Face importance level determining apparatus and method, and image pickup apparatus

An image pickup apparatus for capturing an image using a solid-state image pickup device, the image pickup apparatus comprising:

• face detecting means for detecting a face of a person appearing in a captured image on the basis of an image signal captured by the solid-state image pickup device and outputting size information, tilt information and position information of the detected face;
• first calculating means for calculating a first importance level factor on the basis of the size information and using a predetermined area of face to area of entire screen ratio threshold value;
• second calculating means for calculating a second importance level factor on the basis of the position information and the tilt information;
• and
• third calculating means for calculating an importance level for a photographer with respect to the face on the basis of the first importance level factor and the second importance level factor.

A face importance level determining method for determining an importance level for a photographer with respect to a face of a person appearing in an image, the face importance level determining method comprising:

• detecting a face of a person appearing in an image on the basis of an input image signal and outputting size information, tilt information and position information of the detected face;
• calculating a first importance level factor on the basis of the size information and using a predetermined area of face to area of entire screen ratio threshold value;
• calculating a second importance level factor on the basis of the position information and the tilt information;
• and
• calculating the importance level on the basis of the first importance level factor and the second importance level factor.

A face importance level determining apparatus for determining an importance level for a photographer with respect to a face of a person appearing in am image, the face importance level determining apparatus comprising:

• a face information obtaining unit configured to obtain face size information, tilt information and position information that are detected from an input image signal;
• a first calculating unit configured to calculate a first importance level factor on the basis of the size information and using a predetermined area of face to area of entire screen ratio threshold value;
• a second calculating unit configured to calculate a second importance level factor on the basis of the position information and the tilt information;
• and
• a third calculating unit configured to calculate the importance level on the basis of the first importance level factor and the second importance level factor.

An image pickup apparatus for capturing an image using a solid-state image pickup device, the image pickup apparatus comprising:

• a face detecting unit configured to detect a face of a person appearing in a captured image on the basis of an image signal captured by the solid-state image pickup device and outputting size information, tilt information and position information of the detected face;
• a first calculating unit configured to calculate a first importance level factor on the basis of the size information and using a predetermined area of face to area of entire screen ratio threshold value;
• a second calculating unit configured to calculate a second importance level factor on the basis of the position information and tilt information;
• and
• a third calculating unit configured to calculate an importance level for a photographer with respect to the face on the basis of the first importance level factor and the second importance level factor.