JPS63233474A - Image retrieving device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To recover erasing executed in error and to easily decide the selection of an image by providing the titled device with a means for storing an image to be erased from a screen out of static image data retrieved and displayed on a display device. CONSTITUTION:An index file 13 is retrieved by a CPU 12 and an identification (ID) code of static image data satisfying a required attribute is obtained. Static image data having said ID code are selected out of static image data stored in an original image storing device 14 and contracted by an image contracting device 15 and the contracted data are displayed on an image display device 17. When an erasing mode is specified and one of plural images displayed on the screen is specified, the image data are transferred to an erasing image storing device 16 and the image is erased from the screen. When a mode having a history function is specified, said erased image is redisplayed on the screen.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial Application Field 1] The present invention relates to an image retrieval device for retrieving and displaying still image data such as black and white or color photographs, printed matter, films, etc.

[Prior Art] A conventional image search device performs a search by specifying several attributes, reduces the searched image at a uniform magnification, and displays it on an image display device.

In this conventional device, when a plurality of images are searched, the plurality of images are simultaneously displayed on the image display device, and in this case,
There may be similar images among them.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] In the conventional device described above, when a plurality of similar images are displayed as a result of a search, since the displayed images have many points in common,
There is a problem in that it is difficult for the searcher to determine which image to select.

[Means for solving the problem] The present invention provides a method for erasing predetermined still image data from the image display device among the still image data that has been searched and displayed on the display device, and then deleting the erased still image data from the image display device. A redisplay control means for redisplaying data is provided.

[Operation] The present invention erases predetermined still image data from the image display device among still image data that has been retrieved and is displayed on the display device, and then redisplays the erased still image data. It is possible to recover deletions that have been performed, making it easier to make decisions about image selection, and reducing image retrieval time.

[Embodiment] FIG. 1 is a block diagram schematically showing an embodiment of the present invention.

The image reading device 10 corresponds to an image scanner, a TV camera, etc. used when registering an original image in the original image storage device 14.

In addition, a keyboard 11 for inputting search requests and image registration requests, a CPU 12 for performing various controls, an index file 13 for storing attributes of each image data, an original image storage bag 2114, and a reduced image from the original image. and an erased image storage bag 7116 that stores still images to be erased when still image data is erased using an elimination method in the image data displayed in the image display bag 2117. , the image display device 17 used previously to display the searched still image data and further narrow down the still image data, designation of attributes used for the search request, and setting of attributes when registering the still image data. It has a CRT 19 used as a guide screen, etc., and a digitizer 20 used for setting attributes and selecting displayed static 1F image data.

Here, the CPU 12 is an example of a data search unit that searches the still image database for still image data that satisfies predetermined attributes, and also searches for still image data that has been searched and displayed.

This is an example of a display control means that erases arbitrarily specified still image data from the image display device and displays other still image data, and also a display control means that causes the erased still image data to be displayed again on the image display device. It is also an example of display control means.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the relationship between the index file 13 and still image data, and the relationship between the image storage bag 'jl 14 and still image data in the first embodiment.

At the time of registration, the original image is input from the image reading device IO, and the still image database administrator uses the keyboard 11 and digitizer 2.
When a predetermined attribute is input from 0, the CPU 12 generates an identification code 22, and registers this identification code 22 and the set attribute 23 in the index file 13 as one record 21. Furthermore, an identification code 22 is added to the beginning of the original image data 25 and stored as a still image data file 24 in the original image storage bag 2114. Therefore, the attributes for one original image and the still image data are associated with each other by the same identification code 22.

Next, the operation at the time of search in the above embodiment will be explained.

When a desired attribute is input as a search request via the keyboard 11 and digitizer 20, the CPU 12 opens the index file 13, searches for still image data that satisfies the request, and obtains its identification code 22. Then, still image data in the original image storage device 14 having the same identification code 22 is obtained, and the original image data 25 is transferred to the image reduction bag 2115. In this case, the identification code 2 of the hit (searched) still image data
2 is held in an array (not shown) of a memory (not shown) within the CPU 12, and the image reduction device 15 reduces the original image data to one-sixteenth of the display size, and converts the image data through the CPU 12. It is displayed on the display device 17.

FIGS. 3(1), (2), (3), and (4) show the mechanism of the image reduction device 15 in the above embodiment and the still image data erased by the elimination method to the image display device 17. It is a figure which shows a71 displayed.

FIG. 3(1) shows that the screen 51 of the image display device m17 is provided with an image display area 52 and a display area 53 for the menu 7. The six image display areas 52 are as follows:
512 pixels horizontally, 480 pixels vertically, gradation of 8 bits per pixel, RGB 3-plane color display +if
It is t@. In the above embodiment, in accordance with the A1 of a single image display device, the height and width are 512 x 480 II! i, an image is input from the image reading device 10 with 8-bit gradation each and 3 planes of RGB, and this still image data is used as image data. The following is a list of commands and search assistance commands.

Figure 3 (2) shows one of the hit still image data.
Six still image data are reduced and displayed in the image display area 52.
This shows the status displayed on the screen. The above-mentioned reduced image has been reduced by an image reduction device 15 to one quarter both vertically and horizontally.

They are displayed sequentially from the top left of the display screen to the right.

From among the displayed reduced images, the digitizer 20 selects the desired image and narrows down the image data. When the image data is narrowed down in this way, it is clear that there are multiple images desired by the searcher. A situation often arises in which there are multiple images that are not needed. In this case, use the digitizer 20 to specify the erase mode (not shown) displayed in the menu field 58, and specify the unnecessary image, for example, image A in the screen of FIG. 3 (3). do. As a result, the CPU 12 first transfers the image data A to the erased image storage device 16, erases the portion of the screen where image A was displayed, and transfers images B-K to the screen shown in FIG. 3(4). As shown in the figure, they are redisplayed one by one.

If there are more undisplayed images, the undisplayed images are
The image is read from the image storage device 14, reduced by the image reduction device 2115, and displayed in the area indicated by the symbol.

” - In the process of narrowing down the image data using the elimination method as described above, if you want to display the already erased still image data again and compare it, use the digitizer 20 and select menu a5°8. Specify the history machine running mode (not shown) displayed in , and sequentially re-display the erased still image data in an arbitrarily specified part of the image display area 52 shown in FIG. 3 (5). do.

In the embodiment 1-, if the still image data is erased due to an operational error, it is considered that the erased still image data can be returned to the screen after that, and the still image data is redisplayed in order starting from the last erased still image data.

In addition, in order to distinguish it from other displayed image data (image data displayed before the above-mentioned re-display), +If is displayed as shown by reference numeral 55 in FIG. 3 (5). Displays a frame around the image in a certain color.

FIGS. 5(1), (2), and (3) are diagrams showing the operation of the erase mode and the operation of the erase image storage device 2116.

In the erase mode, first, specify the still image data to be erased (sB), erase the still image data to be erased from the human data array (S2), and transfer and store the still image data to be erased to the erased image storage device 16. (S3) Then, a pointer is set in the erased data array (not shown) in the CPU, and the start address in the erased image storage device 16 of the still image data transferred and stored is stored in the array pointed to by the pointer. ), display the static IL image data 35), display the next image if there is one to be displayed (S6, S7), and return.

Here, when one image (for example, its data is data l) is erased, the erased data array is as shown in Fig. 5 (
As shown in 2), the start address (address l) of the data l is stored in the location pointed to by the pointer. Here, 5
When one still image data is erased from the screen, the erased data array XJTi becomes as shown in FIG. 5(3).

Figure 6 (1), (2), (3), (4), (5
) is a diagram showing the operation of the history clearing mode and the state of the erased data array.

For example, if five still images are erased, the state of the erased data array in this case is as shown in Figure 5 (3).
If you specify the history mode here and input the position to be displayed (Sll), the image displayed at that redisplay position will be temporarily saved in the memory (not shown) in the CPU 1Z and saved in S l2), the image of the data 5 obtained from the address 5 indicated by the pointer to the redisplay position t is displayed at the ITr display position (Sl3).

At this point, the system waits for subcommand input (S
4) This subcommand includes "End history", "Display next image", "Display previous image", "
These commands are displayed in the menu column 58. For example, if you specify "Primary image display", the pointer moves down one position (S l 5
), the image of data 5 obtained from address 4 is displayed at the re-display position (as shown in FIG. 6(2)).

If "display next image" is further specified, the image of data 3 obtained from address 3 is displayed at the redisplay position, and the pointer points to address 3 (as shown in FIG. 6 (3)).

At this time, if you determine that the previous deletion of data 3 from one screen was a mistake, specify "Cancel deletion",
The identification code of data 3 is re-registered in the array that holds the identification code of human data (316), and data 3 is deleted from the erasure image storage device 16.
17) Delete address 3 from the erase data array, rewrite the array (Sta), and move the pointer down one position.515) (shown in Figure 6 (4)), display the image of data 2 at the specified position and enters the state of waiting for subcommand input.

On the other hand, if you specify "End history function" (S, 1
4), the pointer is changed to the last position (5L9), and the temporarily saved image data is displayed at the specified position (520).

When the images are finally narrowed down to one, the CPU 12 transfers the corresponding original image data 25 from the original image storage device 14 to the image display device 17 and displays it.

In the manner described above, one image can be searched from a large amount of still image data.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a memory for image input/output provided inside the CPU 12.

Image memory (1) 34 to image memory (8) 41
have a structure of 512 x 512 x 8 bits, respectively, and a processor 43 operates according to a command from the CPU 32, and can arbitrarily select and input/output image memories 34 to 41 via the image controller 33. Furthermore, it is also possible to transfer still image data and perform real-time calculations between arbitrary memories in 1F. Note that the reference numeral 42 is an image input/output interface.

In the above embodiment, even if the method of storing still image data, the input image size, the method of creating a reduced image, etc. are changed as appropriate, the same results as above can be obtained.

Also, without using the erased image storage device 16, the identification code 22 of the erased still image data is stored in the memory (not shown) of the CPU 12, etc., and the original image storage device 14 is stored from the stored identification code 22. The corresponding image data may be displayed on the portion 55 shown in FIG. 3(5) through the image reduction device 15.

[Effects of the Invention] According to the present invention, when predetermined still image data among still image data that has been searched and displayed on the display device is mistakenly deleted from the image display device, the erroneously executed deletion is can be recovered, making it easier to judge the selection of one image.
This has the effect of shortening the image search time.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 shows the relationship between the index file and still image data and one image storage in the above embodiment. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the relationship between a device and still image data. FIGS. 3(1), (2), (3), (4), and (5) are diagrams showing the image reduction function and the fife for displaying the erased image in ITg in the above embodiment. FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing the vicinity of image input/output in the embodiment described in -1-. FIGS. 5(1), (2), and (3) are a flowchart showing the operation of the erase mode in the above embodiment, and a diagram showing the state of the erase data array. FIGS. 6(1), (2), (3), (4), and (5) are flowcharts showing the operation of the history notepad mode in the above embodiment, and diagrams showing the state of the erased data array. be. 12...CPU, 14...Original image storage device, 13...Index file, 16...Erase image storage device, 17...Image display device, 20...Digitizer. Patent applicant Canon Co., Ltd. Agent Arata Yokubo - Figure 1 Figure 2 Figure 3 Figure 4 Figure 5 (1) Figure 6 (1) Figure 6

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] Data search means for searching still image data satisfying predetermined attributes from a still image database; Image display means for displaying the searched still image data; From still image data,
display control means for erasing arbitrarily specified still image data from the image display means and displaying other still image data; storage means for storing the still image data to be erased; and the erased still image data. an image retrieval device comprising: redisplay control means for causing the image display device to display the image again;