Compound eye digital camera

• US 20080158346A1
• Filed: 12/27/2007
• Published: 07/03/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 12/27/2006
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Fujifilm Corporation (Fujifilm Holdings Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Fujifilm Corporation (Fujifilm Holdings Corporation)
• Inventors: Nakamura, Satoshi, Watanabe, Mikio, Okamoto, Satoru, Ueno, Toshiharu
• Application Number:
  US12/005,361
• Publication Number:
  US 20080158346A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 348/47
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 13/239 using two 2D image sensors having a relative position equal to or related to the interocular distance H04N13/243 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 13/286 having separate monoscopic and stereoscopic modes
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 13/305 using lenticular lenses, e.g. arrangements of cylindrical lenses
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/635 Region indicators; Field of view indicators
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/667 Camera operation mode switching, e.g. between still and video, sport and normal or high- and low-resolution modes
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/698 for achieving an enlarged field of view, e.g. panoramic image capture

Abstract

An image management method which creates and records two or more real images and two or more thumbnail images from two or more images by viewpoints photographed by two or more image pickup devices corresponding to the viewpoints, wherein the real images include a stereoscopic image including the images by viewpoints, a common image range cut from the images by viewpoints and a whole image synthesized from the images by viewpoints, and the thumbnail images include two or more thumbnail images y each viewpoint corresponding to each of images by viewpoints, a 3D thumbnail image corresponding to the stereoscopic image, and a whole thumbnail image corresponding to the whole image.

Claims

1. An image management method which creates and records two or more real images and two or more thumbnail images from two or more images by viewpoints photographed by two or more image pickup devices corresponding to the viewpoints, wherein

the real images include the images by viewpoints, a stereoscopic image including a common image range cut from the images by viewpoints and a whole image synthesized from the images by viewpoints, and

the thumbnail images include two or more thumbnail images by each viewpoint corresponding to each of the images by viewpoints, a 3D thumbnail image corresponding to the stereoscopic image, and a whole thumbnail image corresponding to the whole image.

2. The image management method according to claim 1, comprising,

displaying the whole image and a marking for indicating a range of the images by viewpoints in the whole image or a range of the stereoscopic image in the whole image.

3. The image management method according to claim 1, comprising,

displaying at least one image of the images by viewpoints and a marking for indicating a range of the stereoscopic image in the displayed image.

4. A compound eye digital camera which is equipped with two or more image pickup devices corresponding to two or more viewpoints, comprising:

a creation device which not only creates as real images two or more images by viewpoints photographed by the image pickup devices, a stereoscopic image including a common image range cut from the images by viewpoints, and a whole image synthesized from the images by viewpoints, but also creates two or more thumbnail images by viewpoints corresponding to each of the images by viewpoints respectively, a stereoscopic thumbnail image corresponding to the stereoscopic image, and a whole thumbnail image corresponding to the whole image;

a thumbnail image display device which displays a thumbnail image belonging to at least one kind among the thumbnail images by viewpoints, the stereoscopic thumbnail image, and the whole thumbnail image;

a switching device which switches a kind of a thumbnail image displayed by the display device;

a selection device which makes a desired thumbnail image selected among from thumbnail images displayed by the display device;

a real image display device which displays a real image corresponding to the thumbnail image selected by the selection device;

an edit device which edits a range of the stereoscopic image; and

a stereoscopic thumbnail image creation device which creates and changes a stereoscopic thumbnail image corresponding to the stereoscopic image after the edit.

5. An image management method which creates and records two or more real images and two or more thumbnail images from two or more images by viewpoints photographed by two or more image pickup devices corresponding to the viewpoints, comprising:

a step of performing photographing by the image pickup devices;

a step of creating the images by viewpoints and two or more thumbnail images by viewpoints corresponding to the images by viewpoints respectively;

a step of designating a range which is stereoscopically displayable from the images by viewpoints, cutting out an image corresponding to the designated range as a stereoscopic image from the image by viewpoints, and creating a stereoscopic thumbnail image corresponding to the stereoscopic image;

a step of creating a whole image synthesized from the images by viewpoints, and a whole thumbnail image corresponding to the whole image; and

a step of recording the images by viewpoints, thumbnail image by viewpoints, the stereoscopic image, the stereoscopic thumbnail image, the whole image, and the whole thumbnail image, which are created at the respective steps, on a recording medium.

6. An image reproducing method, which reproduces two or more images by viewpoints photographed by two or more image pickup devices corresponding to the viewpoints, comprising:

a step of reading and displaying a thumbnail image belonging to at least one kind among thumbnail images by viewpoints corresponding to the images by viewpoints respectively, a stereoscopic thumbnail image corresponding to a stereoscopic image cut out from the images by viewpoints in a stereoscopically displayable range, and a whole thumbnail image corresponding to a whole image synthesized from the images by viewpoints;

a step of switching a kind of the thumbnail image displayed;

a step of reading and displaying a thumbnail image belonging to the kind which is switched;

a step of making a desired thumbnail image selected among from the thumbnail images displayed; and

a step of displaying a real image corresponding to the thumbnail image selected.

7. An image reproducing method, which reproduces two or more images by viewpoints photographed by two or more image pickup devices corresponding to the viewpoints, comprising:

a step of reading and displaying a thumbnail image belonging to at least one kind among thumbnail images by viewpoints corresponding to the images by viewpoints respectively, a stereoscopic thumbnail image corresponding to a stereoscopic image cut out from the images by viewpoints in a stereoscopically displayable range, and a whole thumbnail image corresponding to a whole image synthesized from the images by viewpoints;

a step of making a thumbnail image to be edited, selected from the thumbnail images displayed;

a step of displaying a stereoscopic image corresponding to the thumbnail image selected;

a step of editing a range of the stereoscopic image displayed;

a step of creating and changing a stereoscopic thumbnail image corresponding to the stereoscopic image after the edit; and

a step of recording the stereoscopic image and the stereoscopic thumbnail image after the edit on a recording medium.