KR101310220B1 - Panorama photograph method - Google Patents

Abstract

The panorama photographing method according to the present invention is a panorama photographing method performed by combining a first image photographed first with a current image to be photographed, and determining whether an instruction to enter a panorama photographing mode has occurred; When the instruction to enter the panorama shooting mode occurs, superimposing the first image on the current image and displaying it on the display; Determining whether the first image matches the current image; If it matches, notifying the user; And capturing and storing the current image and combining the first image with the first image.

According to the panorama photographing method of the present invention, the previous image is superimposed on the current image to be photographed, and the user is informed whether or not the optimal matching state is achieved, so that the user can easily obtain the intended image during the panorama shooting. There is this.

Description

Panorama shooting method {Panorama photograph method}

1 illustrates a first image and a current image displayed on a display by a conventional method of capturing panoramic photos.

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

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

5 is a flowchart illustrating a panorama photographing method according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

6 is a flowchart for explaining a preferred embodiment of the step S102.

7 is a flowchart for explaining another preferred embodiment of step S102.

8 is a flowchart for describing a panorama photographing method according to another exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

9 shows an example of a display screen in which step S101 is implemented.

10 illustrates an example of a display screen in which step S102 is implemented.

FIG. 11 is an example of a display screen in which step S104 is implemented, and is illustrated to describe feature extraction as an example of an optimal matching technique.

12 illustrates another example of a display screen on which step 104 is implemented, and is illustrated to describe color matching as an example of an optimal matching technique.

13 is a flowchart for explaining that the step of displaying the optimum matching direction in step S104 is provided.

14 illustrates an example of a display screen on which step S104 is implemented.

15 illustrates an example of a display screen on which step S106 is implemented.

16 is a flowchart for explaining an embodiment of step S108.

17 shows an example of two or more synthesized photographs on a display.

The present invention relates to a photographing method in a digital photographing apparatus such as a digital camera, and more particularly, to a panorama photographing method in a digital photographing apparatus capable of panoramic photographing.

According to conventional Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 1999-088747, as an example of a panorama photographing apparatus, as shown in FIG. 1 in the case of a digital camera, an area where the first image 151 previously photographed overlaps the current image 152. Since there was no problem, it was difficult for the user to know a sufficient matching state.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in an effort to provide a panorama photographing method that allows a user to easily match images during panorama photographing by a digital photographing apparatus such as a digital camera performed by image synthesis.

The panorama photographing method according to the present invention for achieving the above technical problem is a panorama photographing method performed by synthesizing a first image photographed first with a current image to be photographed, and (a) determining whether an instruction to enter the panorama photographing mode has occurred. Making; (b) when the instruction to enter the panorama shooting mode occurs, superimposing the first image on the current image and displaying the first image on a display; (c) determining whether the first image matches the current image; (d) informing a user when the first image matches the current image; And (e) capturing and storing the current image and synthesizing it with the first image.

Step (b) may include: (b11) photographing and storing the first image; And (b12) displaying the first image on the display by overlapping the current image.

Step (b) may include: (b21) selecting a first image in a playback mode; And (b22) displaying the first image on the display by overlapping the first image.

The panorama photographing method may further include the step of allowing the user to select a region where the first image is to be superimposed on the current image when an instruction to enter the panorama photographing mode occurs, and proceeding to step (b). Do.
By comparing the feature point of the corner of the first image and the feature point of the corner of the current image, it is determined whether the match.
By comparing the color information of the first image and the color information of the current image, it is determined whether the match.

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The panorama photographing method may further include displaying a matching direction by an indication means and proceeding to step (c) when the first image and the current image do not match as a result of the determination of step (c). It is characterized by.

In step (e), the current image may be automatically captured and synthesized with the first image.

Step (e) may include: (e1) taking a current image; (e2) determining whether to end panorama shooting; (e3) synthesizing and storing the first image and the current image when it is determined that the panorama photographing is finished; And (e4) if it is determined that the panorama photographing will not be finished, synthesizing the first image and the current image photographed and determining it as a new first image, and proceeding to step (b). desirable.

In step (e2), when the number of images to be synthesized in one panorama shooting is predetermined by the user, it may be determined whether the panorama shooting is to be terminated according to whether the determined number of shooting is completed.

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

An optical system (OPS) including a lens unit and a 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 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 processing apparatus to which the present invention may 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 processing apparatus to which the present invention may 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 includes a menu entry / confirmation button and up, down, left, and right buttons in the center. 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 representative diagram according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention and is a flowchart for explaining a panorama photographing method. Panorama shooting allows you to get a photo close to your original purpose through wide and cool pictures similar to the scene you see with your eyes.

First, it is determined whether an instruction to enter the panorama photographing mode has occurred (S100). If the embodiment is implemented in the digital camera, an instruction to enter the panorama shooting mode may be generated by operating a menu button among the five function buttons 109.

When the camera enters the panorama shooting mode, the first photographed image is overlaid on the input current image and displayed on the display (S102). In this case, the user may change the portion of the first image superimposed on the current image by using the up, down, left, and right buttons.

According to a preferred embodiment of step S102, after entering the panorama shooting mode, the first image may be captured, and the first image may be superimposed on the current image. In another embodiment of step S102, after entering the panorama mode, the playback device may select the first image and display the first image overlaid on the current image. In addition, when the user photographs the image after entering the panorama mode, the user may select the first image from among those including the image taken after the panorama mode and the previously recorded image. That is, any image stored in a digital photographing means such as a digital camera at the time of capturing the current image after entering the panoramic photographing mode may be the first image.

In an embodiment of displaying the first image on the display by overlapping the current image, the overlapping area of the first image may be displayed on the display in an edge state. An edge is a feature that indicates the size of an area in an image, and is an outline that indicates a point where a pixel brightness changes abruptly. Therefore, when the first image is outlined by the edge, the first image is easily distinguished from the current image, so that the user can easily find an optimal matching state. In this case, when the image inside the contour forms a fine image and thus the matching state cannot be easily determined, the matching state of the desired part can be more easily found by instructing the enlargement using the zoom button. As the edge detection method, a Sobel mask, a Robert mask, a Laplacian mask, a mani mask, etc. serving as a differential operator may be used. According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the overlapped region of the first image may be displayed as an edge component in any case in the current image. In other words, when the edge component is moved to find the optimal matching direction, the area of the overlapped region represented by the edge component is changed.

When the first image and the current image are superimposed on the display, it is determined whether a matching state is most suitable for panorama synthesis (S104). The optimal matching state refers to a state in which the first image and the current image are ideally matched for panorama shooting.

If the optimal matching state is reached, it indicates that the state is most suitable for taking a panorama picture (S106). An embodiment of step S106 is shown in FIG. 15. If it is determined that the optimal matching state in the current image, an example of informing the most suitable shooting state, that is, the optimum matching state is illustrated. In this case, for example, in order to indicate an optimal matching state, the optimum matching state may be displayed by displaying an O. K indicator on the display. In addition, the optimal matching state may be displayed by an audible means such as sound, and the user may be informed of the optimum matching state by any indicating means equivalent thereto. FIG. 15 shows that the user is shown an optimum matching state by displaying an O. K mark on the display.

When the optimal matching state is displayed, the current image is captured and synthesized with the first image (S108). According to the related art, it is difficult to obtain a clear panoramic photograph intended by the user because the first image is taken without the first image overlapping the current image. However, according to the implementation of the present invention, the user may Take and synthesize panoramic photos.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a process of selecting an image captured after entering a panorama photographing mode as a first image and displaying the first image overlaid on the current image as an embodiment of step S102. In the state where the panorama mode state is maintained after entering the panorama photographing mode, photographing an input image (S200), and displaying the photographed first image overlaid on the current image (S202) are provided.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating a process of selecting a first image in a playback mode and displaying the first image overlaid on the current image after entering the panoramic photographing mode according to another embodiment of step S102. In the state where the panorama mode state is maintained after entering the panorama capturing mode, a step of selecting a desired first image in the reproduction mode (S300) and displaying the first image and the current image by overlapping them are provided (S302). However, it should be understood that the embodiment according to the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and the first image may be selected by any method provided by the digital photographing apparatus such as a digital camera.

8 is a flowchart for describing a panorama photographing method according to another exemplary embodiment of the present invention. That is, FIG. 8 illustrates a step (S100) of determining whether it is a panorama photographing mode, a step of displaying a first image overlaid on the current image (S102), a step of determining whether an optimal matching state (S104), and displaying an optimal matching state. In the panoramic photographing method comprising the step S106 and the step of taking a current image, synthesizing it with the first image, and storing the first image, when the panoramic photographing mode entry instruction occurs, the user selects an area to be overlapped. In addition, the method further includes a step S101 of displaying the selected area in a flowchart. That is, the user may first select a region of the first image to be overlapped by manipulating a menu button, up, down, left, and right buttons before the first image overlaps the current image and appears on the display. The user may select an overlapping area of the first image by operating a menu button, up, down, left, and right buttons even when the first image and the current image are overlapped during the process of step S102. However, as shown in the present embodiment, the user may select a region overlapping the first image in advance in step S101, which is a step before step S102, so that various schemes for capturing the panorama picture may be pre-made.

9 illustrates an example of a display screen in which step S101 is implemented, and illustrates positions of overlapping regions 162a, 162b, 162c, and 162d selected by a user in the first image 160. In this case, the area of the overlapping areas 162a, 162b, 162c, and 162d may also be selected to be 1/4, 1/8, etc. using up, down, left, and right buttons according to a photographing purpose of the user.

FIG. 10 is an example of a display screen in which step S102 is implemented, and illustrates that an overlap region of 162b illustrated in FIG. 9 overlaps with a current image 164. In addition, even if the portion where the first image is overlapped is already selected in step S101 as shown in FIG. 10, the user operates the five-function button included in the photographing means such as the digital camera to select the overlapped area again in step S102. It is possible to do

In the related art, since panorama shooting is performed while the user views an image already taken and an image to be currently taken on one screen, the user cannot obtain a clear panorama image desired by the user. According to the panorama photographing method according to the present invention, the user can select the position and area of the overlapped area by using the menu button of the five-function button. Therefore, the user can capture the desired clear panorama image by the optimal matching state guided by the present invention.

In operation S104, the determination of the optimal match may be performed by, for example, a feature extraction method or a color matching technique.

 FIG. 11 is an example of a display screen in which step S104 is implemented, and is illustrated to describe an embodiment using a technique of feature extraction in order to determine a best match. In step S104, it is determined whether the first image and the current image correspond to a matching state. Feature extraction refers to extraction of common properties representing objects from input patterns. As shown in FIG. 11, the peripheral features are extracted from the feature points 172 and 173 of the corner points of the first image 170 and the current image 174, respectively, and if the extracted features are the same, optimal matching is performed. It means to be in a state. In this way, the user can take pictures in an optimal matching state for taking a panoramic picture.

FIG. 12 is another example of a display screen on which the step S104 is implemented, and is illustrated to describe an embodiment using a color matching technique to determine the best matching. As shown in FIG. 12, the color information in the image is analyzed to classify each area for each color information, and to determine whether the first image matches the current image. The user is notified of the matching by comparing the overlapping area 177 of the first image 175 divided by the color information 176 with the current image 179 having the area divided by the color information 178. That is, since one image and the current image in the same zone have the same color information, the optimal matching list can be known by extracting the color information.

13 is a flowchart for explaining that the step of displaying the optimum matching direction in step S104 is provided. In other words, determining whether it is the panorama shooting mode (S100), displaying the first image superimposed on the current image (S102), determining whether it is an optimal matching state (S104), and displaying the optimal matching state (S106) ), And in the panoramic photographing method including the step of taking a current image, synthesizing and storing the first image (S108), when an optimal matching is not made in step S104, an optimal matching direction is displayed on the display. It is a flowchart which shows that it is set to further comprise step S110 for doing. When the panorama image is taken, the user may appropriately move a photographing means such as a digital camera or the like to move the overlapped region of the first image in the current image so that the first image matches the current image in an optimal state. Whether or not the first image matches the current image cannot be properly determined simply by the user's judgment. There is a limitation in visually determining without display means on the display. Therefore, it is possible to indicate to the user by the indicating means whether the best match on the display. According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, in order to find the optimum matching state by the movement of the photographing means such as a digital camera, the direction leading to the optimum matching state is displayed in order to inform the appropriate moving direction of the camera (S110). . In this case, an optimal matching direction may be indicated by an arrow shape on a visual expression, for example, and the optimal matching direction may be displayed by audio means such as sound. In addition, it is possible to instruct the user of the optimum matching direction by the equivalent indicating means.

FIG. 14 illustrates an example of a display screen in which step S110 is implemented, in which a portion 181 selected as an area to be overlapped in the first image 180 is displayed as an edge component 182 in the current image 183. will be. In this case, the arrow 184 indicates that the digital photographing means such as the digital camera must move to the right in order to obtain an optimal matching state. In this case, as the digital photographing means such as the digital camera moves, the existing current image 183 moves to the right in parallel. By displaying the optimal matching direction in this way, the user can reach an optimal matching state for panorama shooting.

15 is an example of a display screen on which step S106 is implemented, and when it is determined that the first image and the current image are optimal matching states, the flowchart further includes a step of informing an optimal matching state. In this case, the optimal matching state may be indicated by, for example, displaying an O. K indicator on the display to indicate the optimal matching state. In addition, the optimal matching state may be displayed by an audible means such as sound, and the user may be informed of the optimum matching state by any indicating means equivalent thereto. FIG. 15 shows the optimal matching state as O. K 189 when the overlap region 181 of the first image 180 is represented by the edge component 182 within the current image 184. It is shown.

16 is a flow chart illustrating an embodiment of step S108. According to the embodiment of FIG. 16, two or more images may be synthesized in one panorama shooting. That is, in the step S108, the step of taking the current image (S400), the step of determining whether to end the panorama shooting (S402), by judging to end the panorama shooting, by combining the first image and the current image A flow chart that includes the step 404 of storing. In this case, when the panorama shooting mode is ended, it is terminated by combining with the first image and storing it in the memory means. However, when the panorama shooting is not ended, the panorama shooting mode state proceeds again in step S102. When the process proceeds to step S102, the first image and the current image are synthesized to determine this as the first image (S406). By the step S406, it is possible to capture two or more images by one panorama. That is, not only the stored current image but also the synthesized image may serve as a first image after reentering the panorama shooting mode.

In step S402, when the number of images to be synthesized by the one-time panorama photographing is predetermined by the user, it may be determined whether to end the panorama photographing according to whether the number of the photographing is completed. In this case, step S404 is not performed at step S402 until the set number of pictures is taken, and step S406 is followed by step S102.

FIG. 17 shows a display screen in which two images 192 and 194 are synthesized by one panoramic shooting and a display screen in which three images 192, 194 and 196 are synthesized by one panoramic shooting.

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

As described above, according to the panorama photographing method of the present invention, the previous image is superimposed and displayed in the current image to be photographed, and the user is informed whether or not the optimal matching state is achieved. There is a convenience that can be easily obtained.

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 (10)

In the panorama photographing method performed by combining the first image captured first and the current image to be photographed, (a) determining whether an instruction to enter the panoramic photographing mode has occurred, and receiving a user's selection signal for a region where the first image overlaps the current image when the instruction to enter the panoramic photographing mode occurs; (b) superimposing the first image on the current image and displaying it on a display according to the selection signal; (c) determining whether the first image matches the current image; (d) informing the user if the first image matches the current image; And (e) photographing the current image, and synthesizing with the first image and storing the panoramic image. The method of claim 1, wherein step (b) (b11) photographing and storing the first image; And (b12) displaying the first image on the display by superimposing the first image on the display. The method of claim 1, wherein step (b) (b21) selecting the first image in a playback mode; And (b22) displaying the first image on the display by superimposing the first image on the display. delete The method of claim 1, wherein step (c) And comparing the feature points of the corners of the first image with the feature points of the corners of the current image to determine whether the match is made. The method of claim 1, wherein step (c) And comparing the color information of the first image with the color information of the current image to determine whether the match is made. The method of claim 1, If the first image and the current image do not match as a result of the determination in step (c), displaying the matching direction by the indicating means and proceeding to step (c). Way. The method of claim 1, wherein step (e) And automatically captures the current image and synthesizes and stores the current image. The method of claim 1, wherein step (e) (e1) taking a current image; (e2) determining whether to end panorama shooting; (e3) synthesizing and storing the first image and the current image when it is determined that the panorama photographing is finished; And (e4) if it is determined that the panoramic image is not to be terminated, synthesizing the first image and the current image photographed and determining it as a new first image, and proceeding to the step (b). Characteristic panorama shooting method. The method of claim 9, wherein step (e2) And when the number of images to be synthesized in one panorama shooting is predetermined by the user, determining whether to end panorama shooting according to whether the determined number of shooting is completed.

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