JP2021189788A - Image processing apparatus, imaging apparatus, control method, and program - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide an image processing apparatus which reduces the influence of contrast effect that appears when a plurality of images are simultaneously displayed.SOLUTION: An image processing unit 107 as an image processing apparatus of a digital camera includes: an acquisition unit 201 which acquires a plurality of images to be simultaneously displayed on a screen and information on arrangement mode thereof; an evaluation unit 202 which evaluates the influence of visual contrast effect between images that appears when the plurality of images acquired by the acquisition unit 201 are simultaneously displayed, on the basis of the information on arrangement mode; and a derivation unit 212 which derives a correction amount for reducing the influence of the visual contrast effect for each of the plurality of images, on the basis of a result evaluated by the evaluation unit 202.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

The present invention relates to an image processing device, an image pickup device, a control method and a program, and particularly to an image processing technique for producing a visual effect.

The present invention relates to an image processing apparatus, and more particularly to an image processing for correcting a contrasting effect generated between a plurality of images displayed simultaneously on a display.

As the range of brightness that can be displayed on a display (display brightness) has been expanded, it has become possible to display images with gradation expressions that are closer to human vision. Along with this, some image pickup devices such as digital cameras have a function of capturing a high-resolution gradation expression (HDR: high dynamic range) image including the gradation on the high-luminance side, which has been conventionally compressed. It has been developed. For example, BT, which is an HDR video signal standard. By performing conversion processing (hereinafter, gamma processing) of the captured image using the 2100 OETF (Opto-Electronic transfer function), the gradation on the high luminance side can be displayed on the HDR monitor.

The HDR image obtained by applying the gamma processing expresses the gradation on the higher luminance side than the conventional SDR image. At this time, for example, by increasing the brightness and saturation of the background, a contrasting effect is produced that is perceived (visually recognized) as an image having an impression different from that of the SDR image, such as a dark foreground, dull color, and high contrast. Such a contrasting effect can occur not only within one image but also between images, for example, in a mode in which a plurality of images are arranged and displayed in one screen. For example, when displaying an HDR image and an SDR image at the same time, or when displaying a plurality of HDR images having different maximum brightness at the same time, it becomes difficult to visually recognize an image having a lower brightness and saturation than an image arranged in the periphery. More specifically, when focusing on one image arranged on the screen, if the brightness / saturation of the image arranged around the image of interest (the image of interest) is high, the image of interest is dark and the color is dark. It is perceived as an image with the impression of being dull.

In Patent Document 1, when displaying a list of thumbnails of a plurality of moving images on a display, the thumbnail floor is based on the feature amount of the gradation of each moving image in order to reduce the variation in brightness or color tone that occurs in each shooting scene. A device for correcting the adjustment price is described.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2009-055231

However, the correction described in Patent Document 2 is based on the feature amount of the gradation of the moving image, and does not consider the mode in which the contrast effect appears more strongly, for example, when they are arranged adjacent to each other. Therefore, depending on the arrangement mode of the plurality of images (thumbnails), there is a possibility that the variation in brightness / saturation perceived by the user may not be suitably reduced.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and provides an image processing device, an image pickup device, a control method, and a program that reduce the influence of the contrasting effect that appears when displaying a plurality of images at the same time. The purpose.

The image processing apparatus of the present invention simultaneously displays a plurality of images to be simultaneously displayed on the screen and an acquisition means for acquiring information on the arrangement mode, and a plurality of images acquired by the acquisition means based on the information on the arrangement mode. An evaluation means that evaluates the effect of the visual contrast effect between the images that appear at the time, and a derivation that derives a correction amount that reduces the effect of the visual contrast effect for each of a plurality of images based on the evaluation result by the evaluation means. It is characterized by having means and.

According to the present invention, it is possible to reduce the influence of the contrasting effect that appears when a plurality of images are displayed at the same time by such a configuration.

A block diagram showing a functional configuration of a digital camera 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The block diagram which showed the structure of the functional module of the image processing part 107 which concerns on embodiment of this invention. A flowchart illustrating the display process executed by the digital camera 100 according to the embodiment of the present invention. A flowchart illustrating the map configuration process according to the embodiment of the present invention. The figure for demonstrating the map composition processing which concerns on embodiment of this invention. The figure for demonstrating the evaluation by the evaluation unit 202 which concerns on embodiment of this invention. The figure for demonstrating the structure of the influence map which concerns on embodiment of this invention.

[Embodiment]
Hereinafter, embodiments will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. The following embodiments do not limit the invention according to the claims. Although a plurality of features are described in the embodiment, not all of the plurality of features are essential for the invention, and the plurality of features may be arbitrarily combined. Further, in the attached drawings, the same or similar configurations are given the same reference numbers, and duplicate explanations are omitted.

One embodiment described below describes an example in which the present invention is applied to a digital camera having a function of displaying a list of captured images as an example of an image processing device. However, the present invention is applicable to any device capable of deriving a correction amount for each image when displaying a plurality of images at the same time. Further, in the present specification, the "contrast effect" indicates a difference in visual impression (difference in appearance) due to a difference in brightness and saturation between images when a plurality of images are displayed at the same time. Explain as a thing.

<< Configuration of digital camera >>
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of a digital camera 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The system control unit 101 is a control device that controls each block included in the digital camera 100, such as a CPU. The system control unit 101 controls the operation of each block included in the digital camera 100 by reading the operation program of each block included in the digital camera 100 from the ROM 102, expanding the program into the RAM 103, and executing the program.

The ROM 102 is a rewritable non-volatile memory such as a flash ROM. The ROM 102 stores, in addition to the operation program of each block included in the digital camera 100, parameters and the like necessary for the operation of each block. On the other hand, the RAM 103 is a rewritable volatile memory. The RAM 103 is used not only as an expansion area for an operation program of each block included in the digital camera 100, but also as a temporary storage area for intermediate data output by the operation of each block. In the present embodiment, the system control unit 101 and the image processing unit 107 described later use the RAM 103 as a work memory.

The optical system 104 forms a subject image on the image pickup unit 105. The optical system 104 includes, for example, a fixed lens, a variable magnification lens that changes the focal length, a focus lens that adjusts the focus, and the like. The optical system 104 also includes a diaphragm, and the amount of light at the time of shooting is adjusted by adjusting the aperture diameter of the optical system with the diaphragm.

The image pickup unit 105 is an image pickup element such as a CCD image sensor or a CMOS image sensor. The image pickup unit 105 obtains an analog image signal by photoelectrically converting an optical image formed on the image pickup surface of the image pickup device by the optical system 104. The image pickup unit 105 outputs the obtained analog image signal to the A / D conversion unit 106.

The A / D conversion unit 106 obtains digital image data (hereinafter, simply referred to as an image) by applying the A / D conversion process to the input analog image signal. The A / D conversion unit 106 outputs the obtained image to the RAM 103 and stores it.

The image processing unit 107 performs various image processing on the image stored in the RAM 103, and records the image after the image processing on the recording medium 108. The image processing performed by the image processing unit 107 may include, for example, white balance adjustment, color interpolation, processing related to reduction / enlargement, and the like. It is assumed that the digital camera 100 of the present embodiment is configured to be capable of recording two types of images, an HDR image and an SDR image. Here, the HDR image is an HDR video signal standard BT. It will be described assuming that the PQ and HLG system video signals described in 2100 are assumed. More specifically, the color gamut of the HDR image is BT. In 2020, the gamma of the HDR image used in the digital camera 100 will be described as assuming that it is the PQ method.

The image processing unit 107 also performs a process of generating a screen for displaying an image recorded on the recording medium 108 described later. Here, it is assumed that the display mode of the image includes two types, a mode in which only one image is displayed and a mode in which a plurality of images are arranged on the screen and simultaneously displayed, and the image processing unit 107 is set. The processing content is different depending on the display mode.

The recording medium 108 is a recording device, such as a memory card, which may be detachably configured on the digital camera 100. An image (captured image) to which image processing has been applied by the image processing unit 107, an image signal (RAW image) A / D converted by the A / D conversion unit 106, and the like are recorded as recorded images on the recording medium 108. To.

The display unit 109 is, for example, a display device such as an LCD, and presents various types of information in the digital camera 100. The display unit 109 functions as a digital viewfinder by displaying (through display) the A / D converted image when the digital camera 100 is set to the image pickup mode and the image pickup unit 105 is performing the image pickup. .. Further, the display unit 109 displays an image recorded on the recording medium 108 when the digital camera 100 is set to the reproduction mode.

The operation input unit 110 includes a user input interface such as a release switch, a setting button, and a mode setting dial, and when it detects an operation input made by the user, it outputs a control signal corresponding to the operation input to the system control unit 101. .. Further, in the embodiment in which the display unit 109 is provided with the touch panel sensor, the operation input unit 110 also functions as an interface for detecting a touch operation performed on the display unit 109.

These functional blocks included in the digital camera 100 are basically connected by a bus 111, and are configured to enable signal exchange between the blocks via the bus 111.

<Detailed configuration of image processing unit 107>
Next, various image processing functions possessed by the image processing unit 107, which are related to the display of a plurality of images in the reproduction mode of the digital camera 100 of the present embodiment, will be described with reference to FIG.

The acquisition unit 201 reads out and acquires a plurality of images arranged in the screen for one screen displayed on the display unit 109 from the recording medium 108. In the present embodiment, in order to facilitate understanding of the invention, the plurality of images are all assumed to be images recorded on the recording medium 108, but in the embodiment of the present invention, the image acquisition source is the same. It is easy to understand that it is not limited.

In addition, the acquisition unit 201 also acquires information on an arrangement mode indicating how the plurality of images to be displayed are arranged on the screen. The information on the arrangement mode for one image may include, for example, information on the display position and display size of the image on the screen. In the present embodiment, the images to be displayed are arranged in a mosaic pattern on one screen and simultaneously displayed, and the display sizes are provided with a plurality of types. Hereinafter, the image to be displayed is arranged on one screen without any gap, but the arrangement mode is not limited to this.

The evaluation unit 202 evaluates the influence of the visual contrast effect that appears when the image group is simultaneously displayed, based on the information of the image to be displayed and the arrangement mode thereof acquired by the acquisition unit 201. In the present embodiment, the evaluation unit 202 derives the influence of the visual contrast effect as an evaluation value, shows the same distribution as the screen to be displayed, and corrects based on the evaluation value in the area where each image is arranged as a pixel value. Construct an impact map that stores the amount. Although the details will be described later, the evaluation unit 202 is based on the separation unit 211 that separates the acquired image into the brightness component image and the color component image, the derivation unit 212 that derives the evaluation value for each image, and the derived evaluation value. Includes a map configuration unit 213 that constitutes an impact map.

The correction unit 203 corrects a plurality of images to be displayed based on the influence map configured by the evaluation unit 202. The correction amount of each image is defined by the pixel value of the pixel in the influence map corresponding to the display position of the image on the generated screen.

The generation unit 204 generates a screen to be displayed on the display unit 109 based on the image corrected by the correction unit 203 and the information on the arrangement mode. More specifically, the generation unit 204 arranges the corrected image for each of the images to be displayed in the display area on the RAM 103, for example, after enlarging / reducing the corrected image based on the display size. To generate a screen.

In the present embodiment, it is assumed that the processing is realized by a circuit or a processor corresponding to each block included in the digital camera 100 as hardware. However, the implementation of the present invention is not limited to this, and the processing of each block may be realized by a program that performs the same processing as each block.

<< Display processing >>
The display processing executed when displaying a plurality of images on the display unit 109 in the digital camera 100 of the present embodiment having such a configuration will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. The process corresponding to the flowchart can be realized by the system control unit 101 reading, for example, the corresponding process program stored in the ROM 102, expanding it into the RAM 103, and executing the process. This display process is started, for example, when the digital camera 100 is activated in the playback mode and is set to simultaneously display a plurality of images recorded on the recording medium 108, and the display is updated while the setting is made. It will be described as being repeatedly executed according to the rate.

In S301, the system control unit 101 determines whether or not to change the contents of the image group to be displayed arranged on the screen. In the present embodiment, the image group arranged on the screen will be described as being changed according to the operation input related to the display feed operation, but the embodiment of the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the display target may be changed so that an image having a high relevance to the image for which the selection operation is performed is displayed, or conversely, the display target is displayed so as to exclude the image having a high similarity. It may be changed. Further, for example, a slide show may be used in which the display target is sequentially changed according to the passage of time. When the system control unit 101 determines that the content of the image group to be displayed is changed, the process is transferred to S302, and when it is determined that the content is not changed, the process is transferred to S307.

In S302, the system control unit 101 selects an image group to be displayed and configures information on the arrangement mode thereof, and transmits information for specifying the image group to be displayed and information on the arrangement mode to the image processing unit 107. .. More specifically, the system control unit 101 selects an image group to be displayed, determines the display position and size of each image based on a predetermined arrangement rule, and constitutes information on the arrangement mode. Upon receiving the information, the image processing unit 107 executes the following processes S303 to S306 under the control of the system control unit 101. In the present embodiment, in order to simplify the understanding of the invention, it is assumed that all the image groups to be displayed are HDR images, and there is no difference in the gradation range that can be expressed.

In S303, the acquisition unit 201 of the image processing unit 107 reads out the image to be displayed from the recording medium 108 and acquires it based on the received information. The read image may be expanded into, for example, an image memory (not shown) included in the RAM 103 or the image processing unit 107.

In S304, the image processing unit 107 executes a map configuration process for the image to be displayed to configure an influence map.

<Map configuration processing>
Here, the map configuration process executed in this step will be described in detail with reference to the flowchart of FIG. In the following example, the information on the arrangement mode will be described as describing that each image is arranged on the screen in the arrangement mode as shown in FIG. 5A.

In S401, the separation unit 211 separates each of the image groups to be displayed into a brightness component image and a color component image. More specifically, the separation unit 211 converts the HDR image, which is the image to be displayed, into an ICtCp color space in consideration of human visual characteristics, thereby converting the brightness component image (I image) and the color component image (Ct image,). Cp image) and separate.

In S402, the evaluation unit 202 selects an image whose evaluation value has not been derived from the image group to be displayed as the image to be processed (target image). The selection order of the target images may be any, and all the images to be displayed are selected in order in this step.

In S403, the derivation unit 212 derives an evaluation value indicating the influence of the visual contrast effect on the target image selected in S402. Here, the effect of the visual contrast effect is the effect that occurs on the visibility of the target image in comparison with the image arranged close to the periphery of the target image when the images are arranged and displayed on one screen (the effect of the visual contrast effect). It looks dark, the color bleeds, etc.). In the present embodiment, in order to quantitatively evaluate the influence of the visual contrast effect, the derivation unit 212 describes the difference in brightness between images (difference in average brightness) and the positional relationship between images (center when the screen is arranged). The evaluation value is derived for the ratio of the display size between the images and the distance). However, the effect of the visual contrast effect that appears between the images need not be evaluated only for these items.

Further, the derivation of these evaluation values is based on the relationship between the target image and the image showing the maximum average brightness (hereinafter referred to as the maximum brightness image) among all the images arranged close to the periphery of the target image. It will be described below as what is done. This is because the influence of the visual contrast effect between the maximum luminance image and the target image appears most strongly. However, the implementation of the present invention is not limited to this, and the evaluation value of the target image according to each item is not limited to the one derived from the relationship between the target image and the maximum luminance image, and is around the target image. It may be derived from the relationship with other images to be arranged. In the present embodiment, the image arranged in the periphery is defined as an image arranged adjacent to the side or the apex of the target image (rectangle) on the generated screen. However, in the embodiment in which a plurality of images are arranged on one screen and displayed at the same time, the definition of the image arranged around any image may be changed as appropriate.

Hereinafter, when the information of the arrangement mode shows the screen configuration as shown in FIG. 5A and the image shown by 501 in the screen is the target image, a method of deriving various evaluation values related to the target image will be exemplified. .. Here, when the information on the arrangement mode shows the screen configuration as shown in FIG. 5A, the average luminance map having the same size as the screen shown in FIG. 6 is not the screen actually displayed on the display unit 109. Various evaluation values are derived using. However, it goes without saying that the configuration of the average luminance map is not essential when deriving various evaluation values.

Evaluation value E _a of the difference in brightness of the target image and the maximum brightness image is derived as the difference in brightness of the entire image the average brightness value of the average luminance value and the target luminance of the entire brightness image of maximum brightness image. When the average luminance of the image arranged on the generated screen is distributed as in the average luminance map shown in FIG. 6A, the maximum luminance image is an image arranged at the lower part of the screen of the target image. In the example of the figure, in the region 601 corresponding to the target image, there are four types of regions that are in contact with each other via the sides or vertices of the region, and the image corresponding to the region 602 showing the highest average brightness of 700 nit is the largest. It becomes a luminance image. At this time, assuming that the average brightness of the area 601 is I _i and the average brightness of the area 602 is I _{i + 1 , the evaluation value E a} related to the difference in brightness is.
I _{i + 1} −I _i = 700-80 = 620
Will be.

で導出できる。 _{The evaluation value E b} related to the positional relationship between the target image and the maximum luminance image is derived as the distance between the coordinates of the center of the target image and the maximum luminance image (in the case of the captured image, the center of the optical axis) on the generated screen. This is because the influence of the visual contrast effect between the maximum luminance image and the target image appears stronger as the distance between these images on the screen becomes smaller. When the average luminance map corresponding to the generated screen is as shown in FIG. 6 (a), the evaluation targets are the center coordinates 611 of the region 601 and the center coordinates 612 of the region 602 as shown in FIG. 6 (b). The distance in the map between. At this time, assuming that the coordinates of the center coordinates 611 are (x _i , y _i ) and the coordinates of the center coordinates 612 are (x _{i + 1} , y _{i + 1} ), the evaluation value E _b related to the positional relationship is

Can be derived with.

Evaluation value E _c of the ratio of the display size of the target image and the maximum brightness image, as a ratio of the display size of the target image to the display size of the maximum brightness image (area, number of pixels) in the resulting window (area, number of pixels) Derived. This is because the influence of the visual contrast effect between the maximum luminance image and the target image appears stronger as the area of the target image is relatively smaller. When the average luminance map corresponding to the generated screen is as shown in FIG. 6A, the area of the area 601 in which the target image is arranged is S _i , and the area of the area 602 in which the maximum luminance image is arranged is S _{i +. Assuming 1 , the evaluation value E c} related to the display size ratio is
E _c = S _i / S _{i + 1}
Can be derived with. For example, when the number of pixels of the target image and the maximum luminance image when arranged on the screen is as shown in FIG. 6 (c), the evaluation value E _c related to the ratio of the display size is 1.

In S404, the map component unit 213 derives the correction amount of the target image when it is arranged on the screen to be generated, based on the evaluation values derived in S403 for the target image and the maximum luminance image. In the digital camera 100 of the present embodiment, since the correction for reducing the influence of the visual contrast effect on each image to be displayed is collectively performed by S305 of the display processing described later, the influence map described above is performed in the map configuration processing. Make the configuration of. The influence map is two-dimensional information having the same size as the screen to be generated like the display luminance map and storing the correction amount of the image in the area corresponding to the arrangement position of each image to be displayed on the screen. .. Therefore, the map configuration unit 213 stores the derived correction amount as the pixel value of the area corresponding to the target image in the development area of the influence map provided in the RAM 103, for example.

Here, a method of deriving the correction amount of the target image will be described with reference to FIG. 7. In the digital camera 100 of the present embodiment, the correction amount for one target image is derived based on three types of evaluation values derived in relation to the maximum luminance image for the target image. For each of the evaluation values derived in relation to the target image and the maximum luminance image, the map component unit 213 derives a correction amount based on a predetermined function. In the present embodiment, the correction amount is described as being represented as an additional value (gain) for changing the value of the brightness component (I) of the target image, but the embodiment of the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the correction amount is a predetermined coefficient, and the correction may be performed by multiplying.

The larger the difference in average brightness from the images arranged in the periphery, the stronger the effect of the visual contrast effect. Therefore, the function related to brightness is related to the difference in brightness as shown in FIG. 7 (a). The larger the evaluation value E _a is, the larger the correction amount gain _a tends to be output. Further, the shorter the distance from the images arranged in the periphery, the stronger the influence of the visual contrast effect. Therefore, the function related to the distance has an evaluation value E _{b related to the positional relationship as shown in FIG. 7 (b).} The smaller the value, the larger the correction amount gain _b tends to be output. Further, the smaller the area ratio with the image arranged in the periphery, that is, the larger the area of the maximum luminance image, the stronger the influence of the visual contrast effect. Therefore, the function related to the area ratio is shown in FIG. 7 (c). _{As shown in, the smaller the evaluation value E c} related to the ratio of the display size, the larger the correction amount gain _c tends to be output.

Furthermore, the effect of the visual contrast effect that occurs when the image groups to be displayed at the same time is displayed only depends on the brightness difference, distance, and area ratio between the target image and the images arranged around it. It does not occur even if it depends on the average brightness of the target image. In other words, the darker the target image, the stronger the influence of the visual contrast effect. Therefore, the function related to the average brightness of the target image itself is the average brightness as shown in FIG. 7 (d). The smaller the value, the larger the correction amount gain _d tends to be output.

で導出されるものであってよい。なお、画像間、または対象画像そのものについて行った複数の評価結果に基づく補正量は、このように複数の補正量の平均化によって導出されるものである必要はなく、重み付け加算等、異なる手法で導出されるものであってよい。 _{The map component unit 213 determines the final correction amount Map comb} based on the four types of correction amounts derived in this way, and stores it as the pixel value of the region corresponding to the target image of the influence map. The final correction amount Map _comb uses, for example, the number n of correction amounts to be derived in advance (4 in this embodiment).

It may be derived from. It should be noted that the correction amount based on the results of multiple evaluations performed between images or the target image itself does not have to be derived by averaging the plurality of correction amounts in this way, and a different method such as weighting addition may be used. It may be derived.

In S405, the image processing unit 107 determines whether or not an unselected image as the target image exists in the image group to be displayed. If the image processing unit 107 determines that an unselected image as the target image exists in the image group to be displayed, the process returns to S402, and if it determines that the image does not exist, the image processing unit 107 completes the map configuration process. By doing so, it is possible to construct an influence map as shown in FIG. 5B, which stores the correction amount for each area of the generated screen. In the example of the figure, the pixel value changes depending on the size of the correction amount, and the area where the correction is not performed is set to black (0), and the larger the addition value in the correction, the closer the color is to white. ..

When the map configuration process is completed, the correction unit 203 of the image processing unit 107 corrects each image to be displayed based on the configured influence map in S305 of the display process. More specifically, the correction unit 203 refers to the area corresponding to the image in the influence map for each image to be displayed _{, and corrects by adding the pixel value Map comb of the} area to the brightness component of each image. I do. For example, the signal value I'(x, y) of the brightness component of the coordinates (x, y) of one image is set by using the signal value I (x, y) before the correction.
I'(x, y) = I (x, y) + Map _comb
Can be derived with.

In S306, the generation unit 204 of the image processing unit 107 generates a screen in which the corrected image group to be displayed is arranged based on the information of the arrangement mode. Then, the system control unit 101 controls in S307 to display the generated screen on the display unit 109, and returns the process to S301.

As described above, according to the image processing apparatus of the present embodiment, a plurality of images to be simultaneously displayed are displayed in a state where the influence of the visual contrast effect generated between the images is reduced according to their arrangement mode. It can be controlled to cause.

In the present embodiment, it has been described that all the image groups to be displayed are HDR images, but the implementation of the present invention is not limited to this. The image group to be displayed may include, for example, an SDR image in addition to the HDR image. In this case, the HDR image and the SDR image have the former BT. It differs in that it is developed in the color spaces of PQ gamma and BT2020 described in 2100, and the latter is developed in the color spaces of sRGB gamma and sRGB color gamut. Therefore, for example, since the value range of the expressed brightness is different and the HDR image and the SDR image cannot be simply compared, the SDR image is used as the HDR image when deriving the difference in the average brightness. All you have to do is convert it to the existing gamma and color space.

Further, in the present embodiment, a method of evaluating the influence of the visual contrast effect on the image group to be displayed based on the magnitude of the brightness component I (brightness, luminance) has been described, but the embodiment of the present invention is limited to this. It is not something that can be done. For example, color information related to saturation (taste) may be derived from the color components Ct and Cp, and evaluation may be performed based on the color information. Further, the evaluation may be performed using both of these.

Further, in the present embodiment, the difference in brightness and the ratio of the display size are used as the evaluation value of the influence of the visual contrast effect generated between the images. However, in the embodiment of the present invention, the difference between the images is evaluated. Needless to say, either the difference or the ratio may be used. That is, the evaluation of the difference in brightness between the images may be performed based on the difference or ratio of the brightness between the two images, and the same applies to the display size.

Further, in the present embodiment, an embodiment in which all the image groups to be displayed are selected as the target images and the correction amount is derived for all of these images has been described, but the embodiment of the present invention is not limited to this. For example, if one image is configured so that the user can select one image from the images displayed at the same time by a cursor, a frame, etc., the correction is made so as to reduce the influence of the visual contrast effect only on the selected image. It may be something to do.

The invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and various modifications and modifications can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Therefore, a claim is attached to publicize the scope of the invention.

[Other embodiments]
The present invention supplies a program that realizes one or more functions of the above-described embodiment to a system or device via a network or storage medium, and one or more processors in the computer of the system or device reads and executes the program. It can also be realized by the processing to be performed. It can also be realized by a circuit (for example, ASIC) that realizes one or more functions.

100: Digital camera, 101: System control unit, 102: ROM, 103: RAM, 107: Image processing unit, 109: Display unit, 201: Acquisition unit, 202: Evaluation unit, 203: Correction unit, 204: Generation unit, 211: Separation unit, 212: Derivation unit, 213: Map configuration unit

Claims (12)

An acquisition means for acquiring information on a plurality of images to be displayed simultaneously on the screen and their arrangement modes,
An evaluation means for evaluating the influence of a visual contrast effect between images appearing when the plurality of images acquired by the acquisition means are simultaneously displayed based on the information of the arrangement mode, and an evaluation means.
A derivation means for deriving a correction amount for reducing the influence of the visual contrast effect for each of the plurality of images based on the evaluation result by the evaluation means.
An image processing apparatus characterized by having. The first aspect of the present invention is characterized in that the evaluation means performs evaluation based on at least one difference or ratio of brightness and color between images arranged in close proximity to the plurality of images. The image processing device described. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the evaluation means performs evaluation based on a distance on the screen between images arranged in close proximity to the plurality of images. The evaluation means according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the evaluation means performs evaluation based on a difference or ratio of display sizes between images arranged in close proximity to the plurality of images. The image processing device described. The image processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the evaluation means performs evaluation based on the brightness of each of the plurality of images. The evaluation means is characterized in that each of the plurality of images is evaluated based on the image and the image showing the maximum average brightness among the images arranged close to the image. Item 6. The image processing apparatus according to any one of Items 1 to 5. The image processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 6, further comprising a correction means for correcting the plurality of images based on the correction amount derived by the derivation means. The image processing apparatus according to claim 7, further comprising a generation means for generating the screen by arranging the plurality of images corrected by the correction means based on the information of the arrangement mode. The image processing apparatus according to claim 8, further comprising a display means for displaying the screen generated by the generation means. Imaging means and
The image processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 9.
Have,
An image pickup device characterized in that the acquisition means of the image processing device acquires an image captured by the image pickup means. An acquisition process for acquiring information on multiple images to be displayed simultaneously on the screen and their arrangement modes,
An evaluation step for evaluating the influence of a visual contrast effect between images appearing when the plurality of images acquired in the acquisition step are simultaneously displayed based on the information of the arrangement mode, and an evaluation step.
Based on the evaluation results in the evaluation step, a derivation step of deriving a correction amount for reducing the influence of the visual contrast effect for each of the plurality of images, and a derivation step.
A method for controlling an image processing apparatus, which comprises. A program that causes a computer to function as each means of the image processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 9.

Images