JP2000029988A - Electronic camera and its operation control method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To record a recognized character in the form of text data when an object including the character is photographed by recording the text data representing the recognized character on a recording medium. SOLUTION: Prior to photographing an object, a user operates a mode changeover switch 31, and when a character photograph mode is set, image data representing an object image obtained by photographing are stored temporarily in a memory 17 and inputted to a CPU 10. The image data area converted by a CPU 10 to image data representing a black-and-white light and shade image, which is threshold processed. A corresponding character is found in the binary data by referring to a dictionary memory 25 and recognized. Once the character is recognized, the image data representing the character are converted to text data. The converted text data are read out of the CPU 10 and recorded on a memory card 40. Through a character recognizing process, shading of the image data is corrected, a character area is determined, and an image representing the character is cut out.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an electronic camera for photographing a subject and outputting image data representing the subject image, and an operation control method thereof.

[0002]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION When an object is photographed using an electronic camera, image data representing the image of the object is obtained. This image data is recorded on a recording medium such as a memory card.

Since image data is binary data, even if an image represented by the image data contains a character, the character is recognized as an image (characters included in the image are also binary data). Represented by).

[0004] Even when a text written on a notebook, a blackboard or the like is shot, the text obtained by the shooting is recorded on a recording medium by binary data. For this reason, when trying to add to or change the text obtained by shooting with a personal computer, re-enter the text using the keyboard,
It must be converted to text data (character code) using an OCR (optical character reader) or the like.

[0005]

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to make it possible to record text data on a recording medium when a subject including characters is photographed.

An electronic camera according to the present invention includes: a photographing means for photographing a subject and outputting image data representing the subject image;
Mode determining means for determining which of the image capturing mode and the character capturing mode the image capturing mode has been determined by the mode determining means, and the image data output from the capturing means is stored in a recording medium. Image data recording control means for recording; character recognition means for recognizing a character from an image represented by image data output from the photographing means when the mode determining means determines that the character is in the character photographing mode; Text data generating means for generating text data representing a character recognized by the recognizing means, and text data recording control means for recording the text data generated by the text data generating means on the recording medium It is characterized by having.

The present invention also provides an operation control method for the electronic camera. That is, in this method, the subject is photographed, image data representing the subject image is obtained, and it is determined whether the mode is the image photographing mode or the character photographing mode. The image data obtained by the recording is recorded on a recording medium, and the character is recognized from the image represented by the image data obtained by the photographing by being determined as the character photographing mode, and the text representing the recognized character is recognized.・ Generate data,
The generated text data is recorded on the recording medium.

According to the present invention, a subject is photographed, and image data representing a subject image is obtained. Further, it is determined whether the mode is the image shooting mode or the character shooting mode.

In the image taking mode, the obtained image data is recorded on a recording medium. In the character photographing mode, characters are recognized from the image represented by the obtained image data. Text data representing the recognized character is generated, and the generated text data is recorded on a recording medium.

In the character photographing mode, when a character (text) is included in a photographed image, text data representing the character is recorded on a recording medium.
There is no need to enter new characters from the keyboard and save them as text data. By reading the text data recorded on the recording medium, it is relatively easy to use the characters or sentences contained in the captured image,
New sentences can be created.

[0011] Judgment of the image photographing mode or the character photographing mode based on the inclination angle of the electronic camera at the time of photographing, the detection that the tripod is attached to the electronic camera, the change in the color of the subject, the distance to the subject, and the like. Can be.

For example, it is conceivable that when an electronic camera is arranged downward to photograph a subject, a document placed on a desk or the like is photographed. For this reason, if the tilt angle of the electronic camera indicates that the electronic camera is downward, it is determined that the electronic camera is in the character shooting mode. Further, when a tripod is attached to the electronic camera, it is conceivable that a photograph written on a blackboard, a white board, or the like is being photographed. For this reason, when a tripod is attached to the electronic camera, the electronic camera is determined to be in the character shooting mode. In addition, if the color of the subject image represented by the image data obtained by shooting has little change (such as a black and white image), even when the distance to the subject is short, shoot characters written on a blackboard or whiteboard. It is thought that it is. Therefore, the mode is determined to be the character photographing mode.

Further, it is possible to provide a means for selecting between the image photographing mode and the character photographing mode, and to determine whether the photographing mode is the image photographing mode or the character photographing mode in accordance with the selection by the selecting means.

Preferably, a view finder, zoom area display control means for controlling a zoom area to be displayed on a finder screen of the view finder, and zoom means for enlarging an object image portion existing in the zoom area Is further provided.

When the size of the character included in the subject is small, it becomes difficult to recognize the character. For this reason, the character portion is enlarged and photographed. The character recognition rate is improved.

[0016]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An electronic camera according to this embodiment captures an image including characters (sentences) and records a character included in the image as text data on a memory card, and an image representing the image. There is an image capturing mode for recording data on a memory card.

FIGS. 1 to 3 show how a subject (target image) is photographed using an electronic camera.

FIG. 1 shows how characters written on the white board 3 are photographed.

The user 2 holds the electronic camera 1 and faces the white board 3. By pressing a shutter release button of the electronic camera 2, an image of the white board 3 as an object is taken.

Image data representing an image of a white board is obtained by photographing. In the character photographing mode, a character is recognized from an image represented by image data, and text data representing the character is recorded on a memory card. For details on the processing in the character shooting mode,
It will be described later.

FIG. 2 shows how a document placed on a desk is photographed.

An original 4 is placed horizontally on a desk 5.
The user 2 photographs the document 4 placed on a desk with the electronic camera 1 held downward. Image data is obtained by shooting. In the character photographing mode, text data representing characters written on the document 4 is recorded on the memory card.

FIG. 3 shows how a document is photographed using a tripod.

The tripod 3 is L-shaped when viewed from the side. On the tripod 6, a support stand 8 is provided upright. A mounting table 7 for the document 4 is formed on the bottom surface of the tripod 6. A document 4 is placed on a mounting table 7 of a tripod 6. The electronic camera 1 is fixed to a support 8 of a tripod 6 such that the photographing lens faces downward so that the original 4 placed on the mounting table 7 is photographed.

By photographing the document 4, image data representing the document is obtained. In character shooting mode,
Text data representing characters written on the manuscript is recorded on the memory card.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing an electric configuration of the electronic camera 1.

The overall operation of the electronic camera 1 is controlled by a CPU 10.

The electronic camera 1 has a mode changeover switch 31 for switching between an image photographing mode and a character photographing mode.
Is provided. A signal indicating mode switching by the mode switch 31 is input to the CPU 10. Further, as will be described later, the electronic camera 1 is provided with a horizontal detection circuit 32 for detecting that the electronic camera 1 is placed downward and a tripod detection circuit 33 for detecting that the electronic camera 1 is attached to a tripod. You can also. When the horizontal detection circuit 32 or the tripod detection circuit 33 is provided in the electronic camera 1, a detection signal from the horizontal detection circuit 32 or a detection signal from the tripod detection circuit 33 is also input to the CPU 10.

The electronic camera 1 has an auto focus function. A distance sensor 24 for calculating a distance to a subject is provided in the electronic camera 1. Distance sensor
The signal output from 24 indicating the distance to the subject is also CP
Input to U10.

The supply of power to each circuit of the electronic camera 1 is as follows:
This is performed by the battery 28. A power supply control circuit 27 is provided in the electronic camera 1 to control the supply of power to each circuit.

The electronic camera 1 has a function of recognizing characters included in an image. To this end, data representing a standard character image is stored, but a dictionary memory 25 is connected to the CPU 10.

An imaging lens by the focus motor 21
11 is driven to perform focusing. Further, a zoom motor 22 is provided, and the imaging lens 11 is driven by the zoom motor 22 to perform zooming. Further, the aperture 12 is controlled by an aperture motor 23. The focus motor 21, the zoom motor 22, and the aperture motor 23 are controlled by the control circuit 20.

The image of the subject is captured by the CCD 13 by the imaging lens 11.
Image on the light receiving surface of. The light amount of the subject image is limited by the aperture 12. A video signal representing a subject image is output from the CCD 13 and input to the analog signal circuit 14. The video signal is subjected to analog signal processing such as gamma correction and color balance adjustment in the analog signal circuit 14. An output signal from the analog signal circuit 14 is converted into digital image data in an analog / digital conversion circuit 15.

The digital image data is input to a digital signal processing circuit 16, where digital signal processing such as color separation processing is performed. The output signal of the digital signal processing circuit 16 is provided to the memory 17 and is temporarily stored.

The image data temporarily stored in the memory 17 is read from the memory 17 and input to the digital / analog conversion circuit 18. Digital / analog conversion circuit 18
In, the digital image data is converted into an analog video signal and input to the liquid crystal display device 19. The subject image obtained by the photographing is displayed on the liquid crystal display device 19.

The electronic camera 1 can record image data representing a subject image (text data as will be described later) on the memory card 40. The image data temporarily stored in the memory 17 is read from the memory 17 and input to the compression / decompression circuit 26. In the compression / decompression circuit 26, the image data obtained by shooting is subjected to data compression. The compressed image data is recorded on the memory card 40.

As described above, the electronic camera has a function of character recognition. Character recognition is executed by the CPU 10. The text data representing the recognized character is also C
Generated by PU10. Further, the CPU 10 can detect the degree of change in the color of the subject image.

FIG. 5 shows a directory structure of the memory card 40.

The memory card records image data of a binary file (binary data) and a text file (text data). Image data and text data are separately recorded for each data.
When reading only image data from the memory card 40,
When only text data is read from the memory card 40, each can be read relatively easily.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure of the electronic camera when photographing a subject.

Prior to photographing the subject, the user operates the mode changeover switch 31 to set the image photographing mode or the character photographing mode (step 51). When photographing characters written on the white board 3 as shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, when photographing a document 4 placed on a desk,
When shooting text (text), such as when shooting an original placed on the mounting table 7 of the tripod 6, the character shooting mode is set. When shooting landscapes, people, etc., the image shooting mode is set. Is done.

When the character photographing mode is set, image data representing a subject image obtained by photographing is temporarily stored in the memory 17 and input to the CPU 10.

The image data is converted by the CPU 10 into image data representing a black and white shaded image and is binarized (step 52). From binary data, dictionary memory
25, the corresponding character is found, and character recognition is performed (step 53). When the character is recognized, the image data representing the character is converted to text data (step 54). The converted text data is read from the CPU 10 and recorded on the memory card 40 (step 56). When text data is recorded on the memory card 40, the text data simply passes through the compression / decompression circuit 26.

In the character recognition processing, shading correction of image data, determination of a character area, and extraction processing of an image representing a character are performed as necessary.

When the image capturing mode is set (step
51) The image data obtained by the photographing is input from the memory 17 to the compression / decompression circuit 26, where the data is compressed and recorded on the memory card 40 (steps 55 and 56). It goes without saying that the character recognition process is not performed in the image capturing mode.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a part of a processing procedure of the electronic camera according to another embodiment.

In the processing shown in FIG. 6, it is determined whether the mode is the character photographing mode or the image photographing mode in accordance with the setting of the mode changeover switch 31, but in the processing shown in FIG. It is determined whether the mode is the shooting mode.

The electronic camera 1 is provided with a horizontal detection circuit 32 and a tripod detection circuit 33. When the horizontal detection circuit 32 detects that the electronic camera 1 is facing downward, or the tripod detection circuit 33 detects that the tripod 6 is attached to the electronic camera 1 (step 61), a character is photographed. Judgment and shift to the character photographing mode (step in FIG. 6)
52,53,54).

Further, the degree of color change of the subject image represented by the image data input to the CPU 10 is detected, and the distance to the subject is calculated by the distance sensor 24. If the change in the color of the subject image is small and the distance to the subject is short, it is considered that the subject including characters is to be photographed, and the mode shifts to the character photographing mode (step 62). Even when the change in the color of the subject image is small or when the distance to the subject is short, the mode may shift to the character shooting mode.

FIG. 8 shows a horizontal detection circuit.

The horizontal detection circuit 32 has a rectangular tube 40 as viewed from the front. Mercury 41 is injected into this cylindrical tube 40. When the posture of the cylindrical tube 40 changes, the mercury 41 injected into the cylindrical tube 40 moves in the tube 40.

Each of the four sides of the tube 40 has electrodes E1, E2,
E3 and E4 are formed. The electrode E1 is connected to a pull-down resistor R1, the electrode E2 is connected to a pull-down resistor R2, and the electrode E3 is connected to a pull-down resistor R3.
Is connected, and a pull-down resistor R4 is connected to the electrode E4. A voltage Vcc is applied to the mercury 41.

Such a horizontal detection circuit 32 is incorporated in the electronic camera 1 so that when the electronic camera 1 is turned to the front, the horizontal detection circuit 32 is also turned to the front (as shown in FIG. 8). .

When the electronic camera 1 is directed downward (or upward), a predetermined voltage is generated at all the electrodes E1 to E4 of the horizontal detection circuit 32. Electrodes E1 to E4 when electronic camera 1 is not in the downward or upward direction
Is zero. Therefore, when a predetermined voltage is applied to all of the electrodes E1 to E4, it can be detected that the electronic camera 1 is facing downward.

FIG. 9 shows a screen of the liquid crystal display device 19 of the electronic camera 1 (the liquid crystal display device 19 serves as a view finder. Of course, a view finder is provided separately from the liquid crystal display device 19). Is also good).

On the display screen of the liquid crystal display device 19, a zoom area A is formed. When the user presses a zoom button (not shown) provided on the electronic camera 1,
The partial image of the subject image included in the zoom area A is enlarged. The enlargement ratio is determined by the setting of the user.

When the characters included in the subject image are small,
Since the subject can be photographed by enlarging the character, character recognition can be improved. Needless to say, when the text including the subject is too large, the text can be reduced and photographed.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 shows how a white board is photographed by an electronic camera.

FIG. 2 illustrates a state in which an electronic camera captures a document placed on a desk.

FIG. 3 illustrates a state in which a document is photographed by an electronic camera mounted on a tripod.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating an electrical configuration of the electronic camera.

FIG. 5 shows a directory structure of a memory card.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a photographing processing procedure of the electronic camera.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating a part of a photographing processing procedure of the electronic camera.

FIG. 8 shows a horizontal detection circuit.

FIG. 9 shows a display screen of the liquid crystal display device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Electronic camera 2 User 3 White board 4 Document 6 Tripod 10 CPU 13 CCD 19 Liquid crystal display device 22 Zoom motor 24 Distance sensor 25 Dictionary memory 31 Mode switch 32 Horizontal detection circuit 33 Tripod detection circuit

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page F term (reference) 5B064 AA05 BA01 CA05 FA17 5C022 AA13 AB23 AB62 AB66 AB68 AC03 AC26 AC31 AC73 AC74 5C052 CC20 DD02 EE08 GA02 GA06 GB01 GC00 GD09 GD10 GE08 GF00 5C053 FA08 FA27 JA16 KA01 LA08

Claims (5)

[Claims] A photographing means for photographing a subject and outputting image data representing the image of the subject; a mode determining means for determining whether the mode is an image capturing mode or a character capturing mode; Image data recording control means for recording the image data output from the photographing means on a recording medium when determined to be in the photographing mode; output from the photographing means when determined to be in the character photographing mode by the mode determining means Character recognizing means for recognizing characters from an image represented by the obtained image data, text data generating means for generating text data representing the characters recognized by the character recognizing means, and text data generating means Data recording for recording the text data generated by the above on the recording medium Control means an electronic camera with a,. 2. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the mode determining means determines at least one of a tilt angle of the electronic camera at the time of shooting, detection of a tripod attached to the electronic camera, a change in color of the subject, and a distance to the subject. 2. The electronic camera according to claim 1, wherein the electronic camera is configured to determine an image shooting mode and a character shooting mode. 3. The mode determining means includes a mode selecting means for selecting one of an image photographing mode and a character photographing mode. The image photographing mode and the character photographing mode are selected based on the mode selected by the mode selecting means. The electronic camera according to claim 1, wherein: 4. A view finder, zoom area display control means for controlling a zoom area to be displayed on a finder screen of the view finder,
The electronic camera according to claim 1, further comprising: zoom means for enlarging a subject image portion existing in the zoom area. 5. An object is photographed, image data representing an object image is obtained, and it is determined whether the mode is an image photographing mode or a character photographing mode. The obtained image data is recorded on a recording medium, and a character is recognized from an image represented by the image data obtained by photographing when the character image capturing mode is determined. An operation control method for an electronic camera, comprising: generating data; and recording the generated text data on the recording medium.