medium 17a or 17b, or may be performed via a server on the Internet.

  The digital camera 1a reproduces the still image received from the digital camera 1b by performing the processing of step S202 to step S212, and when a person captured in the still image is not registered, the person is newly captured. The authentication file can be generated and recorded in the memory 15a without being registered.

  Note that the CPU 14a of the digital camera 1a includes the image effect processing information added to the image file and the setting information of the person's authentication file even when a person captured in the still image is registered. Since there may be differences, it is preferable to ask the user whether or not to overwrite the setting information.

  As described above, in the present embodiment, the image processing unit 22 appropriately changes the setting of the image effect processing according to the determination result by the subject authentication unit 21 and the exposure condition by the CPU 14, and based on the frequency of the change. Even if there is no instruction control by the user or the like, the setting of the authentication file of the person to be authenticated can be changed.

In addition, even when the person detected by the subject authentication unit 21 is not registered as an authentication target, the CPU 14 captures imaging information such as exposure conditions added to the image file and information on various image processing and image effect processing performed. Based on the above, an authentication file of the detected person can be generated, recorded in the memory 15 and registered. As a result, for example, by simply playing back and displaying the main image of a family member or friend captured at an athletic meet, the person's authentication data and image effect processing settings can be set and registered all at once without complicated operations. Therefore, it is convenient for the user. In addition, even when a digital camera or the like is replaced, by simply transferring the main image between the digital cameras, registration of a person and setting of image effect processing for each person can be easily performed without complicated operations.
<< Additional items of embodiment >>
(1) In the above embodiment, the CPUs 14a and 14b implement the processes of the subject authentication unit 21a and the image processing unit 22a of the digital camera 1a and the subject authentication unit 21b and the image processing unit 22b of the digital camera 1b in software. Although the example to do was demonstrated, of course, it does not matter even if each of these processing is implement | achieved by hardware using ASIC.

  (2) The image processing apparatus of the present invention is not limited to the examples of the digital cameras 1a and 1b of the above embodiment. For example, the computer may function as the image processing apparatus of the present invention by causing the computer to execute a digital photo frame or an image processing program.

  (3) In the above embodiment, the main image is a still image, but the present invention is not limited to this and can be applied to a moving image or the like.

  (4) In the above embodiment, in the imaging operation process of the digital camera 1a, the CPU 14a newly generates an authentication file of the detected person when it is determined that the person detected by the subject authentication unit 21a is not an authentication target. Although not recorded and registered in the memory 15a, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, as in step S211 of the image reproduction process of the digital camera 1a shown in FIG. 4, the CPU 14a may generate an authentication file of the detected person, record it in the memory 15a, and register it.

  (5) In the above embodiment, in the authentication file shown in FIG. 2, the setting information is configured by setting whether to perform image effect processing and setting for each image effect processing, but the present invention is not limited to this. Instead, as shown in FIG. 6, the authentication file may hold information on the number of times that the setting of each image effect process is temporarily changed by the image processing unit 22 a.

  (6) In the above embodiment, in step S104 of the imaging operation process of the digital camera 1a, when the person detected by the subject authentication unit 21a is authenticated, the image processing unit 22a uses the authentication file setting information of the person. Although the image effect processing is set based on this, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, if the image processing unit 22a temporarily changes and executes one image effect processing setting for a certain person at the time of imaging, the image processing unit 22a temporarily sets the one image effect processing setting in the person's authentication file. The changed setting may be changed and recorded in the memory 15a.

  From the above detailed description, features and advantages of the embodiments will become apparent. It is intended that the scope of the claims extend to the features and advantages of the embodiments as described above without departing from the spirit and scope of the right. Further, any person having ordinary knowledge in the technical field should be able to easily come up with any improvements and modifications, and there is no intention to limit the scope of the embodiments having the invention to those described above. It is also possible to use appropriate improvements and equivalents within the scope disclosed in.

11a, 11b ... imaging optical system, 12a, 12b ... imaging device, 13 ... DFE, 14 ... CPU, 15 ... memory, 16 ... recording I / F, 17 ... storage medium, 18 ... communication I / F, 19 ... monitor, 20 ... operation unit, 21 ... subject authentication unit, 22 ... image processing unit

Claims (10)

A storage unit that stores authentication data indicating a feature point of an authentication target and setting information of an image effect process that gives a predetermined image effect to an image obtained by capturing the authentication target;
A feature point is extracted from the target image to be processed, a main subject is detected from the object scene of the target image, and whether or not the detected main subject matches the authentication target based on the authentication data A subject authentication unit for determining
When the determination result by the subject authentication unit is true together with the image processing on the target image, an image processing unit that performs the image effect processing based on the setting information;
A controller that records and registers authentication data of feature points of the main subject in the storage unit, with the detected main subject as a new authentication target when the determination result is false;
An image processing apparatus comprising: The image processing apparatus according to claim 1.
The control unit adds processing information of the image effect processing applied to the target image by the image processing unit to the target image. The image processing apparatus according to claim 2,
It has an interface unit that inputs and outputs data with external devices.
The image processing apparatus, wherein the control unit outputs the target image to the external device via the interface unit. The image processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
The target image is subjected to image effect processing in advance, and processing information of the applied image effect processing is added,
When the determination result is false, the control unit sets the processing information as the main subject setting information, and stores and registers the processing information in the storage unit together with the main subject authentication data. The image processing apparatus according to claim 4.
When a plurality of main subjects different from the authentication target are recognized by the subject authentication unit, the control unit is positioned in an in-focus area among the plurality of main subjects based on imaging information added to the target image. An image processing apparatus characterized in that a main subject to be identified is specified, and the processing information is set as setting information for a main subject located in the focus area. The image processing apparatus according to claim 4 or 5,
When the determination result is true, the image processing unit compares the processing information added to the target image with the setting information of the main subject, and performs unprocessed image effect processing on the target image. Image processing apparatus characterized by The image processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 6,
The image processing unit changes the setting of the image effect processing to a setting different from the setting information according to the imaging information added to the target image or the state of the main subject determined to be the authentication target, An image processing apparatus that performs image effect processing on the target image. The image processing apparatus according to claim 7.
The control unit counts the number of times the image processing unit has changed the setting of the image effect processing from the setting information, and updates the setting information to the changed setting when the number of times is a predetermined number or more. An image processing apparatus. An imaging unit that images an object scene and generates an image;
An image processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 8,
An imaging apparatus comprising:   A system comprising a plurality of image processing apparatuses according to any one of claims 1 to 8.

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