Monitoring system and method, and program and recording medium used therewith

A monitoring method comprising:

• a picture capturing step for performing picture capturing;
• a storage step for storing a plurality of original images comprising a plurality of still images captured in said picture capturing step, or compressed images comprising compressed still images generated by compressing the still images;
• a display step for displaying a panoramic entire image comprising the original images or compressed images stored in said storage step;
• a designating step for designating a particular region in the entire image displayed in said display step;
• and
• an updating step for updating the image in the region designated in said designating step by an image having a capturing time different from the capturing time of each of images other the image in the designated region.

A program for causing a computer to execute:

• a picture capturing step for performing picture capturing;
• a storage step for storing a plurality of original images comprising a plurality of still images captured in said picture capturing step, or compressed images comprising compressed still images generated by compressing the still images;
• a display step for displaying a panoramic entire image comprising the original images or compressed images stored in said storage step;
• a designating step for designating a particular region in the entire image displayed in said display step;
• and
• an updating step for updating the image in the region designated in said designating step by an image having a capturing time different from the capturing time of each of images other the image in the designated region.

A recording medium having a recorded program for causing a computer to execute:

• a picture capturing step for performing picture capturing;
• a storage step for storing a plurality of original images comprising a plurality of still images captured in said picture capturing step, or compressed images comprising compressed still images generated by compressing the still images;
• a display step for displaying a panoramic entire image comprising the original images or compressed images stored in said storage step;
• a designating step for designating a particular region in the entire image displayed in said display step;
• and
• an updating step for updating the image in the region designated in said designating step by an image having a capturing time different from the capturing time of each of images other the image in the designated region.

A monitoring system comprising:

• a picture capturing unit for performing picture capturing;
• a storage unit for storing image data;
• an image display unit for performing image display;
• a designating unit for designating a region in an image displayed on said image display unit;
• and
• a control unit for controlling said image display unit to display a panoramic entire image comprising a plurality of still images captured by said picture capturing unit, and for controlling said picture capturing unit in accordance with the designated region to capture still images in a position corresponding to the designated region and displaying, in the designated region, an image generated from the still images captured in the position.

A monitoring method comprising:

• a picture capturing step for performing picture capturing;
• a display step for displaying a panoramic entire image comprising a plurality of still images captured in said picture capturing step;
• a designating step for designating a particular region in the entire image displayed in said display step;
• and
• a control step for controlling a picture capturing unit in accordance with the particular region designated in said designating step to capture still images in a position corresponding to the designated region, and displaying, in the designated region, an image generated from the still images captured in the position.

A program for causing a computer to execute:

• a picture capturing step for performing picture capturing;
• a display step for displaying a panoramic entire image comprising a plurality of still images captured in said picture capturing step;
• a designating step for designating a particular region in the entire image displayed in said display step;
• and
• a control step for controlling a picture capturing unit in accordance with the particular region designated in said designating step to capture still images in a position corresponding to the designated region, and displaying, in the designated region, an image generated from the still images captured in the position.

A recording medium having a recorded program for causing a computer to execute:

• a picture capturing step for performing picture capturing;
• a display step for displaying a panoramic entire image comprising a plurality of still images captured in said picture capturing step;
• a designating step for designating a particular region in the entire image displayed in said display step;
• and
• a control step for controlling a picture capturing unit in accordance with the particular region designated in said designating step to capture still images in a position corresponding to the designated region, and displaying, in the designated region, an image generated from the still images captured in the position.