Image-capturing device

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2016336041-A1
Application number	US-201615218188-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Jul 25, 2016
Priority date	Jul 4, 2014
Publication date	Nov 17, 2016
Grant date	—

Abstract

An image-capturing device according to the present disclosure includes: an image-capturing unit that captures a moving image and generates first moving image data; and a controller that generates second moving image data based on a cutout area obtained by cutting out a part of an entire area of a moving image indicated by the first moving image data and records the generated second moving image data on a recording medium. The controller changes at least one of a position and a size of the cutout area according to a predetermined instruction of a user and records resultant image data on the recording medium.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . An image-capturing device comprising:
an image-capturing unit that captures a moving image and generates first moving image data; and a controller that generates second moving image data based on a cutout area obtained by cutting out a part of an entire area of a moving image indicated by the first moving image data and records the generated second moving image data on a recording medium, wherein the controller changes at least one of a position and a size of the cutout area according to a predetermined instruction of a user and records resultant image data on the recording medium.

2 . The image-capturing device according to claim 1 , wherein the controller generates the second moving image data while moving the cutout area.

3 . The image-capturing device according to claim 2 , further comprising an input unit that accepts an instruction concerning a movement of the cutout area,
wherein the instruction concerning the movement of the cutout area includes an instruction concerning at least one of a starting point of the movement, an ending point of the movement, a moving direction, a moving speed, a manner of changing the moving speed, and a movement path.

4 . The image-capturing device according to claim 2 , further comprising a second input unit that accepts an instruction to pause a movement of the cutout area,
wherein the controller stops the movement of the cutout area, and continues the generation and recording of the second moving image data, when the second input unit accepts the instruction to pause.

5 . The image-capturing device according to claim 1 , wherein the controller generates the second moving image data while changing the size of the cutout area.

6 . The image-capturing device according to claim 5 , further comprising an input unit that accepts an instruction concerning zooming,
wherein the instruction concerning zooming includes an instruction concerning at least one of a center point for enlargement or reduction of the cutout area, a direction of the enlargement or the reduction of the cutout area, a speed for the enlargement or the reduction of the cutout area, and a manner of changing the speed for the enlargement or the reduction of the cutout area.

7 . The image-capturing device according to claim 5 , further comprising a second input unit that accepts an instruction to pause zooming,
wherein, when the second input unit accepts the instruction to pause, the controller stops the enlargement or the reduction of the cutout area, and continues the generation and recording of the second moving image data.

8 . The image-capturing device according to claim 1 , wherein the controller detects a position of an object from the first moving image data, and moves the cutout based on the detected position of the object area such that the object is present in the cutout area.

9 . The image-capturing device according to claim 8 , wherein the controller changes the size of the cutout area according to a size of the object in the moving image indicated by the first moving image data.

10 . The image-capturing device according to claim 1 , further comprising:
a display unit capable of displaying an entire area of a moving image that is currently being captured; and an input unit that accepts designation of an object displayed on the display unit, wherein the controller includes:
a manual tracking mode for moving the cutout area based on a position of the object designated by the input unit; and
an automatic tracking mode for detecting an object from the first moving image data, and moving the cutout area based on the detected position of the object such that the object is present in the cutout area.

11 . The image-capturing device according to claim 10 , wherein
in a case where the designation of the object by the input unit is no longer performed when the manual tracking mode is set, the controller switches to the automatic tracking mode.

12 . The image-capturing device according to claim 11 , wherein
when the manual tracking mode is set, the controller acquires a characteristic amount of the object designated by the input unit, and when the automatic tracking mode is set, the controller performs a tracking control using the characteristic amount acquired when the manual tracking mode is set.

13 . The image-capturing device according to claim 1 , wherein
the controller detects a face as an object from the first moving image data, and in a case where a plurality of the faces are detected, the controller generates the second moving image data while sequentially moving the cutout area to a position of each of the faces.

14 . The image-capturing device according to claim 1 , wherein
the controller detects a face as an object from the first moving image data, and in a case where a plurality of the faces are detected, the controller generates the second moving image data while reducing the cutout area with all of the faces included in the cutout area.

15 . The image-capturing device according to claim 1 , wherein, during capturing, the controller causes an optical system to automatically focus on an object present in the cutout area.

16 . The image-capturing device according to claim 1 , wherein, during capturing, the controller automatically adjusts an exposure amount based on brightness of an object present in the cutout area.

17 . The image-capturing device according to claim 3 , wherein the controller restricts designation of the position of the cutout area such that a whole of the cutout area falls within a range of the entire area of the moving image indicated by the first moving image data.

18 . The image-capturing device according to claim 6 , wherein the controller restricts designation of the position of the cutout area such that a whole of the cutout area falls within a range of the entire area of the moving image indicated by the first moving image data.

19 . The image-capturing device according to claim 1 , further comprising a display unit capable of displaying an entire area of a moving image that is currently being captured,
wherein, during capturing, the controller displays a frame, which indicates a perimeter of the cutout area, on the display unit by superimposing the frame on the moving image indicated by the first moving image data.

20 . The image-capturing device according to claim 1 , wherein
the first moving image data is constituted by frame image data having 3840 horizontal pixels and 2160 vertical pixels, and the second moving image data is constituted by frame image data having 1920 horizontal pixels and 1080 vertical pixels.

Assignees

• Panasonic Ip Man Co Ltd

Inventors

• Mukai Tsutomu
• Hirota Ryo
• Okazaki Yoshinori
• Nishiyama Akio

Classifications

• H04N23/61

  based on recognised objects · CPC title

• H04N23/631

  Graphical user interfaces [GUI] specially adapted for controlling image capture or setting capture parameters · CPC title

• H04N23/635

  Region indicators; Field of view indicators · CPC title

• H04N23/667

  Camera operation mode switching, e.g. between still and video, sport and normal or high- and low-resolution modes · CPC title

• H04N23/673

  based on contrast or high frequency components of image signals, e.g. hill climbing method · CPC title