US-20260129136-A1 - IMAGE CAPTURE APPARATUS AND CONTROL METHOD

US20260129136A1US 20260129136 A1US20260129136 A1US 20260129136A1US-20260129136-A1

Abstract

An image capture apparatus includes a first generation unit that generates image data at a predetermined cycle, a second generation unit that generates metadata regarding processing up to generation of the image data, a first output unit that adds the metadata to the image data to output externally the image data, and a second output unit that outputs externally, a plurality of times, predetermined information generated until the image data in the metadata is output, before the image data is output by the first output unit.

Inventors

Makoto Yokozeki

Assignees

CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHA

Dates

Publication Date: 20260507
Application Date: 20251022
Priority Date: 20241101

Claims (19)

1 . An image capture apparatus comprising: a first generation unit that generates image data at a predetermined cycle; a second generation unit that generates metadata regarding processing up to generation of the image data; a first output unit that adds the metadata to the image data to output externally the image data; and a second output unit that outputs externally, a plurality of times, predetermined information generated until the image data in the metadata is output, before the image data is output by the first output unit.
2 . The apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising an extraction unit that extracts the predetermined information to be output externally by the second output unit from the metadata generated by the second generation unit before the image data is output by the first output unit.
3 . The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein after the image data added with the metadata is output externally by the first output unit, the second output unit does not output externally predetermined information regarding image data to be output after the image data.
4 . The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the metadata added to the image data and output by the first output unit includes same information as predetermined information regarding the image data.
5 . The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the predetermined information includes information for synchronizing the image data to be output by the first output unit with the predetermined information to be output by the second output unit.
6 . The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the second generation unit generates first metadata synchronized with first image data to be output by the first output unit and second metadata scheduled to be synchronized with second image data to be output after the first image data, the first output unit adds the first metadata to the first image data to output externally the first image data, and the second output unit outputs the second metadata when the first metadata to the first image data to output externally the first image data.
7 . The apparatus according to claim 6 , wherein the second metadata includes predetermined information regarding the second image data.
8 . The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the second output unit outputs externally the predetermined information generated by the second generation unit at a timing of obtaining the predetermined information.
9 . The apparatus according to claim 8 , wherein the second output unit outputs externally, as a set, first predetermined information regarding first image data generated by the second generation unit before the first image data is output by the first output unit and second predetermined information regarding second image data of a same type as the first predetermined information generated by the second generation unit before the second image data output before the first image data is output by the first output unit.
10 . The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the second output unit changes a frequency of outputting the predetermined information depending on an importance level of processing to be executed externally using the predetermined information.
11 . The apparatus according to claim 10 , wherein the second output unit increases a frequency of outputting the predetermined information as an importance level of the processing to be executed externally is higher.
12 . The apparatus according to claim 11 , wherein the predetermined information includes posture information of the image capture apparatus, information regarding brightness of an image, and information regarding image capture processing, and the frequency decreases in an order of the posture information of the image capture apparatus, the information regarding brightness of the image, and the information regarding the image capture processing.
13 . The apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising an image capture unit that captures an image at a predetermined frame rate, wherein the image data is moving image data, the metadata is information associated with the moving image data to be generated for each frame of the moving image data, and the metadata includes metadata before exposure by the image capture unit, metadata during exposure by the image capture unit, metadata during readout of an image signal from the image capture unit, metadata during development of the image signal, and metadata regarding post-processing of developed image data.
14 . The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the predetermined information is information to be used for processing to be executed externally, and the processing to be executed externally is processing of compositing the image data with CG data in real time.
15 . The apparatus according to claim 13 , wherein the predetermined information includes a time code or a frame number of a frame of image data scheduled to be output by the first output unit.
16 . The apparatus according to claim 13 , wherein the predetermined information includes information corresponding to a time of a difference from a time code synchronized with image data to be output from the first output unit or a number of frames of a difference from a frame number.
17 . The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the first output unit is compliant with Serial digital interface (SDI) standard, and the second output unit is compliant with User Datagram Protocol (UDP) standard.
18 . A control method of an image capture apparatus, the control method comprising: generating image data at a predetermined cycle; generating metadata regarding processing up to generation of the image data; adding the metadata to the image data to output externally the image data from a first output unit; and outputting externally, from a second output unit, a plurality of times, predetermined information regarding the image data generated until the image data in the metadata is output, before the image data is output from the first output unit.
19 . A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing a program for causing a computer to function as an image capture apparatus comprising: a first generation unit that generates image data at a predetermined cycle; a second generation unit that generates metadata regarding processing up to generation of the image data; a first output unit that adds the metadata to the image data to output externally the image data; and a second output unit that outputs externally, a plurality of times, predetermined information generated until the image data in the metadata is output, before the image data is output by the first output unit.

Description

BACKGROUND Field of the Technology The present disclosure relates to control for externally outputting information regarding image data. Description of the Related Art A technique called visual effects (hereinafter, VFX) is known. VFX is a technique for compositing computer graphics (hereinafter, CG) with an actually shot image. Cases of compositing a shot image with CG in VFX include a method of compositing CG generated in advance after the shot image is shot and a method of compositing, in real time, CG with the shot image sequentially shot. In the latter method, CG is composited with the shot image by using metadata associated with image data for each frame of the shot image, and a communication protocol called User Datagram Protocol (UDP) is often used because a real-time characteristic is emphasized. Japanese Patent No. 7190594 describes a method in which a time code of metadata is output from an output unit different from an output unit that outputs image data added with a time code, whereby the time code of the metadata can be used even when the time code added to the image data cannot be correctly used. UDP has a possibility that metadata of a certain frame is lost due to packet loss. In a case where packet loss occurs, since metadata of the lost frame cannot be used, there is a possibility that an unnatural image is generated. SUMMARY The present disclosure has been made in consideration of the aforementioned problems, and provides technical advantages that can reduce generation of an unnatural image due to packet loss. In order to solve the aforementioned problems, the present disclosure is directed to an image capture apparatus comprising: a first generation unit that generates image data at a predetermined cycle; a second generation unit that generates metadata regarding processing up to generation of the image data; a first output unit that adds the metadata to the image data to output externally the image data; and a second output unit that outputs externally, a plurality of times, predetermined information generated until the image data in the metadata is output, before the image data is output by the first output unit. In order to solve the aforementioned problems, the present disclosure is directed to a control method of an image capture apparatus, the control method comprising: generating image data at a predetermined cycle; generating metadata regarding processing up to generation of the image data; adding the metadata to the image data to output externally the image data from a first output unit; and outputting externally, from a second output unit, a plurality of times, predetermined information regarding the image data generated until the image data in the metadata is output, before the image data is output from the first output unit. Features of the present disclosure will become apparent from the following description of embodiments with reference to the attached drawings. The following description of embodiments are described by way of example. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of the specification, illustrate embodiments of the present disclosure, and together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the embodiments. FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of an image capture apparatus according to a present embodiment. FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of an image processing apparatus according to the present embodiment. FIG. 3 is a flowchart exemplifying control processing of the image capture apparatus of the present embodiment. FIG. 4 is a view illustrating metadata output from the image capture apparatus of the present embodiment. FIG. 5 is a view illustrating a description example of metadata output from the image capture apparatus of the present embodiment. FIG. 6 is a flowchart exemplifying control processing of the image processing apparatus of the present embodiment. FIGS. 7A-7D are views illustrating the operation from image capture processing to image data output processing of the image capture apparatus according to a first embodiment. FIGS. 8A-8D are views illustrating the operation from image capture processing to image data output processing of the image capture apparatus according to a second embodiment. DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, embodiments will be described in detail with reference to the attached drawings. Note, the following embodiments are not intended to limit the scope of the claims. Multiple features are described in the embodiments, but it is not the case that all such features are required, and multiple such features may be combined as appropriate. Furthermore, in the attached drawings, the same reference numerals are given to the same or similar configurations, and redundant description thereof is omitted. In the present embodiment, an example will be described, in which in a system where an image capture appara