JPH06165183A - Automatic photographing device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To obtain a device capable of automatically photographic by simple constitution. CONSTITUTION:A selected light generating means blinks light on and off with specific wavelength at 2-fold period of the frame period of a camera body 5 and a marker pen 16 uses ink reflecting the light from a selected light generating part 3. When an original is underlined by the pen 16, an image when the generating part 3 is in a lighting state by the camera body 5 and an image when the generating part 3 is in an extinguishing state are obtained. The position of a subject (the under lined part of the original) can be detected by taking a difference between the two images and the body 5 is oriented to the underlined part of the original based upon the positional information.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an automatic photographing device,
In particular, the present invention relates to an automatic photographing device for automatically selecting a desired subject from a photographing region and photographing the subject.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as a technique for automatically photographing a desired subject, for example, as shown in FIG. 6, a desired subject is selected from an image I photographed by a television camera (not shown). In order to automatically narrow down the shooting area to obtain the image, first take a picture of the entire shooting area with a TV camera (not shown), and in advance, a template depicting the subject b for which automatic shooting is desired. The photographed image is stored and stored, and the correlation between the image I obtained by the TV camera and the image obtained by photographing this template is calculated, and the photographed region is automatically narrowed down to a part B having a high correlation in the photographed region. It is well known that a photographed image of a desired subject B is obtained (for example, "Digital Image Processing" (published by Modern Science Co.) P
306-P312).

[0003]

However, in the above-mentioned technique, however, it is necessary to provide a template that depicts a desired subject, and there is a problem in that photographing is troublesome and lacking in simplicity.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and provides an automatic photographing apparatus capable of automatic photographing with a simple structure.

[0005]

A television camera for outputting a video signal at a constant frame period, and a selection light for blinking a light of a specific wavelength at a period twice the frame period of the television camera. Generating means; a reflecting member that reflects the light from the selective light generating means and can be attached to an object desired to be photographed; a video signal acquired by the television camera in the light emitting state of the selective light generating means; When a difference between the video signal acquired by the television camera and the difference signal is detected by the difference detection means when the selection light generation means is in the off state, and when a difference of a certain value or more is detected, the photographing area of the television camera Position determining means for determining the position where the difference is occurring, and pointing the television camera to the location where the difference is occurring based on the result of the position determining means. Those formed by comprising: a deflecting means, the.

[0006]

Since the reflection of the light emitted by the selective light generating means from the subject to which the reflecting member is attached is larger than that in the off state of the selective light generating means, the selective light generating means generates the selective light. When the difference between the video signal captured by the television camera when the means is in the light emitting state and the video signal captured by the television camera when the selective light generating means is in the off state, the subject to which the reflecting member is attached Since the part of is left, the position in the image captured by the television camera can be recognized, and the television camera can be automatically directed to a desired subject to obtain an appropriate image.

[0007]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An automatic photographing apparatus according to the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. Here, FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of an automatic image capturing apparatus according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of a processing unit configuring the automatic image capturing apparatus according to the present invention, and FIG. FIG. 4 is a timing chart for explaining the operation of the selective light generating section used in the automatic photographing apparatus according to the invention. FIG. 4 is a manuscript for explaining a manuscript to be subject to zoom photographing in the embodiment shown in FIG. FIG.

First of all, the automatic image pickup apparatus includes a camera unit 1.
The illumination unit 2, the selection light generation unit 3, and the processing unit 4 are roughly divided. As shown in FIG. 1, the camera unit 1, the illumination unit 2, and the selection light generation unit 3 are attached to the ceiling of a room where a photograph is to be taken. The camera unit 1 comprises a camera body 5 having a zoom lens 6 and a moving mechanism 7 for moving the camera body 5 vertically and horizontally. The zoom lens 6 is designed so that a control circuit (not shown) in the camera body 5 receives a control signal from the processing unit 4 which will be described later. Further, the camera body 5 is suitable for a color television camera because it has sensitivity to the wavelength of light as compared with a monochrome television camera. The illumination unit 2 is for illuminating a shooting space, and a filter 9 that blocks transmission of light of a specific wavelength is provided on the front surface of the illumination unit 2. here,
The wavelength of the light blocked by the filter-9 is set to the wavelength of the light output from the selective light generating section 3 described later.

The selection light generator 3 generates light of a single wavelength. In this embodiment, the selection light generator 3 is composed of a plurality of high-intensity LEDs 19, and the original on the table 8 (see FIG. In FIG. 1, (not shown) is irradiated.
Further, the selective light generating section 3 is designed to blink at a cycle twice as long as the frame cycle of the camera body 5 and in synchronization with the frame of the camera body 5. On the other hand, the processing unit 4 has a frame memory 10, a difference circuit 11, a threshold value processing circuit 12, a position detection circuit 13, and a camera control circuit 14. The frame memory 10 stores a video signal of one frame photographed by the camera unit 1, and its output terminal is connected to the difference circuit 11. The difference circuit 11 calculates the difference between the image signal for one frame input from the frame memory 10 and the image signal input from the camera body 5, and its output terminal is a threshold processing circuit 12. It is connected to the.

The position detection circuit 13 is a threshold processing circuit 1.
The position of the desired subject is determined based on the result of No. 2 and the position information is output to the camera control circuit 14. The camera control circuit 14 generates a control signal necessary for the moving mechanism 7 to move the camera body 5 to a position suitable for photographing an object based on the position information of the desired object input from the position detection circuit 13. , And outputs a control signal necessary for adjusting the zoom lens 6 to the camera body 5.

The operation of the present apparatus having the above configuration will be described below. First, this device is used in the following situations. That is, the present apparatus allows the presenter to notify other attendees based on the manuscript 15 (see FIG. 4 (a)) on the table 8 on a seat such as a meeting held in the room where the present apparatus is installed. At the time of explanation, the original 15 is photographed by this apparatus, and is projected on a monitor-television (not shown) in the conference room so as to be used for the flight of other attendees. The instructor is, for example, manuscript 1
In order to show the upper three lines in FIG. 5 to other attendees, an underline 17 as a reflecting member is drawn in the lateral direction of the original 15 with a marker pen 16 just below the three lines (see FIG. 4 (a)
reference). Here, the marker pen 16 uses ink as a paint that reflects light of a specific wavelength, and in the present embodiment, it selectively reflects the light of the LED 19 that constitutes the selective light generator 3. It is made of ink.

After the underline 17 is drawn on the original 15 by the marker pen 16 as described above, the entire table 8 is photographed by the camera unit 1. Here, since the frame cycle of the camera body 5 is 1/2 of the blinking cycle of the selection light generating section 3, as shown in FIG. 3, each frame of the selection light generating section 3 blinks (bright and dark). In addition, the camera body 5 can obtain a video signal of one frame. For example, if the first image for one frame is obtained by the camera body 5 when the selective light generator 3 is in the light emitting state, the first video signal is temporarily stored in the frame memory 10.
In the next frame, the video signal of the entire table 8 in the state where the selective light generating section 3 is in the off state and the light from the selective light generating section 3 is not radiated is the difference circuit 11 and the frame memory 10. And are entered at the same time.

In the frame memory 10, at the same time as the input of a new video signal, the video signal of the frame stored one frame before is output to the difference circuit 11, and the stored content is the newly input video. It will be updated to the signal. On the other hand, in the difference circuit 11, the video signal input from the frame memory 10, that is, the video signal Sa photographed in the light emitting state of the selection light generation unit 3 and the selection light generation unit 3 input from the camera unit 1. The difference calculation with the video signal Sb captured in the off state of is performed. That is,
Undermark drawn on the original 15 by the marker pen 16
In the line 17, in particular, the light from the selection light generator 3 is reflected more than the surrounding light, so that the video signal Sa
And the video signal Sb, only the portion to which the underline 17 is applied remains in the image of the entire table 8. Then, this difference circuit 11
The threshold value processing circuit 13 determines whether or not the difference calculated in step 2 exceeds a predetermined threshold value. When the threshold value processing circuit 13 determines that the difference exceeds a predetermined threshold value, the position detecting circuit 13 detects the position where the difference is detected,
That is, the position of the underline 17 is determined, and the position information is output to the camera control circuit 14.

In the camera control circuit 14, a control signal is output to the moving mechanism 7 based on the position information input from the position detection circuit 13 so that the camera main body 5 is directed toward the document 15 with the underline 17. At the same time, as shown in FIG. 4B, a control signal is output from the underline 17 to the camera body 5 so that the upper portion is zoomed.

Next, another embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. In this embodiment, the object to be photographed is a person,
Different from the previous embodiment. That is, in this embodiment, the subject wears the helmet 18, and the helmet 18 is coated with the paint that reflects the light of the LED 19 that constitutes the selection light generating section 3 (the halftone dot area in FIG. 5). Therefore, even if the subject changes its position, the camera main body 5 is operated based on the same principle as described in the previous embodiment.
The subject will always be captured.

In this embodiment, the marker pen 16 is made of an ink made of a paint that reflects the light generated by the LED 19 of the selective light generating section 3 for the object to be photographed.
According to this, the underline 17 is attached to the original 15 or the paint is applied to the helmet 18, but the present invention is not limited to this embodiment, and a reflection member that reflects the light of the LED 19 may be used. It is also possible to attach something like the above. In addition, the selection light generator 3 has an L
Although the ED 19 is used, if the light has a specific wavelength from the infrared region to the visible light region, L
It need not be ED light.

In the present embodiment, while the selective light generating section 3 which emits light of a specific wavelength which blinks at a cycle twice as long as the frame cycle of the camera body 5, the light from the selective light generating section 3 is provided. By attaching a reflecting member that reflects light to a desired subject, and taking the difference between the video signal when the selective light generator 3 is in the light emitting state and the video signal when the selective light generator 3 is in the off state, To be able to determine the position of the subject,
Since the camera body 5 is directed to the subject to which the reflecting member is attached based on this position information, the work required for preparation for automatic photography is simpler than before.

[0018]

As described above, according to the present invention,
A selective light generating means is provided which is synchronized with the frame of the television camera and which repeats blinking of light of a specific wavelength at a cycle twice the frame cycle, while a reflecting member which reflects the light of the selective light generating means to a subject. The position of the subject is determined from the difference between the video signal when the selective light generating means is in the light emitting state and the video signal when the selective light generating means is in the off state, and the TV camera is located at this position. By configuring to be oriented, it is only necessary to attach the reflecting member to the desired subject to be photographed before photographing, so that the camera can be automatically aimed at the desired subject more easily than in the past be able to.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing a configuration example of an automatic image capturing apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of a processing unit that constitutes the automatic image capturing apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a timing chart for explaining the operation of a selection light generator used in the automatic image capturing apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a front view of a document for explaining a document to be a subject of zoom shooting in the embodiment shown in FIG.

FIG. 5 is a configuration diagram showing another embodiment.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram for explaining a conventional automatic photographing technique.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... Camera section, 2 ... Illumination section, 3 ... Selective light generation section,
4 ... Processing unit, 5 ... Camera body, 7 ... Moving mechanism, 1
0 ... Frame memory, 11 ... Difference circuit, 12 ... Threshold processing circuit, 13 ... Position detection circuit, 14 ... Camera control circuit

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A television camera for outputting a video signal at a constant frame period, and a selective light generating means for blinking light of a specific wavelength at a period twice as long as the frame period of the television camera. A reflecting member that reflects the light from the selective light generating means and can be attached to an object desired to be photographed, a video signal acquired by the television camera in the light emitting state of the selective light generating means, and the selective light generating means. When a difference of not less than a certain value is detected by the difference detection unit that detects a difference between the video signal acquired by the television camera and the difference detection unit in the unlit state of, the difference in the photographing area of the television camera is A position determining means for determining a generated position, and a directing means for directing the television camera to a position where the difference is generated based on a result of the position determining means. An automatic photographing device characterized by being provided.