JP3185958B2 - Wide-field, high-definition video equipment - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a wide-field, high-definition video apparatus, and more particularly to an effect having compatibility with the operation of a conventional imaging apparatus (camera operation, etc.) in consideration of the way of photographing by a photographer. The present invention relates to a wide-field, high-definition video device including a high-definition image input unit and a photographed video recording unit capable of obtaining a video having a resolution according to a viewer's will.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A high sense of presence and high definition images are desired in all situations, such as in a video conference system, remote collaboration, or a theater. It is clear from the demand for high-definition television (HDTV) and wide screens that each home demands a high sense of reality from televisions and videos taken by oneself. Therefore, a device that can easily capture, record, and reproduce such images is required.

Conventionally, as a method for capturing a high-definition moving image, Harada et al., "Swing CCD (Charge Coupled Device) Image Sensor" (TV Society Journal, Vol. 37, No. 10, 1).
983) have been reported. This method is a method of inputting a high-definition image using an area sensor, and is a method of inputting an image while shifting the relative position between the sensor and the optical image by an integer of a pixel pitch.

As a device for displaying a wide-field, high-definition image, Yamaguchi et al., “Examination of a wide-field, high-definition display method using gaze detection” (Transactions of the Institute of Electronics, Information and Communication Engineers, C-2, V).
OL. J73, NO. 11, pp. 721-732, 1
990) has been reported. This device detects the line of sight of an observer when the observer observes an existing high-definition image through a communication line, and transmits a high-definition image of the line-of-sight position to a conventional high-definition image. This is a display device that is superimposed on a wide-field image with resolution.

[0005]

The present inventor has studied the previously reported high-definition image pickup / display apparatus, and as a result, has found the following problems.

The above-described conventional high-definition video image pickup / display apparatus is a method of inputting an image formed on a charge-coupled device (CCD) with high definition as it is. The information is input mechanically without taking into account any information such as how to shoot. That is, in the case of inputting an image that requires high definition, the photographer shoots only the important region of interest, and the region of interest should be located near the center of the image in most cases. By taking into account that
It is considered that a high-definition image can be input more effectively.

Further, in the photographing system, no consideration is given to compatibility with respect to operation (camera operation or the like) with a conventional image pickup apparatus. According to the report of the display system, it does not mean that a video full of a sense of reality is reproduced without a degree of freedom in selecting a resolution at which a high-definition input video can be observed according to a viewer's will. Also, no consideration is given to a recording method for a captured video.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide an effective and high-definition image input having compatibility in consideration of a photographing method of a photographer. It is an object of the present invention to provide a wide-field, high-definition video device provided with a photographed video recording device capable of obtaining a video having a resolution according to a viewer's intention.

The above and other objects and novel features of the present invention will become apparent from the description of the present specification and the accompanying drawings.

[0010]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an apparatus for photographing, storing, and displaying an image, comprising: Video input means for performing shooting while performing the video processing; video conversion means for performing similarity conversion of video so that the size and position of a shooting / still object in the video from the video input means are equal between frames; Video recording means for writing a conversion coefficient and an input video obtained by the conversion means to a storage medium, and video storage means for overwriting part or all of the converted video frame obtained by the video conversion means on a storage memory And a wide-field, high-definition video display means for displaying the video overwritten on the storage memory in the video storage means.

[0011] The means (2) of the present invention includes: a measuring device for measuring a change rate between video frames or a signal processing means for calculating a change between video frames from a video frame by signal processing; The image processing apparatus further includes a position calculating unit that collates the converted video frame with an image on the storage memory and calculates a position that matches between the images.

[0012] The means (3) of the present invention is characterized in that the image storage means superimposes the image on the storage memory without conversion of the image only when the conversion coefficient calculated by the video conversion means matches the given predetermined conversion coefficient. It is characterized by having overwriting means for writing.

[0013] The means (4) of the present invention is characterized in that the video recording means has a recording means for recording an image before conversion with the conversion coefficient calculated by the video conversion means and the coordinates of the collation position on the storage recording medium. It is characterized by having.

[0014]

According to the above-mentioned means, a picture is taken and inputted while periodically performing zoom-in and zoom-out zooming operations, and the size and position of the photographing still object in the input picture are determined by each frame. The similarity conversion of the video is performed so that the same becomes the same, the conversion coefficient obtained by the similarity conversion and the input video are written on the storage recording medium, and part or all of the converted video frame is overwritten on the storage memory. And store the video overwritten in this storage memory, taking into account the way the photographer shoots,
Effective high-definition image input with compatibility is possible, and
A wide-field, high-definition image having a resolution according to the observer's will is obtained.

[0015]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a wide field of view of one embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of a high definition video device.
01 is a video input means, 102 is a video conversion means, 103 is a video recording means, 104 is a video storage means, and 105 is a video display means.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the wide-field, high-definition video apparatus of this embodiment.
1 is a time-series image input process, 202 is a process for calculating a zoom ratio and spatial information, 203 is an image enlargement / reduction process, 204 is a process for removing a portion overlapping with the previous frame, and 205 is writing information to a frame memory. The process 206 is a video display process for displaying information.

The video input means 101 zooms in,
The camera automatically zooms out at a certain period and inputs an image. That is, an image from a wide-field image at the time of zoom-out to an image at which details at the time of zoom-in are enlarged are sequentially input (process 201 in FIG. 2). FIG. 3 shows a state of the input image. In FIG. 3, an arrow 301 indicates a rightward change, and an arrow 302 indicates a leftward change. It is difficult to perform zooming at high speed with a conventional mechanical optical system. As an alternative to this, “Automatic image capture system using liquid-injection type variable focus lens” by Ando et al. (IEICE Spring Conference, D-357, p.112, 1993) can be considered. This method is a method in which the thickness of the lens is changed by changing the amount of liquid to be injected into the liquid injection type variable focus lens, and the focal length is variably controlled. Further, a variable focal length control method using the variable refractive index of the liquid crystal is also conceivable.

The image conversion means 102 calculates a coefficient for performing conversion from the input image (process 202 in FIG. 2) and enlarges or reduces the input image so that the object to be photographed always has the same size. The conversion is performed (process 203 in FIG. 2).

The conversion coefficient for performing the conversion is a zoom ratio. As a method of calculating the coefficient, a method of encoding from a variable lens mechanism and a change between frames from an input image are calculated using signal processing. A method is conceivable. As a method of obtaining a zoom ratio using signal processing, Akutsu et al. Report "Examination of camera operation information extraction method using spatiotemporal images" (TV Engineering Report, Vol. 1).
7, No. 8, pp. 7-12, 1993).

Similarity conversion and the like are performed using the calculated conversion coefficients, and the image is enlarged or reduced so that the target object always has the same size. The video conversion unit 102 also calculates the writing position when the converted image is written to the storage memory in the video storage unit 104.

The correlation between the image on the storage memory and the converted image is obtained, and the position having the maximum correlation is defined as the writing position.

The video recording means 103 includes a conversion coefficient calculated by the video conversion means 102 together with the input video before conversion,
Information such as writing position coordinates is recorded on the storage medium.
Examples of the storage medium include a magnetic tape and a compact disk (CD-ROM: Compact Disk Lead).
Only Memory), magneto-optical disk (Magnet Optical)
Disk) is used.

The image storage means 104 writes the converted image in a storage memory. FIG. 4 shows the state of the storage memory.
In FIG. 4, an arrow 401 indicates an outward change, and an arrow 402 indicates an inward change. If the user is zoomed in, the size of the image is adjusted and overwritten (processing 20 in FIG. 2).
4). If zooming out, only the outside of the previous frame is rewritten (process 205 in FIG. 2). This situation is shown in FIGS.

The image display means 105 displays the image in the storage memory at the time when the image is written into the frame memory, so that it has a wide field of view as a whole and displays a high-definition image near the center. (Processing 206 in FIG. 2).

Next, the operation of the wide-field-of-view, high-definition video apparatus of this embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS.

The image input means 101 automatically performs zoom-in and zoom-out at a predetermined cycle to input an image. At this time, an image from a wide field of view at the time of zooming out to an image at which details at the time of zooming in are enlarged is sequentially input (process 201 in FIG. 2).

Next, calculation of coefficients for conversion from the input image by the video conversion means 102 (process 202 in FIG. 2)
And the input image is enlarged and reduced so that the image is converted so that the object to be photographed always has the same size (processing 20 in FIG. 2).
3). The image conversion means 1 together with the input image before the conversion
The information such as the conversion coefficient and the writing position coordinate calculated in step 02 is recorded by the video recording means 103 on a storage medium (tape, CO, ROM, MO, disk, etc.).

Next, the converted image is written into the storage memory by the video storage means 104. At this time, if the user has zoomed in, the size of the image is adjusted and overwritten (process 204 in FIG. 2). If the image is zoomed out, only the outside of the previous frame is rewritten (process 205 in FIG. 2).

When the image is written in the frame memory, the image in the storage memory is displayed by the video display means 105 (step 206 in FIG. 2), so that the overall field of view is wide, and the image becomes near the center. Therefore, a high-definition image can be displayed.

In the image storage means 104, when only the frame having the same zoom ratio or the n-th frame is selected within one cycle and displayed without any particular size conversion,
An image having a size according to the zoom ratio can be obtained. FIG. 7 is an example showing this, in which a zoom operation is performed periodically with a sine curve. If only the frame indicating the standard zoom ratio is written to the storage memory without conversion and displayed on the display unit, it is the same as watching a video image shot without normal zoom.

The curve 801 in FIG. 8 is the zoom operated by the photographer. By accumulating and displaying without zooming only at the zoom ratio indicating the intersection with the sine curve, the same function as normal zooming can be obtained, and photographing / observing without being aware that the zooming operation is being performed periodically. be able to.

By making the period of the zooming operation sufficiently short, natural and continuous images can be displayed.

The same can be performed from the video recorded in the video recording means 103.

The observer can observe the recorded image at a resolution (zoom rate) according to the will of the observer.

As described above, the invention made by the present inventor is:
Although the present invention has been specifically described based on the embodiment, the present invention is not limited to the embodiment, and it is needless to say that various changes can be made without departing from the gist of the present invention.

[0037]

As described above, according to the present invention, an image is input by photographing while periodically performing zooming operations such as zoom-in and zoom-out. The similarity of the video is converted so that the size and the position of the object are equal between the frames, and the conversion coefficient and the input video obtained by the similarity conversion are written to the storage recording medium, and a part of the converted video frame,
Alternatively, the entire image is overwritten and stored in the storage memory, and the overwritten image is displayed in the storage memory, so that the operation of the conventional imaging apparatus (camera operation, etc.) taking into account the way of photographing by the photographer is taken into consideration. High-definition images can be input effectively with compatibility with respect to each other, and a wide-field, high-definition image having a resolution according to the will of the observer can be obtained.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a wide-field, high-definition video device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the wide-field-of-view high-definition video device of the present embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an input image by a periodic zoom operation according to the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an image on a storage memory according to the embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a state in which an image is written to a frame memory when zooming in according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a state in which an image is written to a frame memory when zooming out according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a standard display according to the embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating a display by a zoom operation of a photographer according to the present embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

101: video input means, 102: video conversion means, 103
... video recording means, 104 ... video storage means, 105 ... video display means, 201 ... time-series image input processing, 202 ... calculation processing of zoom ratio and spatial information, 203 ... image enlargement / reduction processing, 204 ... one previous time , A process of writing information to the frame memory 205,
06 ... Video display processing for displaying information.

Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-6-292052 (JP, A) JP-A-6-178203 (JP, A) Table 8-8-503088 (JP, A) (58) Fields investigated (Int) .Cl. ⁷ , DB name) H04N 5/262-5/265 H04N 5/225 G06T 1/00-3/00

Claims (4)

(57) [Claims] 1. An apparatus for photographing, storing, and displaying a picture, a picture input means for taking pictures while performing zooming operations such as zoom-in and zoom-out periodically and continuously, and a picture in the picture from the picture input means. Video conversion means for performing similarity conversion of video so that the size and position of the stationary target object are equal between frames, video recording means for writing a conversion coefficient obtained by the video conversion means and an input video to a storage medium, A video storage means for overwriting part or all of the converted video frame obtained by the video conversion means on a storage memory, and a wide field of view for displaying the video overwritten on the storage memory by the video storage means A wide-field, high-definition video device comprising high-definition video display means. 2. The wide-field, high-definition video apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the video conversion means includes a measuring device for measuring a rate of change between video frames or a change between video frames by signal processing from the video frames. A wide-field-of-view high-definition device comprising: a signal processing unit for calculating; and a position calculating unit for comparing the converted video frame with an image on the storage memory, and calculating a position matching between the images. Video equipment. 3. The wide-field-of-view and high-definition video device according to claim 1, wherein the conversion factor calculated by the video conversion unit matches the predetermined conversion factor given to the video storage unit. A wide-field, high-definition video device comprising an overwriting means for overwriting an accumulation memory without converting an image. 4. The wide-field-of-view and high-definition video device according to claim 1, wherein the video recording means includes a conversion coefficient calculated by the video conversion means and a collation position coordinate. A wide-field, high-definition video device comprising a recording unit for recording an image before conversion on the storage recording medium.