JP4972627B2 - Imaging device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an imaging apparatus, and more particularly to an imaging apparatus that recognizes a subject and shoots a subject intended by a photographer.

  As background art of this technical field, there is, for example, Patent Document 1. In this publication, for the purpose of “providing a video camera that enables photographing intended by a photographer”, as a solution, “a signal output from an image sensor that photoelectrically converts light incident through a lens is provided. In a video camera having a signal processing circuit (video signal generation circuit) for digital processing, a video signal of a subject portion designated by the user from means for designating a subject by the user and a video signal output from the signal processing circuit A sampling circuit for sampling a signal, an extraction circuit for extracting a specific subject from the video signal output by the signal processing circuit as a key, and a control circuit for overall control of the entire camera. It is disclosed.

  Moreover, there exists patent document 2. FIG. The purpose of this publication is to “provide an autofocusing camera that selectively captures a desired subject and focuses the photographing lens even when a stationary subject and a moving subject are mixed in the photographing screen”. As a solution, “a focus detection unit that detects the defocus amount of the shooting lens in a plurality of focus detection areas set at the center of the shooting screen and a place other than the center, and a focus at the center of the screen by the focus detection unit. Based on the latest and multiple past defocus amounts detected in the detection area, stationary movement determination means for determining whether the subject is stationary or moving, and when the subject is stationary, detected in multiple focus detection areas The driving amount of the photographic lens is calculated based on the latest defocus amount, and when the movement of the subject is determined, the latest and past multiple times detected in the focus detection area in the center of the screen A calculation unit that calculates the driving amount of the photographic lens based on the focus amount and a lens driving unit that drives the photographic lens according to the driving amount, and accurately determines the stationary movement of the desired subject and focuses the photographic lens. The technique of “to make” is disclosed.

JP-A-6-169425 JP-A-5-5931

  However, in Patent Document 1, it is necessary for the user to specify a subject, and it is not considered to register a plurality of subjects at a time. In Patent Document 2, since it is an automatic focus adjustment function in a limited situation where a stationary subject and a moving subject are mixed, it cannot be used in every scene.

  An object of the present invention is to provide an imaging apparatus that recognizes a subject and satisfactorily photographs a subject intended by a photographer in view of the above-described conventional technology.

  In order to achieve the above object, the present invention is an image pickup apparatus for picking up an image of a subject, a lens for condensing a light beam from the subject, a light beam condensed by the lens, receiving and photoelectrically converting the image signal, An image sensor that outputs a signal, a signal processing circuit that processes a video signal output from the image sensor, a subject recognition unit that recognizes a subject to be imaged based on the video signal from the signal processing circuit, and the subject recognition For each subject recognized by the control unit, the lens unit performs focus control on a subject with high priority based on a counter unit that counts the imaged time and the priority order of the subject obtained from the time counted by the counter unit. And a focusing control unit for performing the operation.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the imaging device which recognizes a to-be-photographed object and image | photographs the object which a photographer intends favorably can be implement | achieved, and the imaging device which is convenient for a photographer and provides a favorable image is realizable.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an image pickup apparatus showing a first embodiment of the present invention.
First, an operation when the imaging apparatus 100 images a subject will be described. Light from the subject forms an image on the imaging surface of the imaging element 102 through the lens 101. The focus control unit 110 performs focus control of the lens 101 so as to form an appropriate subject image on the image sensor 102. Then, the analog electric signal from the image sensor 102 is converted into a digital signal by the A / D conversion unit 103 and output to the signal processing unit 104. The signal processing unit 104 performs signal processing on the input video signal to generate video data. The video data is stored in a RAM (Random Access Memory) 107. The display unit 108 indicates a liquid crystal display, an organic EL (Electro-Luminescence) display, or the like, and displays an image related to data stored in the RAM 107. The recording unit 109 records the data stored in the RAM 107 on a recording medium such as an HDD (Hard Disk Drive), a DVD (Digital Versatile Disk), or a memory card. The above is the imaging operation of the imaging apparatus 100. The system control unit 105 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) and a memory, and controls the entire system. Input information from the user is given from the operation unit 106, and the input information is processed by the system control unit 105. Although not shown, it is assumed that all functional parts of a general video camera such as a battery drive function part are installed.

  Next, a method for recognizing the subject and determining the priority order of the subject will be described. First, photographing is performed by the imaging apparatus 100, and the subject is recognized by the subject recognition unit 112 for the video data generated by the signal processing unit 104. Next, the subject counter unit 111 counts the time during which the subject recognized by the subject recognition unit 112 is photographed for each subject. The counted result is managed, for example, as shown in the priority table 201 of FIG. 2, and the time when the photographer photographed the subject is recorded. The priority order for each subject is set from the result of counting this time. When a subject with a high priority is being photographed, the focus control unit 110 controls the focus of the lens 101 so that the subject designated by the subject recognition unit 112 is focused.

  In this way, it is possible to take a picture so that the photographer preferentially focuses on the subject that has been photographed for a long time.

  Note that the subject recognizing unit 112 grasps, for example, a facial feature amount for subject recognition. Captures the eyes, nose, mouth position, face color and shape, and aspect ratio of the photographed person. Alternatively, the face is divided into upper and lower halves, the average brightness is measured, and the subject is recognized by a method such as capturing the proportion of hair and beard. In this way, even when there are a plurality of persons who are currently photographing, a person is identified from among them, and for example, the time during which the person is photographed can be recorded as described above.

  Next, the point of controlling exposure so that an object with high priority can be photographed with optimum brightness will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 3 is a block diagram of an image pickup apparatus showing a second embodiment of the present invention. Reference numeral 113 denotes a lens diaphragm, and reference numeral 114 denotes an exposure control unit that controls the diaphragm. Other configurations are the same as those in FIG.

  In the exposure control unit 114, priority is given to the subject as in the first embodiment, which is managed by the priority order table shown in FIG. 2, for example, so that the subject with high priority can be photographed with the optimum brightness. To control.

  In this way, it is possible to photograph the subject that the photographer has photographed for a long time with the optimum brightness.

  Next, the point of controlling the execution and stop of the subject counter unit 111 that counts the time during which the subject is photographed will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 4 is a block diagram of an image pickup apparatus showing a third embodiment of the present invention. The operation unit 106a includes an instruction unit (for example, a button) that receives an external input from the user and controls the operation of the subject counter unit 111. When the user operates the instruction unit, the subject counter unit 111 executes or Stopped. Other configurations are the same as those in FIG.

  As for the priority order of the subject, when the subject counter unit 111 is executing, the priority of the subject is updated as needed according to the time when the subject is photographed as described above, and the priority order is changed. When the subject counter unit 111 is stopped, the priority order of the subject obtained in the past may be used for focusing or exposure control as it is, or without considering the priority order of the subject as in a general video camera. Focusing or exposure control may be performed according to the scene.

  In this manner, the priority order of the subject is updated in the period determined by the user, and the photographing is performed by controlling the focusing and exposure according to the priority order, or the priority order information acquired in the period determined by the user Based on the above, it is possible to control focusing and exposure according to the priority order.

  Next, the point of initializing the priority order of the subject will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 5 is a block diagram of an image pickup apparatus showing a fourth embodiment of the present invention. The operation unit 106b includes an instruction unit that receives an external input from the user and initializes the priority assigned to the subject based on information in the subject counter unit 111. When the user operates the instruction unit, the subject Reset the priority of. Other configurations are the same as those in FIG.

  In this way, prior information can be abandoned and priorities can be newly assigned, such as when shooting conditions change or when the subject to be photographed is another subject.

  Next, the point that a mark and / or video showing a subject with high priority is displayed on the display unit will be described. The image pickup apparatus 100 in FIG. 1 generates an image of a subject with high priority by the signal processing unit 104 and displays it on the display unit 108 as an OSD (On Screen Display). The display format will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a state in which an image of a subject with high priority is OSD-displayed in this embodiment. Reference numeral 301 denotes a display unit, 302 a subject with a high priority, 303 an image of a subject with a high priority, and 304 a mark indicating a subject with a high priority. In a video camera that shoots a moving image, 302 is a moving image, but 303 may be a still image. The image 303 may be selected from images that have already been taken. For example, as shown in FIG. 6, a method of displaying an image 303 of a subject with high priority on one corner of the display unit 301 using an OSD, or a method of displaying a mark 304 indicating the subject is conceivable.

  In this way, it is possible to notify the user which subject the camera currently recognizes as having a higher priority and which subject is focused and exposed.

  Needless to say, the aforementioned OSD is not included in the video recorded by the recording unit.

  Next, a function for notifying the user when the imaging apparatus is shooting a subject with high priority will be described with reference to FIGS. 7 and 8 are diagrams showing an example of displaying that a subject with a high priority is being photographed. Reference numeral 305 in FIG. 7 denotes a mark displayed on the display unit 301, and the mark is displayed during photographing of the subject 302 having a high priority. Next, reference numeral 400 in FIG. 8 denotes an example of the outer shape of the imaging apparatus, and 401 denotes a notification unit such as an LED (Light Emitting Diode) lamp. The LED lamp 401 is turned on while photographing a subject with a high priority. The user may be notified in this way. Note that the color of the lamp to be turned on may be changed according to the priority order (first, second,...) Of the subject being shot.

  In this way, it is possible to easily notify that the user is photographing a high priority subject while photographing a high priority subject.

  In addition, this invention is not limited to an above-described Example, Various modifications are included. For example, focusing control and exposure control may be performed by a method other than the above-described embodiment. Further, the units included in the imaging device are described in detail for easy understanding of the present invention, and are not limited to those including all the configurations described. In addition, a part of the configuration of a certain embodiment can be replaced with the configuration of another embodiment, and the configuration of another embodiment can be added to the configuration of a certain embodiment.

1 is a block diagram of an imaging apparatus showing a first embodiment of the present invention. The figure which shows an example of the priority table which manages the priority of the object used by this invention. The block diagram of the imaging device which shows 2nd Example of this invention. The block diagram of the imaging device which shows 3rd Example of this invention. The block diagram of the imaging device which shows 4th Example of this invention. The figure which shows an example of the state which carried out the OSD display of the image | video of the high priority subject. The figure which shows an example which displays that the to-be-photographed object of high priority is being imaged. The figure which shows another example which displays that the to-be-photographed object of high priority is being imaged.

Explanation of symbols

  100, 100a, 100b, 100c: imaging device, 101: lens, 102: imaging device, 103: analog / digital conversion unit, 104: signal processing unit, 105: system control unit, 106, 106a, 106b: operation unit, 107 : RAM, 108: display unit, 109: recording unit, 110: focusing control unit, 111: subject counter unit, 112: subject recognition unit, 113: aperture, 114: exposure control unit, 201: priority table, 301: Display unit 302: High priority subject, 303: High priority subject image, 304: High priority subject mark, 305: High priority subject photographed, 400 : Imaging device, 401: LED lamp (notification unit).

Claims (5)

An imaging device for imaging a subject,
A lens that collects the luminous flux from the subject;
An image sensor that receives and photoelectrically converts a light beam collected by the lens and outputs it as a video signal;
A signal processing circuit for processing a video signal output from the image sensor;
A subject recognition unit for recognizing a subject to be imaged based on a video signal from the signal processing circuit;
A counter for counting the time taken for each subject recognized by the subject recognition unit;
A focus control unit that performs focus control of the lens on a high-priority subject based on the priority order of the subject obtained from the time counted by the counter unit ;
An instruction unit for a user to instruct execution or stop of time counting in the counter unit ;
The focusing control unit performs focus control of the lens on a high priority subject based on the priority order of the subject obtained in the past when the counting of the time in the counter unit is stopped. An imaging device that is characterized. The imaging apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising an exposure control unit that adjusts the aperture of the lens with respect to a high priority subject based on the priority order of the subject obtained from the counted time .
The exposure control unit adjusts the aperture of the lens with respect to a high priority subject based on the priority order of the subject obtained in the past when the time counting in the counter unit is stopped. An imaging device. The imaging apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising an instruction unit for initializing a time counted by the user at the counter unit or a priority order of the subject. The imaging apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a display unit that performs display for notifying a user of the subject having the high priority. The imaging apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising an informing unit that informs a user that the subject with high priority is being imaged.

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