Abstract:
There is described a camera device for capturing the image of an object, the camera device comprising: a lens arrangement for focusing the image of the object onto an image capture device for capturing the image of the object; and a movable element operable to move the focussed light relative to the image capture device in one direction, wherein the amount by which the element is movable is determined by the amount of adjustment required to the position of the image on the image capture device in said direction, wherein the lens arrangement comprises at least one lens having an image circle whose size is dependent upon the maximum displacement of the movable element in said one direction.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0001]    1. Field of the Invention 
         [0002]    The present invention relates to a camera device, arrangement and system. 
         [0003]    2. Description of the Prior Art 
         [0004]    When shooting footage to be displayed as a stereoscopic image on a screen, traditionally, two cameras which are horizontally displaced from one another are used.  FIG. 1A  shows a typical prior art arrangement. As is seen in  FIG. 1A , a right camera  105  and a left camera  110  are horizontally displaced from one another. Both the right camera  105  and the left camera  110  are focussing on object  100 . In other words, the optical axes of both cameras converge on object  100 . In order for the optical axes to converge on object  100 , both the right camera  105  and the left camera  110  are angled to slightly face one another. This is called “toe-in”. 
         [0005]      FIG. 1B  shows the images captured by the right camera  105  and the left camera  110 . Specifically, image  115  shows the image captured by the left camera  110  and image  120  shows the image captured by the right camera  105 . Therefore, in the captured object  100 ′ and the captured object  100 ″, a common point  130  is shown. This common point  130  is also highlighted on object  100 . 
         [0006]    Both the right camera  105  and the left camera  110  are capturing the same object  100 . The cameras should be horizontally displaced from one another with the vertical disparity kept to a minimum. This is because, although the viewer can tolerate a small amount of vertical disparity, a small vertical disparity can cause complications with disparity extraction. Therefore, all horizontal lines on the object  100  should be horizontal in the captured objects  100 ′ and  100 ″. However, as is shown by lines  125  in captured image  115 , the edges of the captured object  100 ′ which should be horizontal are slightly inclined across the captured image  115 . This inclined epipolar line complicates disparity extraction. 
         [0007]    Also, as the image captured by the right camera  105  should, where possible, be only horizontally displaced from the image captured by the left camera  110 , common point  130  should be located along the same horizontal line in the captured images. However, from  FIG. 1B , it is apparent that the common point  130  in the two captured images is vertically displaced by d pixels. This vertical displacement (sometimes referred to as “vertical parallax”) results in an uncomfortable three dimensional perception for the viewer when watching the resulting stereoscopic image. 
         [0008]    In  FIG. 1C  a different camera arrangement is shown. In  FIG. 1C , the right camera  150  and the left camera  155  are aligned to be parallel with one another. In other words, the optical axes of the cameras are substantially parallel to one another. This arrangement is used when the optical axes of the right camera  150  and the left camera  155  are not to converge. The images captured by the right camera  150  and the left camera  155  are shown in  FIG. 1D . Specifically, the image captured by the left camera  155  is image  165  and the image captured by the right camera  150  is image  160 . 
         [0009]    From  FIG. 1D , the object  100 ′ in captured image  165  is located to the right of the centre line  170  of captured image  165 . Similarly, the object  100 ″ in captured image  160  is located to the left of centre line  170  of captured image  160 . Specifically, the centre of the object  100 ′ and  100 ″ is displaced from the centre of the respective images by a distance d R  and d L  respectively. Although this arrangement removes vertical parallax, and ensures the epipolar line is horizontal, there are other problems associated with this arrangement. 
         [0010]    Specifically, because the optical axes of the cameras do not converge, it is not possible to obtain the required disparity between the two images easily. It may be possible to reduce the effect of this phenomenon by adjusting the horizontal position of the left image relative to the right image in post-processing. However, this does not make most efficient use of the horizontal pixels in the respective captured images of the object. It is an aim of the present invention to address the above problems. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0011]    According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a camera device for capturing an image of an object, the camera device comprising: a lens arrangement for focusing the image of the object onto an image capture device for capturing the image of the object; wherein the size of the image capture device in one direction is related to the amount of adjustment required to the position of the image on the image capture device in said direction. 
         [0012]    The direction may be the horizontal direction. 
         [0013]    There may be also provided a camera arrangement comprising two camera devices according to an embodiment of the present invention having parallel optical axes and being separated by a predetermined amount. 
         [0014]    The camera arrangement may be connectable to a processing device, wherein the processing device is operable to adjust the position of the one or both captured images relative to one another. 
         [0015]    The position of one or both images may be adjusted such that when the images captured by the respective camera devices are viewed stereoscopically, the disparity between the viewed objects is a predetermined distance. 
         [0016]    When the position of both images is adjusted, such adjustment may be performed in synchronism. 
         [0017]    According to another aspect, there is provided a camera device for capturing the image of an object, the camera device comprising: a lens arrangement for focusing the image of the object onto an image capture device for capturing the image of the object; and a movable element operable to move the focussed light relative to the image capture device in one direction, wherein the amount by which the element is movable is determined by the amount of adjustment required to the position of the image on the image capture device in said direction. 
         [0018]    The movable element may be a further movable lens forming part of the lens arrangement or is operable to move the image capture device. 
         [0019]    The direction may be the horizontal direction. 
         [0020]    The lens arrangement may comprise at least one lens having an image circle whose size is dependent upon the maximum displacement of the movable element in said one direction. 
         [0021]    There may be also provided a camera arrangement comprising two camera devices according to any one of the embodiments having parallel optical axes and being separated by a predetermined amount. 
         [0022]    The movable lens may be configured to adjust the optical path of the light such that when the images captured by the respective camera devices are viewed stereoscopically, the disparity between the viewed objects is a predetermined distance. 
         [0023]    There may be provided a camera system comprising a camera arrangement according to an embodiment of the invention which is connectable to a processing device, wherein the processing device may be operable to adjust the position of the one or both captured images relative to one another. 
         [0024]    When the position of both captured images is adjusted, the processing device may be operable to adjust the position of both images in synchronism with one another. 
         [0025]    In another aspect, there is provided a camera device for capturing the image of an object, the camera device comprising: a lens arrangement for focusing the image of the object onto an image capture device for capturing the image of the object; and an anamorphic lens located within the optical axis of the camera device, wherein the amount of anamorphisation provided by the anamorphic lens in one direction is determined in accordance with the amount of adjustment required to the position of the image on the image capture device in said direction. 
         [0026]    The direction may be the horizontal direction. 
         [0027]    There may be provided a camera arrangement comprising two camera devices according to an embodiment of the invention having parallel optical axes and being separated by a predetermined amount. 
         [0028]    There may be provided a camera system comprising a camera arrangement according to an embodiment of the invention connectable to a processor, wherein the processor is operable to adjust the position of the object such that when the images captured by the respective camera devices are viewed stereoscopically, the disparity between the viewed objects is a predetermined distance. 
         [0029]    The processor may be further operable to expand the anamorphised captured image in said direction. 
         [0030]    According to another aspect, there is provided a camera system comprising a first camera device and a second camera device having parallel optical axes and being separated by a predetermined amount and a processing device, wherein the processing device is operable to extract an area from within each captured image, the area comprising the object and a surround, wherein the area in each captured image is selected such that when both areas are stereoscopically viewed, the disparity between the two objects in the areas is a predetermined amount. 
         [0031]    The processing device may be further operable to expand the extracted area to the size of the original captured image. 
         [0032]    There may also be provided a camera device according to any one of the embodiments comprising an output terminal operable to output the amount of movement of the element to a further device. 
         [0033]    According to another aspect, there is provided a method of capturing an image of an object, comprising: providing a lens arrangement for focusing the image of the object onto an image capture device for capturing the image of the object; wherein the size of the image capture device in one direction is related to the amount of adjustment required to the position of the image on the image capture device in said direction. 
         [0034]    The direction may be the horizontal direction. 
         [0035]    The method may further comprise capturing two images having parallel optical axes and being separated by a predetermined amount. 
         [0036]    The method may further comprise adjusting the position of the one or both captured images relative to one another. 
         [0037]    The position of one or both images may be adjusted such that when the images are viewed stereoscopically, the disparity between the viewed objects is a predetermined distance. 
         [0038]    When the position of both images is adjusted, such adjustment may be performed in synchronism. 
         [0039]    The method may comprise providing a lens arrangement for focusing the image of the object onto an image capture device for capturing the image of the object; and moving the focussed light relative to the image capture device in one direction, wherein the amount by which the element is movable is determined by the amount of adjustment required to the position of the image on the image capture device in said direction. 
         [0040]    Either a lens forming part of the lens arrangement or the image capture device may be movable. 
         [0041]    The direction may be the horizontal direction. 
         [0042]    The lens arrangement may comprise at least one lens having an image circle whose size is dependent upon the maximum displacement of the movable element in said one direction. 
         [0043]    The method may comprise capturing two images having parallel optical axes and separating said images by a predetermined amount. 
         [0044]    The method may comprise adjusting the optical path of the light such that when the captured images are viewed stereoscopically, the disparity between the viewed objects is a predetermined distance. 
         [0045]    The method may comprise adjusting the position of the one or both captured images relative to one another. 
         [0046]    The method may comprise adjusting the position of both images in synchronism with one another. 
         [0047]    According to another aspect, there is provided a method for capturing the image of an object, comprising: providing a lens arrangement for focusing the image of the object onto an image capture device for capturing the image of the object; and an anamorphic lens located within the optical axis of the camera device, wherein the amount of anamorphisation provided by the anamorphic lens in one direction is determined in accordance with the amount of adjustment required to the position of the image on the image capture device in said direction. 
         [0048]    The direction may be the horizontal direction. 
         [0049]    The method may comprise capturing two images of the object, the images having parallel optical axes and being separated by a predetermined amount. 
         [0050]    The method may comprise adjusting the position of the object such that when the images are viewed stereoscopically, the disparity between the viewed objects is a predetermined distance. 
         [0051]    The method may comprise expanding the anamorphised captured image in said direction. 
         [0052]    The method may comprise extract an area from within each captured image, the area comprising the object and a surround, wherein the area in each captured image is selected such that when both areas are stereoscopically viewed, the disparity between the two objects in the areas is a predetermined amount. 
         [0053]    The method may comprise expanding the extracted area to the size of the original captured image. 
         [0054]    According to another aspect, there is provided a computer program containing computer readable instructions which, when loaded onto a computer, configure the computer to perform a method according to any one of the embodiments of the invention. A computer program configured to store the computer program therein or thereon is also provided. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0055]    The above and other objects, features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following detailed description of illustrative embodiments which is to be read in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which: 
           [0056]      FIGS. 1A-1D  show prior art camera arrangements; 
           [0057]      FIG. 2  shows a schematic diagram of a camera; 
           [0058]      FIGS. 3A and 3B  shows one camera arrangement according to an embodiment of the present invention; 
           [0059]      FIGS. 4A and 4B  show a camera arrangement according to another embodiment of the present invention; 
           [0060]      FIGS. 5A and 5B  show a camera arrangement according to another embodiment of the present invention; 
           [0061]      FIGS. 6A and 6B  show a camera arrangement according to another embodiment of the present invention; 
           [0062]      FIG. 7  shows a camera system according to one embodiment of the present invention; and 
           [0063]      FIG. 8  shows a graphical user interface used in a processing device shown in  FIG. 7 . 
       
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
       [0064]    In  FIG. 2 , a camera device  200  which captures an image of the object  100  is shown. The camera device  200  includes a lens arrangement  205  through which light  220  is passed. The lens arrangement  205  may include one or more lenses. The light passing through the lens arrangement  205  is focussed on an image capture device  210  such as a charge coupled device array (CCD) or any other type of image capture device  210  such as Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor (CMOS). The captured version of object  100 ′ is shown on the image capture device  210 . Additionally, the camera device  200  has an optical axis  215  which passes through the centre of the lens arrangement  205 . This camera device  200  forms the basis of embodiments of the present invention as will be explained. Specifically, the lens arrangement  205  and/or the image capture device  210  may differ in embodiments of the present invention. 
         [0065]    Referring to  FIG. 3A , a parallel arrangement  300  of a left camera device  310  and a right camera device  305  is shown. In other words, the left camera device  310  and the right camera device  305  are arranged substantially in parallel to one another and are both used to capture an image of object  100 . The image captured by the left camera device  310  and the right camera device  305  is shown in  FIG. 3B . Specifically, the image captured by the left camera device  310  is shown in image  320  and the image captured by the right camera device  305  is shown in image  315 . The image  320  captured by the left camera device  310  has object  100 ′ located therein and the image  315  captured by the right camera device  305  has object  100 ″ located therein. The objects  100 ′ and  100 ″ have a centre point  335 . As can be seen, the image  320  captured by the left camera device  310  includes a first supplemental area  330  and the image  315  captured by the right camera device  305  includes a second supplemental area  325 . The first supplemental area  330  and the second supplemental area  325  are produced because the image capture device  210  in each of the left camera  310  and the right camera  305  has a wide aspect ratio compared with conventional image capture devices. In other words, the first supplemental area  330  and the second supplemental area  325  are areas created by the additional width in the aspect ratio of the image capture devices located in the left camera device  310  and the right camera device  305  respectively. In embodiments of the invention, the first supplemental area  330  and the second supplemental area  325  increase the horizontal size of the image capture device  210  used in the first embodiment by, for example, 15%. So, a typical conventional image capture device  210  used to capture High Definition images has 1920×1080 pixels. However, in this embodiment where the horizontal size is increased by 15%, the image capture device  210  in each of the left camera device  310  and the right camera device  305  has 2208×1080 pixels. 
         [0066]    It is noted here that although the first supplemental area  330  and the second supplemental area  325  increases the horizontal size of the image capture device  210  by, for example 15%, the invention is not so limited. Indeed, in embodiments, the size of the supplemental area depends on one or more of the interocular distance, the distance between the camera and the subject, the angle of the field of view of the camera and the position in which the captured subject should be placed within the image. 
         [0067]    As noted above, one problem with the conventional arrangement of parallel cameras is that the images of the captured object may not have an appropriate amount of disparity. This offset in the conventional arrangement means that the correct disparity is not produced when viewing the left image  320  and the right image  315  stereoscopically. However, by providing the first and second supplemental areas  330  and  325  the additional width allows the position of the object captured in the respective image to be adjusted to ensure that the correct disparity is provided between the images when viewed together. In other words, it is possible to crop and/or adjust the position of the images  320  and  315  after the images have been captured such that the disparity between object  100 ′ and  100 ″ is correct when viewing the images  320  and  315  stereoscopically. The cropping and/or adjustment will be carried out by a processor  340  with an appropriate suite of software loaded thereon. The images may be fed to the processor  340  by a wired or wireless connection. Alternatively, the images may be fed to the processor using a separate storage medium. 
         [0068]    The first supplemental area  330  and the second supplemental area  325  may be the same size. Alternatively, they may be different sizes depending on the application of the left and right camera devices. Also, although the first supplemental area  330  and the second supplemental area  325  provide an extra wide aspect ratio, the supplemental area may be applied in the vertical direction in addition to, or instead of, the extra wide aspect ratio. 
         [0069]      FIG. 4A  shows another embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, a camera arrangement  400  is shown. This camera arrangement  400  includes a left camera device  410  and a right camera device  405 . The left camera device  410  and the right camera device  405  are in a parallel arrangement. However, unlike the embodiment discussed in relation to  FIGS. 3A and 3B , the image capture device  420  in the right camera device  405  and the image capture device  425  in the left camera device  410  do not necessarily provide an extra wide aspect ratio. However, the invention is not so limited and one or both of the image capture devices  420  and  425  may provide the extra wide aspect ratio. 
         [0070]    There is provided in the lens arrangement of the right camera device  405  a lens  415 ′. Also, there is provided in the lens arrangement of the left camera device  410  a lens  415 ″. The lenses  415 ′ and  415 ″ form part of the lens arrangement required to focus the light on the image capture devices. Both lenses  415 ′ and  415 ″ are horizontally displaced from the centre of the image device and bend the light impinging on the lens towards the optical axis of the imager device. The amount by which the further lenses are horizontally displaced is determined by the amount of horizontal displacement required to be applied to the subject. Therefore, by horizontally displacing the lenses  415 ′ and  415 ″ relative to the centre of the image capture devices  420  and  425  respectively, the horizontal position of the captured object is displaced by a similar amount. From  FIG. 4A , for example, it is seen that the optical axis of lens  415 ′ in the right camera device  405  is displaced by an amount  430  relative to the centre of the image capture device  420 . Similarly, the optical axis of lens  415 ″ in the left camera device  410  is displaced by an amount  435  relative to the centre of the image capture device  425 . 
         [0071]    Referring to  FIG. 4B , image  455  is captured by the left camera device  410  and image  460  is captured by the right camera device  405 . As can be seen from  FIG. 4B , the centre of image  455  is shown by line  450  and the centre of image  460  is shown by line  445 . With the camera arrangement  400 , the centre  457  of object  100 ′ in image  455  is located a distance d′ from line  450  and the centre  457  of object  100 ″ in image  460  is located a distance d″ from line  445 . By comparing  FIG. 4B  with  FIG. 1D , it is apparent that the distance d′ in  FIG. 4B  is smaller than distance d R  in  FIG. 1D . Similarly, it is apparent that the distance d″ is smaller than distance d L , in  FIG. 1D . Therefore, by including the lenses  415 ′ and  415 ″ as in the embodiment of  FIG. 4A , the captured object is located closer to the centre of the captured image. Moreover, as will be apparent from points  440 ′ and  440 ″ in  FIG. 4B , the horizontal epipolar lines are maintained. It should be noted here that the examples set out in  FIGS. 4A and 4B  discuss moving the captured object towards the centre of the image capturing devices  420  and  425 . However, the invention is not so limited. By horizontally displacing the further lenses relative to the respective image capture device, the object of interest can be located anywhere within the cameras field of view allowing the disparity between the captured objects to be manipulated. This allows a positive parallax to be achieved using a parallel camera arrangement. 
         [0072]    There are a number of methods available for horizontally displacing lens  415 ′ and  415 ″ relative to the respective image capturing devices  420  and  425 . In one embodiment, each further lens  415 ′ and  415 ″ is connected to a separate stepper motor. Each stepper motor provides very accurate control of the horizontal displacement of the lenses  415 ′ and  415 ″. The stepper motor may controlled by the user of the camera arrangement  400  or as will be explained in  FIGS. 7 and 8 , by an external processor. Each further lens  415 ′ and  415 ″ may be adjusted independently to one another, or may be adjusted in synchronisation with one another. In other words, it may be advantageous to apply the same horizontal displacement to the lenses because this results in an improved 3 dimensional effect when viewed stereoscopically. This advantage is achieved because the same horizontal displacement is applied to each image and so the appropriate disparity is achieved between the two images when viewed together. Additionally, or alternatively, the image capture device in each respective camera may be adjusted along with or instead of the further lenses  415 ′ and  415 ″. Again, the movement of the image capture device in each respective camera may be controlled using a stepper motor or any other known method of moving an image capture device, which may be controlled by the user or by an external processor. 
         [0073]    Further, as the left and right camera device  410  and  405  include the horizontally displacing further lens  415 ′ and  415 ″ which moves from the optical axis of the respective camera device, it is advantageous for at least one of the other lenses in the camera device to have an image circle wider than is conventional. Specifically, it is advantageous to have an image circle that is at least as wide as the maximum movement of the displacing lens  415 ′ and  415 ″. This improves the resolution of the captured image. 
         [0074]    It should be noted here that moving the lens relative to the image capture device is only one method by which the optical path impinging on the respective camera device can be adjusted. Other mechanisms such as having a different lens shape or configuration may be used instead or in combination with moving the lens. Further, the further lenses can be moved in any direction as required and the invention is not limited to just horizontal movement. 
         [0075]    Referring to  FIG. 5A , a parallel arrangement  500  of a left camera device  510  and a right camera device  505  according to another embodiment of the present invention is shown. This camera arrangement  500  is used to capture an image of object  100 . In front of the left camera device  510  is an anamorphic lens  515 . Similarly, in front of the right camera device  505  is another anamorphic lens  515 . The optical axis of each anamorphic lens  515  is coincident with the optical axis of the respective camera devices. As will become apparent later, the amount of anamorphisation (or in the specific embodiment horizontal “squeeze”) provided by each anamorphic lens  515  will be determined by a director. However, the resulting anamorphisation to achieve the effect required by the director will depend on a number of factors. The amount of anamorphisation may depend on the amount of distance between the optical axis of the camera device and the object to be captured, the angle of the field of view of the camera, the camera setting and the distance of the subject from the camera. Other factors include the screen size onto which the stereoscopic image is to be displayed. In other words, the amount of anamorphisation depends on the amount of adjustment required to the position of the image to achieve the effect desired by the director. 
         [0076]    Referring to  FIG. 5B , the images captured by the left camera device  510  and the right camera device  505  are shown. Specifically, image  510 ′ shows the image captured by the left camera device  510 ′ and image  505 ′ shows the image captured by the right camera device  505 . 
         [0077]    In the image  510 ′ captured by the left camera  510 , there is a first area  535  and a second area  530 . In the embodiment explained with reference to  FIGS. 2A and 2B , the supplemental area was provided by the image capture device having a wider aspect ratio than normal. However, in this embodiment, the image capture device in each camera is conventional. Instead, in this embodiment, the first area  535  and the second area  530  are provided because anamorphic lens  515  “squeezes” the captured image of the object  100 ′. By “squeezing” the captured object  100 ′ in the horizontal direction, the horizontal size of the captured object on the image capture device is reduced. This means that an area of the image capture device is then unused. The area of this unused area is equivalent to the combined area of the first area  535  and the second area  530 . 
         [0078]    Following image capture, the “squeezed” object  100 ′ is then positioned using post-capture processing to provide the required disparity. In this case, the post-capture processing is provided by processor  545 . In this embodiment, the centre  540  of the squeezed object  100 ′ is positioned in the centre of the captured image  510 ′. However, the invention is not so limited. Indeed, by creating the areas  530  and  535 , the captured object  100 ′ can be positioned anywhere in the image to provide an appropriate disparity between the two images when viewed stereoscopically. 
         [0079]    In order to counter the “squeezed” effect of the captured image  510 ′, further post processing is used to horizontally stretch the active image area (which is the area highlighted in captured image  510 ′ by the hatched lines) to fill the entire captured image area. This means that the captured object  100 ′ is positioned depending on the required disparity and is then stretched to counter the “squeeze” effect. The post-processing which allows the positioning of the “squeezed” object  100 ′ and the stretching of the active image area can be performed by any editing suite on the processor  545  such as the Quantel Sid product. 
         [0080]    Similarly, in the image  505 ′ captured by the right camera  505 , there is a third area  525  and a fourth area  520 . In this embodiment, the third area  525  and the fourth area  520  are provided because anamorphic lens  515  “squeezes” the captured image of the object  100 ″. By “squeezing” the captured object  100 ″ in the horizontal direction, the horizontal size of the captured object on the image capture device is reduced. This means that an area of the image capture device is then unused. The area of this unused area is equivalent to the combined area of the third area  525  and the fourth area  520 . 
         [0081]    Following image capture, the “squeezed” object  100 ″ is then positioned using post-capture processing to provide the required disparity. Although the specific example shows the centre  540  of the squeezed object  100 ″ being positioned in the centre of the captured image  505 ′, the invention is not so limited. The captured object  100 ″ can be positioned anywhere in the image to provide an appropriate disparity between the two images when viewed stereoscopically. 
         [0082]    In order to counter the “squeezed” effect of the captured image  505 ′, further post processing is used to horizontally stretch the active image area (which is the area highlighted in captured image  505 ′ by the hatched lines) to fill the entire captured image area. This means that the captured object  100 ″ is positioned depending on the required disparity and is then stretched to counter the “squeeze” effect. The post-processing which allows the positioning of the “squeezed” object  100 ″ and the stretching of the active image area can be performed by any editing suite such as the Quantel Sid product. 
         [0083]    Referring to  FIG. 6A , another parallel camera arrangement according to an embodiment is described. In this camera arrangement  600 , a left camera device  610  and a right camera device  605  are used to capture an image of the object  100 . 
         [0084]    Referring to  FIG. 6B , an image  610 ′ captured by the left camera device  610  and processed using a method according to an embodiment of the invention is shown. Further, an image  605 ′ captured by the right camera device  605  and processed using the method according to an embodiment is shown. This processing may be carried out in each camera device. Alternatively, the processing may be carried out in a separate processor  630  as shown using an appropriate editing suite. 
         [0085]    After capture of the image, the active area of the image is selected. The active area may be selected by a user. Alternatively, the active area may be automatically selected. In the case of the active area being automatically selected, object detection is used to detect the or each object in the captured image. A boundary surrounding the detected object is then generated. This boundary may be 100 pixels surrounding the object, although any number of pixels may be selected and may depend on a number of factors such as the size of the detected object. The boundary forms the active area. 
         [0086]    In image  610 ′, the active area  620  is shown. After the boundary is defined, the non-active area is deleted. The object  100 ′ in image  610 ′ is positioned according to the disparity required between the images  610 ′ and  605 ′. As the active area  620  is smaller than the image  610 ′, an additional area  620 ′ is provided in image  610 ′. The size of additional area  620 ′ is equal to the size of the deleted non-active area. The active area is then magnified to fill the image  610 ′. This means that the image  610 ′ is filled by the correctly positioned object  100 ′. Similarly, in image  605 ′, the active area  615  is shown. After the boundary is defined, the non-active area is deleted. The object  100 ″ in image  605 ′ is positioned according to the disparity required between the images  610 ′ and  605 ′. As the active area  615  is smaller than the image  615 ′, an additional area  615 ′ is provided in image  605 ′. The size of additional area  615 ′ is equal to the size of the deleted non-active area. The active area is then magnified to fill the image  605 ′. This means that the image  605 ′ is filled by the correctly positioned object  100 ″. 
         [0087]      FIG. 7  shows a further embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, a camera system  700  is shown. The left camera  730  and the right camera  710  are set up in a parallel arrangement as in  FIGS. 3-6  and contain similar features to those explained in respect of  FIGS. 3-6 . The cameras are focussed to capture an image of object  740 . The left camera  730  and the right camera  710  are connected to a processor  720 . This processor  720  may or may not be the same as the processors described in the other embodiments. As can be seen from  FIG. 7 , the left camera  730  is connected to the processor  720  using connection  755 ,  765  and the right camera  710  is also connected to the processor  720  using connection  750 ,  760 . These connections are bi-directional and may be wired or wireless. In other words, the cameras send images to the processor  720  and the processor  720  send commands to one or both of the cameras. As will be explained with reference to  FIG. 8 , the commands that are sent from the processor  720  instruct the respective camera to adjust the position of the image with respect to the image capture device within the camera. In other words, the processor  720  instructs the respective camera to adjust the relative position of the image so that the correct disparity can be achieved. 
         [0088]      FIG. 8  shows a graphical user interface  800  for operation of the processor  720 . In the graphical user interface  800 , the image  815  captured by the left camera and the image captured by the right camera  810  is displayed. This allows an operator to view the images captured by the respective cameras. Below each image are two numerical displays. Under image  815  is a left vertical position indicator  825  and under image  810  is a right vertical position indicator  820 . These indicators identify the amount of displacement from the initial set-up position the respective cameras have been moved. These values can be changed using either the up or down arrow on the indicator or by typing in a new value in the indicator. The sign of the indicator indicates whether the displacement is up or down relative to the optical axis of the camera. A positive value indicates up relative to the optical axis and a negative value indicates down relative to the optical axis. 
         [0089]    Under the left vertical position indicator  825  is the left horizontal position indicator  835  and under the right vertical position indicator  820  is the right horizontal position indicator  830 . The left and right horizontal position indicator indicates the amount of displacement from the initial set-up position applied to the left and right camera. Again, these values can be changed using either the up or down arrow on the indicator or by typing in a new value in the indicator. The sign of the indicator indicates whether the displacement is to the left or right of the optical axis of the camera. A positive value indicates to the left of the optical axis and a negative value indicates to the right of the optical axis. 
         [0090]    Additionally provided are an overall horizontal position indicator  840  and an overall vertical position indicator  845 . These again can be set by the user using either the appropriate arrow or by typing in a value. These can be set by the user to ensure that an appropriate level of disparity between the two cameras in any direction is maintained. In other words, if the user sets an overall horizontal position value, if the user changes the position of the left camera, then the value of the right camera would automatically change to ensure that the overall horizontal position value remains constant. The sign of the disparity follows the same nomenclature as the vertical and horizontal position indicators. 
         [0091]    It is envisaged that in embodiments of the present invention, the method may be performed on a computer processor. In this case, the invention may be embodied as a computer program containing computer readable instructions, which, when loaded onto a computer, configure the computer to perform the method according to embodiments. Also, the computer program may be embodied on a storage medium such as a magnetic or optical readable medium. Also, the program may be embodied as a signal which may be used on a network such as a Wireless Local Area Network, the Internet or any type of network. 
         [0092]    Also, although  FIGS. 7 and 8  describes the cameras as being passive devices (i.e. they are only adjusted in response to a command from a processor), the invention is not so limited. It is envisaged that one camera can output data indicating the amount of adjustment that has been applied thereto to the processor. This data may include data indicating the amount by which the horizontal disparity has been changed by the user. In this case, the processor will update the values in the horizontal and vertical position indicator appropriately.