JP4639601B2 - Image processing apparatus, image processing method, and program - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to image quality adjustment of a TV (Television) receiver or the like, and evaluation of a plurality of images subjected to predetermined processing.

  Normally, when adjusting image quality such as color setting with a TV receiver or the like, if the user adjusts the corresponding parameter, the entire screen changes depending on the parameter, so the image before adjustment and the image after adjustment are 1 Cannot be compared on two display screens. Therefore, it has been difficult for the user to appropriately determine whether or not the image after adjustment is optimal.

  In order to solve this problem, when adjusting the image quality with a TV receiver or the like, a method of dividing the display screen and combining and displaying the image before adjustment and the image after adjustment is known (for example, Patent Document 1). According to this, since the image before adjustment and the image after adjustment can be viewed on one display screen, the user can easily and appropriately adjust the image quality while comparing the two images. be able to.

  However, in the conventional method, since the division of the display screen is fixed, a specific portion of a predetermined image is viewed at any time before or after image quality adjustment. Therefore, it is difficult to accurately compare specific parts. In addition, since the division is to divide the display screen into two or more left and right, the division boundary line is always in the center, and the image is difficult to view. Therefore, when the image before the image quality adjustment and the image after the adjustment are displayed on one display screen and the image quality is adjusted while watching a movie or the like by the image, the dividing boundary line is positioned at the center. Being an obstacle is an obstacle.

  Furthermore, in the conventional method, even if an image that seems to be optimal is selected and switched to display on the entire display screen, the display screen is equally divided, so it is difficult to intuitively know which image has been switched to. . Therefore, there is a problem that even if an operation is wrong and another image that is not an optimal image is displayed on the entire display screen, it is difficult to understand intuitively.

JP 2001-268475 A

  The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and a divided image obtained by dividing one image into a plurality of divided areas obtained by dividing one display screen by dividing boundary lines is allocated and displayed. It is an object of the present invention to provide an image processing apparatus capable of accurately adjusting image quality and comparing images by changing the size and position of a divided region and a divided image based on a change in boundary line.

  In one aspect of the present invention, an image processing device capable of transmitting and receiving data to and from an image display device that displays an image on a display screen, the dividing unit that divides the display screen into a plurality of divided regions, and the dividing unit A changing means for changing the divided areas, an assigning means for assigning a divided image divided from one image to each divided area based on the position of the divided area on the display screen, and the assigning means Composite image transmission means for combining and transmitting the divided images to be displayed in the respective divided areas on the display screen.

  In addition, an image processing method according to a similar aspect includes a dividing step of dividing a display screen provided in the image display device into a plurality of divided regions, a changing step of changing the divided regions divided in the dividing step, and the display screen An assigning step of assigning a divided image divided from one image to each divided region based on the position of the divided region, and displaying the divided image assigned in the assigning step in each divided region on the display screen And a synthesized image transmission step of synthesizing and transmitting to the image display device.

  In the image processing apparatus or method configured as described above, the image processing apparatus is an apparatus capable of data communication with an image display apparatus, specifically, a TV receiver or a DVD (Digital Video Disc, Digital Versatile Disc) player. Etc. The image display device is a device that includes a display screen such as a monitor, a projector, and a display for displaying an image, and displays an image received from the image processing device on the display screen.

  The image processing apparatus divides the display screen into a plurality of divided areas, and assigns a divided image obtained by dividing one image to each divided area. Then, based on the position and size of each divided area on the display screen, a combined image obtained by combining a plurality of divided images is transmitted to the image display device, and is output on the display screen included in the image display device. At this time, the user can change the position and size of the divided area displayed on the display screen by changing each divided area. According to this, the user can browse a plurality of divided images simultaneously on one screen. Further, the problem that the size of each divided image becomes small because a plurality of divided images are displayed on one screen can be solved by changing the divided region to display the divided images larger. . That is, the user can freely change the position and size of the divided image to be particularly focused on among the plurality of divided images.

  In one aspect of the present invention, the dividing unit divides the display screen into two divided areas by a vertical dividing boundary line that divides the display screen into left and right sides, and the changing unit converts the dividing boundary line into two divided regions. By moving left and right, at least one of the size and position of the divided region is changed. According to this, it is possible to divide one display screen into two right and left divided areas, and the position and size of each divided area can be easily changed by moving the position of the dividing boundary line to the left and right. Is possible.

  In another aspect of the present invention, the dividing unit divides the display screen into two divided regions by a dividing boundary line that divides the display screen into a center and an outside, and the changing unit is configured to divide the display screen. Is changed, at least one of the size and the position of the divided region is changed. According to this, it is possible to divide one display screen into two divided areas, the center and the outside, and easily change the position and size of each divided area by changing the position of the dividing boundary line. It is possible. In addition, by setting the divided areas at the center and the outside, the divided boundary line is not positioned at the center of the display screen, so that an image, particularly a moving image can be easily seen. In general, since a person tends to pay attention to a central image, it is possible to display an image in consideration of which one is desired to be focused, such as assigning an image to be focused to a central divided region.

  In another aspect of the present invention, the image processing device further includes an image processing unit that performs a predetermined process on one of the divided images allocated by the allocation unit and does not perform the process on the other. According to this, it is possible to display the divided image before the image quality adjustment and the divided image after the image quality adjustment on one display screen by performing, for example, the process of adjusting the image quality on one of the divided images. It becomes. Therefore, when adjusting the image quality, the user can easily compare the pre-adjustment image and the post-adjustment image on one display screen, so that the optimum image quality setting can be easily determined. In addition, since the researcher can have the subject evaluate the image that has been subjected to the predetermined processing and the image that has not been performed on one display screen, the individual differences of the image display device can be excluded and the evaluation can be performed. It can be done easily.

  In another aspect of the present invention, the image processing device further includes image processing means for performing a predetermined process on one of the divided images assigned by the assigning means and performing another process on the other. According to this, for example, the process of adjusting the image quality to luminance A is performed on one divided image, and the process of adjusting the image quality to luminance B is performed on the other divided image, so that the image is displayed on one display screen. The divided image adjusted to the luminance A and the divided image adjusted to the luminance B can be displayed. Therefore, when the user adjusts the image quality, the image of the image quality setting A and the image of the image quality setting B can be compared on one display screen, so that the optimum image quality setting can be easily determined. Can do. In addition, since the researcher can have the subject evaluate the image that has undergone the process A and the image that has undergone the process B on one display screen, it eliminates individual differences in the image display devices. Evaluation can be performed easily.

In another aspect of the present invention, a process for one divided image is a process for the other divided image, and a process for the other divided image is a process for one divided image. And an exchanging means. According to this, the user can easily evaluate processes in different areas by exchanging the processes of the divided images assigned to the respective divided areas without changing the boundary line.
In another aspect of the present invention, the image processing apparatus further includes exchange means for exchanging a divided image assigned to one divided area by the assigning means with a divided image assigned to the other divided area. According to this, the user can easily change the position and size of the divided image by exchanging the divided images assigned to each divided region without changing the boundary line.

  In another aspect of the present invention, the dividing unit divides the display screen into a plurality of regions by a plurality of dividing boundary lines passing through the dividing points set on the display screen, and the changing unit By moving the dividing point, at least one of the size and position of the divided region is changed. According to this, one display screen can be divided into a plurality of divided regions by a plurality of dividing boundary lines passing through the dividing points. That is, a plurality of divided images can be displayed on one display screen. Further, the user can easily change the position and size of each divided image by moving the dividing point.

  In yet another aspect of the present invention, a selection unit that selects one divided region from among a plurality of divided regions displayed on the display screen, and a divided image assigned to the divided region selected by the selecting unit. Display image creating means for creating a display image based on the setting, display image sending means for sending the display image created by the display image creating means to the image display device so as to be displayed on the display screen, Is provided. According to this, when the user selects one divided image from among the divided images assigned to the plurality of divided regions, the same image as the setting of the selected divided image can be displayed on the entire display screen. . Therefore, when adjusting the image quality by displaying a plurality of divided images on one display screen, the user can easily display an image with an image quality setting that seems to be optimal on the entire display screen. .

  According to another aspect of the present invention, a program executed by a computer capable of transmitting and receiving data to and from an image display device that displays an image on a display screen, the dividing unit dividing the display screen into a plurality of divided regions Fluctuating means for changing the divided areas divided by the dividing means, assigning means for assigning divided images divided from one image to each divided area based on the position of the divided areas on the display screen, and the assigning means; The computer is caused to function as a combined image transmission unit that combines the allocated divided images so as to be displayed in each divided region on the display screen and transmits the combined images to the image display device.

  By executing the program by a computer, the above-described image processing apparatus and image processing method can be realized. Further, each aspect of the above-described image processing apparatus and image processing method can be realized in the same manner.

[Image processing system]
First, the image processing system of the present invention will be described. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of the image processing system 100. The image processing system 100 assigns and displays a divided image obtained by dividing one image into a plurality of divided regions obtained by dividing one display screen into a plurality of divided boundaries, and the divided regions based on the variation of the divided boundary lines. In addition, the size and position of the divided image can be changed.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the image processing system 100 includes an image processing device 1 and an image display device 2. Here, the image display device 2 is a device that includes a display screen such as a monitor, a projector, and a display for displaying an image, and displays an image received from the image processing device 1 on the display screen. In the present embodiment, the image processing device 1 and the image display device 2 are different devices. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the image processing device 1 may be configured to include a display screen such as a monitor or a display. Absent. That is, the image processing apparatus 1 can be a digital camera or the like having a display screen.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the image processing apparatus 1 includes an operation unit 10, a system control unit 11, an image storage unit 12, an image reading unit 13, an image processing unit 14, and an image composition unit 15. This is an apparatus for outputting the image synthesized by the synthesis unit 15 to the image display apparatus 2 connected so as to be capable of data communication. Specifically, examples of the image processing apparatus 1 include a TV receiver and a DVD player. Here, the configuration of the image processing apparatus 1 will be described in detail.

  The operation unit 10 transmits an operation signal input by a user using a controller or the like connected to the image processing apparatus 1 to the system control unit 11. Based on the received operation signal, the system control unit 11 adjusts the image quality, size, and position of a predetermined image as requested by the user, and displays the adjusted image on the display screen of the image display device 2. The image storage unit 12, the image reading unit 13, the image processing unit 14, and the image composition unit 15 are controlled.

  The image storage unit 12 stores an image to be displayed on the display screen of the image display device 2. The image stored in the image storage unit 12 may be a still image or a moving image. Specifically, the image storage unit 12 in the case where the image processing apparatus 1 is a DVD player is a disc on which image and audio data are recorded after being compressed and encoded.

  The image reading unit 13 reads an image requested by the user from the image storage unit 12 based on the operation signal. Specifically, the image reading unit 13 when the image processing apparatus 1 is a DVD player reads an image requested by the user from the disk with an optical head based on the operation signal.

  The image processing unit 14 performs processing for adjusting the image quality and size of the image read by the image reading unit 13 as requested by the user based on the operation signal. Although the details will be described later, the display screen is divided into a plurality of divided areas by dividing boundary lines that can be arbitrarily changed by the user. Each divided region is assigned a divided image obtained by dividing one image into a plurality of images according to the position on the display screen. The image processing unit 14 adjusts image quality and size for each divided image assigned to each divided region. That is, the image processing unit 14 includes the same number of image processing units A, image processing units B,... As the number of divided regions in order to adjust image quality and size for each divided image. Each image processing unit includes, for example, an image memory having a predetermined capacity, and can store images corresponding to different image quality adjustments set by the user. For example, when the user adjusts the luminance, the image processing unit A can store the image before adjustment, and the image processing unit B can store the image after adjustment.

  Here, the image quality adjustment may be any adjustment such as RGB balance adjustment, contrast adjustment, brightness adjustment, brightness adjustment, ON / OFF of automatic adjustment, and the degree of strength of automatic adjustment. That is, the present invention does not specify image quality adjustment processing. For example, when the user adjusts the luminance on the display screen, the image processing unit 14 extracts a parameter related to the luminance set by the user from the operation signal, and calculates the luminance of a predetermined divided image based on the parameter. Perform the adjustment process.

  The size adjustment means that the size of the divided area is calculated based on the position of the divided boundary line changed by the user on the display screen, and is allocated to the divided area so as to match the calculated size. The size of the divided image is adjusted. For example, when the user changes the dividing boundary line on the display screen, the image processing unit 14 extracts position information related to the dividing boundary line changed by the user from the operation signal, and based on the position information, The size of the divided area is calculated. Then, the image processing unit 14 performs a process of adjusting the size of the divided image assigned to each divided region so as to match the calculated size of each divided region.

  The image synthesis unit 15 synthesizes the plurality of divided images adjusted by the image processing unit 14 based on the operation signal, and outputs the synthesized image to the image display device 2. That is, the divided images combined by the image combining unit 15 are displayed on the display screen provided in the image display device 2. For example, when the user changes the dividing boundary line on the display screen, the image composition unit 15 extracts position information regarding the dividing boundary line changed by the user from the operation signal, and each of the position information based on the position information. The position of the divided area on the display screen is calculated. Then, the image composition unit 15 synthesizes a plurality of divided images adjusted by the image processing unit 14 based on the calculated position of each divided region on the display screen, and outputs the synthesized image to the image display device 2.

  In addition to the above, the image processing apparatus 1 including a DVD player and the like includes various components for executing original operations in the DVD player and the like such as processing audio data, but directly with the present invention. For the sake of convenience, the description of the unrelated parts is omitted.

  A divided image obtained by dividing one image into a plurality of divided areas obtained by dividing one display screen into a plurality of divided boundaries by the image processing system 100 including the image processing apparatus 1 and the image display apparatus 2 as described above. Is assigned and displayed, and the size and position of the divided regions and the divided images are changed based on the change of the division boundary line, thereby making it possible to accurately adjust the image quality and compare the images.

[Image display method]
Next, an outline of a method for displaying a plurality of images on one display screen in order to accurately adjust image quality and compare images in this system will be described.
(I) When splitting the display screen into two left and right with a dividing boundary line First, when dividing the display screen into two left and right with a dividing boundary line, a method for displaying a plurality of images on one display screen. This will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 2 shows an example of a display screen divided into two left and right divided areas.

  FIG. 2A shows an example in which an image 30 is displayed on a display screen such as a display provided in the image display device 2. In the image processing system 100, the user can browse an arbitrary still image or moving image by operating the image processing apparatus 1 and displaying the image 30 on the display screen of the image display apparatus 2. When adjusting the image quality of the image displayed on the display screen, for example, adjusting the brightness, the user sets the display screen to the adjustment mode by operating a predetermined controller, and arbitrarily sets parameters related to the brightness. . Then, the operation unit 10 of the image processing apparatus 1 transmits an operation signal input by a user operating a controller or the like to the system control unit 11. Based on the received operation signal, the system control unit 11 divides the display screen into two divided regions by a vertical dividing boundary line that divides the display screen into left and right sides, and an adjusted image adjusted to the brightness set by the user, In order to display the pre-adjustment image in each divided area, the image storage unit 12, the image reading unit 13, the image processing unit 14, and the image composition unit 15 are controlled.

  The image reading unit 13 specifies an image that the user is browsing from the operation signal, and reads the specified image from the image storage unit 12. Then, the image processing unit 14 recognizes from the operation signal that the division boundary line has not yet changed since the user has just switched to the adjustment mode, and as shown in FIG. 2B, the division boundary line 32a. Recognizes that it is located in the center of the display screen. In other words, the image processing unit 14 calculates the position information at the center of the display screen as the position information of the division boundary line 32a from the operation signal. Furthermore, the image processing unit 14 divides the display screen into two divided areas as shown in FIG. 2B based on the calculated position information of the divided boundary line 32a, and each divided area has the same size. Recognize That is, the image processing unit 14 calculates the size of each divided area based on the position information of the divided boundary line 32a. Then, the image processing unit 14 divides and adjusts the image read by the image reading unit 13 so as to match the calculated size of each divided region, and creates divided images 30a and 30b.

  Further, the image processing unit 14 assigns the divided image 30a to the left divided area of the display screen, and assigns the divided image 30b to the right divided area of the display screen. Then, the image processing unit 14 extracts information on the parameter related to the brightness set by the user from the operation signal, and performs a process of adjusting the brightness of the divided image 30a based on the parameter. Here, the process of adjusting the brightness of the image will be described in detail. FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of correction characteristics (input / output characteristics) when the luminance is adjusted. The image processing unit 14 specifies correction characteristics for adjusting the average luminance of the image based on the parameters extracted from the operation signal. For example, when the curve 60a shown in FIG. 5 is specified based on the parameters extracted from the operation signal, the image processing unit 14 performs a process of correcting the luminance data of the divided image 30a according to the correction characteristics as shown by the curve 60a. Do.

  Then, the image composition unit 15 synthesizes the two divided images based on the position information of the divided boundary line 32a calculated from the operation signal so that the divided image 30a is on the left side and the divided image 30b is on the right side. Is transmitted to the image display device 2 and output. At this time, the division boundary line 32a is also output so as to be displayed on the display screen. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 2B, the divided boundary line 32a is located at the center of the display screen, the divided image 30a after adjusting the luminance is on the left side, and the divided image 30b before adjusting the luminance is on the right side. The image is displayed as follows.

  In addition, when the user wants to adjust the image quality of the image displayed on the display screen, for example, to adjust the brightness and set the optimum brightness, the user can set the brightness-related parameter by operating the controller or the like. Set a new one. Further, when the user wants to display the image after the brightness adjustment larger than the image before the adjustment, the user moves the division boundary line 32a to the right by operating the controller or the like. The division boundary line 32a serves as a reference for the position and size of the division area on the display screen, and can be moved to the left and right as desired by the user. That is, by moving the dividing boundary line 32a to the left and right, the position and size of the divided area can be changed. FIG. 6A is a diagram illustrating an example of a controller that moves the dividing boundary line. The division boundary line 32a as shown in FIG. 2B can be moved arbitrarily by the user by moving the slide lever 26 of the controller 25 as shown in FIG. In other words, the position and size of the divided area can be freely changed by the user. FIG. 2C shows a state in which the division boundary line 32a is moved to the division boundary line 32b indicated by a broken line in order to display the image after adjusting the luminance larger than the image before the adjustment.

  The operation unit 10 of the image processing apparatus 1 transmits an operation signal input by a user operating a controller or the like to the system control unit 11. Based on the received operation signal, the system control unit 11 divides the display screen into two divided areas by a vertical dividing boundary line 32b that divides the display screen into left and right sides, and an adjusted image adjusted to the brightness set by the user In order to display the pre-adjustment image in the respective divided areas, the image storage unit 12, the image reading unit 13, the image processing unit 14, and the image composition unit 15 are controlled.

  The image reading unit 13 specifies an image that the user is browsing from the operation signal, and reads the specified image from the image storage unit 12. Then, the image processing unit 14 calculates position information of the division boundary line 32b from the operation signal. Further, the image processing unit 14 calculates the size of each divided region based on the position information of the divided boundary line 32b. Then, the image processing unit 14 divides and adjusts the image read by the image reading unit 13 so that the calculated size of each divided region matches, and newly creates divided images 30a and 30b.

  Further, the image processing unit 14 assigns the divided image 30a to the left divided area of the display screen, and assigns the divided image 30b to the right divided area of the display screen. Then, the image processing unit 14 extracts information on a parameter related to luminance set by the user from the operation signal, and specifies a correction characteristic for adjusting the average luminance of the image based on the parameter. For example, when the curve 60b shown in FIG. 5 is specified based on the parameters extracted from the operation signal, the image processing unit 14 performs a process of correcting the luminance data of the divided image 30a according to the correction characteristics as shown by the curve 60b. Do.

  Then, the image composition unit 15 synthesizes the two divided images based on the position information of the divided boundary line 32b calculated from the operation signal so that the divided image 30a is on the left side and the divided image 30b is on the right side. Is transmitted to the image display device 2 and output. At this time, the division boundary line 32b is also output so as to be displayed on the display screen. Therefore, the image is displayed such that the divided image 30a after adjusting the luminance is positioned on the left side of the dividing boundary line 32b indicated by a broken line, and the divided image 30b before adjusting the luminance is positioned on the right side of the dividing boundary line 32b. That is, the divided image after the adjustment is displayed larger than the divided image before the luminance adjustment.

  Further, when the user wants to exchange the positions of the divided image 30a and the divided image 30b displayed on the display screen, it can be easily realized by operating a controller or the like. That is, FIG. 2C shows a display screen in which the divided image 30a after brightness adjustment is displayed on the left side of the divided boundary line 32b and the divided image 30b before adjustment is displayed on the right side of the divided boundary line 32b. As shown in the figure, it is possible to change to a display screen in which the divided image 30b before adjusting the luminance is displayed on the left side of the divided boundary line 32b and the adjusted divided image 30a is displayed on the right side of the divided boundary line 32b. . In this case, the image processing apparatus 1 performs the adjustment process of the luminance, size, and position of the divided image 30a and the divided image 30b again based on the position information of the divided boundary line 32b by the method described above.

  Thus, as a result of examining the image quality setting while moving the divided boundary line 32b of the two divided images 30a and 30b displayed on the display screen, the user determines the image quality setting that seems to be optimal, and the controller, etc. The decision operation is performed by. Then, the operation unit 10 of the image processing apparatus 1 transmits an operation signal input by a user operating a controller or the like to the system control unit 11. The system control unit 11 displays the entire image adjusted by the image quality setting of the image selected by the user on the display screen based on the received operation signal, so that the image storage unit 12, the image reading unit 13, the image processing The unit 14 and the image composition unit 15 are controlled.

  The image reading unit 13 specifies an image that the user is browsing from the operation signal, and reads the specified image from the image storage unit 12. Then, the image processing unit 14 extracts the image quality setting finally determined by the user from the operation signal. Specifically, when the user selects the divided image 30a after adjusting the luminance, the image processing unit 14 extracts the luminance parameter set in the divided image 30a. Further, the image processing unit 14 specifies a correction specification for adjusting the average luminance of the image based on the extracted parameters, and corrects the luminance data of the image read by the image reading unit 13 according to the correction characteristics. Do. Then, the image processing unit 14 transmits the image to the image display device 2 and outputs it. Therefore, an image having the same image quality setting as that of the divided image selected by the user can be displayed on the entire display screen.

  According to this, the user can view the image before adjusting the image quality and the image after adjusting the image quality on one display screen, and by arbitrarily changing the dividing boundary line Since an image subjected to image quality adjustment with respect to an arbitrary portion of the image can be observed while being compared, an optimum image quality setting can be determined more accurately.

  In the above embodiment, when the adjustment mode is just switched, the division boundary line is positioned at the center of the display screen by default, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the adjustment mode switching is performed. Sometimes the user may operate the controller to arbitrarily change the dividing boundary line.

  In the above embodiment, the controller or the like is shown in FIG. 6A, but the present invention is not limited to this, and various interfaces such as a mouse can be used. The determination operation by the controller or the like may be performed by selecting the image when the slide lever shown in FIG. 6A reaches the end, or by various methods such as providing a selection determination button. Can be applied.

  In the above embodiment, the left divided area of the display screen is assigned to be a divided image before image quality adjustment, and the right divided area of the display screen is assigned to be an adjusted divided image. However, the present invention is not limited to this. Instead, the divided images assigned to both the left and right divided regions may be adjusted based on the user's operation. That is, predetermined processing can be performed on each divided image displayed on the display screen.

In the above embodiment, for the sake of convenience of explanation, the luminance is adjusted based on the user's operation. However, when the image quality adjustment is performed for a plurality of image quality adjustment items such as adjusting the luminance and brightness. Enables adjustment processing for a plurality of image quality adjustment items at the same time by the above-described method. After performing adjustment processing for one image quality adjustment item by the above-described method, the same method is used for the next image quality adjustment item. Arbitrary settings are made such that adjustment processing can be performed.
(Ii) In the case where the display screen is divided into the center and the outside by the dividing boundary line Next, when the display screen is divided into the center and the outside by the dividing boundary line, a plurality of display screens are displayed on one display screen. A method for displaying an image will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 3 shows an example of a display screen that is divided into two divided regions at the center and the outside.

  FIG. 3A shows an example in which an image 40 is displayed on a display screen such as a display provided in the image display device 2. In the image processing system 100, the user can browse an arbitrary still image or moving image by operating the image processing apparatus 1 to display the image 40 on the display screen of the image display apparatus 2. When adjusting the image quality of the image displayed on the display screen, for example, adjusting the brightness, the user sets the display screen to the adjustment mode by operating a predetermined controller, and arbitrarily sets parameters related to the brightness. . Then, the operation unit 10 of the image processing apparatus 1 transmits an operation signal input by the user operating the controller to the system control unit 11. Based on the received operation signal, the system control unit 11 divides the display screen into two divided regions by a dividing boundary line dividing the display screen into the center and the outside, the adjusted image adjusted to the brightness set by the user, In order to display the previous image in each divided area, the image storage unit 12, the image reading unit 13, the image processing unit 14, and the image composition unit 15 are controlled.

  The image reading unit 13 specifies an image that the user is browsing from the operation signal, and reads the specified image from the image storage unit 12. Then, the image processing unit 14 recognizes from the operation signal that the division boundary line has not yet changed because the user has just switched to the adjustment mode, and the division boundary line 41a as shown in FIG. Calculate location information. Further, the image processing unit 14 recognizes that the display screen is divided into two divided areas on the center and the outside as shown in FIG. 3B based on the position information of the divided boundary line 41a. The size of each divided area is calculated. Then, the image processing unit 14 divides and adjusts the image read by the image reading unit 13 so as to match the calculated size of each divided region, and creates divided images 40a and 40b.

  Furthermore, the image processing unit 14 assigns the divided image 40a to the divided region at the center of the display screen, and assigns the divided image 40b to the divided region outside the display screen. Then, the image processing unit 14 extracts information on the parameter related to the brightness set by the user from the operation signal, and performs a process of adjusting the brightness of the divided image 40a based on the parameter. Note that the process for adjusting the brightness of the image is the same as that described in (i) above, and thus the description thereof is omitted for the sake of convenience.

  Then, the image synthesis unit 15 synthesizes the two divided images based on the position information of the divided boundary line 41a calculated from the operation signal so that the divided image 40a is the center and the divided image 40b is the outer side, and the synthesized image Is transmitted to the image display device 2 and output. At this time, the division boundary line 41a is also output so as to be displayed on the display screen. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 4B, the divided image 40a after adjusting the luminance is positioned in the center of the dividing boundary line 41a, and the divided image 40b before adjusting the luminance is positioned outside the dividing boundary line 41a. An image is displayed.

  In addition, when the user wants to adjust the image quality of the image displayed on the display screen, for example, to adjust the brightness and set the optimum brightness, the user can operate the predetermined controller to set the brightness parameter. Is newly set. Further, when the user wants to display the image after adjusting the brightness larger than the image before the adjustment, the user can freely change the position and size of the division boundary line 41a by operating a predetermined controller. Let The dividing boundary line 41a serves as a reference for the position and size of the divided area on the display screen, and can be arbitrarily changed by the user. FIG. 6B is a diagram illustrating an example of a controller that moves the dividing boundary line. The division boundary line 41a as shown in FIG. 3B can be changed arbitrarily by the user by operating the joystick 27 of the controller 25 as shown in FIG. 6B. In other words, the position and size of the divided area can be freely changed by the user. FIG. 3C shows a state in which the division boundary line 41a is moved to the division boundary line 41b indicated by a broken line in order to display an image after adjusting the luminance larger than the image before adjustment. Note that the processing performed by the display processing device 1 when the size and position of the divided area changes due to the change from the divided boundary line 41a to the divided boundary line 41b is substantially the same as the above-described method. Omitted.

  Further, when the user wants to exchange the positions of the divided image 40a and the divided image 40b displayed on the display screen, it can be realized by operating a predetermined controller. That is, as shown in FIG. 3B, a display screen in which the divided image 40a after the brightness adjustment is displayed at the center and the divided image 40b before the adjustment is displayed on the outside is shown in FIG. As shown, the divided image 40a after the brightness adjustment is displayed on the outside, and the display screen can be changed to the display screen on which the divided image 40b before the adjustment is displayed. In this case, the image processing apparatus 1 again performs the adjustment processing of the luminance, size, and position of the divided image 40a and the divided image 40b based on the position information of the divided boundary line 41b by the above-described method.

  Finally, when the user determines that the divided image assigned to the divided region at the center of the display screen is optimal, the user performs a determination operation using a predetermined controller. Then, the operation unit 10 of the image processing apparatus 1 transmits an operation signal input by the user operating the controller to the system control unit 11. Based on the received operation signal, the system control unit 11 displays on the display screen the same overall image as the image quality setting of the divided image assigned to the central divided region, so that the image storage unit 12, the image reading unit 13, The image processing unit 14 and the image composition unit 15 are controlled. It is assumed that the divided image assigned to the central divided region is the divided image 40a after the luminance is adjusted.

  The image reading unit 13 specifies an image that the user is browsing from the operation signal, and reads the specified image from the image storage unit 12. Then, the image processing unit 14 extracts the image quality setting of the divided image assigned to the central divided region from the operation signal. Specifically, the image processing unit 14 extracts the luminance parameter set in the divided image 40a. Further, the image processing unit 14 specifies a correction specification for adjusting the average luminance of the image based on the extracted parameters, and corrects the luminance data of the image read by the image reading unit 13 according to the correction characteristics. Do. Then, the image processing unit 14 transmits the image to the image display device 2 and outputs it. Therefore, an image having the same image quality setting as that of the divided image assigned to the central divided region can be displayed on the entire display screen.

  According to this, since the user can browse the image before adjusting the image quality and the image after adjusting the image quality on one display screen, the optimum image quality setting is accurately selected and set. be able to. In addition, since one display screen is divided into two divided areas, the center and the outside, by a dividing boundary line, the division boundary line exists in the center of the display screen, which can solve the problem that it is difficult to see the image. it can. That is, the image quality can be adjusted while viewing a moving image or the like in a natural state.

  In the above embodiment, it is assumed that the division boundary line is not changed by default when switching to the adjustment mode by default. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the user at the time of switching the adjustment mode. However, the controller may be operated to arbitrarily change the dividing boundary line.

  In the above embodiment, the controller and the like are shown in FIG. 6B, but the present invention is not limited to this, and various interfaces such as a mouse can be used.

  Further, in the above embodiment, the divided area outside the display screen is assigned to be the divided image before the image quality adjustment and the central divided area is the divided image after the adjustment, but the present invention is limited to this. Instead, the divided images assigned to both the central and outer divided regions may be adjusted based on the user's operation. That is, predetermined processing can be performed on each divided image displayed on the display screen.

  In the above embodiment, for the sake of convenience of explanation, the luminance is adjusted based on the user's operation. However, when the image quality adjustment is performed for a plurality of image quality adjustment items such as adjusting the luminance and brightness. Enables adjustment processing for a plurality of image quality adjustment items at the same time by the above-described method. After performing adjustment processing for one image quality adjustment item by the above-described method, the same method is used for the next image quality adjustment item. Arbitrary settings are made such that adjustment processing can be performed.

In the above embodiment, when the user performs a determination operation using a predetermined controller, the divided image assigned to the central divided area is displayed on the entire display screen. However, the present invention is not limited to this. In the same manner as in (i) above, the user performs a decision operation to select one of the two images assigned to the two divided areas, and the selected image is displayed on the entire display screen. It may be displayed.
(Iii) When the display screen is divided into a plurality of division boundary lines passing through the dividing points Next, when dividing the display screen into a plurality of passing through the dividing points, a method for displaying a plurality of images on one display screen A description will be given with reference to FIGS. FIG. 4 shows an example of a display screen divided into a plurality of divided areas.

  FIG. 4A shows an example in which an image 50 is displayed on a display screen such as a display provided in the image display device 2. A user can view an arbitrary still image or moving image by operating the image processing apparatus 1 and displaying the image 50 on the display screen of the image display apparatus 2 in the image processing system 100. When adjusting the image quality of the image displayed on the display screen, for example, adjusting the brightness, the user sets the display screen to the adjustment mode by operating a predetermined controller, and arbitrarily sets parameters related to the brightness. . Then, the operation unit 10 of the image processing apparatus 1 transmits an operation signal input by the user operating the controller to the system control unit 11. Based on the received operation signal, the system control unit 11 divides the display screen into three divided areas by dividing boundary lines passing through the dividing points, and adjusts the image to the brightness A set by the user, the user The image storage unit 12, the image reading unit 13, the image processing unit 14, and the image composition unit 15 are controlled in order to display the adjusted image adjusted to the luminance B set by and the pre-adjustment image in the respective divided areas.

  The image reading unit 13 specifies an image that the user is browsing from the operation signal, and reads the specified image from the image storage unit 12. Then, the image processing unit 14 recognizes that the division point exists in the center of the display screen because the user has just switched to the adjustment mode from the operation signal, and the division boundary line does not change, and FIG. ), The position information of the dividing boundary lines 52a to 52c is calculated based on the position information of the dividing point 51a. The start points of the division boundary lines 52a to 52c are points 53a to 53c, respectively, and the end points are division points. Therefore, the position information of the dividing boundary lines 52a to 52c can be easily calculated from the position information of the dividing points. Further, the image processing unit 14 recognizes that the display screen is divided into three divided regions as shown in FIG. 4B based on the calculated position information of the divided boundary lines 52a to 52c. The size of each divided area is calculated. Then, the image processing unit 14 divides and adjusts the image read by the image reading unit 13 so as to match the calculated size of each divided region, and generates divided images 50a to 50c.

  Next, the image processing unit 14 assigns the divided images 50a to 50c to the three divided areas of the display screen, respectively. Then, the image processing unit 14 extracts information on the parameter related to the luminance A set by the user from the operation signal, and performs a process of adjusting the luminance of the divided image 50a based on the parameter. In addition, the image processing unit 14 extracts information on the parameter relating to the luminance B set by the user from the operation signal, and performs a process of adjusting the luminance of the divided image 50b based on the parameter. Note that the process for adjusting the brightness of the image is the same as that described in (i) above, and thus the description thereof is omitted for the sake of convenience.

  Then, the image synthesis unit 15 synthesizes the divided images 50a to 50c based on the position information of the division boundary lines 52a to 52b calculated from the operation signal, and transmits the synthesized image to the image display device 2 for output. At this time, the division boundary lines 52a to 52c are also output so as to be displayed on the display screen. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 4B, the divided images 50a and 50b after the luminance adjustment and the divided image 50c before the luminance adjustment are displayed.

  It should be noted that the dividing point 51a shown in FIG. 4B can be arbitrarily moved by a user using a predetermined button, mouse, or the like provided in the controller 25. That is, when the user moves the dividing point 51a, the size and position of a plurality of divided areas constituting the display screen can be freely changed. Since the processing performed by the image processing apparatus 1 when the divided regions are changed is substantially the same as the above (i) and (ii), the description is omitted for the sake of convenience.

  Further, the system control unit 11 of the image processing system 1 uses the division boundary lines 56a to 56d passing through the division point 55 on the display screen based on the operation signal received from the operation unit 10 as shown in FIG. The image is divided into four divided areas and adjusted to the brightness A set by the user, the adjusted image adjusted to the brightness B set by the user, and the adjusted image adjusted to the brightness C set by the user. Since the image and the pre-adjustment image are displayed in the respective divided areas, the image storage unit 12, the image reading unit 13, the image processing unit 14, and the image composition unit 15 can be controlled. That is, the present invention is not limited to the present embodiment, and can be applied to a case where one display screen is divided into a plurality of divided areas by dividing boundary lines passing through dividing points.

  In the above embodiment, when the adjustment mode is switched to immediately, the division point is positioned at the center of the display screen by default, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the adjustment mode is switched. The user may arbitrarily change the dividing point by operating the controller or the mouse.

  In the above embodiment, for the sake of convenience of explanation, the luminance is adjusted based on the user's operation. However, when the image quality adjustment is performed for a plurality of image quality adjustment items such as adjusting the luminance and brightness. Enables adjustment processing for a plurality of image quality adjustment items at the same time by the above-described method. After performing adjustment processing for one image quality adjustment item by the above-described method, the same method is used for the next image quality adjustment item. Arbitrary settings are made such that adjustment processing can be performed.

  According to this, since the user can view the image before adjusting the image quality and a plurality of images after adjusting the image quality on one display screen, the optimum image quality can be accurately selected and set. can do.

[Image display processing]
Next, an image display process executed by the image processing system 100 will be described. FIG. 7 is a flowchart of the image display process.

  First, the user operates a predetermined controller or the like to adjust the image quality on the display screen. The image processing apparatus 1 acquires an operation signal input by the user, and acquires image quality setting information adjusted by the user from the operation signal (step S1). Here, the image quality setting information is specifically information on a parameter relating to luminance. Further, the user operates a predetermined controller or the like to change the size and position of the dividing boundary line on the display screen. The image processing apparatus 1 acquires an operation signal input by the user, and acquires position information of the divided boundary line changed by the user from the operation signal as divided position information (step S2). Then, the image processing apparatus 1 calculates the sizes of a plurality of divided areas obtained by dividing the display screen based on the division position information. Furthermore, the image processing apparatus 1 specifies an image to be browsed by the user from the operation signal, and reads the image. Then, the image processing apparatus 1 performs image quality adjustment and division processing on the read image based on the calculated size of each divided region and the image quality setting information acquired in step S1, and is assigned to each divided region. A plurality of divided images are created (step S3).

  Next, the image processing apparatus 1 calculates position information of a plurality of divided areas obtained by dividing the display screen based on the divided position information. Further, the image processing apparatus 1 generates a composite image by combining the plurality of divided images generated in step S4 based on the calculated position information (step 4). Then, the image processing device 1 outputs the created composite image to the image display device 2 (step S5). As a result, the user can view the image after adjustment based on the arbitrarily set image quality setting and the image before adjustment on one display screen, so that a plurality of images can be compared accurately. can do.

  The user performs a determination operation using a controller or the like when an image having an optimum image quality exists among the plurality of images displayed on the display screen. On the other hand, when there is no image with the optimum image quality, the user operates the controller or the like to adjust the new image quality or change the dividing boundary line for changing the divided area. In step S6, when it is not possible to confirm that the determination operation has been performed from the operation signal (step S6; No), the image processing apparatus 1 repeatedly performs the processes of steps S1 to S6. Therefore, the user can determine the optimum image quality setting by performing comparative observation of the displayed divided images by arbitrarily changing the image quality adjustment of each divided image while freely moving the dividing boundary line. . Then, when the optimum image quality setting is determined, a determination operation is performed using the controller.

  If it is confirmed from the operation signal that the determination operation has been performed (step S6; Yes), the image processing apparatus 1 extracts the image quality setting of the determined image and creates a display image based on the image quality setting. Furthermore, the image processing apparatus 1 outputs the created display image to the image display apparatus 2 (step S7), and the image display process is completed. As a result, the user can determine an image with an image quality setting that seems to be optimal as a result of comparing images with a plurality of image quality settings on one display screen, and can browse the entire display screen. That is, the optimum image quality can be easily adjusted.

  Note that the user can view and browse the image with the optimum image quality setting determined in the adjustment mode on the entire display screen in the normal mode.

  In the above-described embodiment, a predetermined image is divided in advance, and the divided images are synthesized after processing is performed so that the image quality setting adjusted by the user is performed on each divided image. Is not limited to this, and after dividing the image so as to match the position and size of each divided area after processing so that the image quality setting adjusted by the user is applied to the image before division May be synthesized. That is, various methods for combining a plurality of divided images with image quality settings adjusted by the user are conceivable, but the present invention is not limited to the processing procedure.

  According to the present invention, the user can freely change the position and size of a plurality of divided images on which various image quality settings have been performed by arbitrarily changing the boundary line. Therefore, a plurality of divided images at a position and size desired by the user can be viewed on one display screen, and can be compared accurately when adjusting the image quality. Furthermore, when the user determines that the image quality setting of the largest divided image is optimal, the image with the image quality setting of the largest divided image is displayed on the entire display screen, so that the divided image is always equally divided. Compared with the case of, switching after image quality adjustment can be clearly recognized. That is, when an operation is wrong, the error can be easily recognized.

  Further, by dividing the display screen into the center and the outside by the boundary line, the boundary line is not located at the center of the screen, and the image can be easily viewed. That is, it is possible to easily adjust the image quality by displaying the divided images while browsing the images, particularly the moving images. Further, since the boundary line can be changed, for example, it is possible to prevent the boundary line from being applied to the caption.

[Modification]
In the above embodiment, the case where the user adjusts the image quality and determines the optimum image quality setting is described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and a researcher or the like has performed processing. It can also be applied to a case where a subject compares a plurality of images.

  In this case, researchers etc. perform a plurality of processes on a plurality of images. Here, the plurality of processes are specifically processes for adjusting image quality and the like, and processes for performing various adjustments such as RGB balance adjustment, contrast adjustment, brightness adjustment, and brightness adjustment are conceivable. In other words, the present invention does not specify a process to be performed on an image having an image quality. A researcher or the like displays an image subjected to various processes on the display screen as a divided image. The subject can accurately evaluate which image is optimal by comparing a plurality of divided images displayed on one display screen in the same manner as described above.

  According to this, since an image that has been subjected to various processes is displayed as a divided image on the display screen included in one image display device 2, individual differences among the image display devices can be eliminated in the evaluation. In addition, since the position and size of each divided image can be easily changed by arbitrarily changing the boundary line, the size of each divided image can be displayed by displaying a plurality of divided images on one display screen. Can be solved.

  In addition, according to the method of dividing one display screen into the center and the outside, for example, a conventional image is assigned to the outside divided area, and the improved image is assigned to the center divided area so that researchers can see it. It is possible to compare the two images while keeping the subject interested in the desired image. This is because, in the case of the method of dividing one display screen into the center and the outside, the subject's consciousness tends to concentrate in the center and can be impressed strongly, and the weights of the two divided areas are different. is there. In other words, according to the present invention, it is possible to perform not only a simple comparison of images but also an evaluation in consideration of which one is desired to be noticed.

1 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of an image processing system of the present invention. An example of a display screen divided into two right and left divided areas is shown. The example of the display screen divided | segmented into the center and outer two division area is shown. An example of a display screen that is divided into a plurality of divided areas by dividing points is shown. It is a figure which shows an example of the correction characteristic in the case of adjusting a brightness | luminance. It is a figure which shows the example of the controller which fluctuates a division | segmentation boundary line. It is a flowchart of the image processing in this embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Image processing apparatus, 2 Image display apparatus, 10 Operation part, 11 System control part, 12 Image memory | storage part, 13 Image reading part, 14 Image processing part, 15 Image composition part

Claims (4)

An image processing device capable of transmitting and receiving data to and from an image display device,
A dividing unit that divides the display area of the display screen of the image display device into two divided areas by dividing boundary lines that divide the display screen into a center and an outside;
Fluctuating means for fluctuating at least one of the size and position of the divided region by fluctuating the dividing boundary line;
Allocating means for dividing a display image into two divided images corresponding to each of the two divided regions, and assigning each of the two divided images to each of the corresponding two divided regions;
Combined image transmitting means for combining the two divided images assigned to each of the two divided regions and transmitting the combined image to the image display device;
Image processing means for performing a predetermined process on the divided image assigned to the center by the assigning means and not performing the process on the divided image assigned by the assigning means;
The processing for the divided image assigned to the center is the processing for the divided image assigned to the outside, and the processing for the divided image assigned to the outside is performed on the divided image assigned to the center. Exchange means for processing,
An image processing apparatus comprising: Selecting means for selecting one divided region from the plurality of divided regions;
Display image creating means for creating a display image to be displayed in the display area based on the setting of the divided image assigned to the one divided area;
Display image transmission means for transmitting a display image to be displayed in the display area to the image display device;
The image processing apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising: A division step of dividing the display area of the display screen included in the image display device into two divided areas by a dividing boundary line dividing the display screen into the center and the outside;
A changing step of changing at least one of the size and the position of the divided region by changing the dividing boundary line;
An assigning step of dividing a display image into two divided images corresponding to each of the two divided regions, and assigning each of the two divided images to each of the corresponding two divided regions;
A combined image transmission step of combining the two divided images assigned to each of the two divided regions and transmitting the combined image to the image display device;
An image processing step of performing a predetermined process on the divided image assigned to the center and not performing the process on the divided image assigned to the outside;
The processing for the divided image assigned to the center is the processing for the divided image assigned to the outside, and the processing for the divided image assigned to the outside is performed on the divided image assigned to the center. The exchange process to handle
An image processing method comprising: A program executed by a computer capable of transmitting and receiving data to and from an image display device that displays an image on a display screen,
A dividing means for dividing the display area of the display screen into two divided areas by a dividing boundary line dividing the display screen into a center and an outside;
Fluctuating means for changing at least one of the size and position of the divided region by changing the dividing boundary line,
Allocating means for dividing the image into two divided images corresponding to the two divided regions, and assigning each of the two divided images to the corresponding two divided regions;
A synthesized image transmission means for synthesizing the two divided images assigned to each of the two divided areas and transmitting the synthesized image to the image display device;
Image processing means for performing a predetermined process on the divided image assigned to the center by the assigning means and not performing the process on the divided image assigned by the assigning means;
The processing for the divided image assigned to the center is the processing for the divided image assigned to the outside, and the processing for the divided image assigned to the outside is performed on the divided image assigned to the center. A program for causing the computer to function as an exchange means for performing the above-described processing .

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