JP5120031B2 - Electronic camera - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an electronic camera.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there has been known an apparatus for calculating a reference distance from a predetermined reference location to a location where an image was taken using position information of the location where the image was taken, and classifying the images based on the calculated reference distance. (See Patent Document 1).

JP 2005-174060 A

  In the apparatus disclosed in Patent Document 1, images are classified based on a reference distance from a reference location to the location where the image was taken. Therefore, even if the images are taken at different places, if the distance from the reference place is about the same, there is a problem that they are classified into the same group.

An electronic camera according to the present invention sets an imaging unit , an information setting unit that sets information to be recorded in association with an image captured by the imaging unit, a position detection unit that detects the position of the imaging unit, and a reference point A reference point setting unit that calculates a movement distance based on a distance from the reference point to a position detected by the position detection unit, and a movement distance calculated by the distance calculation unit is a predetermined distance. Information changing means for changing the content of the information when a threshold value is exceeded , wherein the reference point setting means immediately after it is determined that the moving distance has exceeded the threshold value The position of the imaging means detected by the step is set as the reference point.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to appropriately classify images taken at different places.

  FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an appearance of a digital camera 1 which is an embodiment of an electronic camera according to the present invention. As shown in the external view of FIG. 1, the digital camera 1 includes a shutter button 11, a power button 12, a zoom button 13, a playback button 14, a menu button 15, a delete button 16, a jog dial 17, a determination button 18, and a flash charging LED 20. , An AF (Auto Focus) LED 21, a memory access LED 22, a power supply LED 23, and a monitor 104.

  The shutter button 11 is an operation button for the user to give a shooting instruction to the digital camera 1 and has a two-stage switch of half-press and full-press. When the shutter button 11 is pressed halfway, the focus of the taking lens of the digital camera 1 is adjusted according to the subject. When the shutter button 11 is fully pressed, the subject is captured by the digital camera 1 and the acquired captured image is recorded. The power button 12 is an operation button for the user to switch the main power source of the digital camera 1 from on to off or from off to on. The zoom button 13 is an operation button used when the user changes the focal length of the photographing lens of the digital camera 1.

  The playback button 14 is an operation button for the user to instruct the digital camera 1 to play back image data. The menu button 15 is an operation button for the user to instruct the digital camera 1 to call a menu screen. The delete button 16 is an operation button used when the user deletes image data from the memory card loaded in the digital camera 1.

  The jog dial 17 is a rotatable operation member for a user to give an instruction to move the cursor on the screen. The determination button 18 is an operation button for the user to determine setting contents on the menu screen.

  The flash charging LED 20 is a display device that is lit while the flash is being charged. When the flash charging LED 20 is lit before shooting, the user can be informed that flash charging is in progress and preparation for shooting is not completed.

  The AF LED 21 is a display device for informing the user of the AF in-focus state. The memory access LED 22 is a display device that lights up in a memory access state, that is, when data is being written to a memory card loaded in the digital camera 1 and when data is being read from the memory card. The power LED 23 is a display device that lights up when the digital camera 1 is in a power-on state.

  The monitor 104 is a color display device using an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) or the like, and displays various images. For example, when the monitor 104 displays a through image, the monitor 104 is used as a viewfinder at the time of shooting. Note that the through image (through image) is a captured image of the subject displayed on the monitor 104 in real time during shooting. Furthermore, the monitor 104 can also display and display a captured image acquired in the past, a menu screen, and the like.

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the digital camera 1. As shown in this block diagram, the digital camera 1 includes a CPU 101, a compression / expansion circuit 102, a display driver 103, a monitor 104, a key input unit 105, a GPS (Global Positioning System) sensor 107, a capacitor 109, a battery 110, and a flash 111. A CCD (Charge Coupled Device) driver 112, a CCD 113, and a memory 114. A memory card 115 as a recording medium is loaded in a card slot (not shown).

  The CPU 101 is a circuit for executing various processes and controls, and is configured using a microcomputer or the like. The compression / decompression circuit 102 is a circuit that compresses / decompresses captured image data. The display driver 103 is a drive circuit that controls an image displayed on the monitor 104. The key input unit 105 is a circuit that detects operations of buttons, switches, dials, and the like provided in the digital camera 1.

  The GPS sensor 107 receives a GPS signal transmitted from a GPS satellite and outputs it to the CPU 101. Based on this GPS signal, the CPU 101 detects the position of the digital camera 1 (that is, the position of the CCD 113).

  The capacitor 109 is charged by receiving power from the battery 110 and is used for light emission of the flash 111. It is also used to drive the camera as a backup power source in case of emergency. The battery 110 is a power source such as a lithium ion rechargeable battery that supplies power necessary for operating the digital camera 1.

  The flash 111 enables photographing even in a dark environment by irradiating the subject with auxiliary light. The CCD driver 112 is a circuit for driving the CCD 113. The CCD 113 is an image sensor for capturing a subject image via a photographing lens. When a subject image is picked up by the CCD 113, an image pickup signal is output from the CCD 113 to the CCD driver 112. The imaging signal is converted into captured image data by the CCD driver 112 and then output to the CPU 101.

  The memory 114 is a nonvolatile semiconductor memory, and stores programs, data, and the like for use in control executed by the CPU 101. The memory card 115 records a captured image acquired by the digital camera 1 under the control of the CPU 101.

  Next, the operation of the digital camera 1 will be described. The digital camera 1 can set various operation modes including a shooting mode for capturing a subject and acquiring a captured image in accordance with a user operation.

  When the shooting mode is set, the digital camera 1 acquires a through image as described above based on the image of the subject imaged by the CCD 113 and displays it on the monitor 104 before imaging the subject. . When a shooting instruction is performed by the user operating the shutter button 11, the digital camera 1 captures a subject and acquires a captured image in accordance with the shooting instruction, and records the acquired captured image in the memory card 115. .

  When recording a captured image on the memory card 115, the digital camera 1 can record various contents of information in association with the captured image. For example, information such as the shooting date and time, the coordinates of the shooting point detected based on the GPS signal received by the GPS sensor 107, and shooting conditions set at the time of shooting are recorded in the memory card 115 in association with the captured image. The Note that the information associated with the captured image is added to the captured image as meta information of the captured image.

  The digital camera 1 can preset some contents of the meta information added to the captured image. For example, it is possible to set a description of a shooting scene, a photographer, a shooting location, and the like in advance and record them together with a captured image as part of meta information. The meta information set in this way is commonly used for a plurality of captured images. Hereinafter, such meta information is referred to as common meta information. Note that audio information may be added to the captured image as common meta information.

  The digital camera 1 detects its position every predetermined time based on the GPS signal received by the GPS sensor 107. Then, based on the detected self position, the self movement distance is calculated. When the moving distance exceeds a predetermined threshold value, a common meta information setting screen that is a screen for setting common meta information is displayed on the monitor 104. The user can arbitrarily set the content of information to be recorded together with the captured image as common meta information on the common meta information setting screen thus displayed.

  FIG. 3 is a flowchart of processing executed by the CPU 101 of the digital camera 1 when performing the operation described above. This flowchart is executed at predetermined time intervals when the digital camera 1 is powered on.

  In step S100, the common meta information setting process for setting the common meta information as described above is executed. The specific contents of this process will be described later with reference to the flowchart of FIG. In step S200, it is determined whether a shooting mode is set. If the shooting mode is set, the process proceeds to step S300. In step S300, a release process for acquiring a captured image is performed. The specific contents of this process will be described later with reference to the flowchart of FIG. If the release process of step S300 is performed, the flowchart of FIG. 3 will be complete | finished. On the other hand, if it is determined in step S200 that the shooting mode is not set, step S300 is not executed and the flowchart of FIG. 3 is terminated.

  Next, the common meta information setting process in step S100 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. In step S101, the coordinates of the self position, that is, the point where the digital camera 1 is currently located are detected. Here, the self-position is detected based on the GPS signal received by the GPS sensor 107.

  In step S102, the self position detected in step S101 is registered in the movement history DB (database). The movement history DB is a database for recording the history of the position of the digital camera 1 and is stored in the memory 114.

  In step S103, the movement history DB in which the self position is registered in step S102 is read from the memory 114. In step S104, the movement distance of the digital camera 1 is calculated based on the movement history DB read in step S103. Here, the movement distance can be calculated by one of the following two methods.

  In the first method, a self-position first registered in the movement history DB read in step S103 is set as a reference point, and a movement distance is calculated based on the distance from the reference point to the self-position detected in step S102. To do. That is, the distance between the first registered self position and the last registered self position in the movement history DB is calculated, and this is used as the moving distance of the digital camera 1.

  As will be described later, the movement history DB is initialized by the process in step S110 when it is determined in step S105 that the movement distance is larger than the threshold value. In step S102 executed immediately after that, the self-location is registered in the movement history DB, whereby the reference point is set. That is, the digital camera 1 sets the self-position detected in step S101 immediately after it is determined in step S105 that the moving distance has exceeded the threshold value as the reference point.

  In the second method, the distances between the respective self positions registered in the movement history DB read out in step S103 are obtained in the order of registration, and the integrated value is set as the movement distance. In other words, the travel distance that the digital camera 1 has moved from the self-registered position in the movement history DB as a starting point is calculated, and this is taken as the moving distance of the digital camera 1. In this way, the moving distance of the digital camera is calculated based on the self-position history recorded as the movement history DB.

  If the movement distance is calculated by any of the above methods, in the next step S105, it is determined whether or not the movement distance is larger than a predetermined threshold value set in advance. If the movement distance is greater than the threshold value, the process proceeds to step S106. On the other hand, if the movement distance is not greater than the threshold value, the flowchart of FIG. 4 is terminated and the process proceeds to step S200 of FIG. Note that the threshold used for the determination in step S105 can be changed according to the user's operation on the common meta information setting screen displayed in the next step S106.

  In step S106, a common meta information setting screen is displayed on the monitor 104. An example of the common meta information setting screen displayed at this time is shown in FIGS. A screen 30a shown in FIG. 6A is an example of a common meta information setting screen when common meta information is set for shooting at an athletic meet. A screen 30b shown in FIG. It is an example of a common meta information setting screen when common meta information is set for shooting. On the screen 30a and the screen 30b, different contents input by the user are displayed in the input fields indicated by reference numerals 31 to 34, respectively. The input field 31 indicates the title of the captured image, the input field 32 indicates the description of the captured image, the input field 33 indicates the photographer, and the input field 34 indicates the location where the image is captured. Note that the contents of the input fields 31 to 34 can be arbitrarily changed by the user.

  In the screens 30a and 30b, an image 35 for changing the threshold value used for the determination in step S105 is displayed. In this image 35, when the user changes the position of the indicator by operating the jog dial 17 or the like, the magnitude of the threshold value is changed according to the moving ability of the moving means corresponding to the position. For example, it is 5 km when it is set to the “walk” position, 20 km when it is set to the “bicycle” position, 100 km when it is set to the “car” position, and 500 km when it is set to the “plane” position. Set the distance as the threshold magnitude.

  When the OK button 36 is selected on the screen 30a or 30b, the contents input in the input fields 31 to 34 and the magnitude of the threshold corresponding to the position of the indicator in the image 35 are determined. Thereby, the common meta information set by the user on the common meta information setting screen and the contents of the threshold are determined. On the other hand, when the cancel button 37 is selected, the input content is canceled. In this case, the common meta information is not changed, and the previous content is maintained as it is.

  When the common meta information setting screen as described above is displayed on the monitor 104, it is preferable that the previously set contents are input in the input fields 31 to 34. In this way, the user only has to re-enter only the parts that need to be changed. Alternatively, the location may be determined based on the self-position detected in step S101, and the determination result may be reflected in the input field 34, or the result of user authentication performed in advance may be reflected in the input field 33.

  The screens 30a and 30b shown in FIGS. 6A and 6B are merely examples of a common meta information setting screen, and thus various other screens can be displayed as the common meta information setting screen. it can. For example, when common meta information is set using audio information, a message that prompts the user to input audio may be displayed on the common meta information setting screen.

  In step S107, it is determined whether or not there is an affirmative response from the user with respect to the common meta information setting screen displayed in step S106. If there is an affirmative response, that is, if the OK button 36 is selected on the screen 30a or 30b, the process proceeds to step S108. On the other hand, when there is a negative response, that is, when the cancel button 37 is selected, the process proceeds to step S110.

  In step S108, the common meta information input on the common meta information setting screen displayed in step S106 is extracted, and the contents are recorded and stored in the memory 114. Thereby, the content of the common meta information set up to now is changed. In step S109, the threshold value set on the common meta information setting screen displayed in step S106 is extracted, and the contents are recorded and stored in the memory 114. As a result, the threshold value set up to now is changed.

  In step S110, the movement history DB is initialized. Thereby, the self-position registered in the movement history DB until then is cleared, and the self-position registered for the first time is set as the reference point. If step S110 is performed, the flowchart of FIG. 4 will be complete | finished and it will progress to step S200 of FIG.

  In the common meta information setting process described above, the moving speed and acceleration of the digital camera 1 are calculated based on the moving distance, and it is determined whether to change the content of the common meta information based on the calculation result. You may do it. That is, when it is determined in step S105 that the moving distance is greater than the threshold value and the moving speed or acceleration of the digital camera 1 is equal to or greater than a predetermined value, the common meta information setting screen is displayed and the common meta information is displayed to the user. Let the contents change. In this way, it is possible to automatically detect movement by a car, train, airplane, etc., and change the content of the common meta information. Further, it may be possible to consider changes in atmospheric pressure, whether or not the time setting has been changed, and the like.

  Or, based on the self position registered in the movement history DB, the locus of the position change of the digital camera 1 may be obtained and the tendency thereof may be analyzed. In this way, for example, when it is determined that the trajectory is different from usual, it is possible to prompt the user to change the content of the common meta information by displaying the common meta information setting screen.

  In the digital camera 1, when the charging of the battery 110 is completed, only the processes of steps S101 and S102 among the common meta information setting processes shown in the flowchart of FIG. 4 may be executed. In this way, when the user charges the digital camera 1 at home or the like, the self position can be automatically registered in the movement history DB. Similarly, when the battery 110 is replaced, the self position may be automatically registered in the movement history DB.

  Next, the release process executed in step S300 of FIG. 3 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. In step S301, it is determined whether or not the shutter button 11 has been pressed halfway by the user. If the half-press operation has been performed, the process proceeds to step S302. If the half-press operation has not been performed, the process proceeds to step S303. When the shutter button 11 is half-pressed, the focus of the taking lens of the digital camera 1 is adjusted according to the subject, and the CCD 113 can take an image.

  In step S302, the content of the currently set common meta information is displayed on the monitor 104. Here, the content of the common meta information may be displayed on a screen similar to the common meta information setting screen illustrated in FIG. 6, or may be displayed on another screen. By displaying the content of the common meta information in this way, the user can check whether the content added to the captured image as the common meta information is appropriate before shooting.

  In step S303, it is determined whether or not the shutter button 11 has been fully pressed by the user. If it has been fully pressed, the process proceeds to step S304. On the other hand, if the shutter button has not been fully pressed, the flowchart of FIG. 5 is terminated and the release process is completed.

  In step S304, captured image data is generated based on the imaging signal output from the CCD 113. In step S305, individual meta information is generated. The individual meta information is meta information generated and recorded for each captured image, unlike the above-described common meta information. Here, for example, the individual meta information is generated based on the shooting date and time, the coordinates of the shooting point, the shooting conditions, and the like.

  In step S306, the common meta information is read from the memory 114. The common meta information read here is set by the common meta information setting process described with reference to FIG. That is, the common meta information last changed based on the content input by the user on the common meta information setting screen displayed in step S106 is read in step S306.

  In step S307, the captured image data generated in step S304 is recorded on the memory card 115 in association with the individual meta information generated in step S305 and the common meta information read in step S306. As a result, shooting is performed, and the captured image with the meta information added is recorded in the memory card 115. When step S307 is executed, the flowchart of FIG. 5 is terminated and the release process is completed.

  The common meta information added to the captured image as described above can be used for classifying the captured image in the digital camera 1. That is, if the contents recorded as common meta information are the same, they are classified as captured images belonging to the same group. Thereby, the picked-up image image | photographed in the separate place can be classified appropriately. Furthermore, common meta information can be used in the same manner when images captured by the digital camera 1 are transferred to a personal computer or the like for classification.

According to the embodiment described above, the following operational effects are obtained.
(1) The digital camera 1 sets common meta information for recording in association with the captured image acquired by the CCD 113 by the processing of the CPU 101. Then, the travel distance is calculated (step S104), and when the calculated travel distance exceeds a predetermined threshold, the content of the set common meta information is changed (step S108). By classifying captured images based on the content of the common meta information changed in this way, it is possible to appropriately classify images taken at different locations.

(2) When the moving distance exceeds the threshold, the digital camera 1 displays a common meta information setting screen for changing the content of the common meta information on the monitor 104 (step S106). In step S108, the content of the common meta information is changed based on the content input by the user on the common meta information setting screen. Since it did in this way, the change to common meta information according to a user's hope can be performed reliably at an appropriate timing.

(3) The digital camera 1 detects its own position, that is, the position of the CCD 113 (step S101). In step S104, the moving distance can be calculated based on the distance from the preset reference point to the self position detected in step S101. Since it did in this way, a movement distance can be calculated correctly.

(4) The digital camera 1 determines whether or not the moving distance is larger than the threshold value in step S105. If the moving distance is larger than the threshold value, the digital camera 1 initializes the movement history DB in step S110. Thereafter, the self-position detected in the first executed step S101 and registered in the movement history DB in the subsequent step S102 is set as a reference point. Accordingly, the self-position detected in step S101 immediately after it is determined that the moving distance has exceeded the threshold value is set as the reference point. Since it did in this way, the reference point for calculating a movement distance can be set appropriately.

(5) Further, the digital camera 1 registers and records the history of the self-position detected at every predetermined time in step S101 in the movement history DB (step S102). In step S104, the movement distance can be calculated by calculating the distance between the respective self-positions in the order of registration based on the self-position history thus recorded and obtaining the integrated value thereof. Since it did in this way, a movement distance can be correctly calculated according to the path | route which the digital camera 1 actually moved.

(6) The digital camera 1 displays an image 35 for changing the threshold used for the determination in step S105 in the common meta information setting screen displayed on the monitor 104 in step S106. The threshold value is changed based on the content input by the user in the image 35 (step S109). Since it did in this way, the user can change a threshold value into arbitrary values according to the movement distance of the digital camera 1. FIG.

(7) When the digital camera 1 executes the common meta information setting process, the digital camera 1 calculates the movement speed and acceleration based on the movement distance calculated in step S104, and the common meta information based on the calculated movement speed and acceleration. It is also possible to decide whether or not to change the contents of the. In this way, movement by various vehicles can be automatically detected, and the content of the common meta information can be changed.

  In the above embodiment, the digital camera 1 which is an electronic camera has been described as an example. However, the present invention can also be applied to other devices. For example, the present invention can be applied to a mobile electronic device such as a camera-equipped mobile phone.

  The embodiment and various modifications described above are merely examples. Therefore, the present invention is not limited to these contents as long as the characteristics of the present invention are not impaired.

It is a figure which shows the external appearance of the digital camera by one embodiment of this invention. 1 is a block diagram of a digital camera according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a flowchart of the process performed in the digital camera by one embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart of a common meta information setting process. It is a flowchart of a release process. It is a figure which shows the example of a common meta information setting screen.

Explanation of symbols

1: Digital camera 101: CPU
104: Monitor 113: CCD

Claims (9)

Imaging means;
Information setting means for setting information to be recorded in association with an image captured by the imaging means;
Position detecting means for detecting the position of the imaging means;
A reference point setting means for setting a reference point;
Distance calculating means for calculating a moving distance based on the distance from the reference point to the position detected by the position detecting means ;
Information changing means for changing the content of the information when the moving distance calculated by the distance calculating means exceeds a predetermined threshold ;
The reference point setting means sets the position of the imaging means detected by the position detection means immediately after it is determined that the moving distance has exceeded the threshold value as the reference point. camera. The electronic camera according to claim 1,
When the moving distance exceeds the threshold value, further comprising a display means for displaying a screen for changing the content of the information,
The electronic camera characterized in that the information changing means changes the content of the information based on the content input by the user on the screen. The electronic camera according to claim 2,
Further comprising threshold changing means for changing the threshold;
The display means displays an image for changing the threshold value in the screen,
The electronic camera according to claim 1, wherein the threshold value changing means changes the threshold value based on content input by the user in the image. In the electronic camera as described in any one of Claims 1-3 ,
Speed calculating means for calculating a moving speed based on the moving distance;
An electronic camera, further comprising: a determining unit that determines whether or not to change the content of the information by the information changing unit based on the moving speed. In the electronic camera as described in any one of Claims 1-3 ,
Acceleration calculating means for calculating acceleration based on the moving distance;
An electronic camera, further comprising: a determination unit that determines whether to change the content of the information by the information change unit based on the acceleration. Imaging means;
Information setting means for setting information to be recorded in association with an image captured by the imaging means;
A distance calculating means for calculating a moving distance;
Information changing means for changing the content of the information when the moving distance calculated by the distance calculating means exceeds a predetermined threshold;
Speed calculating means for calculating a moving speed based on the moving distance;
An electronic camera comprising: determining means for determining whether to change the content of the information by the information changing means based on the moving speed . Imaging means;
Information setting means for setting information to be recorded in association with an image captured by the imaging means;
A distance calculating means for calculating a moving distance;
Information changing means for changing the content of the information when the moving distance calculated by the distance calculating means exceeds a predetermined threshold;
Acceleration calculating means for calculating acceleration based on the moving distance;
An electronic camera comprising: determining means for determining whether or not to change the content of the information by the information changing means based on the acceleration . The electronic camera according to claim 6 or 7 ,
When the moving distance exceeds the threshold value, further comprising a display means for displaying a screen for changing the content of the information,
The electronic camera characterized in that the information changing means changes the content of the information based on the content input by the user on the screen . The electronic camera according to any one of claims 6 to 8,
Position detecting means for detecting the position of the imaging means at predetermined intervals;
A position history recording means for recording a history of the position detected by the position detection means,
The distance calculation means calculates the movement distance based on the position history recorded by the position history recording means.

Images