Method for controlling image processing system, image processing apparatus, and storage medium

Abstract

To perform control so that image processing to an image to be an object is executed in a more suitable form according to a situation at each time.SOLUTION: The control unit 150 determines whether or not to set the image data as the execution target of the image processing according to the state of the imaging device 100, and controls the imaging device 100 to execute the image processing on the image indicated by the image data according to the result of the determination. An image processing situation information imparting part 119 imparts processing situation information showing an execution situation of image processing by the imaging apparatus 100 to the image data. At another timing after the image processing is executed, the control unit 150 determines whether or not to set the image data as the execution target of the image processing on the basis of the processing situation information, and performs control such that the image processing is executed on the image indicated by the image data according to the determination result.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a control method for an image processing system, an image processing device, and a program. [Background technology]

[0002] In an imaging device such as a digital camera, an output signal from an imaging element such as a CCD sensor or CMOS sensor is A / D converted to generate a RAW image, which is then recorded on a recording medium such as a memory card. The RAW image is then subjected to various image processing and reproduction image processing (hereinafter also referred to as development processing) based on the imaging conditions associated with the RAW image, and the developed image is displayed on a display area such as a monitor. Image processing includes adjustments such as white balance, sharpness, and contrast, as well as noise removal and aberration correction. Patent Document 1 discloses a technology related to the application of development processing to a RAW image. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Patent No. 4440120 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] On the other hand, the CPU provided in a device such as an imaging device may have limited computational processing capabilities, and the processing time may be long depending on the scale of the image processing. Also, while the CPU is operating, other processes may not be accepted, and if image processing with a large amount of computation is performed immediately after capturing an image, operations related to the next new image capture may be restricted. To address this issue, one method is to shorten the image processing time by having an external device or network service equipped with a GPU or other device with high computing power execute the image processing. However, in this case, the captured image is transferred from the imaging device to an external device, making it difficult to check the processed image immediately after capture, which is inconvenient.

[0005] In view of the above problems, an object of the present invention is to enable control so that image processing of a target image is executed in a more suitable manner depending on the situation at hand. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] The image processing system of the present invention is characterized by including a first image processing step of determining whether or not image data should be subjected to image processing depending on the state of a first device, and controlling the first device to perform image processing on the image represented by the image data depending on the result of the determination; an assigning step of assigning processing status information to the image data indicating the status of the image processing being performed by the first device; and a second image processing step of determining, at another timing after the first image processing step is performed, based on the processing status information, whether or not image data should be subjected to the image processing, and controlling the image processing to be performed on the image represented by the image data depending on the result of the determination. [Effects of the Invention]

[0007] According to the present invention, it is possible to control image processing on a target image so that it is executed in a more suitable manner depending on the situation at hand. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0008] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of an imaging device. [Figure 2] 10 is a flowchart illustrating an example of processing performed by the imaging device. [Figure 3]10 is a flowchart illustrating an example of processing performed by the imaging device. [Figure 4] 10 is a flowchart illustrating an example of processing performed by the imaging device. [Figure 5] FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a configuration of an information processing device. [Figure 6] 10 is a flowchart illustrating an example of processing by an information processing device. [Figure 7] 10 is a flowchart illustrating an example of processing performed by the imaging device. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0009] Preferred embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. In this specification and drawings, components having substantially the same functional configurations are designated by the same reference numerals, and redundant description will be omitted.

[0010] First Embodiment As a first embodiment of the present disclosure, an example of a technique for performing image processing such as high-quality image processing, such as noise removal, on an image captured by an imaging device will be described. First, with reference to FIG. 1, an example of the configuration of an image capturing device 100 according to this embodiment will be described, focusing in particular on the parts related to realizing the function of performing image processing on captured images.

[0011] The operation unit 101 corresponds to an input interface for receiving various instructions from a user, and can be realized by, for example, input devices such as buttons, dials, etc. The operation unit 101 may also receive, for example, designation of parameters such as mode names and numerical values ​​for various setting items from the user. The display unit 102 corresponds to an output interface for presenting various information to the user, and may be realized by, for example, a display device such as a liquid crystal display. The display unit 102 may present an image or a setting screen to the user, for example, by displaying the image or the setting screen in a predetermined display area. Furthermore, the operation unit 101 and the display unit 102 may cooperate to realize a so-called touch panel.

[0012] The power supply 103 switches the power supply of the imaging device 100 on and off. The power supply 103 may switch the power supply of the imaging device 100 on and off, for example, in response to an instruction from a user. The battery 104 corresponds to a power source that supplies power for operating the image capturing device 100. The battery 104 may be configured to be detachable, or may be built into the image capturing device 100. The power supply unit 105 corresponds to an interface for supplying power from an external power source to the imaging device 100, and may be realized by, for example, a USB port. The power supplied from the power supply unit 105 may be used to charge the battery 104. The communication unit 106 is a communication interface for transmitting and receiving data to and from an external device, and may, for example, transmit (transfer) data of still images or moving images (hereinafter collectively referred to as images) to a connected external device by communicating with the external device. The recording medium 107 corresponds to a storage area in which various data are recorded, and may record, for example, data of images captured by the imaging device 100. The recording medium 107 may be configured to be detachable, for example, like a memory card such as an SD card, or may be built-in, like a hard disk.

[0013] The imaging unit 160 represents a configuration related to capturing images such as moving images and still images, and includes an optical system 111, an imaging device 112, and an A / D converter 113. The optical system 111 is composed of optical members such as lenses, and forms an optical subject image (optical image) on the image sensor 112 from external light. The image sensor 112 converts an optical image (subject image) guided by the optical system 111 into an electrical signal (analog image signal). The image sensor 112 can be realized by, for example, a CCD (Charge Coupled Device) sensor or a CMOS (Complementary Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor) sensor. The A / D converter 113 converts the analog image signal output from the image sensor 112 into a digital image signal, and outputs the digital image signal as data (digital image data) in accordance with a predetermined format.

[0014] The control unit 150 is realized by an arithmetic device such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit) or a GPU (Graphics Processing Unit), and performs various controls related to the operation of the imaging device 110. The control unit 150 deploys and executes programs stored in a ROM (Read Only Memory), a recording medium 107, or the like, to realize various functions of the imaging device 100. Below, an example of components corresponding to the various functions realized by the operation control by the control unit 150 will be described.

[0015] The data acquisition unit 114 acquires digital image data generated by the imaging unit 160 based on the imaging results. The image analysis unit 115 reads the digital image data and calculates a quantitative index relating to the image quality of the image represented by the digital image data. The setting storage unit 116 is a schematic representation of a storage area that stores parameters designated by the user via the operation unit 101 or the like for various setting items related to the operation of the imaging device 100 . The image processing execution determination unit 117 compares the quantitative index of image quality calculated by the image analysis unit 115 for the captured image with an arbitrary threshold value set as an imaging condition, and determines whether or not to perform image processing on the captured image based on the result of the comparison. The image processing unit 118 performs image processing on the captured image, and outputs the processed captured image to a predetermined output destination. The image processing status information assignment unit 119 assigns information (hereinafter also referred to as processing status information) to the captured image and the output image obtained by applying image processing to the captured image to determine whether image processing has been performed.

[0016] The image information adding unit 120 adds information such as the conditions set at the time of image capture and calculated index values ​​to the captured image. The image processing target extraction unit 121 extracts captured images for which no image processing has been performed, based on information in the captured images. The extracted image sorting unit 122 determines the order in which one or more captured images are to be subjected to image processing based on the imaging conditions and index values.

[0017] The setting unit 130 includes a mode setting unit 131 , a threshold setting unit 132 , an acquired image setting unit 133 , a priority setting unit 134 , and an image processing target setting unit 135 . The mode setting unit 131 performs settings related to the execution of image processing on captured images. The threshold setting unit 132 sets thresholds to be used by the image processing execution determination unit 117 when making various determinations, and to be used as comparison targets for each imaging condition and each index. The acquired image setting unit 133 sets the target image to be acquired as an input to the image processing execution determination process flow when continuous imaging is performed. The priority setting unit 134 sets the priority and the range of priority to be applied when image processing is performed on a group of unprocessed images in a specific state of the imaging device 100 . The image processing target setting unit 135 sets one or more arbitrary captured images as targets for image processing.

[0018] The status check unit 140 includes a power supply status check unit 141 , a battery status check unit 142 , a communication status check unit 143 , and a recording medium status check unit 144 . The power supply state check unit 141 checks the power supply state of the imaging device 100 . The battery state check unit 142 checks the remaining battery level, heat generation state, and power supply state of the imaging device 100. The communication status check unit 143 checks the connection status of the imaging device 100 with an external device. The recording medium status check unit 144 checks the free space of the recording medium 107 .

[0019] An example of processing by the imaging device 100 according to this embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3. FIG. 2 illustrates an example of processing by the imaging device 100, focusing mainly on control related to application of image processing to captured images. FIG. 3 illustrates an example of processing executed when the processing load of the imaging device 100 is tolerable (for example, when a predetermined condition related to the processing load is met, such as when the load is below a threshold or when a specific process is not being executed). Note that a state in which the processing load of the imaging device 100 is tolerable corresponds to, for example, a timing when the user is unlikely to attempt new imaging. Even if image processing with a large amount of calculation is executed, the processing load is tolerable and the user is not adversely affected. Specific examples of such a state include a timing when the power supply 103 of the imaging device 100 is turned off, a timing when the battery 104 is being charged via the power supply unit 105, a timing when the imaging device 100 is connected to an external device via the communication unit 106, etc. For convenience, the image processing assumed in this embodiment is assumed to involve a relatively large amount of calculations and place a relatively high load on resources such as the CPU and battery, making it difficult to execute the processing in real time during image capture. Specific examples of such image processing include high-quality image processing that captures multiple images of the same scene instantaneously and then averages them to suppress noise, and high-quality image processing that uses a learning model based on deep learning.

[0020] First, the process shown in FIG. 2 will be described. In S201, the control unit 150 acquires a captured image generated based on the image capturing result by the image capturing unit 160 as an input image via the data acquisition unit 114. The acquired input image may be a RAW image that has not been subjected to development processing, or may be an image in a predetermined format such as JPEG that has been subjected to development processing. However, it is assumed that metadata indicating the image capturing conditions and various settings is recorded in a header, Exif, etc.

[0021] In S202, the control unit 150 reads out the mode related to image processing set by the mode setting unit 131 from the setting storage unit 116, and determines the flow of subsequent processing according to the mode. Specifically, if the control unit 150 determines in S202 that the imaging device 100 is set to a mode in which image processing is applied to all captured images immediately after capture, without regard to the load on the imaging device 100 (i.e., the load on the device itself) such as processing time or battery consumption, the control unit 150 proceeds to S208. Furthermore, if the control unit 150 determines in S202 that the mode is set to one in which no image processing is applied to any captured image immediately after capture, the control unit 150 advances the process to S212. Furthermore, if the control unit 150 determines in S202 that a mode has been set that efficiently applies image processing by suppressing the execution of image processing that places a greater processing load, such as a so-called power saving mode, the control unit 150 proceeds to S203.

[0022] In S203, the battery state confirmation unit 142 confirms the remaining charge and heat generation state of the battery 104. Based on the confirmation result by the battery state confirmation unit 142, the control unit 150 determines whether the battery is in an abnormal state, such as whether the remaining battery charge is low (for example, the remaining battery charge is below a threshold) or the battery temperature is high (for example, the battery temperature exceeds a threshold). If the control unit 150 determines in S203 that the battery is in an abnormal state, the process proceeds to S212. In this case, image processing (for example, processing described later as S208) is not performed on the target captured image. On the other hand, if the control unit 150 determines in S203 that the battery is not in an abnormal state, the process proceeds to S204.

[0023] In S204, the recording medium status checking unit 144 checks the free space of the recording medium 107. Based on the check result by the recording medium status checking unit 144, the control unit 150 determines whether the free space of the recording medium 107 has decreased (for example, whether the free space is equal to or less than a threshold). If the control unit 150 determines in S204 that the free space of the recording medium 107 is low (not enough space), the process proceeds to S212. In this case, image processing (for example, processing described later as S208) is not performed on the target captured image. On the other hand, if the control unit 150 determines in S204 that there is sufficient free space in the recording medium 107, the process proceeds to S205.

[0024] In S205, the control unit 150 acquires the imaging conditions of the input image acquired in S201. Examples of the imaging conditions that can be acquired include imaging parameters such as ISO sensitivity, shutter speed, and aperture value, and index values ​​such as focus level and brightness calculated within the imaging device 100 during imaging. In S206, the image analysis unit 115 analyzes image information such as the degree of out-of-focus, the degree of camera shake, and brightness of the input image acquired in S201, and calculates quantitative index values. In S207, the image processing execution determination unit 117 determines whether or not to perform image processing on the input image based on the imaging conditions acquired in S205, the index value calculated in S206, and the threshold value set by the threshold value setting unit 132. As a specific example, even if high-quality image processing that removes noise is applied to an input image with a low ISO sensitivity, the change in the image is minimal. Therefore, in such a case, the image processing execution determination unit 117 may determine that real-time high-quality image processing is unnecessary and may determine not to execute high-quality image processing on the input image. As another example, when an input image has a large degree of out-of-focus or camera shake, or when blackout or whiteout occurs, even if high-quality image processing that removes noise is applied, there is a high possibility that the image will not match the photographer's intention. Therefore, in such cases, the image processing execution determination unit 117 may determine not to execute high-quality image processing on the input image. The imaging conditions and threshold values ​​for the index values ​​related to the execution determination of image processing are set in advance before imaging. As described above, if the image processing execution determination unit 117 determines in S207 that image processing is to be executed on the input image, the process proceeds to S208. On the other hand, if the image processing execution determination unit 117 determines in S207 that image processing is not to be executed on the input image, the process proceeds to S211.

[0025] In S208, the image processing unit 118 performs image processing on the input image, and obtains an output image as a result. As a specific example, when high-quality image processing is performed on the input image, noise in the input image is suppressed, thereby obtaining an output image with improved image quality. The image processing performed in S208 corresponds to an example of first image processing. In S209, the image processing status information assigning unit 119 assigns processing status information to the image data of the input image that was the target of image processing in S208, so that it is possible to identify that image processing has been performed. Also, the image processing status information assigning unit 119 assigns processing status information to the image data of the output image that was subjected to image processing in S208, so that it is possible to identify that the image is an image after image processing. For example, if the target image data is an image before development processing such as a RAW image, the processing status information may be assigned to a header or the like, or if the target image data is an image after development processing such as a JPEG image, the processing status information may be assigned to Exif or the like. In S210, the control unit 150 records, onto the recording medium 107, the image data of the output image obtained by executing the image processing on the input image in S208. Thereafter, in S212, the control unit 150 records the input image to which the processing status information indicating the execution status of the image processing has been added onto the recording medium 107, and ends the processing for one input image.

[0026] In S211, the image information assigning unit 120 assigns the imaging conditions acquired in S205 and the index value calculated in S206 as image information to the input image. The image information may be assigned to a header or the like if the target image is an undeveloped image such as a RAW image, or may be assigned to Exif or the like if the target image is a developed image such as a JPEG image. The image information assigned to the input image in S211 is used, for example, to determine the priority of executing image processing during image processing operations when the load on the imaging device 100 is tolerable. Thereafter, the control unit 150 records the input image on the recording medium 107, and the processing for one input image is completed.

[0027] In this embodiment, for convenience, it is assumed that image information is assigned to the image data of a captured image when image processing has not been performed on the captured image, but image information may be assigned to the image data of the captured image regardless of whether image processing has been performed or not. In other words, as long as image information is assigned to image data of a captured image for which at least image processing has not been performed, the image data to which image information is assigned is not particularly limited, and image information may be assigned to image data of a captured image for which image processing has been performed.

[0028] Furthermore, when continuous imaging is performed in which multiple images are captured in a short period of time, the captured images generally tend to be similar to one another. Under such circumstances, if a determination is made individually on whether or not to perform image processing on each of the captured images, this may place a load on the CPU, resulting in a waste of processing time and power. Therefore, the control unit 150 may acquire a portion of the series of captured images obtained by continuous imaging as a target for determining whether or not to perform image processing in S201, in accordance with the conditions for the target images set in advance by the acquired image setting unit 133. As a specific example, assume that 15 consecutive images are captured with the target image condition set to "target: 1st image" by the captured image setting unit 133. In this case, the control unit 150 may acquire the first captured image in S201, and store the subsequent 14 captured images directly in the recording medium 107 without subjecting them to the series of processes shown in FIG. Furthermore, various conditions can be set for the above setting, such as "every three cards" or "the first card and the last card".

[0029] Furthermore, if the power supply 103 is switched off during the execution of the series of processes shown in Figure 2, the control unit 150 will not turn off the internal power supply until the series of processes for the input image is completed, and will turn off the power supply after the series of processes is completed. Note that a device that mainly executes the series of processes shown in FIG. 2 (particularly the processes related to adding processing status information), such as the imaging device 100 according to this embodiment, corresponds to an example of a first device.

[0030] Next, with reference to FIG. 3, an example of processing by the imaging device 100 when the imaging device 100 is in a state where the load is tolerable will be described. In S301, the control unit 150 reads out the mode set by the mode setting unit 131 from the setting storage unit 116, and determines the flow of subsequent processing according to the mode. In the imaging device 100 according to this embodiment, a mode can be set in which image processing is performed under an acceptable load for images for which no image processing has been performed during imaging (in other words, during execution of the series of processes shown in FIG. 2). In the example shown in FIG. 3, the control unit 150 determines whether this mode has been set, and switches subsequent processing depending on whether the mode has been set. Specifically, when the control unit 150 determines that a mode for executing image processing under an allowable load is set, the control unit 150 advances the process to S302. On the other hand, if the control unit 150 determines that a mode for executing image processing in a state where the load is tolerable is not set, the control unit 150 ends the series of processes shown in FIG.

[0031] In S302, the battery state confirmation unit 142 confirms the state of the battery 104, similar to the process of S203 shown in Fig. 2. Furthermore, based on the confirmation result by the battery state confirmation unit 142, the control unit 150 determines whether the battery is in an abnormal state (for example, the remaining battery charge is below a threshold, or the temperature exceeds a threshold due to heat generation, etc.). If the control unit 150 determines in S302 that the battery is in an abnormal state, the series of processes shown in FIG. 3 ends. On the other hand, if the control unit 150 determines in S302 that the battery is not in an abnormal state, the process proceeds to S303.

[0032] In S303, the recording medium status checking unit 144 checks the free space of the recording medium 107, similar to the process of S204 shown in Fig. 2. Based on the check result by the recording medium status checking unit 144, the control unit 150 determines whether the free space of the recording medium 107 has decreased (for example, whether the free space is equal to or less than a threshold). If the control unit 150 determines in S303 that the free space of the recording medium 107 is low (there is little room, the free space is equal to or less than the threshold), the series of processes shown in FIG. 3 ends. On the other hand, if the control unit 150 determines in S303 that the recording medium 107 has sufficient free space (the free space exceeds the threshold), the process proceeds to S304.

[0033] In S304, the image processing target extraction unit 121 extracts image data of captured images for which no image processing has been performed from the series of captured images recorded on the recording medium 107, based on the processing status information assigned to the captured images in the processing of S209 shown in Figure 2. 2, processing status information is added to the image data of the captured image on which image processing has been performed, so that it is possible to identify that image processing has been performed. Therefore, in this case, the image processing target extraction unit 121 only needs to extract, from the recording medium 107, the image data of the captured image to which processing status information indicating that image processing has been performed is not added, as a captured image on which image processing has not been performed.

[0034] In S305, the image processing target extraction unit 121 determines whether or not there is one or more captured images for which image processing has not been performed (whether or not a captured image for which image processing has not been performed has been extracted in S304). If the image processing target extraction unit 121 determines in S305 that there is one or more captured images for which image processing has not been performed, the process proceeds to S306. On the other hand, if the image processing target extraction unit 121 determines in S305 that there is no captured image for which image processing has not been performed, the series of processes shown in FIG. 3 ends.

[0035] In S306, the extracted image sorting unit 122 determines the processing order for each of the series of captured images that have not yet undergone image processing and that were extracted in S304, in accordance with the priority set in advance by the priority setting unit 134. For example, in a situation where high-quality image processing is to be applied, if the order is determined so that captured images with higher ISO sensitivity values ​​are given higher priority, high-quality image processing is performed preferentially on captured images with a higher amount of noise, making it possible to obtain output images with higher quality. In S307, the extracted image sorting unit 122 may determine the range of imaging conditions and calculated index values ​​to be subjected to image processing, and at this time, may use the priorities set by the priority setting unit 134. For example, by setting an acceptable focus level for the focus index value of the captured image, captured images that deviate from the acceptable focus level due to factors such as image blurring can be treated as failed images and excluded from the target of image processing, which can lead to savings in power and storage capacity.

[0036] In S308, the control unit 150 acquires a captured image with a higher priority from among the captured images for which image processing has not been performed, and sets it as the input image, in accordance with the order of the captured images determined in S306 and the range of captured images to be subject to image processing set in S307. In S309, the image processing unit 118 performs image processing on the input image, and obtains an output image as a result. Note that the image processing performed in S309, i.e., the image processing performed under conditions where the load is permissible, corresponds to an example of the second image processing. 2, the image processing status information assigning unit 119 assigns processing status information to the image data of the input image that was the target of image processing in S309 so that it is possible to identify that image processing has been performed. Also, the image processing status information assigning unit 119 assigns processing status information to the image data of the output image that was subjected to image processing in S309 so that it is possible to identify that the image data is the image data of the image after image processing has been performed. The processing status information may be assigned to a header or the like if the target image data is an image before development processing such as a RAW image, or may be assigned to Exif or the like if the target image data is an image after development processing such as a JPEG image. In S311, the control unit 150 records, onto the recording medium 107, the image data of the output image obtained by executing the image processing on the input image in S309.

[0037] In S312, the control unit 150 determines whether or not the processing has been completed for each of the series of captured images that were the subject of image processing in S307. If the control unit 150 determines in S312 that the processing has not been completed for each of the series of captured images, that is, if it determines that unprocessed captured images remain, the control unit 150 proceeds to S308. In this case, the control unit 150 controls so that the processing from S308 onwards is performed on the unprocessed captured images. Then, when the control unit 150 determines in S312 that the processing has been completed for each of the series of captured images, the control unit 150 ends the series of processes shown in Fig. 3. At this time, the control unit 150 may cause the display unit 102 or the like to display a message or the like indicating that the image processing has been executed.

[0038] As described above, the series of processes shown in Fig. 3 are executed when the state of the image capture device 100 is a state in which the load is tolerable. As a specific example, when the power supply 103 of the image capture device 100 is turned off, the series of processes shown in Fig. 3 may be executed, and the power may be turned off after the series of processes is completed. Furthermore, a device that performs image processing based on processing status information, such as the series of processes shown in FIG. 3, corresponds to an example of a second device.

[0039] As described above, when computationally intensive image processing is to be performed within the imaging device immediately after capture, the captured images to be subjected to image processing are limited by determining whether or not to perform image processing on the captured images based on the imaging conditions, index values, etc. Furthermore, when the state of a device such as the imaging device is in an acceptable state, image processing is performed on images for which no image processing has been performed. By applying such control, the imaging device can be used while reducing waste of CPU calculation time and battery consumption, etc. Furthermore, since the processing load during capture is reduced, the impact on imaging processing due to an increase in processing load is reduced, which is expected to have the effect of reducing the possibility of the imaging device overheating, thereby reducing the adverse effects on users when using the imaging device. In this embodiment, an example of a case where high-quality image processing that reduces noise in a captured image is applied as image processing has been described, but the type of high-quality image processing that is applied is not particularly limited. Furthermore, the technology described in this embodiment can be applied not only to image processing aimed at improving image quality, but also to situations where other image processing is applied to a captured image. Furthermore, in the present embodiment, an example of a case where, when image processing is performed on a captured image, processing status information is assigned to the image data of the image capturing device after the image processing so that it is possible to identify that image processing has been performed. On the other hand, it is also possible to determine whether image processing has been performed on the captured image by assigning processing status information explicitly indicating that image processing has not been performed to image data of a captured image on which image processing has not been performed. In this case, processing status information indicating that image processing has not been performed may be assigned by default when generating image data of the captured image. Furthermore, when image processing is performed on a captured image, the processing status information assigned to the image data of the captured image may be updated to processing status information indicating that image processing has been performed. By applying such control, it is possible to determine whether image processing has been performed on the captured image based on the processing status information assigned to the image data of the target captured image. Moreover, this embodiment corresponds to an example of a case where the image processing system according to the present disclosure is configured using the imaging device 100 alone (a so-called stand-alone device).

[0040] <Second embodiment> A second embodiment of the present disclosure will be described below. Note that this embodiment will be described mainly focusing on differences from the first embodiment described above, and detailed descriptions of parts that are substantially the same as those in the first embodiment will be omitted. Specifically, the configuration of the imaging device according to this embodiment is substantially the same as the configuration described in the first embodiment with reference to FIG. 1. In the first embodiment described above, the imaging device 100 determines whether or not to perform image processing on a captured image immediately after capturing the image, and controls are applied to exclude captured images that do not satisfy a condition from being subjected to real-time image processing. In contrast, in the present embodiment, an example will be described in which, when a series of captures are completed and the user checks the captured images, the user selects images to be subjected to image processing. Note that, in the present embodiment as well, various explanations will be given assuming that high-quality image processing that removes noise from the image is applied as image processing to the captured images, as in the first embodiment.

[0041] An example of processing performed by the imaging device 100 according to this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. In S401, the image processing target setting unit 135 presents a series of captured images to the user via the display unit 102, and accepts from the user a selection of one or more captured images to be subjected to image quality improvement processing. In S402, the image processing target extraction unit 121 extracts the captured image selected in S401 from the series of captured images recorded on the recording medium 107. At this time, the input image sorting unit 123 may rearrange the order of the extracted one or more captured images in accordance with the priority set by the priority setting unit 134.

[0042] In S403, the control unit 150 acquires a captured image with a higher priority that has not yet been selected as a processing target at that time from among the one or more captured images extracted in S402, and sets the acquired captured image as an input image. At this time, the control unit 150 may acquire the target captured images in the order sorted in S402. In S404, the control unit 150 determines whether or not image processing has already been performed on the input image. If the control unit 150 determines in S404 that image processing has already been performed on the input image, the process proceeds to S409. On the other hand, if the control unit 150 determines in S404 that image processing has not been performed on the input image, the process proceeds to S405.

[0043] In S405, the image processing unit 118 performs image processing on the input image in the same manner as in the processing of S208 shown in FIG. 2, and obtains an output image as a result. In S406, the image processing status information assigning unit 119 assigns processing status information to the image data of the input image so that it is possible to identify that image processing has been performed, similar to the processing of S209 shown in Fig. 2. Furthermore, the image processing status information assigning unit 119 assigns processing status information to the image data of the output image on which image processing has been performed in S405 so that it is possible to identify that the image is an image after image processing. For example, if the target image is an image before development processing such as a RAW image, the processing status information may be assigned to a header or the like, or if the target image is an image after development processing such as a JPEG image, the processing status information may be assigned to Exif or the like. In S407, the control unit 150 records, in the recording medium 107, the image data of the output image obtained by executing the image processing on the input image in S405.

[0044] In S408, the control unit 150 determines whether or not all of the captured images extracted in S402 have been acquired. If the control unit 150 determines in S408 that all of the extracted captured images have not been acquired, it proceeds to S403. In this case, captured images that have not yet been acquired among the series of captured images extracted in S402 are acquired, and the processes from S404 onwards are executed again using the captured images as input images. Then, if the control unit 150 determines in S408 that all of the extracted captured images have been acquired, it ends the series of processes shown in FIG.

[0045] In S409, the control unit 150 causes the display unit 102 to display a message indicating that image processing has already been performed on the input image. At this time, if the control unit 150 recognizes the file name or the like of the image data of the output image obtained by performing image processing on the input image, the control unit 150 may cause the display unit 102 to display the file name. In S410, the control unit 150 receives a selection from the user as to whether to continue or interrupt image processing on the input image. If the control unit 150 receives a selection from the user to continue image processing in S410, the process proceeds to S405. In this case, the process from S405 onwards is executed on the input image. On the other hand, if the control unit 150 receives a selection from the user to interrupt image processing in S410, the control unit 150 advances the process to S408. The determination process of S410 may be omitted. In this case, the control unit 150 may automatically complete the processing of all extracted images without receiving a selection from the user, assuming that a selection to interrupt image processing has been received.

[0046] By applying the above-described control, the user can select from among the captured images the image quality improvement effect of which has been confirmed and execute image processing. Furthermore, if the captured image has already undergone image quality improvement processing, the system is controlled so that the image quality improvement processing is not executed again, which is expected to have the effect of suppressing an increase in the processing load associated with the execution of image processing. It should be noted that, with regard to the processing when the load on the image capturing device 100 is tolerable, it is possible to apply processing that is substantially the same as the processing described in the first embodiment with reference to Fig. 3. By applying this processing, high-quality image processing is performed even on images that have not been selected by the user when the load on the image capturing device 100 is tolerable.

[0047] <Third embodiment> A third embodiment of the present disclosure will be described below. Note that the description of this embodiment will mainly focus on differences from the first and second embodiments, and detailed descriptions of parts that are substantially the same as those of the first and second embodiments will be omitted. Specifically, in the first and second embodiments, an example was described in which image processing is performed on an image, the image data of which has been recorded on the recording medium 107 and which has not previously been subjected to image processing, when the load on a device such as an imaging device is tolerable. In contrast, the present embodiment differs in that a selection of an image to be subjected to image processing is received in advance from the user when the imaging device 100 is in a state in which the load is tolerable. Note that, in this embodiment as well, similar to the first and second embodiments, various explanations will be given assuming that high-quality image processing that removes noise in the image is applied as image processing for the captured image.

[0048] In this embodiment, as in the second embodiment, the image processing target setting unit 135 of the imaging device 100 presents a series of captured images to the user via the display unit 102 and accepts from the user a selection of one or more captured images to be subjected to high-quality image processing. Thereafter, the imaging device 100 executes the series of processes described above with reference to FIG. 3 when the load is tolerable, but in this embodiment, the image to be extracted in the process of S304 differs from that in the first embodiment. In this embodiment, in S304, the image processing target extraction unit 121 limits the images to be extracted to images that the image processing target setting unit 135 has previously accepted as images selected by the user as targets for high quality image processing. By applying the above-described control, it becomes possible to perform high-quality image processing on the captured image selected by the user, rather than on all images recorded on the recording medium that have not undergone image processing, while still allowing for the load on the device, such as the imaging device.

[0049] <Fourth embodiment> A fourth embodiment of the present disclosure will be described below. This embodiment differs in that an external device such as an information processing device 500 or an image processing device 520 performs image processing on an image captured by the imaging device 100. Therefore, this embodiment will be described focusing mainly on the parts that are different from the first to third embodiments described above, and detailed description of parts that are substantially the same as the first to third embodiments will be omitted. Specifically, the configuration of the imaging device according to this embodiment is substantially the same as the configuration described in the first embodiment with reference to FIG. 1.

[0050] With reference to FIG. 5, an example of the functional configuration of an information processing device 500 and an image processing device 520 that cooperate with the imaging device 100 to perform image processing on an image captured by the imaging device will be described. The imaging device communication unit 501 is a communication interface for realizing transmission and reception of data with the imaging device 100, and may transmit and receive image data by communicating with the imaging device 100. Note that the type of network for establishing communication with the imaging device 100 is not particularly limited, and may be a wired network or a wireless network. The recording medium attachment unit 502 is a connection interface for attaching a detachable recording medium. In this embodiment, the recording medium 107 on which the captured image captured by the imaging device 100 is recorded is attached to the information processing device 500 via the recording medium attachment unit 502. The storage unit 503 corresponds to a storage device included in the information processing device 500, and is used as a storage area for recording various data. The storage unit 503 can be realized by, for example, a hard disk or the like.

[0051] The display unit 504 corresponds to an output interface for presenting various information to the user, and may be realized by, for example, a display device such as a liquid crystal display. The display unit 504 may present an image or an operation screen to the user, for example, by displaying the image or the operation screen in a predetermined display area. Furthermore, the display unit 504 may be provided with a touch panel, and may serve as an input interface for accepting input from the user, like the operation unit 505 described below. The operation unit 505 corresponds to an input interface for receiving various instructions from a user, and can be realized by, for example, an input device such as a mouse, a keyboard, etc. As mentioned above, the display unit 504 may be provided with a touch panel, in which case the display unit 504 also serves as the operation unit 505. The image processing device communication unit 506 is a communication interface for realizing transmission and reception of data with the image processing device 520 .

[0052] The control unit 550 is realized by an arithmetic unit such as a CPU or a GPU, and performs various controls related to the operation of the information processing device 500. The control unit 550 deploys and executes programs stored in the ROM, the storage unit 503, etc., to realize various functions of the information processing device 500. Below, an example of components corresponding to various functions realized by the operation control by the control unit 550 will be described. The image extraction unit 507 extracts the captured image from the recording medium on which the captured image is recorded. An image information reading unit 508 reads information attached to the captured image (for example, processing status information, image information, etc.). The image selection unit 509 receives a selection of an image to be subjected to image processing from the user. The image acquisition unit 510 acquires a captured image to be subjected to image processing. The image processing unit 511 performs image processing on the input captured image, and outputs the processed captured image as an output image. The image processing status information assignment unit 512 assigns processing status information to the image data of the captured image and the image data of the output image obtained by applying image processing to the captured image, in order to determine whether image processing has been performed.

[0053] The image processing device 520 performs image processing on a target image and outputs the processed image as an output image. The image processing device 520 schematically represents a device to which a request to execute image processing is made when, for example, an external device different from the information processing device 500 executes image processing on the target image instead of the image processing unit 511. The image processing device 520 may be realized as a so-called network service such as a cloud service that can be accessed via a network such as the Internet.

[0054] An example of processing by the information processing device 500 according to this embodiment will be described with reference to Fig. 6. Note that, in this embodiment, the images to be processed by the information processing device 500 are images captured by the imaging device 100 as shown in Fig. 1, and processing status information is assigned to the images so that it is possible to distinguish between images for which image processing has been performed by the imaging device 100 and images for which image processing has not been performed.

[0055] In S601, the image extraction unit 507 extracts captured images recorded in a predetermined storage area. For example, the image extraction unit 507 may extract captured images from the recording medium 107 of the imaging device 100 with which communication is established via the imaging device communication unit 501, a recording medium such as an SD card attached to the recording medium attachment unit 502, the storage unit 503, etc. In S602, the image information reading unit 508 reads information (e.g., processing status information, image information, etc.) assigned to the captured image extracted in S601. Based on the information (processing status information) read from the captured image by the image information reading unit 508, the control unit 550 distinguishes whether the captured image is an image for which image processing has been performed or an image for which image processing has not been performed. Then, the control unit 550 causes the display unit 504 to display information indicating the execution status of image processing for each captured image. In S603, the image selection unit 509 accepts selection of captured images to be subjected to image processing from the user via the operation unit 505. At this time, the user may select captured images to be subjected to image processing via the operation unit 505 while checking the series of captured images displayed on the display unit 504, for example. At this time, since images for which image processing has been performed and images for which image processing has not been performed are distinguished and displayed in S602, the user can easily recognize captured images for which image processing has not been performed and select captured images to be subjected to image processing.

[0056] In S604, the control unit 550 determines whether or not one or more captured images have been selected by the user in S603. If the control unit 550 determines in S604 that one or more captured images have been selected by the user, the control unit 550 advances the process to S605. On the other hand, if the control unit 550 determines in S604 that there is no captured image selected by the user, the control unit 550 ends the series of processes shown in FIG.

[0057] In S605, the image acquisition unit 510 acquires, from among the captured images selected in S603, a captured image on which no image processing has been performed, and sets the acquired image as an input image. In S606, the image processing unit 511 performs image processing on the input image acquired in S605 to obtain an output image after image processing. Note that the image processing on the input image may be performed by the image processing device 520 instead of the image processing unit 511. In this case, the control unit 550 may establish communication with the image processing device 520 via the image processing device communication unit 506 and request the image processing device 520 to perform image processing on the input image via the communication. In S607, the image processing status information assigning unit 512 assigns processing status information to the image data of the input image so that it is possible to identify that image processing has been performed. Furthermore, the image processing status information assigning unit 512 assigns processing status information to the image data of the output image on which image processing has been performed in S606 so that it is possible to identify that the image is an image after image processing has been performed. Note that, since the image data of the input image has been updated in conjunction with the assignment of the processing status information by the processing in S607, the control unit 550 overwrites and records the image data of the input image updated in S607 on the recording medium on which the image data of the input image was recorded in S608. Furthermore, in S608, the control unit 550 records the image data of the output image on which image processing has been performed on the recording medium on which the input image from which the output image was generated was recorded.

[0058] In S609, the control unit 550 determines whether or not the processing has been completed for all of the captured images selected by the user in S603. If the control unit 550 determines in S609 that the processing has not been completed for all of the captured images selected by the user, the control unit 550 advances the processing to S605. In this case, the processing from S605 onwards is executed again for the captured images that have not yet been processed. Then, when the control unit 550 determines in S609 that the processing has been completed for all of the captured images selected by the user, the control unit 550 ends the series of processing shown in FIG.

[0059] By applying the above-described control, it becomes possible to check the status of image processing being performed on captured images not only in the imaging device but also in an external information processing device, and it becomes possible to efficiently perform image processing on captured images on which image processing has not been performed. Moreover, this embodiment corresponds to an example in which a system including at least the imaging device 100 and the information processing device 500 constitutes an image processing system according to the present disclosure.

[0060] <Fifth embodiment> A fifth embodiment of the present disclosure will be described below. In this embodiment, an example of a case where image processing is performed on an image indicated by image data that has not yet been processed when the image data is transmitted from an image processing device to an external server or the like will be described. By applying such control, it is possible to perform image processing on the image indicated by the image data, focusing on the minimum amount of image data, when capturing an image, and to control image data to be transmitted externally so that image processing is reliably performed. Note that in this embodiment, the description will mainly focus on the parts that are different from the first to fourth embodiments described above, and detailed description of parts that are substantially the same as the first to fifth embodiments will be omitted. Specifically, the configuration of the imaging device according to this embodiment is substantially the same as the configuration described in the first embodiment with reference to Fig. 1. Furthermore, the configuration of the image processing device according to this embodiment is substantially the same as the configuration described in the fourth embodiment with reference to Fig. 5. In addition, in this embodiment, when an image is captured by the imaging device, a series of processes shown in FIG. 2 are executed, and processing status information is assigned to each image represented by a plurality of image data so that it is possible to identify whether image processing has been executed or not.

[0061] An example of processing performed by the imaging device 100 according to this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. In S701, the image processing target setting unit 135 presents a series of captured images to the user via the display unit 102, and accepts from the user a selection of one or more captured images to be uploaded to an external device. In S702, the control unit 150 receives an instruction to start uploading from the user via the operation unit 101 etc. At this time, the communication status confirmation unit 143 determines that the status of the image processing device is related to uploading captured images.

[0062] In S703, the control unit 150 determines whether or not one or more captured images have been selected by the user in S701. If the control unit 150 determines in S703 that one or more captured images have been selected by the user, the control unit 150 advances the process to S704. On the other hand, if the control unit 150 determines in S703 that there is no captured image selected by the user, the control unit 150 ends the series of processes shown in FIG.

[0063] In S704, the control unit 150 acquires the captured image selected by the user in S703 as an input image. In S705, the control unit 150 checks the execution status of image processing for the input image by referring to the processing status information assigned to the input image acquired in S704. If the control unit 150 checks that image processing for the input image has not been executed, the image processing unit 118 executes image processing for the input image. In S706, when image processing has been performed on the input image in S705, the image processing status information assigning unit 119 assigns processing status information so as to make it possible to identify that image processing has been performed on the image data of the input image. Also, the image processing status information assigning unit 119 assigns processing status information to the image data of the output image on which image processing has been performed in S705 so as to make it possible to identify that the image is an image after image processing. For example, if the target image data is an image before development processing such as a RAW image, the processing status information may be assigned to a header or the like, or if the target image data is an image after development processing such as a JPEG image, the processing status information may be assigned to Exif or the like. In S707, the control unit 150 controls so that the image data of the output image output by executing image processing on the input image in S705 is uploaded to the external device. At this time, the control unit 150 may also control so that in addition to the image data of the output image, the image data of the input image from which the output image is generated is also uploaded to the external device.

[0064] In S708, the control unit 150 determines whether or not the processing has been completed for all of the captured images selected by the user in S701. If the control unit 150 determines in S708 that the processing has not been completed for all of the captured images selected by the user, the control unit 150 proceeds to S704. In this case, the processing from S704 onwards is executed again for the captured images that have not yet been processed. Then, if the control unit 150 determines in S708 that the processing has been completed for all of the captured images selected by the user, the control unit 150 ends the series of processing shown in FIG.

[0065] 7, the process of uploading a selected captured image to an external device has been described, but the image data of the uploaded captured image may be stored in a predetermined storage area in the external device as the upload destination. Also, the image data of the captured image to be uploaded may be stored in the recording medium 107 in the imaging device 100.

[0066] Note that the execution unit of image processing on captured images and uploading of the captured images after image processing is not particularly limited. As a specific example, image processing may be performed individually on each selected captured image before uploading. As another example, image processing may be performed on a selected series of captured images, and then image data of the series of captured images after image processing may be uploaded. Furthermore, in the present embodiment, an example of a case where image processing is performed on a captured image selected by the imaging device 100 has been described, but the image processing on the captured image may be performed by the information processing device 500 shown in Fig. 5. In that case, after image data of the selected captured image is uploaded to the information processing device 500, the image processing on the captured image may be performed by the image processing unit 511 of the information processing device 500.

[0067] By applying the above-described control, it becomes possible to efficiently perform image processing on the captured images selected by the user at the time of uploading to an external device, i.e., at a time when no image capture is being performed.

[0068] <Other embodiments> The present invention can also be realized by supplying a program that realizes one or more functions of the above-described embodiments to a system or device via a network or a storage medium, and having one or more processors in the computer of the system or device read and execute the program. It can also be realized by a circuit (e.g., ASIC) that realizes one or more functions.

[0069] The disclosure of the present embodiment also includes the following methods, configurations, and programs. (Method 1) A control method for an image processing system, comprising: a first image processing step of determining whether or not image data should be subjected to image processing depending on the state of a first device, and controlling the first device to perform image processing on the image represented by the image data depending on the result of the determination; an assigning step of assigning processing status information to the image data, which indicates the execution status of the image processing by the first device; and a second image processing step of determining, at another timing after the first image processing step is executed, based on the processing status information, whether or not image data should be subjected to the image processing, and controlling the image processing to be performed on the image represented by the image data depending on the result of the determination. (Method 2) A control method for an image processing system described in Method 1, characterized in that the processing status information is information for identifying whether image processing has been performed or not, depending on the execution status of the image processing for the image represented by the image data in the first image processing step. (Method 3) A control method for an image processing system described in Method 1 or 2, characterized in that the second image processing step determines whether or not to perform the image processing on the image represented by the target image data based on the processing status information and image information assigned to the target image data. (Method 4) A control method for an image processing system described in Method 3, characterized in that the image data is image data corresponding to the imaging results obtained by an imaging unit, and the image information includes imaging parameters of the imaging unit at the time of capturing the image represented by the image data. (Method 5) The method for controlling an image processing system according to Method 3 or 4, wherein the image information includes information indicating a quantitative index relating to the image quality of the image represented by the image data. (Method 6) A control method for an image processing system described in any one of Methods 3 to 5, characterized in that the second image processing step determines the order of the image data to be subjected to the image processing based on the image information assigned to the image data. (Method 7) A control method for an image processing system described in any one of Methods 1 to 6, characterized in that the first image processing step determines whether the processing load of the first device is acceptable based on at least one of the power state, battery state, and communication state with an external device of the first device, and if it is determined to be acceptable, controls the first device to perform the image processing on the image represented by the image data. (Method 8) A control method for an image processing system described in any one of Methods 1 to 7, characterized in that the second image processing step determines whether the processing load of the first device is acceptable based on the state of the first device, and if it is determined to be acceptable, controls the first device to perform the image processing on the image represented by the target image data. (Method 9) A control method for an image processing system described in any one of Methods 1 to 7, characterized in that the second image processing step controls a second device different from the first device to perform the image processing on an image represented by the target image data. (Configuration 1) An image processing device comprising: a first image processing means that determines whether or not image data should be subject to image processing depending on the state of the device itself, and performs image processing on the image indicated by the image data depending on the result of the determination; and an assigning means that assigns processing status information to the image data that indicates the execution status of the image processing by the first image processing means, wherein at another timing after the first image processing means has performed processing, a determination is made based on the processing status information as to whether or not the image processing should be performed on the image data, and depending on the result of the determination, the image processing is performed on the image indicated by the image data. (Configuration 2) An image processing device characterized in that, depending on the execution status of image processing on an image represented by image data by a first device that previously corresponded to the state of the first device, processing status information indicating the execution status of the execution information is assigned to the image data, and at another timing after the image processing is executed by the first device, based on the processing status information, it is determined whether the image data is to be subjected to the image processing, and depending on the result of the determination, it has a second image processing means. (Program 1) A program for causing a computer to function as an image processing device, comprising: a first image processing means that determines whether or not image data should be subject to image processing depending on the state of the device, and performs image processing on the image represented by the image data depending on the result of the determination; and an assigning means that assigns processing status information to the image data indicating the status of the image processing by the first image processing means, wherein at another timing after the first image processing means has performed processing, a determination is made based on the processing status information as to whether or not the image processing should be performed on the image data, and the image processing is performed on the image represented by the image data depending on the result of the determination. (Program 2) A program for causing a computer to function as an image processing device, characterized in that processing status information indicating the execution status of image processing by a first device on an image represented by image data, which information is assigned to the image data in accordance with the execution status of the image processing by the first device previously in accordance with the state of the first device, and at another timing after the image processing is executed by the first device, determines whether or not the image data is to be subjected to the image processing based on the processing status information, and executes the image processing on the image represented by the image data in accordance with the result of the determination. [Explanation of symbols]

[0070] 100 Imaging device 117 Image processing execution determination unit 118 Image Processing Unit 119 Image processing status information assignment unit 150 control section

Claims

1. A method for controlling an image processing system, comprising: a first image processing step of determining whether or not image data is to be subjected to image processing according to a state of the first device, and controlling the first device to perform image processing on an image represented by the image data according to the result of the determination; an assigning step of assigning processing status information indicating an execution status of the image processing by the first device to the image data; a second image processing step of determining, at another timing after the first image processing step has been executed, whether or not image data is to be subjected to the image processing based on the processing status information, and controlling the image processing to be executed on an image represented by the image data according to the result of the determination; 1. A method for controlling an image processing system, comprising:

2. 2. The control method for an image processing system according to claim 1, wherein the processing status information is information for identifying whether image processing has been performed or not, depending on the execution status of the image processing for the image represented by the image data in the first image processing step.

3. 2. The control method for an image processing system according to claim 1, wherein the second image processing step determines whether or not to perform the image processing on the image represented by the image data based on the processing status information and image information assigned to the target image data.

4. the image data is data of an image corresponding to an imaging result by an imaging unit, The image information includes imaging parameters of the imaging unit at the time of capturing the image represented by the image data. The method for controlling the image processing system according to claim 3.

5. 4. The method for controlling an image processing system according to claim 3, wherein the image information includes information indicating a quantitative index relating to the image quality of the image indicated by the image data.

6. 4. The control method for an image processing system according to claim 3, wherein the second image processing step determines an order of the image data to be subjected to the image processing based on the image information assigned to the image data.

7. 2. The control method for an image processing system according to claim 1, wherein the first image processing step determines whether the processing load of the first device is acceptable based on at least one of the power state, battery state, and communication state with an external device of the first device, and if it is determined to be acceptable, controls the first device to perform the image processing on the image represented by the image data.

8. 2. The control method for an image processing system according to claim 1, wherein the second image processing step determines whether the processing load of the first device is acceptable based on the state of the first device, and if it is determined to be acceptable, controls the first device to perform the image processing on the image represented by the target image data.

9. 2. The control method for an image processing system according to claim 1, wherein the second image processing step controls a second device different from the first device to perform the image processing on an image represented by the target image data.

10. a first image processing means for determining whether or not image data should be subjected to image processing in accordance with the state of the device itself, and for performing image processing on an image represented by the image data in accordance with the result of the determination; an assigning means for assigning processing status information indicating an execution status of the image processing by the first image processing means to the image data; and At another timing after the first image processing means has executed the processing, a determination is made based on the processing status information as to whether or not to execute the image processing on the image data, and the image processing is executed on the image indicated by the image data according to the result of the determination. An image processing device comprising:

11. According to a status of image processing performed by the first device on an image represented by the image data in accordance with a state of the first device, processing status information indicating the status of the processing is added to the image data; and a second image processing means for determining, at another timing after the image processing is performed by the first device, whether or not image data is to be subjected to the image processing based on the processing status information, and performing the image processing on an image represented by the image data in accordance with the result of the determination. An image processing device comprising:

12. Computer, a first image processing means for determining whether or not image data should be subjected to image processing in accordance with the state of the device itself, and for performing image processing on an image represented by the image data in accordance with the result of the determination; an assigning means for assigning processing status information indicating an execution status of the image processing by the first image processing means to the image data; and At another timing after the first image processing means has executed the processing, a determination is made based on the processing status information as to whether or not to execute the image processing on the image data, and the image processing is executed on the image indicated by the image data according to the result of the determination.

2. A program for causing an image processing device to function as an image processing device.

13. Computer, According to a status of image processing performed by the first device on an image represented by the image data in accordance with a state of the first device, processing status information indicating the status of the processing is added to the image data; and a second image processing means for determining, at another timing after the image processing is performed by the first device, whether or not image data is to be subjected to the image processing based on the processing status information, and performing the image processing on an image represented by the image data in accordance with the result of the determination.

2. A program for causing an image processing device to function as an image processing device.

Images