Imaging Device

• US 20110019027A1
• Filed: 02/24/2009
• Published: 01/27/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 03/03/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Xacti Corporation (Office Support KK)
• Original Assignee: Sanyo Electric Company Limited (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Inventors: Leung, Clarissa, Fujita, Hideto
• Granted Patent: US 8,432,475 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 348/222.1
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2207/10016 Video; Image sequence
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2207/30196 Human being; Person
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 7/20 Analysis of motion motion estimation for coding, decoding, compressing or decompressing digital video signals H04N19/43, H04N19/51
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/61 based on recognised objects
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/611 where the recognised objects include parts of the human body
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/633 for displaying additional information relating to control or operation of the camera

Abstract

An imaging device includes: a tracking processing portion which tracks a tracking target on a series of frame images based on an output signal of an image sensor; a tracking reliability evaluation portion which, based on the output signal of the image sensor, evaluates a degree of reliability of tracking by the tracking processing portion, and classifies the degree into one of a plurality of levels; and a display portion which displays the series of frame images. A tracking target icon corresponding to a tracking target and a level icon indicating an evaluated degree of reliability are displayed on a display screen. A degree of reliability is classified into one of a plurality of levels and indicated by the level icon. The tracking target icon is expressed by using the same color as that of (the clothes of) the tracking target.

Claims

1. An imaging device, comprising:

an image sensor which outputs a signal indicating a series of images obtained by sequential shooting;

a tracking processing portion which, based on the output signal of the image sensor, detects a position of a tracking target on the series of images and thereby tracks the tracking target on the series of images;

a tracking evaluation portion which, based on the output signal of the image sensor, evaluates a degree of reliability, or of ease, of tracking by the tracking processing portion, and classifies the degree into one of a plurality of levels;

a display portion which displays the series of images; and

a display control portion which makes the display portion display an evaluation result by the tracking evaluation portion.

2. The imaging device of claim 1, wherein the display control portion makes the display portion display a tracking target icon corresponding to the tracking target and a level icon indicating the degree which has been evaluated.

3. The imaging device of claim 2, wherein the tracking processing portion performs tracking of the tracking target based on color information of the tracking target, the color information being specified by the output signal of the image sensor, and the tracking target icon has a color corresponding to the color information.

4. The imaging device of claim 3, wherein the tracking processing portion performs tracking of the tracking target by first setting a tracking color corresponding to a color which the tracking target has and then tracking an image region having the tracking color in the series of images, and the display control portion sets a color that the tracking target icon has before setting of the tracking color to be colorless or to be a color set beforehand.

5. The imaging device of claim 2, wherein in a case in which a plurality of tracking targets are present as the tracking target, the display control portion makes the display portion display a plurality of tracking target icons corresponding to the plurality of tracking targets.

6. The imaging device of claim 5, wherein, in the case in which the plurality of tracking targets are present, when a tracking target which is being actually successfully tracked and a tracking target which is not being actually successfully tracked are included in the plurality of tracking targets, the display control portion uses different display styles for a tracking target icon corresponding to the tracking target which is being actually successfully tracked and a tracking target icon corresponding to the tracking target which is not being actually successfully tracked.

7. The imaging device of claim 5, wherein, in the case in which the plurality of tracking targets are present, when a tracking target which is being actually successfully tracked and a tracking target which is not being actually successfully tracked are included in the plurality of tracking targets, the display control portion places a display position of a tracking target icon corresponding to the tracking target which is being actually successfully tracked closer to the level icon than a display position of a tracking target icon corresponding to the tracking target which is not being actually successfully tracked.

8. The imaging device of claim 5, wherein, in the case in which the plurality of tracking targets are present, the tracking evaluation portion evaluates the degree with respect to each of the plurality of tracking targets, and the display control portion reflects in the level icon a highest degree or a lowest degree, or both the highest degree and the lowest degree, of the degrees evaluated with respect to the plurality of tracking targets.

9. The imaging device of claim 5, wherein, in the case in which the plurality of tracking targets are present, when the plurality of tracking targets are different from each other in level of tracking priority, the display control portion determines display sizes of the tracking target icons according to the level of tracking priority, or the display control portion determines display positions of the tracking target icons according to the level of tracking priority.

10. The imaging device of claim 1, wherein the display control portion makes the display portion display a tracking target icon corresponding to the tracking target, the degree, which has been evaluated and classified into one of the plurality of levels, being indicated by a color used in the tracking target icon.

11. The imaging device of claim 1, wherein the tracking target icon is created by using an image based on the output signal of the image sensor or by using an image registered in advance.

13. The imaging device of claim 3, wherein in a case in which a plurality of tracking targets are present as the tracking target, the display control portion makes the display portion display a plurality of tracking target icons corresponding to the plurality of tracking targets.

14. The imaging device of claim 4, wherein in a case in which a plurality of tracking targets are present as the tracking target, the display control portion makes the display portion display a plurality of tracking target icons corresponding to the plurality of tracking targets.

15. The imaging device of claim 1, wherein the tracking target icon is created by using an image based on the output signal of the image sensor or by using an image registered in advance.

16. The imaging device of claim 2, wherein the tracking target icon is created by using an image based on the output signal of the image sensor or by using an image registered in advance.

17. The imaging device of claim 3, wherein the tracking target icon is created by using an image based on the output signal of the image sensor or by using an image registered in advance.

18. The imaging device of claim 4, wherein the tracking target icon is created by using an image based on the output signal of the image sensor or by using an image registered in advance.

19. The imaging device of claim 10, wherein the tracking target icon is created by using an image based on the output signal of the image sensor or by using an image registered in advance.

12. An imaging device, comprising:

an image sensor which outputs a signal indicating a series of images obtained by sequential shooting;

a tracking processing portion which, based on the output signal of the image sensor, detects a position of a tracking target on the series of images and thereby tracks the tracking target on the series of images;

a display portion which displays the series of images; and

a display control portion which makes the display portion display a tracking target icon corresponding to the tracking target, wherein

the tracking processing portion performs tracking of the tracking target based on color information of the tracking target, the color information being specified by the output signal of the image sensor, and

the tracking target icon has a color corresponding to the color information.