JP4596330B2 - Imaging system - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an imaging system that accurately captures a subject moving far away.

  Recent video cameras are equipped with a high-magnification zoom lens, so it is possible to photograph a relatively distant subject in close-up. However, even with such a video camera, it is difficult to instantly capture a specific person from a large number of moving people. For example, when a child's athletic meet finds his child from a running group and takes a close-up shot.

  In such a case, a method of attaching a wireless oscillation device to a subject to be photographed, receiving an oscillation signal from the device on the video camera side, specifying the position of the subject, and performing close-up photography is conceivable. As a method for specifying the position of the subject, for example, a special signal such as a sound wave is oscillated from the subject, and this signal is received at two positions on the video camera side, and the position is calculated from the time difference (phase difference) of the received signal. Method and subject position detection apparatus that obtains position information by using a GPS (Global Positioning System: position measurement system using radio waves from an artificial satellite) and informs the position information by wireless transmission to the video camera. There is a way to possess.

The method of obtaining position information using GPS is convenient because it can be implemented relatively easily. However, since GPS uses radio waves from satellites, it is generally measured based on the ionospheric state, the influence of water vapor and atmospheric pressure, satellite positioning, etc. An error occurs in the value, and there is a problem in accuracy as position information of a distant subject photographed with a video camera.
In Patent Document 1 below, in order to reduce an error in the position information of a subject acquired using GPS, the position information by GPS is acquired on both the subject side and the video camera side, so that the relative position is calculated from the two position information. There has been proposed a method of canceling the above error factors by calculating a specific position.
JP 2004-112615 A

  However, GPS error factors include the reflection of radio waves (multiple reflection) on buildings and the ground in addition to the atmospheric conditions and satellite arrangements described above. However, since the influence is different, there are cases where the error factor is not always canceled even if the difference between the two measurement values is taken as in Patent Document 1. For this reason, the measured position information becomes inaccurate. For example, even when a stationary subject is photographed, the measured value sometimes fluctuates and is calculated as a value in which the subject position changes. Get up. Therefore, when tracking a subject using such measurement values, there arises a problem that the subject comes off the screen.

  In addition, conventionally, another problem when shooting a distant subject is that the position of the video camera shooting from the subject side is unknown, so the front of the subject is not oriented in the direction of the video camera when it is important. It was happening that it was difficult to take images with good expressions.

  The present invention has been made in view of such a conventional problem, and in a video camera and a subject position detection device used in an imaging system for photographing a subject moving far away, an error in position measurement using GPS is eliminated. An object of the present invention is to provide an imaging system that can acquire an accurate distance and direction to a subject, and can know the position and operating state of a video camera that is also photographing on the subject side.

The present invention includes the following configurations (1), (2), and (3) as means for solving the above-described problems. That is,
(1) A video camera that captures an image of a subject and transmits / receives the image, and the position information of the subject attached to the subject and direction information indicating the direction in which the subject is facing can be acquired and transmitted / received to / from the video camera. In an imaging system including a subject position detection device,
The video camera
Imaging means for photoelectrically converting a subject image obtained by photographing the subject to generate an image signal;
Recording means for recording the image signal generated by the imaging means;
Image display means for displaying the image signal generated by the imaging means;
Imaging position acquisition means for receiving a signal sent from the GPS and acquiring imaging position information for imaging the subject;
Imaging orientation generation means for generating imaging orientation information based on an imaging direction in which the subject is imaged;
Wireless transmission means for transmitting the imaging position information, the imaging orientation information, and recording operation information indicating whether or not recording to the recording means is possible, to the subject position detection device;
Wireless receiving means for receiving the position information of the subject and the orientation information of the subject transmitted from the subject position detection device;
Using the imaging position information acquired by the imaging position acquisition unit, the imaging direction information generated by the imaging direction generation unit, the position information of the subject received by the wireless reception unit, and the direction information of the subject Calculating means for calculating the distance to the subject and the direction in which the subject exists, and outputting the result to the image display means;
An imaging system is provided.
(2) In the imaging system according to claim 1,
Memory means for storing position information and azimuth information of the subject received by the wireless receiving means;
The azimuth information of the subject stored in the memory means is compared with the azimuth information of the subject newly received by the wireless receiving means. When the difference is equal to or less than a preset value, the wireless receiving means Computing means for discarding the received subject position information and using the subject position information stored in the memory means for computation;
In addition, an imaging system is provided.
(3) A video camera that captures an image of a subject and transmits / receives it, and is attached to the subject and acquires position information of the subject and direction information indicating a direction in which the subject is facing, and can be transmitted / received to / from the video camera. In an imaging system including a subject position detection device,
The subject position detection device includes:
Subject position acquisition means for receiving a signal sent from the GPS and acquiring position information of the subject;
Subject orientation generation means for detecting orientation of the subject and generating orientation information;
Wireless transmission means for transmitting the subject position information and the subject orientation information;
Radio receiving means for receiving imaging position information of the video camera transmitted by the video camera, imaging orientation information captured by the video camera, and recording operation information indicating whether the video camera is recordable,
Using the subject position information acquired by the subject position acquisition unit, the subject direction information generated by the subject direction generation unit, the imaging position information and imaging direction information of the video camera received by the wireless reception unit, the video A calculation means for calculating a distance to the camera and a direction in which the video camera exists, and generating an image signal representing the calculated distance and direction and the recording operation information;
Image display means for displaying the image signal generated by the computing means;
An imaging system is provided.

According to the configuration of the first aspect of the present invention, the distance to the subject and the direction of the subject are calculated using the positional information obtained by using both the subject and the video camera by using the GPS. In addition to being able to calculate the exact position of the subject where the error contained in the position information is canceled and displaying the calculated distance to the subject and the direction of the subject in an easy-to-understand manner, the photographer can use the video camera according to the displayed image. By moving the shooting direction, it is possible to quickly shoot without missing the close-up scene of the subject.
According to the second aspect of the present invention, when the subject is not moving, the position information of the subject acquired using the GPS is not used for the calculation, but the previously acquired position information stored in the memory is used. As a result, it is possible to eliminate GPS position information including an error component that the acquired information changes even when the object is stationary, and the reliability of the calculated distance to the subject and the direction of the subject is reliable. Improves.
Further, according to the configuration of the third aspect of the present invention, since the position of the video camera and the current operation state of the video camera can be confirmed on the display side on the subject side, the subject itself can be photographed from which location. You can see at a glance whether you are shooting or not. As a result, it is possible to take an image with a good expression facing the front, and the convenience of the video camera is improved.

Hereinafter, an imaging system according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of a video camera used in the imaging system according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of a subject position detection apparatus possessed by a subject to be photographed. FIGS. 3A and 3B are diagrams for explaining a display screen in the image display unit of the video camera. FIG. 3A is a diagram showing a state where a subject to be photographed is off the screen, and FIG. 3B is a closed view in the state of FIG. The figure which shows the screen when it is up, (c) is a figure which shows the case where the to-be-photographed object has entered the screen by correcting the photographing direction. 4A and 4B are diagrams for explaining a display screen in the image display unit of the subject position detection device. FIG. 4A is a display screen when the subject is not facing the video camera, and FIG. 4B is a direction of the video camera. It is a display screen when it is suitable for. 5 is a diagram for explaining a method for calculating a subject position, FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining a method for calculating the position of a video camera, and FIG. 7 is a diagram for explaining a method for removing an error in subject position calculation. FIG.

  First, the configuration of the video camera 100 according to the embodiment of the present invention and the operation of each block will be described with reference to FIG. In the figure, an image pickup unit 101 is a block that includes a zoom lens and an image pickup element inside, and generates a continuous image signal by converting a subject image into an electric signal. The recording unit 102 is a block that records and reproduces the image signal generated by the imaging unit 101 on a recording medium (not shown) such as a magnetic tape, HDD, or magnetic disk, and the image display unit 103 is an imaging unit 101. This is a block that displays the image signal generated in step 1 and the distance and direction to the subject. The control unit 104 is a block that controls operations of the imaging unit 101, the recording unit 102, the image display unit 103, a calculation unit 109, which will be described later, and the like.

The imaging azimuth generation unit 105 is a block that detects which direction the video camera is currently shooting and generates azimuth information of the detected direction. The imaging position acquisition unit 106 is a block that acquires information on latitude and longitude from GPS satellites and obtains current position information of the video camera.
The wireless transmission unit 107 transmits the azimuth information generated by the imaging azimuth generation unit 105, the positional information acquired by the imaging position acquisition unit 106, and whether or not the recording unit 102 is recording via the calculation unit 109 described later. This is a block that wirelessly transmits operation information indicating a state to a subject to be imaged. The wireless receiving unit 108 is a block for receiving subject position information and azimuth information transmitted from the subject side, which will be described later.

The calculation unit 109 uses the azimuth information from the imaging azimuth generation unit 105, the positional information from the imaging position acquisition unit 106, and the positional information and azimuth information of the subject received by the wireless reception unit 108 to obtain a subject from the video camera. The distance and the direction are calculated, and the information on the calculated distance and the direction is generated into an image signal that can be easily identified by the photographer, and is supplied to the image display unit 103. The memory 110 is a block that temporarily stores the position information and the direction information of the subject received by the wireless reception unit 108.
The calculation unit 109 compares the azimuth information of the subject received by the wireless reception unit 108 with the previous azimuth information received in the memory 110 to determine the movement of the subject, and when the subject has no movement, the subject received this time Is invalidated, and the previous position information stored in the memory 110 is used. Details of this operation will be described later.

  Next, the configuration of the subject position detection apparatus 200 possessed by the subject to be imaged and the operation of each block will be described with reference to FIG. In the figure, a subject direction generation unit 201 is a block having a function of detecting which direction the subject position detection device 200 is currently facing and generating direction information of the detected direction. The subject position acquisition unit 202 is a block that acquires information on latitude and longitude from a GPS satellite and obtains current position information of the subject position detection device 200.

  The wireless transmission unit 203 is a block that wirelessly transmits the azimuth information generated by the subject azimuth generation unit 201 and the position information acquired by the subject position acquisition unit 202 to the video camera side via a calculation unit 205 described later. is there. The wireless reception unit 204 is a block for receiving azimuth information and position information of the video camera transmitted from the wireless transmission unit 107 in the video camera, and operation information indicating whether the recording unit 102 is recording. is there.

The calculation unit 205 uses the direction information from the subject direction generation unit 201, the position information from the subject position acquisition unit 202, and the transmission information from the video camera received by the wireless reception unit 204, and the distance from the subject to the video camera. And the calculated distance and direction, and the operation information indicating whether the recording unit 102 in the video camera is recording or not are generated into an image signal that is easy for the person of the subject to see and determine. The block is supplied to the image display unit 206. The image display unit 206 is a block that displays the image signal supplied from the calculation unit 205.

  The memory 207 is a block for temporarily storing the position information and direction information of the video camera received by the wireless reception unit 204. The calculation unit 205 compares the azimuth information received by the wireless reception unit 204 with the previous azimuth information received in the memory 207 to determine the motion of the video camera. If the video camera has no motion, the position received this time The information is invalidated and the previous position information stored in the memory 207 is used.

Next, referring to FIG. 3 and FIG. 4, the video camera in this embodiment is photographed using the display images of the image display unit 103 of the video camera and the image display unit 206 of the subject position detection device possessed by the subject. Describe the method.
FIG. 3 is an example of a display image of the image display unit 103 in the video camera 100. When the video camera 100 starts shooting, the image signal shot by the image pickup unit 101 is displayed as shown in FIG. 5A, and the image signal supplied from the calculation unit 109 is displayed at the upper right of the screen. An arrow indicating the direction in which the subject subject is located and a numerical value indicating the distance to the subject are superimposed and displayed. This figure shows that the subject to be imaged is at a position 15 m to the right.

(B) in the figure is an image when the close-up is performed from the state of (a). However, in this state, the subject to be photographed is not shown even if the close-up is performed, and is at a position 15 m in the right direction. The display remains on.
Therefore, when the photographer slowly moves the direction in which the video camera is photographing in the right direction indicated by the arrow, the arrow indicates the upward direction at a certain point in time. FIG. 5C shows this state, where the arrow points directly above, and the subject to be imaged is captured on the screen in close-up.

  In other words, in this embodiment, the direction of the video camera is changed in the direction indicated by the arrow displayed on the screen of the image display unit 103, and the subject to be photographed is captured at the center of the screen when the arrow is pointing directly above. It is when In the above embodiment, the video camera shooting direction is changed in the close-up state. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and even if the subject to be shot is captured on the screen and then close-up is performed. It is clear that it is good.

FIG. 4 is an example of a display image of the image display unit 206 in the subject position detection apparatus 200. In the present embodiment, it is assumed that the subject position detection device is fixed to the subject so that the subject direction generation unit 201 in the subject position detection device 200 detects the forward direction of the subject to be photographed (for example, Fixed to the buckle part of the belt of the pants).
In the screen of FIG. 6A, the arrow indicates the direction in which the video camera is present, and the numerical value indicates the distance to the video camera. The “recording” display is the current operating state of the video camera.
Looking at this screen, the person who is the subject knows the direction and distance of the video camera, and if the video camera is currently recording, an arrow is displayed as shown in FIG. Change your body's orientation to face up. Thereby, since the direction of the subject is directed to the video camera side, the video camera can photograph the frontal expression of the subject.

Next, a calculation method for obtaining the direction of the subject viewed from the video camera side and the direction of the video camera viewed from the subject side will be described with reference to FIGS.
First, an example in which the direction of the subject is calculated from the video camera side will be described with reference to FIG.
Based on the azimuth information obtained by the imaging azimuth generation unit 105 in the video camera, an “angle A” between the direction in which the video camera is currently facing and a specific direction selected in advance (north in this embodiment) is obtained. It is done. Next, since the relative position of both can be specified from the position information (Xc, Yc) of the video camera acquired by the imaging position acquisition unit 106 and the position information (Xt, Yt) of the subject received by the wireless reception unit 108, the video camera The "angle B" that the subject can be captured in which direction is calculated by the following equation.
Angle B = Angle A + tan-1 ((Xt-Xc) / (Yt-Yc)) --- (1)
In this way, the video camera can capture the subject in front by photographing by changing the direction of the “angle B” obtained by the equation (1).

Next, an example of calculating the direction of the video camera from the subject side will be described with reference to FIG.
First, based on the orientation information obtained by the subject orientation generation unit 201 in the subject position detection device 200 possessed by the subject, an “angle C” between the direction in which the subject is currently facing and a specific direction selected in advance is obtained. Desired. Next, the relative position of both can be specified from the position information (Xt, Yt) of the subject acquired by the subject position acquisition unit 202 and the position information (Xc, Yc) of the video camera received by the wireless reception unit 204. The “angle D” that indicates which direction the video camera can face is calculated by the following equation.
Angle D = Angle C + tan−1 ((Xc−Xt) / (Yc−Yt)) −− (2)
In this way, the video camera can be caught in front by changing the direction of the subject by the angle “angle D” obtained by the equation (2).

  Next, a method for determining whether or not position information acquired using GPS can be used will be described with reference to FIG. As described above, the position information acquired using the GPS includes an error, but the position information may change even though it is stationary. If such position information is used, the shooting direction of the video camera is changed, and the subject will be removed from the screen if the instruction is followed. Therefore, in this embodiment, when the subject is stationary, the position information acquired by the GPS is not used, thereby eliminating the influence of such an error.

In this embodiment, the movement of the subject is determined as follows. As shown in FIG. 7, if the subject (before moving) is first facing the video camera and then moved to point A, the direction in which the subject is facing changes to the direction of the arrow shown in FIG. The orientation information obtained by the subject orientation generation unit 201 changes. Therefore, the video camera side can determine whether or not the subject has moved by comparing the azimuth information of the subject received by the wireless reception unit 108 with the azimuth information received last time in the memory 110. That is, if the difference between the two azimuth information items to be compared exceeds a preset range, it is determined that the object is moving, and if it is within the range, it is determined that the object is stationary.
If it is determined that the subject is moving by the above method, the received position information is used as it is. If it is determined that the subject is stationary, the position information of the subject acquired from the GPS is the size of the included error. The position information received last time in the memory 110 is used as it is not used regardless of whether or not. By doing so, the reliability of the position information can be improved.

However, when the movement of the subject is determined by the above-described method, when the subject comes toward (or moves away from) the video camera as in the movement to the point B shown in FIG. Since the information changes but the azimuth information does not change, it is determined to be in a stationary state. Therefore, in this embodiment, in order to deal with such a case, even if there is no change in the azimuth information of the subject, if the received current subject position information (X, Y) satisfies the following formula, The subject position information received as having moved is used.
Y≈ (Yt−Yc) / (Xt−Xc) × (X−Xt) + Yt (3)
Equation (3) is an equation of a straight line between two points of the subject before movement position (Xt, Yt) and the video camera position (Xc, Yc), and the current subject position (X, Y) satisfies this equation. This means that the subject is on a straight line between two points, that is, approaching (or moving away) toward the video camera.

  As described above in detail, in the video camera according to the present invention, the subject to be imaged is provided with the subject position detection device 200, and by this device, the position information of the subject itself and the direction information indicating the direction in which the subject is facing are obtained. Thus, these pieces of information are wirelessly transmitted to the video camera 100, and the video camera 100 uses the received information and the position information and orientation information of the video camera itself to determine the distance to the subject and the subject. The direction in which there is is calculated and displayed on the screen. As a result, the photographer can quickly shoot without missing the close-up scene of the subject to be photographed by pointing the video camera in the direction instructed on the screen display.

Also, since the movement of the subject is determined and the position information acquired by GPS is not used when there is no movement, the distance and direction to the subject calculated due to error fluctuations in the position information may become unstable. Can be eliminated.
Furthermore, since the position of the video camera and the current operating state can be confirmed on the subject side, the subject can know at a glance from where the subject is photographed and can point in the direction in which the subject is photographed. It becomes like this.

It is a block diagram which shows one Example of the video camera which concerns on this invention. It is the block diagram which showed one Example of the to-be-photographed object position detection apparatus which the to-be-photographed object has. 4A and 4B are diagrams for explaining a display screen in an image display unit of a video camera, in which FIG. 4A is a diagram showing a state where a subject to be photographed is outside the screen, and FIG. 4B is a screen when a close-up is performed in the state of FIG. FIG. 4C is a diagram illustrating a case where the subject to be photographed is on the screen with the photographing direction corrected. It is a figure for demonstrating the display screen in the image display part of a to-be-photographed object position detection apparatus, (a) is a display screen when a to-be-photographed object is not facing the direction of a video camera, (b) is facing the direction of a video camera. This is a display screen. It is a figure for demonstrating the calculation method of a to-be-photographed object position. It is a figure for demonstrating the position calculation method of a video camera. It is a figure for demonstrating the method of removing the error of a to-be-photographed object position calculation.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 ... Video camera 101 ... Imaging part (imaging means)
102: Recording section (recording means)
103: Image display unit (image display means)
104... Control unit 105... Imaging direction generation unit (imaging direction generation means)
106: Imaging position acquisition unit (imaging position acquisition means)
107: Wireless transmission section (wireless transmission means)
108: Wireless receiver (wireless receiver)
109: Calculation unit (calculation means)
110 ... Memory (memory means)
200 ... Subject position detection device 201 ... Subject orientation generation unit (subject orientation generation means)
202 ... Subject position acquisition unit (Subject position acquisition means)
203 ... Wireless transmission unit (wireless transmission means)
204 ... Wireless receiver (wireless receiver)
205 ... Calculation unit (calculation means)
206: Image display unit (image display means)
207 ... Memory

Claims (3)

A video camera that captures an image of a subject and transmits / receives the subject, and a subject position that is attached to the subject and that acquires position information of the subject and direction information indicating a direction in which the subject is facing, and can be transmitted / received to / from the video camera. In an imaging system comprising a detection device,
The video camera
Imaging means for photoelectrically converting a subject image obtained by photographing the subject to generate an image signal;
Recording means for recording the image signal generated by the imaging means;
Image display means for displaying the image signal generated by the imaging means;
Imaging position acquisition means for receiving a signal sent from the GPS and acquiring imaging position information for imaging the subject;
Imaging orientation generation means for generating imaging orientation information based on an imaging direction in which the subject is imaged;
Wireless transmission means for transmitting the imaging position information, the imaging orientation information, and recording operation information indicating whether or not recording to the recording means is possible, to the subject position detection device;
Wireless receiving means for receiving the position information of the subject and the orientation information of the subject transmitted from the subject position detection device;
Using the imaging position information acquired by the imaging position acquisition unit, the imaging direction information generated by the imaging direction generation unit, the position information of the subject received by the wireless reception unit, and the direction information of the subject Calculating means for calculating the distance to the subject and the direction in which the subject exists, and outputting the result to the image display means;
An imaging system comprising: The imaging system according to claim 1.
Memory means for storing position information and azimuth information of the subject received by the wireless receiving means;
The azimuth information of the subject stored in the memory means is compared with the azimuth information of the subject newly received by the wireless receiving means. When the difference is equal to or less than a preset value, the wireless receiving means Computing means for discarding the received subject position information and using the subject position information stored in the memory means for computation;
An imaging system characterized by comprising the above. A video camera that captures an image of a subject and transmits / receives the subject, and a subject position that is attached to the subject and that acquires position information of the subject and direction information indicating a direction in which the subject is facing, and can be transmitted / received to / from the video camera. In an imaging system comprising a detection device,
The subject position detection device includes:
Subject position acquisition means for receiving a signal sent from the GPS and acquiring position information of the subject;
Subject orientation generation means for detecting orientation of the subject and generating orientation information;
Wireless transmission means for transmitting the subject position information and the subject orientation information;
Radio receiving means for receiving imaging position information of the video camera transmitted by the video camera, imaging orientation information captured by the video camera, and recording operation information indicating whether the video camera is recordable,
Using the subject position information acquired by the subject position acquisition unit, the subject direction information generated by the subject direction generation unit, the imaging position information and imaging direction information of the video camera received by the wireless reception unit, the video A calculation means for calculating a distance to the camera and a direction in which the video camera exists, and generating an image signal representing the calculated distance and direction and the recording operation information;
Image display means for displaying the image signal generated by the computing means;
An imaging system comprising:

Images