JP5047127B2 - Imaging device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an imaging apparatus that captures a moving image and uploads the captured moving image to a web server via the Internet.

  In recent years, services for users to publish diaries and moving image contents on the Internet, such as social networking services (hereinafter referred to as SNS) and web logs (hereinafter referred to as blogs), have become widespread. These services can easily post content by inputting content such as text and moving images from a dedicated form on a web browser and uploading the content to a web (WEB) server. Similarly, dedicated services for sharing moving images on the WEB, such as moving image sharing sites, are also widespread. According to this, it is possible to upload to a server using a dedicated form of a WEB browser or moving image file upload software, and share moving image contents among an unspecified number of users.

  In order to use moving image content shot with a digital still camera or video camera on the WEB, it is necessary to copy the content from the camera to a device such as a PC (Personal Computer) that can be connected to the Internet and upload it from the PC to the WEB server. There is. However, considering the convenience of the user, it is more convenient and less troublesome to upload the content shot with a digital camera or video camera directly to a WEB server than to copy it to a PC once. The following proposals have been made for transferring an image directly from an imaging apparatus to a WEB server.

  Patent Document 1 discloses an apparatus that selects and transfers a captured image from a server, a PC, or a printer in an electronic camera with a built-in wireless LAN (Local Area Network) function.

  Patent Document 2 discloses an apparatus that has a function of creating an image suitable for a blog by converting a photographed image to a blog image size in a photographing apparatus that uploads a photographed image to a blog site.

JP 2008-53978 A JP 2008-34963 A

  If the techniques described in Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2 are used, an image capturing device such as a camera is connected to the Internet via a wireless LAN, and a captured image is transferred to a desired transfer destination (such as a WEB server) with a predetermined image size. Can be uploaded. Here, if the content to be transferred is a still image, it can be transferred in a short time. However, in the case of moving image content, particularly a video shot with 1920 × 1080 full high-definition image quality, the file size becomes very large. It takes a long time to upload content. In order to shorten the transfer time, a CPU (Central Processing Unit) in the image pickup apparatus may be improved to a performance similar to that of a PC. However, a high-performance CPU is expensive and has low feasibility. Each of the above patent documents is based on the premise that a still image is uploaded to a WEB server, and the upload time of a moving image is not particularly considered.

  An object of the present invention is to provide an imaging apparatus that can upload moving image content in a short time.

  The present invention relates to an imaging device for capturing an image of a subject and transmitting the generated image content to an external device, an image capturing unit for capturing the subject and converting it to a video signal, and a content storage unit for storing the video signal as compressed stream format image content And a file size reduction means for reducing the file size of the image content to be transmitted within a prescribed value, and a communication module unit for transmitting the reduced image content to an external device via the Internet.

  Here, as file size reduction means, a digesting means for extracting a characteristic part from the image content, a translation means for converting the bit rate of the image content, and a transcoding means for converting the encoding method of the image content , Comprising at least one means. In addition, a file size estimation unit that predicts the file size after the reduction process is provided by the file size reduction unit, and the reduction process is performed using the file size reduction unit that minimizes the file size as a result of the prediction.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to upload to a WEB server in a short time even when the file size of the captured video content is large. Thereby, a blog etc. can be updated easily also in the environment without a PC, and the convenience improves.

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

  FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing an example of a content transmission system using the imaging apparatus of the present invention. This system includes an imaging device 100 with a communication function, the Internet 103, a WEB server 104, and an external device.

  A user (photographer) 110 shoots a subject using the imaging apparatus 100. The captured image is subjected to content processing described later as necessary, and is uploaded to a WEB server (blog server or SNS server) 104 using a communication function. The upload of the content data 105 is stored by transmitting the content data 105 to the WEB server 104 on the Internet 103 via the access point / router 102 in the LAN environment 101. The LAN environment 101 may be either a wired LAN or a wireless LAN. In the case of a wired LAN, it connects to the Internet 103 via a router. In the case of a wireless LAN, it connects to the Internet 103 via an access point. On the other hand, a user (browser) 111 at a remote location accesses the WEB server 104 from an external device (terminal) equipped with a WEB browser such as the PC 106, the mobile phone 107, and the DTV (Digital Television) 108. The content data 105 stored in the WEB server 104 can be browsed.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the imaging apparatus of the present invention.
The imaging apparatus 200 (100) includes a lens 201, an imaging element 202, a camera DSP (Digital Signal Processor) 203, and a microphone 204 as an imaging unit. For content processing, it has a compression / decompression circuit 205, a CPU 206, a memory (RAM) 207, a content storage unit 208, a graphic circuit 209, a display unit 210, and a ROM (Read Only Memory) 214. Further, a power supply circuit 211, a power supply 212, and a communication module 213 are included. These components are connected by a bus 215, and data is transferred between the components.

  An optical signal from the subject is converted into an electric signal (digital video signal) by the image sensor 202 via the lens 201. The camera DSP 203 converts the video signal into a format that can be input to the compression / decompression circuit 205. The audio signal from the microphone 204 is input to the compression / decompression circuit 205 via the bus 215. The compression / decompression circuit 205 generates a compressed stream of a predetermined format from the input video / audio signal, and the content storage unit 208 stores the generated stream. The memory 207 is used as a work area for compression processing. The content storage unit 208 uses an HDD, an optical disk, a semiconductor memory, or the like.

  When playing back a captured image, the compressed stream stored in the content storage unit 208 is read out to the memory 207. The compression / decompression circuit 205 reads the stream from the memory 207 and performs decompression processing. The decompressed image data is transferred to the graphic circuit 209 and the reproduced image is displayed on the display unit 210.

  The communication module unit 213 connects to the Internet 103 via the access point / router 102 and transmits (uploads) image data to the WEB server 104. The image data to be transmitted at this time is obtained by further processing the stored compressed stream as necessary. The data to be transmitted includes various commands of the file transfer protocol.

  The ROM 214 stores a program for executing the above operation, and the CPU 206 controls the operation of each unit according to the program. A battery and an AC power supply can be used as the power supply 212, and the power supply circuit 211 controls power supply in the apparatus.

  In this embodiment, the file size of the image data to be transmitted is set to a predetermined value or less, and the upload time is shortened. If the file size exceeds the specified value, the file size is reduced by the next file size reduction means. The ROM 214 stores software for these size reduction means.

The digesting means 221 extracts characteristic portions of the captured video and audio and reduces the file size. In the case of a video, for example, the feature point is determined from the focus degree, the presence / absence of the subject's face, the degree of change in the subject's movement, and the like. In the case of voice, it is judged from the volume and words. In the case of a still image, when several faces are shown, for example, only the face portion is extracted.
According to the digesting means 221, a digest video in which characteristic portions are extracted from long-time video content is generated, so that it is possible not only to upload in a short time, but also to swell the long content. You can watch in a short time.

The translation unit 222 converts the bit rate without changing the compression method to reduce the file size. Alternatively, it can be realized by thinning out the number of frames per second.
The transcoding unit 223 converts the encoding method to reduce the file size. In particular, in the case of moving image content, the compression format is converted. For example, H.P. which has higher compression than MPEG2 (Moving Picture Experts Group). By converting to H.264 (MPEG4 / AVC), the file size can be reduced to about half.
According to the translating unit 222 and the transcoding unit 223, it is possible to upload high-quality and large-capacity moving image content in a short time without omitting the content.

The file size estimation means 224 predicts the file size after reduction by each file size reduction means (digesting means, translation means, transcoding means). In the case of the digesting means, the file size when the digest file is generated so as to be within the time specified by the user is predicted. In the case of the translation means, the file size is predicted on the assumption that the file size also decreases at the same rate as the bit rate is changed. In the case of transcoding means, the file size cannot be calculated accurately because the code amount changes depending on the video, but the file size is predicted from the change in average compression rate.
According to the file size estimation means 224, it is possible to quantitatively compare the effects of file size reduction means such as digesting, translation, and transcoding, and to select an optimum reduction means.

Note that the file size reduction means is not limited to the above-described three kinds of means, and can be used with appropriate modifications.
The access point detection unit 225 automatically detects the access point 102 for performing communication via the wireless LAN from the communication module unit 213.

The content upload processing in the present embodiment will be specifically described below.
FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the entire process of the content upload process. Image data (content) taken by the user is stored in the content storage unit 208 in a compressed stream format in units of files.

In step S301, upon receiving an upload instruction from the user, switching to the upload mode is performed. The instruction to the upload mode is realized by pressing an upload button, for example. Alternatively, it is realized by displaying a GUI menu on the display unit 210 and selecting content upload.
In step S302, uploadable content file groups are displayed on the display unit 210 (FIG. 4).
In step S303, the user selects a content file to be uploaded from the content file group.

In step S304, a size reduction process is performed on the selected content so that the file size is equal to or smaller than a specified value, and an upload file is generated. Details of the upload file generation are shown in FIG.
In step S305, the generated upload file is stored in the content storage unit 208.
In step S306, the content to be transmitted is read from the content storage unit 208, and the content is uploaded from the communication module unit 213 to the WEB server. Details of the upload process are shown in FIG.

  In this way, by performing the upload at a timing intended by the user, the communication module unit 213 having a large power consumption can be operated only when necessary, so that battery power can be particularly saved.

FIG. 4 shows a display example of the upload file selection screen in steps S302 and S303 of FIG.
On the screen 400, a message 401 for prompting selection of an upload file is displayed. A list of content groups stored in the content storage unit 208 is displayed as thumbnails 402. The user moves the selection frame 403 and selects a content file to be uploaded. Here, “file004” is selected. In order to stop the upload selection screen display, a cancel button 404 is selected.

  FIG. 5 shows a detailed flowchart of the upload file generation process (S304) in FIG.

In step S501, the file size of the selected content file is acquired, and it is determined whether or not it is within the specified value M0. Here, the prescribed value M0 of the file size is obtained by calculating the upper limit value of the file size from the transfer rate of the apparatus so that the upload time is within the prescribed time. Alternatively, a standard transfer rate is assumed and the upper limit value of the file size is simply defined. The specified value M0 can be determined as a default value by the user. Further, when there is a restriction from the WEB server, it communicates with the WEB server and acquires the specified value M0.
If the result of determination in S501 is that the file size is less than or equal to the prescribed value M0, it is determined that uploading is possible as it is, and processing proceeds to the next processing (upload processing in step S306). If the file size is larger than the specified value M0, the process proceeds to step S502, and an upload file with a reduced file size is generated.

  In step S502, the file size estimation unit 224 predicts the file size when the file size reduction unit performs the reduction process. As the reduction means, a case where reduction processing is performed by three kinds of means of (a) digesting means 221, (b) translation means 222, and (c) transcoding means 223 is predicted, and the predicted sizes are Ma and Mb, respectively. , Mc.

In step S503, the three predicted sizes Ma, Mb, and Mc predicted in step S502 are compared, and a reduction unit that minimizes the size is determined.
As a result of the determination, if the predicted size Ma is the minimum, the process proceeds to step S504, and the digest means 221 generates a digest file. If the predicted size Mb is minimum, the process proceeds to step S505, and the translation means 222 performs translation processing. If the predicted size Mc is the minimum, the process proceeds to step S506, where the transcoding means 223 performs transcoding processing.

  If any of the predicted sizes exceeds the specified value M0, the prediction is performed again by changing the processing conditions of each reduction means, and the process is repeated until a size equal to or smaller than the specified value M0 appears. In addition, when a plurality of predicted sizes Ma, Mb, and Mc are equal to or less than the predetermined value M0, it is possible to preferentially select a user's favorite process instead of selecting the smallest one.

When the upload file is generated, the process proceeds to the next step (file storage processing in step S305), and the upload file is stored in the content storage unit 208.
As described above, when the file to be uploaded exceeds the specified value M0, the upload time can be shortened within the specified time by automatically reducing the file to a size equal to or smaller than the specified value.

FIG. 6 shows a detailed flowchart of the upload process (S306) in FIG.
In step S601, it is confirmed on the screen whether or not the generated upload file is to be uploaded (FIG. 7).

When the user instructs upload execution, power is supplied to the communication module unit 213 in step S602.
In S603, the communication module unit 213 searches for the access point 102 within the wireless LAN range. At that time, the function of the access point detection means 225 stored in the ROM 214 is used. If the access point 102 is found, it connects to the transmission destination WEB server 104 via the Internet 103.

In step S604, the upload file is read from the content storage unit 208, and file transmission to the WEB server 104 is started using a file transfer protocol. When uploading is started, the progress is displayed on the screen (FIG. 8).
In step S605, it is determined whether a cancel instruction has been received by the user during the upload.
If a cancel instruction is received, uploading is stopped in step 609, and power supply to the communication module unit 213 is stopped in step S610.

If there is no cancel instruction, it is determined in step S606 whether reading of the file to be transmitted has been completed. If not completed, the process returns to step S604 to continue reading and transmitting the file.
When the file reading is completed, the power supply of the communication module unit 213 is stopped in step S607.

In step S608, the reduced upload file stored in the content storage unit 208 is deleted. Since the original content before the reduction process remains, there is no problem even if the upload file is deleted.
As described above, since power is supplied to the communication module unit 213 only during the uploading period, wasteful power consumption is suppressed, and this is particularly effective for battery saving. Also, by deleting the uploaded upload file, it is possible to avoid confusion due to duplication of the same content, and to effectively use the capacity of the content storage unit 208.

  FIG. 7 is a display example of the upload start screen in step S601 of FIG. On the screen 700, a message 701 for confirming the final start of uploading is displayed. Here, uploading of “file004” is confirmed, and a thumbnail 702 of the file is displayed. When the user selects the upload execution button 703, the upload process is executed, and the upload process for selecting the cancel button 704 is canceled.

  FIG. 8 is a screen display example during upload execution in step S604 of FIG. On the screen 800, a message 801 indicating that uploading is in progress is displayed. In the status bar 802, an uploaded file size 803 and an unuploaded file size 804 are displayed. A cancel button 805 is a button for canceling the upload in the middle of uploading. As a result, the user can grasp the upload progress status. If it is determined that it will take a long time to finish uploading, it can be canceled halfway.

  According to the first embodiment, digesting means, translation means, transcoding means, and the like in the imaging apparatus can be automatically selected, and the size of a file to be transmitted can be reduced within a specified value. Therefore, it is possible to quickly upload video content that takes a long time within a specified time. In an imaging apparatus that is often used with a battery power source such as a video camera, it is effective in saving battery by shortening the upload processing time.

  In the second embodiment, when uploading image content to a WEB server while moving an imaging apparatus, an access point that relays communication is automatically found and uploading is started.

  FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating upload processing according to the second embodiment. Here, the details of the upload process (S306) in FIG. The other steps S301 to S305 are the same as those in FIG. 3, and the upload file is already stored in the content storage unit 208.

In S901, it is confirmed on the screen whether or not the generated upload file is to be uploaded (FIG. 7).
When the user instructs upload execution, power is supplied to the communication module unit 213 in step S902.

In step S903, the communication module unit 213 searches for the access point 102 within the wireless LAN range. At that time, the function of the access point detection means 225 stored in the ROM 214 is used. If the access point 102 is found, it connects to the transmission destination WEB server 104 via the Internet 103.
In step S904, the upload file is read from the content storage unit 208, and file transmission to the WEB server 104 is started using a file transfer protocol. When uploading is started, the progress is displayed on the screen (FIG. 8).

In step S905, it is determined whether an access point exists during transmission. This is because the imaging device may leave the access point while moving.
If the user has left the access point, the process proceeds to step S906, and the file transmission is interrupted. And it returns to step S903 and searches for an access point again.

In step S907, it is determined whether reading of the file to be transmitted has been completed. If not completed, the process returns to step S904 to continue reading and transmitting the file.
When the file reading is completed, the power supply of the communication module unit 213 is stopped in step S908.
In step S909, the uploaded upload file stored in the content storage unit 208 is deleted.

  According to the second embodiment, the access point is automatically discovered and content transmission is automatically started. When leaving the access point, the transmission is interrupted, a new access point is detected, and the transmission is automatically resumed. Therefore, content can be automatically uploaded from an imaging device that moves without the user's awareness.

  Further, according to the present embodiment, automatic uploading to the external device can be performed by automatically uploading the shot content, so that it is effective to save the capacity of the content storage unit in the imaging apparatus.

  In the third embodiment, upload file generation and upload processing are performed in parallel.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating content upload processing according to the third embodiment.
In step S1001, upon receiving an upload instruction from the user, switching to the upload mode is performed.
In step S1002, the uploadable content file group is displayed on the display unit 210 (FIG. 4).
In step S1003, the user selects a content file to be uploaded from the content file group.

  In step S1004, an upload file is generated by performing size reduction processing on the selected content so that the file size is less than a specified value. The details of the size reduction process are the same as those in FIG. At this time, the content file is divided into small units that can be reduced, and an upload file is generated for each unit.

  In step S1005, the generated upload file is divided into small units that can be transmitted, and each unit is immediately transmitted (uploaded) to the WEB server. The details of the upload process are the same as in FIG. Note that the size of the reduction processing unit and the uploading unit may be different.

  In step S1006, it is determined whether or not the upload file has been generated for the entire file. If not completed, the process returns to step S1004 to generate the remaining files. If file generation has been completed, it is determined in step S1007 whether transmission has been completed for the entire file. If transmission has not ended, the process returns to step S1005 to perform the remaining upload processing.

  According to the third embodiment, the upload file generation process and the upload process are performed in parallel, and the upload file is not stored in the storage unit, so that the capacity of the content storage unit in the imaging apparatus can be saved. In other words, the imaging apparatus can take a longer image.

  The configurations and processing contents of the above-described embodiments are merely examples, and the contents of the embodiments can be appropriately combined.

The block diagram which shows an example of the content transmission system using the imaging device of this invention. The block diagram which shows one Example of the imaging device of this invention. The flowchart which shows the whole process of a content upload process. The example of a display of the selection screen of the upload file of FIG. 4 is a detailed flowchart of upload file generation processing (S304) in FIG. 4 is a detailed flowchart of the upload process (S306) in FIG. The example of a display of the upload start screen of FIG. The example of a screen display during upload execution of FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating upload processing according to the second embodiment. 10 is a flowchart illustrating content upload processing according to the third embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 (200) ... Imaging device, 102 ... Access point / router, 103 ... Internet, 104 ... WEB server, 105 ... Content data, 202 ... Image sensor, 203 ... Camera DSP, 204 ... Microphone, 205 ... Compression / decompression circuit, 206 ... CPU, 207 ... Memory (RAM), 208 ... Content storage unit, 209 ... Graphic circuit, 210 ... Display unit, 211 ... Power supply circuit, 212 ... Power supply, 213 ... Communication module unit, 214 ... ROM, 221 ... Digesting means 222, translating means, 223, transcoding means, 224, file size estimating means, 225, access point detecting means.

Claims (5)

In an imaging device that transmits image content generated by photographing a subject to an external device,
An imaging unit that captures a subject and converts it into a video signal;
A content storage unit that stores the video signal as image content in a compressed stream format;
File size reduction means for reducing the file size of the image content to be transmitted within a specified value;
File size estimation means for predicting the file size after the reduction processing by the file size reduction means;
A communication module unit that transmits the reduced image content to an external device via the Internet;
Equipped with a,
As the file size reduction means, at least digesting means for extracting a characteristic part from the image content, translation means for converting the bit rate of the image content, and transcoding means for converting the encoding method of the image content Have
An image pickup apparatus, wherein a file size reduction unit that minimizes a file size is selected from any one of the file size reduction units based on a result of prediction by the file size estimation unit. The imaging device according to claim 1,
The image content reduced by the file size reduction unit is temporarily stored in the content storage unit, and after the image content is transmitted to an external device by the communication module unit, the reduction processing stored in the content storage unit is performed. An image pickup apparatus that deletes the image content. The imaging device according to claim 1,
An imaging apparatus, wherein power is supplied to the communication module unit in accordance with a transmission operation of the image content. The imaging device according to claim 1,
An access point detecting means for detecting an access point for transmission to an external device via the Internet by the communication module;
An image pickup apparatus that automatically starts transmission of the image content when the access point is detected by the access point detecting means, and interrupts transmission of the image content when the access point cannot be detected. The imaging device according to claim 1,
The file size reduction means divides the image content into small size units that can be reduced and performs file size reduction processing for each unit,
In parallel with the reduction process, the communication module unit divides the reduced image content into small-size units that can be transmitted and transmits the units to an external device for each unit.

Images