Image evaluation method, image capturing method and digital camera thereof for evaluating and capturing images according to composition of the images

Abstract

An image evaluation method for a digital camera includes analyzing the composition of an image for obtaining a characteristic of the composition of the image, computing information of an ideal composition based on the obtained characteristic of the composition of the image, and generating an indication according to the information of the ideal composition to guide a photographer to compose toward the ideal composition.

1 . An image evaluation method for a digital camera, the image evaluation method comprising:
 analyzing the composition of an image for obtaining a characteristic of the composition of the image;   computing information of an ideal composition based on the obtained characteristic of the composition of the image; and   generating an indication according to the information of the ideal composition to guide a photographer to compose toward the ideal composition.   
     
     
         2 . The image evaluation method of  claim 1 , wherein the characteristic of the composition is the proportion of main components in the image or a position of a main object in the image. 
     
     
         3 . The image evaluation method of  claim 1 , wherein the indication is used to guide the photographer to move the digital camera toward the ideal composition. 
     
     
         4 . The image evaluation method of  claim 3 , wherein the indication is an icon displayed on a screen suggesting to move toward a particular direction. 
     
     
         5 . The image evaluation method of  claim 1 , wherein the indication is used to guide the photographer to zoom in or out toward the ideal composition. 
     
     
         6 . The image evaluation method of  claim 5 , wherein the indication is an icon displayed on a screen suggesting to zoom in or zoom out. 
     
     
         7 . The image evaluation method of  claim 1 , wherein the indication is a control signal provided to a speaker. 
     
     
         8 . The image evaluation method of  claim 1 , wherein the steps of analyzing, computing, and generating the indication are repeatedly executed before receiving a control signal to capture the image. 
     
     
         9 . The image evaluation method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 computing a grade related to quality of the composition of the image; and   outputting the image and the grade.   
     
     
         10 . The image evaluation method of  claim 9 , further comprising automatically capturing the image when the grade is higher than or equal to a predetermined threshold. 
     
     
         11 . The image evaluation method of  claim 9 , wherein the image evaluation process comprises:
 computing an ideal characteristic value, a real characteristic value, and a difference value between the ideal characteristic value and the real characteristic value; and   generating the grade according to the difference value to show quality related to the composition of the image.   
     
     
         12 . The image evaluation method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 capturing an image;   performing an image evaluation process on a captured image, for generating a post-evaluation grade related to quality of the composition of the captured image; and   displaying the post-evaluation grade.   
     
     
         13 . The image capturing method of  claim 12 , wherein the image evaluation process comprises:
 analyzing the composition of the captured image for obtaining a characteristic of the composition of the captured image;   computing an ideal characteristic value, a real characteristic value, and a difference value between the ideal characteristic value and the real characteristic value; and   generating the post-evaluation grade according to the difference value to show quality related to the composition of the image.   
     
     
         14 . A digital camera comprising:
 an image capturing unit, for receiving an image and capturing the image;   a display unit, for displaying the image; and   a signal processing unit, coupled to the image capturing unit and the display unit, for analyzing the composition of the image to obtain a characteristic of the composition of the image, computing information of an ideal composition based on the obtained characteristic of the composition of the image, and generating an indication according to the information of the ideal composition to guide a photographer to compose toward the ideal composition.   
     
     
         15 . The digital camera of  claim 14 , wherein the indication is an icon displayed by the display unit suggesting the photographer to move the digital camera toward a particular direction according to the ideal composition. 
     
     
         16 . The digital camera of  claim 14 , wherein the indication is an icon displayed by the display unit suggesting the photographer to zoom in or zoom out according to the ideal composition. 
     
     
         17 . The digital camera of  claim 14 , further comprising a speaker, wherein the signal processing unit provides the indication as a control signal to the speaker. 
     
     
         18 . The digital camera of  claim 14 , wherein the signal processing unit comprises:
 an image analyzing unit, coupled to the image capturing unit, for analyzing the image and for obtaining the characteristic of the composition of the image;   a computing unit, coupled to the image analyzing unit, for computing an ideal characteristic value, a real characteristic value, and a difference value between the ideal characteristic value and the real characteristic value; and   a grading unit, coupled to the computing unit and the display unit, for generating a grade related to quality of the composition of the image according to the difference value.   
     
     
         19 . The digital camera of claim.  14 , wherein the characteristic of the composition is the proportion of main components in the image or a position of a main object in the image. 
     
     
         20 . The digital camera of  claim 14 , wherein the signal processing unit performs an image evaluation process on a captured image.