IMAGE PROCESSING DEVICE, IMAGE PROCESSING METHOD, AND PROGRAM

• US 20150350523A1
• Filed: 11/12/2013
• Published: 12/03/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 01/09/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Inventors: Kinoshita, Masaya
• Granted Patent: US 10,547,774 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 7/365 by analysis of the spatial frequency components of the image
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2207/10024 Color image
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 5/70 Denoising; Smoothing
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 10/255 Detecting or recognising potential candidate objects based on visual cues, e.g. shapes
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 40/161 Detection; Localisation; Normalisation
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/611 where the recognised objects include parts of the human body
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/67 Focus control based on electronic image sensor signals
• 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
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/73 by influencing the exposure time
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/144 Movement detection for video coding H04N19/503; analysis of motion in general G06T7/20

Abstract

There is provided an image processing device including a subject distance change determination unit configured to detect a temporal change of a distance from an imaging position to each subject present in an image and determine a tendency toward approach or recession of the each subject with respect to the imaging position on the basis of the detection, and a main subject determination unit configured to determine a main subject on the basis of the tendency toward approach or recession of the each subject determined by the subject distance change determination unit.

Claims

1. An image processing device comprising:

a subject distance change determination unit configured to detect a temporal change of a distance from an imaging position to each subject present in an image and determine a tendency toward approach or recession of the each subject with respect to the imaging position on the basis of the detection; and

a main subject determination unit configured to determine a main subject on the basis of the tendency toward approach or recession of the each subject determined by the subject distance change determination unit.

2. The image processing device according to claim 1,

wherein the subject distance change determination unit determines the tendency toward approach of the each subject to the imaging position on the basis of information regarding the temporal change of the distance of the each subject, and

wherein the main subject determination unit determines the main subject on the basis of a determination result of the tendency toward approach.

3. The image processing device according to claim 1, wherein the subject distance change determination unit detects a temporal change of a size of a subject image in the image as the temporal change of the distance.

4. The image processing device according to claim 1, wherein the subject distance change determination unit detects, as the temporal change of the distance, a temporal change of a size of a subject image in the image, the subject image being one or more of candidate images extracted in the image.

5. The image processing device according to claim 1,

wherein the subject distance change determination unit determines that the subject that is approaching on average, cumulatively, or continuously is a subject with the tendency toward approach, as a detection result of the temporal change of the distance, and

wherein the main subject determination unit determines a part or all of the subject determined to have the tendency toward approach as the main subject.

6. The image processing device according to claim 1, further comprising:

an attribute identification unit configured to identify an attribute of the subject and output attribute information,

wherein the subject distance change determination unit changes a determination condition of the tendency toward approach of the subject according to the attribute information.

7. The image processing device according to claim 1, wherein the subject distance change determination unit detects the temporal change of the distance of the subject in each division region in the image.

8. The image processing device according to claim 7, wherein the subject distance change determination unit determines a division region at which the subject of the division region of a current processing target image is located in an image before a unit time and detects the temporal change of the distance of the subject as a difference between a subject distance of the determined division region and a subject distance of the division region of the current processing target image.

9. The image processing device according to claim 7,

wherein the subject distance change determination unit determines that the subject of the division region that is approaching on average, cumulatively, or continuously is the subject with the tendency toward approach, as a detection result of the temporal change of the distance, and

wherein the main subject determination unit determines the main subject on the basis of information regarding the division region in which the subject is determined to have the tendency toward approach.

10. The image processing device according to claim 9, wherein the main subject determination unit groups different division region in which a same subject as the subject contained in one division region in which the subject is determined to have the tendency toward approach is contained, and sets an image range serving as the main subject based on a range of the grouped one or more of division regions.

11. The image processing device according to claim 10, wherein the main subject determination unit groups the one division region and the different division region for which a distance difference of a subject distance is within a predetermined value and which is a region continuous with the one division region.

12. The image processing device according to claim 1,

wherein the subject distance change determination unit determines the tendency toward recession of the each subject from the imaging position on the basis of information regarding the temporal change of the distance of the each subject, and

wherein the main subject determination unit determines the main subject on the basis of a determination result of the tendency toward recession.

13. An image processing method comprising:

detecting a temporal change of a distance from an imaging position to each subject present in an image and determining a tendency toward approach or recession of the each subject with respect to the imaging position on the basis of the detection; and

determining a main subject on the basis of the determined tendency toward approach or recession of the each subject.

14. A program causing an arithmetic processing device to perform the processes of:

detecting a temporal change of a distance from an imaging position to each subject present in an image and determining a tendency toward approach or recession of the each subject with respect to the imaging position on the basis of the detection; and

determining a main subject on the basis of the determined tendency toward approach or recession of the each subject.