JP4655179B2 - Stereo photo printing method and apparatus for performing the method - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a technique for producing a stereo photographic print in which two photographic images having parallax in the horizontal direction are arranged side by side with respect to the same subject.
[0002]
[Prior art]
Conventionally, various methods for taking a stereo photograph are known. A method of using two cameras to shoot at the same time so that the distance between the optical axes is about 64 mm, which is the average distance between the pupils of the left and right eyes, and the subject does not move Although it is limited to this, a method of using a slider-equipped camera in which a camera is mounted on a slider and the camera is slid 64 mm horizontally after the first photographing and the second photographing is used, or a film is attached to an ordinary single-lens reflex camera. A method using a stereo photography adapter that is designed to simultaneously capture the left-eye image and the right-eye image on the frame, and a binocular lens type special camera that can simultaneously capture the left-eye image and the right-eye image It is mentioned by the method of using a dedicated stereo photo camera.
Furthermore, JP 2000-56413 A uses a IX240 film having a magnetic recording layer to set a stereo photographic image frame that is half the width of a normal photographic frame. There has been disclosed a dedicated stereo photographic camera for simultaneously copying images for use in a position separated by a predetermined number of frames and writing the stereo photographic instruction information in a magnetic recording layer.
[0003]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
Although a stereo photograph can be taken by the various methods described above, the position and size of the left-eye image and the right-eye image formed on the film differ depending on the method used. For example, in the method using two cameras, an image for the left eye and an image for the right eye are formed on each of two photographic films with a normal image frame size, and one camera mounted on a slider is used. In this method, an image for the left eye and an image for the right eye are formed on continuous image frames of the same size on the same photographic film. Further, in the case of the dedicated stereo photographic camera as described above, the left-eye image and the right-eye image are formed in the normal image frame size, or the left-eye image is separated at the image frame position separated by 1/2 image frame size. An image and an image for the right eye are formed.
[0004]
As described above, since the method of forming the left-eye image and the right-eye image on the photographic film differs depending on the stereo photography method, in order to actually observe the stereo photograph, a stereo photograph is taken from this photographic film in units of image frames. A troublesome and time-consuming work such as appropriately cutting prints on which images have been printed, arranging them side by side at a predetermined interval (generally about 64 mm), and gluing them on a mount is necessary.
In view of the above situation, an object of the present invention is to directly observe as a stereo photograph even from a photographic image source in which the positions and sizes of the left-eye image and the right-eye image are formed in various forms by the photographing method. It is an object of the present invention to provide a stereo photo production technique capable of directly outputting a stereo photo print capable of being output.
[0005]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to solve the above-described problems, a stereo photo printing method according to the present invention includes a step of obtaining photographic image data from a photographic image source including a plurality of photographic image frames, and a stereo photographic image among the obtained photographic image data. Information indicating left-eye image data that is a left-eye image and right-eye image data that is a right-eye image for stereo photography, and imaging directions of the left-eye image data and right-eye image data obtaining a stereo photographic instruction information including information indicating, on the basis of the stereo photographic instruction information to select the said right-eye image data and the left-eye image data from the acquired photographic image data steps and, at least, several rotating the stereograph instruction information 90 degrees the left-eye image data and right eye image data is the shooting direction vertically based on A step of subjecting the biological image processing, and generating a stereo image data by synthesizing the right-eye image data and the left-eye image data subjected to geometric image processing, the stereo photo Creating a stereo photographic print based on the image data.
[0006]
Furthermore, in order to solve the above problems, a stereo photo printing apparatus according to the present invention includes an image input unit that obtains photo image data from a photo image source including a plurality of photo image frames,
Among the acquired photographic image data, information indicating left-eye image data that is a left-eye image for stereo photography and right-eye image data that is a right-eye image for stereo photography, and the left eye and instruction information input unit for acquiring stereo photographic instruction information including information indicating a shooting direction of the use image data and right eye image data, based on the stereo photographic instruction information, wherein from the acquired photographic image data stereo photographic frame selector for selecting a left-eye image data and the right-eye image data, at least, the left-eye image data and right eye the imaging direction is vertical on the basis of the stereograph instruction information geometric image processing unit that performs geometric image processing and use image data is rotated 90 degrees, the right-eye image data and the left-eye image data subjected to the geometric image processing Together And consists of an image combining processing unit for generating a stereo image data, a printing section for making a stereo photo print based upon said stereoscopic image data.
[0007]
In this method and apparatus, after performing image processing that makes the geometric shape suitable for stereo photography on the selected left-eye image and right-eye image data for stereo photography, Stereo image data for producing one stereo photo print is generated by synthesizing the photographic image data of the left-eye image and the right-eye image. Therefore, as long as the frame positions of the left-eye image and right-eye image for stereo photography are pointed out in the photographic image source, regardless of the type of photographic image source, and regardless of the equipment used for stereo photography. Since a single stereo photo print is output, the left eye photo print and right eye photo print, which were output separately, are later arranged in the appropriate positional relationship as a stereo photo. There is no work like pasting on the mount.
[0008]
In order to simplify the operation of selecting photographic image data of a left-eye image and a right-eye image for stereo photography from the acquired photographic image data, in one preferred embodiment of the present invention, the photographic image is The stereo photo frame selection unit selects a stereo photo frame based on the stereo photo instruction information read from the source information recording area. The stereo photo instruction information is, for example, a frame number or a frame position corresponding to each of the left-eye image frame and the right-eye image frame constituting one stereo photo image. When the magnetic recording layer of IX240 (APS) film is used as the information recording area, it can be read by scanning the magnetic recording layer with a magnetic head at the time of input or before / after the input of the captured image, and as the information recording area When a predetermined area of a digital camera recording medium (such as a compact flash or smart media) is used, it can be handled as attribute data of a captured image when the recording medium is read. Note that the writing of the stereo photo instruction information into the information recording area may be performed automatically at the time of shooting or may be performed by the photographer himself. Further, it may be written at the time of reception at a photo print reception station such as a DP shop.
[0009]
Even if it is impossible to write the stereo photo instruction information to the information recording area of the photo image source as described above, the left eye image and right eye image for stereo photography are obtained from the obtained photo image data. In order to simplify the operation of selecting photographic image data, as another preferred embodiment of the present invention, the stereo photographic frame is based on stereo photographic instruction information mechanically read from a stereo photographic order form. There is a selector that selects a frame for stereo photography. In this case, either a stereo photo order field is provided in the order form written at the photo print reception station at the photo print reception station, or a dedicated stereo photo order form is prepared for the left eye for stereo photo print. Enter the frame position of the image and the image for the right eye. At that time, it is convenient to adopt a mark sheet method or a bar code method widely used in normal photo print orders.
[0010]
When producing a stereo photograph, the center interval between the left-eye image and the right-eye image needs to be set at a predetermined position (usually about 64 mm). Appropriate trimming must be performed on the formed left-eye and right-eye images . For this reason, the information is conveniently included in the stereograph instruction information, in the present invention, as a preferred embodiment, the row crop as a geometrical image processing based on the stereograph instruction information Some have been proposed. Thereby, the stereo photograph print as a customer's image can be produced.
[0011]
Further, in order to facilitate observation of the produced stereo photo print, the image composition processing unit arranges the left eye image and the right eye image side by side so that the distance between the centers is about 64 mm. In addition, a configuration in which a stereo photograph observing marker is added to the edge region on the upper side, the lower side, or both of each center is also convenient.
Other features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following description of embodiments using the drawings.
[0012]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
FIG. 1 shows one embodiment of a stereo photo printing apparatus according to the present invention. This stereo photo printing apparatus is a 35 mm film 1a or IX240 film (having a magnetic recording layer) 1b obtained by photographing a subject with a general-purpose silver salt film camera 3a or a silver salt film 3c camera dedicated to stereo photography, or a digital camera 3b. Is a device that selects stereo photo image data from among photographic image data acquired from a photographic image source 1 which is a digital recording medium 1c such as a smart media or a compact flash, and outputs a stereo photographic print 4. . The stereo photograph print 4 is formed in the left-eye image region 4a, the right-eye image region 4b, the left-eye image formed in the left-eye image region 4a, and the right-eye image region 4b. Stereophotograph observation markers 4c are arranged in the upper and lower edge regions of the center of each right-eye image. The stereo photograph observation marker 4c may not be provided, and may be disposed only on either the upper side or the lower side. Note that the distance between the centers of the left-eye image and the right-eye image is about 64 mm. However, in the case of printing for the purpose of observing with a special stereo photographic viewer, other appropriate intervals are used. It will be.
[0013]
This stereo photographic printing apparatus is also called a digital minilab. Of course, it is possible to output a normal photographic print. Therefore, it will be simply referred to as a photographic printing apparatus. A printing station 30 that uses a material, that is, photographic paper 2, performs exposure processing and development processing on the photographic paper 2, and an operation station that generates and transfers necessary print data to the printing station 30. It is divided into 20 parts. The operation station 20 also has a function of acquiring photographic image data from the photographic image source 1 described above and a function of inputting stereo photographic support information described later.
[0014]
The operation station 20 includes a digital scanner such as a film scanner 21 for reading a frame image of a photographic film (35 mm film 1a, IX240 film 1b) or a smart media / compact flash as an image input unit 20A for acquiring photographic image data from a photographic image source 1. A media reader 22 for reading data from the recording medium 1c, and a keyboard 23 and a magnetic reader 24 for manually or automatically inputting stereo photo instruction information as a stereo photo instruction information input unit 20B are provided.
[0015]
The operation station 20 is configured as a desk-like console provided with an operation table, and is provided with a film scanner 21 at an upper position thereof, a CRT display 40 as a display unit for displaying various information, and a keyboard 23.
[0016]
A general-purpose computer that functions as a controller 50 for processing the acquired photographic image data and controlling the print station 30 is provided below the operation table, and the media reader 22 is built in the general-purpose computer. .
[0017]
The film scanner 21 includes a film carrier 25 at a portion to which light from a light source incorporating a halogen lamp is sent, and an optical lens is provided at a position for receiving the light transmitted through the photographic films 1a and 1b conveyed to the film carrier 25. A CCD type sensor unit (not shown) that photoelectrically converts the image information is provided at a position where the image information is guided. When taking photographic images from the developed photographic films 1a and 1b, the photographic films 1a and 1b are set on the film carrier 25 and conveyed in the longitudinal direction (sub-scanning direction), and synchronized with the conveying speed. Then, the sensor unit captures the information of the frame image that has been color-separated into R (red), G (green), and B (blue) line by line along the width direction (main scanning direction). Photo image data composed of luminance data of red, G (green), and B (blue) is transferred to the controller 50.
[0018]
The film carrier 25 is provided with a magnetic reader 24. If attribute information relating to shooting is recorded from the magnetic recording layer of the IX240 film 1b being conveyed, for example, a left-eye image or a right-eye image for stereo photography is indicated. Stereo photo instruction information to be read is read and transferred to the controller 50.
[0019]
As schematically shown in FIG. 2, the print station 30 exposes an image on the photographic paper 2 cut by the paper cutter 31 in accordance with the print size based on the print data sent from the controller 50. A digital optical print head 32 as a printing unit, a development processing unit 33 that develops the exposed photographic paper 2, and the photographic paper 2 is conveyed from the paper magazine 34 through the exposure area and the development processing unit 33 to the lateral feed conveyor 35. And a sorter 37 that sorts the photographic paper 2 fed from the lateral feed conveyor 35 into photographic prints 4 in order units.
[0020]
The print head 32 exposes the light beams of the three primary colors R (red), G (green), and B (blue) while sending the photographic paper 2 based on the print data sent from the controller 50. During exposure, the photographic paper 2 is conveyed in the sub-scanning direction, and exposure is performed in a line along the main scanning direction in synchronization with the conveyance speed. As a driving method of the print head 32, a DMD (digital micromirror device) method, a liquid crystal shutter method, a PLZT shutter method, a FOCRT method, a phosphor light emitting method, a laser beam method, and the like are known and required exposure. It is selected according to the specification.
[0021]
The controller 50 is composed of a microcomputer system comprising a CPU, ROM, RAM, I / O interface circuit, etc. as a core member, and implements various functions necessary for this digital minilab with hardware and / or software. . Various functions are constructed in the controller 50. Here, only main functional elements relating to the production of the stereo photographic print 4 particularly related to the present invention will be described. 3, the input device control unit 51 that controls the image input unit 20A such as the film scanner 21 and the media reader 22, and data that performs basic image processing on the photographic image data acquired by the image input unit 20A The preprocessing unit 52, the image processing unit 53 that performs necessary image processing as stereo photographic image data on the captured image data loaded in the working memory 54, and print data based on the final imaged image data that has undergone image processing. A print control unit 55 for generating and controlling the print head 32, images of image data and other display items; An appropriate stereo photographic template is obtained from a video control unit 56 that takes in the image into a video memory and converts the display image into a video signal by a video controller and sends the video signal to the monitor 40, and a template storage unit 57a that stores a stereo photographic template. Of the photo image data acquired by the template management unit 57 and the image input unit 20A to be extracted, a stereo photo frame, that is, a pair for the left eye based on the stereo photo instruction information input from the instruction information input unit 20B. A stereo photo frame selection unit 58 that selects image data and right-eye image data and loads them into the working memory 54 may be used.
[0022]
In the image processing unit 53, a geometric image processing unit 53a that performs geometric image processing such as trimming, rotation, reduction, or enlargement on the image data for the left eye / right eye loaded in the working memory 54. And an image synthesis processing unit 53b that generates stereo photographic image data by synthesizing the left-eye image data and the right-eye image data image-processed by the geometric image processing unit 53a as necessary.
[0023]
FIG. 4 shows an example of a stereo photo print order form 70 created based on a request from a customer. The order form 70 includes a film type column 71 for selecting a film type, a print size column 72 for selecting a print size, and a stereo photo frame for designating the frame positions of the left-eye image and the right-eye image for stereo photography. A designation column 73 is provided.
[0024]
FIG. 4A shows an example of an order form 70 in which necessary items are filled in when requesting a stereo photo print of a stereo photo taken on the IX240 film (APS film) 1b. In the APS film, the L size is checked in the print size column 72. In this case, data for designating the left-eye image and the right-eye image is written in the magnetic recording layer of the APS film 1b. The entry of image frame numbers for photo printing is omitted. Such magnetic recording may be performed by a camera at the time of photographing, or may be performed by using a dedicated magnetic writer at the time of order reception at a DP store. The magnetically recorded data is read by the magnetic reader 24 during image scanning by the film scanner 21 and transferred to the controller 50 as stereo photo instruction information.
[0025]
When using a digital camera or the like, it is possible to record information for recognizing that it is an image for the left eye or an image for the right eye as its shooting attribute data linked to the image data for stereo photography. In that case, the recorded attribute data in the stereo photo frame designation field 73 is checked. When the photographic image data is taken into the controller 50 by the media reader 22, it is taken in as stereo photo instruction information at the same time.
[0026]
FIG. 4B shows an example of an order slip 70 in which necessary items are filled in when requesting a stereo photo print of a stereo photo taken on a 35 mm film 1a. In the print size column 72, the L size is checked. In this case, the left-eye and right-eye image frames for the first stereo photograph are formed with frame numbers “2” and “3”, respectively, and the left-eye image frames for the second stereo photograph are used. Since the image frames for the right eye are formed with frame numbers “6” and “7”, these frame numbers are entered in the stereo photo frame designation field 73. Further, it is checked whether each image frame is a landscape image or a portrait image. Here, the image frame of the first stereo photograph is horizontally oriented, and the image frame of the second stereo photograph is vertically oriented. Information necessary for creating these stereo photo prints is input to the controller 50 as stereo photo instruction information by the operator through the keyboard 23 while looking at the order form 70.
[0027]
Next, a flow until the stereo photo print ordered using the stereo photo print order form shown in FIG. 4B is output in the above-described photo printing apparatus will be described with reference to FIG.
First, the 35 mm film 1a as the photographic image source 1 is scanned by the film scanner 21 as the image input unit 20A, the photographic image frame data is transferred to the controller 50, and the data preprocessing unit 52 performs basics such as predetermined color correction. Undergo typical image processing. Here, normal photographic image data that is not a stereo photograph is subjected to processing for normal photographic printing. (# 1)
Further, the operator inputs the frame number of the left-eye and right-eye images for stereo photography, the image orientation, and the like using the keyboard 23 as the instruction information input unit 20B while looking at the stereo photograph order form 70. The stereo photo instruction information input here is used by the stereo photo frame selector 58. (# 2)
[0028]
The photographic image data preprocessed by the data preprocessing unit 52 is divided into left-eye image data and right-eye image data by the stereo photographic frame selection unit 58 in units of stereo photographs. (# 3)
For each piece of image data, the image orientation is landscape (such as those taken with the camera held vertically). Image processing such as trimming and image reduction / enlargement is performed by the geometric image processing unit 53a. (# 4)
The image data for the left eye and the image data for the right eye that have been subjected to appropriate geometric image processing are extracted from the template storage unit 57a by the stereo photograph template management unit 57 and loaded into the working memory 54, respectively. The stereo photographic image data is created by being merged by being poured into the area. This template includes image data for the stereo photograph observation marker 4c in advance. Such composition processing is performed by the image composition processing unit 53b.
(# 5)
[0029]
The stereo photographic image data generated by the image composition processing unit 53b is converted into print data by the print control unit 55. When this print data is sent to the print head 32 of the print station 30, the print head 32 is driven to expose the photographic paper 2 and finally output as a stereo photographic print 4. If the photographic image data fetched from the photographic image source 1 includes photographic image data for normal photographic print purposes, it is output at the same time.
(# 6)
In the above-described embodiment, the photographic paper 2 is used as the stereo photographic print 4. However, if the print head 32 is, for example, an ink jet system, plain paper or ink jet dedicated paper is used instead of the photographic paper 2. The stereo photo printing method and apparatus according to the present invention does not limit the printing method.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram showing an example of a stereo photo printing apparatus according to the present invention. FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the stereo photo printing apparatus according to FIG. 1. FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram for explaining main functions of a controller. ] Schematic diagram showing an example of a stereo photo print order form [FIG. 5] Process flow diagram showing the stereo photo print production process [Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Photo image source 1a 35mm film 1b IX240 film 1c Digital recording medium 2 Photographic paper 3 Shooting device 4 Stereo photo print 4c Stereo photo observation marker 20 Operation station 20A Image input unit 20B Instruction information input unit 21 Film scanner 22 Media reader 23 Keyboard 24 Magnetic Reader 30 Print Station 32 Print Head (Print Unit)
40 CRT monitor 50 Controller 53 Image processing unit 53a Geometric image processing unit 53b Image composition processing unit 55 Print control unit 57a Template storage unit 57 Template management unit 58 Stereo photo frame selection unit 70 Stereo photo print order form

Claims (6)

Obtaining photographic image data from a photographic image source including a plurality of photographic image frames;
Among the acquired photographic image data, information indicating left-eye image data that is a left-eye image for stereo photography and right-eye image data that is a right-eye image for stereo photography, and the left eye Obtaining stereo photo instruction information including information indicating a photographing direction of the image data for the right eye and the image data for the right eye;
A step of based on said stereo photographic instruction information to select the said right-eye image data and the left-eye image data from the acquired photographic image data,
Performing geometric image processing for rotating the left-eye image data and the right-eye image data in which the shooting direction is vertical based on the stereo photo instruction information at least 90 degrees;
And generating a stereo image data by synthesizing the right-eye image data and the left-eye image data subjected to geometric image processing,
Creating a stereo photographic print based on the stereo photographic image data;
Stereo photo printing method consisting of An image input unit for acquiring photographic image data from a photographic image source including a plurality of photographic image frames;
Among the acquired photographic image data, information indicating left-eye image data that is a left-eye image for stereo photography and right-eye image data that is a right-eye image for stereo photography, and the left eye An instruction information input unit for acquiring stereo photo instruction information including information indicating a photographing direction of the image data for the right eye and the image data for the right eye;
And on the basis of the stereo photographic instruction information, stereo photographic frame selection unit for selecting said left-eye image data from the acquired photographic image data and the right-eye image data,
A geometric image processing unit that performs geometric image processing for rotating the left-eye image data and the right-eye image data whose photographing direction is vertical based on at least the stereo photography instruction information by 90 degrees; ,
And an image synthesis processing unit for generating a stereo image data by synthesizing the right-eye image data and the left-eye image data subjected to the geometric image processing,
A print unit for producing a stereo photo print based on the stereo photo image data;
Stereo photo printing device with The stereo photo printing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the stereo photo instruction information is read from an information recording area of the photo image source. The stereo photo printing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the stereo photo instruction information is mechanically read from a stereo photo order form. Stereo photo printing apparatus as claimed in claim 3 or 4 trimming is performed as geometrical image processing based on the stereo photographic instruction information. The image synthesis processing unit synthesizes the left-eye image and the right-eye image in a side-by-side and uniform arrangement so that the interval between the centers is about 64 mm, and the upper or lower side of each center or the The stereo photo printing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein a stereo photo observing marker is added to both edge regions.

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