JP4019176B2 - Image processing method and apparatus - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an image processing method and apparatus, and more particularly, to an image processing method and apparatus for reproducing an image taken by a digital camera or the like.
[0002]
[Prior art]
Conventionally, in an electronic camera such as a digital camera, a photographed image is recorded in a memory as one image file for each image. When an image once recorded in the memory is erased, It can be erased in units.
[0003]
Conventionally, an electronic camera capable of panoramic shooting for connecting a plurality of images to generate one panoramic image and continuous shooting for shooting continuous images composed of a plurality of temporally continuous images. It has been known. In an electronic camera having such a function, when panoramic shooting or continuous shooting is performed, additional information (or related information) indicating that each image is a part of the panoramic image or continuous shooting image. ) Is recorded in the memory together with the image.
[0004]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, when erasing an image recorded in the memory, if it is possible to erase each image file as in the past, a panorama image or a part of a continuous shot image may be inadvertently erased by the user. was there. If some of the images that make up the entire image are erased in this way, images that look bad (such as missing parts of an image or operations that are not continuous) will be played back. There was a problem that all other images related to the image were wasted.
[0005]
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 5-300463 describes an electronic still camera that uses additional information (related information) as described above, but does not describe processing for erasing an image.
[0006]
The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and there is a problem that a part of a series of images composed of a plurality of images such as panoramic images and continuous shot images is lost due to inadvertent deletion of images. An object of the present invention is to provide an image processing method and apparatus for preventing the same.
[0007]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to achieve the above object, the invention described in claim 1 includes an erased image selecting means for selecting a desired image to be erased from a storage medium on which an image and additional information of the image are recorded, and the erased image selection The additional information of the image selected by the means is read from the storage medium, the determination means for determining whether or not the selected image is related to another image, and the image selected by the determination means is the other If it is determined that the selected image is not related to another image, the selected image is deleted from the storage medium, and if it is determined that the selected image is related to another image, at least And erasing means for prohibiting erasing of the selected image alone.
[0008]
According to the present invention, when an image recorded on a storage medium is to be erased, the additional information of the image to be erased is referred to, and if there is an image related to the image, the image alone For example, a problem that a part of a panoramic image or a continuous shot image is erased by an inadvertent operation by the user is appropriately prevented.
[0009]
The invention according to claim 2 displays that the deletion of the selected image is prohibited when the determination unit determines that the selected image is related to another image. Display means for selecting, and selecting means for selecting whether or not all images related to the selected image are to be erased collectively, wherein the erasing means is capable of performing the collective erasure by the selecting means. When selected, all images associated with the selected image are erased.
[0010]
According to the present invention, when the deletion of the selected image alone is prohibited, the fact is displayed to the user, and it is possible to select whether or not to delete all the images related to the image. For example, when a panorama image or continuous shot image having the selected image as a constituent part is unnecessary, all the images constituting the panorama image or continuous shot image can be erased collectively.
[0011]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of an image processing method and apparatus according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.
[0012]
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a digital camera to which the present invention is applied. In the digital camera shown in the figure, various operation switches are provided on the keyboard unit 32. When the release switch installed on the keyboard unit 32 is pressed, the main CPU 24 in the control unit 18 detects this, and AF Commands are sent to the motor driver 28 and the shutter / iris driver 30. As a result, focus control is performed by the AF motor driver 28, and photometry and exposure control are performed by the shutter / iris driver 30, and the image light of the subject is imaged on the light receiving surface of the CCD 12 via the optical unit 10. The CCD 12 converts the image light imaged on the light receiving surface into a signal charge in an amount corresponding to the light amount. The signal charge accumulated in the CCD 12 is sequentially read out as a voltage signal (image signal) corresponding to the signal charge based on the clock pulse from the trigger generation circuit 26. The image signal output from the CCD 12 is applied to the analog processing circuit 14 where white balance adjustment, gamma correction, and the like are performed. The image signal analog-processed by the analog processing circuit 14 is converted into a digital signal by the A / D converter 16 and then sent to the image processing unit 20 in the control unit 18.
[0013]
The digital camera is provided with a viewfinder 38 used for shooting, a strobe unit 40 that emits a strobe when the subject is dark, an LCD 42 that displays the number of remaining shots, and the like. Each block is supplied with power from a battery 44. Reference numeral 46 denotes a charging circuit for charging the battery 44 with an external power source supplied via an AC adapter.
[0014]
When the image signal is input to the image processing unit 20 of the control unit 18, the image processing unit 20 converts the image signal into a YC signal (luminance signal Y and chroma signal C), and the YC signal is converted into the control unit 18. To the data processing unit 22. The data processing unit 22 compresses the transferred YC signal, and records the compressed image data as one image file on the smart media 34 that is a card type memory via the image processing unit 20. Reference numeral 35 denotes a connector for connecting the image processing unit 20 and the smart media 34.
[0015]
The LCD unit 36 connected to the digital camera is not limited to the case where the release switch is pressed as described above, and the subject image can be displayed on the LCD screen of the LCD unit 36 as a through image in real time. In this case, the image processing unit 20 converts the image signal sequentially transmitted from the A / D converter 16 into a YC signal, and the driver 37 does not transfer the YC signal to the data processing unit 22. Etc., to the LCD unit 36.
[0016]
When the image recorded on the smart media 34 as described above is reproduced on the LCD screen of the LCD unit 36, the data processing unit 22 reads the image data from the smart media 34 via the image processing unit 20, and the image Data is decompressed and restored to the original YC signal. Then, the restored YC signal is output to the LCD unit 36 via the image processing unit 20.
[0017]
By the way, the digital camera configured as described above can select a shooting mode such as panoramic shooting or continuous shooting in addition to the normal shooting by the user's selection. In panoramic photography, one panoramic image is generated by connecting images acquired by a plurality of photography. On the other hand, in continuous shooting, continuous shooting is performed at short intervals and one continuous shooting image is acquired in time.
[0018]
Therefore, when the data processing unit 22 in the control unit 18 records the compressed image data on the smart media 34 via the image processing unit 20, the image is captured in any shooting mode. Is recorded on the smart media 34 together with the image data as additional information of the image. By referring to this additional information, when the image data is read out from the smart media 34, the image is related to another image, that is, a part of a panorama image or a continuous shot image is formed. It can be easily understood that it is a thing.
[0019]
Further, as shown below, when erasing the image data (image file) recorded on the smart media 34, it is determined whether or not erasure of the image data is permitted with reference to the additional information of the image data. Further, inadvertent erasure of image data such that a part of a panorama image or a continuous shot image is lost is prevented.
[0020]
In addition to the additional information indicating the shooting mode such as normal shooting, panoramic shooting, or continuous shooting, various information such as shooting date / time, order information, copied, and the like are recorded in the smart media 34 as additional information. It is like that.
[0021]
Next, a procedure for erasing image data (image file) recorded on the smart media 34 will be described. When erasing the image data recorded on the smart media 34, for example, the user selects a deletion mode by operating a predetermined key of the keyboard unit 32. In the erasure mode, first, image data stored in a predetermined image file recorded on the smart media 34 is read out to the data processing unit 22 via the image processing unit 20, and the compressed image data is converted into the original YC signal. Then, the image is output to the LCD unit 36 via the image processing unit 20 and the image is displayed on the LCD screen. The image displayed on the LCD screen is sequentially switched to another image recorded on the smart media 34 when the user operates, for example, a cross key of the keyboard unit 32. By this operation, when the user presses the execution key when the image to be deleted is displayed on the LCD screen, the image data is deleted from the smart media 34. However, as shown below, when the image constitutes a part of a panoramic image or a continuous shot image, deletion of only the image is prohibited.
[0022]
FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a procedure for erasing image data. First, when the erasing mode is selected, the main CPU 24 reads the image data on the data processing unit 22 as described above, displays the image on the LCD screen, and reads the additional information of the image data from the smart media 34. (Step S10). When deletion is designated by the execution key, it is determined with reference to the additional information whether or not the image data to be deleted constitutes a part of the panorama image or continuous shot image. (Step S12). If NO, single frame erasure is permitted and the image data is erased from the smart media 34 (step S14). On the other hand, if YES, it is displayed on the LCD screen of the LCD unit 36 that the image designated to be erased is a part of the panorama image or continuous shot image (step S16). Further, a selection screen as to whether to erase all the image data related to each other, that is, all of the image data constituting the panoramic image or the continuous shot image is displayed on the LCD screen, and the user makes the selection (step S18). ). At this time, if NO is selected by the user, the process ends without deleting the designated image data. On the other hand, if YES is selected, all the images related to the image data to be erased are erased based on the additional information (step S20), and the process ends.
[0023]
In this way, by prohibiting erasure of image data that constitutes part of a panorama image or continuous shot image alone, a poor-looking image that lacks part of the panorama image or continuous shot image is displayed. The problem of being properly prevented will be prevented. In addition, the image data constituting the panorama image or the continuous shot image can be erased collectively.
[0024]
As described above, in the above embodiment, when image data is to be deleted, if the image data is a part of a panoramic image or a continuous shot image, the deletion of the image data alone is prohibited and related. Although image data can be erased in a batch, not only panoramic images and continuous shot images, but also image data that has some relationship with other image data is prohibited, and related image data is erased in a batch. May be made possible. For example, the shooting date and time may be recorded as additional information, and image data with the same shooting date may be prohibited from being deleted alone, and only batch deletion can be performed.
[0025]
When erasing image data, when determining whether the image to be erased is a part of a panoramic image or a continuous shot image, other additional information such as a shooting date and time is used instead of additional information indicating the shooting mode. You may make it judge based on information.
[0026]
In the above-described embodiment, the processing when the image acquired by the digital camera is played back by the digital camera and erased has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to the digital camera and can be applied to all electronic cameras. The present invention can be applied to all image processing apparatuses such as an image reproducing apparatus, a computer, and a printer that process an image stored in a storage medium by a digital camera or the like.
[0027]
【The invention's effect】
According to the image processing method and apparatus according to the present invention described above, when an image recorded on a storage medium is to be erased, the additional information of the image to be erased is referred to and related to the image. When there is an image, it is prohibited to delete the image alone. For example, a problem that a part of a panorama image or a continuous shot image is deleted by an inadvertent operation by the user is appropriately prevented. .
[0028]
In addition, when erasing an image to be erased is prohibited as described above, a message to that effect is displayed to the user, and whether or not all images related to the image are erased can be selected. Therefore, for example, when a panoramic image or continuous shot image having an image to be deleted as a constituent part is unnecessary, the panoramic image or continuous shot image can be deleted at once.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a digital camera to which the present invention is applied.
FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a procedure for erasing image data.
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Optical unit, 12 ... CCD, 14 ... Analog processing circuit, 18 ... Control unit, 20 ... Image processing part, 22 ... Data processing part, 24 ... Main CPU, 34 ... Smart media (storage medium), 36 ... LCD unit

Claims (5)

An erasure image selection means for selecting a desired image to be erased from a storage medium in which the image and additional information of the image are recorded;
Determining means for reading out additional information of the image selected by the erased image selecting means from the storage medium and determining whether the selected image is related to another image;
If the determination means determines that the selected image is not related to another image, the selected image is erased from the storage medium, and the selected image is related to another image. Erasing means for prohibiting the erasing of the selected image alone,
An image processing apparatus comprising: Display means for displaying that the erasure of the selected image is in a prohibited state when it is determined by the determination means that the selected image is related to another image; and the selected image; Selecting means for selecting whether or not to erase all the related images at once;
The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the erasing unit erases all images related to the selected image when the selecting unit selects the batch erasing. The additional information is an image that forms a part of a panoramic image in which a target image is formed by connecting a plurality of images, or an image that forms a part of a continuous image composed of temporally continuous images. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the information is information indicating whether or not. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image processing apparatus is an electronic camera that takes an image and records the image on a storage medium. Selecting a desired image to be erased from a storage medium on which the image and additional information of the image are recorded;
Reading additional information of the selected image from the storage medium and determining whether the selected image is related to another image;
If the determination determines that the selected image is not related to another image, the selected image is erased from the storage medium, and the selected image is related to another image. If so, a step of prohibiting erasing the selected image alone;
An image processing method comprising:

Images