JP2600000B2 - Printer - Google Patents

Description

Description: BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a punlitta, and more particularly to a printer for printing a desired image from a video tape on which a video signal is recorded.

[Conventional technology]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there is a printer which is connected to various video devices, stores an arbitrary screen from a moving image as a still image in a built-in frame memory, and prints the stored still image.

[Problems to be solved by the invention]

By the way, video cameras usually shoot at a shutter speed of 1/60 second and record them on a video tape in chronological order, so that moving scenes or scenes shot while moving the video camera are stopped. When an image is reproduced, the screen becomes blurred, and may not be suitable as an image to be printed. When a high-speed shutter is used, the field image is still, but the vertical resolution of the field image is low.
Therefore, it is desirable to print a frame image.

On the other hand, there is a problem that it is complicated to search for a desired image suitable for printing while confirming whether or not the image is blurred and the degree of the blur by a still image reproduction, a frame-by-frame reproduction or the like.

The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a printer capable of printing a desired frame image with little blur from a video tape without visually confirming blurring of the image. And

[Means for solving the problem]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a printer connected to a VTR unit for reproducing a video signal recorded on a video tape and printing a still image based on the video signal recorded on the video tape. By comparing the video signal between adjacent fields in the recording range specified by the specifying means and the specifying means for specifying a desired recording range containing an image to be printed from the recording range recorded on the tape, Evaluation value detecting means for obtaining an evaluation value corresponding to the magnitude of blur of the frame image; and a video tape recording position when the evaluation value indicates the minimum value of image blur within the recording range specified by the specifying means. A position detecting means for detecting, and rewinding the video tape to a recording position detected by the position detecting means, and a frame video signal at the recording position. Is characterized by comprising: a still image reproducing means for reproducing a still picture, and a still image printing means for printing a still picture based on the frame video signal reproduced by the still image playback means.

[Action]

According to the present invention, instead of specifying a desired image to be printed, a recording range including a desired image to be printed is specified. Then, when a recording range is designated, an image with the least blur is searched for within the range. In this case, an evaluation value corresponding to the magnitude of image blur is obtained by comparing video signals between adjacent fields within the specified recording range, and the evaluation value corresponding to the minimum evaluation value is determined from the video signal at the time when the evaluation value is minimum. Find an image with less blur. Then, a still image is printed based on the video signal of the image with the least blur.

〔Example〕

Hereinafter, a preferred embodiment of a printer according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the printer according to the present invention. In FIG. 1, an operation unit 10 designates a recording range (time) in which a large number of images including a desired image to be printed are recorded, and designates an area in one screen used for judging image blurring. A signal indicating the designated time and area is output to the system controller 12. The area designation is effective, for example, when it is determined that the image of the main subject is not blurred in one screen and the print is appropriate. In this case, the area where the main subject is shown is specified. That is, the entire screen may be designated.

The system controller 12 detects the image with the least blur within the time specified by the operation unit 10 based on the evaluation value added from the motion evaluation circuit 34, and prints the detected still image through the mode controller 14 via the mode controller 14. VTR section 1
6 and the printer unit 32. still,
The detailed operation of the system controller 12 will be described later.

The mode controller 14 operates the VTR unit 16 in various playback modes such as standard playback and special playback (still image playback, frame-by-frame playback, and slow playback) based on a control signal applied from the system controller 12. The reproduction is performed in the reproduction mode instructed by the mode controller 14, and the video signal is output to the A / D converter 18 and the synchronization separation circuit 20.

The sync separation circuit 20 separates a vertical sync pulse (VD pulse) and a horizontal sync pulse (HD pulse) from an input video signal, outputs the VD pulse to the system controller 12 and the gate generator 24, and generates a clock of the HD pulse. Part 22
And outputs it to the gate generator 24.

The clock generator 22 outputs a clock signal for dividing the video signal of one horizontal scanning period (1H) into a predetermined number of pixel data to the A / D converter 18 and the memory controller 30 based on the input HD pulse. I do. The A / D converter 18 synchronizes with the clock signal input from the clock generator 22 to
Is converted into a digital signal, which is output to the field memories 26 and 28.

The memory controller 30 controls writing of a video signal (digital signal) applied from the A / D converter 18 to the field memories 26 and 28 and reading from the field memories 26 and 28. The addresses of the field memories 26 and 28 are designated based on the clock signal received, and the video signals for one field are alternately written to the field memories 26 and 28, and the video having a time difference of one field from the field memories 26 and 28. The signals are read simultaneously. The video signals read from the field memories 26 and 28 are output to the printer unit 32 and the motion evaluation circuit 34, respectively.

A gate signal is added to the other input of the motion evaluation circuit 34 from the gate generation unit 24, so that only a video signal in an area specified by the operation unit 10 can be input. That is, the gate generator 24 receives a signal indicating an area designated by the operation unit 10 from the system controller 12, and outputs a video signal of the command area with reference to an HD pulse and a VD pulse applied from the sync separation circuit 20. The motion evaluation circuit 34
, A predetermined gate pulse is output to the motion evaluation circuit 34.

The motion evaluation circuit 34 compares the two video signals in the designated area with a time difference of one field and determines the motion (blur) of the image.
Is obtained, and data indicating the evaluation value is output to the system controller 12. The evaluation value may be, for example, a correlation coefficient between two images.

Next, the operation of the system controller 12 will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.

In Figure 2, the system controller 12 first count value n of the internal field counter for counting the number of fields and O reset, also stores the worst evaluation value V _MAX as an evaluation value V _S (step 100). Here, it is assumed that the smaller the blur of the image is, the smaller the evaluation value output from the evaluation circuit 34 is.

Thereafter, when a VD pulse is input from the sync separation circuit 20 (step 110), the evaluation value V is input from the evaluation circuit 34 (step 120), and the count value n of the field counter is set.
Is incremented by 1 (step 130).

Next, the input evaluation value V is compared with the stored evaluation value VS (step 140). If V <V _S , the stored evaluation value V _S is compared with the input evaluation value V _S. (Step 150) and the count value n of the field counter at that time is stored (step 160), and the process proceeds to the next step 170. On the other hand, in the case of V ≦ V _S in step 140, the process proceeds to step 170 without passing through the steps 150 and 160.

In step 170, it is determined whether or not the time specified by the operation unit 10 has elapsed.
It returns to 0 and repeats the above processing until the specified time is reached. Then, when the specified time has been reached, the processing operation ends.

In this manner, the evaluation value V _S which is finally stored becomes the smallest value among the evaluation values V to be input to the range specified time, the count value n of the field counter, which is stored at the same time, the image blurring Is the field count value when is the smallest.

Then, when printing the image with the least blur as a still image within the designated time range, the VTR unit 16 is controlled via the mode controller 14 so that the count value of the field counter returns to the stored count value, When the stored count value is reached, the still image is reproduced.

The printer unit 32 receives a video signal stored in the field memories 26 and 28 at the time of reproducing the still image according to a command from the system controller 12, and prints a still image based on the video signal.

〔The invention's effect〕

As described above, according to the printer of the present invention,
When a video tape recording range is designated, an image with the least blur within the recording range is automatically searched for, and the image can be printed as a still image. This makes it possible to prevent blurred images from being printed, and saves the trouble of visually confirming images suitable for printing using a monitor TV or the like.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of a printer according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a flowchart used to explain the operation of the system controller shown in FIG. 10… Operation unit, 12… System controller, 16… VT
R section, 20: synchronization separation circuit, 22: clock generation section, 24
…… Gate generator, 26, 28 …… Field memory, 30…
... Memory controller, 32 ... Printer unit, 34 ... Motion evaluation circuit.

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A printer connected to a VTR unit for reproducing a video signal recorded on a video tape and printing a still image based on the video signal recorded on the video tape. A designating means for designating a desired recording range that includes an image to be printed from, and comparing the video signal between adjacent fields within the recording range designated by the designating means, to determine the magnitude of the blur of the frame image. Evaluation value detection means for obtaining an evaluation value corresponding to, position detection means for detecting the recording position of the video tape when the evaluation value shows the minimum value of image blur within the recording range specified by the specifying means, The video tape is rewound to the recording position detected by the position detecting means, and a frame image signal at the recording position is reproduced as a still image. A printer comprising: a still image reproducing unit; and a still image printing unit that prints a still image based on a frame video signal reproduced by the still image reproducing unit.