JP4508788B2 - Image reproduction apparatus and method, and program - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an image reproducing apparatus and method, and relates to a program.

  Conventionally, image processing apparatuses such as digital cameras for recording and reproducing still image information and moving image information using a memory card having a solid-state memory element as a recording medium are already on the market, and digital cameras including display means such as a color liquid crystal panel are also available. Sold. These digital cameras display images continuously on a display device such as a color liquid crystal panel before shooting, and the user of the digital camera determines the composition and plays back and displays the captured still image information and moving image information. Can be confirmed.

Some digital cameras have various functions in addition to the photographing function. In particular, the playback display function is highly convenient and is a useful function for users of digital cameras. As this reproduction function, an automatic reproduction technique for automatically reproducing a photographed image every predetermined time using a color liquid crystal panel, a so-called slide show function has been proposed (for example, see Patent Document 1).
JP 11-331739 A

  However, conventionally, the display method is the same regardless of whether the image information to be reproduced is a still image or a moving image. For example, when displaying moving image information, even a moving image with a short recording time or a moving image with a long recording time is reproduced only once. Due to the short time, the contents of the image information may be missed in the reproduction only once.

  Further, in the case of the conventional slide show function, the display images are switched one after another at regular intervals regardless of the reproduced image.

  This slide show function allows the digital camera body to automatically display the images that the user wants to watch and the images that the user wants to watch carefully. It can be said that it is ideal if a slide show in which the playback time is changed according to the playback image can be executed.

An object of the present invention is to provide an image reproducing apparatus and method, and a program capable of increasing the number of times of reproduction of a moving image with a short reproduction time that is likely to be repeatedly viewed by a user during moving image reproduction. It is in.

In order to achieve the above object, the image reproducing apparatus according to claim 1 is configured to reproduce the moving image information recorded on the recording medium and a plurality of moving image information recorded on the recording medium. Selection means for selecting arbitrary moving image information to be reproduced by the means, determination means for determining the recording time length of the moving image information selected by the selection means, and the selection according to the determination result of the determination means. Setting means for setting the number of times the moving image information is reproduced, and the setting means sets the moving image information to the first number of times when the recording time determined by the determining means is equal to or shorter than a first predetermined time. When the recording time discriminated by the discriminating means exceeds a second predetermined time longer than the first predetermined time, the moving image is set to a second number smaller than the first number. Image information playback When the recording time discriminated by the discriminating means exceeds the first predetermined time and is equal to or shorter than the second predetermined time, it is less than the first number and more than the second number. The number of times of reproduction of the moving image information is set to a large third number .

According to the present invention, since setting the number of plays of a moving image in accordance with the reproduction time of the moving image information, at the time of moving image reproduction, the reproduction of short video images of high reproduction time likely wants to see the user repeatedly The number of times can be increased.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

  The present invention is not limited to the form of the image processing apparatus, and may be similarly implemented in the form of a medium such as a recording medium storing a control method for the image processing apparatus and a program for realizing the control method. I can do it.

  FIG. 1 is a perspective view seen from the front side of the image reproducing apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a perspective view seen from the back side of the digital camera of FIG.

  1 and 2, the digital camera includes a photographing lens 21, an optical viewfinder 27, and a flash 38 on the front surface, a shutter button 1, a mode dial switch 42, and a display unit 50 on the top surface, and a rear surface. , An image display unit 26, an optical viewfinder 27, an operation unit 47, and an area designation lever 41.

  FIG. 3 is a block diagram schematically showing the internal configuration of the digital camera of FIG.

  3, the digital camera of FIG. 1 includes a digital camera body 100, a storage medium 200, and a power source 300.

  The digital camera body 100 is connected to the imaging lens 21, a protection unit 20 that protects the imaging lens 21, a shutter 22 that has a diaphragm function, an imaging device 23 that converts an optical image into an electrical signal, and the imaging device 23. And an A / D converter 28 that converts an analog signal output from the image sensor 23 into a digital signal, a timing generator 24, an image processing circuit 33 connected to the A / D converter 28, and a memory control circuit 29, an image display memory 30, a D / A converter 25, an image display unit 26 connected to the D / A converter 25, an optical viewfinder 27, a memory 31, a compression / decompression circuit 32, and a system And a control circuit 50.

  The A / D converter 28, the timing generator 24, the image processing circuit 33, the image display memory 30, and the D / A converter 25 are connected to a memory control circuit 29, respectively. The image sensor 23, the A / D converter 28, and the D / A converter 25 are connected to the timing generator 24, respectively.

  The digital camera body 100 also includes an exposure control unit 34 connected to the shutter 22, a distance measurement control unit 35 connected to the photographing lens 21, a zoom control unit 36 connected to the photographing lens 21, and a protection unit 20. And a memory 49 for storing constants, variables, programs, and the like for operation of the system control circuit 60, and characters, images, and sounds according to the execution of the system control circuit 60. Etc., a display unit 50 including a liquid crystal display device that displays an operation state and a message, etc., an electrically erasable / recordable nonvolatile memory 51 such as an EEPROM, RS232C, USB, IEEE1394, P1283, SCSI, And a communication unit 52 having various communication functions such as a modem, a LAN, and wireless communication, which are connected to the system control unit 60, respectively. It has been.

  The digital camera body 100 also includes an area designation lever 41, a mode dial switch 42, shutter switches 43 and 44, an image display ON / OFF switch 45, a quick review ON / OFF switch 46, an operation unit 47, And a recording medium attachment / detachment detection unit 48, which are connected to the system control unit 60, respectively.

  The digital camera body 100 is further connected to an I / F (interface) unit 54 connected to a card 200 such as a memory card or a function card via connectors 55 and 203, and to a power source 300 via connectors 40 and 301. Power supply unit 39.

  The memory control circuit 29, the memory 31, the compression / decompression circuit 32, the system control circuit 60, and the I / F unit 54 are connected to each other via a system bus.

  The card 200 is inserted into a slot (not shown) of the digital camera main body 100 and is connected to the I / F unit 202 connected to the I / F unit 54 via the connectors 55 and 203 and to the I / F unit 202. In addition, the function of the card 200 is realized, and a recording unit 201 composed of a semiconductor memory, a magnetic disk, or the like is provided.

  The power supply 300 includes a power supply unit 302 that is inserted into a slot (not shown) of the digital camera body 100 and connected to the power supply control unit 39 via the connectors 40 and 301.

  The timing generator 24 supplies a clock signal and a control signal to the image sensor 23, the A / D converter 28, and the D / A converter 25, and is controlled by the memory control circuit 29 and the system control circuit 60.

  The image processing circuit 33 performs predetermined pixel interpolation processing and color conversion processing on the data from the A / D converter 28 or the data from the memory control circuit 29. Further, in the image processing circuit 33, predetermined calculation processing is performed using the captured image data, and the system control circuit 60 controls the exposure control unit 34 and the distance measurement control unit 35 based on the obtained calculation result. TTL (through-the-lens) AF (autofocus) processing, AE (automatic exposure) processing, and EF (flash pre-emission) processing are performed. Further, the image processing circuit 33 performs predetermined arithmetic processing using the captured image data, and also performs TTL AWB (auto white balance) processing based on the obtained arithmetic result.

  The memory control circuit 29 controls the A / D converter 28, the timing generator 24, the image processing circuit 33, the image display memory 30, the D / A converter 25, the memory 31, and the compression / decompression circuit 32. The image information of the A / D converter 28 is written into the image display memory 30 or the memory 31 via the image processing circuit 33 and the memory control circuit 29 or directly via the memory control circuit 29.

  The image display unit 26 includes a TFT LCD or the like, and displays the display image information written in the image display memory 30 via the D / A converter 25. The image display unit 26 can turn on / off the display according to an instruction from the system control circuit 60.

  The memory 31 stores captured still image information and moving image information, and has a sufficient storage capacity for storing a predetermined number of still image information and moving image information for a predetermined time. Accordingly, the memory 31 can store a large amount of image information at high speed even in continuous shooting or panoramic shooting in which a plurality of still image information is continuously shot. The memory 31 can also be used as a work area for the system control circuit 60.

  The compression / decompression circuit 32 reads the image information stored in the memory 31, performs compression processing or decompression processing, and writes the processed image information in the memory 31.

  The exposure control unit 34 controls the shutter 22 having a diaphragm function, and has a flash light control function in cooperation with the flash 38. The distance measurement control unit 35 controls the focusing of the photographing lens 21, the zoom control unit 36 controls the zooming of the photographing lens 21, and the barrier control unit 37 controls the operation of the protection unit 20 that is a barrier.

  The flash 38 also has an AF auxiliary light projecting function and a flash light control function. The exposure control unit 34 and the distance measurement control unit 35 are controlled using the TTL method. Based on the calculation result obtained by calculating the captured image information by the image processing circuit 33, the system control circuit 60 performs the exposure control unit 34, the distance measurement. Control is performed on the control unit 35.

  The system control circuit 60 controls the entire image processing apparatus 100. The memory 49 stores constants, variables, programs, and the like for operation of the system control circuit 60, and the display unit 50 is a liquid crystal display device that displays an operation state, a message, and the like according to execution of the program in the system control circuit 60. is there.

  The display unit 50 includes a single shot / continuous shooting display, a self-timer display, a compression ratio display, a recording pixel number display, a recording number display, a remaining number of remaining shots display, a battery remaining amount display, a recording medium 200 attachment / detachment state display, and a communication. Displays I / F operation display, date / time display, etc.

  The area specifying lever 41, the mode dial switch 42, the shutter switches 43 and 44, the image display ON / OFF switch 45, the quick review ON / OFF switch 46, and the operation unit 47 input various operation instructions of the system control circuit 60. For example, a switch, a dial, a touch panel, pointing by eye-gaze detection, and a voice recognition device.

  The mode dial switch 42 switches and sets each function mode such as power-off, automatic shooting mode, shooting mode, panoramic shooting mode, playback mode, slide show playback mode, multi-screen playback / erase mode, protection setting mode, and PC connection mode. . When the mode dial 42 is used to switch to the playback mode, the image display unit 26 displays the images stored in the recording medium as thumbnail image information arranged in a 3 × 3 grid as shown in FIG. 4 described later. This is used for selection of reproduction image information.

  The shutter switch (SW1) 43 is turned ON during the operation of the shutter button 1, and operations such as AF (autofocus) processing, AE (automatic exposure) processing, AWB (auto white balance) processing, and EF (flash pre-flash) processing are performed. Instruct the start.

  The shutter switch (SW2) 44 is turned on when the operation of the shutter button 1 is completed, and an exposure process for writing the image data to the memory 31 via the A / D converter 28 and the memory control circuit 29 for the signal read from the image sensor 23; A series of processes such as a development process using an operation in the image processing circuit 33 and the memory control circuit 29, a recording process in which the image data is read from the memory 31, compressed by the compression / decompression circuit 32, and the image data is written to the recording medium 200. Instruct the start of operation.

  The area designation lever 41 designates an area. For example, an area for trimming image information is designated. The image display ON / OFF switch 45 sets ON / OFF of the image display unit 26. The quick review ON / OFF switch 46 sets a quick review function for automatically reproducing image information taken immediately after shooting.

  The operation unit 47 includes a menu button, a [SET] button, a macro button, a multi-page playback page break button, a flash setting button, a single shooting / continuous shooting / self-timer switching button, a menu moving + (plus) button, a menu moving − ( The button includes a minus) button, a playback image move + (plus) button, a playback image- (minus) button, a shooting image quality selection button, an exposure correction button, a date / time setting button, and the like.

  The power supply control unit 39 includes a battery detection circuit, a DC-DC converter, a switch circuit that switches a block to be energized, and the like, detects whether or not a battery is installed, the type of battery, and the remaining battery level. The DC-DC converter is controlled based on an instruction from the system control circuit 60, and a necessary voltage is supplied to each unit including the recording medium for a necessary period.

  The power supply unit 302 includes a primary battery such as an alkaline battery or a lithium battery, a secondary battery such as a NiCd battery, a NiMH battery, or a Li battery, an AC adapter, and the like, and is connected to the power supply control unit 39 via the connector 40 and the connector 301. .

  The I / F (interface) unit 54 is connected to a recording medium such as a memory card or a hard disk, the connector 55 is connected to a recording medium such as a memory card or a hard disk, and the recording medium attachment / detachment detecting means 48 is connected to the connector 55. It is detected whether or not 200 is attached.

  The protection unit 20 is a barrier that prevents the imaging unit from being soiled or damaged by covering the imaging unit including the lens 21 of the digital camera body 100.

  The optical viewfinder 27 can take an image using only the optical viewfinder without using the electronic viewfinder function of the image display unit 26. Further, in the optical viewfinder 27, some functions of the display unit 50 such as a focus display, a camera shake warning display, a flash charge display, a shutter speed display, an aperture value display, an exposure correction display, and the like are installed.

  A connector (antenna in the case of wireless communication) 53 connects the digital camera body 100 to another device through the communication unit 52. The recording medium 200 is a memory card or a hard disk.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram used for explaining display contents in the reproduction mode of the image display unit 26 in FIG.

  In FIG. 4, when the mode is switched to the playback mode by the mode dial 42, the image display unit 26 displays thumbnail image information (small image for index) arranged in a 3 × 3 grid. At this time, it is preferable to add an icon 401 indicating the moving image information to the moving image information in the thumbnail image so that the user can easily identify the moving image information.

  Further, by using the [+] button and the [-] button provided on the operation unit 47, the selection frame 402 is moved, image information to be reproduced is set, and in this state, the [SET] button is pressed to confirm. As a result, the reproduction image information is selected.

  FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a procedure of moving image playback processing executed by the digital camera of FIG.

  In FIG. 5, first, it is determined whether or not the selected reproduction image information is a moving image (step S101). If the selected reproduction image information is not a moving image but a still image, the still image information is reproduced on the image display unit 26. This is displayed (step S102), and this process is terminated.

  If the result of determination in step S101 is a moving image, the recording time of moving image information is determined (step S103), and for example, FIG. 6A described later is used according to the determined recording time of moving image information. As shown in FIG. 4, the number of times of reproduction N is determined (step S104), and then the moving image information is reproduced for the determined number of times of reproduction N (steps S105 to S107), and this process ends. As shown in FIG. 7, a display 501 indicating the remaining number of times of reproduction at the time of moving image reproduction may be displayed.

  In FIG. 6A, for example, when the recording time T of moving image information is T ≦ 10 seconds, N = 3 times, 10 seconds <T ≦ 30 seconds, N = 2 times, and T> 30 seconds, N = 1. The number of times of reproduction N corresponding to the recording time such as times is set in advance. The initial value of the number of reproductions N corresponding to the recording time is likely to be overlooked as the recording time is short, and it is often desired to repeat the viewing. Therefore, it is preferable to set the number of reproductions to be increased.

  Further, it is preferable that the number of reproductions N corresponding to the recording time can be changed by the user himself so that the initial value at the time of shipment of the product can correspond to the user's preference.

  In the present embodiment, the number of times of reproduction is determined according to the recording time of the moving image information. However, since it is highly possible that the image information that is desired to be viewed repeatedly is captured at a high resolution, as shown in FIG. In addition, the number N of times of reproduction may be set in accordance with the screen resolution of the moving image information, and the moving image information recently taken is not very familiar and is likely to be repeatedly viewed. ), The number of reproductions may be set according to the shooting date and time of the moving image information.

  As described above, when the moving image information reproduction process is instructed, the moving image reproduction control operation automatically sets the number of reproductions according to the recording time of the moving image information, the screen resolution, and the shooting date and time, and sets it to the display device. Since it is repeatedly reproduced for the number of times, there is no hassle of manually setting repeated reproduction when viewing moving image information with a short recording time that is often desired to be repeated.

  Switching to the slide show playback mode is performed by switching to the slide show playback mode with the mode dial 42.

  FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing the procedure of a slide show reproduction process executed by the digital camera of FIG.

  In FIG. 8, first, an initial value 1 is set to a variable n (step S201), then the nth image information from the oldest recording date is read from the recording medium, and the nth image information is stored in the recording medium. It is determined whether or not it is recorded (step S202). If it is not recorded, this process is immediately terminated.

  If the image information is recorded as a result of the determination in step S202, it is determined whether or not the image information is a still image (step S203). If the image information is a still image, the state of the image information displayed on the display unit 50 is determined. The information is discriminated (step S205), the playback time t is determined based on the discriminated result (step S206), and the still image information is then displayed on the image display unit 26 for t seconds based on the determined playback time t. (Step S207), the variable n is incremented by 1, and the process returns to step S202.

  As a result of the determination in step S203, when the image information is not a still image but a moving image, the moving image information is reproduced (step S204), and this process is terminated.

  In step S206, as shown in FIG. 9A, the image information taken on the wide side of the lens is highly likely to be viewed as a group photo or the like, so the reproduction time t is set longer.

  In addition, as shown in FIG. 9B, the image information that the user wants to watch carefully later is likely to be shot at a high resolution, and the image information that the user wants to watch is likely to be shot at a low resolution. The high resolution image information sets the reproduction time t long, and the low resolution image information sets the reproduction time t short.

  As shown in FIG. 9C, recently taken image information is not so familiar, and there are many cases where it is desired to look carefully. Therefore, the playback time t may be set longer.

  Furthermore, if the amount of change in the luminance distribution of the image is large (if the change in light and darkness is large in the image), it is likely that the image information is complex, and there are many cases where you want to look carefully, so set the playback time t longer. On the other hand, when the amount of change in the luminance distribution of the image is small, there is a high possibility that the image information is monotonous, and there are many cases where it is desired to flow the information. Therefore, the reproduction time t may be set short. Also, when the amount of image information is large, there is a high possibility that the image information is complicated, and there are many cases where it is desired to look carefully. Therefore, if the amount of image information is small, the playback time t is set long. Therefore, the reproduction time t may be set short.

  In the present embodiment, in the slide show playback, the status information recorded in the header information area of each image information is determined, and the slide show playback time is determined according to the status information such as the angle of view, resolution, shooting date and time, etc. Therefore, the image that the user wants to watch and the image that the user wants to watch carefully can be played back at the optimum time.

  Another object of the present invention is to supply a storage medium (or recording medium) in which a program code of software that realizes the functions of the above-described embodiments is recorded to a system or apparatus, and the computer (or CPU or MPU) of the system or apparatus. Needless to say, this is also achieved by reading and executing the program code stored in the storage medium.

  In this case, the program code itself read from the storage medium realizes the functions of the above-described embodiments, and the storage medium storing the program code constitutes the present invention.

  Further, by executing the program code read by the computer, not only the functions of the above-described embodiments are realized, but also an operating system (OS) or the like running on the computer based on the instruction of the program code. It goes without saying that a case where the function of the above-described embodiment is realized by performing part or all of the actual processing and the processing is included.

  Further, after the program code read from the storage medium is written in a memory provided in a function expansion card inserted into the computer or a function expansion unit connected to the computer, the function expansion is performed based on the instruction of the program code. It goes without saying that the case where the CPU or the like provided in the card or the function expansion unit performs part or all of the actual processing and the functions of the above-described embodiments are realized by the processing.

  The above-described program only needs to be able to realize the functions of the above-described embodiments by a computer, and the form includes forms such as object code, a program executed by an interpreter, and script data supplied to the OS. But you can.

  As a recording medium for supplying the program, for example, RAM, NV-RAM, floppy (registered trademark) disk, optical disk, magneto-optical disk, CD-ROM, MO, CD-R, CD-RW, DVD (DVD-ROM, DVD-RAM, DVD-RW, DVD + RW), magnetic tape, non-volatile memory card, other ROM, etc. may be used as long as they can store the above programs. Alternatively, the program is supplied by downloading from another computer or database (not shown) connected to the Internet, a commercial network, a local area network, or the like.

It is the perspective view seen from the front side of the image reproducing device concerning an embodiment of the invention. FIG. 2 is a perspective view seen from the back side of the digital camera of FIG. FIG. 2 is a block diagram schematically showing an internal configuration of the digital camera of FIG. 1. It is a figure used for demonstrating the display content at the time of the reproduction | regeneration mode of the image display part 26 in FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a procedure of moving image information reproduction processing executed by the digital camera of FIG. 1. FIG. 6 is a diagram used for explaining a method of determining the number of times N of reproduction of moving image information in step S104 in FIG. 5, where (a) is based on recording time, (b) is based on screen resolution, c) shows cases based on the shooting date and time. It is a figure for demonstrating the display at the time of animation reproduction | regeneration. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure of a slide show reproduction process executed by the digital camera of FIG. 1. FIGS. 9A and 9B are diagrams used to explain a method for determining a playback time t of a moving image in step S <b> 206 in FIG. 8, where (a) is based on captured image information, (b) is based on screen resolution, (c ) Indicates a case based on the shooting date and time.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Shutter button 21 Shooting lens 22 Shutter 27 Optical finder 33 Image processing circuit 34 Exposure control part 38 Flash 44 Shutter switch 50 Display part 54 I / F part 201 Recording part

Claims (6)

Reproduction means for reproducing moving image information recorded on a recording medium; selection means for selecting arbitrary moving image information to be reproduced by the reproduction means from a plurality of pieces of moving image information recorded on the recording medium; comprising a discriminating means for discriminating the recording time length of the selected by the selection means video information, and setting means for setting the number of plays of the selected moving picture information in accordance with the discrimination result of said discriminating means,
The setting means includes
If the recording time discriminated by the discriminating means is less than or equal to the first predetermined time, the number of reproductions of the moving image information is set to the first number of times,
When the recording time discriminated by the discriminating means exceeds a second predetermined time that is longer than the first predetermined time, the number of reproduction times of the moving image information is set to a second number smaller than the first number. And
When the recording time discriminated by the discriminating means exceeds the first predetermined time and is equal to or shorter than the second predetermined time, the third number is smaller than the first number and larger than the second number. An image reproduction apparatus characterized in that the number of reproduction times of the moving image information is set as the number of times . Display means for displaying moving image information reproduced by the reproduction means;
2. The image reproduction apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the display unit displays the number of reproductions set by the setting unit while displaying the moving image information selected by the selection unit. A reproduction step of reproducing moving image information recorded on a recording medium, a selection step of selecting arbitrary moving image information to be reproduced by the reproduction step from a plurality of moving image information recorded on the recording medium, A determination step of determining a recording time length of the moving image information selected in the selection step, and a setting step of setting the number of times of reproduction of the selected moving image information according to the determination result of the determination step,
The setting step includes
If the recording time determined in the determination step is equal to or shorter than a first predetermined time, the number of reproductions of the moving image information is set to the first number of times,
When the recording time determined in the determination step exceeds a second predetermined time longer than the first predetermined time, the number of reproduction times of the moving image information is set to a second number smaller than the first number. And
When the recording time determined in the determination step exceeds the first predetermined time and is equal to or shorter than the second predetermined time, the third number is smaller than the first number and larger than the second number. An image reproduction method characterized in that the number of reproduction times of the moving image information is set as the number of times . A display step for displaying the moving image information reproduced in the reproduction step;
4. The image reproduction method according to claim 3 , wherein the display step displays the number of reproductions set in the setting step while displaying the moving image information selected in the selection step . A reproduction module for reproducing moving image information recorded on a recording medium; a selection module for selecting arbitrary moving image information to be reproduced by the reproduction module from a plurality of moving image information recorded on the recording medium; Causing the computer to execute a determination module for determining the recording time length of the moving image information selected by the selection module, and a setting module for setting the number of times of reproduction of the selected moving image information according to the determination result of the determination module ,
The setting module is
If the recording time determined by the determination module is less than or equal to the first predetermined time, the number of times of reproduction of the moving image information is set to the first number of times,
When the recording time determined by the determination module exceeds a second predetermined time longer than the first predetermined time, the number of reproduction times of the moving image information is set to a second number smaller than the first number. And
When the recording time determined by the determination module exceeds the first predetermined time and is equal to or shorter than the second predetermined time, the third number is smaller than the first number and larger than the second number. An image reproduction program characterized in that the number of reproduction times of the moving image information is set as the number of times . A display module for displaying moving image information reproduced by the reproduction module;
6. The image reproduction program according to claim 5 , wherein the display module displays the number of reproductions set by the setting module while displaying the moving image information selected by the selection module .

Images