KR101386145B1 - Method for frame control of camera and terminal using the same - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a method for adjusting the frame number of a camera and a terminal using the same.

The present invention compares the number of input frames and the number of output frames of the image processor, and determines that the image processor is overloaded when the number of input frames is larger than the number of output frames, thereby reducing the number of input frames and reducing the load of the image processor. The present invention relates to a method for adjusting the number of frames of a camera capable of obtaining a smooth output image, and a terminal using the same.

Frame rate, camera, image processing, video, terminal

Description

Camera frame rate control method and terminal using the same {METHOD FOR FRAME CONTROL OF CAMERA AND TERMINAL USING THE SAME}

The present invention relates to a method for adjusting the number of frames of a camera and a terminal using the same. In particular, a camera capable of obtaining a smooth output image without a phenomenon by reducing the load of the image processor by comparing the number of input frames and the number of output frames of the image processor. The present invention relates to a frame number adjusting method and a terminal using the same.

Recently, with the miniaturization and lightening of electronic components, the size of the terminals has been gradually reduced in size, and according to the needs of consumers, terminals having additional functions in addition to a simple function have become common, and in particular, camera functions are added with the miniaturization of the camera. Terminals are gradually increasing. Accordingly, the number of pixels of the camera embedded in the terminal is increased and the image quality is also improved. In addition, as the memory capacity of the terminal increases, the terminal with a built-in camera enables not only photographing but also video recording.

Performance evaluation of such a camera may be based on the number of frames (images per second) in a video or preview screen. However, the number of frames output from the image processor depends on the performance of the image processor reprocessing the input images. In addition, when the user wants to shoot a video using the above-described camera, the terminal itself is set to one specific value of the frame number, or to shoot the video at a value manually set by the terminal user. As such, when the number of frames of the output image is fixed, the output image of the image processor may not adjust the number of frames according to the load of the image processor that is changed in real time, resulting in an input frame loss when the image processor is overloaded, resulting in an uneven output image. have.

Accordingly, there is a demand for a method and apparatus for automatically controlling a frame output from a camera according to a load of an image processor to prevent frame loss, to obtain a smooth output image without dropping, and to efficiently use a system.

Therefore, the present invention was devised to solve the problems of the prior art as described above, and an object of the present invention is to reduce the number of frames input to the image processor when the load of the image processor is large, and to reduce the load of the image processor. A frame number adjusting method of a camera for increasing the number of frames input to an image processor and a terminal using the same are provided.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a method for adjusting the number of frames of a camera that prevents unnecessary memory and wasted time by reducing the load of the image processor and a terminal using the same.

It is still another object of the present invention to provide a method for adjusting the number of frames of a camera and a terminal using the same, in which an input image loss does not occur due to an overload of an image processor, thereby improving the quality of an output image.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of controlling a frame number of a camera, the method including: detecting a number of input frames output from a camera and input to an image processor; Detecting the number of output frames processed and output by the image processor; Comparing the number of input frames with the number of output frames; And adjusting the number of input frames by feeding back a control command according to the comparison result to the camera.

A terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention for achieving the above object is a camera that captures an image signal, the frame number is adjusted; An image processor which receives an image signal from the camera and outputs the image signal by processing the image signal; And a controller configured to compare the number of input frames and the number of output frames of the image processor and adjust the number of frames of the camera according to the result.

As described above, the method for adjusting the number of frames of the camera and the terminal using the same according to the embodiment of the present invention have an effect of obtaining a smooth and smooth output image because there is no input image loss due to the overload of the image processor.

And the method of adjusting the frame number of the camera and the terminal using the same according to an embodiment of the present invention has the effect of improving the overall system performance by preventing inefficient memory waste by reducing the load of the image processing unit.

In addition, the method for adjusting the number of frames of the camera and the terminal using the same according to an embodiment of the present invention have the effect of increasing the efficiency of the work by adjusting the number of frames of the camera according to the system load according to the multitasking task.

Hereinafter, the principle of operation of the preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the following description, only parts necessary for understanding the operation according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described, and the description of other parts will be omitted so as not to disturb the gist of the present invention.

The terms and words used in the present specification and claims should not be construed to be limited to ordinary or dictionary meanings, and the inventor shall design the concept of the term appropriately in order to describe its own invention in the best way possible. It should be interpreted as meaning and concept consistent with the technical idea of the present invention. Therefore, the embodiments described in the present specification and the configurations shown in the drawings are merely the most preferred embodiments of the present invention, and not all of the technical ideas of the present invention are described. Therefore, It is to be understood that equivalents and modifications are possible.

Prior to the detailed description of the present invention, a terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described as a portable terminal for convenience of description, but the present invention is not limited thereto. That is, the terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention is a terminal having a photographic or video recording function by internally or externally embedding a camera. Preferably, the terminal has a built-in communication function, a mobile phone, a personal information terminal (PDA, Personal). Digital Assistant (Smart Phone), International Mobile Telecommunication 2000 (IMT-2000) Terminal, Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) Terminal, Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA) Terminal, Global System for Mobile Communication (GSM) Terminal And all information and communication devices such as universal mobile telecommunication service (UMTS) terminals, digital broadcasting terminals, navigation terminals, and potable multimidia player terminals, and applications thereof. Will be self explanatory.

1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a terminal 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 1, the terminal 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a camera 110 to which a photo or video signal is input, an image processor 120 to process an image input from the camera 100, And a display unit 130 for displaying the processed image by the image processor 120, a memory unit 140 capable of storing the processed image, and a controller 150 for adjusting the number of frames of the camera 110. Can be.

The camera 110 serves as a means for capturing a picture or a video, and is a device in which the number of frames is adjusted. To this end, the camera 110 may include a frame number adjusting unit 153 which will be described later in the description of the controller 150. The method of adjusting the number of frames of the camera 110 may be to adjust the main clock of the camera 110.

The image processor 120 is a device that processes and outputs an image input from the camera 110. That is, the image processor 120 resizes the image input from the camera 110, moves between memories, converts RGB signals, converts A / D, removes noise, digital zooms, and rotates images. ), An image processing function such as encoding may be performed. Detailed description of each function of the image processor 120 will be apparent to those skilled in the art, and thus description thereof will be omitted. The image processed output image may be displayed on the display unit 130 or stored in the memory unit 140. The image processor 120 according to an embodiment of the present invention may be included in the controller 150.

The display unit 130 has a function of displaying an image output from the image processing unit 120. That is, the display unit 130 may display a preview screen when capturing a photo, and display a screen recorded when capturing a video.

The memory unit 140 is an application program required for an operating system (OS) of the terminal 100, other option functions of the terminal 100, for example, a sound playback function, an image or video playback function, a broadcast signal reception, and the like. And so on. In particular, the memory unit 140 according to an embodiment of the present invention can store an application program for adjusting the number of frames of the camera, and can store an image output from the image processor 120.

In addition, the memory 140 compares the number of frames (hereinafter referred to as input frames) input to the image processor 120 with the number of frames (hereinafter referred to as output frames) output from the image processor 120 and the input frame. If the number is larger than the number of output frames, a reference value for reducing the number of input frames by a predetermined size may be stored. Alternatively, when the number of input frames and the number of output frames are the same, a reference value for increasing the number of input frames by a predetermined size may be stored. In addition, the variable number of frames, which is flexible according to the load of the image processor 120 and can process the frame input from the camera 110 without loss, may be stored. The variable number of frames may be reduced when the load of the image processor 120 is high and may be increased when the load of the image processor 120 is low.

The controller 150 controls the overall operation of the terminal 100 and the signal flow between the internal blocks of the terminal 100. In particular, the controller 150 according to an embodiment of the present invention may include a frame number detector 151, a frame number comparer 152, a frame number adjuster 153, and a variable frame number detector 154. .

The controller 150 may detect the number of input frames and the number of output frames by the frame number detector 151. The detected number of input frames and the number of output frames may be compared in the frame number comparison unit 152. The controller 150 may adjust the number of output frames of the camera 110 through the frame number adjuster 153 according to the comparison result of the frame number comparer 152. In detail, when the number of input frames is greater than the number of output frames as a result of the comparison of the frame number comparing unit 152, the frame number adjusting unit 153 may reduce the number of frames output from the camera 110. Command to reduce the number of input frames. This process may continue until the number of input frames and the number of output frames are equal. Thereafter, the variable frame number detector 154 may determine the reduced number of input frames as the variable frame number, which is an optimal number of frames that the image processor 120 can process without loss of a frame. Meanwhile, when the number of input frames and the number of output frames are the same, the frame number adjusting unit 153 may increase the number of input frames by instructing to increase the number of frames output from the camera 110. This process may continue until the number of input frames is greater than the number of output frames. Thereafter, the variable frame number detector 154 may determine the number of input frames immediately before the number of input frames becomes greater than the number of output frames as a variable number of frames that is an optimal number of frames that the image processor 120 can process without losing a frame. .

When the number of the variable frames is determined through the above-described process, the controller 150 may maintain the output frame number of the camera 110 as the variable frame number for a predetermined time. After a predetermined time has passed, the controller 150 may check whether the camera 110 is operated and may proceed with the above-described camera frame adjustment process. In addition, the controller 150 may determine whether to proceed with the camera frame adjustment process by checking the load degree of the image processor 120. For example, the controller 150 is configured to simultaneously use additional functions such as an event of using the image processor 120, that is, a noise canceling function and a shake correction function, during video recording using the camera 110. If so, it may be to perform the frame adjustment process of the camera described above.

The frame number adjusting unit 153 may be included in the camera 110. At this time, the frame number adjusting unit 153 receives the result of the frame number comparing unit through the control unit 150 to determine the number of output frames of the camera 110, that is, the number of input frames of the image processing unit 120. I can regulate it.

In the above, the schematic configuration of the terminal 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention has been described with reference to FIG. 1. Hereinafter, a method of adjusting a frame number of a camera according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. 2.

Prior to the detailed description of the present invention, in FIG. 2 used for the following description, "I" stands for "Input" and represents the input frame number, and "O" stands for "Output" for the number of output frames. Indicates. Alpha (α) and beta (β) are reference values for increasing or decreasing the input frame number I by a predetermined size. At this time, alpha (α) and beta (β) are natural numbers. In addition, the alpha (α) and beta (β) values may be variously set according to the intention of the designer of the terminal. For example, the alpha (α) and beta (β) values may be increased or decreased by 1 or increased or decreased by 2 or more. Alternatively, the increase or decrease of the alpha (α) and beta (β) values may be set differently. In addition, the alpha (α) and beta (β) values may have limits depending on the performance of the camera. For example, if the camera 110 can process up to 30 frames per second, the alpha (α) and beta (β) values may be formed to be smaller than 30.

2 is a flowchart illustrating a method of adjusting a frame number of a camera according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 2, the controller 150 determines whether the camera 110 is driven in step S201. Here, the driving of the camera may be a motion picture capture or a preview screen operation. If the camera 110 is not in operation, the controller 150 branches to step S202 to end the process for adjusting the frame number of the camera. When the camera is operating in step S201, the controller 150 branches to step S203, and the input frame number I and the output frame number through the frame number detector 151 and the frame number comparison unit 152 ( Compare O). In this case, when the input frame number I is not larger than the output frame number O, that is, when the input frame number I and the output frame number O are the same, the controller 150 performs step S207. The input frame number I may be increased by branching to the reference frame alpha I by adding the reference value alpha α to the input frame number I. Thereafter, the controller 150 may compare the input frame number I + α and the output frame number O increased in step S209. If the increased number of input frames (I + α) and the number of output frames (O) are the same, the controller 150 branches to step S211 to add a beta (β) value to the alpha (α) value. Here, the expression "α <-α + β" shown in step S211 of FIG. 2 means that the right "α + β" value is substituted into the left alpha (α) value. That is, when the process proceeds to the step S207 through the step S211, the alpha (α) value is increased by the size of the beta (β). Therefore, the alpha (α) value in step S207 is larger than the previous alpha (α) value by a beta (β) value. In this case, the previous alpha (α) value may be stored in the memory unit 140.

In the steps S207, S209, and S211, a situation in which the increased number of input frames I + α is not the same as the number of output frames O in step S209, that is, the increased number of input frames I + α The process is repeated until the output frame number O is larger than the output frame number O. If the increased number of input frames (I + α) is greater than the number of output frames (O) in step S209, the controller 150 proceeds to step S213, and the previously increased number of input frames (I + α). Is determined as the variable number of frames. After that, the controller 150 proceeds to step S221 and waits for a predetermined time. After a predetermined time has passed, the controller 150 may proceed to step S201 to perform a frame number adjustment process of the camera described above. As such, the frame number adjustment process of the camera may be periodically performed. Alternatively, the process of adjusting the number of frames of the camera may be performed when the load of the image processor 120 is increased by setting an event, that is, a noise removing function and a shake correction function. The opposite is also true.

If the input frame number I is greater than the output frame number O in step S203, the controller 150 branches to step S205 to input the input frame number I by the reference value alpha α. The number of frames I can be reduced. Thereafter, the controller 150 proceeds to step S215 and compares the reduced number of input frames I-α and the number of output frames O. FIG. If the reduced number of input frames (I -α) is greater than the number of output frames (O), the controller 150 branches to step S217 to add a beta (β) value to the alpha (α) value. . Here, the expression “α <−α + β” shown in step S217 of FIG. 2 has the same meaning as described above in step S211. That is, when the process proceeds to the step S205 through the step S217, the alpha (α) value is increased by the beta (β) value. Therefore, the alpha (α) value in the step S205 is larger than the previous alpha (α) value by the beta (β) value.

In the steps S205, S215, and S217, the reduced input frame number I -α is not larger than the output frame number O, that is, the reduced input frame number I -α is determined in step S215. It can be repeated until it equals the number of output frames O.

If the reduced number of input frames I-α and the output frame number O are the same in step S215, the controller 150 branches to step S219 to determine the reduced number of input frames I-α. The variable number of frames is determined. After that, the controller 150 proceeds to step S221 and waits for a predetermined time. After a predetermined time has passed, the controller 150 may proceed to step S201 to perform a frame number adjustment process of the camera described above. As such, the frame number adjustment process of the camera may be periodically performed. Alternatively, the process of adjusting the number of frames of the camera may be performed when the load of the image processor 120 is increased by setting an event, that is, a noise removing function and a shake correction function. The opposite is also true.

The above method compares the number of input frames and the number of output frames of the image processor 120 to determine the load degree of the image processor 120 and finds a variable number of frames capable of processing an image without losing a frame, and using the same. Although the terminal has been described with reference to the present specification and drawings, although specific terms have been used, it is only used in a general sense to easily explain the technical contents of the present invention and to help the understanding of the present invention, thus limiting the scope of the present invention. It is not intended to be. It is apparent to those skilled in the art that other modifications based on the technical idea of the present invention can be carried out in addition to the embodiments disclosed herein.

1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention;

2 is a flowchart illustrating a method of adjusting a frame number of a camera according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

Claims (19)

Detecting the number of input frames output from the camera and input to the image processor; Detecting the number of output frames processed and output by the image processor; Comparing the number of input frames with the number of output frames; And And adjusting the number of input frames by feeding back a control command according to the comparison result to the camera. The method according to claim 1, The process of adjusting the number of frames of the camera And if the number of input frames is equal to the number of output frames, increasing the number of input frames by a predetermined reference value. 3. The method of claim 2, After the process of increasing the number of input frames by a predetermined reference value And increasing the preset reference value if the increased number of input frames and the number of output frames are the same. 3. The method of claim 2, After the process of increasing the number of input frames by a predetermined reference value And if the increased number of input frames is greater than the number of output frames, determining the number of immediately preceding input frames as a variable number of frames. 5. The method of claim 4, After the process of determining the variable number of frames And maintaining the frame number of the camera at the variable number of frames for a predetermined time. The method according to claim 1, The process of adjusting the number of frames of the camera And if the number of input frames is greater than the number of output frames, reducing the number of input frames by a predetermined reference value. The method according to claim 6, After the process of reducing the number of input frames by a predetermined reference value And increasing the predetermined reference value if the reduced number of input frames is greater than the number of output frames. The method according to claim 6, After the process of reducing the number of input frames by a predetermined reference value And determining the number of input frames as a variable number of frames when the reduced number of input frames is equal to the number of output frames. 9. The method of claim 8, After the process of determining the variable number of frames And maintaining the frame number of the camera at the variable number of frames for a predetermined time. A camera that captures an image signal and adjusts the number of frames; An image processor which receives an image signal from the camera and outputs the image signal by processing the image signal; And a controller for comparing the number of input frames and the number of output frames of the image processor and adjusting the number of frames of the camera according to the result. 11. The method of claim 10, And a memory unit configured to compare the input frame number with the output frame number and store a reference value for increasing or decreasing the input frame number by a predetermined size according to the result. 11. The method of claim 10, The control unit And when the number of input frames and the number of output frames is the same, increasing the number of input frames by a predetermined reference value. 13. The method of claim 12, The control unit And increasing the input frame number by a predetermined reference value and then increasing the preset reference value if the increased input frame number and the output frame number are the same. 13. The method of claim 12, The control unit And after increasing the number of input frames by a predetermined reference value, if the increased number of input frames is greater than the number of output frames, the terminal immediately before the number of input frames is determined as a variable number of frames. 15. The method of claim 14, The control unit And after determining the variable number of frames, the number of output frames of the camera is maintained at the variable number of frames for a predetermined time. 11. The method of claim 10, The control unit And when the number of input frames is larger than the number of output frames, reducing the number of input frames by a predetermined reference value. 17. The method of claim 16, The control unit And reducing the number of input frames by a predetermined reference value and then increasing the preset reference value when the number of reduced input frames is greater than the number of output frames. 17. The method of claim 16, The control unit And reducing the number of input frames by a predetermined reference value and then determining the reduced number of input frames as a variable number of frames when the number of reduced input frames and the number of output frames are equal. 19. The method of claim 18, The control unit And determining the number of output frames of the camera for the predetermined time after determining the number of variable frames.

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