Apparatus for controlling display of detection of target image, and method of controlling same

Abstract

If a user is to be notified of detection of a face image, it is so arranged that the user can be so notified without being given an odd impression. To achieve this, the image of a subject is obtained by sensing the image of the subject. The image of the subject obtained contains a portrait image, and the face-image portion of the portrait image is detected by executing processing for detecting a face image. When a face image is detected, an apple mark, strawberry mark or heart mark, etc., is displayed near the detected face image. Instead of enclosing the face image within a rectangular border, the mark is displayed near the face image. The result is that the user is not given an odd impression.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating the electrical structure of a digital still camera;

FIGS. 2A to 2D illustrate examples of images of subjects;

FIG. 3 illustrates an example of a mark table;

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating processing executed by the digital still camera;

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating processing for deciding display position;

FIG. 6 illustrates the relationship between the center position of a face and a mark display position;

FIG. 7 illustrates the relationship between colors and complementary colors thereof;

FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating processing for displaying a mark;

FIGS. 9A to 9C illustrate examples of images of a subject;

FIG. 10 illustrates a method of deciding a golden ratio;

FIG. 11 illustrates a golden ratio;

FIG. 12 is a flowchart illustrating processing for displaying a mark;

FIGS. 13 and 14 illustrate examples of images of subjects;

FIGS. 15 and 16 are flowcharts illustrating processing for displaying a mark;

FIGS. 17 and 18 illustrate examples of the image of a subject;

FIG. 19 is a flowchart illustrating processing for displaying a mark;

FIGS. 20 to 22 illustrate examples of images of subjects;

FIG. 23 is a flowchart illustrating processing for displaying a mark;

FIGS. 24 and 25 illustrate examples of the image of a subject;

FIG. 26 is a flowchart illustrating processing for displaying a mark; and

FIG. 27 illustrates an example of the image of a subject.

Claims

1. An apparatus for controlling display of detection of a target image, comprising: a target image detecting device for detecting a target image from within an applied image of a subject;a determination device for determining whether a target image has been detected by said target image detecting device; anda display control device, responsive to a determination by said determination device that a target image has been detected by said target image detecting device, for controlling a display device so as to display a mark and the image of the subject on a display screen in such a manner that the mark will appear in the vicinity of the detected target image.

2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein at least one among the size, color, transparency, type, display position, shape and motion of the mark displayed on the display screen changes in accordance with the size of a target image detected by said target image detecting device or the degree to which a detected image is target-image like.

3. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said display control device controls the display device in such a manner that the mark, which will have a color that is a complementary color of the color at a position on the display screen where the mark is displayed, and the image of the subject are displayed on the display screen.

4. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said display control device displays the mark on the circumference of a circle having a center that is the position of the center of the target image detected by said target image detecting device, and a radius that is the distance from the center to any peripheral portion of the detected target image.

5. The apparatus according to claim 4, wherein said display control device includes: a deciding device for deciding a position on the circumference of the circle based upon an angle determined by a random number; anda device which, in the event that the position on the circumference of the circle decided by said deciding device falls off the display screen, is for controlling said deciding device so as to repeat processing, which is for deciding a position on the circumference of the circle based upon an angle determined by a random number, until the position falls within the display screen;the mark being displayed at the decided position on the circumference of the circle within the display screen.

6. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the mark is a moving image or a still image.

7. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: an image sensing device for sensing the image of a subject and outputting image data representing the image of the subject formed on a photoreceptor surface; andan exposure adjusting device for adjusting amount of exposure on the photoreceptor surface;wherein said target image detecting device detects the target image from within the image of the subject represented by the image data that has been output from said image sensing device; andat least one among the size, color, transparency, type, display position, shape and motion of the mark displayed on the display screen changes depending upon whether the amount of exposure adjusted by said exposure adjusting device is an appropriate value or not.

8. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: an image sensing device for sensing the image of a subject and outputting image data representing the image of the subject formed on a photoreceptor surface; anda focus control device for controlling degree of focusing of the image of the subject on the photoreceptor surface;wherein said target image detecting device detects the target image from within the image of the subject represented by the image data that has been output from said image sensing device; andat least one among the size, color, transparency, type, display position, shape and motion of the mark displayed on the display screen changes depending upon whether the focus-controlled image of the subject is in focus or not.

9. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: an image sensing device for sensing the image of a subject and outputting image data representing the image of the subject; anda composition determination device for determining acceptability of the composition of the image of the subject represented by the image data that has been output from said image sensing device;wherein in response to a determination by said composition determination device that the composition of the image of the subject is acceptable, at least one among the size, color, transparency, type, display position, shape and motion of the mark displayed on the display screen changes in comparison with such time that the composition of the image of the subject is unacceptable.

10. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein in response to a determination by said composition determination device that the composition of the image of the subject is unacceptable, the mark displayed by said display control device is a mark specifying the position of the subject.

11. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein in response to a determination by said composition determination device that the composition of the image of the subject is unacceptable, the mark displayed by said display control device is a mark for performing an operation that will move the subject in a direction in which it should be moved.

12. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image of the subject is a color image, and said apparatus further comprises a color detecting device for detecting the color of the target image detected by said target image detecting device; said display control device controlling the display device so as to display, on the display screen, the image of the subject and the mark, which will have a color conforming to the color detected by said color detecting device.

13. A method of controlling an apparatus for controlling display of detection of a target image, comprising the steps of: detecting a target image from within an applied image of a subject;determining whether a target image has been detected; andin response to a determination that a target image has been detected, controlling a display device so as to display a mark and the image of the subject on a display screen in such a manner that the mark will appear in the vicinity of the detected target image.