Image processing device, image capturing apparatus, and method for adjusting disparity amount

An image capturing apparatus comprising:

• a parallax image obtaining section for capturing an L viewpoint image and an R viewpoint image to obtain a parallax image;
• a parallax information obtaining section for obtaining a disparity amount of a subject in the parallax image;
• a stereoscopic image display section for displaying a stereoscopic image of the subject on a display screen, based on the parallax image;
• a subject selector for selecting specific one of the subjects displayed on the display screen, in accordance with a selecting operation, and providing a selection mark to the specific subject;
• a disparity amount adjustment section for increasing and decreasing the disparity amount of the specific subject in accordance with an adjustment operation;
• and
• a disparity amount graph display section for moving an identification mark corresponding to the specific subject along a disparity amount axis on a two-dimensional graph in accordance with an adjustment amount of the disparity amount adjustment section and displaying the identification mark, and separately displaying the identification mark and an identification mark corresponding to the another subject relative to a distance information axis on the two-dimensional graph in accordance with a relative distance in a depth direction, the relative distance in the depth direction being calculated in accordance with the disparity amount of the each subject, the two-dimensional graph being displayed on an assistance screen different from the display screen, the two-dimensional graph being represented by the disparity amount axis and the distance information axis.

A method for adjusting a disparity amount comprising the steps of:

• (A) obtaining a parallax image for reproducing a stereoscopic image;
• (B) obtaining a disparity amount of a subject in the parallax image, based on the obtained parallax image;
• (C) displaying the stereoscopic image of the subject on a display screen, based on the parallax image;
• (D) providing a selection mark to the specific subject to distinguish the specific subject from the another subject in a case where the specific one of the displayed subjects is selected in accordance with a selecting operation;
• (E) calculating a relative distance in a depth direction between the specific subject and the another subject, based on the disparity amount of the each subject, and displaying identification marks representing the respective subjects at positions on a two-dimensional graph, the positions representing a distance between the subjects;
• and
• (F) updating a display state of the subject in the step (C) and a display state of the two-dimensional graph in the step (E) in accordance with adjustment of the disparity amount in a case where the disparity amount of the selected subject is adjusted in accordance with an adjustment operation.