Image-taking apparatus and image display control method
According to the present invention, by providing operation members dedicated for an operation of switching on/of the face detection processing, a face image switching operation, and proceeding to the next image taking, operations related to the face detection processing can be simplified. Furthermore, by displaying a taken image and an face image at the same time, the operation of proceeding to the next image taking after confirming the condition of focus and exposure and the face expression of a subject person can be performed easily.
1. An image-taking apparatus comprising:
an image-taking device which takes an image of a subject;
a display device which displays the image taken by the image-taking device;
a face detection device which detects a face of a person who is the subject, from the taken image;
a face detection control button for inputting an instruction to set on/off of face detection processing performed by the face detection device; and
a display control device which controls the face detection device to execute the face detection processing for an image taken when the face detection processing is set to on, and causes the display device to display a face image including a face area detected from the taken image, wherein,
when a number of horizontal pixels of an area including the face image and to be cut out from the taken image to be displayed on a face display screen of the display device are less than a number of horizontal pixels of the face display screen, or when a number of vertical pixels of the area to be cut out are less than a number of vertical pixels of the face display screen, the face detection device enlarges a height and/or width of the area to be cut out so that the number of vertical pixels and the number of horizontal pixels of the area to be cut out are equal to or greater than the number of vertical pixels and the number of horizontal pixels of the face display screen, respectively.
2. The image-taking apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein
the display control device causes the display device to display the face image when preview display of the taken image is shown after the image-taking; and
the image-taking apparatus further comprises a display switching device which ends the preview display in response to an instruction from the face detection control button.
3. The image-taking apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising a face image switching device which, if multiple face areas are detected from the taken image, switches the face image displayed on a face display screen of the display device to a different face image in response to an instruction from the face detection control button.
4. The image-taking apparatus according to claim 2 , further comprising a face image switching device which, if multiple face areas are detected from the taken image, switches the face image displayed on a face display screen of the display device to a different face image in response to an instruction from the face detection control button.
5. The image-taking apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the display control device displays the face image and the taken image on the display device at the same time.
6. The image-taking apparatus according to claim 4 , wherein the display control device displays the face image and the taken image on the display device at the same time.
7. The image-taking apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the face detection control button is also used as a different operation member which is not used while the face image is displayed.
8. The image-taking apparatus according to claim 6 , wherein the face detection control button is also used as a different operation member which is not used while the face image is displayed.
9. The image-taking apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the display control device cuts out the area to be cut out including the face image which has been detected by the face detection device from the taken image to display the cut-out area on the display device, and, if the cut-out area overlaps with an edge of the taken image, reduces the cut-out area including the face area so that it does not overlap with the edge.
10. An image-taking apparatus comprising:
an image-taking device which takes an image of a subject;
a display device which displays the image taken by the image-taking device;
a face detection device which detects a face of a person who is the subject, from the taken image;
an image-taking mode setting device which sets an image-taking mode for taking an image by the image-taking device;
a face detection control button for inputting an instruction to set on/off of face detection processing performed by the face detection device; and
a display control device which controls the face detection device to execute the face detection processing for an image taken when such an image-taking mode that enables the face detection processing is set and the face detection processing is set to on, and causes the display device to display a face image including a face area detected from the taken image, wherein,
when a number of horizontal pixels of an area including the face image and to be cut out from the taken image to be displayed on a face display screen of the display device are less than a number of horizontal pixels of the face display screen, or when a number of vertical pixels of the area to be cut out are less than a number of vertical pixels of the face display screen, the face detection device enlarges a height and/or width of the area to be cut out so that the number of vertical pixels and the number of horizontal pixels of the area to be cut out are equal to or greater than the number of vertical pixels and the number of horizontal pixels of the face display screen, respectively.
11. The image-taking apparatus according to claim 10 , wherein
the display control device causes the display device to display the face image when preview display of the taken image is shown after the image-taking; and
the image-taking apparatus further comprises a display switching device which ends the preview display in response to an instruction from the face detection control button.
12. The image-taking apparatus according to claim 10 , further comprising a face image switching device which, if multiple face areas are detected from the taken image, switches the face image displayed on a face display screen of the display device to a different face image in response to an instruction from the face detection control button.
13. The image-taking apparatus according to claim 11 , further comprising a face image switching device which, if multiple face areas are detected from the taken image, switches the face image displayed on a face display screen of the display device to a different face image in response to an instruction from the face detection control button.
14. The image-taking apparatus according to claim 10 , wherein the display control device displays the face image and the taken image on the display device at the same time.
15. The image-taking apparatus according to claim 13 , wherein the display control device displays the face image and the taken image on the display device at the same time.
16. The image-taking apparatus according to claim 10 , wherein the face detection control button is also used as a different operation member which is not used while the face image is displayed.
17. The image-taking apparatus according to claim 15 , wherein the face detection control button is also used as a different operation member which is not used while the face image is displayed.
18. The image-taking apparatus according to claim 10 wherein the display control device cuts out the area to be cut out including the face image which has been detected by the face detection device from the taken image to display the cut-out area on the display device, and, if the cut-out area overlaps with an edge of the taken image, reduces the cut-out area including the face area so that it does not overlap with the edge.
19. An image display control method comprising:
an image-taking step of taking an image of a subject;
a step of setting on/off of face detection processing, by a face detection control button for inputting an instruction to set on/off of the face detection processing; and
a display control step of executing, for an image taken when the face detection processing is set to on, the face detection processing for detecting a face area of the subject, and displaying a face image including the face area detected from the taken image on a display device, wherein
the display control step includes a step of, when a number of horizontal pixels of an area including the face image and to be cut out from the taken image to be displayed on a face display screen of the display device are less than a number of horizontal pixels of the face display screen, or when a number of vertical pixels of the area to be cut out are less than a number of vertical pixels of the face display screen, enlarging a height and/or width of the area to be cut out so that the number of vertical pixels and the number of horizontal pixels of the area to be cut out are equal to or greater than the number of vertical pixels and the number of horizontal pixels of the face display screen, respectively.
20. The image display control method according to claim 19 , wherein
at the display control step, the face image is displayed when preview display of the taken image is shown after the image taking; and
the method further comprises a display switching step of ending the preview display in response to an instruction from the face detection control button.
21. The image display control method according to claim 19 , further comprising a face image switching step of, if multiple face areas are detected from the taken image, switching the face image displayed on a face display screen of the display device to a different face image in response to an instruction from the face detection control button.
22. The image display control method according to claim 20 , further comprising a face image switching step of, if multiple face areas are detected from the taken image, switching the face image displayed on a face display screen of the display device to a different face image in response to an instruction from the face detection control button.
23. The image display control method according to claim 19 , wherein, at the display control step, the face image and the taken image are displayed on a display device at the same time.
24. The image display control method according to claim 22 , wherein, at the display control step, the face image and the taken image are displayed on a display device at the same time.
25. The image display control method according to claim 19 , wherein
the display control step includes the steps of:
cutting out the area to be cut out including the face image which has been detected by the face detection processing from the taken image to display the cut-out area on the display device; and
if the cut-out area overlaps with an edge of the taken image, reducing the cut-out area including the face area so that it does not overlap with the edge.
26. An image display control method comprising:
an image-taking step of taking an image of a subject;
an image-taking mode setting step of setting an image-taking mode for taking the image;
a step of setting on/off of face detection processing by a face detection control button for inputting an instruction to set on/off of the face detection processing; and
a display control step of executing, for an image taken when such an image-taking mode that enables the face detection processing is set and the face detection processing is set to on, the face detection processing for detecting a face area of the subject, and displaying a face image including the face area detected from the taken image on a display device, wherein the display control step includes a step of, when a number of horizontal pixels of an area including the face image and to be cut out from the taken image to be displayed on a face display screen of the display device are less than a number of horizontal pixels of the face display screen, or when a number of vertical pixels of the area to be cut out are less than a number of vertical pixels of the face display screen, enlarging a height and/or width of the area to be cut out so that the number of vertical pixels and the number of horizontal pixels of the area to be cut out are equal to or greater than the number of vertical pixels and the number of horizontal pixels of the face display screen, respectively.
27. The image display control method according to claim 26 , wherein
at the display control step, the face image is displayed when preview display of the taken image is shown after the image taking; and
the method further comprises a display switching step of ending the preview display in response to an instruction from the face detection control button.
28. The image display control method according to claim 26 , further comprising a face image switching step of if multiple face areas are detected from the taken image, switching the face image displayed on a face display screen of the display device to a different face image in response to an instruction from the face detection control button.
29. The image display control method according to claim 27 , further comprising a face image switching step of, if multiple face areas are detected from the taken image, switching the face image displayed on a face display screen of the display device to a different face image in response to an instruction from the face detection control button.
30. The image display control method according to claim 26 , wherein, at the display control step, the face image and the taken image are displayed on a display device at the same time.
31. The image display control method according to claim 29 , wherein, at the display control step, the face image and the taken image are displayed on a display device at the same time.
32. The image display control method according to claim 26 , wherein
the display control step includes the steps of:
cutting out the area to be cut out including the face image which has been detected by the face detection processing from the taken image to display the cut-out area on the display device; and
if the cut-out area overlaps with an edge of the taken image, reducing the cut-out area including the face area so that it does not overlap with the edge.
33. An image-taking apparatus comprising:
an image-taking device which takes an image of a subject;
a display device which displays the image taken by the image-taking device;
a face detection device which detects a face of a person who is the subject, from the taken image;
a face detection control button for inputting an instruction to set on/off of face detection processing performed by the face detection device; and
a display control device which controls the face detection device to execute the face detection processing for an image taken when the face detection processing is set to on, and causes the display device to display a face image including a face area detected from the taken image;
a face image switching device which, if multiple face areas are detected from the taken image, switches the face image displayed on a face display screen of the display device to a different face image in response to an instruction from the face detection control button, further comprising
a face area ranking device for executing a face area ranking processing, wherein the face area ranking device ranks the face areas in order of a size thereof, ranks the face areas with the same size in order of closeness to a center of the taken image, and ranks the face areas with the same size and the same distance from the center of the taken image in order of a face possibility score calculated by the face detection device, wherein
the face image switching device switches the displayed face image in order of a rank of the face area.
34. An image-taking apparatus comprising:
an image-taking device which takes an image of a subject;
a display device which displays the image taken by the image-taking device;
a face detection device which detects a face of a person who is the subject, from the taken image;
an image-taking mode setting device which sets an image-taking mode for taking an image by the image-taking device;
a face detection control button for inputting an instruction to set on/off of face detection processing performed by the face detection device; and
a display control device which controls the face detection device to execute the face detection processing for an image taken when such an image-taking mode that enables the face detection processing is set and the face detection processing is set to on, and causes the display device to display a face image including a face area detected from the taken image;
a face image switching device which, if multiple face areas are detected from the taken image, switches the face image displayed on a face display screen of the display device to a different face image in response to an instruction from the face detection control button, further comprising
a face area ranking device for executing a face area ranking processing, wherein the face area ranking device ranks the face areas in order of a size thereof, ranks the face areas with the same size in order of closeness to a center of the taken image, and ranks the face areas with the same size and the same distance from the center of the taken image in order of a face possibility score calculated by the face detection device, wherein
the face image switching device switches the displayed face image in order of a rank of the face area.
35. An image display control method comprising:
an image-taking step of taking an image of a subject;
a step of setting on/off of face detection processing, by a face detection control button for inputting an instruction to set on/off of the face detection processing; and
a display control step of executing, for an image taken when the face detection processing is set to on, the face detection processing for detecting a face area of the subject, and displaying a face image including the face area detected from the taken image on a display device;
a face image switching step of, if multiple face areas are detected from the taken image, switching the face image displayed on a face display screen of the display device to a different face image in response to an instruction from the face detection control button, further comprising the steps of:
ranking the face areas in order of a size thereof, ranking the face areas with the same size in order of closeness to a center of the taken image, and ranking the face areas with the same size and the same distance from the center of the taken image in order of a face possibility score calculated by the face detection device; and
switching the displayed face image in order of a rank of the face area.
36. An image display control method comprising:
an image-taking step of taking an image of a subject;
an image-taking mode setting step of setting an image-taking mode for taking the image;
a step of setting on/off of face detection processing by a face detection control button for inputting an instruction to set on/off of the face detection processing; and
a display control step of executing, for an image taken when such an image-taking mode that enables the face detection processing is set and the face detection processing is set to on, the face detection processing for detecting a face area of the subject, and displaying a face image including the face area detected from the taken image on a display device;
a face image switching step of, if multiple face areas are detected from the taken image, switching the face image displayed on a face display screen of the display device to a different face image in response to an instruction from the face detection control button, further comprising the steps of:
ranking the face areas in order of a size thereof, ranking the face areas with the same size in order of closeness to a center of the taken image, and ranking the face areas with the same size and the same distance from the center of the taken image in order of a face possibility score calculated by the face detection device; and
switching the displayed face image in order of a rank of the face area.