Imaging equipment

Abstract

To provide an imaging apparatus capable of obtaining a satisfactory captured image in a case of imaging under stationary light.SOLUTION: An imaging apparatus 100 comprises: a plurality of illuminating parts 103; an imaging part 110 for imaging; illumination state detection means 101a which detects an illumination state by analyzing the captured image obtained by the imaging part 110; light volume adjustment means 101b which adjusts the light volumes of the illuminating parts 103 based on the illumination state; and an image output part 112 which outputs the captured image obtained by the imaging part 110 after the adjustment by the light volume adjustment means 101b.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 4

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present disclosure relates to an imaging device. [Background technology]

[0002] Conventionally, in stores, public facilities, etc., photography booths that take photos of users inside a photography enclosure have been installed, and are used for purposes such as taking ID photos. Also, in order to irradiate the subject with light suitable for chromakey processing, a device that takes photos using fixed light has been developed (see Patent Document 1). [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Patent No. 6801246 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] When taking ID photos, etc., flashing light is used to capture the subject clearly. On the other hand, it is known that in order to capture a natural expression, it is preferable to take the photo under constant light such as indoor light rather than using a flash. However, when taking a photo under constant light, it is easily affected by external light, and the exposure and color balance may not be stable. It is also affected by the way the light hits the subject and the way the shadow is formed.

[0005] Therefore, an object of the present disclosure is to provide an imaging device capable of obtaining a good captured image when capturing an image under fixed light. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] In order to solve the above problems, the present disclosure provides: A plurality of lighting units; A photography department that takes pictures; an illumination condition detection means for detecting an illumination condition by analyzing the captured image obtained by the image capturing unit; a light amount adjusting means for adjusting the light amount of the illumination unit based on the illumination state; an image output unit that outputs the captured image obtained by the image capture unit after adjustment by the light amount adjustment means; The present invention provides an imaging device having the following features.

[0007] In addition, in the imaging device of the present disclosure, The illumination condition detection means includes: The lighting conditions may be estimated using a learning model based on machine learning using training data.

[0008] In addition, the imaging device of the present disclosure is The optical sensor further includes a plurality of light amount sensors, The illumination condition detection means includes: The illumination state determined by analyzing the captured image may be corrected based on an output from the light quantity sensor.

[0009] In addition, the imaging device of the present disclosure is The electronic device further includes a strobe light emitting unit, When the illumination state satisfies a predetermined condition, the strobe light emitter emits light; The image output section may output a captured image after the strobe light emission section emits light.

[0010] In addition, the imaging device of the present disclosure is storing the reference value of the illumination state for each of a plurality of service modes; The light amount adjusting means may adjust the light amount of the illumination unit so as to approach the reference value corresponding to the selected service mode. Effect of the Invention

[0011] According to the present disclosure, it is possible to obtain a good captured image when capturing images under fixed light. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0012] [Figure 1] 1 is a schematic side view of an imaging device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a hardware configuration of the imaging device 100. [Diagram 3] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the location where a light quantity sensor 108 is installed. [Figure 4] FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram of the photographing device 100. [Diagram 5] 5 is a flowchart showing a processing operation of the photographing apparatus. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0013] Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. <1.Device configuration> FIG. 1 is a schematic side view of an image capturing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The overall structure of the image capturing apparatus 100 according to this embodiment is the same as that of a conventional image capturing box, with a space SP inside the body, and components such as an image capturing unit 110 inside a housing 10 provided on the body. A chair CH is installed in the space SP, and a person can enter the space SP and be photographed by the image capturing unit 110 while sitting on the chair CH. The image capturing apparatus 100 according to this embodiment has an illumination unit 103 that irradiates fixed light as room light in the space SP. In the example of FIG. 1, five illumination units 103a to 103e are included.

[0014] Illumination unit 103a is installed at a position to illuminate the upper front of the user, illumination unit 103b is installed at a position to illuminate the lower front of the user, illumination unit 103c is installed at a position to illuminate the front of the user's upper surface, illumination unit 103d is installed at a position to illuminate the rear of the user's upper surface, and illumination unit 103e is installed at a position to illuminate the back of the user. Although not shown in the figure, curtains are installed to separate space SP from the outside. When the curtains are closed after entering the room, the five illumination units 103 maintain the space SP at a constant brightness. By closing the curtains, space SP is illuminated with constant light. Constant light is light that changes little over time and has little unevenness. Therefore, external light influenced by sunlight and flashes from strobes are excluded.

[0015] The photographing device 100 is a photographing device installed in a store, a public facility, etc. Fig. 2 is a hardware configuration diagram of the photographing device 100. As shown in the schematic side view of Fig. 1, the photographing device 100 has a body in which a housing 10 is provided, and a space SP in which a person can enter is provided, and a display unit 105 such as a liquid crystal display and a photographing unit 110 such as a camera are installed in the housing 10 in a state where they can be recognized by a user.

[0016] As shown in FIG. 2, the photographing device 100 includes a control unit 101 that controls the entire device and performs various calculations, a non-volatile memory device 102 (e.g., a hard disk, flash memory, etc.) for storing programs and data executed by the control unit 101, an illumination unit 103 that illuminates the space SP, an instruction input unit 104 such as a keyboard or touch panel, a display unit 105 such as an LCD display or an organic EL display, a printer 106 for outputting data such as photographed images to a printer, a communication unit 107 that communicates with other terminals and server computers via a network, a light quantity sensor 108 that measures the amount of light, a human presence sensor 109 that detects people, a photographing unit 110 (e.g., a CCD camera) that photographs the subject, the user, and a strobe light emission unit 111 that emits flashes of light, all of which are electrically connected to each other via a bus.

[0017] The control unit 101 can be realized by a computer. For example, the control unit 101 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) and a RAM (Random Access Memory) that is a main memory, and realizes various calculations and controls by reading out a program stored in a non-volatile storage device 102 into the RAM and executing the program.

[0018] The illumination unit 103 is realized by a lighting device. As the lighting device, various devices such as LED, fluorescent lamp, and light bulb can be used as long as the light amount can be adjusted. As the lighting device for realizing the illumination unit 103, it is preferable to use an LED from the viewpoint of handling, cost, and the like. The illumination unit 103 has a dimming function that can change the illuminance and color temperature. The illumination unit 103 can be realized, for example, by combining individual R, G, and B LEDs into a unit. In addition, a unit in which individual R, G, and B LEDs or color-variable LED lights are added to a main white LED for increasing the light amount and adjusting the color tone may be used.

[0019] The instruction input unit 104 and the display unit 105 can be realized in various ways, but in this embodiment, the instruction input unit 104 and the display unit 105 are realized as a touch panel display. Therefore, the touch panel display serves as both the instruction input unit 104 and the display unit 105. The communication unit 107 communicates via a computer network such as the Internet. The communication unit 107 can transmit data such as a captured image to a smartphone or the like held by a user via the Internet. Furthermore, the printer 100 may be provided with a short-distance wireless communication unit that directly communicates wirelessly with another terminal without going through a network. The communication method used by the short-distance wireless communication unit is not particularly limited as long as it is a form of wireless communication at a relatively short distance, and various known methods such as Bluetooth and wireless LAN can be used. The printer 106 functions as an image output unit 112 that prints out a captured image, and the communication unit 107 and the short-distance wireless communication unit function as the image output unit 112 that outputs the captured image as data. Each component shown in FIG. 2 is housed in a housing having an external appearance as shown in FIG. 1.

[0020] The light quantity sensor 108 is a sensor that measures the amount of light, and is realized by a known illuminometer using a photodiode, a phototransistor, or the like. The light quantity sensor 108 detects the amount of light such as illuminance, but may also detect color. The light quantity sensor 108 is installed at a position suitable for measuring the amount of light in the range captured in the captured image. The number and installation positions of the light quantity sensors 108 can be determined appropriately. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the installation positions of the light quantity sensors 108. FIG. 3 is a diagram seen from the side of line AA in FIG. 1. In this embodiment, five light quantity sensors, light quantity sensors 108a to 108e, are provided. As shown in FIG. 3, the five light quantity sensors are installed on the wall surface of the body on the back side of the user. Light intensity sensor 108a is installed above the user, light intensity sensor 108b is installed at the upper right side of the user (left side in FIG. 3), light intensity sensor 108c is installed at the lower right side of the user (left side in FIG. 3), light intensity sensor 108d is installed at the upper left side of the user (right side in FIG. 3), and light intensity sensor 108e is installed at the lower left side of the user (right side in FIG. 3).

[0021] Fig. 4 is a functional block diagram of the photographing device 100. In the hardware configuration shown in Fig. 2, the CPU loads a program stored in the storage device 102 into the RAM and executes it, whereby the control unit 101 realizes illumination condition detection means 101a and light amount adjustment means 101b.

[0022] The illumination condition detection means 101a analyzes the captured image obtained by the image capture unit 110 to obtain the illumination condition including the influence of external light. detection The light amount of the illumination unit 103 is adjusted based on the determined illumination state. The image output unit 112 outputs the captured image obtained after adjusting the light amount. The image output unit 112 is realized by a printer 106 that prints out the captured image, and a communication unit 107 that outputs the captured image as data. A short-range wireless communication unit may be used as the image output unit 112.

[0023] The storage device 102 stores programs for implementing the illumination condition detection means 101a and the light amount adjustment means 101b, as well as programs for executing various functions implemented by the control unit 101. The storage device 102 also stores various data necessary for processing of the photographing device 100. The storage device 102 also functions as a reference value storage means that stores reference values ​​of illumination conditions.

[0024] The reference value storage means stores a reference value of the lighting state in association with each service mode. The reference value of the lighting state is a value indicating the lighting state of only the light (fixed light) from the lighting unit 103, without including the influence of external light. The service mode is a mode that determines the state of the captured image. Examples of the service modes include ID photo mode and fun photo mode. The ID photo mode is a mode for various ID photos, and the fun photo mode is a mode for photos to be enjoyed. In each of these modes, the lighting state when the captured image is captured is different. Therefore, the reference value of the lighting state also differs depending on the service mode.

[0025] <2. Processing Operation> Next, the processing operation of the imaging device according to this embodiment shown in FIG. 1 will be described. FIG. 5 is a flow chart showing the processing operation by the imaging device. In the imaging device 100, the motion sensor 109 is activated. Then, when a person enters the room, the motion sensor 109 detects the person (step S1). When the motion sensor 109 detects the person, it transmits a signal indicating that the person has been detected to the control unit 101. When the control unit 101 receives the signal indicating that the person has been detected from the motion sensor 109, in the imaging device 100, it turns on the illumination unit 103 (step S2). Specifically, the control unit 101 controls the illumination units 103a to 103e so that they are illuminated with a predetermined illuminance and color determined in advance.

[0026] Next, the control unit 101 displays a screen on the display unit 105 for selecting a service mode. Specifically, the display unit 105 displays a plurality of selectable service modes on the screen (step S3). In this embodiment, the display unit 105 and the instruction input unit 104 are realized by a touch panel. Therefore, the name of a service is displayed in a predetermined area of ​​the display screen, and when the area is touched, it is possible to determine that the service mode is selected.

[0027] More specifically, when the service mode is displayed, the amount of the service corresponding to the service is also displayed. Then, when the service mode is selected by the user, a billing processing unit (not shown) performs billing processing corresponding to the selected service mode.

[0028] When a service mode is selected, the control unit 101 refers to the storage device 102 and acquires a reference value of the illumination state corresponding to the selected service mode (step S4). Furthermore, in parallel with the processing of step S4, shooting and light amount measurement are started (step S5). In step S5, the photographing unit 110 starts shooting. Specifically, the photographing unit 110 shoots and acquires a shot image which is image data. The photographing unit 110 shoots at a predetermined shooting rate and sends the acquired shot image to the control unit 101. The control unit 101 then sequentially sends the acquired shot images to the display unit 105. The display unit 105 sequentially displays the shot images acquired from the control unit 101. That is, the photographing unit 110 shoots continuously, and the shot images acquired by shooting are successively shot to shoot a video.

[0029] The shooting rate (fps: frames per second) can be set appropriately. For example, when the shooting rate is set to 30 fps, 30 shot images are acquired per second, and the 30 shot images are sequentially displayed per second on the display unit 105. Therefore, the user can recognize the shot images displayed on the display unit 105 as a moving image. Therefore, the display unit 105 performs a so-called live view display.

[0030] On the other hand, in step S5, measurement of the amount of light is started. Specifically, the control unit 101 transmits a signal to the light amount sensor 108 to measure the amount of light. The light amount sensor 108 acquires the amount of light by measurement. The amount of light can be acquired, for example, in terms of brightness (illuminance: unit of lux). Each of the light amount sensors 108a to 108e transmits the acquired amount of light to the control unit 101.

[0031] Moreover, the control unit 101 extracts one captured image at an arbitrary timing from the captured images acquired sequentially. Then, the illumination state detection means 101a analyzes the extracted captured image to detect the illumination state including the influence of external light (step S6). In this embodiment, in step S6, the illumination state is specified not only by analyzing the captured image but also by using the light quantity value acquired from the light quantity sensors 108a to 108e. Any index may be used as the illumination state as long as it reflects the illumination state. In this embodiment, illuminance (unit: lux) corresponding to the light quantity is used. The illumination state detected in step S6 includes the influence of external light. Details of the detection of the illumination state in step S6 will be described later.

[0032] When the illumination state is detected, it is determined whether or not the detected illumination state is within a range in which it can be corrected (step S7). Whether or not the illumination state is within a range in which it can be corrected can be determined based on whether or not the illumination state satisfies a predetermined condition. The predetermined condition can be appropriately set according to the target illumination state. For example, when the detected illumination state is standard The predetermined condition can be that the illumination state is less than a predetermined ratio to the value. Specifically, the control unit 101 refers to the storage device 102, which is a reference value storage means, in the selected service mode and obtains the reference value of the illumination state corresponding to the service mode. Then, the control unit 101 compares the illumination state detected in step S6 with the obtained reference value, and determines whether the detected illumination state is standard If the difference is less than a predetermined ratio, it is determined that the difference is within a range that can be corrected. detection If the detected illumination state is equal to or greater than a predetermined ratio, it is determined that the correction is not possible. Here, the predetermined ratio can be set appropriately. detection If the detected illumination state is equal to or greater than a predetermined ratio to the reference value, it means that the influence of external light is too large. In this case, it is difficult to properly illuminate the user with the fixed light from the illumination unit 103, so it is determined that correction by the illumination unit 103 is not possible.

[0033] If it is determined that the illumination is within the range that can be corrected (step S7: YES), the illuminance of the illumination unit is adjusted based on the detected illumination state (step S8). Specifically, the light amount adjustment means 101b adjusts the light amount of the illumination unit 103 so as to approach a reference value corresponding to the selected service mode. The relationship between the illumination state and the light amount of the illumination unit 103 can be set in various ways. For example, in the captured image, an area (pixel block, a group of pixels) that is affected by each illumination unit may be set as an affected area, and the light amount of the corresponding illumination unit 103 may be adjusted according to the illumination state of each affected area obtained by analyzing the captured image. Furthermore, the exposure in the imaging unit 110 may be adjusted. In this case, the control unit 101 performs aperture control of a diaphragm that is installed parallel to the lens surface of the imaging unit 110 to adjust the exposure.

[0034] On the other hand, if it is determined in step S7 that the correction is not possible (step S7: NO), the mode is changed to flash photography (step S9). Specifically, the flash light emission unit 111 is controlled to prepare for flash emission.

[0035] After completing the process of step S8 or step S9, the captured image is output (step S10). Specifically, the control unit 101 acquires the captured image captured after the light amount of the illumination unit 103 is adjusted by the light amount adjustment means 101b or after the strobe is emitted, and passes it to the image output unit 112. Then, the image output unit 112 outputs the captured image acquired from the control unit 101. At this time, the control unit 101 captures a still image used for outputting the captured image. At this time, the control unit 101 may switch to a high image quality mode or a still image shooting mode to make the captured image high resolution. When the captured image is to be printed out, it is printed out from the printer 106, which is the image output unit 112, and when the captured image is to be output as data, it is transmitted and output from the communication unit 107, which is the image output unit 112, to a smartphone or the like of the user via the Internet. That is, when the lighting state satisfies a predetermined condition, the strobe emission unit 111 emits light, and the image output unit 112 outputs the captured image after the light emission by the strobe emission unit 111.

[0036] <Lighting condition detection> The detection of the illumination state in step S6 will be described. The illumination state is detected by the illumination state detection means 101a performing image analysis of the captured image extracted by the control unit 101. The image analysis by the illumination state detection means 101a may use a learning model that has been trained by machine learning, or may use an image analysis algorithm.

[0037] When a learning model is used, a learning model by deep learning using AI (artificial intelligence) represented by a neural network is used. In this case, the illumination state detection means 101a estimates the illumination state using a learning model by machine learning using teacher data. The learning model provided in the illumination state detection means 101a has an input layer G1A, multiple intermediate layers G1B, and an output layer G1C. The input layer G1A has the same number of nodes as the number of pixels of the input captured image. For example, when the number of pixels of the input captured image is X horizontal x Y vertical, the input layer has X x Y input nodes. The intermediate layer G1B is a layer located between the input layer G1A and the output layer G1C, and has multiple layers. Between each layer, parameters such as weights and biases between nodes are set, and by updating these parameters, the values ​​of the nodes on the output side are made different. The pixel values ​​of each captured pixel are input to the input layer G1A, and the illumination state corresponding to a predetermined area is output to each output node of the output layer G1C.

[0038] A specified area is an area consisting of one or more pixels in a captured image. If one pixel is considered as one area, the same number of output nodes as the number of pixels are required. The smaller the unit of each area is set, the more precisely the position can be specified under the lighting conditions. detection As the illumination state, any index may be used as long as it reflects the illumination state. In this embodiment, illuminance (unit: lux) corresponding to the amount of light is used.

[0039] In the learning stage of the learning model, training data is first prepared. The training data is a set of a captured image and the illumination state actually measured for each region when the image was captured. The illumination state at this time is the difference between the theoretical value of the amount of light in a state where external light is completely blocked and the actual value of the amount of light measured by a light amount sensor in the same environment as in actual operation. In the same environment as in actual operation, the amount of light affected by external light is obtained.

[0040] Then, the output value of the learning model is evaluated using the illumination state, which is the teacher data. Specifically, the output result is evaluated using an error function (also called an objective function, loss function, or cost function) based on the illumination state, which is the output result from the output layer G1C, and the illumination state included in the teacher data.

[0041] Next, based on the obtained evaluation result, it is determined whether or not to update parameters such as weights and biases between nodes used in the intermediate layer G1B. For example, in the process of optimizing (minimizing or maximizing) the error function by a gradient descent method such as the steepest descent method, if the error function becomes equal to or smaller than a threshold (or equal to or larger than the threshold), it is determined not to update the parameters. For example, if the error function exceeds a threshold (or becomes smaller than the threshold), it is determined to update the parameters. This threshold can be set arbitrarily. If it is determined to update the parameters, the parameters used in the intermediate layer G1B are updated. By performing such processing on a large amount of training data, a trained learning model is obtained.

[0042] When the illumination condition detection means 101a equipped with the learning model learned as described above acquires a captured image, it inputs the value of each pixel to each input node of the input layer and outputs the illumination condition of each area. The program and data realizing the learned learning model can be stored in a storage device and executed by the control unit 101 by reading them during processing.

[0043] When using an image analysis algorithm without using a learning model, for example, the illumination condition detection means 101a is realized by a CPU executing a program using the image analysis algorithm. The image analysis algorithm, for example, detects brightness (luminosity) using pixel values ​​for each predetermined area, and estimates the illuminance in each area from the relationship with surrounding pixels.

[0044] <Reflection of measured values ​​by light intensity sensor> In step S6, the illumination state can also be detected by only analyzing the captured image. However, in this embodiment, in order to further improve the detection accuracy, the illumination state is specified by also using the light quantity values ​​acquired from the light quantity sensors 108a to 108e. That is, the illumination state detection means 101a corrects the illumination state obtained by analyzing the captured image based on the output of the light quantity sensors 108a to 108e. Specifically, the illuminance value obtained by using the learning model or image analysis algorithm is corrected by using the illuminance value obtained from the light quantity sensors 108a to 108e.

[0045] It is possible to set in advance how much the amount of light measured by each of the light amount sensors 108a to 108e affects which area in the captured image. Therefore, the illuminance of each area in the captured image can be corrected based on the measurement value of each of the light amount sensors 108a to 108e. For example, it is assumed that the measurement value of the light amount sensor 108a affects the illuminance of the A area by 30% and the illuminance of the B area by 20%. In this case, the illuminance of the A area is corrected by a value corresponding to 30% of the difference with the illuminance of the light amount sensor 108a, and the illuminance of the B area is corrected by a value corresponding to 20% of the difference with the illuminance of the light amount sensor 108a. In the same manner, the illuminance value of each area in the captured image is corrected according to the value of the light amount sensor to determine the illumination state of each area.

[0046] Although the preferred embodiment of the present disclosure has been described above, the present disclosure is not limited to the above embodiment and various modifications are possible. For example, in the imaging device according to the above embodiment, the display unit and the instruction input unit are configured as a touch panel, but the instruction input unit may be a physical button electrically connected to the control unit 101. [Explanation of symbols]

[0047] 100....Photographing device 101a... Illumination state detection means 101b...Light amount adjustment means 101...Control section 102...Storage device 103 Lighting section 104...Instruction input unit 105...Display section 106 Printer 107 Communications Department 108 Light intensity sensor 109...Human presence sensor 110. Photography Department 111 Strobe light emitter 112 Image output unit

Claims

1. A plurality of lighting units; A photography department that takes pictures; an illumination condition detection means for detecting an illumination condition including an influence of external light by analyzing a photographed image obtained by the photographing unit; a light amount adjusting means for adjusting the light amount of the illumination unit based on the illumination state; an image output unit that outputs a captured image obtained by the image capture unit after adjustment by the light amount adjustment means; storing the reference value of the illumination state for each of a plurality of service modes; The light amount adjusting means adjusts the light amount of the illumination unit so as to approach the reference value corresponding to the selected service mode.

2. The optical sensor further includes a plurality of light amount sensors, The illumination condition detection means includes:

2. The photographing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the illumination state determined by analyzing the photographed image is corrected based on an output from the light quantity sensor.

3. The electronic device further includes a strobe light emitting unit, When the illumination state satisfies a predetermined condition, the strobe light emitter emits light; The photographing apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the image output unit outputs the photographed image after the strobe light emission unit emits light.

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