IMAGE SHOOTING APPARATUS AND CONTROL METHOD AND PROGRAM THEREOF

• US 20090273684A1
• Filed: 04/28/2009
• Published: 11/05/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 05/02/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha (Canon Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha (Canon Inc.)
• Inventors: Sambonsugi, Hideaki
• Granted Patent: US 8,174,584 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 348/220.100
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/212 Motion video recording combined with still video recording television signal recording H04N5/76
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/2145 of a sequence of images for selection of a single frame before final recording, e.g. from a continuous sequence captured before and after shutter-release
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/2158 using a detachable storage unit
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2101/00 Still video cameras
• 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 23/80 Camera processing pipelines; Components thereof

Abstract

An apparatus which concurrently shoots a movie and a still image, comprises an image sensing unit which generates movie data and still image data; a storage unit which stores the generated still image data in a temporary memory area at predetermined time intervals; a detection unit which detects at least one of feature information, audio information and operation information; an analyzing unit which analyzes the detected information; a control unit which outputs, based on an analysis result, an instruction used as a trigger for selecting still image data among the still image data stored in the temporary memory area; an image processing unit which performs image processing on the selected still image data selected in accordance with the instruction used as the trigger; and a recording unit which records the processed still image data.

Claims

1. An image shooting apparatus which concurrently shoots a movie and a still image, comprising:

an image sensing unit configured to generate movie data and still image data by performing photo-electric conversion on an object image;

a storage unit configured to store the still image data generated by the image-sensing unit in a temporary memory area at predetermined time intervals;

a detection unit configured to detect at least one of feature information regarding an object in the movie data generated by the image-sensing unit, audio information which was concurrently recorded with the movie data, and operation information regarding a user;

an analyzing unit configured to analyze the information detected by the detection unit;

a control unit configured to output, based on an analysis result by the detection unit, an instruction used as a trigger for selecting still image data among the still image data stored in the temporary memory area;

an image processing unit configured to perform image processing on the selected still image data selected in accordance with the instruction used as the trigger; and

a recording unit configured to record the still image data processed by the image processing unit.

2. The apparatus according to claim 1,

wherein the feature information regarding the object includes at least one of a tint of the object, a brightness of the object, and a shift amount of the object,

the analyzing unit compares at least one of the feature information regarding the object and the audio information to a threshold value which was set in advance, and

the control unit outputs the instruction used as the trigger if based on the analysis result by the analyzing unit, at least one of the feature information and the audio information exceeds the threshold value, or if the predetermined operation information has been detected.

3. The apparatus according to claim 1,

wherein the storage unit includes a setting unit configured to set a time interval used for storing the still image data.

4. The apparatus according to claim 3,

wherein the storage unit sets the time interval used for storing the still image data in the temporary memory area according to a type of the information detected by the detection unit.

5. The apparatus according to claim 3,

wherein the storage unit sets an amount of time for which still image data is stored in the temporary memory area according to a type of the information detected by the detection unit.

6. The apparatus according to claim 5, further comprising a dividing unit configured to divide the temporary memory area,

wherein the dividing unit includes a unit configured to determine a priority order for each type of information detected by the detection unit and set a size of each of the divided areas according to the priority order.

7. The apparatus according to claim 2, comprising a selecting unit configured to select, among the still image data stored in the storage unit, still image data which was stored before a point in time when the instruction used as the trigger was output,

wherein the selecting unit includes a determining unit configured to determine an amount of time to be tracked back from a point in time when the instruction used as the trigger was output, in accordance with a type of the information which exceeds the threshold value.

8. The apparatus according to claim 7,

wherein the determining unit includes a unit configured to set, by a user operation, the amount of time to be tracked back from the point in time when the instruction used as the trigger was output.

9. A method for controlling an image shooting apparatus which concurrently shoots a movie and a still image, the method comprising:

an image sensing step of generating movie data and still image data by an image-sensing unit configured to perform photo-electric conversion on an object image;

a storing step of storing the still image data generated in the image-sensing step in a temporary memory area at predetermined time intervals;

a detecting step of detecting at least one of feature information regarding an object in the movie data generated in the image-sensing step, audio information which was recorded concurrently with the movie data, or operation information regarding a user;

an analyzing step of analyzing the information detected in the detecting step;

a controlling step of outputting, based on an analysis result in the detecting step, an instruction used as a trigger for selecting still image data among the still image data stored in the temporary memory area;

an image processing step of performing image processing on the selected still image data selected in accordance with the instruction used as the trigger; and

a recording step of recording, in a recording medium, the still image data processed in the image processing step.

10. The method according to claim 9,

wherein the feature information regarding the object includes at least one of a tint of the object, a brightness of the object, and a shift amount of the object,

in the analyzing step, at least one of the feature information regarding the object and the audio information is compared to a threshold value which was set in advance, and

in the controlling step, the instruction used as the trigger is output if, based on the analysis result in the analyzing step, at least one of the feature information and the audio information exceeds the threshold value, or if the predetermined operation information has been detected.

11. The method according to claim 9,

wherein the storing step includes a setting step of setting a time interval used for storing the still image data.

12. The method according to claim 11,

wherein the time interval used for storing the still image data in the temporary memory area is set in the storing step according to a type of the information detected in the detecting step.

13. The method according to claim 11,

wherein an amount of time for which still image data is stored in the temporary memory area is set in the storing step according to a type of the information detected in the detecting step.

14. The method according to claim 13, further comprising a dividing step of dividing the temporary memory area,

wherein the dividing step includes a step of determining a priority order for each type of information detected in the detecting step and setting a size of each of the divided areas according to the priority order.

15. The method according to claim 10, comprising a selecting step of selecting, among the still image data stored in the storing step, still image data which was stored before a point in time when the instruction used as the trigger was output,

wherein the selecting step includes a determining step of determining an amount of time to be tracked back from a point in time when the instruction used as the trigger was output in accordance with a type of the information which exceeds the threshold value.

16. The method according to claim 14,

wherein the determining step includes a step of setting, by a user operation, the amount of time to be tracked back from the point in time when the instruction used as the trigger was output.

17. A program for causing a computer of an image shooting apparatus to perform the method according to claim 9.