Image forming apparatus

Abstract

To easily select desired frames from frames constituting moving images and seamlessly output the frames as an image.SOLUTION: A user moves a frame to select to a position 31, and subsequently touches a check box 27 displayed in the frame. Accordingly, a control unit turns a frame 21 to a selected state, and a display control unit 112 displays a check mark in the check box 27 displayed in the frame 21a. Further, the display control unit 112 displays the entire frame 21a in a hatched manner so as to allow the user to easily visually recognize that the frame 21a is in the selected state. When the user touches an output button 26, the display control unit outputs a print button, a transmission button, and a storage button. The control unit 111 prints, transmits, or stores the frames selected in accordance with the user's selection.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus that selects frames constituting a video and can output them.

Background Art

[0002] A technique for extracting frames constituting a video as still image data and printing them is known. Patent Document 1 describes a video printer that creates a hard copy of a composite image composed of a single frame image and a plurality of reduced sub-frame images. Patent Document 2 describes a type of print cartridge and an electrophotographic image forming apparatus using the print cartridge.

[0003] Patent Document 3 describes a technique for filing and printing a video reproduced from a video tape having a smaller number of pixels than an HDTV image as a label image. Patent Document 4 describes an image processing apparatus capable of setting an extraction time interval when extracting a still image from moving image data.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0004]

Patent Document 1

Patent Document 2

Patent Document 3

Patent Document 4

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0005] However, the technology described in Patent Document 1 requires additional memory when printing a hard copy. The technology described in Patent Document 2 does not describe the technology of extracting still images from a video and printing them. The technology described in Patent Document 3 requires two display devices, a display device for displaying a video and a display device for displaying a specified still image from the video. Although Patent Document 4 describes the technology of extracting a still image from moving image data, it does not describe the technology of printing the still image. Therefore, when outputting (printing, transmitting, saving) the frames constituting the video, means was taken to select a frame with an external device that is not an image forming apparatus to create a still image, and transmit the still image from the external device to the image forming apparatus for printing and the like.

[0006] An object of the present invention is to enable easy selection of a desired frame from frames constituting a video and seamless output of the frame as an image.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0007] An image forming apparatus according to an aspect of the present invention includes a display unit that displays an image, a display control unit that causes a plurality of frames constituting a video to be displayed on the display unit in time series, an input reception unit that receives a selection input of the frame from a user, and a control unit that sets the frame selected via the input reception unit to a selected state and performs control to output the frame in the selected state to a specified output destination.

Advantages of the Invention

[0008] According to the present invention, since a specific frame can be selected from a video with an image forming apparatus and an output instruction can be given from the selection of the frame only with the image forming apparatus, a desired frame can be easily selected from the frames constituting the video and the frame can be seamlessly output as an image. Therefore, according to the present invention, it is possible to reduce the labor, time, cost, power, etc. required for the operation when printing a specific frame included in a video.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0009]

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Mode for Carrying Out the Invention

[0010] Hereinafter, an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the electrical configuration of an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. In the present embodiment, a multifunction peripheral will be described as an example of the image forming apparatus, but any image forming apparatus having a printing function such as a printer or a copier may be used.

[0011] The image forming apparatus 1 includes a control unit 11, an input reception unit 12, an image reading unit 13, an image forming unit 14, a storage unit 15, a communication unit 16, and the like. The input reception unit 12 includes a touch panel 121 that receives a touch operation of a user and a display unit 122. The display unit 122 may display an operation screen, a message, etc., and may be integrally configured with the touch panel. The input reception unit 12 also has hard keys such as a determination key and a start key for performing determination operations of various operations and settings.

[0012] The image reading unit 13 includes a scanner or the like, reads the image of the document, and acquires image data. The image forming unit 14 includes a photosensitive drum, a charging device that uniformly charges the surface of the photosensitive drum, an exposure device that exposes the surface of the photosensitive drum to form an electrostatic latent image on the surface of the photosensitive drum, a developing device that develops the electrostatic latent image on the surface of the photosensitive drum into a toner image, and a transfer device that transfers the toner image (image) on the surface of the photosensitive drum to a recording paper, etc., and prints the image indicated by the above image data on the recording paper. The image forming unit 14 prints the image data acquired by the image reading unit 13, the image data stored in the storage unit 15, etc. on the paper.

[0013] The storage unit 15 is a large-capacity storage device composed of an SSD (Solid State Drive) or an HDD (Hard Disk Drive) that stores image data, various programs, data tables, etc. The communication unit 16 is composed of a communication module or the like, and performs transmission and reception of various data with an external device via a network.

[0014] The control unit 11 is composed of a processor, a RAM (Random Access Memory), a ROM (Read Only Memory), etc. The processor is a CPU (Central Processing Unit), an MPU (Micro Processing Unit), an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit), or the like. The control unit 11 functions as a control unit 111, a display control unit 112, and a change point frame extraction unit 113 by the processor executing a control program stored in the ROM or the like. Note that each of the above units of the control unit 11 may be configured by a hard circuit regardless of the operation based on the control program.

[0015] The control unit 111 is in charge of the overall operation control of the image forming apparatus 1. Further, the control unit 111 sets the frame selected via the input reception unit 12 to the selected state, and performs control to output the frame in the selected state to the designated output destination.

[0016] The display control unit 112 performs display control for the display unit 122. In particular, the display control unit 112 causes the display unit 122 to display a plurality of frames constituting the video in time series. Note that in this embodiment, the video refers to video data or a video file.

[0017] The change point frame extraction unit 113 extracts a frame corresponding to a video change point where the visual content of the video changes significantly. Specifically, the change point frame extraction unit 113 calculates the degree of change by comparing the difference in identity between the frames constituting the video, and sets a frame whose degree of change from the immediately preceding frame exceeds a predetermined value (for example, 30%) as a video change point.

[0018] FIGS. 2 to 10 are diagrams showing an example of a display screen displayed on the display unit 122. The processing flow in this embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 2 to 10. The display control unit 112 causes the display unit 122 to display a plurality of frames constituting a video based on the video data stored in the storage unit 15, a memory card inserted into the memory card slot, or a USB memory inserted into the USB port (not shown).

[0019] First, an explanation will be given with reference to FIG. 2. The video is composed of a plurality of frames arranged continuously in time series. The display control unit 112 causes the display unit 122 to continuously display still images as frames constituting the video in time series. The display control unit 112 reduces and displays the frames constituting the video in time series in the display area 21 on the display screen of the display unit 122. Further, the display control unit 112 enlarges and displays the frame 21a displayed at a predetermined central position 31, for example, in the display area 21, as an image 22 at the center of the display unit 122. When enlarging and displaying another frame, the user operates the knob 23a of the slider 23 or the arrows 24a and 24b displayed on the display screen with a finger.

[0020] Specifically, when the user moves the knob 23a to the left by a touch operation or touches the arrow 24a, the display control unit 112 receives an instruction to rewind the time and display a frame, and displays the frame according to the content indicated by the instruction. On the other hand, when the user moves the knob 23a to the right by a touch operation or touches the arrow 24b, the display control unit 112 receives an instruction to advance the time and display a frame, and displays the frame according to the content indicated by the instruction.

[0021] When the user touches the gear mark 25, the display control unit 112 receives an instruction to display the setting menu on the display unit 122, and displays the frame according to the content indicated by the instruction. When the user touches the output button 26, the display control unit 112 receives an instruction to display a button for selecting an output destination on the display unit 122, and displays the frame according to the content indicated by the instruction. The setting menu and output processing will be described later.

[0022] Next, it will be described with reference to FIG. 3. The user operates the arrow 24a, the knob 23a, or the arrow 24b to input an instruction, and moves the frame (frame 21a) to be selected to the position 31 in the display control unit 112. Then, the user touches the check box 27 displayed in the frame displayed at the position 31 to input an instruction, and the control unit 111 sets the frame 21a to a selected state according to the instruction, and the display control unit 112 displays a check mark in the check box 27 displayed in the frame 21a. Further, so that the user can easily visually recognize that the frame 21a is in a selected state, the display control unit 112 performs a display such as shading the entire frame 21a or changing the color of the frame of the frame 21a.

[0023] The user can input an instruction to select a plurality of frames by repeating the selection operation of moving the frame to be selected to the position 31 and touching the check box 27 in the frame.

[0024] Another method of selecting multiple frames will be described with reference to FIG. 4. After the user selects the frame 21a displayed at the position 31 by a touch operation different from a normal selection operation such as a long press, for example, the user operates the knob 23a or the like to advance the time, and performs an operation to display another new frame 21d at the position 31. As a result, as shown in FIG. 4, the display control unit 112 causes the frame 21d to be displayed at the position 31. In the display state shown in FIG. 4, when the user selects the frame 21d by an operation such as a long press, the control unit 111 collectively sets all the frames (frames 21b and 21c in FIG. 4) between the selected frame 21a and the frame 21d displayed at the position 31 to the selected state.

[0025] Next, the setting menu will be described. FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining the setting menu. When the user touches the gear mark 25, an instruction to display the setting menu 41 is received by the display control unit 112 via the touch panel 121. In accordance with this instruction, the display control unit 112 displays the setting menu 41.

[0026] When the user wants to collectively select frames at desired second intervals, the user operates the touch panel 121 or the input reception unit 12 to input the time (number of seconds) and operates the radio button 42. The control unit 111 receives the input time, and the display control unit 112 causes the input time to be displayed in the field 43. In this state, when the user touches the OK button 46, the control unit 111 collectively sets other frames at 3 - second intervals with reference to the frame 21a displayed at the position 31 to the selected state. Here, it is assumed that the interval between each frame displayed in the display area 21 in FIG. 5 is 1 second. At this time, the control unit 111 collectively selects the frame 21d and the frame 21e with reference to the frame 21a displayed at the position 31. Note that the control unit 111 may also set the corresponding frames of other frames not displayed in the display area 21 to the selected state.

[0027] Next, the case of selecting a frame corresponding to a video change point will be described with reference to FIG. 6. A motion change point refers to the timing at which the content of a video visually changes significantly. When the user selects the radio button 44 in the setting menu 41 and touches the OK button 46, an instruction to extract a change point frame is input to the touch panel 121. The change point frame extraction unit 113 calculates the degree of change by comparing the differences in images between consecutive frames according to the instruction to extract a change point frame. When the degree of change exceeds a predetermined value from the previous frame, the frame in which the degree of change exceeds the predetermined value is set as the video change point.

[0028] Specifically, the change point frame extraction unit 113 calculates the degree of change for each pair of two consecutive frames (the nth frame and the (n + 1)th frame, where n is an integer greater than or equal to 1) that make up the video. For example, the change point frame extraction unit 113 calculates the degree of change between frame 21f and frame 21g. When the degree of change exceeds a predetermined value, the change point frame extraction unit 113 sets frame 21g (the (n + 1)th frame) as the video change point, and the control unit 111 sets frame 21g as the video change point. Note that the extraction of video change points is not limited to this method, and other extraction methods may also be used.

[0029] Next, the case of displaying only a specific frame on the display unit 122 will be described with reference to FIG. 7. For example, when the user wants to display only the frames in a desired time range on the display unit 122, the user operates the touch panel 121 or the input reception unit 12 to input the start time and end time to be displayed. The display control unit 112 displays the input start time in column 47 and the end time in column 48. As shown in FIG. 7, when the user touches the OK button 46 with "2" displayed in column 47 and "8" displayed in column 48, the display control unit 112 receives an instruction to display the frames included in the time range from 2 seconds to 8 seconds of the video in the display area 21, and causes the display unit 122 to display the content indicated by the instruction.

[0030] Furthermore, the display control unit 112 causes the display unit 122 to display a mark 32 indicating that the frame displayed in the display area 21 is only a specific frame set by the user in the setting menu. As a result, it becomes easier for the user to recognize that each frame displayed on the display unit 122 is only a specific frame set by the user.

[0031] In addition, in this embodiment, the case where the frame in the time zone specified by the user is set as the specific frame has been described as an example. However, in addition to this, the display control unit 112 may, for example, set only the selected frame as the specific frame and display only the frames in the selected state in the specified time zone.

[0032] Next, the output of the selected frame will be described. When the user touches the output button 26 shown in FIG. 7, the display control unit 112 receives an output instruction via the touch panel 121, and causes the display unit 122 to display a print button 261, a send button 262, and a save button 263 as shown in FIG. 8. When the user touches the print button 261, a print instruction is received by the control unit 111 via the touch panel 121, and the control unit 111 causes the image forming unit 14 to print the image indicated by the selected frame.

[0033] When the user touches the send button 262, a send instruction is received by the control unit 111 and the display control unit 112 via the touch panel 121, and the display control unit 112 causes the display unit 122 to display a list of destination address books as shown in FIG. 9. The display control unit 112 causes the display unit 122 to display the list of email addresses stored in the storage unit 15.

[0034] When the user selects the check box 91 displayed corresponding to the part where the destination is displayed and touches the send button 92, the control unit 111 receives a send destination selection instruction and a send instruction via the touch panel 121, and causes the communication unit 16 to send the frame as image data to the send destination indicated by the selected email address. Note that it is assumed that the user operates the input reception unit 12 to directly input an email address, or inputs an instruction to specify a facsimile, cloud storage, or the like as a send destination other than the email address, and the control unit 111 causes the frame to be sent as image data to the input email address, and the frame may be stored as image data in the storage destination indicated by the instruction.

[0035] This will be further described with reference to FIG. 8. When the user touches the save button 263, a save instruction is received by the control unit 111 and the display control unit 112 via the touch panel 121, and the display control unit 112 causes the display unit 122 to display a folder list of the save destination as shown in FIG. 10. The display control unit 112 causes the display unit 122 to display a list of folders (including document boxes and the like that can be shared by multiple users) registered in the storage unit 15.

[0036] When the user selects the check box 93 displayed corresponding to the part where the save destination is displayed and touches the save button 94, the control unit 111 receives a save destination selection instruction via the touch panel 121, and saves the frame as image data in the folder selected according to the instruction. The control unit 111 may receive an instruction to select an external storage device such as a memory card inserted into the card slot of the image forming apparatus 1 or a USB memory connected to the USB port as a save destination in addition to the folders in the storage unit 15, and save the frame as image data in the selected storage device according to the instruction.

[0037] Hitherto, when outputting (printing, transmitting, saving) the frames constituting a video, an external device other than the image forming apparatus 1 selected the frames to create a still image, and the still image was transmitted from the external device to the image forming apparatus 1 for printing. On the other hand, as described above, the image forming apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment enables the user to select the frames of the video with the image forming apparatus 1. Therefore, the user can issue an output instruction from the selection of the frames only with the image forming apparatus 1, easily select a desired frame from the frames constituting the video, and seamlessly output the frame as an image. Therefore, according to the present embodiment, it is possible to reduce the labor, time, cost, power, etc. required for the operation when printing a specific frame included in the video.

Explanation of Signs

[0038] 1 Image forming apparatus 11 Control unit 111 Control section 112 Display control section 113 Change point frame extraction section 12 Input reception section 121 Touch panel 122 Display section 13 Image reading section 14 Image forming section 15 Storage section 16 Communication section

Claims

1. A display unit for displaying an image, A display control unit for causing a plurality of frames constituting a video to be displayed on the display unit in time series, An input reception unit for receiving a selection input of the frame from a user, A control unit that sets the frame selected via the input reception unit to a selected state and controls to output the frame in the selected state to a specified output destination. An image forming apparatus comprising the same.

2. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein when the input reception unit receives a selection of two frames by a predetermined operation method, the control unit sets all frames between the two frames to a selected state.

3. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a change point frame extraction unit that extracts a frame corresponding to a predetermined video change point at which the visual content of the video changes significantly.

4. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein when the display control unit causes a part of the plurality of frames to be displayed on the display unit, the display control unit causes a mark image indicating that a part of the plurality of frames is being displayed to be displayed on the display unit.

5. An image forming unit for printing an image on paper, A storage unit for storing data, A communication unit for transmitting and receiving data to and from an external device, further comprising, The input reception unit receives a selection input of the output destination of the selected frame from a user. When the input reception unit receives a selection input of "print" as the output destination, the control unit causes the image forming unit to print the image indicated by the selected frame. When the input reception unit receives a selection input of "transmission" as the output destination, the control unit causes the communication unit to transmit the image indicated by the selected frame to an external device. When the input reception unit receives a selection input of "save" as the output destination, the control unit causes the image indicated by the selected frame to be stored in the storage unit. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1.

Images