IMAGE SENSING APPARATUS, METHOD AND RECORDING MEDIUM STORING PROGRAM FOR METHOD OF SETTING PLURAL PHOTOGRAPHIC MODES AND VARIABLE SPECIFIC REGION OF IMAGE SENSING, AND PROVIDING MODE SPECIFIC COMPRESSION OF IMAGE DATA IN THE SPECIFIC REGION

• US 6,917,384 B1
• Filed: 06/09/2000
• Issued: 07/12/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 06/14/1999
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha (Canon Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha (Canon Inc.)
• Inventors: Fukushima, Nobuo
• Primary Examiner(s): Ho, Tuan
• Assistant Examiner(s): Long, Heather R.
• Application Number:
  US09/590,192
• Time in Patent Office: 1,859 Days
• Field of Search: 348/220.1, 348/208.16, 348/240.2, 348/345, 348/350, 348/221.1, 348/208.12, 348/64, 348/333.03, 348/346, 348/362, 348/222.1, 382/282, 396/121, 396/122, 396/123, 250/201.8
• US Class Current: 348/333.03
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/215 Recording a sequence of still pictures, e.g. burst mode
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/3333 during transmission, input or output of the picture signal; within a single document or page
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/17 the unit being an image region, e.g. an object
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/42 characterised by implementation details or hardware specially adapted for video compression or decompression, e.g. dedicated software implementation H04N19/635 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/63 using sub-band based transform, e.g. wavelets
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2101/00 Still video cameras
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2201/33357 Compression mode
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/72 Combination of two or more compensation controls

Abstract

When a region of interest of an image is compressed with high quality by an image sensing apparatus, such as a digital camera or the like, the region of interest (ROI) can be compressed by a compression coefficient different from that of other regions of the image according to the so-called JPEG 2000 method. However, setting the ROI is a complicated operation for a user. In the present invention, when a continuous photographing mode is not set, a single image sensing operation is assumed and the ROI is automatically set in a first region, which is the largest of three regions. Whereas in the continuous photographing mode, if a low-speed mode is set, the ROI is set in a second region smaller than the first region, and if a high-speed mode is set, the ROI is set in a third region, which is the smallest. In other words, the ROI is automatically set in the largest region in the single photographing mode, and when the continuous photographing mode is set, the ROI is automatically set larger in the low-speed mode than in the high-speed mode.

Claims

1. An image sensing apparatus comprising:

mode setting means for setting one of a plurality of photographing modes, wherein the plurality of photographing modes includes at least a first photographing mode for performing sensing operations at long time intervals and a second photographing mode for performing sensing operations at short time intervals;

region setting means for setting a specific region of an image to be sensed in accordance with the photographing mode set by said setting means, wherein the specific region corresponding to the first photographing mode is larger than the specific region corresponding to the second photographing mode;

image sensing means for sensing an image in the photographing mode set by said setting means and outputting image data corresponding to the image; and

compression means for compressing the image data of the specific region of the image by a compression method different from that of other regions of the image.

2. The image sensing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said region setting means changes a size of the specific region in accordance with the photographing mode set by said setting means.

3. The image sensing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said region setting means changes a position of the specific region in accordance with the photographing mode set by said setting means.

4. The image sensing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said compression means compresses the specific region and other regions with different compression coefficients.

5. The image sensing apparatus according to claim 4, wherein said compression means compresses the specific region with higher image quality.

6. The image sensing apparatus according to claim 4, wherein said compression means performs coding of a coefficient obtained by performing discrete wavelet transformation on the image.

7. The image sensing apparatus according to claim 6, wherein said compression means performs coding of the coefficient for the specific region, as a code array different from that of other regions.

8. The image sensing apparatus according to claim 6, wherein said compression means performs coding of the coefficient for the specific region by shifting up the coefficient by predetermined levels.

9. The image sensing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the first photographing mode is a single photographing mode for sensing a single image, and the second photographing mode is a continuous photographing mode for continuously sensing a plurality of images.

10. The image sensing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the first photographing mode is a first continuous photographing mode for continuously performing sensing operations for a plurality of images at long time intervals, and the second photographing mode is a second continuous photographing mode for continuously performing sensing operations for a plurality of images at short time intervals.

11. The image sensing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said mode setting means is further capable of setting either a mode where the specific region is set by said region setting means, or a mode where the specific region is not set by said region setting means.

12. The image sensing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said region setting means does not perform setting of the specific region when a continuous photographing mode is set by said mode setting means.

13. The image sensing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising recording means for recording the image compressed by said compression means in a recording medium.

14. The image sensing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising reproduction means for reproducing and displaying the image compressed by said compression means.

15. An image sensing apparatus comprising:

mode setting means for setting a photographing mode;

region setting means for setting a specific region of an image to be sensed in accordance with the photographing mode set by said mode setting means;

image sensing means for sensing an image in the photographing mode set by said mode setting means and outputting image data corresponding to the image; and

compression means for compressing the image data of the specific region of the image by a compression method different from that of other regions of the image,

wherein said mode setting means selectively sets either a single photographing mode for sensing a single image, or a continuous photographing mode for continuously sensing a plurality of images, and

wherein said region setting means sets a larger specific region in the single photographing mode than that in the continuous photographing mode.

16. An image sensing apparatus comprising:

mode setting means for setting a photographing mode;

region setting means for setting a specific region of an image to be sensed in accordance with the photographing mode set by said mode setting means;

image sensing means for sensing an image in the photographing mode set by said mode setting means and outputting image data corresponding to the image; and

compression means for compressing the image data of the specific region of the image by a compression method different from that of other regions of the image,

wherein said mode setting means selectively sets either a single photographing mode for performing sensing operations for a single image, or a continuous photographing mode for continuously performing sensing operations for a plurality of images,

wherein in the continuous photographing mode, said mode setting means selectively sets an image-sensing time interval, and

wherein in the continuous photographing mode, the shorter the image-sensing time interval, the smaller the specific region is set by said region setting means.

17. A control method of an image sensing apparatus, comprising:

a mode setting step of setting one of a plurality of photographing modes, wherein the plurality of photographing modes includes at least a first photographing mode for performing sensing operations at long time intervals and a second photographing mode for performing sensing operations at short time intervals;

a region setting step of setting a specific region of an image to be sensed in accordance with the photographing mode set in said setting step, wherein the specific region corresponding to the first photographing mode is larger than the specific region corresponding to the second photographing mode;

an image sensing step of sensing an image in the photographing mode set in said mode setting step and outputting image data corresponding to the image; and

a compression step of compressing the image data of the specific region of the image by a compression method different from that of other regions of the image.

18. The control method according to claim 17, wherein the first photographing mode is a single photographing mode for sensing a single image, and the second photographing mode is a continuous photographing mode for continuously sensing a plurality of images.

19. The control method according to claim 17, wherein the first photographing mode is a first continuous photographing mode for continuously sensing a plurality of images at long time intervals, and the second photographing mode is a second continuous photographing mode for continuously sensing a plurality of images at short time intervals.

20. A recording medium having recorded thereon a processing program for an image sensing apparatus, the program executing the steps of:

a mode setting step of setting one of a plurality of photographing modes, wherein the plurality of photographing modes includes at least a first photographing mode for performing sensing operations at long time intervals and a second photographing mode for performing sensing operations at short time intervals;

a region setting step of setting a specific region of an image to be sensed in accordance with the photographing mode set in said mode setting step, wherein the specific region corresponding to the first photographing mode is larger than the specific region corresponding to the second photographing mode;

an image sensing step of sensing an image in the photographing mode set in said mode setting step and outputting image data corresponding to the image; and

a compression step of compressing the image data of the specific region of the image by a compression method different from that of other regions of the image.

21. A control method of an image sensing apparatus, comprising:

a mode setting step of setting a photographing mode;

a region setting step of setting a specific region of an image to be sensed in accordance with the photographing mode set in said mode setting step;

an image sensing step of sensing an image in the photographing mode set in said mode setting step and outputting image data corresponding to the image; and

a compression step of compressing the image data of the specific region of the image by a compression method different from that of other regions of the image,

wherein said mode setting step selectively sets either a single photographing mode for sensing a single image, or a continuous photographing mode for continuously sensing a plurality of images, and

wherein said region setting step sets a larger specific region in the single photographing mode than that in the continuous photographing mode.

22. A control method of an image sensing apparatus, comprising:

a mode setting step of setting a photographing mode;

a region setting step of setting a specific region of an image to be sensed in accordance with the photographing mode set in said mode setting step;

an image sensing step of sensing an image in the photographing mode set in said mode setting step and outputting image data corresponding to the image; and

a compression step of compressing the image data of the specific region of the image by a compression method different from that of other regions of the image,

wherein said mode setting step selectively sets either a single photographing mode for sensing a single image, or a continuous photographing mode for continuously sensing a plurality of images,

wherein in the continuous photographing mode, said mode setting step is capable of setting an image-sensing time interval, and

wherein in the continuous photographing mode, the shorter the image-sensing time interval, the smaller the specific region is set in said region setting step.