JP2010239498A - Image input / output method and system - Google Patents

Abstract

An image displayed on an input-side display device is displayed on the output-side display device using the image data of the input-side display image in the output-side viewing environment. Provided is an image input / output method and system capable of matching the appearance even if the illumination environment changes when reproducing in an image in substantially the same manner.
An input-side image display device that displays an image based on image data, an illumination detection device that detects illumination light that illuminates the display screen, and information attachment that attaches illumination information of illumination light to image data as tag information An image input side system comprising: means; an output side image display device that reproduces and displays an image based on image data received from the system; a light source that illuminates the display screen; and a light source based on illumination information of tag information An image output side system including a light source control device that controls the illumination light from the light source so that the appearance or characteristics of the reproduced and displayed image substantially match based on the illumination information. By controlling the above, the above-mentioned problem is solved.
[Selection] Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to the appearance or characteristics of an image displayed on an input-side image display device in an input-side viewing environment in the field of printing, using the image data of the input-side display image in the output-side viewing environment. The present invention relates to an image input / output method and system that can be reproduced in an image displayed on an image display device.

In recent years, in the printing field, from the viewpoint of speediness and simplicity, the submission of images taken with a digital camera using digital image data is increasing instead of the submission of images taken on a reversal film.
The digital image data submission of images taken with this digital camera can be submitted via a network even from a remote location, and there is no need for a scanner process. However, since the substance of an image file as a submission is only a set of numerical data and not a substance of color, it is necessary to output it to a monitor or the like in order to convert it into a substance of color. However, since the characteristics of the monitor of the cameraman, the plate making company, and the print orderer are not necessarily uniform, the certainty of “transmission of appearance” is not guaranteed, and confusion occurs in many sites.

For example, when a landscape image that is entirely reddish is submitted, the photographer has made it reddish to create a sunset atmosphere, or there was no intention to make it reddish, but the monitor adjustment was crazy There is a case in which time and cost are wasted because it is impossible for the receiving side to judge whether it has shifted, and it is necessary to proceed to proof printing and start again.
It is known that the above-mentioned problems can be solved by properly calibrating the monitor and controlling the lighting environment at the monitor installation site to standard conditions. For a photographer who has to do shooting work in Japan, it is not realistic to prepare such conditions.

For this reason, even if the illumination environment changes, a technique for matching the color on the monitor has been proposed (see Patent Documents 1, 2, and 3).
The technique disclosed in Patent Document 1 uses a scanner as an image input unit, a printer or a monitor as an image output unit, or uses a monitor as an image input unit and a printer as an image output unit, and uses the scanner to display an original image. A scanner light source sensor such as a colorimeter sensor when reading and acquiring image data or using a display image on a monitor as original image data and outputting a reproduced image of the obtained image data to a printer or monitor The light source information of the scanner, the printer, and the monitor is read by the printer light source sensor and the monitor light source sensor, respectively, and based on the read light source information, the color correction unit uses the color adaptation equation to match the colors of the original image and the reproduced image. The present invention relates to an image input / output device that performs color correction.
Thus, in Patent Document 1, even if the observation light source of the image is different from the standard light source, or even if the observation light source of the original image is different from the observation light source of the reproduction image, the original image is reproduced in each observation environment. The color of the image can be seen to match.

In addition, the technique disclosed in Patent Document 2 includes an image display device such as a CRT monitor that self-emits and outputs a soft copy image, and an image reading device that handles (outputs or captures) a hard copy image such as a scanner or a printer. The color of the soft copy image and the hard copy image depends on the ambient light (viewing environment) such as ambient light such as light emitted from a fluorescent lamp and light emitted from a CRT monitor. The present invention relates to an image processing method and apparatus for performing image processing so that the appearances of the images match.
As a result, in Patent Document 2, the difference in color appearance between the hard copy image and the soft copy image can be eliminated.

In the technique disclosed in Patent Document 3, the detection unit detects the first and second color signal components of ambient illumination light, and the determination unit uses the ratio of the first and second color signal components to detect the illumination light. Ambient light determination device and method for determining the type, and video compensation data corresponding to each type of illumination light is stored in the storage unit, and according to the type of illumination light determined by the determination unit of the determination device, The present invention relates to a video correction control apparatus and method for performing video correction using video compensation data read from a storage unit in a video processing unit.
As a result, in Patent Document 3, color signals around the video display device are detected, and the video data is automatically corrected in accordance with the sensed lighting environment and changes in the lighting environment to ensure optimal viewing quality. You can do that.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 06-028437 JP 07-222196 A JP-A-10-304395

By the way, as described above, the technique of Patent Document 1 makes the colors of the original image and the reproduced image look the same under the respective observation environments even if the observation conditions of the observation light source and the reproduced image of the original image are different. In addition, the image signal is corrected, and the technique of Patent Document 2 matches the color appearance of the soft copy image and the hard copy image according to the viewing environment (such as ambient light and light emitted from the CRT monitor). Thus, the technique of Patent Document 3 performs video correction according to the type of illumination light. That is, the techniques disclosed in Patent Documents 1, 2, and 3 all reproduce images so that the color of the reproduced image is the same as that observed in a standard illumination environment, even if the illumination environment changes. It controls the color.
However, if such control is to be performed with high accuracy, the image display device will increase in cost, and if the lighting environment changes greatly, an unreproducible color will appear in the first place. For example, the monitor is exposed to direct sunlight. However, because there is a limit in accuracy, such as the color reproducibility of the shadow part cannot be secured, there is a problem that many photographers are not a fundamental solution for use at the shooting site and color adjustment work site there were.

The object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, and in the printing field, the appearance or characteristics of an image displayed on the input side display device under the input side viewing environment can be input under the output side viewing environment. An image input / output method and system that can be reproduced in substantially the same manner in an image displayed on an output side display device using image data of a side display image, and can match the appearance even if the illumination environment changes. It is to provide.
In addition to the above object, another object of the present invention is to provide a realistic image input / output method and system capable of reliably transmitting the intention of the overall color of the submitted image even if the lighting environment changes. There is.

  In order to solve the above-described problems, an image input / output system according to the present invention includes an input-side image display device that displays an input-side image based on image data, and the input-side image display device that displays the input-side image. An image input side system comprising: an illumination detection device that detects illumination light that illuminates a display screen; and an information attachment unit that attaches input side illumination information of illumination light detected by the illumination detection device to the image data as tag information. An output side image display device that reproduces and displays an output side image based on the image data to which the tag information received from the image input side system is attached, and a light source that illuminates the display screen of the output side image display device An image output side system comprising a light source control device that controls the light source based on the input side illumination information of the tag information, and the light source control device Based on the input side illumination information, the appearance of the output side image reproduced or displayed on the display screen of the output side image display device or the feature thereof is displayed on the display screen of the input side image display device. The illumination light from the light source is controlled so as to substantially match the appearance of the side image or its characteristics.

Here, it is preferable that the input-side illumination information and the output-side image display device have the same display characteristics.
Alternatively, the tag information further includes display characteristic information of the input side image display device, and the display characteristic of the output side image display device is based on the display characteristic information of the input side image display device of the tag information. It is preferable that they are similarly controlled.
Further, the light source control device, based on the input side illumination information, the illumination environment of the display screen of the output side image display device is substantially the same as the illumination environment of the display screen of the input side image display device. It is preferable that the illumination light from the light source is controlled so that the appearance of the output side image and the appearance of the input side image are substantially matched.

  Further, the illumination detection device detects at least one of a color temperature and a light amount of illumination light that illuminates a display screen of the input side image display device, and the input side illumination information includes the input side image display At least one of the color temperature and the amount of light of the illumination light that illuminates the display screen of the device, and the light source control device illuminates the display screen of the output-side image display device based on the input-side illumination information And at least one of the color temperature and the light amount of the display screen of the input side image display device are substantially the same, and the appearance of the output side image and the input side image It is preferable to control the light source so that the appearance substantially coincides.

  The image output side system further includes an output side illumination detection device that detects illumination light from the light source that illuminates a display screen of the output side image display device, and the light source control device includes the input side illumination. Illumination light for illuminating the display screen of the output-side image display device and the display screen of the input-side image display device based on information and the detection result of the illumination light from the light source detected by the output-side illumination detection device It is preferable that the light source is controlled so that the illumination light that illuminates the light is the same, and the appearance of the output-side image matches the appearance of the input-side image.

Moreover, it is preferable that the said image input side system further contains an imaging device provided with the imaging | photography part which image | photographs the said input side image displayed on the display screen of the said input side image display apparatus.
The input-side image display device is preferably an image display device attached to the photographing device for displaying a photographed image of the photographing device, or is an image display device independent of the photographing device. Is preferred.
Preferably, the information attachment means is an image file creation means for creating an image file for storing image data to which the input side illumination information is attached.
The image input side system preferably transmits the image file to the image output side system via communication means.
In addition, it is preferable that the appearance feature of the input side image is an image of an area that is noticed by a user of the image input side system.

The tag information further includes information regarding gradation characteristics of the image data, and the image output side system further includes a control unit that performs image processing on the image data, and the control unit includes the tag information It is preferable that the gradation characteristics of the image data are converted based on the information on the input side illumination information and information on the gradation characteristics of the image data, and displayed on the display screen of the output side image display device.
Moreover, it is preferable that the control unit further displays an area showing a specific conversion gradation characteristic so as to be identifiable in the conversion gradation characteristic displayed on the display screen of the output image display device.
The image input side system further includes adjustment means for adjusting the color and density of the input side image displayed on the display screen of the input side image display device, and the display screen of the input side image display device includes The displayed input side image is preferably one in which at least one of color and density is adjusted by a user of the image input side system.

  In order to solve the above-described problem, an image input / output method according to the present invention displays an input side image on a display screen of an input side image display device on the image input side based on image data, and the input side image Illumination light that illuminates the display screen of the input-side image display device on which is displayed is detected, and the input-side illumination information of the detected illumination light is attached to the image data as tag information. Based on the image data to which the tag information received from the image input side is attached, the output side image is reproduced and displayed on the display screen of the output side image display device, and the display screen of the output side image display device is illuminated from the light source. When illuminating with light, the illumination light from the light source is based on the input-side illumination information, and the appearance or characteristics of the output-side image reproduced and displayed on the display screen of the output-side image display device Characterized in that it is controlled to substantially match the appearance or characteristics of the displayed said input image on a display screen of the input-side image display device.

According to the image input / output method and system of the present invention, since the setting of the illumination light is corrected instead of correcting the image data (image signal or video signal), the input side monitor or the like where the illumination environment changes In the image display device, it is not necessary to control the color of the display image, and it is also necessary to control the color of the display image in an image display device such as an output side (receiver side) monitor that can set the lighting environment constant. Since only the lighting environment can be reproduced, there is no need for a color control mechanism for the display image, and there is no cost, and what kind of image the user of the input side image display device such as a cameraman was looking at can be obtained from a plate making company, etc. The recipient can know or understand with certainty.
Further, according to the present invention, it is possible to cancel not only the illumination environment but also the difference in light emission characteristics of an image display device such as a monitor, and the image display device such as a monitor that cannot be calibrated on the input side such as a cameraman. Even when using, you can reproduce the color seen by the input side of the photographer.

  According to the present invention, when image data (an image signal or a video signal) is corrected, it is possible to display so that a region where the color appearances cannot be accurately matched can be found. That is, according to the present invention, the color of the display image is not controlled by the image display device such as the input side monitor in which the illumination environment changes, and the display image is displayed only by the image display device such as the output side (receiver side) monitor. By controlling the colors, it is possible to identify areas where the accuracy of color confirmation has deteriorated due to the lighting environment, so the cost of input side image display devices such as cameraman monitors that are used in large quantities can be reduced. This leads to a reduction in the overall cost, and the color of the high-accuracy area is in accordance with instructions from the input side of the photographer, etc., and the image quality of the inaccurate area is adjusted by the recipient of the plate-making company. Is possible.

It is a schematic diagram which shows the structure of one Example of the image input / output system of this invention. It is a schematic diagram which shows the structure of one Example of the light source used for the image input / output system shown in FIG. (A) is a figure which shows an example of the display image of the output side image display apparatus of the image input / output system of this invention, (b) is a schematic diagram which shows the display structure of the display image shown to (a). It is a schematic diagram which shows an example of the use condition of the image input side system of this invention. It is a schematic diagram which shows the structure of the other Example of the image input / output system of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the image input / output method of this invention.

  Hereinafter, an image input / output system according to the present invention for realizing an image input / output method according to the present invention will be described in detail based on preferred embodiments shown in the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram showing a configuration of an embodiment of an image input / output system according to the present invention.
An image input / output system 10 shown in FIG. 1 includes an image input side system 12 and an image output side system 14, which are connected via a network 16.
The image input side system 12 includes a photographing unit 20, a control unit 22, an operation unit 24, a memory 26, a display memory 28, a monitor 30, an illumination light source 32, and an illumination sensor 34. The output side system 14 includes a control unit 36, an operation unit 38, a work memory 40, a display memory 42, a monitor 44, an illumination light source 46, an illumination sensor 48, and a light source control unit 50.

  Here, the image input side system 12 is arranged on the user side (input side) such as a cameraman or an orderer, and the user takes a subject to create a subject image used for printing, and if necessary, the image Image processing such as adjusting the color of data is performed, the created subject image is displayed on the monitor 30 for confirmation, and the image data of the confirmed subject image is made together with tag information to make a plate such as a printing plate. This is for transmission to the image output side system 14 arranged on the receiver side (output side) such as a place via a network 16 such as the Internet.

The photographing unit 20 is for a user such as a cameraman to photograph a subject used for printed matter, and includes a lens 54, a diaphragm 56, a shutter 58, and a CCD 60.
The photographing lens 54 is for forming an image of a subject on the CCD 60. The diaphragm 56 is for adjusting the light intensity on the CCD 60 of the light carrying the image of the subject incident from the lens 54. The shutter 58 is used to adjust the amount of light carried by the subject image incident on the CCD 60. The CCD 60 converts the incident light of the subject image to be incident into an electric signal of the subject image.
The electrical signal of the subject image photographed by the photographing unit 20 is sent to the control unit 22.

Although not shown, the control unit 22 corrects the electrical signal of the subject image captured by the imaging unit 20 with various correction circuits and the like, amplifies it with an amplifier, converts it into a digital signal with an A / D converter, An image signal processing unit for obtaining digital image data and converting the obtained digital image data into image display image data for display on the monitor 30, and, if necessary, color, density, And an image processing unit that performs necessary image processing including processing for adjusting saturation and image structure such as sharpness to obtain required image processed image data.
The control unit 22 has a function of receiving operation signals and various input data input from the operation unit 24, a function of writing (storing) image data and various data into the work memory 26, and a function of reading out from the memory 26. A function of writing display image data into the display memory 28 is provided.

Further, the control unit 22 receives detection data such as the amount of illumination light and the color temperature from the illumination sensor 34, uses the detection data as illumination information, and attaches this illumination information to the image data as tag information such as an illumination condition tag. A function for creating the image file 18, a function for transmitting the created image file 18 to the image output side system 14 via the network 16, and the like. At this time, the control unit 22 may further include the monitor display characteristic information of the monitor 30 as a monitor characteristic tag in the tag information of the image file 18. Here, as the monitor characteristic tag, it is sufficient if the display characteristic of the monitor 30 can be specified, and the monitor 30 itself may be known. Therefore, the information of the monitor 30 itself, the model, type, type, and the like of the monitor 30 may be used. In addition, the control unit 22 further includes information on the gradation characteristics of the image data, particularly the relationship between the detection data such as the illuminance of the illumination sensor 34 and the gradation characteristics of the display image data in the tag information of the image file 18. You may include as an information gradation characteristic tag to represent.
Further, the control unit 22 may control the entire system including illustrated components and unillustrated components of the image input side system.

The operation unit 24 is an operation instruction for an autofocus mechanism (not shown) of the lens 54 of the photographing unit 20, a driving mechanism (not shown) of the diaphragm 56 and the shutter 58, image data of the memory 26, and the control unit 22. Operation instructions for reading and writing various data used for control, operation instructions for writing display data to the display memory 28, and operation instructions for reading display data from the display memory 28 by the monitor 30 This is a part for giving an operation instruction for the monitor 30, an operation instruction for fetching detection data from the illumination sensor 34, an instruction for creating the image file 18, and an operation instruction for transmission to the image output side system 14.
When configuring the imaging devices 62 and 64 described later, the operation unit 24 includes various buttons and switches such as a shutter button provided in a digital camera or the like, and configures a personal computer (PC) 66 described later. In some cases, for example, a keyboard or a mouse is included.

  The memory 26 includes image data of a subject image photographed by the photographing unit 20, detection data of the illumination sensor 34, tag information such as illumination information (illumination condition tag) and display characteristic information (monitor characteristic tag), or these tags. An image file 18 or the like in which information is attached to image data, various data used for control by the control unit 22, and the like, an image memory for storing image data, and an image signal processing unit of the control unit 22 May function as a working memory for processing by the image processing unit or the like, and may be configured by various storage devices such as a ROM, a RAM, a hard disk, and various image recording media.

The display memory 28 is used to store display image data to be displayed on the monitor 30 created from the image data of the subject image photographed by the photographing unit 20 in the control unit 22. Similarly, it can be configured by various storage devices such as a RAM, a hard disk, and various image recording media.
The monitor 30 is a subject image photographed by the photographing unit 20 in order to confirm a subject image photographed for printing by a user such as a cameraman or an image subjected to image processing such as color density adjustment by the control unit 22. Display image data and image-processed display image data are displayed as display images on the input side.

  The monitor 30 may be any image display device as long as it can display at least an image for confirming a subject image photographed for printing by a user such as a cameraman. However, for ease of confirmation, a user such as a cameraman Is a monitor (display unit) of a digital camera (digital still camera, digital video camera) used for photographing, and a monitor of a personal computer (PC) or the like is preferable in order to confirm with certainty. , DPF (digital photo frame) or the like.

Therefore, the photographing unit 20, the control unit 22, the operation unit 24, the memory 26, the display memory 28, and the monitor 30 of the image input side system 12 may be configured by the photographing device 62 such as a digital camera.
Alternatively, as shown by a dotted line in FIG. 1, the imaging unit 20, the control unit 22 including the image signal processing unit, and the operation unit 24 and the memory 26 related to imaging and image signal processing are configured by an imaging device 64 such as a digital camera. The control unit 22, the operation unit 24, and the memory 26 related to image processing, image file creation, and the like, and the display memory 28 and the monitor 30 may be configured by the PC 66 or the like.
Of course, as the PC having the monitor 30, a computer completely independent of the photographing device 62 and the photographing device 64 may be used.
It is preferable that the monitor characteristics of the monitor 30 used as tag information, the model or model number of the monitor itself, or the model or model number of the digital camera 62 or the PC 66 itself be known.

The light source 32 emits illumination light that illuminates the display screen 30a of the monitor 30, and in outdoor shooting, the monitor 30 may be placed outdoors. In addition, when the monitor 30 is placed indoors even in outdoor shooting, or in indoor shooting, white light sources such as fluorescent lamps, incandescent lamps, mercury lamps and halogen lamps can be cited. In a photography studio, a lighting (illumination) light source that uses a plurality of these light sources can be used. The light source 32 may be composed of a three-color RGB laser, an LED, a pseudo white laser composed of a single-color laser and a phosphor, or the like.
The illumination sensor 34 is attached or arranged in the vicinity of the display screen of the monitor 30, and measures light (environment light) that illuminates the display screen of the monitor 30, and thus detects the illumination environment. The illumination sensor 34 may be any spectroscopic sensor that can spectroscopically measure illumination light and ambient light, and may be any spectroscopic sensor, but one of the color temperature and the amount of light of the illumination light. An optical sensor such as a color meter capable of measuring both is preferable.
In the present invention, the illumination information (color temperature and light amount of illumination light) detected by the illumination sensor 34 is not used for control by the monitor 30 but is used as tag information attached to image data.

Next, the image output side system 14 reproduces and displays the subject image on the monitor 44 using the image data of the subject image transmitted from the image input side system 12 and also reproduces and displays the subject image on the display screen of the monitor 44. Adjust the lighting environment so that the appearance of the image or its characteristics approximately match, and pay attention to the user's intention or appearance characteristics of the input side photographer or orderer in the reproduced subject image. The image area and the area not noticed by the user are identified and confirmed, or determined, and used for printing using the confirmation result or the determination result, that is, for plate making. Note that the image output side system 14 is usually installed and used in a plate making factory or the like for producing a printing plate, and is basically installed indoors.
The control unit 36, the operation unit 38, the work memory 40, the display memory 42, and the monitor 44 of the image output side system 14 may be configured by a PC 68 or the like, or may be configured by a photographing device such as a digital camera. Also good.

The control unit 36 of the image output side system 14 has the same functions except for the functions of the control unit 22 of the image input side system 12 and the image signal processing unit that performs signal processing of the image signal from the imaging unit 20. Yes, the image file 18 transmitted from the control unit 22 of the image input side system 12 is temporarily stored in the work memory 40, and then the image data in the image file 18 stored in the work memory 40 is read, After image processing as necessary, the image data is converted into display image data and written (stored) in the display memory 42, and the illumination information in the image file 18 stored in the work memory 40 is read out and read out. The illumination information is transmitted to a light source control device 50 that controls the illumination light source 46 in order to adjust the illumination light of the illumination light source 46.
In the present invention, tag information such as lighting information is attached to image data and created as an image file 18 together with the image data. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and image data and tag information are: If the image data and the tag information transmitted in the image output side system 14 can be read in association with each other, they are not created as one file. Also good.

The operation unit 38 has the same functions except for the operation unit 24 of the image input side system 12 and the function of instructing operation of the photographing unit 20, and the image received from the control unit 22 of the image input side system 12. Reading out and reading out the file 18 or image data and tag information in the file 18, or reading out the read image file 18 or image data and tag information in the file 18 from the work memory 40 and reading out from the work memory 40 Operation instructions, such as reading various data used for control by the control unit 36 from the work memory 40 and writing to the work memory 40, and writing of display data to the display memory 42 Operation instruction, operation instruction such as reading of display data from the display memory 42 by the monitor 44, operation instruction of the monitor 44, illumination sensor 48 Et detected data capture operation instruction is a part for performing like.
When the image output side system 14 is configured using the PC 68, the operation unit 38 includes, for example, a keyboard and a mouse.

The work memory 40 has substantially the same function as the memory 26 of the image input side system 12, and the image data of the subject image read from the image file 18, attached tag information, and detection of the illumination sensor 48. An image memory for storing image data, which stores data, tag information such as illumination information (illumination condition tag) and display characteristic information (monitor characteristic tag), and various data used for control by the control unit 36 Also, it functions as a working memory for processing by the image processing unit of the control unit 36, and can be configured by various storage devices such as a ROM, a RAM, a hard disk, and various image recording media.
The display memory 42 stores display image data to be displayed on the monitor 44 created from the image data of the subject image read from the image file 18, and is the same as the work memory 40. In addition, it may be configured by various storage devices such as a RAM, a hard disk, and various image recording media.

On the output side, the monitor 44 is used as an image file 18 for a user on the receiving side (output side) such as a plate shop to confirm an image displayed on the monitor 30 by a user such as a cameraman or an orderer on the input side. The image data displayed on the monitor 30 and its appearance or its appearance are reproduced by reproducing the converted display image data as it is or after image processing is performed as necessary from the image data of the subject image sent from the input side. This is for displaying as a display image whose features substantially match.
The monitor 44 reproduces the display image data and displays it as a display image whose appearance or characteristics substantially match so that at least the image displayed on the monitor 30 can be confirmed by a user such as a cameraman. Any display device can be used as long as it can be performed. For example, display characteristics similar to the display characteristics of the monitor 30 based on the display characteristics information (monitor characteristics tag) of the monitor 30 attached to the image data as tag information. And display with the same or similar display characteristics as the display characteristics of the monitor 30.

More preferably, the monitor 44 is the same monitor as the monitor 30.
In particular, for the ease of confirmation, for example, the monitor 44 uses the same digital camera monitor as the monitor 30 when the input-side user such as a cameraman uses the digital camera monitor. In order to ensure confirmation, when a monitor such as a PC or a DPF is used, it is preferable to use the same PC monitor or the same DPF. In this case, it is preferable to use the model or model number of the monitor 30 attached to the image data as tag information, or the model or model number of the digital camera 62 or the PC 66 itself.

The light source 46 emits illumination light that illuminates the display screen 44a of the monitor 44. If the light source 46 is basically disposed indoors and can adjust the emitted illumination light by the light source control device 50, for example, Any light source may be used as long as it can control one or both of the color temperature and the light amount of the illumination light. For example, as with the light source 32 of the image input side system 12, a fluorescent lamp, an incandescent lamp, a mercury lamp, a halogen lamp, etc. A white light source such as a lamp can be mentioned.
In the present invention, first, the light source 46 is controlled by the light source control device 50 based on the illumination information of the tag information, and reproduces the illumination environment of the display screen 30a of the monitor 30 as the illumination environment of the display screen 44a of the monitor 44. Used for

  For example, the white light source 46a and the CMY (or RGB) three primary color filters 70a, 70b, and 70c can be used as the light source 46, as shown in FIG. The color temperature of the illumination light is controlled by causing the three primary color filters 70a, 70b and 70c to act on the illumination light emitted from the white light source 46a and controlling the amount of insertion thereof. Then, by controlling the voltage applied to the white light source 46a or by adjusting the aperture (aperture) of the diaphragm by applying a diaphragm (not shown) to the illumination light emitted from the white light source 46a, The amount of light may be adjusted. As with the light source 32 of the image input side system 12, the light source 46 is composed of RGB three-color lasers, LEDs, and the like, and the color of the illumination light is controlled by independently controlling the light amounts of the lasers and LEDs of each color. You may make it control temperature and light quantity simultaneously.

The light source control unit 50 is a control device for controlling the light source 46 based on illumination information (illumination condition tag) attached to image data as tag information, and is based on the illumination information on the input side. Illumination light from the light source 46, particularly its color, so that the appearance or characteristics of the subject image reproduced and displayed on the display screen 44a substantially match the appearance or characteristics of the subject image displayed on the display screen of the monitor 30. One of the temperature and the amount of light, preferably both are controlled.
In particular, the light source control device 50 determines the color temperature of the illumination light from the light source 46 so that the illumination environment of the display screen 44a of the monitor 44 is substantially the same as the illumination environment of the display screen 30a of the monitor 30 based on the illumination information. By controlling at least one of the amounts of light, the appearance of the display image on the monitor 44 and the appearance of the display image on the monitor 30 are substantially matched.

The illumination sensor 48 is attached or arranged in the vicinity of the display screen of the monitor 44, measures light (environment light) that illuminates the display screen of the monitor 44, and thus detects the illumination environment. The illumination sensor 48 is preferably a spectral sensor similar to the illumination sensor 34 of the image input side system 12 or an optical sensor such as a color meter.
By the way, in the present invention, the illumination environment of the monitor 44 and the illumination environment of the monitor 30 become substantially the same by the control of the light source 46 by the light source control device 50 based on the illumination information. If the appearance of the display image can be substantially matched, it is not necessary to provide the illumination sensor 48 in the image output side system 14, but it is preferable to provide the light source 46 with high accuracy by the light source control device 50. preferable.
In this case, the light source control device 50 illuminates the display screen of the monitor 44 and the display screen of the monitor 30 based on the illumination information and the detection result of the illumination light from the light source 46 detected by the illumination sensor 48. The light source 46 can be controlled so that the appearance of the display image on the monitor 44 matches the appearance of the display image on the monitor 30.

In the image input / output system 10 of the present invention, in both the image input side system 12 and the image output side system 14, both the monitors 30 and 44 are corrected without correcting the image data of the subject image displayed on the monitors 30 and 44. The illumination environments can be matched or substantially matched, and the appearance of the displayed images on both monitors 30 and 44 can be matched or matched.
Thus, in such an image input / output system, a color control mechanism for the monitor display image is unnecessary, and the cost of the system is not increased.
In addition, a user on the receiver side (output side) such as a platemaker recognizes what image or color the photographer or orderer on the sender side (input side) was viewing in the display image on the monitor 30. Therefore, based on the recognized image and color, it can be adjusted to an image as intended on the side of the sender such as a cameraman on the printed matter. That is, the illumination light in the illumination environment of the monitor 44 on the receiver side is returned from the illumination light in the illumination environment of the monitor 30 to the illumination light from the standard light source, and the color of the image data of the image file is changed on the printed matter on the print side. It can be adjusted to finish properly as intended.

The image input / output system 10 of the present invention is basically configured as described above. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the color of the image data is adjusted while the monitor 30 is viewing the display image. The image data includes tag information, illumination information (illumination environment detection information), and monitor gradation characteristic change information based on the illumination information (how the gradation characteristics of the monitor 30 change in the illumination environment). Information is transmitted to the image output side system 14 and the monitor 44 reproduces the image data and displays the subject image, and displays the change information of the monitor gradation characteristics of the tag information. Correspondingly, the display of the reproduced image may be controlled.
For example, as shown in FIG. 3A, in the display image 72 displayed on the monitor 30, if there are areas with high density due to, for example, backlighting, these areas are used when the illumination environment of the monitor 30 is bright to some extent. The image on the sender side is not sufficiently recognized by the user on the sender side, and the color and the density area above the predetermined density can be seen with high accuracy in the lighting environment on the sender side. 3B, as shown in FIG. 3B, in the display image 72 on the receiver-side monitor 40, by overlaying a layer 74 that can identify these areas, these areas are displayed on the display screen of the monitor 40. 44a can be displayed in an identifiable manner.

That is, in the second embodiment of the present invention, the receiver-side monitor 40 is detected by the lighting environment in the illumination information of the tag information given to the image file 18 and the receiver-side illumination sensor 48. Based on the difference in lighting environment, the color reproduction characteristics of the receiver-side monitor 40 are controlled. At that time, an area that cannot be accurately viewed on the monitor 30 is displayed on the monitor 40 in an illumination environment on the sender side such as a cameraman.
As a result, the receiver side that has received the image data can recognize which area the color of the user on the sender side such as a cameraman has confirmed, and based on that, the subject image can have an appropriate image quality on the printed matter. The color of can be adjusted.

In the present embodiment, the monitor 30 on the sender side where the illumination environment changes does not control the color of the display image, and the color of the display image is controlled only on the monitor 44 on the receiver side. The cost of the monitor 30 on the sender side such as a cameraman monitor can be reduced, leading to a reduction in the overall cost.
Further, in the present embodiment, an area in which the accuracy of the color confirmation of the display image on the monitor 30 is deteriorated due to the illumination environment of the display screen of the monitor 30 on the sender side is known. Reasonable division of labor is possible in which the color of the area is finished as instructed by the sender side such as a cameraman, and the image quality of the area where the accuracy of color confirmation is poor is adjusted by the receiver side.

Next, a third embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 4 and 5. The image input side system 12 shown in FIG. 4 excludes the photographing unit 20 of the image input side system 12 shown in FIG. The PC 66, the illumination light source 32, and the illumination sensor 34 are shown.
The image input / output system 10 shown in FIG. 5 is obtained by removing the illumination sensor 48 of the image output side system 14 from the image input / output system 10 shown in FIG.
In the present embodiment, step-like density pattern data is generated by the control unit 22 of the image input side system 12, a pattern in which the luminance is changed stepwise is displayed on the display screen of the monitor 30, and gradation identification of dark portions is performed. The relationship of how the characteristics change depending on the illuminance by the illumination light of the illumination light source 32 is stored in advance. That is, when the illumination light quantity by the illumination light of the illumination light source 32 is changed, it is visually checked how many steps from the dark side the density difference of the staircase pattern displayed on the monitor 30 can be identified, and the illumination sensor 34 Are stored in the memory 26 together with the output value.
In the present embodiment, the monitor 30 is preferably a non-glare type in which the illumination light source 32 does not appear on the display screen, and needs to be a non-glare type for accurate identification.

Next, when the display image of the monitor 30 on the sender side is color-adjusted and an image to be received and transmitted to the side is displayed on the display screen of the monitor 30, the illumination information of the illumination sensor 34 at the time of color adjustment is Along with the relationship between the illuminance read out from the memory 26 and the gradation distinguishability, it is given as tag information to the image file 18 containing image data.
Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 5, the image file 18 is transmitted from the image input side system 12 on the sender side to the image output side system 14 on the receiver side via the network 16.

The control unit 36 of the image output side system 14 on the receiver side that has received the image file 18 uses the illumination information of the tag information given to the image file 18 and the relationship information between the illuminance and the gradation distinguishability, and so on. In the lighting environment on the sender side, image data of an area where gradation cannot be identified is extracted, and the extracted image data is converted into image data indicating a specific color density and then converted into display image data Then, on the monitor 44 on the receiver side such as a plate making company, it is displayed so that it can be identified on the image.
For example, as shown in FIG. 5, the image displayed on the display screen of the monitor 30 shows three persons, and the gradation of dark clothes worn by the middle person is sent by a photographer or the like. It is possible to determine that this area cannot be identified in the display image of the monitor 30 on the hand side by displaying this area in a special color, for example, red.

As a result, the receiver side that has received the image data of the subject image can determine which region the color of the photographer on the sender side has confirmed, and based on that, the image quality can be improved on the printed matter. The color can be adjusted.
Note that the work environment on the receiver side of a plate making company or the like is preferably managed so that the gradation reproducibility of the monitor 44 can be derived unlike the work environment on the sender side of a cameraman or the like. Management of a comfortable working environment.
As described above, in this embodiment, the image data and the video signal are not corrected, but the difference in color and gradation is generated in the dark portion of the difference in appearance caused by the difference in the viewing environment. Since the area is displayed so that it can be discriminated, the receiver side can easily and accurately recognize the intention of the sender side and the area where the sender side cannot be identified with high accuracy.

Therefore, in the present embodiment, the monitor 30 on the sender side in which the illumination environment changes does not control the color of the display image, and due to the difference in the illumination environment, the color or gradation of the display image on the monitor 30 does not change. Since it is possible to discriminate only the area where the accuracy of confirmation is poor, it is not necessary to modify the work environment on the sender side such as a cameraman who is difficult to control the lighting environment, and the cost of the entire system can be reduced.
Further, in the present embodiment, an area where the accuracy of confirmation of the color and gradation of the display image on the monitor 30 is deteriorated due to the illumination environment of the display screen of the monitor 30 on the sender side is found. As in the second embodiment, a reasonable division of labor is performed in which the color of the area with high accuracy of color confirmation is finished according to instructions from the sender side such as a cameraman, and the image quality of the area with poor accuracy of color confirmation is adjusted by the receiver side. It becomes possible.

The image input / output system of the present invention is basically configured as described above. The operation of the image input / output system of the present invention and the image input / output method of the present invention will be described below.
FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing an example of the image input / output method of the present invention.
First, in the image input side system 12 of the image input / output system 10 shown in FIG. 1, the subject is photographed by the photographing unit 20 (see step S10).
Next, the digital image data of the subject image is acquired by the image signal processing unit of the control unit 22 in step S12, and the image data of the subject image is converted into display image data in step S14.

Next, in step S16, the subject image is displayed on the display screen of the monitor 30 on the input side based on the display image data.
At this time, in step S18, the illumination sensor 34 detects illumination light that illuminates the display screen of the monitor 30 on which the subject image is displayed, and acquires illumination information.
Subsequently, in step S20, the image file 18 is created by attaching the illumination information of the illumination light detected by the illumination sensor 34 as tag information to the image data.
Thus, the processing in the image input side system 12 on the sender side is completed.

Thereafter, the image output side system 14 of the image input / output system 10 shown in FIG. 1 receives the image file 18 transmitted from the image input side system 12 via the network.
Next, in step S22, the subject image is reproduced and displayed on the display screen of the monitor 44 on the output side based on the image data to which the tag information of the received image file 18 is attached.
At the same time, in step S24, the display screen of the monitor 44 on which the subject image is displayed is illuminated with illumination light from the light source 46. Based on the illumination information of the tag information in the image file 18, the light source control unit 50 turns on the light source 46. The illumination light (color temperature and light amount) from the light source 46 is adjusted to control.
In this way, in step S26, both display images by matching or substantially matching the illumination environment of the subject image reproduced and displayed on the display screen of the output-side monitor 44 and the illumination environment of the subject image displayed on the display screen of the input-side monitor 30. Or a feature match or a near match can be realized.

  The image input / output method and system according to the present invention have been described in detail above. However, the present invention is not limited to the above-described various embodiments, and various improvements and modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention. Of course it is good.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Image input / output system 12 Image input side system 14 Image output side system 16 Network 18 Image file 20 Image pick-up part 22 Control part (image signal processing part)
24, 38 Operation unit 26 Memory 28, 42 Display memory 30, 44 Monitor 32, 46 Illumination light source 34, 48 Illumination sensor 36 Control unit 40 Work memory 40
50 Light source controller 50

Claims (15)

An input-side image display device that displays an input-side image based on image data, an illumination detection device that detects illumination light that illuminates a display screen of the input-side image display device on which the input-side image is displayed, and the image data An image input side system comprising: information attachment means for attaching the input side illumination information of the illumination light detected by the illumination detection device as tag information;
An output-side image display device that reproduces and displays an output-side image based on the image data to which the tag information received from the image input-side system is attached; a light source that illuminates a display screen of the output-side image display device; An image output side system comprising a light source control device that controls the light source based on the input side illumination information of the tag information,
The light source control device is configured such that the appearance of the output-side image reproduced or displayed on the display screen of the output-side image display device based on the input-side illumination information or a feature thereof is displayed on the display screen of the input-side image display device. An image input / output system, wherein illumination light from the light source is controlled so as to substantially match the appearance of the input side image displayed or the characteristics thereof.   The image input / output system according to claim 1, wherein the input-side illumination information and the output-side image display device have the same display characteristics. The tag information further includes display characteristic information of the input side image display device,
The image input / output system according to claim 1, wherein display characteristics of the output-side image display device are similarly controlled based on display-characteristic information of the input-side image display device in the tag information.   Based on the input-side illumination information, the light source control device is configured so that the illumination environment of the display screen of the output-side image display device is substantially the same as the illumination environment of the display screen of the input-side image display device. The image input / output system according to claim 1, wherein the illumination light is controlled so that the appearance of the output-side image and the appearance of the input-side image are substantially matched. The illumination detection device detects at least one of a color temperature and a light amount of illumination light that illuminates a display screen of the input side image display device,
The input side illumination information is at least one of a color temperature and a light amount of illumination light that illuminates a display screen of the input side image display device,
The light source control device includes at least one of a color temperature and a light amount of illumination light that illuminates the display screen of the output-side image display device based on the input-side illumination information, and illumination of the display screen of the input-side image display device The light source is controlled so that at least one of the color temperature and the light amount of light is substantially the same, and the appearance of the output side image and the appearance of the input side image substantially coincide. 5. The image input / output system according to any one of 4 above. The image output side system further includes an output side illumination detection device that detects illumination light from the light source that illuminates a display screen of the output side image display device,
The light source control device illuminates a display screen of the output side image display device based on the input side illumination information and a detection result of illumination light from the light source detected by the output side illumination detection device; 2. The light source is controlled such that the illumination light that illuminates the display screen of the input-side image display device is the same, and the appearance of the output-side image matches the appearance of the input-side image. The image input / output system according to any one of?   The image input / output according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the image input side system further includes a photographing device including a photographing unit that photographs the input side image to be displayed on a display screen of the input side image display device. system.   The image input / output system according to claim 7, wherein the input-side image display device is an image display device attached to the photographing device for displaying a photographed image of the photographing device.   The image input / output system according to claim 7, wherein the input-side image display device is an image display device independent of the photographing device.   The image input / output system according to claim 1, wherein the information attachment unit is an image file creation unit that creates an image file that stores image data to which the input-side illumination information is attached.   The image input / output system according to claim 10, wherein the image input side system transmits the image file to the image output side system via communication means.   The image input / output system according to any one of claims 1 to 11, wherein the appearance characteristic of the input-side image is an image of an area that is noticed by a user of the image-input-side system. The tag information further includes information on gradation characteristics of the image data,
The image output side system further includes a control unit that performs image processing on the image data,
The control unit converts the gradation characteristics of the image data based on the input-side illumination information of the tag information and information on the gradation characteristics of the image data, and displays the display screen of the output-side image display device. The image input / output system according to claim 1, wherein the image input / output system is displayed.   The image input / output according to claim 13, wherein the control unit further displays an area showing a specific conversion gradation characteristic in a conversion gradation characteristic displayed on a display screen of the output-side image display device in an identifiable manner. system. On the image input side,
Display the input side image on the display screen of the input side image display device based on the image data,
Detecting illumination light that illuminates a display screen of the input-side image display device on which the input-side image is displayed;
Attach the input side illumination information of the detected illumination light to the image data as tag information,
On the image output side,
Based on the image data to which the tag information received from the image input side is attached, the output side image is reproduced and displayed on the display screen of the output side image display device,
When illuminating the display screen of the output side image display device with illumination light from a light source,
The illumination light from the light source is based on the input side illumination information, and the appearance or characteristics of the output side image reproduced and displayed on the display screen of the output side image display device are displayed on the input side image display device. An image input / output method, wherein the input / output image is controlled so as to substantially match the appearance of the input image displayed on the screen or its characteristics.

Images