METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR CONTROLLING ZOOM USING TOUCH SCREEN

• US 20110043662A1
• Filed: 08/24/2010
• Published: 02/24/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 08/24/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Inventors: Kim, Chang-hoon
• Granted Patent: US 8,659,681 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 348/240.2
• CPC Class Codes: G03B 17/00 Details of cameras or camera bodies; Accessories therefor lens hoods or caps G03B11/04
• 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 23/62 Control of parameters via user interfaces
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/631 Graphical user interfaces [GUI] specially adapted for controlling image capture or setting capture parameters
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/635 Region indicators; Field of view indicators
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/69 Control of means for changing angle of the field of view, e.g. optical zoom objectives or electronic zooming

Abstract

A method and apparatus for controlling zoom of a digital photographing apparatus using a touch screen. According to the method, a view angle may be modified by inputting a zooming gesture to the touch screen and zooming operation may be conveniently performed on a reproduced image.

Claims

1. A method of controlling zoom using a touch screen, the method comprising:

inputting a zooming gesture using a touch screen of a digital photographing apparatus;

calculating an area of a touch region corresponding to the zooming gesture; and

controlling a zooming operation of the digital photographing apparatus according to the calculated area of the touch region.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising detecting a face region in an input image,

wherein, if a face region is detected, the controlling the zooming operation is performed based on a result of a comparison between an area of the detected face region and the calculated area of the touch region.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the controlling the zooming operation is performed by controlling a zoom motor that operates an optical zoom lens of the digital photographing apparatus to move to a tele-end with respect to the touch region when the calculated area of the touch region is greater than the area of the detected face region.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein the controlling the zooming operation is performed by controlling a zoom motor that operates an optical zoom lens of the digital photographing apparatus to move to a wide-end with respect to the touch region when the calculated area of the touch region is less than the area of the detected face region.

5. The method of claim 2, wherein the controlling the zooming operation is performed by controlling a digital zooming operation to zoom in on the input image with respect to the touch region when the calculated area of the touch region is greater than the area of the detected face region.

6. The method of claim 2, wherein the controlling the zooming operation is performed by controlling a digital zooming operation to zoom out of the input image with respect to the touch region when the calculated area of the touch region is less than the area of the detected face region.

7. The method of claim 2, wherein, if a face region is not detected, the controlling the zooming operation is performed according to a ratio of the calculated area of the touch region to an area of the input image.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the controlling the zooming operation is performed by controlling a zoom motor that operates an optical zoom lens of the digital photographing apparatus to move to a tele-end with respect to the touch region when the ratio of the calculated area of the touch region to the area of the input image is greater than a predetermined threshold value, and

controlling the zoom motor to move to a wide-end with respect to the touch region when the ratio of the calculated area of the touch region to the area of the input image is less than the threshold value.

9. The method of claim 7, wherein the controlling the zooming operation is performed by controlling a digital zooming operation to zoom in on the input image with respect to the touch region when the ratio of the calculated area of touch region to the area of the input image is greater than a predetermined threshold value, and

controlling a digital zooming operation to zoom out of the input image with respect to the touch region when the ratio of the calculated area of the touch region to the area of the input image is less than the threshold value.

10. The method of claim 2, wherein the input image is a preview image or a reproduced image.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the zooming operation comprises an optical zoom or a digital zoom of the digital photographing apparatus.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the zooming gesture is a figure with a predetermined shape input by a user using the touch screen of the digital photographing apparatus.

13. A computer-readable recording medium having recorded thereon a computer executable program to perform a method comprising:

inputting a zooming gesture using a touch screen of a digital photographing apparatus;

calculating an area of a touch region corresponding to the zooming gesture; and

controlling a zooming operation of the digital photographing apparatus according to the calculated area of the touch region.

14. An apparatus for controlling zoom using a touch screen, the apparatus comprising:

a touch region calculation unit configured to calculate an area of a touch region corresponding to a zooming gesture input using a touch screen of a digital photographing apparatus; and

a controller configured to control a zooming operation of the digital photographing apparatus according to the calculated area of the touch region.

15. The apparatus of claim 14, further comprising a face region detector configured to detect a face region in an input image,

wherein, if a face region is detected, the controller is configured to perform the zooming operation based on a result of a comparison between an area of the detected face region and the calculated area of the touch region.

16. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the controller is configured to control a zoom motor to operate an optical zoom lens of the digital photographing apparatus to move to a tele-end with respect to the touch region when the calculated area of the touch region is greater than the area of the detected face region, and

configured to control the zoom motor to move to a wide-end with respect to the touch region when the calculated area of the touch region is less than the area of the detected face region.

17. The apparatus of claim 15, further comprising an image signal processor configured to zoom in on or out of the input image according to the control of the controller,

wherein the controller is configured to control the image signal processor to zoom in on the input image with respect to the touch region when the calculated area of the touch region is greater than the area of the detected face region, and configured to control the image signal processor to zoom out of the input image with respect to the touch region when the calculated area of the touch region is less than the area of the detected face region.

18. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein, if a face region is not detected, the controller is configured to control the zooming operation of the digital photographing apparatus according to a ratio of the calculated area of the touch region to an area of the input image.

19. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein the controller is configured to control a zoom motor that operates an optical zoom lens of the digital photographing apparatus to move to a tele-end with respect to the touch region when the ratio of the calculated area of the touch region to the area of the input image is greater than a predetermined threshold value, and

configured to control the zoom motor that operates the optical zoom lens of the digital photographing apparatus to move to a wide-end with respect to the touch region when the ratio of the calculated area of the touch region to the area of the input image is less than the threshold value.

20. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein the controller is configured to control the image signal processor to zoom in on the input image with respect to the touch region when the ratio of the calculated area of the touch region to the area of the input image is greater than a predetermined threshold value, and

configured to control the image signal processor to zoom out of the input image with respect to the touch region when the ratio of the calculated area of the touch region to the area of the input image is less than the threshold value.