JP2007081459A - Communication apparatus with camera - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To perform high-speed image processing by avoiding scaling in a main CPU. <P>SOLUTION: A communication apparatus is provided with a camera unit 12 for picking up video images of a subject and outputting image data of first pixels; a CPU 11 for controlling a communication function and image pickup; a memory 22 for storing the image data; a scaling processing unit 14 for converting the image data output from the camera unit 12 into second pixels whose number is smaller than the number of the first pixels; and a switching processing unit 13 for switching as to whether the image data output from the camera unit 12 are converted into the second pixels or not. The apparatus has a high image quality mode and a low image quality mode, and causes the memory 22 to store the image data of the first pixels output from the camera unit 12 when in the high image quality mode and causes the memory 22 to store the image data obtained by converting the image data of the first pixels output from the camera unit 12 into the second pixels not by the CPU 11 but by the scaling processing unit 14 when in the low image quality mode. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a camera-equipped communication device that can shoot a subject on either the front side or the back side using a single camera mechanism by a rotating mirror mechanism or the like, and in particular, on the front side and the back side. The present invention relates to a camera-equipped communication device that switches the resolution of photographed image data.

  With the development of information processing technology and communication technology in recent years, various portable information communication terminal devices (hereinafter referred to as mobile terminal devices) have become widespread. Such a mobile terminal device is connected to an information distribution server or a desired website that provides various services via a network such as the Internet when the user is out, or receives the service, or acquires information, You can connect to your company's network and acquire information necessary for business.

  Recently, the hardware and software functions of mobile phones have been enhanced, and the functions of conventional mobile terminal devices have been enhanced, and there is a remarkable increase in the penetration rate of mobile phones. The number of operators providing data communication services using mobile phones is also increasing, and it is possible to receive various services such as banking, Internet sales, navigation, payment for transportation and convenience stores, etc. using mobile phones. It has become like this. In particular, mobile phones can be equipped with various options and applications, and the types of services that can be used are increasing.

  As an additional function of such a mobile phone, it is provided with a built-in camera. Using a camera-equipped mobile phone, users can shoot an arbitrary subject at any time and place without having to carry a digital camera individually, and electronically capture the image data captured using the packet communication function. It can be attached to an e-mail or the like and sent to its own computer device or sent to a friend or family member. In addition, proposals have been made to provide a service for sending captured image data to a server in a service center for storage or printing.

  Various types of mobile phones with cameras have been proposed. In general, a lens for imaging is provided on one of the front side and the back side of the mobile phone to shoot and use the user himself / herself. A scene or a person on the side facing the person can be photographed. In this case, the user needs to change the direction of the mobile phone so that the photographing lens faces the subject to be photographed.

  In order to eliminate the complexity of manipulating the direction of the mobile phone depending on the direction of the subject, a shooting lens is installed on the front or back side of the mobile phone, and the optical path is switched by a mirror etc. There are also known mobile phones that are configured and mobile phones that are each equipped with a camera unit on both the front side and the back side.

  For example, as described above, a mobile phone configured to have a shooting lens installed on the front side or the back side of a mobile phone and switch the optical path using a mirror or the like and shoot with a common camera unit is, for example, the following patent document 1 (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2002-232546) and Patent Document 2 (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2003-60765).

  As shown in FIG. 4, the mobile phone disclosed in Patent Document 1 is provided with an image capturing means in the form of a digital video camera (202) at the upper end of a mobile phone (200), and a mirror (204). ) Is supported in a spaced relationship with the video camera. The mobile phone (200) has the normal functions of the display (206), earphone (208), microphone (210) and keypad (212). The dome-shaped mobile phone cover 212 is made of a see-through material such as transparent plastic. The video camera (202) is arranged in a fixed positional relationship with respect to the mobile phone (200), and the camera (202) is appropriately connected to send an image signal to the mobile mobile phone (200).

The camera lens (214) of the camera (202) is facing upward, and the mirror (204) is mounted on the lens (214) so as to face each other. The mirror (204) is rotatably attached to the video camera (202) by a rotatable attachment 216 in the structure so that it can be rotated, pivoted or turned. The mirror (204) is supported on its central axis in the mirror plane. In the configuration of FIG. 4, the mirror (204) is oriented about the rotatable mounting (216) and its reflective surface faces the mobile phone user (218), so that the mirror is of the user (218). Direct the image to the video camera (202). These images are captured by the video camera (202), processed and transmitted by the mobile phone (200). With such a configuration, it is possible to eliminate the need to move the camera in order to capture a plurality of images.

In addition, the mobile phone disclosed in Patent Document 2 is configured such that a short-distance shooting camera module and a long-distance camera module are fixedly installed in a back-to-back positional relationship within the casing of the mobile phone body. It is a thing. In Patent Document 2, as in Patent Document 1, the optical path is switched by controlling the attitude of the rotating mirror mechanism, and the images of the subject on the front and back sides of the mobile phone are guided to a common camera unit. A mobile phone configured to shoot is also disclosed.
JP 2002-232546 A (FIGS. 2 and 4) Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2003-60765 (FIGS. 1, 2, and 6)

  By the way, when analyzing the case of shooting a subject with such a camera-equipped mobile phone, the camera is pointed at the user himself / herself and the background as a subject, and the image data is transmitted to a family member or friend. In some cases, a person or a landscape is photographed as a subject facing the camera in a direction facing the user.

  The image data captured by the camera is processed by a dedicated image processing unit. For example, an image data file such as a color image having a predetermined number of pixels determined by the image processing unit built in the mobile phone, such as 1.2 million pixels or 300,000 pixels. Is configured. The user can attach the image data file to an e-mail and send it to a desired destination, output it to a removable storage medium, connect the removable storage medium to a personal computer, process it, and print it. You can use it out. Therefore, the resolution of the captured image data is determined by the specifications of the image processing unit built in the mobile phone.

  By the way, when an image taken with a camera is processed as described above to create an image data file and sent by e-mail or output to a removable storage medium, the size of the image data file depends on the communication speed and Affects storage capacity. Of course, high-resolution image data has a large amount of data and takes a long communication time, which is reflected in the packet communication fee, and occupies a large storage area when output to a removable storage medium.

  Image data taken by a user of a camera-equipped mobile phone, such as other people or landscapes, is stored as high-resolution data, and image data taken using himself as a subject is low without requiring high-resolution image data. Some users only need to be able to communicate and store as resolution image data. In addition, when a user shoots himself / herself as a subject with a camera, it may be processed as a moving image having a lower resolution than when other people are taken as subjects. However, in the mobile phones disclosed in Patent Document 1, Patent Document 2, and the like, since the image processing unit is common, images captured on the back side and the front side are not distinguished from each other, and image data with the same resolution is used. There is a problem that it is not possible to meet the needs of users as described above.

  In addition, an image processing unit that processes an image captured by a camera is equipped with two types of image processing units, a high-resolution unit and a low-resolution unit, on a mobile phone, and any image is processed by a CPU that performs main control of the mobile phone. Although it may be configured to switch to the processing unit, there is a problem in that the cost increases with such a configuration.

  On the other hand, an image processing unit capable of performing high-resolution image processing is mounted on a mobile phone, and an image that can be processed as low-resolution image data is processed by the CPU that performs the main control of the mobile phone. If it is configured to perform thinning processing (scaling processing), the problem of cost increase can be solved, but scaling processing is performed by the CPU that performs the main control of the mobile phone, resulting in a problem that the speed of image processing decreases. .

The inventor of the present application has made various studies in order to solve the above problems, and as a result, the image processing unit for processing the image captured by the camera outputs high-resolution image processing data as it is or thins out the resolution. It is conceived that the above problems can be solved if a microprocessor is provided that controls whether to process (scaling) and output as image processing data having a relatively low resolution, and the present invention is completed. It is a thing.

That is, the present invention has an object to solve the above-described problems, and a communication device with a camera that can shoot a subject on either the front side or the back side using a single camera mechanism by a rotating mirror mechanism or the like. Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a camera-equipped communication device that can process image data taken on the front side and the back side with different resolutions without increasing the cost and without reducing the image processing speed. Is.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problem, the invention according to claim 1 of the present application is
Built-in camera unit, has a display on the front side to display the subject, and switches the light of the subject incident from the front side of the mobile phone and the light of the subject incident from the back side by the optical path switching mechanism to the camera unit A communication device with a camera that has a function of shooting an image of a guided subject and stores the image in a memory;
The camera-equipped communication device includes a scaling processing unit that performs scaling processing on an image captured by the camera unit, and a switching processing unit that switches whether to perform scaling.
When the optical path switching mechanism is driven and controlled to a position where the light of the subject incident from the front side is guided to the camera unit, the switching processing unit is controlled so that the scaled imaging is stored in the memory. It is characterized by doing.

The invention according to claim 2 of the present application is the invention according to claim 1,
When the optical path switching mechanism is driven and controlled to a position where the light of the subject incident from the back side is switched and led to the camera unit, the switching is performed so that imaging is stored in the memory without performing the scaling process. The processing unit is controlled.

The invention according to claim 3 of the present application includes a camera unit that captures an image of a subject and outputs image data of the first pixel, a CPU that controls communication functions and imaging, and a memory that stores image data. A communication device with a camera,
The camera-equipped communication device converts the image data output from the camera unit into second pixels smaller than the first pixel, and the image data output from the camera unit to the second pixel. A switching processing unit for switching whether or not to convert,
It has a high image quality mode and a low image quality mode, the image data of the first pixel output by the camera unit is stored in the memory in the high image quality mode, and the camera unit outputs in the low image quality mode. The image data obtained by converting the image data of the first pixel into the second pixel by the scaling processing unit instead of the CPU is stored in the memory.

  In the invention according to claim 1, the camera-equipped communication device includes a scaling processing unit that performs scaling processing on the image data output from the image processing unit, and a switching processing unit that switches whether to perform scaling, and the optical path When the switching mechanism is driven and controlled to a position where the light of the subject incident from the front side is guided to the camera unit, the switching processing unit is controlled so that the scaled imaging is stored in the memory.

  Therefore, when the user takes a picture of himself / herself as a subject from the front side of the communication device with camera, the scaling processing unit outputs low-resolution image data. This image data can be transmitted by e-mail or removable storage. When outputting to a medium, the amount of data is small and communication time is not required, and packet communication charges can be suppressed. When outputting to a removable storage medium, a large storage area is not occupied.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the camera-equipped communication device according to the first aspect, the optical path switching mechanism is driven and controlled to a position where the light of the subject incident from the back side is switched and guided to the camera unit. In this case, the switching processing unit is controlled so that imaging is stored in the memory without performing the scaling process. Therefore, when a user photographs a person or landscape as a subject from the back side of the communication apparatus with a camera, image processing can be performed by an image processing unit with high resolution.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, a scaling processing unit that converts the image data output from the camera unit into second pixels smaller than the first pixel, and the image data output from the camera unit to the first A switching processing unit that switches whether or not to convert to 2 pixels,
It has a high image quality mode and a low image quality mode, the image data of the first pixel output by the camera unit is stored in the memory in the high image quality mode, and the camera unit outputs in the low image quality mode. The image data obtained by converting the image data of the first pixel converted into the second pixel by the scaling processing unit instead of the CPU is stored in the memory. Since the main CPU does not scale in this way, high-speed image processing can be performed.

  Hereinafter, specific examples of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to examples and drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a camera-equipped mobile phone according to an embodiment of the present invention. 2 is an external view showing the external appearance of the camera-equipped mobile phone of FIG. 1, FIG. 2 (a) is a folded state, and FIG. 2 (b) is a view showing a developed state when in use. FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an operation procedure of the camera-equipped mobile phone shown in FIG. In the present embodiment, a camera-equipped mobile phone will be described as a specific example. However, the present invention is not limited to a mobile phone and can be applied to a communication apparatus having a camera.

  As shown in FIG. 1, a camera-equipped mobile phone 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a control unit 11, a camera unit 12, a switching processing unit 13, a scaling processing unit 14, an optical path switching mechanism 16, a packet communication control unit 17, The wireless communication unit 18, the call processing unit 19, the display unit 20, the operation / input unit 21, and the memory 22 are configured. The main control unit 11 is mainly configured of a microprocessor and includes storage means such as a RAM and a ROM as in a general computer device, and communication and photographing of each part are performed by a program stored in the storage means. Operation is controlled. Hereinafter, the camera-equipped mobile phone 10 is simply referred to as a mobile phone.

  The camera unit 12 has light receiving elements arranged in a matrix, and outputs image data of the number of pixels corresponding to the number to the light receiving elements. For example, high-resolution image data of 1.2 million pixels is output. The scaling processing unit 14 performs scaling (thinning) processing on the image data output from the camera unit 12 and, for example, thins the image to 300,000 pixels and outputs the image data as relatively low resolution image data. The scaling processing unit 14 is composed of a semiconductor circuit such as an ASIC and operates by a microprocessor process.

  The switching processing unit 13 switches whether to output the output of the camera unit 12 as it is under the control of the main control unit 11 or to perform scaling processing by the scaling processing unit 14 for output. When the user wants to process image data such as an image or video of himself / herself as relatively low-resolution image data, the switching processing unit 13 switches to the scaling processing unit 14 and the high-resolution image data output from the camera unit 12 is changed. Scaling is performed and output as low-resolution image data.

  The wireless communication unit 18 is a wireless communication interface that performs wireless communication with a mobile phone base station, and packet data for voice communication and data communication is transmitted and received with the mobile phone base station by wireless communication. The call processing unit 19 includes a speaker for voice output, a microphone for voice input, a voice codec having a function for encoding and decoding voice, and a function for changing the reception volume and microphone sensitivity. Used for. The operation / input unit 21 is composed of numeric keys, alphabet keys, function buttons for selecting various functions of the mobile phone, a touch pad, a jog dial, and the like, and is a part that performs input for operating the mobile phone 10. The display unit 20 configured by a liquid crystal display or the like displays operation screens and imaging of various applications, and displays related screens according to inputs input from the operation / input unit 21. The display unit 20 side on which this image is displayed is the front surface.

  The cellular phone 10 includes a camera unit 12, a mirror and a prism, and an optical path switching mechanism 16 that switches the optical path from the subject by rotationally controlling its posture. Lenses that capture light from the subject are provided on the front side and the back side of the mobile phone 10, and the optical path switching mechanism 16 is controlled to rotate toward the back side, and the image of the subject on the back side is guided to the camera unit 12. An image of the subject on the back side can be taken. Further, the optical path switching mechanism 16 can be rotationally controlled to face the front side, and the image of the subject on the front side can be guided to the camera unit 12 to shoot the image of the subject on the front side. This mechanism can be configured by adopting the structure disclosed in Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2.

  2A and 2B are views showing the appearance of the mobile phone 10 shown in FIG. 1, in which FIG. 2A shows a folded state, and FIG. 2B shows a state where it is unfolded during use. As shown in FIG. 2 (a), a lens L2 is provided on the surface on the back side of the mobile phone 10 when used, and the front surface of the mobile phone 10 is shown as shown in FIG. A lens L1 is provided on the side. In the present invention, the surface on which the screen of the display unit 20 faces the user side in the state where the mobile phone 10 is used is defined as the front side, and the back side is the surface on the back side with respect to the user in that state. Define as side.

  When the operation / input unit 21 is operated to point the mobile phone 10 at a subject and select to photograph the subject from the front lens L1, the optical path switching mechanism 16 captures an image of the subject incident from the front lens L1. The drive is controlled to a position leading to the unit 12. Similarly, when selection is made to photograph the subject from the lens L2 on the back side, the optical path switching mechanism 16 is driven and controlled to a position for guiding the image of the subject incident from the lens L2 on the front side to the camera unit 12. In either case, the subject image is also displayed on the display unit 20 so that the user can check the subject image.

  An image of a subject photographed by the camera unit 12 is output by pixels corresponding to the number of light receiving elements. For example, it is output from the camera unit 12 with 1.2 million pixels. Then, the scaling processing unit 14 performs a scaling process on the image data output from the camera unit 12, for example, performs a scaling process on the image to 300,000 pixel image data. Then, under the control of the main control unit 11, the switching processing unit 13 switches whether to output the image data output from the camera unit 12 as it is or to perform scaling processing with the scaling processing unit 14 and output it.

  The switching process under the control of the main control unit 11 is performed as follows. That is, when the optical path switching mechanism 16 is positioned at a position for guiding the light from the lens L2 on the back side to the camera unit 12 in conjunction with the optical path switching mechanism 16, the main control unit 11 outputs an image output by the camera unit 12. When the data (high resolution) is stored in the memory 22 as it is and the optical path switching mechanism 16 is positioned at a position for guiding the light from the lens L1 on the front side to the camera unit 12, the main control unit 11 performs the scaling processing unit 14. The image data output from the camera unit 12 is thinned out and stored in the memory 22.

  That is, when photographing a subject on the back side of the mobile phone 10, it is a case of photographing a person or landscape located in a direction facing the user, and the main control unit 11 switches the output in conjunction with the optical path switching mechanism 16. . That is, an output of an image of a pixel (for example, 1.2 million pixels) corresponding to the light receiving element photographed by the camera unit 12 is stored in the memory 22 as it is. Accordingly, an image obtained by photographing the subject from the back side is processed as high-resolution image data.

  On the other hand, when the subject on the front side of the mobile phone 10 is photographed, the user himself or the background is photographed as the subject, and the main controller 11 switches the output in conjunction with the optical path switching mechanism 16. That is, the output of the camera unit 12 is scaled by the scaling processing unit 14 and the image is stored in the memory 22 as image data of 300,000 pixels. Therefore, an image obtained by photographing the subject from the front side is processed as image data having a resolution that is not so high.

  The image captured by the camera unit 12 in this way is linked with the control of the optical path switching mechanism 16 as it is, as it is, the high-resolution image data output from the camera unit 12 or the low-resolution processed by the scaling processing unit 14. The image data is switched to any one of the image data and stored in the memory 22 as a still image or a moving image captured by the digital camera. Then, it is read from the memory 22 as necessary, displayed on the display unit 20, or transmitted to a desired destination as an attached file such as an e-mail transmitted via the packet communication control unit 17, or a removable storage medium. Can be output. In this case, the image data thinned out by the scaling processing unit 14 does not have a large amount of data, can be transmitted to a desired destination without increasing the communication load, and does not require a large storage area when output to a removable storage medium.

  FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an operation procedure at the time of taking a picture of the mobile phone 10 described above. When the user operates the operation / input unit 21 in the process of step S10, designates the camera function of the mobile phone 10 and selects to photograph the subject from the front lens L1, the optical path is switched in the process of step S11. The mechanism 13 is driven and controlled to a position for guiding the image of the subject incident from the front lens L1 to the camera unit 12. When the shutter key is operated in the process of step S12, the camera unit 12 takes a picture of the subject.

  In step S13, the main control unit 11 determines whether the subject has been photographed from the front side or from the back side from the position where the optical path switching mechanism 16 is positioned. When it is determined that the image of the subject incident from the lens L1 on the front side is controlled to be driven to the position where the image is guided to the camera unit 12, the main control unit 11 performs the scaling process on the image data output from the camera unit 12 to generate an image. A data file is created, and the image data is stored in the memory 22 in the process of step S15.

  On the other hand, if it is determined in step S13 that the optical path switching mechanism 16 is driven and controlled to a position where the image of the subject incident from the rear lens L2 is guided to the camera unit 12, the main control unit 11 performs step S15. In this process, the image data output by the camera unit 12 is stored in the memory 22 as it is.

  In the above embodiment, an example has been described in which the main control unit that controls communication and imaging determines the state in which the optical path switching mechanism is driven and is positioned, and switches whether to perform scaling processing. The invention is not limited to this. For example, the first image processing unit and the second image processing unit are determined by determining whether to shoot a subject from the front side or the back side based on the operation of the operation / input unit. It is also possible to adopt a configuration for switching.

  As described above in detail, according to the camera-equipped mobile phone according to the present invention, a subject on either the front side or the back side can be photographed using one camera mechanism by a rotating mirror mechanism or the like. In a camera-equipped mobile phone, image data taken on the front side and the back side can be processed with different resolutions. For this reason, image data created by an image processing unit with a low resolution is small in data amount and does not require extra communication time when sent by e-mail or output to a removable storage medium. In addition, when outputting to a removable storage medium, a large storage area is not occupied.

  Further, according to the present invention, the main CPU that performs the main control of the mobile phone does not perform the scaling process, the image taken by the camera is performed by the dedicated microprocessor constituting the scaling processing unit, and the mobile phone Since only the output is taken over, a high-resolution scaling process is possible with the current processing capacity of the main CPU, and a large amount of images can be handled. This scaling process without using the main CPU can be applied not only to still images but also to moving images.

  Further, although the apparatus of the above-described embodiment is a camera-equipped mobile phone, the present invention can be applied to a communication apparatus such as a PDA (Personal Digital Assistant) having a communication function such as mail.

It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the mobile phone with a camera concerning the Example of this invention. 2A and 2B are external views showing the external appearance of the camera-equipped mobile phone in FIG. 1, in which FIG. 2A is a folded state, and FIG. It is a flowchart which shows the operation | movement procedure of the mobile phone with a camera of FIG. It is a figure which shows the structure of the conventional mobile phone with a camera.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Mobile phone 11 ... Control part 12 ... Camera and imaging part 13 ... Switching process part 14 ... Scaling process part 16 ... Optical path switching mechanism 17 ... Packet communication control part 18 ... Wireless communication unit 19 ... Call processing unit 20 ... Display unit 21 ... Operation / input unit 22 ... Memory

Claims (3)

Built-in camera unit, has a display on the front side to display the subject, and switches the light of the subject incident from the front side of the mobile phone and the light of the subject incident from the back side by the optical path switching mechanism to the camera unit A communication device with a camera that has a function of shooting an image of a guided subject and stores the image in a memory;
The camera-equipped mobile phone includes a scaling processing unit that performs scaling processing on an image captured by the camera unit, and a switching processing unit that switches whether to perform scaling.
When the optical path switching mechanism is driven and controlled to a position where the light of the subject incident from the front side is guided to the camera unit, the switching processing unit is controlled so that the scaled imaging is stored in the memory. A camera-equipped communication device. When the optical path switching mechanism is driven and controlled to a position where the light of the subject incident from the back side is switched and led to the camera unit, the switching is performed so that imaging is stored in the memory without performing the scaling process. The communication device with camera according to claim 1, wherein the processing unit is controlled. A camera-equipped communication device having a camera unit that captures an image of a subject and outputs image data of a first pixel, a CPU that controls a communication function and imaging, and a memory that stores image data,
A scaling processing unit that converts image data output from the camera unit into second pixels smaller than the first pixel, and whether to convert the image data output from the camera unit into the second pixel is switched. A switching processing unit,
It has a high image quality mode and a low image quality mode, the image data of the first pixel output by the camera unit is stored in the memory in the high image quality mode, and the camera unit outputs in the low image quality mode. A camera-equipped communication device, wherein the image data obtained by converting the image data of the first pixel into the second pixel by the scaling processing unit instead of the CPU is stored in the memory.

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