KR20220168768A - Device and method of capturing image with anti-flicker function - Google Patents

Abstract

An image photographing apparatus and method having an anti-flicker function are disclosed. The image photographing apparatus includes: an ENF acquisition part for acquiring an electric network frequency (ENF); a control signal generation part for generating a control signal for controlling a photographing operation of the photographing part based on the ENF; and the photographing part for performing the photographing operation based on the control signal. The photographing operation is performed in consideration of the ENF, thereby preventing the occurrence of a flickering phenomenon in a video.

Description

Image photographing apparatus and method having anti-flicker function {DEVICE AND METHOD OF CAPTURING IMAGE WITH ANTI-FLICKER FUNCTION}

The present invention relates to an image capture device that performs an anti-flicker function using an ENF (Electric Network Frequency) signal, and more particularly, to a flickering phenomenon of the image capture device using the collected ENF It relates to an apparatus and method for minimizing.

ENF is a frequency of a voltage supplied by the country, and it is known that the stability of supplied power can be evaluated using this frequency, or location information representing the corresponding ENF characteristics can be found.

The present invention is a technology for minimizing the flicker of a video (see FIG. 3) caused by the frequency (ENF) of a supply voltage, and controls the shooting operation of an image capture device using an AC frequency of an actual power grid to reduce the flicker. want to remove

Republic of Korea Patent Registration No. 1795483 (2017.11.10. Notice)

A technical problem to be achieved by the present invention is to provide an image capturing device and an image capturing method capable of removing a flicker phenomenon using an ENF signal.

An image photographing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention includes an ENF acquisition unit for acquiring an ENF (Electric Network Frequency), a control signal generator for generating a control signal for controlling a photographing operation of a photographing unit based on the ENF, and the and a photographing unit that performs a photographing operation based on a control signal.

In addition, an image capturing method according to an embodiment of the present invention, performed by an image capturing device, includes obtaining an ENF, generating a control signal for controlling a capturing operation based on the ENF, and the control signal. and performing a photographing operation based on.

According to the image capturing apparatus and method according to the embodiment of the present invention, a video without flickering may be captured using the obtained ENF signal.

A detailed description of each drawing is provided in order to more fully understand the drawings cited in the detailed description of the present invention.
1 is a functional block diagram of an image capture device according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating an image capture method performed by the image capture device shown in FIG. 1 .
3 is a diagram for explaining a flickering phenomenon occurring in a CCTV image.

Specific structural or functional descriptions of the embodiments according to the concept of the present invention disclosed in this specification are only illustrated for the purpose of explaining the embodiments according to the concept of the present invention, and the embodiments according to the concept of the present invention may be embodied in many forms and are not limited to the embodiments described herein.

Embodiments according to the concept of the present invention can apply various changes and can have various forms, so the embodiments are illustrated in the drawings and described in detail in this specification. However, this is not intended to limit the embodiments according to the concept of the present invention to specific disclosed forms, and includes all modifications, equivalents, or substitutes included in the spirit and scope of the present invention.

Terms such as first or second may be used to describe various components, but the components should not be limited by the terms. The above terms are used only for the purpose of distinguishing one component from another, e.g. without departing from the scope of rights according to the concept of the present invention, a first component may be termed a second component and similarly a second component may be termed a second component. A component may also be referred to as a first component.

It is understood that when an element is referred to as being "connected" or "connected" to another element, it may be directly connected or connected to the other element, but other elements may exist in the middle. It should be. On the other hand, when a component is referred to as “directly connected” or “directly connected” to another component, it should be understood that no other component exists in the middle. Other expressions describing the relationship between components, such as "between" and "directly between" or "adjacent to" and "directly adjacent to", etc., should be interpreted similarly.

Terms used in this specification are only used to describe specific embodiments, and are not intended to limit the present invention. Singular expressions include plural expressions unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. In this specification, terms such as "comprise" or "having" are intended to indicate that there is a feature, number, step, operation, component, part, or combination thereof described in this specification, but one or more other features It should be understood that it does not preclude the possibility of the presence or addition of numbers, steps, operations, components, parts, or combinations thereof.

Unless defined otherwise, all terms used herein, including technical or scientific terms, have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which the present invention belongs. Terms such as those defined in commonly used dictionaries should be interpreted as having a meaning consistent with the meaning in the context of the related art, and unless explicitly defined in this specification, it should not be interpreted in an ideal or excessively formal meaning. don't

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, the scope of the patent application is not limited or limited by these examples. Like reference numerals in each figure indicate like elements.

1 is a functional block diagram of an image capture device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 1 , an image capturing apparatus 100 includes at least one of an Electric Network Frequency (ENF) obtaining unit 110, a control signal generating unit 120, a photographing unit 130, and a storage unit 140. can include

The ENF acquisition unit 110 may obtain ENF of a region where the image capturing device 100 is located. Specifically, the ENF obtaining unit 110 may directly measure the frequency of power supplying power to the image capturing device 100 or receive ENF corresponding to location information of the image capturing device 100 from an external device. there is.

When measuring ENF, the image capturing apparatus 100 may measure ENF by measuring a frequency of power received from an external AC power source. In this case, the image capturing device 100 may be implemented as a closed circuit television (CCTV), an external surveillance camera, or the like that receives driving power from an external AC power source.

When receiving ENF from an external device, the ENF acquisition unit 110 measures the location of the image capturing device 100 and then converts the measured location information (or information for specifying the location of the image capturing device 100). It can be transmitted to an external device (eg, a server that provides an ENF signal corresponding to location information). In this case, the ENF acquisition unit 110 may include a location measurement means (eg, a GPS receiver, etc.) for measuring location information.

Depending on the embodiment, the ENF acquisition unit 110 periodically or aperiodically transmits location information of the image capturing device 100 to the server, and as a response thereto, periodically or aperiodically transmits ENF information corresponding to the location information. can be received as This is because the ENF of the region where the imaging device 100 is located may change over time. In this case, the image capturing device 100 is a computing device capable of measuring location information and transmitting and receiving data through a predetermined wired/wireless communication network, and may be implemented as a smart phone, a digital camera, or the like.

Depending on the embodiment, the ENF acquisition unit 110 may transmit location information based on an IP address used to provide a communication service to the region where the image capturing device 100 is located and a repeater providing the communication service. In this case, the ENF acquisition unit 110 may provide location information of the image capturing device 100 or transmit information for detecting the location (IP address, repeater location, repeater identification information, etc.) to the server. .

The control signal generating unit 120 uses the ENF information obtained by the ENF acquisition unit 110 or the ENF information obtained by the ENF acquisition unit 110 and then stored in the storage unit 140 to capture the photographing unit 130. A control signal for controlling the operation may be generated. Specifically, the control signal generating unit 120 may generate information about the shutter speed and/or frame speed of the photographing unit 130 and then output the generated control signal.

For example, the control signal generator 120 may calculate a shutter speed to be an integer multiple of the ENF frequency. Specifically, when the ENF frequency is e and the shutter speed is s, a (a is an arbitrary integer) and/or shutter speed s (or a/s) satisfying e=a/s can be calculated. Of course, the calculated shutter speed should be included within the shutter speed supportable by the photographing unit 130 . Depending on the embodiment, the control signal generating unit 120 may calculate a frame rate corresponding to the calculated shutter speed.

The control signal generated by the control signal generator 120 includes information about the calculated shutter speed and/or frame rate.

The photographing unit 130 may perform an image capturing operation according to the control signal generated by the control signal generating unit 120 . Specifically, the photographing unit 130 may perform a photographing operation at the shutter speed and/or frame rate indicated by the control signal. The control signal may be received periodically or non-periodically multiple times. In this case, the photographing unit 130 may perform a photographing operation according to the most recently received control signal.

The storage unit 140 includes the ENF information measured by the ENF acquisition unit 110, the ENF information received by the ENF acquisition unit 110, the control signal generated by the control signal generator 120, the calculated shutter speed, The frame rate and frames captured by the photographing unit 130 may be stored.

Each of the components of the imaging device 100 shown in FIG. 1 represents that it can be functionally and logically separated, which means that each component is necessarily divided into a separate physical device or written in a separate code. The average expert in the art of the present invention will readily be able to infer that it is not.

In addition, in this specification, "~ unit" may mean a functional and structural combination of hardware for carrying out the technical idea of the present invention and software for driving the hardware. For example, the module may refer to a predetermined code and a logical unit of hardware resources for executing the predetermined code, and does not necessarily mean physically connected codes or one type of hardware.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating an image capture method performed by the image capture device shown in FIG. 1 . Hereinafter, in describing the video capturing method, descriptions of overlapping contents with the previous descriptions will be omitted.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2 , the ENF acquisition unit 110 of the image capturing device 100 acquires the ENF corresponding to the location of the image capturing device 100, that is, of a region where the image capturing device 100 is located. It can be done (S100). The ENF acquisition unit 110 directly measures the ENF of the region where the image capturing device 100 is located, or from a separate device (eg, a server providing an ENF signal) to the ENF of the region where the image capturing device 100 is located. may receive.

Next, the control signal generating unit 120 of the image capturing device 100 may generate a control signal for controlling the operation of the capturing unit 130 (S200). The control signal may include shutter speed information and/or frame rate information of the photographing unit 130 .

Upon receiving the control signal, the photographing unit 130 of the image photographing apparatus 100 may perform a photographing operation according to the control signal (S300). Specifically, the photographing unit 130 may perform a photographing operation according to a shutter speed included in the control signal or a photographing operation according to a frame rate included in the control signal.

As described above, by controlling the shutter speed of the image capturing device to be an integer multiple of the ENF frequency of the region where the image capturing device 100 is located, a clicker phenomenon occurring in a captured video can be eliminated.

The device described above may be implemented as a hardware component, a software component, and/or a set of hardware components and software components. For example, devices and components described in the embodiments may include, for example, a processor, a controller, an arithmetic logic unit (ALU), a digital signal processor, a microcomputer, a field programmable array (FPA), It may be implemented using one or more general purpose or special purpose computers, such as a Programmable Logic Unit (PLU), microprocessor, or any other device capable of executing and responding to instructions. The processing device may execute an operating system (OS) and one or more software applications running on the operating system. A processing device may also access, store, manipulate, process, and generate data in response to execution of software. For convenience of understanding, there are cases in which one processing device is used, but those skilled in the art will understand that the processing device includes a plurality of processing elements and/or a plurality of types of processing elements. It can be seen that it can include. For example, a processing device may include a plurality of processors or a processor and a controller. Also, other processing configurations are possible, such as a parallel processor.

Software may include a computer program, code, instructions, or a combination of one or more of these, and may configure a processing device to operate as desired or process independently or collectively. The device can be commanded. Software and/or data may be any tangible machine, component, physical device, virtual equipment, computer storage medium or device, intended to be interpreted by or to provide instructions or data to a processing device. , or may be permanently or temporarily embodied in the transmitted signal wave. Software may be distributed on networked computer systems and stored or executed in a distributed manner. Software and data may be stored on one or more computer readable media.

The method according to the embodiment may be implemented in the form of program instructions that can be executed through various computer means and recorded on a computer readable medium. The computer readable medium may include program instructions, data files, data structures, etc. alone or in combination. Program commands recorded on the medium may be specially designed and configured for the embodiment or may be known and usable to those skilled in computer software. Examples of computer-readable recording media include magnetic media such as hard disks, floppy disks and magnetic tapes, optical media such as CD-ROMs and DVDs, and magnetic media such as floptical disks. - Includes hardware devices specially configured to store and execute program instructions, such as magneto-optical media, ROM, RAM, flash memory, etc. Examples of program instructions include high-level language codes that can be executed by a computer using an interpreter, as well as machine language codes such as those produced by a compiler. The hardware devices described above may be configured to operate as one or more software modules to perform the operations of the embodiments, and vice versa.

Although the present invention has been described with reference to the embodiments shown in the drawings, this is only exemplary, and those skilled in the art will understand that various modifications and equivalent other embodiments are possible therefrom. For example, the described techniques may be performed in an order different from the method described, and/or components of the described system, structure, device, circuit, etc. may be combined or combined in a different form than the method described, or other components may be used. Or even if it is replaced or substituted by equivalents, appropriate results can be achieved. Therefore, the true technical protection scope of the present invention should be determined by the technical spirit of the attached claims.

100: video recording device
110: ENF acquisition unit
120: control signal generator
130: shooting unit
140: storage unit

Claims (12)

ENF acquisition unit for acquiring an Electric Network Frequency (ENF);
a control signal generation unit configured to generate a control signal for controlling a photographing operation of the photographing unit based on the ENF; and
An image photographing apparatus including a photographing unit configured to perform a photographing operation based on the control signal. According to claim 1,
The ENF acquisition unit measures the ENF from AC power supplying power to the image capturing device,
video recording device. According to claim 1,
The ENF acquisition unit transmits location information of the image capturing device to a server and receives the ENF corresponding to the location information from the server.
video recording device. According to claim 1,
The control signal generation unit calculates a shutter speed such that a reciprocal of a shutter speed of the photographing unit is an integer multiple of the ENF,
The control signal includes the calculated shutter speed,
video recording device. According to claim 1,
The control signal generation unit calculates a frame speed such that the reciprocal of the shutter speed of the photographing unit becomes an integer multiple of the ENF,
The control signal includes the calculated frame rate,
video recording device. According to claim 4 or 5,
The photographing unit captures an image at the received shutter speed or the received frame rate.
video recording device. In the image capturing method performed by the image capturing device,
obtaining ENF;
generating a control signal for controlling a photographing operation based on the ENF; and
and performing a photographing operation based on the control signal. According to claim 7,
The obtaining of the ENF may include measuring the ENF from an AC power supplying power to the imaging device.
How to shoot a video. According to claim 7,
The step of obtaining the ENF is,
transmitting location information of the image capturing device to a server; and
Receiving the ENF corresponding to the location information from the server,
How to shoot a video. According to claim 7,
Generating the control signal calculates a shutter speed such that the reciprocal of the shutter speed is an integer multiple of the ENF;
The control signal includes the calculated shutter speed,
How to shoot a video. According to claim 7,
Generating the control signal calculates a frame rate such that the reciprocal of the shutter speed is an integer multiple of the ENF;
The control signal includes the calculated frame rate,
How to shoot a video. According to claim 10 or 11,
The performing of the photographing operation may include photographing an image at the received shutter speed or the received frame rate.
How to shoot a video.

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