IMAGING APPARATUS, IMAGING METHOD, AND COMPUTER READABLE RECORDING MEDIUM

• US 20120307112A1
• Filed: 05/30/2012
• Published: 12/06/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 05/31/2011
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Olympus Imaging Corporation (Olympus Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Olympus Imaging Corporation (Olympus Corporation)
• Inventors: Kunishige, Keiji, Ichikawa, Manabu
• Application Number:
  US13/483,204
• Publication Number:
  US 20120307112A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 348/239
• 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
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/2621 Cameras specially adapted for the electronic generation of special effects during image pickup, e.g. digital cameras, camcorders, video cameras having integrated special effects capability
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/772 the recording apparatus and the television camera being placed in the same enclosure
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/907 using static stores, e.g. storage tubes or semiconductor memories H04N5/91 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 9/8042 involving data reduction

Abstract

An imaging apparatus including a shooting unit consecutively generating electronic image data by imaging a subject and photoelectrically converting the imaged subject; a display unit displaying images corresponding to the image data in a generation sequence; an image processing unit generating processed image data by performing special effect processing of generating a visual effect by combining plural image processing operations with respect to the image data; an image processing controller generating plural processed image data by allowing the image processing unit to perform plural special effect processing operations with respect to the image data when there are plural special effect processing operations to be performed by the image processing unit; and a display controller collectively displaying one or more processed images corresponding to at least some of the processed image data generated by the image processing unit and an image corresponding to the image data on the display unit.

Claims

1. An imaging apparatus, comprising:

a shooting unit that consecutively generates electronic image data by imaging a subject and photoelectrically converting the imaged subject;

a display unit that displays images corresponding to the image data in a generation sequence;

an image processing unit that generates processed image data by performing special effect processing of generating a visual effect by combining a plurality of image processing operations with respect to the image data;

an image processing controller that causes to generate a plurality of processed image data by allowing the image processing unit to perform the plurality of kinds of special effect processing operations with respect to the image data when there are the plurality of kinds of special effect processing operations to be performed by the image processing unit; and

a display controller that collectively displays one or a plurality of processed images corresponding to at least some of the plurality of processed image data generated by the image processing unit and an image corresponding to the image data on the display unit.

2. The imaging apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising:

an input unit that receives an input of an instruction signal of instructing the special effect processing performed by the image processing unit; and

an image processing setting portion that sets the special effect processing to be performed by the image processing unit according to the instruction signal inputted by the input unit.

3. The imaging apparatus according to claim 2, wherein:

the image processing unit consecutively generates the processed image data by performing any one of the plurality of special effect processing operations set by the image processing setting portion according to a temporal sequence with respect to the image data, and

the display controller displays the processed image corresponding to the processed image data consecutively generated by the image processing unit on the display unit according to the generation sequence.

4. The imaging apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the display controller displays the plurality of processed images on the display unit while sequentially switching the plurality of processed images.

5. The imaging apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the display controller superimposes and displays information on a processing item name of the processed image displayed by the display unit.

6. The imaging apparatus according to claim 5, further comprising:

an image processing information recording portion that records image processing information in which the plurality of special effect processing operations executable by the image processing unit correspond to visual information,

wherein the display controller displays the plurality of processed images on the display unit in a visually different sequence by referring to the visual information recorded by the image processing information recording portion.

7. The imaging apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the visual information includes at least one of a visual effect, chroma, contrast, and a white balance.

8. The imaging apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the display controller displays reduced images acquired by reducing the plurality of processed images on the display unit.

9. The imaging apparatus according to claim 8, wherein image processing combined by the special effect processing operations is any one of airbrushing, shading addition processing, noise superimposition processing, and image synthesis processing.

10. The imaging apparatus according to claim 9, wherein:

the image processing unit is capable of further generating doneness image data by performing doneness effect processing of generating a doneness effect according to a predetermined shooting condition,

the input unit is capable of further receiving inputs of a plurality of instruction signals instructing processing contents of the special effect processing and the doneness effect processing, and

the image processing setting portion sets the special effect processing and the doneness effect processing according to the instruction signal inputted by the input unit.

11. The imaging apparatus according to claim 10, wherein:

the input unit has a release switch receiving an input of a release signal instructing to shoot to the corresponding imaging apparatus, and

the display controller deletes the plurality of processed images displayed by the display unit when the input of the release signal is received from the release switch.

12. The imaging apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the display controller displays the plurality of processed images on the display unit while moving the processed images on a display screen of the display unit.

13. The imaging apparatus according to claim 12, wherein the display controller superimposes and displays information on a processing item name of the processed image displayed by the display unit.

14. The imaging apparatus according to claim 13, further comprising:

an image processing information recording portion that records image processing information in which the plurality of special effect processing operations executable by the image processing unit correspond to visual information,

wherein the display controller displays the plurality of processed images on the display unit in a visually different sequence by referring to the visual information recorded by the image processing information recording portion.

15. The imaging apparatus according to claim 14, wherein the visual information includes at least one of a visual effect, chroma, contrast, and a white balance.

16. The imaging apparatus according to claim 15, wherein the display controller displays reduced images acquired by reducing the plurality of processed images on the display unit.

17. The imaging apparatus according to claim 16, wherein image processing combined by the special effect processing operations is any one of airbrushing, shading addition processing, noise superimposition processing, and image synthesis processing.

18. The imaging apparatus according to claim 17, wherein:

the image processing unit is capable of further generating doneness image data by performing doneness effect processing of generating a doneness effect according to a predetermined shooting condition,

the input unit is capable of further receiving inputs of a plurality of instruction signals instructing processing contents of the special effect processing and the doneness effect processing, and

the image processing setting portion sets the special effect processing and the doneness effect processing according to the instruction signal inputted by the input unit.

19. An imaging method performed by an imaging apparatus including a shooting unit that consecutively generates electronic image data by imaging a subject and photoelectrically converting the imaged subject and a display unit that displays images corresponding to the image data in a generation sequence, the method comprising:

generating processed image data by performing special effect processing of generating a visual effect by combining a plurality of image processing operations with respect to the image data;

generating a plurality of processed image data by performing the plurality of kinds of special effect processing operations in the image processing with respect to one image datum when there are the plurality of special effect processing operations; and

collectively displaying one or a plurality of processed images corresponding to at least some of the plurality of processed image data generated by the image processing unit and an image corresponding to one image datum on the display unit.

20. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium with an executable program stored thereon, wherein the program instructs a processor of an imaging apparatus including a shooting unit that consecutively generates electronic image data by imaging a subject and photoelectrically converting the imaged subject and a display unit that displays images corresponding to the image data in a generation sequence to perform:

generating processed image data by performing special effect processing of generating a visual effect by combining a plurality of image processing operations with respect to the image data;

generating a plurality of processed image data by performing the plurality of kinds of special effect processing operations in the image processing with respect to one image datum when there are the plurality of kinds of special effect processing operations; and

collectively displaying one or a plurality of processed images corresponding to at least some of the plurality of processed image data and an image corresponding to one image datum on the display unit.