JP3403324B2 - Image input / output device - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image input / output device for displaying and searching still images and moving images which are input to a recording medium.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, digital images have been widely used, and a large amount of digital image data is accumulated in a recording medium such as a hard disk, MD, MO or the like, and the accumulated image data is read out and displayed. There is a need to do it.

For example, in an electronic file device, when a large number of images are read by a scanner and image data is stored in a recording medium, a list of image data (reduced images) obtained by reducing original image data (original images) is searched for. Is displayed and the user operates the mouse or the like to select the reduced image corresponding to the desired original image, whereby desired image data can be obtained.

For example, in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 9-114843, the screen is divided into ten, a list of reduced images is displayed, and the user can select desired image data.
Therefore, if the number of still images of the original image exceeds 10, display of 10 images and page break of the screen are repeated, and when the number of still images of several hundreds or more increases, the search time increases, which is a practical problem. The sex is lost.

Further, when a moving picture is handled by an electronic file device, since the moving picture is a time series of still images, the number of original images and reduced images increases by orders of magnitude as compared with still images. In such a case, when trying to search for a moving image, the search time further increases.

[0006]

As described above, when the number of still images increases or when moving images are searched, the search time increases, and when moving images and still images are managed by the same device, There is a problem that it is difficult to display and search still images and moving images in a unified manner.

An object of the present invention was made in view of the above problems, and it is an object of the present invention to provide an image input / output device capable of intuitively displaying and searching a moving image and a still image on a recording medium. It is in.

[0008]

An image input / output device according to claim 1 is an image input / output device for reading and outputting a moving image and a still image input to a recording medium, and the image input / output device has a predetermined image capturing time unit. Each video and still image in the order in which they were captured
It is characterized in that display means for displaying in a different display mode with a length corresponding to the number of captured images is provided on the same time axis .

The image input / output device according to a second aspect is the image input / output device according to the first aspect, wherein the display mode includes colors, shapes, contour drawing types, and sizes of figures corresponding to moving images and still images. , Or at least one of the in-region drawing types is used.

An image input / output device according to a third aspect of the present invention is the image input / output device according to the first aspect, wherein the display mode is changed depending on the presence / absence of voice data or character data recorded on the recording medium. It is characterized by

An image input / output device according to a fourth aspect is the image input / output device according to the first aspect, in which the operating means for designating the coordinates on the screen of the display means and the moving image input to the recording medium. Alternatively, a reproducing means for reproducing a still image is provided, and a moving image or a still image near the coordinates designated by the operating means is reproduced and displayed on the display means.

An image input / output apparatus according to a fifth aspect is the image input / output apparatus according to the fourth aspect, wherein the reproducing means is
It is characterized in that a reduced image of a moving image or a still image input to the recording medium is reproduced.

An image input / output device according to a sixth aspect of the present invention is the image input / output device according to the first aspect, further comprising recording means for inputting a moving image and a still image to the recording medium in a distinguishable manner.

[0014]

FIG. 1 shows an embodiment in which the image input / output device of the present invention is applied to an electronic camera capable of taking moving images and still images. A CPU 1 as a control means for controlling the entire apparatus, an RO for storing a program for executing various processes by the CPU 1 and a dictionary for generating character data
M2, RAM for temporarily storing programs and data
3. An operation unit 4 as an operation means for inputting operation instructions and character data using operation buttons, a pen, a mouse, a trackball keyboard (including a keyboard displayed on the screen of the LCD display 7), a CCD, and the like. An input unit 5 as an image pickup means including a drive circuit, an LCD control circuit 6 driven by a display instruction, an LCD display 7 for outputting a desired display screen by the LCD control circuit 6, and a recording for reproducing, recording or erasing a disc 9. It is possible to record a disk drive 8 serving as a recording medium or a reproducing means, a still image and a moving image captured by the input unit 5, and a disk 9 serving as a recording medium for recording voice and character data, and data similar to the disk 9 as necessary. I as a recording medium
It comprises a C card 10, a microphone 11 for recording a sound at the time of image capturing or at the time of image capturing, and a speaker 12 for outputting a reproduced sound at the time of reproducing the disk 9. Since the same recording medium is used for the disk 9 and the IC card 10, the case of the disk 9 will be described below.

Image pickup is started in response to an image pickup instruction from the operation section 4, and at the time of image pickup, as shown in FIG. 2, the CPU 1 reduces the number of pixels from the original image input from the input section 5 in a predetermined procedure to form a reduced image. The image is created, and the reduced image and the original image are recorded on the disc 9 with the imaging time. In the case of this device,
Both a still image and a moving image can be captured according to an instruction from the operation unit 4, and when the original image is a still image, one reduced image corresponding to the original image is created. When the original image is a moving image, it is composed of still images in time series, so a plurality of reduced images corresponding to the respective images are created. At the time of imaging, L
The CD display 7 is used as an imaging monitor.

FIG. 3 shows the file structure of the recorded disk 9. Position information of each file is collectively recorded from the inner circumference side to the outer circumference side of the disk 9.
OC (Table of Contents) 31, a time stamp DB (database) file 32 in which an identifier for distinguishing between a still image and a moving image is recorded, a reduced image data file 33 in which a reduced image created from an original image is recorded, An original image data file 34 in which an original image of a still image or a moving image is recorded, and an audio data file 35 in which audio data input from the microphone 11 is recorded.

FIG. 4 shows the time stamp DB file 32.
Shows the configuration of. This time stamp DB file 32
Is composed of a header and data, and the number of time stamps (N) and time stamp information are recorded in the data. This time stamp information includes a time stamp number given in the order of image pickup, an image number showing a number for each area, a time stamp showing the image pickup time given by the CPU 1, and the presence / absence of character data input by the operation unit 4. A file name 41 as an identifier, a number of indexes 42 as an identifier for distinguishing a still image or a moving image, and an audio data number 43 as an identifier indicating the presence or absence of audio data. The audio data number 43 is the address of the audio data added to the original image, and if no audio data is added, 00h is entered as the audio data number.

The number of index images 42 in this embodiment is the number of reduced images. Index number 42
Is one for still images and two or more for moving images, corresponding to the number of time-series reduced images. Although the number of original images may be used as the number of indexes, the optical head of the disk drive 8 is accessed from the inner peripheral side when reproducing images, and it is desirable to use a reduced image close to the TOC 31 because high speed access is possible. .

The contents recorded on the disk 9 are displayed on the operation unit 4
In response to a display instruction from the
31 and the time stamp DB file 32 are accessed by the optical head of the disk drive 8, the index number 42 is read out, and 1 or 2 is read by the action of the CPU 1.
By distinguishing the above, a still image or a moving image is discriminated and output to the LCD display 7 in the display mode shown in FIG.

In FIG. 5, a moving image and a still image are displayed for each predetermined image capturing time unit (in this embodiment, the date) in the index number 42, that is, a length corresponding to the number of image capturing based on the time stamp. Different display modes are used. It should be noted that the display length for moving images and the display length for still images do not have to be displayed on the same time scale, and in the case of moving images, the number of images that are normally taken is large, so the time scale is compressed and displayed compared to still images. It is easier to see and desirable. The predetermined time unit for capturing the moving image is not particularly limited, but it is desirable to use the time for starting a series of image capturing.

Next, the display mode of FIG. 5 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. Here, the upper left of the screen of the LCD display 7 is (x, y) = (0, 0). In the flowchart of FIG. 6, XA, XB, YA, Y
B and XT are constants.

First, in step S1, the CPU 1
Time stamp number n, which is a variable for work, coordinates (x,
y), the time stamp T (0) is initialized. Then C
PU1 receives the time stamp T in step S2.
(N) is a time stamp T (n
-1) is compared for equality. If YES, the process jumps to step S5. If NO, the contents of the time stamp T (n) (year.
Month. Day) is the coordinate (x, y) on the LCD display 7 =
Displayed at (0, y + YB). Here, since the time stamp is displayed in the length of XT, the CPU 1 executes step S
At 4, the value of x is updated to x + XT.

In the next step S5, the CPU 1 determines whether or not I (n) of the index number 42 is 1. If YES, in step S6, the image is determined to be a still image, and the point (x, y) and the point (x + XA, y + Y).
A rectangle whose diagonal is A) is displayed in red on the LCD display 7. Further, in step S7, the CPU 1
The coordinates (x, y) are set to the x-coordinate NX of the n-th number representing figure.
(N), y coordinates are recorded as NY (n). Next, in step S8, the x coordinate is increased by the length XA of the displayed figure, so the coordinate x is updated to x + XA and step S8 is executed.
Proceed to 12.

When the index number I (n) is 2 or more in step S5, the CPU 1 determines that the image is a moving image and determines the point (x, y) in step S9.
And a rectangle having a point (x + XB × I (n), y + YA) as a diagonal line is painted in blue and displayed on the LCD display 7. In step S10, the CPU 1 sets the coordinate (x, y) to the x-coordinate NX of the n-th number-expressing figure.
(N), y coordinates are recorded as NY (n). Further, in step S11, the x coordinate is increased by the length of the displayed figure, so the coordinate x is updated to x + XB × I (n), and the process proceeds to step S12.

In step S12, the CPU 1 compares the time stamp number n with the total number N of time stamps, and if they are different, in step S13,
Next, 1 is added to the value of n, and the process returns to step S2 to repeat the above-mentioned processing. If the time stamp number n is equal to the total number N of time stamps, the process ends. In the present embodiment, all the images corresponding to the total number N of time stamps are displayed as can be seen at a glance, but some images may be displayed.

In the present embodiment, the output is output to the LCD display 7 according to the display instruction of the operation unit 4. However, when the disk 9 is loaded in the disk drive 8, the loading is performed by the CPU.
1 may detect and it may output to the LCD display 7 by the display aspect mentioned above. By doing so, the contents of the disc 9 can be immediately recognized automatically when the disc 9 is loaded, which is desirable in terms of convenience. Further, in the present embodiment, in order to distinguish between a moving image and a still image, a rectangular figure and a color of the figure are used, the moving image displays a series of images in one rectangular figure, and the still image is a rectangle for each image. Displayed as a figure. If the moving image and the still image can be distinguished by the display form, it is not particularly limited, but as another form, the shape of a figure such as a circle or a triangle,
Type of figure outline drawing such as thickness and dotted line, size of figure,
It is also possible to use a drawing type in the area of a figure such as a halftone, a diagonal line, or a wavy shape.

Next, the operation of searching for an image in the state where it is displayed as shown in FIG. 5 will be described. At the time of search, the user specifies the coordinates (gazing point) at which the user wants to search for an image on the display screen of the LCD display 7 using the operation unit 4, so that the coordinates are input.
As shown in, the contents of the still image or video near the gazing point
The reduced image is displayed as a frame advance on the LCD display 7 and can be searched. In the present embodiment, when the gazing point is input, the reduced image data file 33 is accessed to reproduce and display the reduced image. However, the original image data file 34 is accessed to reproduce the original image. Is also good. In the present embodiment, since the reduced image data file 33 is adjacent to the time stamp DB file 32, it is desirable to display the reduced image because high speed display is possible.

The display operation of FIG. 7 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. In the flowchart of FIG. 8, X
C, XD, YC and YD are constants.

First, in step S1, the user uses the operation unit 4 to input arbitrary coordinates (xx, yy) as the gazing point coordinates. The CPU 1 initializes the time stamp number n to 1 in step S2.

Next, in step S3, it is compared whether or not the x-coordinate NX (n) of the n-th number-of-number-expressing figure recorded in steps S7 and S10 in FIG. 6 is close to the gazing point x-coordinate xx. If YES, the same process is performed for the y coordinate in step S4. If the y-coordinate of the gazing point is also YES, the CPU 1 determines that the gazing point (xx, yy) is close to the display coordinates of the n-th number-expressing figure, and proceeds to step S5. In step S5, the CPU 1 displays the nth reduced image at the coordinates (x + XD, y + YD) on the LCD display 7, and ends the display process.

If NO in steps S3 and S4, it is compared in step S6 whether or not the time stamp number n is equal to the total number N of time stamps.
If YES, the process ends. If no,
In step S7, the next time stamp number n + 1 is read, and the process returns to step S3 to repeat the above process.
It should be noted that in the present embodiment, the search is performed with the total number N of time stamps.
However, it may be compared with the number of time stamps in a partial area.

Next, FIG. 9 shows another display form of FIG. 5 depending on the presence or absence of voice data or character data. Figure 9
FIG. 9A shows a display form when there is no voice data and character data in both the moving image and the still image, and FIG. 9B shows a display form when there is voice data and no character data in the portion showing the moving image on the left side. FIG. 9C shows a display form in the case where there is character data in the left-hand moving image portion and no voice data, and FIG. 9D shows a display form in which the left-hand moving image portion also has character data. The display form when there is also voice data is shown. Such different display modes can be realized by the CPU 1 judging the presence or absence of the file name 41 and the audio data number 43 of the time stamp DB file, and more intuitive display and search can be performed. .

In the above-described embodiment, the case where the invention is applied to the electronic camera capable of recording and reproducing is explained, but the above-mentioned display and search can be realized by a computer device as a display device or a search device. Further, the program having the above-described display and search functions may be recorded in a recording medium such as a floppy disk or a CDROM, and may be appropriately installed and used.

[0034]

As described above, according to the image input / output device of the present invention, the length and the display mode are different according to the number of captured still images and moving images for each predetermined imaging time unit. The contents of the recording medium can be grasped intuitively. Further, when the user wants to see in more detail, the corresponding image can be displayed only by designating arbitrary coordinates on the screen.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an image input / output device according to an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a relationship between an original image and a reduced image.

FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining a data structure of a disc according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing details of a time stamp DB file according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a display example of a still image and a moving image according to the present embodiment.

6 is a flowchart for explaining the display of FIG.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a display example of a gazing point and frame advance according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart for explaining the display of FIG.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing another display example according to the present embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 CPU 2 ROM 3 RAM 4 operation part 5 Input section 6 LCD control circuit 7 LCD display 8 disk drives 9 discs 10 IC card

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (56) Reference JP-A-9-116853 (JP, A) JP-A-9-93588 (JP, A) JP-A-7-79404 (JP, A) JP-A-6- 110943 (JP, A) JP-A-9-114843 (JP, A) (58) Fields investigated (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) H04N 5/76-5/956 H04N 9/79-9/898

Claims (6)

(57) [Claims] 1. An image input / output device for reading out and outputting a moving image and a still image input to a recording medium, wherein the moving image and the still image are taken in a predetermined image capturing time unit in the order in which they are captured.
2. An image input / output device, comprising display means for displaying in different display modes with a length according to the number of captured images on the same time axis . 2. The display mode uses at least one of a color, a shape, a contour drawing type, a size, and an in-region drawing type of a figure corresponding to a moving image and a still image. 1. The image input / output device according to 1. 3. The image input / output device according to claim 1, wherein the display mode is changed depending on the presence or absence of voice data or character data recorded on the recording medium. 4. An operating means for designating coordinates on the screen of the display means, and a reproducing means for reproducing a moving image or a still image input to the recording medium, and the vicinity of the coordinates designated by the operating means. 2. The image input / output device according to claim 1, wherein the moving image or the still image is reproduced and displayed on the display means. 5. The image input / output device according to claim 4, wherein the reproducing means reproduces a reduced image of a moving image or a still image input to the recording medium. 6. The recording medium is provided with a recording unit for inputting a moving image and a still image separately from each other.
The image input / output device described.