KR101310824B1 - Image searching method for digital image processing device - Google Patents

Abstract

An image retrieval method of a digital image processing apparatus according to the present invention includes: weighting according to a reproduction frequency of a stored image; Reordering the search order of the stored images according to the weights at a certain point in time, and storing the reordering information; And retrieving the image according to the rearranged information or the original stored order.

As described above, according to the image retrieval method of the digital image processing apparatus of the present invention, a desired image can be quickly and conveniently retrieved by reflecting the image reproduction performance of the user.

Description

Image searching method for digital image processing device}

1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of an exemplary digital camera to which the concept of the present invention can be applied.

2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a rear surface of a digital camera as shown in FIG. 1 as an example of a digital image processing apparatus to which the present invention may be applied.

3 is a flowchart illustrating an image retrieval method of a digital image processing apparatus according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

4 illustrates a method of searching for an image according to the order in which S104 of FIG. 3 is originally stored.

FIG. 5 illustrates a method of searching for an image according to rearranged information according to a weight assigned to step S104 of FIG. 3.

FIG. 6 illustrates an example in which an image search based on a weight and an image search based on an original storage order are mixed in the image search method of the present invention.

7 illustrates an embodiment in which an effect screen indicating that a search is performed when searching for an image according to a weight is inserted.

The present invention relates to a digital image processing apparatus capable of storing and reproducing images, such as a digital camera, and more particularly, to a method for retrieving an image stored in a digital image processing apparatus.

Recently, as the storage devices such as memory cards and flash memories have increased in size, the number and capacity of images that can be stored in the memory of a digital image processing apparatus have increased greatly.

In general, when playing back a stored image, a user sequentially searches for playback images by pressing a direction button in a single view image playback mode or a thumbnail view image playback mode.

However, when a user wants to search for and play a desired image in the middle of a number of stored images, the user has to go through many previous images.

As such, the image search methods of the conventional digital camera always search images only sequentially, so that when the image that the user wants to view is located in the middle of many stored images, it cannot be quickly searched.

On the other hand, there is an album function for searching by the user's intention, but at the time of image storage, it takes a lot of time because the user must classify into album folder according to the classification criteria desired by the user.

An object of the present invention is to provide an image retrieval method of a digital image processing apparatus for quickly searching for a desired image by reflecting a user's image reproduction performance.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided an image retrieval method of a digital image processing apparatus comprising: (a) assigning a weight according to a refresh rate of a stored image; (b) storing rearranged information of the search order of the stored images according to the weight at a certain point in time; And (c) searching for the image according to the rearranged information or the original stored order.

In the step (a), the stored image is weighted in proportion to the accumulated time reproduced in a single image view.

Step (a) is characterized in that the weighted priority is given to the frequency at which the stored image is enlarged and reproduced.

Step (b) is characterized in that is performed at the time of switching the function mode of the digital image processing apparatus.

In the step (c), the image is searched according to the rearranged information or the original stored order according to whether the search button is pressed for a predetermined period or more. In the step (c), if the search button is pressed for a predetermined period or longer, the image scroll interval is longer than otherwise, and the image is searched according to the rearranged information. In addition, in the step (c), when the search button is pressed for a predetermined period or more, an effect screen indicating that the image is being searched is inserted and displayed before the next search image is displayed.

Step (b) is characterized in that is performed when the search button is pressed for a predetermined period or more.

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.

1 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) to remove the high frequency noise and to reduce the amplitude. After auto gain control (AGC), convert it 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 the components of FIG. 1, and those skilled in the art may delete some of the components, add another component, or modify some components according to the specification. It will be appreciated that the functionality of the various components may be implemented in combination.

2 is a view showing an example of the back of the digital camera as shown in FIG. 1 to which the present invention can be applied.

At the rear of the digital camera of Fig. 2, the viewfinder 100, the autofocus lamp 101, the flash status lamp 102, the mode dial 103, the wide-angle zoom button 104, the telephoto zoom button 105, 5 Function button 106, speaker 107, external output terminal 108, DC power input terminal 109, playback mode button 110, LCD monitor 111, display the currently set shooting information on the monitor or LCD monitor An LCD button 112, a manual focus button 113, a pause button 114 and the like are provided to turn off / turn on.

In this case, the five-function button 106 includes a menu entry / confirmation button and a top, bottom, left and right direction buttons at 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. 2 may be provided to perform two or more complex functions in addition to the functions shown in the names.

3 is a flowchart illustrating an image retrieval method of a digital image processing apparatus according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

First, a weight is assigned to an image according to a refresh rate of a stored image (S100). The search order of the stored images is rearranged according to the weights assigned to the images at a certain point in time, and the rearrangement information is stored (S102). Then, the image is searched according to the rearranged information or the original stored order according to the given weight (S104).

In operation S100, the reproduction frequency of the image may be weighted with respect to the number of times the image is reproduced in the single image view. For example, in a thumbnail view playback state, a weight is given to an image with respect to the number of times a user selects one image and converts to a single view. Each time a single view is played, weights of 3 points can be assigned to the image.

In addition, in step S100, the reproduction frequency of the image may be weighted with respect to the cumulative time reproduced, for example, in a single image view. For example, an additional weight of one point may be added to the image every two seconds or more.

In operation S100, weights given priority may be assigned to a frequency at which an image is enlarged and reproduced. For example, when the user presses the magnification button (105 in FIG. 2) in the single view state and enlarges and reproduces, the weight may be additionally given to the image by five points.

These various methods can be weighted according to the image reproduction frequency. In this case, a maximum value of weights that can be given to one image may be defined.

Such weighting may be stored in the header portion of the JPEG file format in EXIF (EXchangeable Image File, EXIF) format in each image file.

Table 1 below illustrates the weighting results of the 681 images.

Save
order M1 M2 ... M20 ... M50 M51 ... M112 M113 ... M679 M680 M681 weight One 5 ... 24 ... 25 One ... 30 One ... 27 One 3 ranking R301 R100 ... R4 ... R3 R302 ... R1 R303 ... R2 R304 R150

Table 2 below reorders the search order of the stored images according to the weights of Table 1. In addition, search priority may be given to the same weight in the stored order.

Rearrangement
order M679 M112 M50 M20 ... M2 ... M681 ... M1 M51 M113 M680 weight 30 27 25 24 ... 5 ... 3 ... One One One One ranking R1 R2 R3 R4 ... R100 ... R150 ... R301 R302 R303 R304

The image rearrangement (S102) according to the given weight may be performed at a certain time, for example, when switching the function mode of the digital image processing apparatus, for example, when playing mode → shooting mode, shooting mode → playing mode, power off, or the like. have.

In addition, whether to search the image according to the rearranged information according to the weight given in step S104, or whether to search the image in the original stored order, the search button (for example, 106 left, right button in Fig. 3) is a predetermined period of time. It can be determined depending on whether or not it is pressed.

In addition, the image rearrangement S102 according to the given weight may be performed when the search button is pressed for a predetermined period or more. That is, when the user presses the search button long without switching the mode in the play mode, the image rearrangement (S102) according to the weight may be performed immediately, and the image search according to the weight may be successively performed.

4 shows a method of searching for an image according to the originally stored order of Table 1 (S104). Whether the image is searched according to the rearranged information according to the assigned weight or whether the image is searched according to the original stored order is determined whether the search button (for example, 106 left and right buttons in FIG. 3) is pressed for a predetermined period or more. It can be determined according to. For example, if you press and hold the search button (▶▶, ◀◀) for a long time, the image will be searched according to the rearranged information. It can be implemented to retrieve an image. Here, the division of the long key and the short key may be determined based on whether the search button is pressed for 0.5 seconds or more.

Referring to FIG. 4, the first single view image displayed in the playback mode is the most recently stored image 681, and is stored as the user inputs the next short key (▶) and the previous short key (◀). Images are searched and played in order.

FIG. 5 illustrates a method of searching an image according to rearranged information according to the assigned weights of Table 2 (S104).

Referring to FIG. 5, the first single view image displayed in the playback mode is the most recently stored image 681, and the user inputs the next long key (▶▶) and previous long key (◀◀). The images are searched and reproduced in the rearranged order according to the weights given thereto (see Table 2).

6 illustrates a case in which an image search based on a weight and an image search based on an original storage order are mixed in performing the image search method of the present invention. The first single view image displayed in the playback mode is the 681 most recently stored image, and the order of weights assigned as the user enters the next long key (▶▶) and previous long key (◀◀). As the image is searched and played back (see Table 2), and the next short key (▶) and previous short key (◀) are inputted, it is scrolled back and forth in the order of saving by one image unit in the currently played image. Can be.

7 illustrates an embodiment in which an effect screen is inserted when searching for an image according to a weight.

Referring to FIG. 7, when an image is searched according to a weight by a search button long key input, an effect screen indicating “searching” may be inserted and displayed in the middle of a screen scroll.

Referring to FIG. 7, when the image is searched according to the weight by the search button long key input, the screen may be scrolled somewhat slower (2Δt) than when the short key is input so that the user may feel the search effect.

In the drawings and specification, there have been disclosed preferred embodiments. 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 appreciate that various modifications and equivalent embodiments are possible without departing from the scope of the present invention. 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 image retrieval method of the digital image processing apparatus of the present invention, a desired image can be quickly and conveniently retrieved by reflecting the image reproduction performance of the user.

The invention is not limited to the examples described above and represented in the drawings. Those skilled in the art 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 (8)

(a) weighting according to the reproduction frequency of the stored image after the photographing; (b) reordering the search order of the stored image after the shooting according to the weight at a certain point in time, and storing the reordered search order; And (c) searching for an image according to the rearranged search order or the photographed order, The step (c) If the search button is pressed for a time longer than a predetermined period, the images are searched according to the rearranged search order at one or more image intervals, and if the search button is pressed for a time shorter than the predetermined period, the photographed order at one image interval. The image retrieval method of the digital image processing apparatus, characterized in that for retrieving the image according to. The method of claim 1, wherein step (a) The image retrieval method of the digital image processing apparatus, characterized in that the weight is given in proportion to the cumulative time reproduced in the single image view stored after the shooting. The method of claim 2, wherein step (a) And the weighting given priority to the frequency at which the stored image is enlarged and reproduced after the photographing. delete delete The method of claim 1, And an effect screen indicating that the image is being searched when the search button is pressed for a longer time than the predetermined period, and inserting the effect screen before displaying the search image displayed in response to the search. The method of claim 1, wherein step (b) And the function mode of the digital image processing apparatus is switched from the first mode to the second mode. The method of claim 7, wherein And the first mode is a photographing mode and the second mode is a playback mode.

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