Patent Description:
Hitherto, there have been cases in which a monitoring camera is installed at a high place, and an optical axis of the camera is directed obliquely downward, to thereby monitor people passing on a road, and pick up an image of a vehicle and a license plate thereof. Typically, the focal plane at which the camera focuses for image pickup lies on a plane perpendicular to its optical axis. However, in cases where a camera installed at a high place tries to pick up an image of a lower down object (e.g. an object on the road), the optical axis of the camera is directed obliquely downward, and hence its focal plane may not match the actual image pickup plane of the object to be subjected to the image pickup. Therefore, only part of the object may be in focus. Thus, only a part of a screen showing the picked-up image may be in focus, whilst the rest of the object on the screen is out of focus. To address this problem, there is a method of closing a diaphragm of an optical system to increase the depth of field, to thereby prevent the defocusing. However, to pick up an image at low illuminance, monitoring cameras require the diaphragm to be fully or almost fully opened. However, opening a diaphragm to such an extent causes the depth of field to decrease, and consequently the entire screen may become out of focus, and the image is thus picked up under a state of being out of focus. To address this problem, there is a method of using, for example, a TS lens (tilt-shift lens) to incline the lens relative to the image pickup element in the camera, to thereby increase the range of the depth of field. Meanwhile, there is a technology of inclining the image pickup element relative to the lens, to thereby increase the range of the depth of field.

In <CIT>, there is disclosed a technology of using a mechanism capable of inclining an image pickup element with respect to an 'optical-axis orthogonal plane' which lies orthogonal to an optical axis of an image pickup optical system and a plurality of focus detection areas, and inclining an image pickup element based on out-of-focus amounts detected from the plurality of focus detection areas. Moreover, in <CIT>, there is disclosed a technology of using a mechanism configured to freely incline an image pickup element to detect a tilt angle and a tilt direction, to thereby control the tilt angle and the tilt direction of the image pickup element based on the detected pieces of information.

<CIT> relates to a camera control system in which a camera can be selected and the user is able to set, successively, the panning angle, focus, zoom and tilt of the selected camera.

<CIT> relates to an acquisition unit that acquires a captured image. A display control unit causes the captured image to be displayed in the display screen. If a predetermined operation is performed, the display control unit determines that the captured image is changed from a first captured image obtained by capturing a first area to a second captured image by capturing a second area, and the second captured image is displayed in the display screen after the predetermined operation terminates.

<CIT> relates to a camera module which may be tilted through a range of positions to capture multiple images in different orientations. The images may be combined to form a single composite image with higher resolution and wider field of view than the individual images captured by the camera module.

When, for example, a zoom value of an image pickup apparatus (e.g. camera) employing the technology of adjusting the tilt angle of the image pickup element is changed after setting the tilt angle off the image pickup element, a zoom lens moves, and thus the relative position between the zoom lens and the image pickup element changes. The focus position accordingly changes, and the tilt angle is thus required to be adjusted again.

Thus, according to one embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a control apparatus for an image pickup apparatus according to claim <NUM>, control method to be executed by a control apparatus for an image pickup apparatus according to claim <NUM> and a non-transitory storage medium according to claim <NUM>.

Preferred embodiments of the present invention will now be described in detail in accordance with the accompanying drawings.

<FIG> is an overall view for illustrating a monitoring system in a first embodiment of the present invention. A monitoring camera <NUM> and a control apparatus <NUM> are connected to each other through a network <NUM> in a manner that allows mutual communication therebetween. The control apparatus <NUM> is configured to transmit various commands to the monitoring camera <NUM>. The monitoring camera <NUM> is configured to transmit responses corresponding to those commands to the control apparatus <NUM>. A zoom and a focus of the monitoring camera <NUM> can be adjusted.

<FIG> is a hardware configuration diagram for illustrating the monitoring system. The monitoring camera <NUM> includes an image pickup portion <NUM>, an image processing portion <NUM>, a system control portion <NUM>, and a storage portion <NUM>. The monitoring camera <NUM> further includes a lens drive portion <NUM>, a field angle control portion <NUM>, a focus control portion <NUM>, an image pickup element drive portion <NUM>, an image pickup element control portion <NUM>, and a communication portion <NUM>.

The image pickup portion <NUM> includes a lens and an image pickup element, and is configured to pick up an image of an object, and convert the image into an electric signal. The image pickup element may be a CMOS image sensor, CCD image sensor or other type of image sensor. The image processing portion <NUM> is configured to execute predetermined image processing and compression coding processing for the signal of the image, which is picked up and is photoelectrically converted in the image pickup portion <NUM>, to thereby generate image data.

The system control portion <NUM> is configured to control the entire control apparatus <NUM>. The system control portion <NUM> analyzes a camera control command transmitted from the control apparatus <NUM>, and executes processing corresponding to the command. The system control portion <NUM> receives, for example, a request command for a live image from the control apparatus <NUM>, and distributes the image data generated by the image processing portion <NUM> through the communication portion <NUM>.

Moreover, the system control portion <NUM> receives request commands for setting values of the zoom, the focus, and tilt angles of the monitoring camera <NUM>, and distributes, through the communication portion <NUM>, set values for the field angle control portion <NUM>, the focus control portion <NUM>, and the image pickup element control portion <NUM> in accordance with the respective request commands. Moreover, when the system control portion <NUM> receives a setting command from the control apparatus <NUM>, the system control portion <NUM> instructs a control portion (e.g. the field angle control portion <NUM>, the focus control portion <NUM>, and/or the image pickup element control portion <NUM>) corresponding to the setting command to execute control based on the set value. As a result, the set values relating to the zoom, the focus, and/or the tilt angle set by the control apparatus <NUM> are reflected in the monitoring camera <NUM>.

The storage portion <NUM> is configured to record images into an internal storage and/or an external storage. Functions and processing of the monitoring camera <NUM> described later are implemented by the system control portion <NUM> reading out programs stored in the storage portion <NUM>, and executing the programs.

The field angle control portion <NUM> is configured to instruct the lens drive portion <NUM> to change a zoom lens position based on the set value of the zoom transmitted from the system control portion <NUM>. The focus control portion <NUM> is configured to instruct the lens drive portion <NUM> to change a focus lens position based on the set value of the focus transmitted from the system control portion <NUM>. The image pickup element control portion <NUM> is configured to instruct the image pickup element drive portion <NUM> to change image pickup element tilt angles based on the set values of the tilt angles transmitted from the system control portion <NUM>.

The communication portion <NUM> is configured to distribute the image data to the control apparatus <NUM> through the network <NUM>. Moreover, the communication portion <NUM> receives various commands transmitted from the control apparatus <NUM>, and transmits the commands to the system control portion <NUM>. The commands transmitted from the control apparatus <NUM> mainly include the request command for the live image, the request commands for the set values of the zoom, the focus, and the tilt angles of the monitoring camera <NUM>, and the setting commands for the zoom, the focus, and the tilt angles of the monitoring camera <NUM>.

The control apparatus <NUM> includes a communication portion <NUM>, a display portion <NUM>, a system control portion <NUM>, and an input portion <NUM>. The communication portion <NUM> is configured to receive various types of data distributed from the monitoring camera <NUM> and transmit various types of commands issued from the control apparatus <NUM>. The various types of data mainly includes, for example, information on the image pickup field angle including the zoom, information on the focus, and information on the tilting of the monitoring camera <NUM>, and the image data. The display portion <NUM> is, for example, a liquid crystal display apparatus. The display portion <NUM> is configured to display images acquired from the monitoring camera and GUIs to be used to control the camera.

The system control portion <NUM> is configured to generate a camera control command in accordance with a GUI operation by a user, and transmit the camera control command to the monitoring camera <NUM> through the communication portion <NUM>. Moreover, the system control portion <NUM> displays on the display portion <NUM> the image data received from the monitoring camera <NUM> through the communication portion <NUM> and data indicating the set values of the image pickup field angle including the zoom, the focus, and the tilt angles. A keyboard and a pointing device, for example, a mouse, are used for the input portion <NUM>. The user of a client apparatus operates the GUI through the input portion <NUM>.

<FIG> is a view for illustrating an example of a zoom setting screen <NUM>. The zoom setting screen <NUM> is a GUI displayed on the display portion <NUM> of the control apparatus <NUM>. The user operation on the zoom setting screen <NUM> is performed through the input portion <NUM>. An image display region <NUM> displays an image. A text display region <NUM> displays text. A zoom control slider bar <NUM> is used to control the zoom. A zoom-in button <NUM> is used to zoom-in to display a zoomed-in image. A zoom-out button <NUM> is used to zoom-out to display a zoomed-out image. An "apply" button <NUM> is used to finish the setting for the zoom to proceed to a setting screen for the focus. The control apparatus <NUM> receives zoom information from the monitoring camera <NUM>, and expresses the zoom information on the zoom setting screen <NUM>. Herein, the zoom information is information on the zoom, and contains the set value of the zoom. The zoom information is expressed on the zoom setting screen <NUM> in various forms through use of numerical values, text, and the slider bar, for example.

The live image distributed from the monitoring camera <NUM> is displayed in the image display region <NUM>. In the text display region <NUM>, information for instructing the user to set the zoom and information on the image pickup field angle containing a current set value of the zoom are displayed. Descriptions of the various buttons and the slider bar on the zoom setting screen <NUM> are also displayed in the text display region <NUM>.

The user can control the zoom of the monitoring camera <NUM> through the slider bar <NUM> and the buttons <NUM> and <NUM>. When the user operates any one of the slider bar <NUM> and the buttons <NUM> and <NUM>, the control apparatus <NUM> transmits the setting command for the zoom to the monitoring camera <NUM> through the network <NUM>. When the user moves the bar toward an upward direction on the zoom control slider bar <NUM>, or presses the zoom-in button <NUM>, the monitoring camera <NUM> picks up an image zoomed in from the image pickup field angle displayed on the image display region <NUM> of the control apparatus <NUM>. Meanwhile, when the user moves the zoom control slider bar <NUM> toward a downward direction, or presses the zoom-out button <NUM>, the monitoring camera <NUM> picks up an image zoomed out from the image pickup field angle displayed on the image display region <NUM> of the control apparatus <NUM>.

The control apparatus <NUM> receives from the monitoring camera <NUM> a live image obtained after the image pickup field angle is changed through the zoom, and displays the live image on the image display region <NUM>. When the user presses the "apply" button <NUM>, the display on the display portion <NUM> is switched from the zoom setting screen <NUM> to a focus setting screen <NUM> illustrated in <FIG>. Various methods such as a mouse wheel type and a text box type as well as the button type and the slider bar type illustrated in <FIG> are conceivable as the method of setting the zoom. When the monitoring camera <NUM> includes a pan drive mechanism, a tilt drive mechanism, and a roll drive mechanism for a lens barrel portion, setting interfaces for those mechanisms may be displayed on the zoom setting screen <NUM>.

<FIG> is a view for illustrating a display example of the focus setting screen <NUM> displayed on the display portion <NUM> of the control apparatus <NUM>. An image display region <NUM> displays an image. A text display region <NUM> displays text. A display field <NUM> displays a focus mode. An "execute" button <NUM> is used to execute one-shot automatic focus (hereinafter referred to as AF) of automatically focusing only once. A nearer adjustment button <NUM> is used to adjust the focus to a nearer point. A farther adjustment button <NUM> is used to adjust the focus to a farther point. An "apply" button <NUM> is used to finish the setting for the focus to proceed to a setting screen for the tilt angles. The control apparatus <NUM> receives set values relating to the focus from the monitoring camera <NUM>, and displays the set values on the focus setting screen <NUM>.

In this case, a manual focus mode, an automatic focus mode, a fixed infinity focus mode, and other such modes are conceivable as the focus modes of the monitoring camera <NUM>. The manual focus mode is a mode in which the user manually adjusts the lens position of the focus lens. The automatic focus mode is a mode in which the lens position of the focus lens is always continuously adjusted automatically so that, for example, a center region of the image pickup field angle is focused by the monitoring camera <NUM>. The fixed infinity focus mode is a mode in which the monitoring camera <NUM> moves the focus lens to a lens position which is recorded in the focus lens and at which the infinity can be brought into focus. This mode is a mode for picking up an image of far scenery and a far object. An object appearing in the vicinity cannot be focused in the fixed infinity focus mode. Moreover, the one-shot AF is a function of causing the monitoring camera <NUM> to carry out the AF only once for the image pickup field angle under the state in which the focus mode is the manual focus mode, and then returning the focus mode to the manual focus mode.

The live image distributed from the monitoring camera <NUM> is displayed in the image display region <NUM>. Information for instructing the user to set the focus, information on the set values of the focus, descriptions of the various buttons on the focus setting screen <NUM>, and other such information are displayed in the text display region <NUM>. In the exemplary illustration of <FIG>, the focus mode is fixed to the manual focus mode in the tilt setting, and thus only the manual focus mode is displayed as the focus mode in the display field <NUM> for the focus mode.

The user can press the "execute" button <NUM> for the one-shot AF to execute the AF only once, to thereby be able to bring the center region of the image pickup field angle of the monitoring camera <NUM> into focus. Moreover, when the user presses the nearer adjustment button <NUM>, the focus can be adjusted nearer with respect to the image pickup field angle of the monitoring camera <NUM>. Meanwhile, when the user presses the farther adjustment button <NUM>, the focus can be adjusted farther with respect to the image pickup field angle. When the user operates any one of the buttons <NUM> and <NUM>, the control apparatus <NUM> transmits the setting command for the focus to the monitoring camera <NUM> through the network <NUM>. When the user presses the "apply" button <NUM>, the display portion <NUM> of the control apparatus <NUM> switches the GUI from the focus setting screen to a tilt angle setting screen.

<FIG> is a view for illustrating a display example of a tilt angle setting screen <NUM> displayed on the display portion <NUM> of the control apparatus <NUM>. An image display region <NUM> displays an image. A text display region <NUM> displays text. A specification frame <NUM> is used to specify a region to be extracted. When the specification frame <NUM> is set to a desired position through a user operation, the system control portion <NUM> receives a specification for a partial region contained in the specification frame <NUM>. Then, the system control portion <NUM> displays the partial region in an enlarged manner in an enlarged display region <NUM>. The processing of receiving the specification for the partial region is an example of region reception processing. A tilt control interface <NUM> is used to control the tilt of the image pickup element. An up/down tilt control slider bar <NUM> is used to control an up/down tilt of the image pickup element. A left/right tilt control slider bar <NUM> is used to control a left/right tilt of the image pickup element. A display field <NUM> displays an up/down tilt angle of the image pickup element. A display field <NUM> displays a left/right tilt angle for the image pickup element. An "apply" button <NUM> is used to finish the setting of the tilt.

On the tilt angle setting screen <NUM>, the control apparatus <NUM> does not accept a user operation to change camera parameter set values which may affect the tilt angle adjustment. The control apparatus <NUM> receives the information relating to the tilt from the monitoring camera <NUM>, and expresses the information on the tilt angle setting screen <NUM>.

The live image distributed from the monitoring camera <NUM> is displayed in the image display region <NUM>. In the text display region <NUM>, information for instructing the user to set the tilt angles, information on the tilt including set values of the tilt angles and tilt directions available for the setting, descriptions of the control interface and the image displayed on the tilt angle setting screen <NUM>, and other such information are displayed.

A function of extracting and enlarging the image displayed on the image display region <NUM> is provided for the tilt angle setting screen <NUM> so that the user can confirm that an object appearing at a far position in a small size is focused. The user can set at least one specification frame <NUM> for extracting a respective image on the image display region <NUM>. An extracted image in a specified region is displayed in an enlarged manner in the enlarged display region <NUM>. The processing for extracting the image may be executed by the monitoring camera <NUM> or the control apparatus <NUM>.

As rotation axes for the tilt of the image pickup element, various rotation axes are conceivable. Those rotation axes include an axis for an up/down tilt and an axis for a left/right tilt. The up/down tilt rotates the image pickup element about an axis horizontal with respect to an image pickup direction of the monitoring camera <NUM>. The left/right tilt rotates the image pickup element about an axis vertical with respect to the image pickup direction of the monitoring camera <NUM>. As an example, in the tilt control interface <NUM>, the user drags a three-dimensional model of the image pickup element displayed in the interface <NUM> to rotate the model in the up/down direction and in the left/right direction while checking at least one of the image display region <NUM> and the enlarged display region <NUM>. As a result, the up/down tilt angle and the left/right tilt angle of the image pickup element of the monitoring camera <NUM> can be set. Moreover, axes of the tilt and directions of the tilt that can be controlled for the image pickup element of the monitoring camera <NUM> are also displayed on the tilt control interface <NUM>. In addition, on the up/down tilt control slider bar <NUM> and the left/right tilt control slider bar <NUM>, the user slides the bars indicating the tilt angles, to thereby be able to adjust the up/down tilt angle and the left/right tilt angle of the image pickup element. Moreover, effective ranges of the up/down tilt angle and the left/right tilt angle are also displayed at both ends of the slider bars <NUM> and <NUM>.

When the user operates the interface <NUM> and the slider bars <NUM> and <NUM>, the control apparatus <NUM> transmits the setting command for the tilt angles to the monitoring camera <NUM> through the network <NUM>. The transmitted setting command for the tilt angles contains tilt information such as the tilt axes, the tilt directions, and the set tilt angles. The tilt control interface <NUM>, the up/down tilt control slider bar <NUM>, and the left/right tilt control slider bar <NUM> are examples of a user interface image. The display field <NUM> for the up/down tilt angle and the display field <NUM> for the left/right tilt angle display the effective range and the set value of the up/down swing angle and the effective range and the set value of the left/right tilt angle, respectively, out of the tilt information on the image pickup element received from the monitoring camera <NUM>. When the user presses the "apply" button <NUM>, the control apparatus <NUM> finishes the setting for the tilting.

<FIG> are flowcharts for illustrating setting processing by the control apparatus <NUM>. In Step S600 illustrated in <FIG>, the system control portion <NUM> determines, based on capacity information acquired in advance from the monitoring camera <NUM>, whether or not the monitoring camera <NUM> includes a zoom control mechanism and, if it does, whether or not the zoom can be controlled from the control apparatus <NUM>. When the zoom can be controlled (YES in Step S600), the system control portion <NUM> advances the processing to Step S601. When the zoom cannot be controlled (NO in Step S600), the system control portion <NUM> advances the processing to Step S700 (<FIG>).

In Step S601, the system control portion <NUM> requests for the zoom information on the monitoring camera <NUM> from the monitoring camera <NUM>. Then, in Step S602, the system control portion <NUM> receives the zoom information on the monitoring camera <NUM> from the monitoring camera <NUM>. Then, in Step S603, the system control portion <NUM> displays on the display portion <NUM> the zoom setting screen <NUM> together with the received zoom information.

Then, in Step S604, the system control portion <NUM> determines whether or not the zoom has been set in accordance with the user operation. When the user sets the zoom on the zoom setting screen <NUM>, the system control portion <NUM> receives a setting instruction for the zoom. Then, the system control portion <NUM> sets the zoom in accordance with the setting instruction. This processing is an example of field angle setting processing of setting the zoom in accordance with the input operation on the display screen. When the user positions a mouse cursor on the zoom control slider bar <NUM>, and moves the bar while holding a mouse button, the system control portion <NUM> executes the zoom setting in accordance with the user operation. Moreover, the user may position the mouse cursor on any one of the zoom-in button <NUM> and the zoom-out button <NUM> to click the mouse button, to thereby execute the zoom operation. When the zoom has been set (YES in Step S604), the system control portion <NUM> advances the processing to Step S605. When the zoom has not been set (NO in Step S604), the system control portion <NUM> advances the processing to Step S700.

In Step S605, the system control portion <NUM> transmits the setting command for the zoom to the monitoring camera <NUM>. The setting command for the zoom is transmitted when the user releases the mouse button on any one of the zoom control slider bar <NUM>, the zoom-in button <NUM>, and the zoom-out button <NUM> on the zoom setting screen <NUM>. The system control portion <NUM> transmits to the monitoring camera <NUM> the specified set value of the zoom together with the setting command for the zoom. The zoom setting has now been finished.

Then, in Step S700 illustrated in <FIG>, the system control portion <NUM> determines, based on the capacity information acquired in advance from the monitoring camera <NUM>, whether or not the monitoring camera <NUM> includes a focus control mechanism and, if it does, whether or not the focus can be controlled from the control apparatus <NUM>. When the focus can be controlled (YES in Step S700), the system control portion <NUM> advances the processing to Step S701. When the focus cannot be controlled (NO in Step S700), the system control portion <NUM> advances the processing to Step S800 (<FIG>).

In Step S701, the system control portion <NUM> requests for focus information on the monitoring camera <NUM> from the monitoring camera <NUM>. The focus information is information on the focus, and contains the setting of the focus. Then, in Step S702, the system control portion <NUM> receives the information on the focus of the monitoring camera <NUM> from the monitoring camera <NUM>. Then, in Step S703, the system control portion <NUM> determines whether or not the focus mode of the monitoring camera <NUM> is the AF mode. When the focus mode is the AF mode (YES in Step S703), the system control portion <NUM> advances the processing to Step S705. When the focus mode is not the AF mode (NO in Step S703), the system control portion <NUM> advances the processing to Step S704.

When the focus mode is other than the AF mode, the center region of the image pickup field angle may not be in focus. Therefore, in Step S704, the system control portion <NUM> transmits a command to execute the one-shot AF to the monitoring camera <NUM> so that the center region of the image pickup field angle is brought into focus. Then, in Step S705, the system control portion <NUM> transmits to the monitoring camera <NUM> a command to change the focus mode to the manual focus mode. Then, the system control portion <NUM> displays "Manual" as the focus mode in the display field <NUM> for the focus mode. Then, in Step S706, the system control portion <NUM> displays on the display portion <NUM> the focus setting screen <NUM> together with the received information on the focus.

Then, in Step S707, the system control portion <NUM> determines whether or not the focus has been set in accordance with the manual operation by the user. The system control portion <NUM> receives an instruction to set the focus when the user presses the nearer adjustment button <NUM> for the focus or the farther adjustment button <NUM> for the focus to manually adjust the focus. Then, the system control portion <NUM> sets the focus in accordance with the setting instruction. This processing is an example of focus setting processing. When the focus has been set (YES in Step S707), the system control portion <NUM> advances the processing to Step S708. When the focus has not been set (NO in Step S707), the system control portion <NUM> advances the processing to Step S800 (<FIG>). In Step S708, the system control portion <NUM> transmits the setting command for the manual focus to the monitoring camera <NUM>. The focus setting has now been finished.

Then, in Step S800 illustrated in <FIG>, the system control portion <NUM> requests for the capacity information on the monitoring camera <NUM> from the monitoring camera <NUM>. The capacity information includes information on whether or not the monitoring camera <NUM> includes a tilt control mechanism for the image pickup element and whether or not the tilt angles can be controlled from the control apparatus <NUM>. In Step S801, the system control portion <NUM> receives the capacity information from the monitoring camera <NUM>. In Step S802, the system control portion <NUM> determines whether or not the monitoring camera <NUM> includes the tilt control mechanism for the image pickup element and whether or not the tilt angles can be controlled from the control apparatus <NUM>. When the tilt angles can be controlled (YES in Step S802), the system control portion <NUM> advances the processing to Step S803. When the tilt angles cannot be controlled (NO in Step S802), the system control portion <NUM> ends the setting processing.

In Step S803, the system control portion <NUM> requests for the live image from the monitoring camera <NUM>. Then, in Step S804, the system control portion <NUM> displays the tilt angle setting screen <NUM> on the display portion <NUM>, and displays the live image received from the monitoring camera <NUM> in the image display region <NUM> on the tilt angle setting screen <NUM>. Then, in Step S805, the system control portion <NUM> displays text serving as guidelines to be used until the tilt angles are set in the text display region <NUM> on the tilt angle setting screen <NUM>.

Then, in Step S806, the system control portion <NUM> requests for the tilt information on the image pickup element of the monitoring camera <NUM> from the monitoring camera <NUM>. The tilt information is information on the tilt, and contains the axes for the tilt and the tilt directions that can be controlled, the current values of the tilt angles, and the effective ranges of the tilt angles. Then, in Step S807, the system control portion <NUM> receives information on the tilt of the image pickup element from the monitoring camera <NUM>. Then, the system control portion <NUM> displays the tilt angle setting screen <NUM>. The system control portion <NUM> displays, on the tilt control interface <NUM> of the tilt angle setting screen <NUM>, an image expressing the axes of the tilt and the directions of the tilt that can be controlled and the current attitude of the image pickup element. In addition, the system control portion <NUM> displays the current value of the up/down tilt angle and the effective range of the up/down tilt angle in the up/down tilt control slider bar <NUM>, and displays the current value of the left/right tilt angle and the effective range of the left/right tilt angle in the left/right tilt control slider bar <NUM>. Then, the system control portion <NUM> displays the current value and the effective range of the up/down tilt angle in the display field <NUM>, and displays the current value and the effective range of the left/right tilt angle in the display field <NUM>.

Then, in Step S808, the system control portion <NUM> determines whether or not the tilt angles have been set. When the tilt angles are set through the tilt control interface <NUM>, the up/down tilt control slider bar <NUM>, and the left/right control slider bar <NUM>, the system control portion <NUM> receives a setting instruction, and sets the tilt angles in accordance with the setting instruction. This processing is an example of tilt angle setting processing. When the tilt angles have been set (YES in Step S808), the system control portion <NUM> advances the processing to Step S809. When the tilt angles has not been set (NO in Step S808), the system control portion <NUM> advances the processing to Step S810. In Step S809, the system control portion <NUM> transmits the setting command for the tilt angles to the monitoring camera <NUM>. The transmitted setting command for the tilt angles includes information on tilt, for example, the tilt axes, the tilt directions, and the set tilt angles.

Then, in Step S810, the system control portion <NUM> determines whether or not the "apply" button <NUM> on the tilt angle setting screen <NUM> is pressed, and the setting for the tilt angles is thus finished. When the setting of the tilt angles is finished (YES in Step S810), the system control portion <NUM> ends the setting processing. When the setting of the tilt angles is not finished (NO in Step S810), the system control portion <NUM> advances the processing to Step S803, and continues the processing.

As described above, when the tilt angles are to be set through the user operation, the control apparatus <NUM> first displays the zoom setting screen <NUM>, to thereby execute the zoom setting in accordance with the user operation. The control apparatus <NUM> then displays the focus setting screen <NUM>, to thereby execute the focus setting in accordance with the user operation. Then, after the zoom and the focus are set, the control apparatus <NUM> displays the tilt angle setting screen <NUM>, to thereby set the tilt angles in accordance with the user operation under the state in which the zoom and the focus are set. The control apparatus <NUM> can control the order of settings in such a manner.

When the focus and the zoom are not fixed when the tilts are to be adjusted, optimal tilt angles cannot be set. In contrast, the control apparatus <NUM> according to the first embodiment sets the tilt angles after the setting of the field angle including at least the setting of the zoom and the setting of the focus are finished as described above. As a result, and advantageously, optimal tilt angles can be set under the state in which the focus and the zoom are set. In addition, the user can observe the enlarged display region <NUM> for displaying the region of interest specified in the image display region <NUM> in an enlarged manner on the tilt angle setting screen <NUM>. Then, the user operates the three-dimensional model visually representing the state of the tilt angles of the image pickup element, to thereby be able to adjust the tilt angles through the tilt control interface <NUM> while confirming that the object appearing at a far position in a small size is focused. The user can easily set the tilt angles for extending the depth of field as described above. That is, the control apparatus <NUM> can appropriately set the tilt angles desired by the user without requiring complex operations. Moreover, the control apparatus <NUM> can smoothly set the parameters of the monitoring camera <NUM>.

Moreover, for the tilt angles contained in the setting command transmitted to the monitoring camera <NUM>, various expressions such as an angle value and a value normalized with respect to the effective range of the tilt angle can be used.

A description is now given mainly of different points of a monitoring system in a second embodiment of the present invention from the monitoring system in the first embodiment. In the monitoring system in the second embodiment, the control apparatus <NUM> displays, in the display portion <NUM>, images picked up when the image pickup element is inclined in the respective directions about the controllable axes of the tilt. As a result, the user can intuitively understand in what amount to incline the image pickup element in order to extend the depth of field of the monitoring camera <NUM>.

<FIG> is a view for illustrating an example of a tilt angle setting screen <NUM> in the second embodiment. A text display region <NUM> displays text. A tilt control interface <NUM> is used to control the tilt of the image pickup element. An up/down tilt axis <NUM> is used as an axis for the tilt of the image pickup element in the up/down directions. A left/right tilt axis <NUM> is used as an axis for the tilt of the image pickup element in the left/right direction. A display region <NUM> displays a picked-up image picked up when the image pickup element is maximally inclined toward the upward direction about the axis of the up/down tilt. A display region <NUM> displays a picked-up image picked up when the image pickup element is maximally inclined toward the downward direction about the axis of the up/down tilt. A display region <NUM> displays a picked-up image picked up when the image pickup element is maximally inclined toward the left direction about the axis of the left/right tilt. A display region <NUM> displays a picked-up image picked up when the image pickup element is maximally inclined toward the right direction about the axis of the left/right tilt. That is, a plurality of images corresponding to the respective tilt angles at the maximum inclinations are displayed in the regions <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, and <NUM>.

A display field <NUM> displays the up/down tilt angle at the time when the picked-up image displayed in the region <NUM> is picked up. A display field <NUM> displays the up/down tilt angle at the time when the picked-up image displayed in the region <NUM> is picked up. A display field <NUM> displays the left/right tilt angle at the time when the picked-up image displayed in the region <NUM> is picked up. A display field <NUM> displays the left/right tilt angle at the time when the picked-up image displayed in the region <NUM> is picked up. A display field <NUM> displays the current up/down tilt angle of the image pickup element. A display field <NUM> displays the current left/right tilt angle of the image pickup element. An "apply" button <NUM> is used to finish the setting of the tilt.

In the text display region <NUM>, the information for instructing the user to set the tilt angles, the information on the tilt containing the set values of the tilt angles and the tilt directions available for the setting, descriptions of the control interface and the images displayed on the tilt angle setting screen <NUM>, and other such information are displayed. The tilt control interface <NUM> has a function of displaying the live image distributed from the monitoring camera <NUM>. The user inclines the tilt control interface <NUM> toward any up/down and left/right directions about the up/down tilt axis <NUM> and the left/right tilt axis <NUM> as rotation axes, to thereby be able to adjust the tilt angles of the image pickup element of the monitoring camera <NUM>.

On the tilt angle setting screen <NUM>, the picked-up images picked up when the image pickup element is maximally inclined toward the respective directions are displayed in the display regions <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, and <NUM>. The user sees the picked-up images displayed in those display regions to grasp the tilt axes and tilt directions of the image pickup element that enable an effect of extending the depth of field of the monitoring camera <NUM> to be provided. Then, the user drags the control interface <NUM> to incline the image pickup element toward the directions that enable the effect of extending the depth of field to be provided, to thereby adjust the image pickup element of the monitoring camera <NUM> to optimal tilt angles.

When the user operates the control interface <NUM>, the control apparatus <NUM> transmits the setting command for the tilt angles to the monitoring camera <NUM> through the network <NUM>. The effective ranges and the current values of the up/down tilt angle and the left/right tilt angle out of pieces of information on the tilt of the image pickup element received from the monitoring camera <NUM> are displayed in the display field <NUM> for the current up/down tilt angle of the image pickup element and the display field <NUM> for the current left/right tilt angle of the image pickup element. When the user presses the "apply" button <NUM>, the control apparatus <NUM> ends the setting for the tilt.

<FIG> is a flowchart for illustrating display processing for the tilt angle setting screen by the control apparatus <NUM> according to the second embodiment. This processing is processing to be executed in place of the processing in Step S806 and Step S807 described in the first embodiment. In Step S1000, the system control portion <NUM> requests for the tilt information from the monitoring camera <NUM>. Then, in Step S1001, the system control portion <NUM> receives the tilt information from the monitoring camera <NUM>. Then, in Step S1002, the system control portion <NUM> performs such control as to display the received tilt information. Specifically, the system control portion <NUM> displays the controllable tilt axes in the up/down tilt axis <NUM> and the left/right axis <NUM>. Further, the system control portion <NUM> displays the maximum inclination angles at the time when the image pickup element is maximally inclined toward the respective controllable tilt directions in the display regions <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, and <NUM>, and displays the current values of the tilt angles in the display fields <NUM> and <NUM>.

Then, in Step S1003, the system control portion <NUM> requests for the maximally inclined images picked up when the image pickup element is maximally inclined toward the respective controllable tilt directions. Then, in Step S1004, the system control portion <NUM> receives the maximally inclined images. Then, in Step S1005, the system control portion <NUM> displays the respective received maximally inclined images in the display regions <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, and <NUM> in the tilt angle setting screen <NUM>. The display processing is now ended.

As described above, in the second embodiment, the control apparatus <NUM> displays, in the tilt angle setting screen <NUM>, the images picked up when the image pickup element is inclined toward the respective directions about the controllable tilt axes. Thus, the user can visually grasp the directions of the inclinations about the controllable tilt axes in order to extend the depth of field of the monitoring camera <NUM>.

As a modification example of the second embodiment, the control apparatus <NUM> is only required to display a plurality of images picked up when the image pickup element is inclined toward a plurality of different directions. The display may take a form illustrated in <FIG>. In the form illustrated in <FIG>, the images displayed in the display regions <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, and <NUM> are displayed in the same direction as the direction of the image displayed in the tilt control interface <NUM>.

A description is now given mainly of different points of a monitoring system in a third embodiment of the present invention from the monitoring system in the first embodiment. In the first embodiment, the display portion of the control apparatus <NUM> sequentially displays the screens <NUM>, <NUM>, and <NUM>. Meanwhile, in the third embodiment, such a notification that the zoom and the focus are required to be set before the tilt angles are set is displayed on the tilt angle setting screen <NUM>.

As described above, e.g. in the third embodiment, the tilt angles are not required to be adjusted again by prompting the user to set the zoom and the focus before the tilt angles are set, resulting in smooth setting of the parameters for the image pickup apparatus.

Claim 1:
A control apparatus (<NUM>) for an image pickup apparatus, the image pickup apparatus including a communication portion (<NUM>) configured to receive control commands from the control apparatus, and a drive unit configured to drive a tilting of an image pickup element according to a setting command received from the control apparatus (<NUM>), and the control apparatus comprising:
an acquisition unit (<NUM>) configured to receive an image picked up by the image pickup apparatus;
a display unit (<NUM>) configured to:
sequentially display upon request a zoom setting display screen (<NUM>), a focus setting display screen (<NUM>) and a tilt angle setting display screen (<NUM>),
wherein the tilt angle setting display screen (<NUM>) includes a first display region (<NUM>) to display the received image, a second display region (<NUM>) to display a partial region of the received image in an enlarged manner, and a third display region (<NUM>) to display a user interface image (<NUM>-<NUM>) for setting a tilt angle;
a system control unit (<NUM>) configured to:
request the display unit to display the zoom setting display screen (<NUM>), set a zoom value in accordance with a user input operation on the zoom setting display screen and transmit a setting command for the zoom value to the image pickup apparatus;
request, after transmitting the setting command for the zoom value to the image pickup apparatus, the display unit to display the focus setting display screen (<NUM>), set a focus in accordance with a user input operation on the focus setting display screen (<NUM>) and transmit a setting command for the focus to the image pickup apparatus;
request, after transmitting the setting command for the focus to the image pickup apparatus, the display unit to display the tilt angle setting display screen (<NUM>), set a tilt angle of the image pickup element in accordance with a user input operation in the third display (<NUM>) on the tilt angle setting display screen and transmit the setting command for the tilt angle to the image pickup apparatus.