JP2006238362A - Apparatus and method for determining image top and bottom, and program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an apparatus or the like capable of accurately determining the top and bottom of an image. <P>SOLUTION: A rotating direction of a camera, in the case of a user with the camera at the ready, is registered in a database as rotation information in accordance with a user ID. A judgement unit 28 judges the top and bottom of an image recorded on a memory card 2. If it is difficult to determine the top and bottom, rotation information corresponding to the user is acquired by referring to a database DB1, thereby determining the top and bottom while taking the rotation information into account. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to an image top and bottom determination apparatus and method for determining the top and bottom of an image, and a program for causing a computer to execute the image top and bottom determination method.

  An image acquired using a photographing apparatus such as a digital camera includes a mixture of an image that can be viewed in portrait orientation and an image that can be viewed in landscape orientation according to the orientation of the camera at the time of shooting. For this reason, a method has been proposed in which top and bottom information representing the top and bottom of the image is given to the image at the time of shooting, and the top and bottom of the image is correctly displayed with reference to the top and bottom information when the image is reproduced.

  On the other hand, for an image to which top-and-bottom information has not been assigned, it is necessary for the user to rotate the image in order to correct the top-and-bottom of the image while checking the contents of the image, which is very troublesome. Therefore, the face area is extracted from the image, the face area is divided into a plurality of blocks, the edge is extracted for each block, the degree of coincidence between the extracted edge and a predetermined pattern for determining the direction is obtained, and the degree of coincidence is high Determining the top / bottom of an image based on the method for determining the top / bottom of an image (see Patent Document 1) and the constituent elements (eyes, mouth, nose, etc.) of a human face included in the image A technique (see Patent Document 2) has been proposed.

Also, paying attention to the fact that the upper side of an image taken in a general environment is bright due to light from the sun or ceiling light, the brightness of each side of the subject image formed through the optical lens is adjusted. A method has also been proposed in which the top of the image is determined by regarding the side of the bright part as the upper side of the image (see Patent Document 3).
JP 2000-137788 A JP 2002-344725 A Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2000-24184

  Although the top and bottom of the image can be determined by using the methods described in Patent Documents 1 and 2, the top and bottom of the image cannot be determined when a person is not included in the image. Further, according to the technique of Patent Document 3, the top and bottom can be determined even when no person is included in the image, but the top and bottom cannot be determined when each side of the image is equally bright.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object thereof is to accurately determine the top and bottom of an image.

  When taking a picture with the photographing device set to be vertically long, a user has a flaw in the rotation direction of the photographing device. That is, when performing the release operation, some users rotate the photographing apparatus so that the release button is positioned on the upper side, and some users rotate the photographing apparatus so that the release button is positioned on the lower side. The present invention has been made in view of this point.

That is, the image top / bottom determination device according to the present invention is an image top / bottom determination device that determines the top / bottom of an image acquired by photographing.
Information acquisition means for acquiring rotation information corresponding to the user who owns the image to be processed, from information storage means for storing rotation information representing the rotation direction of the photographing apparatus in units of users;
When determining the top and bottom of the image, the image processing apparatus includes a determination unit that determines the top and bottom of the image with reference to the rotation direction represented by the acquired rotation information.

In the image top-and-bottom determination device according to the present invention, the information storage means is further a means for storing the rotation information for each model of the photographing apparatus,
The determination unit may be a unit that determines the top and bottom of the image with reference to the rotation direction represented by the rotation information corresponding to the model of the photographing apparatus that has acquired the image to be processed.

The image top / bottom determination method according to the present invention is an image top / bottom determination method for determining the top / bottom of an image acquired by photographing.
Rotation information corresponding to the user who owns the image to be processed is acquired from the information storage unit that stores the rotation information indicating the rotation direction of the imaging device in units of users.
In determining the top and bottom of the image, the top and bottom of the image is determined with reference to the rotation direction represented by the acquired rotation information.

  In addition, you may provide as a program for making a computer perform the image top-and-bottom determination method by this invention.

  According to the present invention, when determining the top and bottom of the image, rotation information corresponding to the user who owns the image to be processed is acquired, and the rotation direction represented by the acquired rotation information is referred to determine the top and bottom of the image. Is done. For this reason, it is possible to accurately determine the top and bottom of the image, reflecting the user's habit when rotating the photographing apparatus to be held vertically.

  In addition, even for the same user, the wrinkle in the rotation direction at the time of shooting may differ depending on the model of the shooting device, depending on the ease of pressing the release button of the shooting device. For this reason, rotation information is stored for each model of the photographing apparatus, and the top and bottom of the image is determined with reference to the rotation direction represented by the rotation information corresponding to the model of the photographing apparatus that acquired the processing target image. Thus, the top and bottom of the image can be determined with higher accuracy, reflecting the user's habit according to the photographing apparatus.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram showing the configuration of the image top / bottom determination apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, an image top / bottom determination device 1 according to the first embodiment is installed, for example, in a photo shop, and performs various controls such as recording control and display control of image data, A CPU 12 that controls each component, a program that operates the CPU 12, viewer software for viewing images, a ROM that records various constants, and a RAM that serves as a work area when the CPU 12 executes processing. A system memory 14, an input unit 16 including a keyboard and a mouse for performing various instructions to the apparatus 1, and a display unit 18 including a liquid crystal monitor for performing various displays.

  The image top-and-bottom determination device 1 has a card slot 20 for reading an image from a memory card 2 on which an image acquired by photographing using a digital camera is recorded and recording an image on the memory card 2. A compression / decompression unit 22 that compresses an image by a technique typified by JPEG or motion JPEG, a decompression unit 22 that decompresses the compressed image data, a hard disk 24 that records image data, various programs executed by the CPU 12, and the system memory 14 And a memory control unit 26 for controlling the card slot 20 and the hard disk 24.

  Moreover, the image top / down determination apparatus 1 includes a determination unit 28 that determines the top / bottom of the image.

  Here, depending on how the digital camera is held at the time of shooting, a horizontally long image that can be viewed when the long side is positioned horizontally and a vertically long image that can be viewed when the long side is positioned vertically are obtained. That is, as shown in FIG. 2A, when a subject is photographed while holding the camera, a horizontally long image is obtained. On the other hand, there are two ways to hold the camera when a vertically long image is obtained. As shown in FIG. 2B, the camera is rotated counterclockwise as viewed from the photographer so that the release button 4 is positioned on the upper side. There is a holding method and a holding method in which the camera is rotated clockwise as viewed from the photographer so that the release button 4 is positioned on the lower side as shown in FIG. Here, when the images acquired by the holding method shown in FIGS. 2 (b) and 2 (c) are displayed without any rotation, the images are in landscape orientation as shown in FIGS. 3 (a) and 3 (b), respectively. Is displayed. For this reason, as shown in FIGS. 2B and 2C, the image acquired by holding the camera and taking an image has different top-and-bottom directions depending on the rotation direction of the camera. That is, as shown in FIG. 2B, the image shown in FIG. 3A obtained by taking a picture with the camera held is the top side on the right side and the ground side on the left side, and the camera shown in FIG. In the image shown in FIG. 3B acquired by photographing with the left side, the left side is the sky and the right side is the ground. For this reason, the image shown in FIG. 3A is rotated counterclockwise, and the image shown in FIG. 3B is rotated clockwise by 90 degrees, so that the image can be viewed vertically.

  As shown in FIGS. 2B and 2C, the determination unit 28 determines the top / bottom of the image so that the top / bottom determination accuracy is improved for an image captured with the camera. Hereinafter, the top and bottom determination will be described.

  The determination unit 28 uses the method shown in Patent Document 3 above, and an image taken in a general environment is included in the image, paying attention to the fact that the upper side portion is bright by light from the sun or a ceiling lamp. For each of the four sides, the probability of being a heaven is calculated as a percentage. Therefore, the determination unit 28 sets areas A1 to A4 in the vicinity of the left side, the upper side, the right side, and the lower side of the image as shown in FIG. 4, and calculates the luminance value of each pixel from the pixel values in each area. The integral values Y1 to Y4 of the luminance values in the respective areas A1 to A4 are calculated. Further, the sum Ya of the four integral values Y1 to Y4 is calculated, and the probability (P1, P2, P3, P4) that the left side, the upper side, the right side, and the lower side of the image are celestial is calculated by the following equation (1). To do.

(P1, P2, P3, P4) = (Y1 / Ya, Y2 / Ya, Y3 / Ya, Y4 / Ya)
(1)
Here, when the probability P2 is the highest, the image subjected to the top / bottom determination is a horizontally long image obtained by holding the camera as shown in FIG. When the probability P1 is the highest, the image on which the top / bottom determination is performed is a horizontally long image acquired by holding the camera as shown in FIG. For this reason, by rotating the image clockwise, an image that can be viewed vertically and vertically can be obtained. When the probability P3 is the highest, the image for which the top / bottom determination has been performed is a horizontally long image obtained by holding the camera as shown in FIG. For this reason, by rotating the image counterclockwise, an image that can be viewed vertically and vertically can be obtained. In addition, when the probability P4 is the largest, it is an image obtained by shooting while holding the camera upside down. However, since the camera is rarely held in this way, in this embodiment, the probability is The case where P4 is the largest is ignored.

  On the other hand, when taking a picture with the digital camera being set to be vertically long, a user has a flaw in the rotation direction of the photographing apparatus. In other words, there are users who always have a camera as shown in FIG. 2B, and there are users who always have a camera as shown in FIG. Also, even for the same user, if the camera model to be used differs depending on the ease of pressing the release button for each camera model, the camera holding method is as shown in FIG. 2 (b) or FIG. 2 (c). It may be different as shown.

  Therefore, when determining the top and bottom, the determination unit 28 generates a database DB1 in which information about the rotation direction of the camera for an image that can be viewed in the vertically long direction is registered in units of users and models of cameras, and is stored in the hard disk 24. Hereinafter, storage of camera rotation information will be described.

  FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the configuration of the database DB1. As shown in FIG. 5, in the database DB1, user IDs for a plurality of users are registered, a camera model is registered for each user ID, and an image rotation direction is registered for each camera model. The rotation direction of the image is L when the camera is rotated counterclockwise as shown in FIG. 2 (b), and when the camera is rotated clockwise as shown in FIG. 2 (c). R is registered. The user ID is registered by the operator operating the image top / bottom determination device 1 of the present embodiment by inputting the user ID from the input unit 16. As the camera model, camera model information described in an image tag may be used, or an operator may input from the input unit 16.

  Here, when any one of the probabilities P1 to P3 is clearly larger than the other probabilities (for example, several tens of points), the top and bottom of the image can be accurately determined. For example, when two probabilities are the same as (P1, P2, P3, P4) = (35, 15, 35, 15), it cannot be determined which side is a heaven.

  For this reason, the determination unit 28 refers to the user ID of the user who owns the processing target image and the model information of the camera attached to the processing target image when it cannot determine which side is the heaven. Then, information on the rotation direction of the image registered in the database DB1 is acquired, and a bias corresponding to the information on the rotation information is reflected in the calculated probability. For example, in the case of (P1, P2, P3, P4) = (35, 15, 35, 15), when the acquired rotation information is L, the bias α is added to the probability P3 and the probability P1 is determined. The bias α is subtracted (35−α, 15, 35 + α, 15). If the acquired rotation information is R, the bias α is subtracted from the probability P3, and the bias α is added to the probability P1 (35 + α, 15, 35−α, 15). As a result, the top and bottom of the image can be determined by taking into account the wrinkles in the rotation direction of the camera at the time of shooting by the user according to the camera model.

  And the determination part 28 determines the top and bottom of an image based on the probability which reflected the bias, and gives top and bottom information to an image by describing the top and bottom information showing a top and bottom in a tag. The top-and-bottom information may represent the rotation direction of the image, or may represent the position of the top side.

  Next, processing performed in the present embodiment will be described. FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing processing performed when registering rotation information in the database DB1 in the present embodiment. The processing is started when the operator inputs an image reading instruction and a user ID from the input unit 16, and the determination unit 28 reads all images from the memory card 2 and displays a list of images via the display control unit 32. It displays on the display part 18 (step ST1). Then, the input unit 16 accepts an instruction for an image that allows the user to easily determine the top and bottom (step ST2). Here, an image that is easy to determine the top and bottom is an image in which a bright spot such as the sky or light is surely located on either side of the image when the image is displayed without any rotation.

  Next, the determination unit 28 determines the top and bottom of the image designated by the user (step ST3). Then, the rotation direction of the image is determined based on the probability having the largest value among the probabilities (P1, P2, P3, P4) calculated by the top / bottom determination (step ST4). Then, the rotation information representing the obtained rotation direction is registered in the database DB1 together with the user ID and the camera model information given to the image (step ST5), and the process is terminated.

  It should be noted that the determination unit 28 may select an image that allows the user to easily determine the top and bottom, instead of specifying an image that allows the user to easily determine the top and bottom. In this case, among the probabilities (P1, P2, P3, and P4) obtained in the top / bottom determination, when P1 or P3 is several tens of points higher than the other probabilities, the image is determined to be easy to determine the top / bottom. Of the obtained probabilities (P1, P2, P3, P4), the rotation direction of the image may be determined based on the probability having the largest value.

  FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing processing performed at the time of top-and-bottom determination in the first embodiment. When the operator inputs the user ID and instructs the start of the top / bottom determination process, the process is started. First, the determination unit 28 sets the processing target as the first image among the images recorded in the memory card 2 ( Step ST11). Then, the top and bottom of the image to be processed is determined (step ST12). Subsequently, it is determined whether it is difficult to determine the top / bottom of the processing target image (step ST13). Here, when the percentage difference between the probabilities P1 to P3 obtained by the top / bottom determination is large, the top / bottom can be determined based on the largest probability, but when the percentage difference is small, it is difficult to determine the top / bottom. is there. For this reason, the determination as to whether or not the top / bottom determination is difficult is performed based on a predetermined value (for example, 10%) in which a percentage difference between the probability having the highest value and the probability having the next highest value among the obtained probabilities P1 to P3 is determined. %) It is performed by determining whether or not.

  When step ST13 is affirmed, the determination unit 28 refers to the database DB1 based on the user ID and the camera model information described in the tag of the processing target image, acquires rotation information, and based on the rotation information. The top / bottom determination is performed by reflecting the bias α in the probability obtained in step ST14. Then, the top and bottom information representing the determined top and bottom is added to the image (step ST15), and it is determined whether or not the top and bottom determination processing has been completed for all images (step ST16). If step ST16 is negative, the processing target is set to the next image (step ST17), and the process returns to step ST12. If step ST16 is negative, the process ends.

  As described above, in this embodiment, when determining the top and bottom of the image, the rotation information corresponding to the user who owns the image to be processed and the model of the digital camera is acquired, and the top and bottom of the image is determined by taking the rotation information into consideration. Since the determination is made, it is possible to accurately determine the top and bottom of the image by reflecting the user's habit when the camera is rotated to hold the camera vertically.

  In the above embodiment, the rotation information is obtained by referring to the database DB1 in which the user ID and camera model information are registered. However, the rotation information is obtained as magnetic information on, for example, a member card of a photo shop for each camera model. You may make it record and use by reading rotation information from a member card | curd, and using it for top and bottom determination. Hereinafter, this will be described as a second embodiment.

  FIG. 8 is a schematic block diagram showing the configuration of the image top / bottom determination apparatus according to the second embodiment of the present invention. In the second embodiment, the same components as those in the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals, and detailed description thereof is omitted here. The second embodiment is different from the first embodiment in that a card reader 36 for reading rotation information from the user's membership card is provided.

  The membership card may be one that records rotation information on a magnetic stripe, or one that records rotation information on an IC chip provided on the membership card. As the card reader 36, one corresponding to the recording mode of the rotation information is used.

  FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing processing performed at the time of top-and-bottom determination in the second embodiment. The process is started when the operator instructs the rotation information to be read from the member card using the card reader 36. First, the determination unit 28 acquires the rotation information from the member card (step ST21). Then, the processing target is set to the first image among the images recorded on the memory card 2 (step ST22), and the top and bottom are determined for the processing target image (step ST23). Subsequently, it is determined whether it is difficult to determine the top / bottom of the processing target image (step ST24).

  When step ST24 is affirmed, the determination unit 28 obtains the probability obtained based on the rotation information corresponding to the camera model described in the tag of the processing target image among the rotation information acquired from the member card. The top / bottom determination is performed with the bias α reflected (step ST25). Then, the top and bottom information representing the determined top and bottom is added to the image (step ST26), and it is determined whether or not the top and bottom determination processing has been completed for all images (step ST27). If step ST27 is negative, the processing target is set to the next image (step ST28), and the process returns to step ST23. If step ST27 is negative, the process ends.

  In each of the above embodiments, the top / bottom determination of the image recorded on the memory card 2 is performed, but the top / bottom determination is performed in the same manner as described above when reading an image from a negative film or a positive film in which the image is recorded. Of course you can do it. In this case, as in the image top / down determination apparatus according to the third embodiment shown in FIG. 10, the film scanner 38 is provided, and the top / bottom determination processing is performed on the image read by the film scanner 38.

  In the first embodiment, the user ID and the model information of the digital camera and the rotation information are associated with each other and registered in the database DB1, but only the user ID and the rotation information are associated with each other in the database DB1. You may register. In the second embodiment, rotation information associated only with the user ID may be recorded on the member card.

  Moreover, in the said embodiment, although the top-and-bottom direction is determined using the method described in patent document 3, various methods, such as the method described in patent documents 1 and 2, can be used.

1 is a schematic block diagram showing a configuration of an image top / bottom determination device according to a first embodiment of the present invention. Illustration for explaining how to hold the camera The figure which shows the direction of the image which is obtained according to how to hold the camera The figure which shows the field set up in the image at the time of top and bottom judgment Diagram showing database configuration The flowchart which shows the processing performed at the time of registration of rotation information to a database The flowchart which shows the process performed at the time of top-and-bottom determination in 1st Embodiment. The schematic block diagram which shows the structure of the image top-and-bottom determination apparatus by the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. The flowchart which shows the process performed at the time of top-and-bottom determination in 2nd Embodiment. The schematic block diagram which shows the structure of the image top-and-bottom determination apparatus by the 3rd Embodiment of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

1 Image top / bottom determination device 2 Memory card 12 CPU
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 14 System memory 16 Input part 18 Display part 20 Card slot 22 Compression / decompression part 24 Hard disk 26 Memory control part 28 Judgment part 32 Display control part 36 Card reader 38 Film scanner

Claims (4)

In the image top / down determination device for determining the top / bottom of the image acquired by shooting,
Information acquisition means for acquiring rotation information corresponding to the user who owns the image to be processed, from information storage means for storing rotation information representing the rotation direction of the photographing apparatus in units of users;
An image top / bottom determination apparatus comprising: a determination unit that determines the top / bottom of the image with reference to a rotation direction represented by the acquired rotation information when determining the top / bottom of the image. The information storage means is means for storing the rotation information in units of model of the photographing apparatus,
The determination means is a means for determining the top and bottom of the image with reference to the rotation direction represented by the rotation information corresponding to the model of the photographing apparatus that has acquired the image to be processed. The image top / bottom determination apparatus according to claim 1. In the image top / down determination method for determining the top / bottom of an image acquired by shooting,
Rotation information corresponding to the user who owns the image to be processed is acquired from the information storage unit that stores the rotation information indicating the rotation direction of the imaging device in units of users.
An image top / down determination method, wherein when determining the top / bottom of the image, the top / bottom of the image is determined by referring to a rotation direction represented by the acquired rotation information. In a program for causing a computer to execute an image top / bottom determination method for determining the top / bottom of an image acquired by shooting,
A procedure for acquiring rotation information corresponding to the user who owns the image to be processed, from information storage means for storing rotation information representing the rotation direction of the imaging device in units of users;
And a procedure for determining the top and bottom of the image with reference to the rotation direction represented by the acquired rotation information when determining the top and bottom of the image.

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