JP2009065482A - Imaging apparatus and imaging method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an imaging device and imaging method that can speedily and simply perform postprocessing on data on the assumption that position information is available even for an image for which relative position information is not acquired from the outside. <P>SOLUTION: The imaging device and imaging method include a data generating unit 114 which generates metadata such that position information associated with a photography position of image data of an image obtained by imaging a subject can be written while related to the image data, a storage unit 106 stored with the image data and metadata, a position information acquisition unit 120 which acquires the position information associated with the image data, and a position information writing unit 115 which writes arbitrary position information or the acquired position information as position information on the image data in the metadata. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an imaging apparatus and an imaging method.

  Some imaging devices such as a digital camera or a camera built in a mobile phone can acquire position information from a position information acquisition device such as a GPS. The imaging apparatus acquires position information together with the photographing of the subject, adds position information to the header of an image file such as an EXIF format file, and stores the image file including the position information in a storage medium.

  For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a technique in which when storing an image file, a meta area for position information is secured in advance in the header area of the image file, and the position information is written in the meta area after shooting. . According to the technique of Patent Document 1, image data can be stored before acquisition of position information is completed at the time of shooting. Therefore, the imaging device can continuously shoot a subject in a short time. In addition, since the meta area is secured in advance, the position information writing process is performed at high speed without depending on the file size of the image file.

JP 2005-260393 A

  By the way, when the position information acquisition device operates as an independent device separately from the imaging device, when the user does not turn on the power of the position information acquisition device, or when the position information acquisition device cannot acquire the position information In some cases, position information is not acquired, but only an image is stored in the imaging apparatus.

  After shooting, for example, after completion of a series of shots or after a trip, the position information is recorded in the image file, and the recording time of the position information recorded in the position information acquisition device and the recording of the image file recorded in the imaging device Let the time compare. Then, when both times coincide or are close to each other, the position information can be written in the meta area of the image file to generate an image file including the position information.

  However, since the recording times of the position information and the image file do not always match or approximate, there may be an image file that does not include the position information in the image file recorded in the imaging apparatus. The writing process when the image file is taken into the position information acquisition device or the position information and the image file are taken into the personal computer depends on the specifications of the application of the position information acquisition device and the personal computer. Therefore, in the case of a specification in which no processing is performed on an image that does not match or approximate the time recorded in the position information, these image files remain as image files that do not include position information.

  As a result, when an image file that does not contain position information is read by an application that maps image groups on a map, the position to be mapped is unknown, so for example, it is not handled at all as an image does not exist was there. In this case, the user has to perform an operation of setting the position information again by searching for an application that can arbitrarily set the position information. In addition, an image in which position information is not written may be forgotten because it has not been stored.

  Accordingly, the present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to post-process data on the assumption that there is position information even for an image for which position information related from the outside has not been acquired. It is an object of the present invention to provide a new and improved image pickup apparatus and image pickup method capable of quickly and concisely.

  In order to solve the above-described problem, according to an aspect of the present invention, a data generation unit that generates metadata in which position information related to a shooting position of image data can be written in association with image data of an image in which a subject is captured; A storage unit that stores image data and metadata, a position information acquisition unit that acquires position information related to the image data, and arbitrary position information or acquired position information as the position information of the image data in the metadata An imaging apparatus including a position information writing unit for writing is provided.

  With this configuration, the data generation unit generates metadata in which position information regarding the shooting position of the image data can be written in association with the image data of the image obtained by capturing the subject, and the storage unit stores the image data and the metadata. The position information acquisition unit acquires position information related to the image data, and the position information writing unit writes arbitrary position information or the acquired position information in the metadata as the position information of the image data.

  The position information writing unit writes the position information acquired by replacing the arbitrary position information in the metadata when the position information is acquired by the position information acquisition unit after the arbitrary position information is written. There may be.

  The position information writing unit may write arbitrary position information in the metadata when the position information related to the image data is not acquired.

  A reference time setting unit that sets a reference time according to the photographing position of the subject may be provided, and the arbitrary position information may be position information related to a position determined based on the reference time.

  The arbitrary position information may be position information regarding a position arbitrarily selected by the user.

  Before the image data and metadata are stored in the storage unit, an area securing unit that reserves in advance in the storage unit an area for storing movement path information including a plurality of position information and recording times of the plurality of position information; A travel route information acquisition unit that acquires travel route information, and the storage unit may store the travel route information in an area secured by the area securing unit.

  A data write restriction unit that restricts the amount of image data and metadata stored in the storage unit based on the region secured by the region securing unit may be provided.

  The position information acquisition unit may acquire position information related to the image data based on the recording time of the position information of the movement route information and the recording time of the image data.

  The area securing unit may reserve in advance a region for storing a display definition file for displaying the image of the image data and the moving path of the moving path information in combination on the display device. The display definition file may be an HTML format, KML format, or KMZ format file.

  In order to solve the above problem, according to another aspect of the present invention, the step of generating metadata in which position information relating to the shooting position of the image data can be written in association with the image data of the image in which the subject is imaged. A step of storing image data and metadata, a step of acquiring position information related to the image data, and a step of writing arbitrary position information or the acquired position information into the metadata as the position information of the image data An imaging method is provided.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to quickly and simply post-process data on the assumption that there is position information even for an image for which position information related from the outside has not been acquired.

  Exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In addition, in this specification and drawing, about the component which has the substantially same function structure, duplication description is abbreviate | omitted by attaching | subjecting the same code | symbol.

(Configuration of the first embodiment)
First, the configuration of the imaging apparatus 100 according to the first embodiment of the present invention will be described. FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an imaging device 100 and a GPS positioning device 200 according to the present embodiment. FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating the control unit 110 of the imaging apparatus 100 according to the present embodiment.

  The imaging device 100 can acquire image data by shooting a subject. The imaging apparatus 100 may be, for example, a digital camera that can shoot a still image or a video camera that can shoot a moving image. The imaging apparatus 100 includes a ROM (Read Only Memory) 102, a RAM (Random Access Memory) 104, a storage unit 106, a control unit 110, a communication unit 120, a display unit 130, and an address / data path processing unit 140. And an image processing unit 150 and an imaging unit 160. The address / data path processing unit 140 is constituted by a CPU bus or the like, and connects the above-described components to each other.

  The ROM 102 stores programs, calculation parameters, and the like used by the control unit 110. The RAM 104 temporarily stores programs used in the execution of the control unit 110, parameters that change as appropriate during the execution, and the like.

  The storage unit 106 is a data storage device, and includes a storage medium, a recording device that records data on the storage medium, a reading device that reads data from the storage medium, and a deletion device that deletes data recorded on the storage medium. Etc. can be included. The storage unit 106 is, for example, a flash memory, an HDD (Hard Disk Drive), or the like. The storage unit 106 drives a storage medium and stores programs executed by the control unit 110 and various data. The storage unit 106 stores image data, metadata about the image data, and the like. Note that the storage unit 106 may be detachable from the imaging device 100.

  The control unit 110 is, for example, a microprocessor such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit), functions as an arithmetic processing device and a control device, and controls the overall operation in the imaging device 100 according to various programs.

  The control unit 110 includes functional blocks such as an area securing unit 111, a data writing restriction unit 112, a default position generation unit 113, a data generation unit 114, and a position information writing unit 115, for example.

  The area securing unit 111 secures an area for storing the movement path log file and the display definition file in addition to the area for storing images and moving images in the storage unit 106. The area securing unit 111 secures an area before image data and metadata are stored in the storage unit 106. Note that the area securing unit 111 may secure a capacity of the storage unit 106 by creating a file with empty data contents. The movement route log file is an example of movement route information, and includes a plurality of pieces of position information and recording times of the plurality of pieces of position information. The display definition file is data for displaying the image of the image data and the movement path of the movement path log file in combination on the display device. The display definition file is, for example, a file in HTML format, KML format, or KMZ format.

  The data capacity of the movement path log file can be determined in advance as follows. For example, assuming that data related to the travel route is stored every 5 seconds and the data capacity per time is 16 bytes, the data upper limit capacity is 270 kbytes per day, and 300 MB is allocated in advance with an upper limit of about 1000 days. Also good. The movement path log file may be divided into a plurality of files for each date, for example.

  The data write restriction unit 112 restricts the amount of image data and metadata stored in the storage unit 106 based on the area secured by the area securing unit 111. For example, the data write restriction unit 112 controls data writing so that only the capacity obtained by subtracting the capacity of the area secured by the area securing part 111 from the total capacity of the storage unit 106 can store image data and metadata. .

  For example, the default position generation unit 113 generates position information using position information of a position determined based on the reference time as a default position. Here, the reference time is, for example, the time for each time zone, and the position determined based on the reference time is, for example, one of the representative cities of Tokyo in the time zone of GMT + 9 hours. When GMT + 9 hours is set as the reference time, the default position generation unit 113 generates position information with Tokyo as the default position.

In this embodiment, a representative city is determined in advance for each time zone setting, and a location information database corresponding to the city is stored. The reference time setting unit sets a reference time (time zone) corresponding to a place where shooting is performed by the user. Therefore, if the time zone of the travel destination that is the shooting location is set in advance at the time of shooting, the default position generation unit 113 generates position information with the representative city in the time zone as the default position. The default position may be a position arbitrarily selected by the user.

  The data generation unit 114 generates image data and metadata based on the image stream generated by the image processing unit 150 and the position information of the default position generated by the default position generation unit 113, respectively. The metadata is associated with the image data, and position information regarding the shooting position of the image data can be written.

  The position information writing unit 115 acquires the shooting time of the image data for the image data stored in the imaging device 100, and acquires position information corresponding to the shooting time from the movement path log file. Then, the position information writing unit 115 deletes or overwrites the position information of the default position on the previously recorded metadata, and newly records the acquired position information.

  The communication unit 120 is an example of a position information acquisition unit and a movement route information acquisition unit, and is a communication interface configured with a communication device for connecting to the GPS positioning device 200, for example. The communication unit 120 receives position information data and a movement route log file from the GPS positioning device 200.

  The display unit 130 includes display means such as an LCD. The display unit 130 can sequentially display the subject at the time of shooting and can display recorded image data. In addition, various settings of the imaging apparatus 100 can be made through display by the display unit 130.

  The image processing unit 150 performs processing such as light amount gain correction, image edge processing (outline enhancement processing), and white balance adjustment on the image data output from the CCD 164, for example. The image processing unit 150 performs an imaging process at the time of shooting and generates an image stream.

  The imaging unit 160 includes, for example, a lens 162, a CCD (charge coupled device) 164, an AF control unit 166, and an AE control unit 168. In the imaging unit 160, a subject image is formed on the CCD 164 through the lens 162. The AF control unit 166 detects the in-focus position and drives the focus lens to perform focus control. The AE control unit 168 performs exposure control based on the amount of light irradiated on the CCD 164 and the like. In the present embodiment, the CCD 164 is used as the imaging device, but a CMOS (Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor) device may be used, and other image sensors may be used.

  Next, the GPS positioning device 200 will be described. The GPS positioning device 200 receives radio waves by GPS and measures the current position. In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1, the GPS positioning device 200 and the imaging device 100 are separate, and data is transmitted and received with the imaging device 100 wirelessly. However, the GPS positioning device 200 is built in the imaging device 100. Or may be fixed to the outside of the imaging device 100 to transmit and receive data by wire.

  The GPS positioning device 200 is an example of a position information acquisition device, and uses the GPS to receive radio waves from GPS satellites and acquire the current position. The GPS positioning device 200 includes, for example, a ROM (Read Only Memory) 202, a RAM (Random Access Memory) 204, a storage unit 206, a control unit 210, a communication unit 222, a GPS communication unit 224, and a display unit 230. And an address / data path processing unit 240. The address / data path processing unit 240 is composed of a CPU bus or the like, and connects the above-described components to each other.

  The ROM 202 stores programs used by the control unit 210, calculation parameters, and the like. The RAM 204 temporarily stores programs used in the execution of the control unit 210, parameters that change as appropriate during the execution, and the like.

  The storage unit 206 is a data storage device, and includes a storage medium, a recording device that records data on the storage medium, a reading device that reads data from the storage medium, and a deletion device that deletes data recorded on the storage medium. Etc. can be included. The storage unit 206 is, for example, a flash memory, an HDD (Hard Disk Drive), or the like. The storage unit 206 drives a storage medium and stores programs executed by the control unit 210 and various data. The storage unit 206 stores location information data acquired by the GPS communication unit 224 and the like. Note that the storage unit 206 may be detachable from the GPS positioning device 200.

  The control unit 210 is, for example, a microprocessor such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit), functions as an arithmetic processing unit and a control unit, and controls the overall operation in the GPS positioning device 200 according to various programs.

  The communication unit 222 is a communication interface configured with a communication device or the like for connecting to the imaging apparatus 100. The communication unit 222 transmits the position information data to the imaging device 100.

  The GPS communication unit 224 receives radio waves from GPS satellites and acquires position information. The position information is, for example, the latitude, longitude, altitude, etc. of the current position.

  The display unit 230 includes display means such as an LCD. The display unit 230 displays position information data acquired via the GPS communication unit 224, for example. In addition, various settings of the GPS positioning device 200 can be made via display by the display unit 230.

(Operation of the first embodiment)
Next, the operation of the imaging apparatus 100 according to the first embodiment of the present invention will be described. FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the operation of the imaging apparatus according to the present embodiment.

  First, in the shooting process, the area securing unit 111 of the imaging apparatus 100 secures an area for storing the movement path log file in the storage unit 106 in addition to the area for storing images and moving images (step S101). The area securing unit 111 secures an area based on, for example, a data capacity of a movement path log file determined in advance. In addition, the area securing unit 111 may secure a capacity by creating a file with empty data contents.

  Next, the imaging apparatus 100 is in a state of accepting a shooting request (step S102). The photographing request is determined based on, for example, whether or not the shutter button is pressed. The photographing request state continues until the shutter button is pressed. On the other hand, when an imaging request is made, the data writing restriction unit 112 determines whether or not there is free space in the storage unit 106 (step S103). The data write restriction unit 112 subtracts the capacity of the moving path log file area secured by the area securing unit 111 in the storage unit 106 from the total capacity of the storage unit 106 to confirm the capacity for storing image data.

  When the data writing restriction unit 112 determines that the image data can be stored, the imaging device 100 performs shooting (step S104). In addition, the image processing unit 150 performs an imaging process and generates an image stream. On the other hand, if the data writing restriction unit 112 determines that there is no capacity to store the image data, for example, an error message indicating that the image data cannot be stored is displayed on the display unit 130 (step S111), and shooting is not possible. Make a warning.

  Next, the default position generation unit 113 of the imaging device 100 reads time difference setting information set in advance in the imaging device 100 after shooting, and uses the location information of the city in the time zone in which the time difference setting is set as the positional information. Get from database. Then, the default position generation unit 113 generates position information corresponding to the time difference setting as a default position (step S105).

  Next, the data generation unit 114 generates image data and metadata based on the image stream generated by the image processing unit 150 and the position information in which the default position generated by the default position generation unit 113 is set. (Step S106). At this time, for example, when generating image data in the EXIF format for an image, the position information about the default position is stored in metadata (for example, GPS Info tag) where metadata about the captured image is written. To be recorded.

  The image data and metadata generated by the data generation unit 114 are stored in the storage unit 106 (step S107).

  On the other hand, the GPS positioning device 200 is carried along with the imaging device 100, continuously records the movement position and time of the user, and generates and stores a movement route log. After a series of photographing, for example, after traveling, the GPS positioning device 200 is connected to the imaging device 100, and the imaging device 100 acquires a movement route log file (step S108). The imaging apparatus 100 stores the acquired travel route log file in the area secured in advance in the storage unit 106 by the area securing unit 111 (step S109).

  Next, for the image data stored in the imaging apparatus 100, the position information writing unit 115 acquires the shooting time of the image data, and acquires position information corresponding to the shooting time from the movement path log file. The position information writing unit 115 deletes the position information about the default position on the previously recorded metadata and newly records the acquired position information (step S110). At this time, when the position information of the corresponding time does not exist in the movement path log file, the position information of the image data may be left at the default position, or position information having a time close to the time recorded in the movement path log file. May be recorded as position information of image data.

  According to the present embodiment, for a still image or a moving image in which position information is recorded as post-processing, not only an area in which position information can be recorded is secured in advance in metadata (such as a header) but also a default is set in that area By setting the position information, the position information is given to all the image data regardless of the post-processing method for acquiring the position information. Therefore, the default position is recorded in advance in the image data even when there is no post-processing for acquiring position information or when position information cannot be acquired.

  As a result, for example, when image data or position information is read into map application software or the like, all images are handled as contents with position information without depending on application specifications. For example, if you forgot to set the location information in the image data, the image will be displayed at the default location when the map application reads the image data, so the user has no location information in the image data. I can recognize that. On the other hand, when no location information is recorded, if the map application is loaded as usual, the image will not be displayed on the map at all, so the user can recognize that the application is not operating normally There is sex. However, according to the present embodiment, it is possible to quickly recognize whether there is a problem in the operation of the application or whether no position information is recorded in the image data.

  Furthermore, according to the present embodiment, since the area securing unit 111 reserves a predetermined area in the storage unit 106 in advance for the movement path log file and the definition file, the user believes the display of the imaging apparatus main body. Thus, even after shooting until the recording capacity runs out, the movement path log file and definition file can be acquired. In other words, even after shooting is completed, it can be assured that the capacity of the storage unit 106 for recording the movement path log file and the definition file remains.

  When the image data is read into the map application, the default position is recorded in the image data, so that the image is not displayed in a place unrelated to the user such as 0 degree latitude or 0 degree longitude. . For example, when the default location information is set by the time difference setting information, for example, even if a user residing in Japan takes a picture and does not perform post-processing of the location information acquisition, it is a city corresponding to the time difference setting. For example, an image is displayed (mapped) at a position in Tokyo, for example. As a result, the user can easily correct the position information.

  As mentioned above, although preferred embodiment of this invention was described referring an accompanying drawing, it cannot be overemphasized that this invention is not limited to this example. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications can be made within the scope of the claims, and these are naturally within the technical scope of the present invention. Understood.

  For example, in the above-described embodiment, the position information acquisition apparatus is the GPS positioning apparatus 200, and the position information regarding the imaging apparatus 100 is acquired by the GPS positioning apparatus 200, but the present invention is not limited to such an example. For example, the position information acquisition apparatus may measure the current position by a measurement technique that obtains electric measurement information from an access point using a wireless LAN.

It is a block diagram which shows the imaging device and GPS positioning device which concern on the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the control part of the imaging device which concerns on the same embodiment. 4 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of the imaging apparatus according to the embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

100 Imaging device 102, 202 ROM
104, 204 RAM
106, 206 Storage unit 110, 210 Control unit 111 Area reservation unit 112 Data write restriction unit 113 Default position generation unit 114 Data generation unit 115 Location information write unit 120, 222 Communication unit 130, 230 Display unit 140, 240 Address / data path Processing unit 150 Image processing unit 160 Imaging unit 162 Lens 164 CCD
166 AF control unit 168 AE control unit 200 GPS positioning device 224 GPS communication unit

Claims (11)

A data generation unit that generates metadata in which position information relating to a shooting position of the image data can be written in association with image data of an image of a subject captured;
A storage unit for storing the image data and the metadata;
A position information acquisition unit that acquires position information related to the image data;
Arbitrary position information or the position information writing unit for writing the acquired position information into the metadata as the position information of the image data;
An imaging apparatus comprising:   The position information writing unit, after writing the arbitrary position information, when the position information acquisition unit acquires the position information, replaces the arbitrary position information with the acquired position information. The imaging apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the imaging apparatus writes data.   The imaging apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the position information writing unit writes the arbitrary position information in the metadata when position information related to the image data is not acquired. A reference time setting unit for setting a reference time according to the shooting position of the subject;
The imaging apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the arbitrary position information is position information related to a position determined based on the reference time.   The imaging apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the arbitrary position information is position information regarding a position arbitrarily selected by a user. Before the image data and the metadata are stored in the storage unit, an area for storing movement path information including a plurality of the position information and recording times of the plurality of position information is secured in the storage unit in advance. An area securing unit;
A travel route information acquisition unit for acquiring the travel route information;
With
The imaging apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the movement path information is stored in the area secured by the area securing unit.   The imaging according to claim 6, further comprising a data writing restriction unit that restricts a storage amount of the image data and the metadata in the storage unit based on an area secured by the region securing unit. apparatus.   The position information acquisition unit acquires position information related to the image data based on a recording time of the position information of the moving route information and a recording time of the image data. The imaging device described.   The area securing unit reserves in advance in the storage unit an area for storing a display definition file for causing a display device to display an image of the image data and a travel path of the travel path information in combination. The imaging device according to claim 6.   The imaging apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the display definition file is a file in an HTML format, a KML format, or a KMZ format. Generating metadata in which position information relating to the shooting position of the image data is writable in association with image data of an image of a subject captured;
Storing the image data and the metadata;
Obtaining position information associated with the image data;
Writing arbitrary position information or the acquired position information into the metadata as the position information of the image data;
The imaging method characterized by including.

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