JP3703237B2 - Captured image transfer method and imaging apparatus - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a captured image transfer method and an imaging apparatus.
[0002]
[Prior art]
Conventionally, when photographing with a digital imaging device such as a digital camera, a photographed image is recorded only with a specific number of pixels obtained from the effective number of pixels of a solid-state imaging device such as a CCD (imaging device). In order to extract a specific area from an image recorded by such an imaging apparatus, an image is generated by performing area selection using an application for cutting out an area from an image generated after shooting.
[0003]
In addition, in order to reduce the memory usage of the generated image, the image quality is degraded by processing such as high compression.
[0004]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, in the above-described conventional example, since an image having a specific number of pixels is always generated, information other than the area required by the user is recorded, and an object for photographing only the necessary area is recorded. This can only be handled with the enlarged shooting. For this reason, the user must perform an image clipping process by post-production from an image recorded by the imaging apparatus using a separate application. In addition, the HD (hard disk) storage capacity of the imaging device is finite, but if the storage capacity is insufficient, the pre-captured image is erased or the image quality is degraded by high compression processing. ing.
[0005]
The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems of the prior art described above, and an object of the present invention is to provide a captured image transfer method capable of significantly reducing the transfer time of an image to an external device. And an imaging apparatus.
[0006]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to achieve the above object, a captured image transfer method according to claim 1 includes an area designating step for designating an area of a captured image, an image generating step for generating an image of the area designated by the area designating step, and an external A communication step for communicating with the device, a coordinate storage step for storing input coordinate information indicating the region specified in the region specifying step, and a region cut out from the captured image using the coordinate points stored in the coordinate storage step A region extraction step for performing communication protocol management step for managing a communication protocol with the external device, a conversion step for converting an image of the region extracted by the region extraction step into data that can be interpreted by the external device, and a transfer step of transferring the data converted by the conversion step to the external device And, wherein the conversion step is characterized in that to perform the conversion using the code generation module for printer control.
[0009]
In order to achieve the above object, an image pickup apparatus according to claim 2 designates a region of a photographed image in an image pickup apparatus having an interface with an external device and storage means including an image pickup system, a CPU, a RAM, and the like. An area designating unit; an image generating unit for generating an image of the area designated by the area designating unit; a communication unit for communicating with the external device via the interface; and an area designated by the area designating unit. A coordinate storage means for storing input coordinate information indicating a region, an area cutout means for cutting out an area from a captured image using the coordinate points stored by the coordinate storage means, and an image of the area cut out by the area cutout means. Conversion means for converting into data interpretable by the external device, and data converted by the conversion means by the communication means Comprising a transfer means for transferring the Kigaibu device, the converting means is characterized by comprising a code generation module for printer control.
[0012]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
[0013]
(First embodiment)
First, a first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an imaging apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention. The imaging apparatus includes an imaging system 1, a CPU (central processing unit) 2, an external device interface 3, and a memory 4. , A user interface (UI I / F) 5 and a user interface (UI) component group 6, and these components are connected by a system bus 7 and a local bus 8.
[0014]
The user interface component group 6 includes, for example, a button 6a, a dial 6b, a display 6c, and a pointing device 6d such as a mouse.
[0015]
A buffer 9, an OS (operating system) module 10, an area extraction module 11, a user interface (UI) management module 12, a coordinate analysis module 13, a communication protocol management module 14, and a communication protocol interpretation module 15 are allocated to the memory 4. Yes.
[0016]
The buffer 9 is for buffering captured images. The OS module 10 is a module that controls the entire system. The area cutout module 11 is a module for cutting out an image area obtained by coordinate analysis. The user interface management module 12 is a module for analyzing signals from the user interface component group 6. The coordinate analysis module 13 is a module for analyzing an image region designated by the user using the user interface component group 6. The communication protocol management module 14 is a module for managing a communication protocol with an external device. The communication protocol interpretation module 15 is a module for interpreting a communication protocol with an external device.
In this embodiment, it is assumed that the imaging apparatus is already connected to an external device via the external device interface 3 by the communication protocol management module 14 and the communication protocol interpretation module 15 in the memory 4.
[0017]
The user takes a picture based on the screen 20a shown in FIG. 4A displayed on the display 6c. At this time, the user designates the upper left coordinate point 21b and the lower right coordinate point 22a shown in FIG. 4A on the finder display 6c in advance before shooting using a user interface such as the pointing device 6d. The designated coordinate points 21 a and 22 a are analyzed by the coordinate analysis module 13 in the memory 4. Since the coordinate point can designate an arbitrary position on the screen, a panoramic image area can be designated by designating the upper left coordinate point 21b and the lower right coordinate point 22b as shown in the screen 20b of FIG. 4B.
[0018]
Next, the operation of the imaging apparatus configured as described above will be described based on the flowchart of FIG. As shown in FIG. 2, the user interface management module 12 has an event-driven loop structure. In the initial state, that is, in step S200, the user interface management module 12 is in an event input waiting state.
[0019]
First, when any event is received in step S200, the event is analyzed and a process corresponding to the event is performed.
[0020]
When the upper left coordinate point 21a and the lower right coordinate point 22a shown in FIG. 4A are designated by the user, the user interface management module 12 determines whether or not the input event is a coordinate designation event (step) S201). If the event is a coordinate designation event, the coordinate value is analyzed by the coordinate analysis module 13 (step S210), and the upper left coordinate point 21a shown in FIG. 4A and the lower right coordinate are shown in the coordinate management table 30 shown in FIG. The point 22a is stored (step S211), and the process again returns to the state waiting for an input event (step S200).
[0021]
The user who has completed the coordinate designation takes an image so that the target image fits within the designated area. The user interface management module 12 determines whether or not the input event is a shooting start event (step S202). If it is a shooting start event, the shot image is first buffered in the shot image buffer 9 allocated in the memory 4 (step S212), and the image is displayed on the display 6c (step S212). S213), the state again waits for an input event (step S200).
[0022]
Upon receiving the shooting completion event, the user interface management module 12 determines whether or not the input event is a shooting completion event (step S203). If it is not a shooting completion event, the process returns to the state waiting for an input event (step S200). If it is a shooting completion event, the coordinate management table 30 in FIG. 3 is referred to and it is determined whether or not a coordinate value exists (step S204). If the coordinate value exists, the designated area image is cut out from the buffered data using the coordinate value stored in the coordinate management table 30 of FIG. 3 (step S205). The clipped image is formatted for output (step S206), and data is transferred to the external device interface 3 using the communication protocol management module 14 and the communication protocol interpretation module 15 (step S207). After the data transfer, the buffer 9 in the memory 4 and the coordinate management table 30 in FIG. 3 are cleared (steps S208 and S209), and the process returns to the state waiting for an input event (step S200).
[0023]
On the other hand, if there is no coordinate value in the coordinate management table 30 of FIG. 3 in step S204, that is, if a shooting completion event is received before the coordinate designation, the coordinates are not cut out in step S205, and the buffer 9 The captured image is formatted as it is (step S206), the data is transferred (step S207), the buffer 9 and the coordinate management table 30 in FIG. 3 are cleared (step S208 and step S209), and the input event is waited again (step S200). Return to).
[0024]
With the above processing, an image matching the designated areas 50 and 51 as shown in FIG. 5 is cut out, and the generated image is transferred to the external device.
[0025]
(Second Embodiment)
Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described. In this embodiment, an area is designated for a captured image buffered after the start of imaging. The operation of the imaging apparatus according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.
[0026]
When a shooting start event is received in the event waiting state (step S200) which is the initial state (step S202), buffering of the shot image (step S212) and display of the buffered image (step S213) are executed. The user designates an area for the buffered image displayed on the display 6c. At this time, the system receives a coordinate designation event (step S201), performs a coordinate value analysis (step S210), and executes data storage for the coordinate management table 30 of FIG. 3 (step S211).
[0027]
When a shooting completion event is received from the user (step S203), the coordinate management table 30 in FIG. 3 is referred to and it is determined whether or not a coordinate value is entered (step S204). The region is cut out (step S205), the output image is formatted (step S206), the data is transferred (step S207), the buffer 9 in the memory 4 is cleared, and the coordinate management table 30 is cleared (step S208 and step S209). ) Is executed, the state again returns to the event waiting state (step S200).
[0028]
(Third embodiment)
Next, a third embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. In each of the above-described embodiments, the formatted captured image data is transferred as it is. However, when the transfer destination is a printing apparatus such as a printer, it must be converted into data that can be interpreted by the printing apparatus. In the present embodiment, the formatted captured image data is converted into data that can be interpreted by a printing apparatus as a transfer destination, and then transferred.
[0029]
FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an image pickup apparatus according to the third embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 6, the same parts as those in FIG. is there. 6 differs from FIG. 1 in that a printer control code generation module 16 is added to the configuration of FIG. 1, and other configurations are the same as those of FIG.
[0030]
Next, the operation of the imaging apparatus according to the present embodiment configured as described above will be described based on the flowchart of FIG. Note that steps S700 to S706 and steps S709 to S714 in FIG. 7 are the same as steps S200 to S213 in FIG. 2, and thus description thereof will be omitted, and only processing steps unique to the present embodiment will be described. .
[0031]
When the transfer destination is a printing apparatus, first, data (print code) that can be interpreted by the printing apparatus is generated from the formatted output image (step S706) using the printer control code generation module 16 (step S707). The data is transferred to the printing apparatus using the communication protocol management module 14 (step S708).
[0032]
By performing the processing described above, it is possible to directly print out a photographed image whose area has been specified.
[0033]
【The invention's effect】
As described above in detail, according to the captured image transfer method and the imaging apparatus of the present invention, when transferring an image to an external device, unnecessary portions are cut on the imaging device side, and necessary portions are after converting into interpretable data, it is so arranged to transfer, an effect that can greatly reduce the transfer time.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of an imaging apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a flow of processing operation of the apparatus.
FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a coordinate management table held in a memory in the apparatus.
FIG. 4 is a conceptual diagram for designating a coordinate position with respect to a captured image displayed on a display in the apparatus.
FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a generated image obtained by performing a cut-out process on an image that matches a specified region in the apparatus.
FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of an imaging apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a flow of processing operation of the apparatus.
[Explanation of symbols]
1 Imaging system 2 CPU (Central processing unit)
3 External Device Interface 4 Memory 5 User Interface 6 User Interface Parts Group 6a Button 6b Dial 6c Display 6d Pointing Device 7 System Bus 8 Local Bus 9 Buffer 10 OS (Operating System) Module 11 Area Extraction Module 12 User Interface Management Module 13 Coordinates Analysis module 14 Communication protocol management module 15 Communication protocol interpretation module 16 Printer control code generation module 20a Screen 20b Screen 21a Upper left coordinate point 21b Upper left coordinate point 22a Lower right coordinate point 22b Lower right coordinate point 30 Coordinate management table 50 Designation area 51 Designation region

Claims (2)

An area specifying step for specifying the area of the captured image;
An image generation step for generating an image of the region designated by the region designation step;
A communication step for communicating with an external device;
A coordinate storage step for storing input coordinate information indicating the region designated by the region designation step;
A region cutout step of cutting out a region from the captured image using the coordinate points stored in the coordinate storage step;
A communication protocol management step for managing a communication protocol with the external device;
A conversion step of converting the image of the region cut out by the region cutting step into data that can be interpreted by the external device;
Possess a transfer step of transferring the data converted by said conversion step to the external device,
In the conversion step, the conversion is performed using a printer control code generation module . In an imaging apparatus having an interface with a storage means and an external device composed of an imaging system, CPU, RAM, etc.
Area designating means for designating the area of the captured image;
Image generation means for generating an image of the area designated by the area designation means;
A communication means for communicating with the external device via the interface;
Coordinate storage means for storing input coordinate information indicating an area designated by the area designation means;
Area cutout means for cutting out an area from a captured image using the coordinate points stored by the coordinate storage means;
Conversion means for converting the image of the area cut out by the area cutout means into data that can be interpreted by the external device;
Comprising a transfer means for transferring to the external device by the communication means the data converted by said converting means,
The image pickup apparatus , wherein the conversion means includes a printer control code generation module .

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