KR101244913B1 - Image processing method of digital imaging device - Google Patents

Abstract

The image processing method of the digital image capturing apparatus according to the present invention comprises the steps of: setting photographing conditions of an image to be photographed and displaying the photographing conditions and the corresponding preview image on the screen of the digital image photographing apparatus; Determining whether a reference image having shooting information corresponding to shooting conditions is in a storage device of the digital image photographing apparatus; If there is a reference image in the storage device, retrieving the reference image from the storage device; And displaying the reference image loaded from the storage device on the screen.

According to the image processing method of the digital image photographing apparatus according to the present invention, it is convenient to read the image having the shooting information corresponding to the shooting condition of the image to be taken from the storage device and obtain the quality information of the image to be taken in advance. There is this.

Description

Image processing method of digital imaging device

1 is a flowchart for explaining a conventional technology.

2 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a digital camera as an example of a digital image photographing apparatus to which the concept of the present invention may be applied.

3 is a diagram illustrating a front surface of a digital camera as an example of a digital image photographing apparatus to which the present invention can be applied.

4 is a diagram illustrating a rear surface of a digital camera as an example of a digital image photographing apparatus to which the present invention can be applied.

5 is a flowchart for explaining a preferred embodiment of the image processing method of the digital image photographing apparatus according to the present invention.

6 illustrates that photographing information of a stored image is displayed on a screen.

FIG. 7 illustrates an example of a storage device in operation S102 of FIG. 5.

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating a specific example of step S106 of FIG. 5.

The present invention relates to a method of processing an image for photographing in a digital image photographing apparatus such as a digital camera.

1 is a flowchart for explaining a conventional technology.

The user immediately operates the shooting condition using a menu or the like button (S10).

The preview image changed according to the shooting conditions set by the user is displayed on the screen (S12).

The user captures an image under the set shooting condition (S14).

However, there is a problem in that the preview screen after setting the shooting conditions does not know the result of the image that appears after the shooting is performed.

The technical problem to be achieved by the present invention is to provide an image processing method of a digital image photographing apparatus that facilitates a user to capture an image by displaying a reference image on the screen so that the user can predict the result of the image to be photographed. There is.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided an image processing method of a digital image photographing apparatus, the method including: (a) setting a photographing condition of an image to be photographed, and displaying the photographing condition and the corresponding preview image on a screen of the digital image photographing device; Displaying; (b) determining whether a reference image having shooting information corresponding to the shooting condition is in a storage device of the digital image photographing device; (c) if the reference image is in the storage device, retrieving the reference image from the storage device; and (d) displaying the reference image loaded from the storage device on a screen.

In the step (b), it is preferable to refer to the aperture value AV, the shutter speed value TV, and the film sensitivity value to determine whether a reference image having shooting information corresponding to the shooting condition exists in the storage device. .

In the step (b), it is assumed that the flash emission conditions are met, and it is preferable to determine whether an image having the shooting information meeting the shooting conditions is in the storage device.

In the step (b), the storage device is an internal memory, and the reference image may be basically embedded in the internal memory.

In the step (d), when there are a plurality of the reference images loaded from the storage device, the reference images may be displayed on the screen by determining the maximum number to be displayed on the screen.

Hereinafter, the configuration and operation of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. Like reference numerals in the drawings denote components that perform the same function.

2 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a digital camera as an example of a digital image photographing apparatus to which the concept of the present invention may be applied.

The optical system OPS including the lens unit and the filter unit optically processes light from a subject. The lens unit in the optical system OPS includes a zoom lens, a focus lens, and a compensation lens.

A photoelectric conversion unit (OEC) of a charge coupled device (CCD) or a complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) converts light from an optical system (OPS) into an electrical analog signal. Here, the DSP 7 controls the timing circuit 2 to control the operations of the photoelectric converter OEC and the analog-digital converter 1. The CDS-ADC (Correlation Double Sampler and Analog-to-Digital Converter) element 1 as an analog-to-digital converter processes the analog signal from the photoelectric converter (OEC), removes the high frequency noise, and adjusts the amplitude. (auto gain control, AGC) and then convert to a digital signal. The DSP 7 processes the digital signal from the CDS-ADC element 1 to generate a digital image signal classified into luminance and chroma signals.

The DRAM (Dynamic Random Access Memory) 4 temporarily stores digital image signals and other temporary processing data from the DSP 7.

The EEPROM (Electrically Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory) 5 stores algorithms and setting data necessary for the operation of the DSP 7. The memory card of the user is attached to and detached from the memory card interface 6.

The digital image signal from the DSP (Digital Signal Processor) 7 is converted into the display signal of the LCD panel by the LCD driver 14 so that the image is displayed on the color LCD panel 17.

On the other hand, the digital image signal from the DSP 7 can be transmitted by serial communication via the USB (Universal Serial Bus) connection 18 or the RS232C interface 8 and its connection 19, and the video filter 9 And as a video signal through the video output unit 20.

The audio processor 13 outputs the audio signal from the microphone MIC to the DSP 7 or the speaker SP, and outputs the audio signal from the DSP 7 to the speaker SP.

The user input unit INP may include a shutter button, a mode selection button, a function selection button, a zoom button, a direction movement button, and the like. The user input unit INP is operated by the user to generate a command for performing each function according to the user's instruction.

The microcontroller 12 controls the lens driver 10, whereby the zoom motor M _Z , the focus motor M _F , and the aperture motor M _A are zoom lenses in the optical system OPS, The focus lens and the aperture are driven respectively. The light emitting unit LAMP driven by the microcontroller 12 may include a self-timer lamp, an auto-focus lamp, a flash standby lamp, and the like. On the other hand, the microcontroller 12 drives the flash 15 by controlling the operation of the flash controller 11 in accordance with the signal from the flash-light amount sensor 16.

The function of the microcontroller 12 may be implemented in one chip with the DSP 7.

The digital camera to which the present invention can be applied does not have to include all of the above components, and a person skilled in the art may delete some of the components, add another component, modify some components, It will be appreciated that the functionality of the various components may be integrated and implemented.

3 is a diagram illustrating an example of a front surface of a digital camera as an example of a digital image photographing apparatus to which the present invention can be applied.

In front of the digital camera of FIG. 3, a shutter button 104, a jog dial 117, a mode dial 103, a power switch 126, a speaker 124, an AF (auto-focus) auxiliary light 125, and a microphone 123 are provided. ), A remote control receiver 122, a lens 121, a view finder 119, a flash 118, and the like.

4 is a diagram illustrating an example of a rear surface of a digital camera as an example of a digital image photographing apparatus to which the present invention can be applied.

Behind the digital camera of Figure 4, the viewfinder 100, autofocus lamp 101, flash status lamp 102, mode dial 103, shutter button 104, LCD button 105, wide-angle zoom button (106), telephoto zoom button 107, 5 function button 109, DC power input terminal 110, external output terminal 111, playback mode button 112, LCD monitor 113, manual focus button ( 114), the automatic exposure lock button 115, the image quality adjustment button 116 and the like are provided.

The LCD monitor 113 displays an OSD (On Screen Display) indicating the current shooting mode and status of the digital camera.

The five-function button 109 has a menu entry / confirmation button in the center and up, down, left and right directions buttons. When the menu is displayed on the monitor, the up, down, left and right directional buttons can function as special function buttons instead of directional movement.

The various function buttons shown in FIG. 4 may be provided to perform two or more complex functions in addition to the functions shown in the names.

5 is a flowchart for explaining a preferred embodiment of the image processing method of the digital image photographing apparatus according to the present invention.

The shooting condition of the image to be photographed is set and the shooting condition and the preview image according thereto are displayed on the screen of the digital image photographing apparatus (S100).

The shooting condition may be a setting by a user's direct manipulation, and already set shooting information may be reloaded and used as the shooting condition by the user's selection.

In operation S102, it is determined whether a reference image having the photographing information meeting the photographing condition is in the storage device of the digital image photographing apparatus.

By comparing the shooting conditions set by the user with the items of the shooting information of the stored image, it is determined whether the image has the shooting information corresponding to the shooting conditions.

In operation S102, it may be determined whether the reference image has the photographing information corresponding to the photographing condition by referring to the aperture value AV, the shutter speed value TV, and the film sensitivity value.

At this time, in step S102, it is possible to determine whether the image having the shooting information meeting the shooting conditions with reference to the aperture value, the shutter speed value, and the film sensitivity value within a preset error range.

The higher the ISO value, the brighter the image quality.

The larger the shutter speed (TV) value, the longer the exposure time, and the smaller the aperture (AV) value, the larger the aperture is. .

When the ISO value is set to 100, the shutter speed value (TV) 2s, and the aperture value (AV) 3.5 are set, the image is compared with the value set in the shooting conditions, even if the image does not have shooting information that matches the shooting conditions in the storage device. The image having the photographing information value within the set error range may be determined to be an image meeting the photographing condition.

For example, setting of the next two images may be determined as setting conditions of an equivalent degree.

division Film sensitivity Shutter Speed (TV) Aperture (AV) Setting condition 1 ISO 100 2.0 s 3.5 Setting condition 2 ISO 100 2.5 s 4.0

In Table 1, the setting condition 2 has the same film sensitivity as the setting condition 1, the shutter speed (TV) is 0.5 s large and the aperture (AV) value is 0.5 large. That is, the image captured by the setting condition 2 is brighter by the increase of the shutter speed and darker by the increase of the aperture value than the image photographed by the setting condition 1, and thus, the image captured by the setting condition 2 may be a reference image that is equivalent to the user as a whole.

In other words, within the error range set according to the correlation between the main parameters that determine the image quality of the captured image, the relation of the equivalent image that can be adopted as the reference image is stored in the ROM in a look-up table format. Using this, the reference image can be selected.

On the other hand, in view of whether or not the flash light emits a decisive contribution to the image quality of the image, it is assumed that the flash light emission conditions are met, and it is possible to determine whether the shooting information of the image meets the shooting condition.

In this case, it is determined that the image does not meet the shooting conditions regardless of whether the ISO value, the shutter speed value, and the aperture value match with the flash light.

The step S102 may be implemented to further determine whether an image having the shooting information corresponding to the shooting condition is in the storage device by further referring to detailed factors for determining the image quality of the image such as white balance and sharpness.

If there is a reference image having shooting information corresponding to shooting conditions in the storage device, the reference image is loaded from the storage device (S104).

The reference image loaded from the storage device is displayed on the screen (S106).

6 illustrates that photographing information of a stored image is displayed on a screen.

Detailed information of the photographed picture is stored in the Exif format as one of the picture file storage formats. Whether the image has the photographing information meeting the shooting conditions is determined based on the photographing information stored in the Exif file.

Referring to FIG. 6, photographing information 604 such as a resolution, an aperture value, a shutter speed value, an ISO value, whether a flash is used, a photographing date, and the like for an image 602 is displayed on the screen 600.

FIG. 7 illustrates an example of a storage device in operation S102 of FIG. 5.

In general, an image in which image capturing information is set is stored in a user memory as a result of a user's individual capturing, and is used as a reference image when the capturing condition is satisfied.

On the other hand, irrespective of the user's performing of the photographing, the photographing information is stored as a set sample image from the time of manufacture of the digital image photographing apparatus, and may be used as a reference image even when a sample image corresponding to the photographing condition exists.

Referring to FIG. 7, among the images 702 stored in a sample form in the built-in storage device 700, an image 704 corresponding to the shooting condition 706 set by the user is shown in which a preview image 710 is shown. It is displayed on the screen 708.

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating a specific example of step S106 of FIG. 5.

Referring to FIG. 8, there is only one image 806 in the storage device that matches the shooting condition 804 of the on-screen 800 image 802, and multiple images 808, 810, 812, and 814. The case shown on the screen 800 is shown.

The reference image meeting the shooting condition may be displayed as a reduced image at a predetermined position on the screen. In this case, the size of the region where the reference image is displayed may be adjusted.

When the number of reference images meeting the shooting conditions is plural, only one image may be displayed or a plurality of reference images may be displayed together according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

When displaying a plurality of reference images, the number of images to be displayed on the screen may be limited, and the reference images that are not displayed may be implemented to be displayed on the screen at a time interval.

The best embodiments have been disclosed in the drawings and specification above. Although specific terms have been used herein, they are used only for the purpose of describing the present invention and are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention as defined in the meaning or claims. Therefore, those skilled in the art will understand that various modifications and equivalent other embodiments are possible from this. Accordingly, the true scope of the present invention should be determined by the technical idea of the appended claims.

As described above, the image processing method of the digital image capturing apparatus according to the present invention reads an image having shooting information corresponding to shooting conditions of an image to be photographed from a storage device, and advances the image quality information of the image to be photographed. There is a convenience to get.

The invention is not limited to the examples described above and represented in the drawings. Those skilled in the art having been taught by the above-described embodiments, many modifications to the above-described embodiments are possible by substitution, erasure, merging, etc. within the scope and object of the present invention described in the following claims.

Claims (5)

(a) setting a shooting condition of an image to be photographed and displaying the shooting condition and a preview image according thereto on the screen of the digital image photographing apparatus; (b) determining whether a reference image having shooting information corresponding to the shooting condition is in a storage device of the digital image photographing device; (c) if the reference image is in the storage device, retrieving the reference image from the storage device; and (d) displaying the reference image imported from the storage device on a screen. The method of claim 1, wherein step (b) An image of the digital image photographing apparatus, characterized in that it is determined whether a reference image having the photographing information corresponding to the photographing condition exists in the storage device with reference to the aperture value AV, the shutter speed value TV, and the film sensitivity value. Treatment method. The method of claim 1, wherein step (b) It is premised whether or not a flash light emission condition is met, and it is determined whether an image having shooting information meeting the shooting condition exists in the storage device. The method of claim 1, wherein in step (b) And the storage device is an internal memory, and wherein the reference image is basically embedded in the internal memory. The method of claim 1, wherein step (d) And displaying the reference images on the screen by determining a maximum number to be displayed on the screen when the reference images are loaded from the storage device.

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