Abstract: A digital camera is provided with a plurality of image-pickup modes to carry out an optimal controlling process in accordance with an image-pickup scene. With respect to mode selection settings, a switching can be made between a manual selection setting in which the user manually selects an image-pickup mode and an automatic selection setting which automatically discriminates each image-pickup scene, and selects a suitable image-pickup mode. In the case of the automatic selection setting in the mode selection setting, a limited value in comparison with a parameter value relating to the image quality set at the time of the manual selection setting is set as the parameter. As a result, even in the case of a misdiscrimination in an image-pickup scene, it is possible to provide a flawless image as the resulting image, and consequently to prevent serious degradation in the image quality.

Abstract: An image acquired by an image sensor is recorded, and the blur amount of the recorded image is changed in accordance with a blur amount determined beforehand.

Abstract: An image processing system capable of reducing processing time is provided. A digital camera and a PC are connected to each other with a cable for making communications under USB or the like. Image data of a RAW image and computing parameters are transmitted from the PC to the digital camera through the cable. The image data received by the digital camera is sequentially subjected to processing based on the computing parameters in a white balance controller, a pixel interpolator, a color space converter, a gamma converter, a YCrCb converter, an edge enhancer, an LPF part and an RGB converter. The image data having undergone the above processing is transmitted from the digital camera to the PC through the cable.

Abstract: An automatic focusing device capable of focus detection so that the in-focus state can be adequately realized, even if the magnification changes or a camera shake occurs. The sum total of the absolute values of the differences between two pixels in an evaluation area is calculated, the sum total of the square values of the differences between the two pixels in the evaluation area is calculated, and the evaluation value is obtained based on the sum total of the absolute values of the differences and the sum total of the square values of the differences to obtain the in-focus position of the taking lens.

Abstract: An image taking apparatus includes an image sensor which picks up an image of a photographic object and a selector which selects a first photographing mode or a second photographing mode and a controller. The second photographing mode is a mode for composing a plurality of picked-up images to create a composite image. The controller makes the image sensor pickup a photographic object image on the first photographing condition when the first photographing mode is selected by the selector, and makes the image sensor pick up a plurality of images of photographic objects on the second photographing condition different from said first photographing condition when the second photographing mode is selected by the selector.

Abstract: A digital camera is provided which allows easy recognition of what images are stored in a folder created on a recording medium when viewed from a personal computer. The digital camera stores photographed images in folders on a removable recording medium. In response to an instruction given by the user (step #200), a specified image (#206) is determined as an image that represents all the images stored in the folder which includes that image, and then data that marks it as a representative image is recorded in the tag of the image file of the image (#208). When searching the recording medium, the personal computer identifies the representative image based on the above-mentioned data and displays the representative image in a manner superimposed on the image of the folder.

Abstract: An image taking apparatus includes an image sensor which takes a plurality of images different in focal distance, a processor which creates a pan-focus image focused on each of different photographic objects from the plurality of images taken by the image sensor, a discriminator which discriminates whether or not it is appropriate to create the pan-focus image, and a controller which forbids the processor to create the pan-focus image when the discriminator discriminates that it is not appropriate to create the pan-focus image.

Abstract: An image processing apparatus permits easy changing of the file name of an image file created by an image taking apparatus. A personal computer serving as the image processing apparatus is fed with an image file created by a digital camera, and replaces a first character string included in the file name of the image file with a second character string. The first character string consists only of characters usable in a file name on the digital camera, and the second character string consists of characters selected among all the characters usable on the personal computer. The first and second character strings are entered via a keyboard, and are stored, in the form of a look-up table that lists their correspondence, in a hard disk.

Abstract: An image processing apparatus is provided that permits the clear grasping of the relationship between images and annotations when a plurality of images having annotations added to partial regions thereof are reproduced one after another. On a personal computer screen, when images taken with a digital camera are presented in a slide show, each parent image having annotations added thereto along with all the images added as annotation to that parent image is regarded as a group, and one such group after another is presented. Within each group, the parent image is reproduced before any of the images added as annotations thereto. When a parent image is reproduced, frames indicating the regions to which annotations are added are shown superimposed thereon.

Abstract: An image capturing apparatus capable of performing a suitable illuminance nonuniformity correction by setting a suitable ?-characteristic every block even in the case that the size of a character image projected on a sensing surface changes according to an image capturing magnification, and capable of extracting a boundary area between a white board portion and a background portion and applying a suitable image processing to this boundary area during the illuminance nonuniformity correction for a picked image, and capable of image capturing a representation such as characters drawn on a white board in such a manner that an obtained image is clear and easy to see by suitably performing an illuminance nonuniformity correction even in the case of color image capturing, and capable of detecting a regularly reflected light with high accuracy and can thereby securely prevent an error of obtaining an image of low quality by image capturing, and capable of preventing an error in flash-image capturing a representation

Abstract: An image taking apparatus can add an annotation to a partial region within an image without any restrictions on the number and types of annotations so added. The association between an image and an annotation is recorded in a file separate from the image file and the annotation file. When the image file or the annotation file is deleted, when electric power has just started to be supplied, when an operation mode for adding an annotation is established for the first time, when a recording medium is mounted, and when an external device is disconnected, the contents of the file having the association recorded therein are updated so as to be kept always correct.

Abstract: An image processing apparatus that handles images having annotations added to partial regions set within them permits efficient operation by permitting the output of, among the annotations, only those selected by the user. A personal computer sets a preview display region and an annotation selection region in a print preview window, and displays an image in the preview display region and annotations in the annotation selection region. When any of the annotations displayed in the annotation selection region is selected, this annotation is added to what is being displayed in the preview display region. When the image is printed, only the annotations displayed in the preview display region are outputted to the printer.

Abstract: An image-taking apparatus permits annotation information to be added to a region within an image not only with an image that has already been recorded but also with an image that is going to be captured, and thus with higher efficiency. In one screen, either an image that is going to be captured or an image recorded on a recording medium is specified as a parent image to which to add annotation information. When the former is specified, a parent image is newly captured; when the latter is specified, in another screen, which of already recorded images to select is specified, and the specified image is used as a parent image. Within the parent image, a region to which to add annotation information is specified, and then, as the annotation information, an image is captured or a sound is recorded.

Abstract: An apparatus that permits annotation information to be added to a region within an image permits easy specification of a region and permits even omission of specification of a region. When an image to which to add annotation information is specified, a region at the center of the image is set and displayed as a region to which to add the annotation information. If this region does not agree with the region to which the user wants to add the annotation information, the user, by moving, enlarging, or reducing the displayed region frame, specifies the desired region; otherwise, specification of a region can be omitted. The region that was used to adjust the focus of a taking lens when the image was captured may be set as a region to which to add the annotation information.

Abstract: An image capturing apparatus capable of performing a suitable illuminance nonuniformity correction by setting a suitable &ggr;-characteristic every block even in the case that the size of a character image projected on a sensing surface changes according to an image capturing magnification, and capable of extracting a boundary area between a white board portion and a background portion and applying a suitable image processing to this boundary area during the illuminance nonuniformity correction for a picked image, and capable of image capturing a representation such as characters drawn on a white board in such a manner that an obtained image is clear and easy to see by suitably performing an illuminance nonuniformity correction even in the case of color image capturing, and capable of detecting a regularly reflected light with high accuracy and can thereby securely prevent an error of obtaining an image of low quality by image capturing, and capable of preventing an error in flash-image capturing a representa

Abstract: The present invention provides an image display apparatus and a program by which the user can easily compare images with each other on the basis of a link between the images. An image display apparatus has a storing part in which an a group of images classified according to predetermined criteria are stored. For images included in the image group, link relations are defined. A reading part reads the images and the link relations from the storing part and outputs them to a display part and a layout determining part. The layout determining part determines a layout of images on a display of the display part on the basis of the link relations.

Abstract: In an image reading apparatus in which a document is read with scanning by a image pickup device, a height of the document and an outline of the document are detected. Based on the detected height and outline data, together with a calculating of a document size, an offset amount from a setting reference position of the document is calculated. Based on the calculations, the image is processed properly. Also, if the document is not placed correctly or a degree of an image distortion is not within a correctable range, an alarm is issued.

Abstract: An image processing device sets a processing value used for implementing an image processing with respect to a region of image data other than a region defined by an integral multiple of the size of a reference block if it is judged that the size of the image data in at least one of horizontal and vertical directions does not equal to the integral multiple of the size of a corresponding side of the reference block, and implements the image processing based on the processing value. With this arrangement, image processing is executable appropriately with respect to image data of an arbitrary size, and information such as characters written on a whiteboard or the like is reproducible clearly.

Abstract: A digital camera obtains image data of a subject by a CCD. The CCD has, as image data output modes, a “normal mode” of outputting all of pixels of the image data at 60 fps and an “area-limited mode” of outputting an area including a limited focus area in the image data at 180 fps. The output mode of the CCD is set to the “normal mode” in a live-view operation. At the time of an auto-focus control, the output mode is switched at the intervals of {fraction (1/60)} second between the “area-limited mode” and the “normal mode”. While the output mode of the CCD is set to the “area-limited mode”, the state of a display screen of a liquid crystal monitor is held. Consequently, while performing auto-focus promptly, a subject image can be appropriately displayed on the display screen of the liquid crystal monitor.

Abstract: An image forming apparatus automatically determines the photographing mode and displays on a display a kind of the photographing mode with the image of the subject. The image forming apparatus comprises an image pickup part for forming an image of the subject, a photographing mode automatically setting part for automatically selecting one photographing mode from among a plurality of photographing modes based on a photographing condition when the subject is photographed, and setting the selected photographing mode, a display part for displaying the image of the subject; and a display control part for displaying on the display part a kind of the photographing mode set by the photographing mode automatically setting part together with the image of the subject.