JP6700935B2 - Imaging device, control method thereof, and control program - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an image pickup apparatus having a plurality of image pickup sections, a control method therefor, and a control program, and more particularly to an image pickup apparatus arranged so that the viewpoints of the plurality of image pickup sections are substantially the same.

  2. Description of the Related Art Generally, there is known an imaging device that uses a wide-angle lens or a fish-eye lens in an optical system to shoot a wide range at once. However, the angle of view is limited in the wide-angle lens. On the other hand, a so-called all-round fish-eye lens has an angle of view of 180 degrees and can photograph a wide range at a time, but optical aberration is large at the lens peripheral portion, and it is difficult to achieve high resolution over the entire angle of view. ..

  In order to solve such a problem, there is an image pickup apparatus (hereinafter referred to as a compound eye image pickup apparatus) in which a plurality of image pickup sections are arranged so that their viewpoints substantially match each other. In this compound-eye image pickup device, the picked-up images obtained by the respective image pickup units are joined together to obtain a seamless and high-resolution image over a wide angle of view (see Patent Document 1). Since a wide-angle lens or a lens with a wide angle of view such as a fish-eye lens has a large depth of field, it is possible to obtain an image in which the entire area of the screen is in focus without squeezing the diaphragm too much.

  However, it is necessary to use a lens with a narrow angle of view when shooting a wide angle of view with high resolution using the above-mentioned compound eye imaging device. With a lens having a narrow angle of view, if one subject is brought into focus unless narrowed down, a situation in which subjects before and after that are not brought into focus easily occurs. On the other hand, there is an image pickup device provided with a so-called tilt mechanism as an image pickup device capable of focusing a near subject to a far subject even with a lens having a narrow angle of view (see Patent Document 2).

JP, 10-145657, A JP-A-2000-56214

  However, even if the techniques described in Patent Documents 1 and 2 described above are simply combined, when the captured images captured by each of the plurality of image capturing units are joined together, the joint portion of the joined images becomes unnatural. Will end up. That is, as a result of the focus plane and the depth of field differing for each imaging unit, when images with different focus planes and depth of field are combined, a focus shift occurs at the joint portion.

  Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide an image pickup apparatus capable of shooting a wide angle of view with high resolution without causing a focus shift at a joint portion of images, a control method thereof, and a control program.

  In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, an imaging device according to the present invention is an imaging device that includes a plurality of imaging units and obtains a captured image by an imaging element provided in each of the plurality of imaging units. The sections are arranged so that their viewpoints are substantially coincident with each other, and a first control unit that controls focus in the plurality of image pickup units and a tilt angle that is a tilt with respect to the optical axis of the image pickup unit with respect to the image pickup device are set. When a focus control is performed by at least one of the plurality of imaging units by the first control unit, the second control unit performs the focus control. According to the focus surface of the image pickup unit, the tilt angle is adjusted in the image pickup unit adjacent to the image pickup unit on which the focus control is performed.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to shoot a wide angle of view with high resolution without defocusing at a joint portion of images.

It is a block diagram which shows an example of the imaging device by the 1st Embodiment of this invention with a display device. It is a figure which shows the external appearance of the imaging device shown in FIG. It is a figure which shows an example of the picked-up image obtained by the 1st-7th imaging part shown in FIG. It is a figure which shows an example of the whole image obtained by synthesize|combining the 1st-7th picked-up images. It is a figure for demonstrating the focus surface and depth of field by the conventional compound-eye imaging device. FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining a focus surface and a depth of field by the compound-eye imaging device shown in FIG. 1. It is a figure which shows the picked-up image obtained by one of the imaging parts when a diaphragm was opened in the conventional compound-eye imaging device and the compound-eye imaging device shown in FIG. It is a figure which shows the whole image obtained when the diaphragm was opened in the conventional compound eye imaging device and the compound eye imaging device shown in FIG. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the principle of Scheimpflug for explaining the positional relationship between the focus surface, the lens surface, and the imaging surface in the compound-eye imaging device shown in FIG. 1. FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining a focus surface and a depth of field when the focus surface is adjusted to the head of a child shorter than an adult in the compound-eye imaging device shown in FIG. 1. 4 is a flowchart for explaining control (camera control) of the image pickup apparatus shown in FIG. 1. It is a block diagram which shows an example of the imaging device by the 2nd Embodiment of this invention with a viewer terminal. It is a figure for demonstrating the focus surface and depth of field of the compound-eye imaging device shown in FIG. 8 is a flowchart for explaining control of an image pickup apparatus (camera control) according to the second embodiment of the present invention. It is a block diagram which shows an example of the imaging device by the 3rd Embodiment of this invention with a viewer terminal. It is a figure which shows the external appearance of the imaging device shown in FIG. It is a figure which shows an example of the focus surface and depth of field by the compound-eye imaging device shown in FIG. It is a figure which shows an example of the picked-up image and the whole image obtained in the state shown in FIG. It is a figure which shows the other example of the focus surface and depth of field by the compound-eye imaging device shown in FIG. It is a figure which shows an example of the picked-up image, the whole image, and the cutout image obtained in the state shown in FIG. 9 is a flowchart for explaining control of an image pickup apparatus (camera control) according to the third embodiment of the present invention.

  Hereinafter, an example of the imaging device according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

[First Embodiment]
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of an image pickup apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention together with a display device.

  In FIG. 1, the imaging device 1 is connected to a display device (hereinafter referred to as a viewer terminal) 2 via a network 3. The illustrated image pickup apparatus 1 includes first to seventh image pickup units 110 to 170. Further, the image pickup apparatus 1 includes a control parameter calculation unit 101, an image synthesis unit 102, an image compression unit 103, and a communication unit 104. The first image pickup unit 110 includes a lens control unit 111, a lens 112, an image pickup surface (image pickup element) 113, and a tilt control unit 114. Although not shown, the second to seventh image capturing units 120 to 170 have the same configuration as the first image capturing unit 110. Further, in the following description, an image pickup device including a plurality of image pickup units is referred to as a compound eye image pickup device.

  Here, focusing on the first imaging unit 110, the lens control unit 111 performs focus control and aperture control of the lens 112 based on the focus information and aperture value acquired by the control parameter calculation unit 101. The tilt control unit 114 controls the tilt of the imaging surface (image sensor) 113 (the tilt of the lens 112 in the optical axis direction) based on the tilt angle information obtained by the control parameter calculation unit 101. That is, the tilt control unit 114 controls the inclination of the imaging surface 113 in the depth direction.

  The captured images obtained by the first to seventh image capturing units 110 to 170 are input to the image combining unit 102. Hereinafter, the captured images obtained by the first to seventh image capturing units 110 to 170 are referred to as first to seventh captured images, respectively. The image composition unit 102 seamlessly connects the first to seventh captured images to generate a composite image (hereinafter also referred to as an entire image).

  The entire image is compressed by the image compression unit 103 to a data size that can be distributed via the network. Then, the compressed whole image is distributed to the viewer terminal 2 via the network 3 by the communication unit 104.

  The viewer terminal 2 has a main image display unit 201, a whole image display unit 202, an image cutout/dewarp unit 203, an image decompression unit 204, an operation input unit 205, an operation command generation/interpretation unit 206, and a communication unit 207. There is. When the communication unit 207 receives the compressed whole image, the image expansion unit 204 expands the compressed whole image. Then, the whole image is displayed on the whole image display unit 202. The image cutout/dewarp unit 203 performs distortion correction (dewarp) by projective transformation on the entire image, performs partial cutout of the entire image, and displays the partial image as a main image on the main image display unit 201.

  The operation input unit 205 receives user operation inputs regarding the focus, aperture, and cutout portion. The operation command generation/interpretation unit 206 uses the user operation input as a camera control parameter, converts it into a network distributable command, and transmits it to the imaging device 1 via the communication unit 207.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an appearance of the image pickup apparatus shown in FIG.

  In FIG. 2, the lower diagram is a diagram showing a state of looking up the image pickup device from directly below, and the upper diagram is a diagram showing a state of looking up the image pickup device from slightly below the horizontal.

  The lenses 112 to 172 are provided in the first to seventh image pickup units 110 to 170, respectively. The viewpoints of the lenses 112 to 172 are substantially the same, and the lenses 112 to 172 cover an angle of view of 360 degrees in the pan direction and 180 degrees in the tilt direction without a gap.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of captured images obtained by the first to seventh image capturing units shown in FIG. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of the entire image obtained by combining the first to seventh photographed images.

  Now, it is assumed that the first to seventh captured images 301 to 307 are obtained by the first to seventh image capturing units 110 to 170. The image combining unit 102 combines the first to seventh captured images 301 to 307 according to the angle of view of the lens, the line-of-sight direction, and the tilt angle. As a result, the entire image shown in FIG. 4 is obtained.

  In the example shown in FIG. 4, the entire image is a circular planar image similar to the image obtained by shooting with a so-called all-round fisheye lens. Note that the entire image may be a stereoscopic image projected on a sphere centered on substantially matching viewpoints in the first to seventh imaging units 110 to 170. Further, the entire image may be a rectangular panoramic image having the pan direction as the horizontal axis and the tilt direction as the vertical axis.

  The whole image above can be obtained by narrowing down the aperture of the lens and focusing on the entire screen, that is, an image taken with pan focus, but when the aperture is opened The whole image cannot be obtained.

  FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining the focus plane and the depth of field by the conventional compound-eye imaging device. Further, FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining the focus plane and the depth of field by the compound-eye imaging device shown in FIG.

  5 and 6, fields of view 210 to 230, focus planes 211 to 231, and depths of field 212 to 232 indicate the fields of view, focus planes, and depth of field of the imaging units 110 to 130, respectively. Here, the inclination between the focus surface and the depth of field depends on the tilt angle of the imaging surface 113, and the position of the focus surface depends on the focus value. The width of the depth of field depends on the aperture value.

  Here, for the sake of simplification, the visual fields 210 to 230 are the visual fields excluding the overlapping portions in the first to seventh image capturing units 110 to 1130, and actually the captured images obtained by the image capturing units 110 to 130. Will show a wider range. In FIG. 5, the focus plane and the depth of field of the image capturing units 110 to 130 do not match each other. On the other hand, in FIG. 6, the focus planes and the depth of field of the image capturing units 110 to 130 match each other. The conventional compound-eye imaging device does not include the tilt control unit 114 shown in FIG. 1.

  FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a captured image obtained by one of the image capturing units when the diaphragm is opened in the conventional compound eye image capturing apparatus and the compound eye image capturing apparatus shown in FIG. FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an entire image obtained when the diaphragm is opened in the conventional compound-eye imaging device and the compound-eye imaging device shown in FIG. Note that, here, one of the imaging units is, for example, the second difference image unit 120.

  In FIG. 7, the image shown on the left side is a photographed image obtained by the conventional compound eye imaging device, and the image on the right side is the image obtained by the compound eye imaging device shown in FIG. In the photographed image shown on the left side, the person located at the innermost position is in focus, and the two people in the foreground are out of the depth of field and therefore out of focus. On the other hand, in the photographed image shown on the right side, the body is not in focus for all persons, but the head is in focus. Regarding the captured image obtained by the downward first imaging unit 110 (see FIG. 2 ), the head is in focus even in the conventional compound-eye imaging device.

  In the entire image 401 shown on the upper side in FIG. 8, even if a person has the same height, the whole body is blurred or the whole body is in focus depending on the position of the person. Furthermore, only one part of the body is in focus, and the other part is blurred. On the other hand, in the whole image 402 shown on the lower side, if the person has the same height, the head is in focus regardless of the position of the person.

  As a result, when used for applications such as face authentication, the whole image 402 can perform face authentication more stably. Further, in the whole image 401, when a person is located near the joint between the photographed images, a defocus occurs between the photographed images, resulting in an unnatural image. On the other hand, in the whole image 402, even if a person is located near the joint between the photographed images, it does not become an unnatural image.

  FIG. 9 is a diagram showing the principle of Scheimpflug for explaining the positional relationship among the focus surface, the lens surface, and the image pickup surface in the compound-eye image pickup apparatus shown in FIG.

  As shown in the diagram on the left side in FIG. 9, when the lens surface (Lens Plane) and the imaging surface (Image Plane) are parallel, the focus surface (Subject Plane) is also parallel to these. Here, the tilt angle of the imaging surface is adjusted so that the imaging surface is not parallel to the lens surface. In this case, as shown in the diagram on the right side in FIG. 9, the focus surface always intersects with the intersection (Scheimpflug Intersection) between the lens surface and the imaging surface. This is the principle of Scheimpflug. The tilt of the focus surface changes according to the distance between the lens surface and the imaging surface.

  FIG. 10 is a diagram for explaining the focus surface and the depth of field when the focus surface is adjusted to the head of a child shorter than an adult in the compound-eye imaging apparatus shown in FIG.

  The focus surfaces 211 to 231 and the depths of field 212 to 232 of the first to seventh imaging units 110 to 130 are lower than those shown in FIG. 6 by changing the distance between the lens surface and the imaging surface by focus control. Move to. Even if the focus planes 211 to 231 and the depths of field 212 to 232 are moved downward, they match each other as in the state shown in FIG. The focus planes 211 to 231 and the depths of field 212 to 232 cannot be matched with each other simply by performing focus control. Therefore, the tilt angle and the diaphragm are adjusted in conjunction with the focus control. As a result, the head of the child is in focus regardless of the position of the child, and the face authentication of the child can be stably performed.

  FIG. 11 is a flowchart for explaining control of the image pickup apparatus shown in FIG. 1 (camera control). Here, a process in the imaging device when the user performs the focus operation of the imaging device 1 on the viewer terminal 2 will be described.

  Now, it is assumed that the user requests the focus control of the first imaging unit 110 by the operation input unit 205 in the viewer terminal 2. In response to the focus control request, the operation command generation/interpretation unit 206 generates a focus control command. Then, the operation command generation/interpretation unit 206 transmits the focus control command to the imaging device 2 via the network 3 by the communication unit 207.

  The imaging apparatus 1 receives the focus control command via the communication unit 104. The control parameter calculation unit 101 determines the focus value, aperture value, and tilt angle of the second and third image capturing units 120 and 130 according to the focus surface and the depth of field after controlling the first image capturing unit 110. Calculate (step S101). Although the calculation formula used for the calculation is omitted here, the Scheimpflug principle is used to determine the characteristics of the imaging unit such as the angle of view and the line-of-sight direction of the lenses of the second and third imaging units 120 and 130. Calculation is performed. The second and third image capturing units 120 and 130 are image capturing units adjacent to the first image capturing unit 110.

  Next, in the second and third imaging units 120 and 130, the lens control unit 111 controls the focus and aperture of the lens 112 based on the focus value and aperture value calculated in step S101 (step S102). Then, in the second and third image pickup units 120 and 130, the tilt control unit 114 controls the tilt angle of the imaging surface based on the tilt angle calculated in step S101 (step S103). Then, the imaging device 1 ends the camera control.

  As described above, in the first embodiment of the present invention, the focus and diaphragm are controlled in the other image capturing units according to the control result of the first image capturing unit 110, and the tilt angle of the image capturing surface is controlled. As a result, it is possible to obtain a high-resolution whole image having a wide angle of view without causing a focus shift in the joint portion in the whole image. Furthermore, it is possible to improve night-vision performance and resolution even when using a large-diameter lens with a shallow depth of field.

[Second Embodiment]
Next, an example of the image pickup apparatus according to the second embodiment of the present invention will be described.

  FIG. 12: is a block diagram which shows an example of the imaging device by the 2nd Embodiment of this invention with a viewer terminal.

  The same components as those in the example shown in FIG. 1 in the illustrated image pickup apparatus and viewer terminal are designated by the same reference numerals. Further, here, each of the first to seventh imaging units 110 to 170 is not provided with the tilt control unit 114, and the other configurations are the same as those in the example shown in FIG. 1.

 Therefore, the tilt angle of the imaging surface 113 is fixed at the time of assembly or manually adjusted at the time of installation after shipping. Therefore, the tilt angle cannot be adjusted by the command of the viewer terminal after the image pickup apparatus is installed.

  FIG. 13 is a diagram for explaining the focus plane and the depth of field of the compound-eye imaging device shown in FIG.

  Now, as described above with reference to FIG. 10, it is assumed that the first to seventh imaging units 110 to 170 are installed so as to be focused on the head of the child. In this state, when the focus operation is performed from the viewer terminal 2 so that the adult's head is in focus, the focus surface and the depth of field change as shown in FIG.

  In the state shown in FIG. 13, unlike the state in which the adult head shown in FIG. 6 is in focus, the focus surface 211 of the first imaging unit 110 and the focus surfaces 221 of the second and third imaging units 120 and 130. And 231 do not match. That is, as the tilt angle of the image pickup surface cannot be adjusted after the image pickup apparatus is installed, only the focus position and the depth of field match at the joint portion of the entire image.

  Therefore, in the second embodiment, unlike the first embodiment, even a person of the same height is in a state in which the head is not focused as the person moves away from the imaging device. On the other hand, in the image pickup apparatus according to the second embodiment, unlike the conventional compound-eye image pickup apparatus, even when the person is located near the joint between the picked-up images, no focus shift occurs between the picked-up images. , It does not look unnatural.

  FIG. 14 is a flowchart for explaining control of the image pickup apparatus (camera control) according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

  Now, it is assumed that the user requests the focus control of the first imaging unit 110 by the operation input unit 205 in the viewer terminal 2. In response to the focus control request, the operation command generation/interpretation unit 206 generates a focus control command. Then, the operation command generation/interpretation unit 206 transmits the focus control command to the imaging device 2 via the network 3 by the communication unit 207.

  The imaging apparatus 1 receives the focus control command via the communication unit 104. The control parameter calculation unit 101 calculates the focus value and aperture value of the second and third image capturing units 120 and 130 according to the focus surface and the depth of field after controlling the first image capturing unit 110 (step). S201).

  Next, in the second and third imaging units 120 and 130, the lens control unit 111 controls the focus and aperture of the lens 112 based on the focus value and aperture value calculated in step S201 (step S202). Then, the imaging device 1 ends the camera control.

  As described above, in the second embodiment of the present invention, the focus and the diaphragm are controlled in the other image capturing units 120 to 170 according to the control result of the first image capturing unit 110. As a result, it is possible to obtain a high-resolution whole image with a wide angle of view without causing a focus shift in the joint portion in the whole image. Furthermore, it is possible to improve night-vision performance and resolution even when using a large-diameter lens with a shallow depth of field.

[Third Embodiment]
Next, an example of the image pickup apparatus according to the third embodiment of the present invention will be described.

  FIG. 15: is a block diagram which shows an example of the imaging device by the 3rd Embodiment of this invention with a viewer terminal.

  The same components as those in the example shown in FIG. 1 in the illustrated image pickup apparatus and viewer terminal are designated by the same reference numerals. The illustrated image pickup apparatus 1 includes first to third image pickup units 110 to 130. Further, the image pickup apparatus 1 has an image cutout unit 105. Further, the viewer terminal 2 is not provided with the image cutout/dewarp processing unit 203. That is, in the illustrated example, the image cutout unit 105 included in the image pickup apparatus 1 cuts out a partial image from the entire image to obtain a cutout image. Therefore, the image pickup apparatus 1 delivers at least one of the whole image and the cutout image to the viewer terminal.

  FIG. 16 is a diagram showing an appearance of the image pickup apparatus shown in FIG.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an appearance of the image pickup apparatus shown in FIG.

  In FIG. 2, the lower diagram is a diagram showing a state of looking up the image pickup device from directly below, and the upper diagram is a diagram showing a state of looking up the image pickup device from slightly below the horizontal.

  The lenses 112 to 132 are provided in the first to third image pickup units 110 to 130, respectively. The viewpoints of the lenses 112 to 132 are substantially coincident with each other, and the imaging device 1 is arranged so that the lenses 112 to 132 cover a field angle of 180 degrees in the pan direction without a gap.

  FIG. 17 is a diagram showing an example of the focus plane and the depth of field by the compound-eye imaging device shown in FIG. Further, FIG. 18 is a diagram showing an example of a photographed image and an entire image obtained in the state shown in FIG. Note that in FIG. 18, for convenience of description, captured images obtained by the two image capturing units are shown.

  In FIG. 17, the field of view 210, the focus surface 211, and the depth of field 212 indicate the field of view, the focus surface, and the depth of field in the first and imaging units 110. The field of view 220, the focus surface 221, and the depth of field 222 indicate the field of view, the focus surface, and the depth of field of the second imaging unit 120. The tilt between the focus plane and the depth of field depends on the tilt angle of the imaging plane 113. Further, the position of the focus surface depends on the focus value, and the width of the depth of field depends on the aperture value.

  When the entire image display unit 202 of the viewer terminal 2 displays an entire image of a predetermined size or more, the focus plane and the depth of field are in the state shown in FIG. In this case, the focus planes and depths of field of the first and second imaging units 110 and 120 match each other.

  The photographed image 1810 obtained by the first image pickup unit 110 and the photographed image 1820 obtained by the second image pickup unit 120 are in focus on the head of an adult, and the torso portion of the child and the adult The focus is out of focus. The entire image 1830 obtained by combining the captured image 1810 and the captured image 1820 is a natural image in which no focus shift occurs.

  FIG. 19 is a diagram showing another example of the focus plane and the depth of field by the compound-eye imaging device shown in FIG. 20 is a diagram showing an example of the photographed image, the entire image, and the cut-out image obtained in the state shown in FIG.

  Now, the user uses the operation input unit 205 to display or hide the entire image smaller than a predetermined size, and cuts out a part of the captured image that does not include the joint part and displays the main image as a cutout image. Suppose that it is displayed on the part 201. In this case, the focus surface and the depth of field are in the state shown in FIG. The field of view 213 is a field of view of a cutout image (partial image) 1812 obtained by cutting out a part of the entire image or the captured image by the image cutout unit 105.

  Since the field of view of the partial image 1812 is the range 1811 that includes the entire body of the child in the captured image 1810, here, the focus plane 211 and the depth of field 212 in the first imaging unit 110 are focused so that the entire body of the child is in focus. And change vertically. At this time, the focus surface 221 and the depth of field 222 in the second image capturing unit 120, which has obtained the captured image 1820 that is not the extraction target, does not change. Therefore, the focus plane and the depth of field in the first and second image capturing units 110 and 120 do not match, and the entire image 1830 is out of focus and becomes an unnatural image. On the other hand, here, since the entire image is displayed in a size smaller than the predetermined size, the unnaturalness is not noticeable to the user. Here, the predetermined size refers to the size (threshold) of the boundary where the unnaturalness of the image is noticeable.

  When the entire image is displayed in a predetermined size or more and a part of the captured image that does not include the joint portion is cut out and displayed on the main image display unit 201, the entire image looks unnatural, Since the partial image is displayed on the main image display unit 201, there is no problem.

  FIG. 21 is a flow chart for explaining the control (camera control) of the image pickup apparatus according to the third embodiment of the present invention. Here, at least one of the focus operation of the first imaging unit 110, the display/non-display of the whole image, the change of the size of the whole image, the display/non-display of the partial image, and the change of the cutout range are performed in the viewer terminal 2. Shall be done. When the operation is performed, the operation command generation/interpretation unit 206 transmits the operation command to the imaging device 1 via the network 3 by the communication unit 207.

  The imaging device 1 receives the operation command via the communication unit 104. The control parameter calculation unit 101 determines whether or not the entire image is larger than a predetermined size in the operation command (step S301). If the entire image is equal to or larger than the predetermined size (YES in step S301), control parameter calculation unit 101 determines whether the partial image includes a joint (step S302).

  When the partial image includes a joint (YES in step S302), control parameter calculation unit 101 obtains the focus plane and the depth of field after controlling first imaging unit 110. Then, the control parameter calculation unit 101 obtains the focus plane and the depth of field. The focus value, aperture value, and tilt angle of the second and third image capturing units 120 and 130 are calculated (step S303). Here, the control parameter calculation unit 101 uses the Scheimpflug principle, based on the characteristics of the imaging unit such as the angle of view and the line-of-sight direction of the lenses of the second and third imaging units 120 to 130. And the tilt angle is calculated.

  Next, in the second and third imaging units 120 and 130, the lens control unit 111 controls the focus and aperture of the lens 112 based on the focus value and aperture value calculated in step S303 (step S304). Then, in the second and third imaging units 120 and 130, the tilt control unit 114 controls the tilt angle of the imaging surface based on the tilt angle calculated in step S303 (step S305). Then, the imaging device 1 ends the camera control.

  If the entire image is smaller than the predetermined size (NO in step S301), control parameter calculation unit 101 calculates the focus value, aperture value, and tilt angle of the imaging unit corresponding to the partial image (step S306). Then, the process proceeds to step S304, and in the imaging unit corresponding to the partial image, the lens control unit 111 controls the focus and the aperture of the lens 112 based on the focus value and the aperture value obtained in step S306. Subsequently, the process proceeds to step S305, and the tilt control unit 114 controls the tilt angle of the imaging surface based on the tilt angle obtained in step S306 in the imaging unit corresponding to the partial image.

  If the partial image does not include a joint (NO in step S302), the control parameter calculation unit 101 proceeds to the process of step S306.

  As described above, in the third embodiment of the present invention, when the entire image is larger than or equal to a predetermined size and the partial image includes a joint, another image capturing unit is operated according to the control result of the first image capturing unit 110. Controls the focus, aperture, and tilt angle at. If the entire image is smaller than a predetermined size or if the partial image does not include a joint, the focus, diaphragm, and tilt angle are controlled in the imaging unit corresponding to the partial image. As a result, it is possible to obtain a high-resolution whole image with a wide angle of view without defocusing at the joint portion in the whole image. Furthermore, it is possible to enhance night-vision performance and resolution even when using a large-diameter lens with a shallow depth of field.

  As is clear from the above description, in the example shown in FIG. 1, the control parameter calculation unit 101 and the lens control unit 111 function as the first control unit, and the control parameter calculation unit 101 and the tilt control unit 114 are the second control unit. It functions as a control means.

  Although the present invention has been described above based on the embodiments, the present invention is not limited to these embodiments, and various embodiments within the scope not departing from the gist of the present invention are also included in the present invention. ..

  For example, the functions of the above-described embodiments may be used as a control method, and the imaging apparatus may be caused to execute this control method. Further, a program having the functions of the above-described embodiments may be used as a control program, and the control program may be executed by a computer included in the imaging device. The control program is recorded in, for example, a computer-readable recording medium.

[Other Embodiments]
A program that implements one or more functions of the above-described embodiments is supplied to a system or device via a network or a storage medium. The present invention can also be implemented by a process in which one or more processors in the computer of the system or apparatus read and execute the program. It can also be realized by a circuit (for example, ASIC) that realizes one or more functions.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Imaging device 101 Control parameter calculation part 102 Image composition part 103 Image compression part 104 Communication part 110-170 Imaging part 111 Lens control part 112 Lens 113 Imaging surface 114 A tilt control part

Claims (10)

An image pickup apparatus comprising a plurality of image pickup units, wherein an image pickup device provided in each of the plurality of image pickup units obtains a photographed image,
The plurality of imaging units are arranged so that their viewpoints substantially match each other,
First control means for controlling focus in the plurality of imaging units;
A second control unit that controls a tilt angle that is an inclination of the image pickup device with respect to the optical axis of the image pickup unit;
When focus control is performed by at least one of the plurality of image pickup units by the first control unit, the second control unit causes the focus control unit to perform the focus control according to the focus surface of the image pickup unit where the focus control is performed. An imaging apparatus, wherein the tilt angle is adjusted in an imaging unit adjacent to a controlled imaging unit.   The image pickup apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the second control unit adjusts the tilt angle so that a focus surface of the image pickup unit subjected to the focus control and a focus surface of the image pickup unit match.   The first control unit, when performing focus control in at least one of the plurality of image capturing units, performs focus control in an image capturing unit adjacent to the image capturing unit that has performed the focus control. The imaging device according to 1 or 2.   The imaging according to any one of claims 1 to 3, further comprising a third control unit that controls the diaphragm so that the depths of field with respect to the focus plane are substantially the same in the adjacent imaging units. apparatus. The image pickup apparatus according to claim 4 , further comprising a synthesizing unit that synthesizes photographed images obtained by the plurality of image pickup units to obtain an entire image. In the second control means, the display of the plurality of the entire image of the shot image obtained by synthesizing obtained by the imaging unit, it is determined whether the predetermined magnitude than the predetermined magnitude or greater In some cases, the tilt angle of the adjacent image capturing units is adjusted according to a plurality of subjects existing in the overall image obtained by combining the captured images obtained by the plurality of image capturing units. Item 6. The imaging device according to item 5. A cutout unit for cutting out a part of the captured image as a partial image,
The second control means displays the whole image obtained by combining the picked-up images obtained by the plurality of image pickup units with a predetermined size or more, and generates the whole image in the partial image. It is determined whether or not a joint at the time is included, and if the display of the entire image is equal to or larger than the predetermined size and the partial image includes the joint, it is present in the partial image. The image pickup apparatus according to claim 5 , wherein the tilt angle of the adjacent image pickup units is adjusted according to a subject . The second control means may display the whole image obtained by combining the picked-up images obtained by the plurality of imaging units to a size smaller than a predetermined size, or may generate the whole image in the partial image. It is determined whether or not a joint at the time is not included, and the partial image is cut out when the display of the entire image is less than the predetermined size or the partial image does not include the joint. In the image pickup unit that has obtained the captured image , the first control unit adjusts the focus, the third control unit adjusts the diaphragm, and the tilt angle is adjusted. The imaging device described. A method for controlling an image pickup apparatus, comprising: a plurality of image pickup sections arranged so that their viewpoints substantially match each other, and obtaining a picked-up image by an image pickup element provided in each of the plurality of image pickup sections,
A first control step of controlling focus in the plurality of imaging units;
A second control step of controlling a tilt angle which is an inclination of the image pickup device with respect to an optical axis of the image pickup section,
When focus control is performed in at least one of the plurality of image capturing units in the first control step, in the second control step, the focus control is performed according to the focus surface of the image capturing unit in which the focus control is performed. A control method characterized in that the tilt angle is adjusted in an imaging unit adjacent to the controlled imaging unit. A control program used in an image pickup apparatus, comprising a plurality of image pickup sections arranged so that viewpoints are substantially coincident with each other, and obtained by an image pickup device provided in each of the plurality of image pickup sections,
In the computer included in the imaging device,
A first control step of controlling focus in the plurality of imaging units;
A second control step of controlling a tilt angle which is an inclination of the image pickup device with respect to the optical axis of the image pickup unit;
When focus control is performed in at least one of the plurality of image capturing units in the first control step, in the second control step, the focus control is performed according to the focus surface of the image capturing unit in which the focus control is performed. A control program for adjusting the tilt angle in an image pickup unit adjacent to a controlled image pickup unit.