Electronic camera with oblique view correction

• US 6,449,004 B1
• Filed: 04/22/1997
• Issued: 09/10/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 04/23/1996
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Minolta Corporation Limited (Konica Minolta Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Minolta Corporation Limited (Konica Minolta Inc.)
• Inventors: Minato, Shoichi, Fujii, Shinichi, Okisu, Noriyuki, Karasaki, Toshihiko
• Primary Examiner(s): Garber, Wendy R.
• Assistant Examiner(s): White, Mitchell
• Application Number:
  US08/844,906
• Time in Patent Office: 1,967 Days
• Field of Search: 348/42, 348/43, 348/46, 348/49, 348/50, 348/239, 348/240, 348/358, 348/362, 348/363, 348/208, 382/275, 382/293, 382/277
• US Class Current: 348/44
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/635 Region indicators; Field of view indicators
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/81 for suppressing or minimising disturbance in the image signal generation
• 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 5/2628 Alteration of picture size, shape, position or orientation, e.g. zooming, rotation, rolling, perspective, translation

Abstract

An electronic camera is provided with an image pickup device for photoelectrically picking up a light image of an object to generate image data, an oblique angle information provider for providing information on an oblique angle between a sensing surface of the image pickup device and a surface of the object, a distance detector for detecting a distance to the object, and a corrector for correcting, based on the provided oblique angle information and the detected distance, the generated image data so as to produce a pseudo object image whose surface resides on a plane parallel with the sensing surface of the image pickup device.

Claims

1. An electronic camera comprising:

an image pickup device in the camera which photoelectrically picks up a light image of an object to generate image data, the image pickup device having a sensing surface residing on a first plane;

an oblique angle information provider in the camera which provides information on an oblique angle between the first plane and a second plane on which a surface of the object resides;

a distance detector in the camera which detects a distance to the object; and

a corrector in the camera which corrects, based on the provided oblique angle information and the detected distance, the generated image data to the extent an imaged dimension of a part of the object on a near side having a particular physical dimension is imaged to have the same imaged dimension of a part of the object on a far side having the same particular physical dimension so as to produce a pseudo object image identical to an image which is obtained when the first plane is optically in parallel with the second plane.

2. An electronic camera according to claim 1, wherein the corrector corrects the generated image data by applying a partial enlargement or reduction thereto.

3. An electronic camera according to claim 1, further comprising:

a size setter which sets a size of the light image on the sensing surface of the image pickup device; and

an aperture value setter which sets, based on the set light image size, the provided oblique angle information, and the detected object distance, an aperture value to hold the surface of the object in a depth of field of the image pickup device.

4. An electronic camera according to claim 3, wherein the set aperture value is equal to or lower than a reference aperture value for suppressing influence of camera shake.

5. An electronic camera according to claim 3, wherein the size setter includes a manual setting portion.

6. An electronic camera according to claim 3, wherein the size setter includes an automatic setting portion which sets a size based on the generated image data.

7. An electronic camera according to claim 1, further comprising an aperture value setter which is responsive to the oblique angle information provider to set an aperture value in accordance with an oblique angle.

8. An electronic camera according to claim 1, further comprising a calculator which calculates a correction permissible area of the light image.

9. An electronic camera according to claim 8, further comprising a display unit which displays the calculated correction permissible area.

10. An electronic camera according to claim 9, further comprising a recorder which records the corrected image data, wherein the display unit displays the correction permissible area during the time from activation of the image pickup device until activation of the recorder.

11. An electronic camera according to claim 1, further comprising:

an image display unit in the electronic camera which is operable to selectively display an actually picked up image in accordance with the generated image data and a pseudo image in accordance with the corrected image data; and

a selector in the electronic camera which provides a camera user with a selection of the actually picked up image display or the pseudo image display on the image display unit.

12. An electronic camera according to claim 11, further comprising a recorder which records the image data, wherein the display unit executes the image display during the time from activation of the image pickup device until activation of the recorder.

13. An electronic camera according to claim 1, wherein the oblique angle information provider includes a manual providing portion for providing predetermined oblique angle information manually.

14. An electronic camera according to claim 1, wherein:

the distance detector is operable to detect respective distances to a plurality of separate portions of the object;

the oblique angle information provider includes an automatic providing portion which provides, based on the plurality of detected distances, predetermined oblique angle information automatically.

15. An electronic camera comprising:

an image pickup device which photoelectrically picks up a light image of an object to generate image data, the image pickup device having a sensing surface residing on a first plane;

a manual operation member to which a user inputs oblique angle information as a visual estimation of the user on an oblique angle between the first plane and a second plane on which a surface of the object resides; and

a corrector which corrects, based on the oblique angle information inputted to the manual operation member, the generated image data so as to produce a pseudo object image identical to an image which is obtained when the first plane is optically in parallel with the second plane.

16. An electronic camera according to claim 15, wherein the manual operation member is provided on an outside surface of the camera, the manual operation member being manually changeable at a reference position where a specified portion of the manual operation member is in parallel with the first plane and an oblique position where the specified portion of the manual operation member is in parallel with the second plane.

17. The electronic camera of claim 15, wherein said corrector corrects the generated image data to the extent an imaged dimension of a part of the object on a near side having a particular physical dimension is imaged to have the same imaged dimension of a part of the object on a far side having the same particular physical dimension so as to produce a pseudo object image identical to an image which is obtained when the first plane is optically in parallel with the second plane.

19. An electronic camera according to claim 17, wherein the set aperture value is equal to or lower than a reference aperture value for suppressing influence of camera shake.

18. An electronic camera comprising:

an image pickup device which photoelectrically picks up a light image of an object to generate image data, the image pickup device having a sensing surface residing on a first plane;

a corrector which corrects the generated image data so as to produce a pseudo object image identical to an image which is obtained when a surface of the object is optically in parallel with the first plane when the surface of the object is on a second plane tilted relative to the first plane on a plane perpendicularly intersecting the second plane; and

an aperture value setter which sets an aperture value in accordance with a varying angle between the first plane and the second plane.

20. An electronic camera as claimed in claim 18, further comprising an area setter which sets a target correction area, wherein the aperture value setter sets an aperture value for the target area set by the area setter.

21. An electronic camera according to claim 20, wherein the area setter includes a manual setting portion.

22. An electronic camera according to claim 20, wherein the area setter includes an automatic setting portion which sets said target correction area based on the generated image data.

23. The electronic camera of claim 18, wherein said corrector corrects the generated image data to the extent an imaged dimension of a part of the object on a near side having a particular physical dimension is imaged to have the same imaged dimension of a part of the object on a far side having the same particular physical dimension.

24. An electronic camera comprising:

an image pickup device which picks up an optical image of an object at an angle to generate image data;

a processor which produces using the image data corresponding to a correction permissible area of the images, front view image data of the object; and

a display unit which displays an area of the picked up image with information for distinguishing a non-permissible area of the image from the correction permissible area of the picked up image.

25. An electronic camera according to claim 24, further comprising a recorder which records the corrected image data, wherein the display unit displays the correction permissible area during the time from activation of the image pickup device until activation of the recorder.

26. An electronic camera as claimed in claim 24, further comprising an area setter which sets a correction area, wherein the display unit displays the correction area set by the area setter.

27. The electronic camera of claim 24, further comprising a corrector which corrects the image data to the extent an imaged dimension of a part of the object on a near side having a particular physical dimension is imaged to have the same imaged dimension of a part of the object on a far side having the same particular physical dimension.

28. An electronic camera comprising:

an image pickup device which photoelectrically picks up a light image of an object to generate image data, the image pickup device having a sensing surface residing on a first plane;

a corrector which corrects the generated image data so as to produce a pseudo object image identical to an image which is obtained when a surface of the object is in parallel with the first plane when the surface of the object is on a second plane intersecting the first plane;

a first memory which temporarily stores the corrected image data produced by the corrector for a pseudo image display;

a second memory which stores the corrected image data subsequent to the pseudo image display;

an image display unit which is operable to selectively display an actually picked up image in accordance with the generated image data and a pseudo image in accordance with the corrected image data; and

a selector which provides a camera user with a selection of the actually picked up image display or the pseudo image display on the image display unit.

29. An electronic camera according to claim 28, further comprising a recorder which records the image data, wherein the display unit executes the image display during the time from activation of the image pickup device until activation of the recorder.

30. The electronic camera of claim 28, wherein said corrector is in the camera and corrects the generated image data to the extent an imaged dimension of a part of the object on a near side having a particular physical dimension is imaged to have the same imaged dimension of a part of the object on a far side having the same particular physical dimension.

31. An image corrector comprising:

an image data inputting portion for inputting image data which is generated by photoelectrically picking up a light image of an object with an image pickup device having a sensing surface;

an oblique angle information providing portion for providing predetermined oblique angle information on an oblique angle between the sensing surface of the image pickup device and a surface of the object;

a distance information providing portion for providing information on a distance to the object; and

a data correcting portion for correcting the inputted image data based on the provided predetermined oblique angle information and distance information to the extent an imaged dimension of a part of the object on a near side having a particular physical dimension is imaged to have the same imaged dimension of a part of the object on a far side having the same particular physical dimension so as to produce a pseudo object image identical to an image which is obtained when the surface of the object is in parallel with the sensing surface of the image pickup device.

32. A method for producing image data representing a pseudo object image whose surface resides on a plane parallel with an image picking up plane, the method comprising:

picking up photoelectrically a light image of an object with an image pickup device in the electronic camera having a sensing surface residing on a first plane;

providing predetermined oblique angle information on an oblique angle between the first plane and a second plane on which a surface of the object resides;

detecting a distance to the object from said electronic camera; and

correcting, based on the provided predetermined oblique angle information and the detected distance, the generated image data to the extent an imaged dimension of a part of the object on a near side having a particular physical dimension is imaged to have the same imaged dimension of a part of the object on a far side having the same particular physical dimension so as to produce a pseudo object image identical to an image which is obtained when the first plane is in parallel with the second plane.

33. A method for producing image data representing a pseudo object image whose surface resides on a plane parallel with an image picking up plane, the method comprising:

picking up photoelectrically a light image of an object with an image pickup device having a sensing surface residing on a first plane;

providing information on an oblique angle between the first plane and a second plane on which a surface of the object resides by manually changing the oblique angle; and

correcting in the electronic camera, based on the provided oblique angle information, the generated image to the extent an imaged dimension of a part of the object on a near side having a particular physical dimension is imaged to have the same imaged dimension of a part of the object on a far side having the same particular physical dimension data so as to produce a pseudo object image identical to an image which is obtained when the first plane is optically in parallel with the second plane.

34. A method for producing image data representing a pseudo object image whose surface resides on a plane parallel with an image picking up plane, the method comprising:

setting an aperture value in accordance with a varying oblique angle between a first plane on which a sensing surface of an image pickup device resides and a second plane on which a surface of an object resides;

picking up photoelectrically a light image of the object with the image pickup device at the set aperture value to generate image data; and

correcting the generated image data so as to produce a pseudo object image identical to an image which is obtained when the first plane is in parallel with the second plane tilted relative to the first plane on a plane perpendicularly intersecting the second plane.

35. The method of claim 34, wherein said correcting step includes correcting the generated image data to the extent an imaged dimension of a part of the object on a near side having a particular physical dimension is imaged to have the same imaged dimension of a part of the object on a far side having the same particular physical dimension.

36. A method for producing image data representing a pseudo object image whose surface resides on a plane parallel with an image picking up plane, the method comprising:

setting a size of a light image of an object on a sensing surface of an image pickup device, the sensing surface residing on a first plane, a surface of the object residing on a second plane intersecting the first plane;

setting, based on the set light image size, an aperture value to hold the surface of the object in a depth of field of the image pickup device;

picking up photoelectrically a light image of the object with the image pickup device at the set aperture value to generate image data; and

correcting the generated image data so as to produce a pseudo object image identical to an image which is obtained when the first plane is in parallel with the second plane tilted relative to the first plane on a plane perpendicularly intersecting the second plane.

37. The method of claim 36, wherein said correcting step includes correcting the generated imaged data to the extent an imaged dimension of a part of the object on a near side having a particular physical dimension is imaged to have the same imaged dimension of a part of the object on a far side having the same particular physical dimension.

38. A method for producing image data representing a pseudo object image whose surface resides on a plane parallel with an image picking up plane, the method comprising:

picking up photoelectrically a light image of an object with an image pickup device having a sensing surface residing on a first plane, a surface of the object residing on a second plane intersecting the first plane;

calculating a correction permissible area of the light image;

displaying information on the calculated correction permissible area with the light image; and

correcting the generated image data so as to produce a pseudo object image identical to an image which is obtained when the first plane is in parallel with the second plane.

39. The method of claim 38, wherein said correcting step includes correcting the generated image data to the extent an imaged dimension of a part of the object an a near side having a particular physical dimension is imaged to have the same imaged dimension of a part of the object on a far side having the same particular physical dimension.

40. A method for producing image data representing a pseudo object image whose surface resides on a plane parallel with an image picking up plane, the method comprising:

picking up photoelectrically a light image of an object with an image pickup device having a sensing surface residing on a first plane, a surface of the object residing on a second plane intersecting the first plane;

receiving a selection of display of an actually picked up image and display of the pseudo image data; and

displaying, according to the selection, the actually picked up image in accordance with the generated image data or the pseudo object image in accordance with the corrected image data selectively.

41. The method of claim 40, further comprising correcting the generated image data to the extent an imaged dimension of a part of the object on a near side having a particular physical dimension is imaged to have the same imaged dimension of a part of the object on a far side having the same particular physical dimension so as to produce a pseudo object image identical to an image which is obtained when the first plane is optically in parallel with the second plane.

42. An electronic camera comprising:

an image pickup device which photoelectrically picks up a light image of an object to generate image data, the image pickup device having a sensing surface residing on a first plane;

an oblique angle information provider which provides information on an oblique angle between the first plane and a second plane on which a surface of the object resides and includes a manual operation member which manually changes the oblique angle; and

a corrector which calculates a magnification ratio for respective portions of the object image with respect to a predetermined reference position of the object image to enlarge and reduce their respective portions based on the calculated magnification ratio so as to produce a pseudo object image identical to an image which is obtained when the first plane is optically in parallel with the second plane.

43. The electronic camera of claim 42, wherein said corrector calculates the magnification ratio to the extent an imaged dimension of a part of the object on a near side having a particular physical dimension is imaged to have the same imaged dimension of a part of the object on a far side having the same particular physical dimension.

44. An electronic camera comprising:

an image pickup device which photoelectrically picks up a light image of an object to generate image data, the image pickup device having a sensing surface residing on a first plane;

a corrector which corrects the generated image data so as to produce a pseudo object image identical to an image which is obtained when a surface of the object is in parallel with the first plane when the surface of the object is on a second plane intersecting the first plane;

an image display unit which is operable to display the pseudo object image in accordance with the corrected image data;

a first memory which temporarily stores the corrected image data produced by the corrector for the pseudo image display; and

a second memory which stores the corrected image data subsequent to the pseudo image display.

45. The electronic camera of claim 44, wherein said corrector corrects the generated image data to the extent an imaged dimension of a part of the object on a near side having a particular physical dimension is imaged to have the same imaged dimension of a part of the object on a far side having the same particular physical dimension.

46. An electronic camera comprising:

an image pickup device which picks up an optical image of an object to generate image data;

a corrector which corrects a deformation of the image data obtained by the image pickup device; and

a selector which selects as to whether the corrected image data is recorded on a recording medium or not,

wherein said corrector corrects the deformation of the image data to the extent an imaged dimension of a part of the object on a near side having a particular physical dimension is imaged to have the same imaged dimension of a part of the object on a far side having the same particular physical dimension.

47. An electronic camera comprising:

an image pickup device which picks up an optical image of an object at an angle to generate image data;

a corrector which corrects the image data so as to produce an image data which corresponds to a front view image data of the object; and

an aperture value setter which sets a largest aperture value,

wherein said corrector corrects the image data to the extent an imaged dimension of a part of the object on a near side having a particular physical dimension is imaged to have the same imaged dimension of a part of the object on a far side having the same particular physical dimension.