JP7613085B2 - Image capture device and image capture processing method - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an imaging device and an imaging processing method.

Conventionally, the mainstream high-definition imaging devices that are widely used have a screen aspect ratio (horizontal size: vertical size) of 16:9 for the imaging information to be processed. This imaging device is highly compatible with devices that have wide screens with an aspect ratio of 16:9, such as personal computers and home TV devices, and the imaging information captured by this imaging device can be efficiently displayed on the screen of these devices.

On the other hand, even with smartphones, which have rapidly spread in recent years, there are increasing opportunities to view imaging information streamed using SNS (social networking services) and the like. Smartphones are often used with their display screens in a portrait state, that is, with a horizontal:vertical ratio of 9:16. Therefore, when attempting to view imaging information captured by the imaging device described above on a smartphone, the imaging information is displayed in a landscape format in a portion of the portrait display screen, for example in the center, and blank spaces or black bars are generated at the top and bottom of the screen. When blank spaces or black bars are generated on the screen, the display size of the imaging information is correspondingly reduced, making it difficult for smartphone users to view the information.

In response to these technical issues, Patent Document 1 discloses a technology in which a video distribution device that streams zoomed video of captured imaging information determines zoom conditions so that an important area extracted from a frame of the imaging information is expanded to the minimum size of the distribution aspect ratio, and distributes the zoomed video cut out based on the determined zoom conditions.

Patent No. 5594842

However, when video information captured by an imaging device is being distributed, if the optical zoom of the imaging device is changed to the WIDE side, the angle of view of the image information being distributed becomes wider, causing the size of the subject in the image information to be distributed to become relatively smaller. In other words, there is an inconvenience in that the image of the subject is distributed from a position not intended by the photographer.

The present invention was made in consideration of these circumstances, and its purpose is to provide an imaging device and imaging processing method that can generate display image information for continuing distribution with the original distribution angle of view that was set, even if the angle of view for shooting is changed by optical zoom.

In order to achieve the above object, an imaging device according to the present invention comprises:
The present invention comprises an imaging unit which is capable of changing a shooting magnification and outputs an image signal by performing video shooting processing at a set shooting magnification; and a distribution information generation unit which sequentially acquires frames from the image signal, generates partial imaging information of a predetermined cut-out range from each of the acquired frames, and enlarges the generated partial imaging information at a predetermined magnification ratio to generate image information for distribution, wherein when the shooting magnification is changed to a second shooting magnification lower than the first shooting magnification while the distribution information generation unit is generating partial imaging information of a second cut-out range having a size smaller than the size of the first cut-out range from each of the acquired frames, and enlarging the partial imaging information of the second cut-out range at a second magnification ratio higher than the first magnification ratio to generate the image information for distribution.

The imaging processing method of the present invention is characterized in that, when an imaging device having an imaging unit capable of changing the imaging magnification and performing video imaging processing at a set imaging magnification sequentially acquires frames captured and generated by the imaging unit at a first imaging magnification, extracts partial imaging information of a first cut-out range set in advance from each of the frames, and enlarges the partial imaging information at a first magnification ratio to generate image information for distribution, if the imaging magnification is changed to a second imaging magnification ratio lower than the first imaging magnification, the range to be cut out from each of the acquired frames is changed to a second cut-out range smaller than the size of the first cut-out range, and the partial imaging information of the second cut-out range is enlarged at a second magnification ratio higher than the first magnification ratio to generate the image information for distribution.

The imaging device and imaging processing method of the present invention can generate display image information that allows distribution to continue with the original distribution angle of view that was set, even if the angle of view for shooting is changed by optical zoom.

1 is a block diagram showing the overall configuration of an imaging apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention. 3 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a distribution information generating unit in the imaging device according to the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the operation of the imaging apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1A is a diagram showing an example of a state in which GUI information for specifying a cut-out position is superimposed on imaging information captured by an imaging device according to a first embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 1B is a diagram showing an example of image information for distribution generated by cutting out a range specified by the GUI information. 1A is a diagram showing an example of imaging information captured after the shooting magnification has been changed to a higher value using an imaging device according to a first embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 1B is an example of image information for distribution that has been extracted and generated from the imaging information after the shooting magnification has been changed. 1A is a diagram showing an example of imaging information captured after the shooting magnification has been changed to a lower value using an imaging device according to a first embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 1B is an example of image information for distribution that has been extracted and generated from the imaging information after the shooting magnification has been changed. 1A is a diagram showing an example of imaging information captured after the shooting magnification has been changed to a lower value using an imaging device according to a first embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 1B is an example of image information for distribution that has been extracted and generated from the imaging information after the shooting magnification has been changed. FIG. 11 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a distribution information generating unit in an imaging device according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

The following describes an embodiment of the present invention, which is an imaging device that generates image information that can be suitably displayed on a portrait (aspect ratio 9:16) display screen of a smartphone when distributing captured landscape (aspect ratio 16:9) image information on SNS.

First Embodiment
Configuration of the imaging device according to the first embodiment
The configuration of an image capture device 1A according to a first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to Fig. 1. The image capture device 1A according to this embodiment is a device for capturing moving images, and includes a zoom lens 2 and a CMOS (Complementary MOS) sensor 3 as an image capture unit, an input unit 4, a video storage unit 5, a network IF unit 6, an external monitor IF unit 7, a display unit 8, a storage unit 9, an image processing unit 10, a codec unit 20, and a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 30.

The zoom lens 2 is a lens configured to change the shooting magnification, and allows subject light to enter at a magnification set by the user using a zoom lever (not shown) or the like. The CMOS sensor 3 is an imaging element that converts the subject light entering through the zoom lens 2 into an electrical signal. The CMOS sensor 3 outputs the converted electrical signal as an image signal such as MIPI (Mobile Industry Processor Interface), sLVDS (sub Low Voltage Differential Signaling), or HiSPi (High-Speed Pixel Interface).

The input unit 4 is composed of key buttons or a touch panel, and inputs user operation information, such as information specifying the shooting magnification, information instructing the generation of a video for SNS distribution, or information specifying the image cropping range described below. In this embodiment, a touch panel is provided on the display unit 8. The video storage unit 5 is a storage medium that stores information generated by the image processing unit 10 and information generated by the codec unit 20 described below, and is composed of, for example, an SD memory or an SSD (Solid State Drive). The network IF unit 6 is an interface for connecting to a specified LAN (Local Area Network).

The external monitor IF unit 7 is an interface for connecting to an external television device or display device (not shown), and uses, for example, the HDMI (High-Definition Multimedia Interface) or SDI (Serial Digital Interface) standard. The display unit 8 is a small monitor for checking the captured video information, and is, for example, a touch panel LCD (liquid crystal display) or an EL display. The storage unit 9 is a storage medium used when the image processing unit 10 and the codec unit 20 execute processing, and is composed of, for example, a DDR4 (Double-Data-Rate4) memory or a hard disk.

The image processing unit 10 has a sensor IF unit 11, a scratch correction/NR (Noise reduction) processing unit 12, a debayer processing unit 13, a color reproduction unit 14, a motion detection unit 15, a shooting magnification information acquisition unit 16, and a display information generation unit 17.

The sensor IF unit 11 receives the image signal output from the CMOS sensor 3, converts the serial data into parallel data, and generates the data sequentially as frames. The sensor IF unit 11 also extracts the horizontal and vertical synchronization signals from the received signal and replaces them with synchronization signals within the imaging device 1A. The memory unit 9 may be used when performing this process.

The blemish correction/NR processing unit 12 acquires the data converted by the sensor IF unit 11 for each frame as information to be processed, and performs interpolation processing of so-called blemish data contained in the corresponding frame and noise reduction processing. The noise reduction processing may employ either 2DNR (2-dimensional noise reduction), which performs processing for each frame, or 3DNR (3-dimensional noise reduction), which performs processing by analyzing consecutive frames. The memory unit 9 may be used when performing this processing.

If the CMOS sensor 3 supports the Bayer structure of R, Gr, Gb, B, the debayer processing unit 13 converts the frame acquired from the CMOS sensor 3 into an R, G, B structure by debayer processing. If the CMOS sensor 3 supports monochrome or a 3-CMOS structure, debayer processing is not performed on the acquired frame. The color reproduction unit 14 performs gamma correction processing and color management processing according to a preset white balance on the acquired frame.

The motion detection unit 15 detects subject motion information from video information for distribution generated by a distribution information generation unit 19A of the display information generation unit 17 described below. The shooting magnification information acquisition unit 16 acquires information on the shooting magnification set in the zoom lens 2 via the CPU 30.

The display information generating unit 17 has a main information generating unit 18 and a distribution information generating unit 19A. The main information generating unit 18 generates display image information with an aspect ratio of 16:9 compatible with high definition and the like from the acquired frames. The generated display image information is sequentially sent by the CPU 30 from the storage unit 9 to the video storage unit 5 and recorded as main video information.

The distribution information generating unit 19A generates distribution image information from the acquired frames as display information with an aspect ratio of 9:16 to be displayed on a portrait display screen such as a smartphone (not shown) via distribution on SNS or the like. The generated distribution image information is sequentially sent by the CPU 30 from the storage unit 9 to the video storage unit 5 and recorded as distribution video information.

The detailed configuration of the distribution information generating unit 19A will be described with reference to FIG. 2. The distribution information generating unit 19A has a GUI (Graphical User Interface) display control unit 191, a cropping range setting unit 192, a cropping unit 193, a resizing processing unit 194, and a setting change unit 195.

When an instruction to generate GUI information for SNS distribution is input from the input unit 4, the GUI display control unit 191 causes the display unit 8 to display GUI information for specifying a rectangular cut-out range of a specified size with an aspect ratio of 9:16 from the captured video information.

The cut-out range setting unit 192 sets the cut-out range within the frame specified by the user using the GUI information displayed under the control of the GUI display control unit 191 as the first cut-out range. The cut-out range setting unit 192 also changes the cut-out range based on an instruction from the setting change unit 195, which will be described later.

The cropping unit 193 crops out the imaging information of the first cropping range set by the cropping range setting unit 192 as partial imaging information from a frame captured at a predetermined first imaging magnification. The resizing processing unit 194 resizes the partial imaging information cropped by the cropping unit 193 for SNS distribution to generate image information for distribution.

When the setting change unit 195 detects that the shooting magnification has been changed to a second shooting magnification lower than the first shooting magnification during shooting based on the information on the shooting magnification of the zoom lens 2 acquired by the shooting magnification information acquisition unit 16, it changes the cut-out range in the frame to a second cut-out range smaller than the size of the first cut-out range for the cut-out range setting unit 192.

Furthermore, when the setting change unit 195 detects that the shooting magnification of the zoom lens 2 has been returned to the first shooting magnification after changing the cut-out range to the second cut-out range, it sets the cut-out range setting unit 192 to return the cut-out range to the first cut-out range. Furthermore, when the setting change unit 195 detects subject movement of a predetermined value or more in the image information for distribution generated after changing the cut-out range to the second cut-out range, it instructs the cut-out range setting unit 192 to change the cut-out range in the frame to a third cut-out range that is larger than the second cut-out range and smaller than the first cut-out range.

Returning to FIG. 1, the codec unit 20 has a main codec unit 21 and a distribution codec unit 22. The main codec unit 21 encodes the main video information generated and stored by the main information generation unit 18 for storage in the video storage unit 5, and temporarily stores it in the storage unit 9. The CPU 30 then stores the data temporarily stored in the storage unit 9 in file format in the video storage unit 5. The codec unit 21 also encodes the main video information when transmitting it to an external server device or the like via the network IF unit 6. Furthermore, the main codec unit 21 decodes the encoded main video information when it is played on a display device or the like from the external monitor IF unit 7, or when it is played on the display unit 8.

The distribution codec unit 22 encodes the distribution video information generated by the distribution information generation unit 19B for transmission to an external display device and stores it in the storage unit 9. The distribution codec unit 22 also decodes the encoded distribution video information when playing it.

The CPU 30 controls the operation of the zoom lens 2, CMOS sensor 3, input unit 4, video memory unit 5, network IF unit 6, external monitor IF unit 7, display unit 8, memory unit 9, image processing unit 10, and codec unit 20 described above.

<Operation of the imaging device according to the first embodiment>
Next, the operation of the imaging device 1A according to this embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart in Fig. 3. First, when the user performs an operation to instruct the start of moving image shooting from the input unit 4, moving image shooting processing is started by the zoom lens 2 set to the first shooting magnification Z1, the CMOS sensor 3, and the image processing unit 10. Information on the shot moving image is displayed on the display unit 8 by the CPU 30.

Next, when the user performs an operation on the input unit 4 to instruct the creation of a video for distribution on SNS ("YES" in S1), the GUI display control unit 191 in the image processing unit 10 causes GUI information for specifying a rectangular cut-out range (first cut-out range) of a first size with an aspect ratio of 9:16 from a frame of the captured video information to be superimposed on the video information and displayed on the display unit 8 (S2).

Figure 4(a) shows an example of GUI information superimposed on video information displayed on the display unit 8. In Figure 4(a), GUI information is displayed on video information of a mother and child monkey. The GUI information has frame information G1 with an aspect ratio of 9:16, a horizontal screen center line G2 of the display unit 8, a vertical screen center line G3, a left arrow button G4 for horizontally moving the frame information G1 to the left, a right arrow button G5 for horizontally moving the frame information G1 to the right, a position determination button G7 for determining the horizontal position of the frame information G1, and message information G8 encouraging the user to perform a position determination operation by sliding the frame information G1.

The user operates the left arrow button G4 or the right arrow button G5 on the input unit 4 to move the frame information G1 to the desired position, i.e., the position of the subject to be distributed, and then operates the position determination button G7. When the position determination button G7 is operated to determine the horizontal position of the frame information G1 ("YES" in S3), the cut-out range setting unit 192 sets the first cut-out range A1 indicated by the frame information G1 as the cut-out range within the frame (S4).

When setting the first cut-out range A1 for processing the captured video information, the cut-out range setting unit 192 first specifies a predetermined position (e.g., the left edge position) of the frame information G1 as the horizontal cut-out start position H1. In addition, as the vertical cut-out start position V1 of the cut-out range, a position 1080 pixels vertically from the top or bottom edge of the frame is specified if the video information to be processed is of HD quality, and a position 2160 pixels vertically if the video information is of 4K quality, i.e., the top or bottom edge of the frame.

Next, the cropping unit 193 crops out partial image information of the first cropping range A1 set by the cropping range setting unit 192 from frame F1 of the video information to be processed. Then, the resizing processing unit 194 enlarges (resizes) the partial image information cropped by the cropping unit 193 at a predetermined first enlargement ratio for SNS distribution to generate distribution image information D1 of a predetermined size as shown in FIG. 4(b). Thereafter, based on the first cropping range A1 set in step S4, distribution image information is generated for each frame acquired sequentially by shooting (S5).

When the user changes the magnification of the zoom lens 2 from the first magnification Z1 to the second magnification Z2 through the input unit 4 during shooting ("YES" in S6, "YES" in S7), the magnification information acquisition unit 16 acquires information on the first magnification Z1 before the change and information on the magnification Z2 after the change. The frame F2 acquired on the display unit 8 after the magnification was changed is shown in FIG. 5(a).

The setting change unit 195 calculates the zoom magnification ratio Z1/Z2>1 from the information acquired by the shooting magnification information acquisition unit 16, and thereby recognizes that the change in the shooting magnification is a change in the Wide direction. The setting change unit 195 changes the cut-out range set by the cut-out range setting unit 192 to a second cut-out range A2 whose size is calculated by Z2/Z1 and is smaller than the size of the first cut-out range A1, as shown in FIG. 5(a).

Here, the second cropping range A2 changes in conjunction with the first cropping range A1 and the zoom magnification ratio.

If the number of horizontal pixels of the video information to be processed is Hpixel, and the cut-out start position within the first cut-out range A1 is H1, counting from the top left of the screen, the cut-out start position H2 in the horizontal direction of the second cut-out range A2 is given by the following formula (1).

H2 = Hpixel /2 × (1 - Z2 / Z1) + H1 × Z2 / Z1 (1)
For example, Hpixel is 1,920 for HD quality and 3,840 for 4K quality.

If the number of vertical pixels of the video information to be processed is Vpixel, the vertical cut-out start position V2 of the second cut-out range A2 is given by the following formula (2).

V2 = Vpixel /2 × (1 - Z2 / Z1) (2)
For example, Vpixel is 1,080 for HD quality and 2,160 for 4K quality.

Of course, Hpixel and Vpixel can be calculated using formulas (1) and (2) by referencing the number of horizontal pixels and the number of vertical pixels of the video information to be processed, regardless of the screen size, such as HD quality or 4K quality. When the shooting magnification is changed, the first shooting magnification Z1 at the time when the user set the first cropping range A1 is fixed, and the second shooting magnification Z2, which is the changed shooting magnification, is changed and recalculated.

Then, the cropping unit 193 switches the cropping range from the subsequently acquired frame F2 to the second cropping range A2. The resizing processing unit 194 enlarges the partial image information cropped in the second cropping range A2 at a second magnification ratio calculated as Z1/Z2, which is higher than the first magnification ratio. The resizing processing unit 194 then generates image information for distribution of the same size as the image information for distribution generated in step S5, as shown in FIG. 5(b). Thereafter, based on the changed second cropping range A2, image information for distribution D2 is generated for each frame acquired sequentially by shooting (S8).

After that, when the user operates the input unit 4 to return the shooting magnification of the zoom lens 2 to the first shooting magnification Z1, that is, to change it to the Tele direction ("YES" in S9, "YES" in S10), the shooting magnification information acquisition unit 16 acquires information on the change. Then, based on the information on the change, the setting change unit 195 returns the setting of the cut-out range to the first cut-out range A1 (S11).

Then, the cropping unit 193 switches the cropping range from the subsequently acquired frame F3 to the first cropping range A1. The resizing processing unit 194 enlarges the partial image information cropped in the first cropping range A1 at the first magnification ratio to generate distribution image information D3 of the same range as the processing in step S5. Thereafter, distribution image information is generated for each frame acquired sequentially by shooting in the changed first cropping range A1 (S11).

Furthermore, after the cut-out range is changed to the second cut-out range A2, when the shooting magnification of the zoom lens 2 is not returned to the first shooting magnification Z1 ("NO" in S9), the motion detection unit 15 detects the motion of the subject in the generated image information for distribution. To detect the motion of the subject, existing technology, for example, the amount of change in luminance between previous and next frames, or motion vector information of the subject is used.

Here, when the motion detection unit 15 detects a motion equal to or greater than a predetermined value from the image information for distribution ("YES" in S12), the setting change unit 195 changes the set cut-out range to a third cut-out range A3 that is larger than the second cut-out range A2 and smaller than the first cut-out range A1, as shown in FIG. 6(a).

Then, the cropping unit 193 switches the cropping range from the subsequently acquired frame F4 to a third cropping range A3. The resizing processing unit 194 enlarges the partial image information cropped in the third cropping range A3 at a third magnification rate lower than the second magnification rate to generate distribution image information D4 of the same size as the distribution image information generated in step S5. Thereafter, distribution image information is generated for each frame acquired sequentially by shooting using the changed cropping range (S13).

Then, returning to step S9, if the shooting magnification of the zoom lens 2 has not been returned to the first shooting magnification Z1 ("NO" in S9) and further movement of a predetermined value or more is detected from the changed image information for distribution ("YES" in S12), the setting change unit 195 changes the set cut-out range to a fourth cut-out range A4 that is larger than the third cut-out range A3 and smaller than the first cut-out range A1. Thereafter, the processing of step S13 is executed in the same manner as described above.

In step S7 of the above process, if the user changes the shooting magnification of the zoom lens 2 in the Tele direction during shooting to change the shooting angle of view as shown in FIG. 7(a) ("NO" in S7), the range to be cut out from the subsequently acquired frame F5 remains the first cut-out range A1. As a result, distribution image information D5 is generated from the cut-out partial imaging information in which the subject is enlarged more than in the distribution image information D1, as shown in FIG. 6(b).

Also, if the shooting magnification is further changed in the wide direction in step S10 ("NO" in S10), the process returns to step S8, where the setting change unit 195 changes the cropping range to an even smaller size.

According to the first embodiment described above, when video distribution of image information with a horizontal aspect ratio of 16:9 captured by a general imaging device is displayed on a vertical display device with an aspect ratio of 9:16 on a smartphone, even if the angle of view for shooting is changed by optical zoom, distribution can be continued with the original angle of view for distribution that was set, and even if the subject moves, distribution and shooting can be continued without missing the subject from the image for distribution.

Second Embodiment
Configuration of the imaging device according to the second embodiment
The configuration of the imaging device 1B according to the second embodiment of the present invention is similar to the configuration of the imaging device 1A described in the first embodiment, except that the display information generating unit 17 of the image processing unit 10 has a distribution information generating unit 19B instead of the distribution information generating unit 19A. Therefore, detailed descriptions of parts having the same functions will be omitted.

In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 8, the distribution information generating unit 19B has an MTF information storage unit 196 and an image correction unit 197 in addition to the configuration of the distribution information generating unit 19A described in the first embodiment.

The MTF information storage unit 196 pre-stores MTF (Modulation Transfer Function) information for each shooting magnification set in the zoom lens 2. When the image correction unit 197 detects that the shooting magnification set in the zoom lens 2 has been changed, it performs correction so as to emphasize the edge portions of the subject in the generated image information for distribution based on the difference between the MTF information of the shooting magnification before the change and the MTF information of the shooting magnification after the change.

<Operation of the imaging device according to the second embodiment>
In the imaging device 1B according to this embodiment, image information for distribution related to captured video information is generated by the same process as in the imaging device 1A described in the first embodiment. At that time, when the imaging magnification set in the zoom lens 2 is changed from the first imaging magnification Z1 to the second imaging magnification Z2, the image correction unit 197 detects this.

When the image correction unit 197 detects that the shooting magnification has been changed, it performs correction so as to emphasize the edge portions of the subject in the image information for distribution generated in step S8 based on the difference between the MTF information of the first shooting magnification Z1 and the MTF information of the second shooting magnification Z2 stored in the MTF information storage unit. Specifically, when the difference between the MTF information of the second shooting magnification Z2 and the MTF information of the first shooting magnification Z1 is large, good image quality is obtained, so correction is performed so as to weaken the degree of emphasis on the edge portions. Conversely, when the difference is small or in the negative direction, image quality is degraded, so correction is performed so as to strengthen the degree of emphasis on the edge portions. In addition, in conjunction with the ratio between the second shooting magnification Z2 and the first shooting magnification Z1, the emphasis on the edge portions may be further strengthened as the second magnification Z1/Z2 increases.

In addition, in order to keep costs down, the memory capacity of the MTF information storage unit 196 may be minimized or omitted. In this case, since the MTF performance of a lens generally deteriorates toward the periphery of the screen, the degree of edge enhancement may be controlled according to the position of the horizontal cut-out start position H2 of the second cut-out range A2. For example, if H2 is near the center of the screen, edge enhancement may be weakened, and the closer H2 is to the left or right edge of the screen, the stronger the edge enhancement. The edge enhancement may be strengthened in conjunction with the ratio between the second shooting magnification Z2 and the first shooting magnification Z1, and the greater the magnification Z2/Z1.

According to the second embodiment described above, it is possible to generate clear image information for distribution even when the cut-out image information is enlarged.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1A, 1B Imaging device 2 Zoom lens 3 CMOS sensor 4 Input section 5 Video storage section 6 Network IF section 9 Storage section 10 Image processing section 11 Sensor IF section 12 Scratch correction/NR processing section 13 Debayer processing section 14 Color reproduction section 15 Motion detection section 16 Shooting magnification information acquisition section 17 Display information generation section 18 Main information generation section 19A, 19B Distribution information generation section 20 Codec section 21 Main codec section 22 Distribution codec section 191 GUI display control section 192 Crop range setting section 193 Crop section 194 Resize processing section 195 Setting change section 196 MTF information storage section 197 Image correction section

Claims (3)

an imaging unit that is capable of changing a shooting magnification and outputs an image signal by performing moving image shooting processing at a set shooting magnification;
a distribution information generating unit that sequentially acquires frames from the image signal, generates partial image information of a predetermined cutout range from each of the acquired frames, and enlarges the generated partial image information at a predetermined enlargement rate to generate distribution image information;
Equipped with
when the imaging magnification is changed to a second imaging magnification lower than the first imaging magnification while the information-for-distribution generation unit is generating the image information for distribution by enlarging, at a first magnification ratio, partial imaging information cut out in a preset first cropping range from each of the frames photographed and acquired by the imaging unit at a first imaging magnification, the information-for-distribution generation unit switches to generate partial imaging information of a second cropping range having a size smaller than the size of the first cropping range from each of the acquired frames and enlarging the partial imaging information of the second cropping range at a second magnification ratio higher than the first magnification ratio;
an imaging device which, when movement of a subject equal to or greater than a predetermined value is detected in the image information for distribution generated after changing the range to be cut out from the acquired frame from the first cut-out range to the second cut-out range, switches to generate image information for display by changing the range to be cut out from the acquired frame to a third cut-out range that is larger than the second cut-out range and smaller than the first cut-out range. The imaging device according to claim 1, characterized in that the second cropping range is set based on the ratio between the first imaging magnification and the second imaging magnification. An imaging device having an imaging unit capable of changing a shooting magnification and performing a moving image shooting process at a set shooting magnification,
while sequentially acquiring frames photographed and generated by the imaging unit at a first photographing magnification, cutting out partial image information of a preset first cropping range from each of the frames, and enlarging the partial image information at a first magnification ratio to generate image information for distribution, if the photographing magnification ratio changes to a second photographing magnification ratio lower than the first photographing magnification ratio, the range to be cropped from each of the acquired frames is changed to a second cropping range having a size smaller than the size of the first cropping range, and the partial image information of the second cropping range is enlarged at a second magnification ratio higher than the first magnification ratio to generate the image information for distribution;
An imaging processing method characterized in that, when subject movement of a predetermined value or more is detected in the image information for distribution generated after the range to be cut out from the acquired frame is changed from the first cut-out range to the second cut-out range, the method switches so as to change the range to be cut out from the acquired frame to a third cut-out range larger than the second cut-out range and smaller than the first cut-out range and generate image information for display.

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