JP4195800B2 - Image correction processing system and image correction processing program - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an image correction processing system and an image correction processing program for outputting image data obtained by performing image correction processing on input image data.
[0002]
[Prior art]
With the spread of digital cameras and the Internet, services such as registration of photographed image data, album creation, homepage creation, mobile standby screen registration, image mail, etc. have been provided using service servers connected to the network. ing.
[0003]
In such a service system, the service server temporarily records and stores image data (hereinafter also referred to as “original image data”) from the user transferred via the network, and stores it in each service. use, but the original image data, performs predetermined image processing according to the service.
[0004]
For example, in the album creation service, image quality correction processing such as brightness, color reproduction, sharpness, and noise removal is performed on the original image data, and then stored and used for viewing by the user. In addition, prior to the image quality correction process , the number of pixels may be converted so that the image size is suitable for uploading to an album. When the user who uploaded the image or another viewer requests download of the uploaded album image, the processed image data uploaded to the album or the processing according to the capability of the terminal of the download destination is performed. Send image data. The image data to be transmitted is subjected to the conversion of the number of pixels of the original image data, the color reduction process, etc., based on the model information of the terminal requested to download, judging the capacity of the display unit, displayable color, etc. Is.
[0005]
In the image mail service, when the image mail is received, the attached image data is stored, and mail information other than the image data included in the image mail is transferred to the mail destination. At that time, a URL for accessing the stored image data and a message indicating that an image can be acquired at the URL are added to the mail. Upon receiving an acquisition request for the stored image from the mail recipient's terminal, the terminal acquires model information, performs pixel number conversion processing according to the acquired model information, performs image quality correction processing, and further reduces color if necessary. The processed image data is transmitted to the terminal.
[0006]
Note that the captured image data is usually subjected to compression processing such as JPEG, and the user's terminal also handles the normal compressed image data. Therefore, when the received image data is compressed image data, the service server converts the number of pixels. Decompression processing is performed prior to processing and image quality correction processing. Also, compression processing is performed prior to uploading image data to the album and transmitting image data to the terminal.
[0007]
Since the service server automatically performs the image processing as described above, the user can easily obtain image data with improved image quality of the original captured image data, and the capability of the terminal to be used. Accordingly, it is possible to easily obtain image data of optimum quality.
[0008]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, the automatic image quality correction processing such as brightness, color reproduction, sharpness, noise removal, etc. is to determine the correction amount automatically by analyzing the image data to be processed. When the automatic correction process is performed again on the image data that has been subjected to the automatic correction process, there is a problem that the image data is often deteriorated compared to the image data that has been subjected to the automatic correction process once.
[0009]
The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide an image correction processing system and an image correction processing program capable of performing automatic correction processing with little deterioration in image quality.
[0010]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
The image correction processing system of the present invention performs image correction processing on image data included in an input image file, and the image file includes update information of the image file, and the image data The image file update information includes the creation date and time information and update date and time information of the image file, or the image data included in the image file. Original image acquisition date / time information and image data update date / time information included in the additional information, and the automatic correction processing unit, when the creation date / time information and the update date / time information do not match, or when the original image acquisition date / time information and the image When the data update date / time information does not match , at least a part of the image correction process is omitted.
[0011]
Used as update information of the image file, creation date and time information and update date information of the image file, for example, a date information managed such FAT information, as a mechanism of the file system, in which case, the creation date and time information When the update date / time information does not match, the automatic correction processing unit omits at least a part of the image correction processing. Further, the original image acquisition date and time information used as the update information of the image file and the image data update date information is included in the additional information of image data included in the image file (tag additional information of Exif image file).
[0012]
When image correction processing for input image data includes image quality correction processing such as brightness, color reproduction, sharpness, and noise removal, it is preferable to omit at least part of the image quality correction processing.
[0013]
Further, prior to the image correction process, the automatic correction processing unit in the image correction processing system of the present invention outputs a warning to the effect that the correction process has been completed according to the update information.
[0014]
The image correction processing program of the present invention is for realizing the above-described image correction processing system using a computer.
[0015]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings as an example of a system for performing an image transfer service. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of an image transfer service system. The system of FIG. 1 includes an image transfer service server 1 connected to a network 2, and transfers images between terminals such as a camera-equipped mobile phone 31, personal computer 32, and mobile phone 33 connected to the network 2. Service. The terminal is not limited to the illustrated one, and any terminal can be used as long as it can access the server 1 via the network.
[0016]
When an image transfer request is made via the network 2, the image transfer service server 1 includes the received image file to be transferred (hereinafter referred to as “attached image file”) as it is or in the attached image file. An image file (hereinafter referred to as a “corrected image file” after a predetermined image correction process is applied to the image data to be processed, and a file that has been subjected to a compression process is described as a “corrected compressed image file”. ). Then, an e-mail indicating that the image file requested for transfer is stored is sent to the transfer destination. At this time, URLs corresponding to the respective image files are attached as information for specifying the stored image files.
[0017]
When the image transfer service server 1 receives the image file stored in the network 2 from the transfer destination that has transmitted the mail, the image transfer service server 1 stores the image data included in the stored image file or the attached image file. The image file after the predetermined image correction processing is applied to the terminal (this file is also described as “corrected image file” or “corrected compressed image file”) to the terminal that has requested acquisition. Forward.
[0018]
The image transfer service server 1 includes a transfer service processing unit 11, a correction processing unit 12, and an image storage unit 13. The transfer service processing unit 11 controls processing of the entire image transfer service, and the correction processing unit 12 automatically performs correction processing on image data included in the image file requested to be transferred. is there. These processes are realized by installing necessary programs. The image storage unit 13 stores various information such as an attached image file and a corrected image file.
[0019]
Image correction processing performed by the correction processing unit 12 includes image quality correction processing such as brightness, color reproduction, sharpness, and noise removal, and an output capability of the image output means, for example, an image having a size corresponding to the size of the display device. Includes resizing to convert. In general, after the resizing process, an image quality correction process is performed. The correction processing unit 12 omits part or all of the image processing that is automatically performed according to the image to be processed by the update information of the image file. When the data transferred via the network includes compressed image data, the correction processing unit 12 also performs compression processing and decompression processing.
[0020]
The update information of the image file is used when the original image acquisition date / time information and the image data update date / time information are included as additional information in the image data, such as when the image file is an Exif image file. If the image data does not include additional information, date information managed as a file system mechanism such as FAT information is used. When the image data to be processed has been updated since the creation, the correction processing unit omits part or all of the image processing for the image data. At this time, it is preferable to omit at least a part of the image quality correction process.
[0021]
Next, a schematic operation flow of the image transfer service server 1 will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 2 is an operation flow when an image transfer request is received, and FIG. 3 receives an image data acquisition request from a transfer destination that has received an e-mail indicating that the image file requested for transfer is stored. It is an operation flow in the case.
[0022]
When a transfer request for captured image data taken by a camera is received from a terminal connected to the network 2, such as a mobile phone 31 with a camera, the attached image file attached to the transfer request is stored in the image storage unit 13 (step 201). The transfer request includes an image file including the transferred image data, and includes an e-mail address (or a plurality of e-mail addresses) of a transfer destination together with a predetermined message. The image file is a compressed image file such as JPEG.
[0023]
In step 202, it is determined from the e-mail address of the transfer destination whether the transfer destination is only a portable terminal. This is because in the case of a mobile terminal, it is necessary to perform image correction processing, particularly resizing processing, according to the model information of the terminal. When the transfer destination is not only the portable terminal, it is sufficient to prepare the image size of the original image data included in the attached file or the image data of the default image size as shown in Step 203 to Step 209. A correction process is performed in advance.
[0024]
In step 203, the stored attached image file is decompressed, and in step 204, it is determined whether image resizing is necessary. If resizing is required, the number of pixels is changed in step 205. In this case, in principle, the original image size is used, and when it is extremely small or large, it is preferable to perform resizing.
[0025]
Next, in step 206, it is determined whether the image data to be processed has been corrected. Here, the presence or absence of correction is determined based on whether or not the image file including the image data has been updated. If the image file has been updated, it is determined that the image data has been corrected. Whether or not the image file is updated uses image additional information or FAT information as described above.
[0026]
If the image data to be processed is original image data, image quality correction processing is performed at step 207 and compression processing is performed at step 208. If the image data to be processed is not the original image data, the compression process is performed in step 208 as it is. The compressed image data is stored in the image storage device 13 as a corrected compressed image file (step 209). In this case, the image additional information or the FAT information of the corrected compressed image file is updated.
[0027]
The corrected compressed image file is associated with a predetermined URL together with the attached image file, and is sent as an image storage URL by e-mail to the transfer destination (step 210).
[0028]
When an image acquisition request is received from a user who has received an email stating that the image file requested for transfer has been stored, the request URL is acquired (step 301), and the model information of the terminal for which the acquisition request has been made is obtained. Obtain (step 302).
[0029]
Next, it is determined whether or not the requesting terminal is a portable terminal (step 303). If the requesting terminal is not a portable terminal, a corrected compressed image file is retrieved from the image storage unit 13 based on the URL (step 304). If the requesting terminal is a portable terminal, the attached image file is searched based on the URL, and the image data included in the attached image file is decompressed (step 305).
[0030]
In step 306, it is determined whether image resizing is necessary. In this determination, the size of the display unit is acquired from the model information of the requesting terminal, and the presence / absence of necessity for resizing and the parameters for the pixel number changing process are obtained. The size (number of pixels) of the display unit corresponding to the terminal model is stored in advance in a predetermined memory (not shown). If resizing is necessary, the number of pixels is changed in step 307.
[0031]
Next, in step 308, it is determined whether image data to be processed has been corrected. This determination is similar to step 206 in FIG. If the image data to be processed is original image data, image quality correction processing is performed in step 309 and compression processing is performed in step 310. If the image data to be processed is not the original image data, the compression process is performed in step 310 as it is. Here, when the image data to be processed is corrected, the image quality correction process is omitted. However, when the image number is greatly reduced, such as when the image is transferred to a mobile phone or the like, the image quality correction process is performed. Of these, it may be better to perform only the sharpness correction, and therefore it is preferable that the omission items of the image quality correction processing can be appropriately selected.
[0032]
Also, when the image data is corrected, the image quality correction is not omitted uniformly, but the fact that the image data is corrected is transmitted to the requesting terminal, and the presence or absence of the omission is determined by the selection signal from the requesting terminal side. You may decide.
[0033]
Then, the corrected compressed image file retrieved from the image storage unit 13 or the corrected compressed image file including the corrected image corrected by the correction processing unit 12 is transmitted to the requesting terminal (step 311). Note that the image additional information or the FAT information of the corrected compressed image file obtained through step 310 is also updated in the same manner.
[0034]
Next, an example of using such an image transfer service system will be described. When image data taken with the camera-equipped mobile phone 31 is transferred to the personal computer 32, a transfer request from the camera-equipped mobile phone 31 to the personal computer 32 is sent to the image transfer service server 1. Send. The image transfer service server 1 stores the corrected compressed image file in the image storage unit 13 according to the flow of FIG. 2, and sends an email indicating that the image file requested for transfer is stored in the personal computer 32.
[0035]
When the image file requested for transfer is acquired by the personal computer 32, the corrected compressed image file stored in the image storage unit 13 is transmitted to the personal computer 32 according to the flow of FIG. 3. When this image data is further transferred to the mobile phone 33, a transfer request is similarly sent to the image transfer service server 1, but in this case, a corrected compressed image file is not created.
[0036]
When the mobile phone 33 tries to acquire this image data, it is determined in step 308 in FIG. 3 that the image has been corrected, and is transmitted to the mobile phone 33 without being subjected to image quality correction again. Therefore, deterioration of image quality can be avoided.
[0037]
In the above description, the system in which the service server connected to the network performs the image correction process as a part of the service has been described. However, the service server may perform a service dedicated to the correction process. Alternatively, an image correction application program may be installed in a stand-alone computer to perform automatic correction processing on input image data.
[0038]
Also, as shown in Step 203 to Step 209 in FIG. 2, it is not essential to create a corrected compressed image file in advance, and correction processing may be performed every time there is an image data acquisition request from the requesting terminal.
[0039]
【The invention's effect】
As is apparent from the above description, according to the present invention, it is possible to automatically perform correction processing with little deterioration in image quality.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of an image transfer service system according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a schematic operation flow when an image transfer request is received by an image transfer service server. Diagram showing the general operation flow when receiving an image acquisition request
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Image transfer service server 2 ... Network 11 ... Transfer service process part 12 ... Correction process part 13 ... Image storage part 31 ... Mobile phone 32 with a camera ... Personal computer 33 ···mobile phone

Claims (3)

An image correction processing system that performs image correction processing on image data included in an input image file,
The image file includes update information of the image file,
An automatic correction processing unit that automatically performs image correction processing on the image data;
The update information of the image file is creation date information and update date information of the image file, or original image acquisition date information and image data update date information included in additional information of the image data included in the image file,
The automatic correction processing unit performs at least a part of the image correction processing when the creation date information and the update date information do not match, or when the original image acquisition date information and the image data update date information do not match. An image correction processing system that is omitted. The image correction processing system according to claim 1,
Prior to the image correction process, the automatic correction processing unit outputs a warning to the effect that correction processing has been completed in accordance with the update information. An image correction processing program for realizing the image correction processing system according to claim 1 or 2 , using a computer.

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