JP4695785B2 - IMAGING DEVICE, IMAGING DEVICE CONTROL METHOD, COMPUTER-READABLE STORAGE MEDIUM, AND PROGRAM - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an imaging device, Of imaging device The present invention relates to a control method, a computer-readable storage medium, and a program, and in particular, to display a change in image quality of a captured image in an easily recognizable manner according to the control state of various control means included in a moving image capturing apparatus such as a video camera. It is suitable for use in.
[0002]
[Prior art]
Conventionally, in an imaging device such as a video camera, camera control is automated in all respects such as AE (auto exposure), AF (auto focus), and AWB (auto white balance), so that good imaging can be achieved. It can be easily done.
[0003]
Also, part of the control information can be recorded on the disk recorder at the same time as the captured image as camera information at the time of imaging, and can be displayed on the monitor as the captured information when the captured image is reproduced. .
[0004]
FIG. 13 shows an example of the configuration of a conventional imaging apparatus. In FIG. 13, the configuration of the imaging unit is described. 303 is a lens that is an imaging optical system, 304 is an aperture device for adjusting the amount of exposure light, 305 is a CCD that is an imaging element, and 311 is photoelectrically converted by the CCD 305 and output. It is a camera signal processing circuit that converts an electrical signal into a standard video signal such as NTSC.
[0005]
The luminance signal component of the video signal obtained by the camera signal processing circuit 311 is input to the exposure calculation circuit 233. The exposure calculation circuit 233 performs the following operation to keep the exposure state appropriate based on the input luminance signal.
[0006]
In other words, the aperture device 304 is opened and closed through the aperture drive circuit 231 to limit the amount of incident light reaching the CCD 305, thereby setting the luminance signal level to a predetermined reference level. At the same time, the CCD driving circuit 232 is controlled so that the luminance signal level is set to a predetermined reference level by a so-called electronic shutter operation that increases or decreases the accumulation time (exposure time) of the CCD 305 within a predetermined range.
[0007]
These two exposure control operations are not performed individually, but exposure control is performed by a combination of a predetermined aperture value and shutter speed, for example, referred to as an automatic exposure program diagram. In the above, the above operation is not a main constituent element, and therefore detailed description thereof is omitted.
[0008]
Two pieces of information relating to the exposure of the aperture amount information of the aperture device 304 and the electronic shutter speed information of the CCD 305 when the exposure is appropriately controlled are obtained from the aperture drive circuit 231 and the CCD drive circuit 232 as a data conversion circuit. The data is input to H.261 and converted into data that can be written to a disk recorder, such as a digital amount having a predetermined data length.
[0009]
Next, the recording unit will be described. Reference numeral 321 denotes a tape recorder, which is provided as a storage means for recording the video signal obtained from the camera signal processing circuit 311 and the exposure information converted by the data conversion circuit 261. It is what.
[0010]
The video signal and the exposure information are stored in different data recording areas.
[0011]
In a state where the captured video signal is played back, the video signal separately played back from the disk recorder 322 and the exposure information are added together in a predetermined layout by the data superimposing circuit 271 to generate a playback video image 330. Are displayed on the display device 340.
[0012]
The video image 331 displayed on the reproduction video image 330 is reproduced by superimposing the aperture value and the shutter speed shown in 334 and 335 on the captured image based on the exposure information recorded at the same time as the imaging. .
[0013]
Although not shown, in general, the exposure information can be selected to display / hide information in the data superimposing circuit 271 so that it can be displayed only when necessary.
[0014]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, the exposure information as shown in the conventional example is insufficient to grasp the control information of the camera at the time of imaging and the state of the image quality of the captured image.
[0015]
For example, with the downsizing of the imaging device, a small liquid crystal monitor or the like is also adopted for an electronic viewfinder that confirms the state of the captured image, and it may not be possible to easily determine the in-focus state or the subject image exposure state. .
[0016]
In recent years, non-linear editing using a computer or the like has been performed, and determination of the image quality of a captured image is required more than ever. It divides the computer monitor screen into a plurality of display windows, each of which includes a source window for displaying captured images as materials, an editing window for displaying editing results, and a program window for describing editing contents. It is generally composed of windows.
[0017]
Therefore, since each window is displayed with the monitor divided, the displayed window size is small, and it is difficult to judge the output of the source image in a small window, and it is displayed on the video monitor after editing is completed. I also noticed that there was a problem with the source image quality for the first time.
[0018]
The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, More accurate image The purpose is to make it easy to check the image quality.
[0019]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
An image pickup apparatus according to the present invention includes an image pickup unit, a shake correction lens drive unit that drives a shake correction lens that reduces a shake of an image captured by the image pickup unit, and a focus lens that drives a focus lens to perform autofocus. A drive means, an exposure control means for controlling the diaphragm and the imaging means for performing an automatic exposure operation, a white balance control means for performing automatic white balance control, and a movement target value and an actual value in the shake correction lens driving means. A shake correction lens driving error signal that is a difference between the movement amounts of the lens, a focus lens driving error signal that is a difference between the movement target value in the focus lens driving means and the actual movement amount, and a control target value of the diaphragm in the exposure control means A diaphragm drive error signal, which is the difference between the actual control amounts, and the imaging in the exposure control means. At least one of an imaging means drive error signal that is a difference between a control target value of the means and an actual control amount, and a white balance adjustment error signal that is a difference between the control target value and the actual control amount of the white balance control means. Image quality evaluation value output means for outputting an image quality evaluation value based on the image quality evaluation value; Comparison results comparing the shake correction lens drive error signal with a comparison reference value, comparison results comparing the focus lens drive error signal with a comparison reference value, comparison results comparing the aperture drive error signal with a comparison reference value, the imaging Weighting means for weighting each of the comparison result of comparing the drive error signal and the comparison reference value, and the comparison result of comparing the white balance adjustment error signal and the comparison reference value; Said Image quality evaluation value Display control means for controlling the image quality evaluation value output from the output means to be displayed on the display means together with the image captured by the imaging means, The image quality evaluation value output means compares the shake correction lens drive error signal weighted by the weighting means with a comparison reference value, a comparison result between the focus lens drive error signal and a comparison reference value, The comparison result of comparing the aperture drive error signal with the comparison reference value, the comparison result of comparing the imaging means drive error signal with the comparison reference value, and the total of the comparison result of comparing the white balance adjustment error signal with the comparison reference value Output as evaluation value It is characterized by that.
[0020]
An image pickup apparatus control method according to the present invention includes: an image pickup unit; a shake correction lens drive unit that drives a shake correction lens that reduces a shake of an image picked up by the image pickup unit; and a focus lens for performing autofocus. A control method for an image pickup apparatus, comprising: a focus lens driving means for performing an automatic exposure operation; an exposure control means for controlling the diaphragm and the image pickup means; and a white balance control means for performing automatic white balance control. A shake correction lens drive error signal that is the difference between the movement target value in the shake correction lens driving means and the actual movement amount, and a focus lens drive error signal that is the difference between the movement target value in the focus lens driving means and the actual movement amount The aperture which is the difference between the control target value of the aperture and the actual control amount in the exposure control means A dynamic error signal, an imaging means drive error signal that is the difference between the control target value of the imaging means in the exposure control means and the actual control amount, and a white that is the difference between the control target value and the actual control amount in the white balance control means An image quality evaluation value output step for outputting an image quality evaluation value based on at least one of the balance adjustment error signals; Comparison results comparing the shake correction lens drive error signal with a comparison reference value, comparison results comparing the focus lens drive error signal with a comparison reference value, comparison results comparing the aperture drive error signal with a comparison reference value, the imaging A weighting step for weighting each of the comparison result of comparing the means drive error signal and the comparison reference value, and the comparison result of comparing the white balance adjustment error signal and the comparison reference value; Said Image quality evaluation value A display control step of controlling the image quality evaluation value output in the output step so as to be displayed on a display unit together with an image captured by the imaging unit; The image quality evaluation value output step includes a comparison result comparing the shake correction lens drive error signal weighted in the weighting step with a comparison reference value, a comparison result comparing the focus lens drive error signal and a comparison reference value, The comparison result of comparing the aperture drive error signal with the comparison reference value, the comparison result of comparing the imaging means drive error signal with the comparison reference value, and the total of the comparison result of comparing the white balance adjustment error signal with the comparison reference value Output as evaluation value It is characterized by that.
[0021]
The storage medium of the present invention is Stored a program that causes a computer to function as each means of the imaging device described above It is characterized by that.
[0022]
The program of the present invention Let a computer function as each means of the imaging device described above It is characterized by that.
[0023]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described along the embodiments with reference to the drawings.
(First embodiment)
FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of an embodiment of an imaging apparatus according to the present invention.
[0024]
Referring to FIG. 1, the configuration of the imaging unit will be described. 301 is an optical shake correction lens, 303 is a focus lens, 304 is an aperture device, 305 is an image sensor such as a CCD, 311 is an electrical signal output from the CCD 305, for example, NTSC. The camera signal processing circuit converts the video signal into a standard video signal.
[0025]
A light beam incident from a subject forms an image on the imaging surface of the CCD 305 through the shake correction lens 301, the focus lens 303, and the diaphragm device 304.
[0026]
The formed subject image is photoelectrically converted by the CCD 305 and input to the camera signal processing circuit 311 as an electrical signal.
[0027]
The camera signal processing circuit 311 can obtain a video signal corresponding to the subject image by converting the imaging signal obtained from the CCD 305 into a standard video signal and outputting the standard video signal.
[0028]
Here, operations of the optical systems 301 to 304 and the CCD 305 will be described.
In FIG. 1, reference numeral 201 denotes a shake correction lens driving circuit, 202 denotes a shake correction arithmetic circuit, and 203 denotes a shake detection sensor such as a gyro sensor that detects camera shake, and a shake signal is detected by a control signal obtained from the shake detection sensor 203. The correction lens 301 is driven to correct the shake of the captured image.
[0029]
Next, reference numeral 221 denotes a focus lens drive circuit, and 222 denotes an autofocus arithmetic circuit, which determines and drives the operation of the focus lens 303.
[0030]
Reference numeral 231 denotes an aperture drive circuit, 232 denotes a CCD drive circuit, and 233 denotes an exposure calculation circuit, which determine and drive the opening / closing operation of the aperture device 304 and drive to read out the CCD 305. Reference numeral 241 denotes a white balance control circuit.
[0031]
First, the operation of the shake correction lens 301 that reduces the shake of the captured image will be described.
Based on the camera shake information obtained by the shake detection sensor 203, the shake correction signal calculated by the shake correction calculation circuit 202 passes through the shake correction lens drive circuit 201 to correct the shake of the captured image. Drive.
[0032]
Based on camera shake information, the shake correction lens 301 is driven in a direction to cancel the camera shake information, thereby correcting the shake of the captured image.
[0033]
The autofocus will be described. In order to obtain the focal point of the captured image, the autofocus arithmetic circuit 222 generates a focus signal from the luminance signal obtained from the camera signal processing circuit 311. The focus signal is an operation signal in a direction in which, for example, the high frequency component of the luminance signal is focused and the component increases. By generating a drive signal based on this operation signal in the focus lens drive circuit 221 and driving the focus lens 303, an automatic focusing operation can be performed.
[0034]
The automatic exposure operation will be described. The exposure calculation circuit 233 generates an exposure signal based on the luminance signal obtained from the camera signal processing circuit 311 in order to obtain an appropriate exposure of the captured image. As the exposure signal, for example, based on a comparison result between a value obtained by integral detection of the luminance signal and a predetermined comparison reference value, a control signal for changing the opening / closing of the diaphragm device 304 and the driving of the CCD 305 is output so that the difference becomes zero. .
[0035]
The aperture drive circuit 231 and the CCD drive circuit 232 generate drive signals for the exposure time of the aperture device 304 and the CCD 305 based on the control signal obtained from the exposure calculation circuit 233.
[0036]
Therefore, the exposure control operation in the present embodiment is to open and close the aperture device 304 through the aperture drive circuit 231 and limit the amount of incident light reaching the CCD 305, thereby obtaining the average value of the luminance signal level at a predetermined reference level. And
[0037]
At the same time, the CCD driving circuit 232 automatically controls the luminance signal level to be a predetermined reference level by a so-called electronic shutter operation that increases or decreases the accumulation time (exposure time) of the CCD 305 within a predetermined range. Exposure operation can be performed. These vary the aperture value and electronic shutter speed values in accordance with the automatic exposure program diagram described in the description of the prior art.
[0038]
Finally, the white balance control circuit 241 will be described. With white balance control, for example, proper white balance is based on the characteristic that the sum of color data in one screen is 0, so that the sum of color signal data obtained from the camera signal processing circuit 311 is 0. By changing the reference color, white balance is automatically obtained.
[0039]
The white balance control circuit 241 outputs the control signal, and the camera signal processing circuit 311 adjusts the reference color based on the white balance control signal obtained from the white balance control circuit 241.
[0040]
As described above, shake correction control, focus control, exposure control, and white balance control are performed. However, since the image is actually a moving image, a smooth operation with speed control is required.
[0041]
An example of the configuration for executing the speed control is shown in FIG. In FIG. 2, 110 is a signal input terminal of a movement target value obtained from each arithmetic circuit 202, 222, 233, 111 is a difference circuit, and a signal input from the target signal input terminal 110 and an output of each encoder 115 To obtain an error signal.
[0042]
Reference numeral 112 denotes an amplifier circuit, and by setting the gain of the error signal obtained from the difference circuit 111 to a predetermined value, a drive amount signal of the actuator 114 can be derived.
[0043]
A conversion table 113 converts the value of the drive amount signal obtained from the amplifier circuit 112 according to input / output characteristics as described later. Each actuator 114 is represented by, for example, a motor. Reference numeral 115 denotes an encoder that detects the amount of movement of the actuator 114.
[0044]
Here, the conversion table shown at 113 will be described with reference to FIG.
FIG. 4 is a characteristic diagram showing a typical example of the conversion table, and has a characteristic of limiting the output when an input having a large absolute value is input to a predetermined value or less.
[0045]
For example, when a value of “a” is input to the input, the output is also “a”, but when the input increases to “5a”, the output at that time is “3.5a” and the increase amount decreases. .
[0046]
Therefore, when there is a large change in the target value signal, the difference from the value obtained from the encoder 115 also increases, but the drive amount signal input to the conversion table 113 is converted and the drive amount is smaller than the actual drive amount. Since it is output as a signal, the driving amount of the actuator 114 is also reduced, and the movement amount per unit time, that is, the operation speed is limited.
[0047]
On the other hand, when a small drive amount signal is input, an operation equivalent to the case without the conversion table 113 is performed. Further, as described above, the signal obtained from the signal output terminal 121 in FIG. 2 is a difference between the control target value and the encoder output, that is, an error signal output.
[0048]
Similarly, the operation of the white balance control circuit 241 will be described with reference to FIG. In FIG. 3, reference numeral 140 denotes a signal input terminal to which a color signal obtained from the camera signal processing circuit 311 is input. Reference numeral 144 denotes a signal processing circuit of a white balance circuit, for example, an averaging circuit for obtaining an average value of input color signals.
[0049]
Reference numeral 141 denotes a difference circuit, which generates a white balance error signal by taking the difference between the color average signal output from the white balance signal processing circuit 144 and the internal reference value indicated by 145.
[0050]
As described above, the auto white balance control may be performed so that the sum of the color components is “0”. Therefore, if the internal reference value to be compared with the white balance signal processing circuit 144 is “0”. good.
[0051]
An amplification circuit 142 amplifies the gain of the error signal obtained from the difference circuit 141 to a predetermined value, thereby deriving a color signal control signal (WB control signal) for white balance. This WB control signal controls a color signal gain control circuit and the like provided in the camera signal processing circuit 311 so that the average value of the color signals becomes zero.
[0052]
Reference numeral 143 denotes a conversion table, which converts the value of the WB control signal obtained from the amplifier circuit 142 according to the input / output characteristics described with reference to FIG.
[0053]
Accordingly, when there is a large color signal variation, the output of the difference circuit 141 also increases, but the signal input to the conversion table 143 is converted and output as a control signal smaller than the actual control amount. Signal fluctuations are also reduced accordingly.
[0054]
That is, the fluctuation speed of the color signal is also limited. On the other hand, when a small control amount is input, an operation equivalent to the case where there is no conversion table 143 is performed. Further, as described above, the signal output from the signal output terminal 151 of FIG. 3 is an output difference between the internal reference value and the sum of the color signals, that is, an error signal output in white balance.
[0055]
The error signals of the shake correction control, the focus control, the exposure control, and the white balance control are input to the image quality determination circuit 251 shown in FIG. 1, and are normalized image quality evaluation values based on a predetermined determination. The data conversion circuit 261 converts the data into data that can be recorded on the disk recorder 322, for example, data such as a digital amount having a predetermined data length.
[0056]
Next, the recording unit will be described. Reference numeral 322 denotes a disk recorder for recording the video signal obtained from the camera signal processing circuit 311 and records it together with the image quality evaluation value converted by the data conversion circuit 261.
[0057]
The video signal and the image quality evaluation value are stored in different data recording areas.
[0058]
In the state of reproducing the captured video signal, the video signal separately reproduced from the disk recorder 322 and the image quality evaluation value are added in a predetermined layout by the data superimposing circuit 271 to generate a reproduced video image 330. Are displayed on the display device 340.
[0059]
The reproduction video image 330 will be further described. Reference numeral 331 denotes a video image at the time of reproduction, which is obtained by reproducing a captured image in the same manner as a conventional video camera. A bar graph 332 shows the evaluation of the image quality. When the image quality is high, the display is high (close to Hi), and when the image quality is low, the display is low (close to Low). . In this embodiment, the smaller the output value of the image quality determination circuit 251 described later, the higher the image quality is determined. Conversely, the larger the output value of the image quality determination circuit 251 is, the lower the image quality is.
[0060]
Here, the configuration of the image quality determination circuit 251 will be described in detail with reference to FIG. In FIG. 5, 461 to 465 are absolute value circuits, 421 to 425 are predetermined comparison reference values, 401 to 405 are comparators, and 431 is an adder circuit.
[0061]
In FIG. 5, the error signals obtained from the shake correction lens driving circuit 201, the focus lens driving circuit 221, the aperture driving circuit 231, the CCD driving circuit 232, and the white balance control circuit 241 described above are used as image quality determination circuits 251, respectively. Are input to the absolute value circuits 461 to 465 and output as absolute values of the error amounts.
[0062]
Further, the shake correction lens drive error signal, the focus lens drive error signal, the aperture drive error signal, the CCD drive error signal, and the white balance adjustment error signal obtained from the absolute value circuits 461 to 465 are predetermined by the comparators 401 to 405, respectively. Are compared with the comparison reference values 421 to 425, and a comparison result based on the magnitude relationship is obtained.
[0063]
The output of the comparator may be output as either a digital or an analog output. As a specific operation, the comparison reference values 421 to 425 are input from the absolute value circuits 461 to 465. On the contrary, Hi is output when the value input from the absolute value circuits 461 to 465 is small with respect to the comparison reference values 421 to 425.
[0064]
Alternatively, when the values input from the absolute value circuits 461 to 465 are larger than the comparison reference values 421 to 425, a positive potential corresponding to the difference is output. When the value input from the absolute value circuits 461 to 465 is smaller than the comparison reference values 421 to 425, a negative potential corresponding to the difference is output. When the comparison reference values 421 to 425 are equal to the values input from the absolute value circuits 461 to 465, 0 may be output.
[0065]
The respective comparison outputs obtained from the comparators 401 to 405 are added by the addition circuit 431 and output as an output value of the image quality determination circuit 251.
Therefore, the image quality determination circuit 251 is a value obtained as the sum of the correction error amount of the shake correction lens, the movement error amount of the focus lens, the aperture error amount, the CCD drive error amount, and the white balance adjustment error amount. When the operation is large, the output of the image quality determination circuit 251 increases. Conversely, when the operation is small, the output of the image quality determination circuit 251 decreases.
[0066]
Although the embodiment of the present invention describes only the display during reproduction, the same operation can be performed during imaging.
[0067]
(Second Embodiment)
Next, another embodiment of the image quality determination circuit 251 according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.
[0068]
In this embodiment, in particular, the determination criterion in the image quality determination circuit 1251 can be arbitrarily set for each input signal, and the output signal of each comparator can be given a weight. It is characterized by that.
[0069]
The operation will be described with reference to FIG. In FIG. 6, 461 to 465 are absolute value circuits, 421 to 425 are comparison reference values, 441 to 445 are volumes for changing the comparison reference value, 401 to 405 are comparators, 451 to 455 are weighting circuits, and 431 is An adder circuit.
[0070]
In FIG. 1 described above, the correction error amounts respectively obtained from the shake correction lens driving circuit 201, the focus lens driving circuit 221, the aperture driving circuit 231, the CCD driving circuit 232, and the white balance control circuit 241 are absolute values in the image quality determination circuit 1251. The values are input to the value circuits 461 to 465 and output as absolute amounts of error amounts.
[0071]
Further, the shake correction lens drive error amount, focus lens drive error amount, aperture drive error amount, CCD drive error amount, and white balance adjustment error amount obtained by the absolute value circuits 461 to 465 are respectively compared by the comparators 401 to 405. The comparison result is compared with the comparison reference values 421 to 425, and a comparison result based on the magnitude relationship is obtained. The outputs of the comparators 401 to 405 are output as either digital or analog outputs.
[0072]
Here, when the user arbitrarily sets the volumes 441 to 445, the determination reference value of each error amount can be changed. For example, if the output of the image quality determination circuit 1251 is not to be changed unless the amount of error of the diaphragm device 304 becomes very large depending on the imaging situation, the corresponding comparison reference value is set to be large depending on the volume. Conversely, when it is desired to change the output of the image quality determination circuit 1251 when there is some error in the shake correction lens 301, the comparison reference value may be made smaller by the volume.
[0073]
The respective comparison outputs obtained from the comparators 401 to 405 are weighted at predetermined ratios by the weighting circuits 451 to 455, respectively, then added by the adding circuit 431, and output as an output value of the image quality determination circuit 1251. .
[0074]
The weighting circuits 451 to 455 may be configured as a multiplier, for example, and amplify or attenuate an input signal at a predetermined ratio. For example, when the influence of the error amount of the focus lens on the output of the image quality determination circuit 1251 is reduced, the gain of the corresponding weighting circuits (451 to 455) is reduced, and on the contrary, the influence is increased. This can be achieved by increasing the gain of the weighting circuit (451-455).
[0075]
Although not shown, the gains of the weighting circuits 451 to 455 may be reset by the user's intention as in the case of the comparison reference values 421 to 425.
[0076]
Therefore, the image quality determination circuit 1251 of the present embodiment is a value obtained by weighting the correction error amount of the shake correction lens, the movement error amount of the focus lens, the movement error amount of the aperture, the CCD drive error amount, and the white balance adjustment error amount. This is the value obtained as the sum.
[0077]
(Third embodiment)
A configuration shown in FIG. 7 is possible as a third embodiment of the present invention.
In this embodiment, in particular, the correction error amount of the correction lens, the movement error amount of the focus lens, the movement error amount of the aperture, the CCD drive error amount, and the white balance adjustment error amount are independent of the captured image and the disk recorder that is a recording medium. The image quality is displayed using the image quality determination circuit 251 at the time of playback and editing.
[0078]
In FIG. 7, 262 is a data conversion circuit, and 322 is a disk recorder.
The data conversion circuit 262 can record the correction error amount of the correction lens, the movement error amount of the focus lens, the movement error amount of the aperture, the CCD drive error amount, and the white balance adjustment error amount on the disk recorder 322, for example, predetermined data Convert to a long digital quantity of data.
[0079]
Next, a playback video image 1330 will be described. Reference numeral 331 denotes a video image at the time of playback, which is a captured image played back in the same manner as a conventional video camera. Reference numeral 332 shows the evaluation of the image quality as a line graph. In this embodiment, the horizontal axis is the time axis, and the time of the entire cut being reproduced is displayed on the horizontal axis. A bar 333 displays the current reproduction position (time) in the entire cut, and a mark is displayed at the reproduction position.
[0080]
This line graph uses the random access characteristic of the disk recorder 322, and the correction error amount of the correction lens, the movement error amount of the focus lens, the movement error amount of the aperture, the CCD driving error amount, white, which are recorded at the time of imaging. Only the balance adjustment error amount is prefetched, and the result of signal processing by the image quality determination circuit 251 is displayed along with the time axis.
[0081]
Therefore, in the case of the present embodiment, the image quality of the captured image in the central portion is temporally high in the captured cut, and on the contrary, the image quality at the start and end of the cut is inferior, and the playback time is the start time of the cut It can be understood that about 1/3 until the end has passed.
[0082]
Further, as shown in FIG. 8, an image quality determination circuit 252 that does not include the above-described addition circuit 431 is provided, and each piece of information is individually input to the data superimposing circuit 271 so that a line graph shown in 334 is obtained. It is also possible to display each information individually.
[0083]
(Fourth embodiment)
As a fourth embodiment of the present invention, a configuration using a warning color superimposing circuit 272 shown in FIG. 9 is also possible.
[0084]
In this embodiment, the image quality determination result of the image quality determination circuit 251 is not shown in a graph as in the conventional superimposing circuit 271, but the reproduction video image 3330 is formed by superimposing the color signal on the reproduction video image itself. It is characterized by.
Here, the color signal to be superimposed may be changed variously according to the image quality determination result of the image quality determination circuit 251.
[0085]
(Fifth embodiment)
Next, as a fifth embodiment of the present invention, a configuration using the image processing circuit 273 shown in FIG. 10 is also possible.
The present embodiment is characterized in that the image quality judgment result of the image quality judgment circuit 251 is not shown in a graph like the conventional superposition circuit 271 but is displayed by processing the image of the reproduced video image.
[0086]
Here, specific examples of the image processing include, for example, change of contrast, change of frequency characteristics, enlargement or reduction of image, and afterimage. These degrees are changed in accordance with the image quality determination result of the image quality determination circuit 251 to form a reproduced video image 4330. FIG. 10 shows a reproduced video image as an afterimage as a specific example of image processing. Reference numeral 331a denotes a video image during reproduction, and reference numeral 331b denotes an afterimage.
[0087]
(Sixth embodiment)
As a sixth embodiment of the present invention, a configuration using a personal computer or a non-linear editor for a part of the blocks of the above configuration is also possible.
[0088]
Specifically, in the editing of captured images such as non-linear editing, it can be realized by incorporating the image quality determination circuit 251, the disk recorder 322, the data superimposing circuit 271, the video image display device, and the like.
[0089]
One example will be described with reference to the flowcharts shown in FIGS.
First, the flowchart at the time of imaging shown in FIG. 11 will be described in order. When the process is started in step S101, for example, the recording operation starts in conjunction with the imaging start switch.
[0090]
Next, in step S102, the absolute value of the error amount of the shake correction lens control is calculated.
[0091]
Thereafter, the process proceeds to step S103, where the absolute value of the focusing lens control error amount is calculated. In step S104, the absolute value of the exposure control error amount is calculated. In step S105, the absolute value of the white balance control error amount is calculated. calculate.
[0092]
Next, in step S106, the calculation result is recorded together with the captured image by a recording device such as a disk recorder.
[0093]
Next, it progresses to step S107 and waits until predetermined time passes. For this predetermined time, for example, the timing at which the phase is synchronized with the vertical synchronization signal of the video signal may be used. Then, it progresses to step S108 and it is confirmed whether recording was complete | finished.
[0094]
If the result of confirmation in step S108 is that recording has not ended, the process returns to step S102 and the above-described operation is repeatedly executed. If the result of the confirmation in step S108 is that the recording has been completed, the recording of the cut has been completed, so the process proceeds to step S109 to stop the recording.
The above operation is performed during camera imaging.
[0095]
Next, a processing procedure during reproduction will be described with reference to FIG.
When data display for each cut at the time of reproduction starts in the first step S201, the process proceeds to step S202, and the time of the recorded image being reproduced is sampled. This sampling time is the time allotted from the beginning of each cut, the time at the time of imaging, the usage time of the recording media, etc. Whatever is the real time synchronized with the captured image in the cut But it doesn't matter.
[0096]
In step S203, a predetermined weight is applied to the absolute value of the recorded shake correction error amount in the cut being reproduced. As described in the previous embodiment, the weighting can be performed by multiplying the weighting value.
[0097]
In step S204, the absolute value of the error amount of the focusing lens is similarly weighted. In step S205, the absolute value of the exposure control error amount is weighted. In step S206, the absolute value of the white balance control error amount is weighted.
[0098]
Thereafter, in step S207, processing for adding the values obtained in steps S203 to S206 is performed. In the next step S208, the added value is displayed on a display such as a monitor together with the time sampled in step S202. Here, the sampled time and the absolute value of each error amount are pre-read with respect to the captured image, and the sampled time is displayed on the horizontal axis, and the added value is displayed on the vertical axis, so that A line graph as described in FIG. 7 can be displayed.
[0099]
Next, in step S209, it is determined whether or not the cutting is finished. If the cut is not completed as a result of the determination, the process returns to step S202, the above-described processing is performed again, and the line graph is updated.
[0100]
On the other hand, if the result of determination in step S209 is that the cut has been completed, the process proceeds to step S210, where the above processing is terminated and the cut display is terminated.
[0101]
As described above, according to the present invention, in order to solve the above-described problem, the recording means for recording the imaging information corresponding to the captured image at the time of imaging by the camera, and the above-mentioned at the time of reproducing or editing the captured image An imaging apparatus comprising a display means for visually displaying imaging information, wherein the imaging information includes an aperture operation error amount, a shutter speed error amount, a focus lens operation error amount, and a shake correction. A plurality of calculation means for obtaining an error amount from the movement target value such as an operation error amount of the apparatus and an operation error amount of the white balance circuit, and a predetermined value set in advance with respect to the obtained error amount. By providing a plurality of comparison means for comparing magnitudes and an arithmetic means for calculating the sum of the comparison results obtained from the plurality of comparison means, the captured image can be captured even on a small liquid crystal screen. Determine the superiority or inferiority of quality is made possible. Further, it is possible to easily determine the image quality of a captured image even in nonlinear editing.
[0102]
This is because the image quality when the aperture movement error amount, shutter speed movement error amount, focus lens movement error amount, shake correction device correction error amount, white balance circuit correction error amount, etc. are large is a problem in its quality. Therefore, the quality of the picked-up image quality is obtained from the magnitude of the error amount of these parameters.
[0103]
The image quality information can be displayed using numerical values, characters, colors, patterns, or processing of captured images. Further, the image quality information can be displayed as an average value, maximum value, minimum value, etc. of image quality information per unit time set in advance.
[0104]
Further, the image quality information can be displayed along with the time axis as numerical values, colors, patterns, symbols, or pictograms for each captured image corresponding to all or a part of the captured image of the image quality information corresponding to the captured image. . Also, the image quality information can be displayed along with the time axis as characters such as “appropriate” and “inappropriate” for each captured image corresponding to all or a part of the captured image. it can.
[0105]
Further, the image quality information can be displayed by performing image processing on the corresponding captured image. The image processing includes “changing the image resolution greatly”, “adding shake to the image”, “changing the color tone of the image”, “changing the luminance of the image”, and the like.
[0106]
The display of the image quality information corresponding to the captured image can be accelerated by a predetermined time set in advance. All or part of the above processing can be performed by a computer program stored in the storage means of the computer.
[0107]
Each of the above-described embodiments is merely an example of the embodiment for carrying out the present invention, and the technical scope of the present invention should not be construed as being limited thereto. That is, the present invention can be implemented in various forms without departing from the technical idea or the main features thereof.
[0108]
(Another embodiment of the present invention)
The present invention may be applied to a system composed of a plurality of devices or an apparatus composed of a single device.
[0109]
Further, in order to operate various devices so as to realize the functions of the above-described embodiments, a transmission medium such as the Internet is transmitted from a storage medium to an apparatus connected to the various devices or a computer in the system. The program implemented by operating the various devices according to the program stored in the computer (CPU or MPU) of the system or apparatus is supplied via the software program code for realizing the functions of the above-described embodiments Are included in the scope of the present invention.
[0110]
In this case, the program code itself of the software realizes the functions of the above-described embodiment, and the program code itself and means for supplying the program code to the computer, for example, the program code are stored. This storage medium constitutes the present invention. As a storage medium for storing the program code, for example, a flexible disk, a hard disk, an optical disk, a magneto-optical disk, a CD-ROM, a magnetic tape, a nonvolatile memory card, a ROM, or the like can be used.
[0111]
Further, by executing the program code supplied by the computer, not only the functions described in the above-described embodiments are realized, but also the OS (operating system) or other operating system in which the program code is running on the computer. Such program code is also included in the embodiment of the present invention even when the functions described in the above-described embodiment are realized in cooperation with application software or the like.
[0112]
Further, after the supplied program code is stored in the memory provided in the function expansion board of the computer or the function expansion unit connected to the computer, the CPU provided in the function expansion board or function expansion unit based on the instruction of the program code The present invention also includes a case where the functions of the above-described embodiment are realized by performing part or all of the actual processing.
[0113]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the present invention, when the subject is imaged and the captured image is displayed, the captured image is displayed. More accurate image quality It can be easily confirmed.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of an imaging apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a driving circuit according to the first embodiment in the first embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a white balance control circuit according to the first embodiment of the first embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 4 is a characteristic diagram illustrating a conversion table according to the first embodiment of the first embodiment of this invention.
FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing an image quality determination circuit according to the first embodiment of the first embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing another image quality determination circuit according to the second embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 7 is a block diagram illustrating an imaging apparatus according to a third embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 8 is a block diagram illustrating an imaging apparatus according to a third embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 9 is a block diagram illustrating a part of an imaging apparatus according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 10 is a block diagram illustrating a part of an imaging apparatus according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 11 is a flowchart illustrating processing during imaging of an imaging apparatus according to a sixth embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing processing during reproduction of the imaging apparatus according to the sixth embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 13 is a block diagram illustrating an imaging apparatus according to a conventional technique.
[Explanation of symbols]
201 Shake correction lens drive circuit
202 Shake correction arithmetic circuit
203 Shake detection sensor
221 Focus lens drive circuit
222 Autofocus arithmetic circuit
231 Aperture drive circuit
232 CCD drive circuit
233 Exposure calculation circuit
241 White balance control circuit
251, 252, 1251 Image quality judgment circuit
261, 262 Data conversion circuit
271 Data superposition circuit
272 Warning color superposition circuit
273 Image quality processing circuit
301-304 Optical system
305 CCD
311 Camera signal processing circuit
321 tape recorder
322 disc recorder
330, 1330, 2330, 3330, 4330 Playback video image
331 video images
332 Image Quality Graph
340 display device
401-405 Comparison reference value
461-465 Absolute value circuit
431 Adder circuit
441-445 volumes
451-455 weighting circuit

Claims (9)

Imaging means;
A shake correction lens driving means for driving a shake correction lens for reducing a shake of an image captured by the imaging means;
A focus lens driving means for driving a focus lens to perform autofocus;
Exposure control means for controlling the diaphragm and the imaging means to perform an automatic exposure operation;
White balance control means for performing automatic white balance control;
A shake correction lens drive error signal that is the difference between the movement target value in the shake correction lens driving means and the actual movement amount; a focus lens drive error signal that is the difference between the movement target value in the focus lens drive means and the actual movement amount; An aperture drive error signal that is the difference between the control target value of the diaphragm and the actual control amount in the exposure control means, and an image pickup device drive error that is the difference between the control target value of the image pickup means and the actual control amount in the exposure control means Image quality evaluation value output means for outputting an image quality evaluation value based on at least one of a signal, a white balance adjustment error signal which is a difference between a control target value in the white balance control means and an actual control amount;
Comparison results comparing the shake correction lens drive error signal with a comparison reference value, comparison results comparing the focus lens drive error signal with a comparison reference value, comparison results comparing the aperture drive error signal with a comparison reference value, the imaging Weighting means for weighting each of the comparison result of comparing the drive error signal and the comparison reference value, and the comparison result of comparing the white balance adjustment error signal and the comparison reference value;
Display control means for controlling the image quality evaluation value output from the image quality evaluation value output means to be displayed on the display means together with the image captured by the imaging means;
The image quality evaluation value output means compares the shake correction lens drive error signal weighted by the weighting means with a comparison reference value, a comparison result between the focus lens drive error signal and a comparison reference value, The comparison result of comparing the aperture drive error signal with the comparison reference value, the comparison result of comparing the imaging means drive error signal with the comparison reference value, and the total of the comparison result of comparing the white balance adjustment error signal with the comparison reference value An imaging apparatus that outputs an evaluation value .   The output means compares the shake correction lens drive error signal with a comparison reference value, compares the focus lens drive error signal with a comparison reference value, and compares the aperture drive error signal with a comparison reference value. Output an image quality evaluation value based on at least one of a comparison result, a comparison result comparing the imaging means driving error signal with a comparison reference value, and a comparison result comparing the white balance adjustment error signal with a comparison reference value. The imaging apparatus according to claim 1.   The imaging apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising a changing unit that changes the comparison reference value based on a user operation. The display control means reproduces and displays the moving image captured by the imaging means and recorded in the recording means, the horizontal axis is a time axis representing the time of the entire cut of the moving image, and the vertical axis is the image quality evaluation. The imaging apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3 , wherein control is performed so as to display a graph with values. Wherein the display control unit, in any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the controller controls to display by superimposing a color signal representing the image quality evaluation value to the moving image captured by the imaging means The imaging device described. The display control means displays the moving image picked up by the image pickup means, and changes the conolast of the moving image, changes of the frequency characteristics of the moving image, and the moving image so as to indicate the image quality evaluation value. enlargement or reduction of the image pickup apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that at least one of the processing in the moving picture subjecting the afterimage effect. Imaging means;
A shake correction lens driving means for driving a shake correction lens for reducing a shake of an image captured by the imaging means;
A focus lens driving means for driving a focus lens to perform autofocus;
Exposure control means for controlling the diaphragm and the imaging means to perform an automatic exposure operation;
A control method for an imaging apparatus having white balance control means for performing automatic white balance control,
A shake correction lens drive error signal that is the difference between the movement target value in the shake correction lens driving means and the actual movement amount; a focus lens drive error signal that is the difference between the movement target value in the focus lens drive means and the actual movement amount; An aperture drive error signal that is the difference between the control target value of the diaphragm and the actual control amount in the exposure control means, and an image pickup device drive error that is the difference between the control target value of the image pickup means and the actual control amount in the exposure control means An image quality evaluation value output step for outputting an image quality evaluation value based on at least one of a signal, a white balance adjustment error signal that is a difference between a control target value in the white balance control means and an actual control amount;
Comparison results comparing the shake correction lens drive error signal with a comparison reference value, comparison results comparing the focus lens drive error signal with a comparison reference value, comparison results comparing the aperture drive error signal with a comparison reference value, the imaging A weighting step for weighting each of the comparison result of comparing the means drive error signal and the comparison reference value, and the comparison result of comparing the white balance adjustment error signal and the comparison reference value;
A display control step for controlling the image quality evaluation value output in the image quality evaluation value output step to be displayed on a display unit together with an image captured by the image capturing unit;
The image quality evaluation value output step includes a comparison result comparing the shake correction lens drive error signal weighted in the weighting step with a comparison reference value, a comparison result comparing the focus lens drive error signal and a comparison reference value, The comparison result of comparing the aperture drive error signal with the comparison reference value, the comparison result of comparing the imaging means drive error signal with the comparison reference value, and the total of the comparison result of comparing the white balance adjustment error signal with the comparison reference value A method for controlling an image pickup apparatus, characterized by outputting the evaluation value . The program which makes a computer function as each means of the imaging device described in any one of Claims 1 thru | or 6 . A computer-readable storage medium storing a program that causes a computer to function as each unit of the imaging apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 6 .

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