JP3433969B2 - Electronic still camera device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [0001] BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONElectronic still camera
PlaceMore specifically, multiple images with different aspect ratios, pixel numbers, etc.
Added support for several image display modesElectronic turtle
Rusty deviceRegarding improvement. [0002] 2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, digital still cameras have been digitized.
As it progresses, the captured image data is
Playback on a computer (hereinafter abbreviated as PC), etc.
Requests for construction and the like are increasing. Therefore, the applicant has
Data compatibility with devices such as personal computers
To be used on a recording medium of an electronic still camera
Using an IC memory card
To record in the file format of
You. And the image format of such an electronic still camera
The format of the data conforms to the NTSC standard.
(Corresponding to the number of effective pixels: 768 × 480)
It is generally considered beneficial. On the contrary,
The number of pixels of a personal computer is, for example, 640 × 400 or
512 × 512, 640 × 480, etc. are common ones.
Was. [0003] SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An electronic switch as described above
Cameras mainly use the NTSC and PAL standards.
Data format conforming to the television signal standards of
Since it is compatible with
When playing back on low-speed personal computers, etc.,
Display all screens of image data taken with the camera
There was an inconvenience that it was not possible. Further, the pixels of a display for a personal computer
The aspect ratio is generally that of CCDs for electronic still cameras.
Is about 1.2 times wider than
The image data captured by the electronic still camera
When it was displayed on the display, it was a little vertical
In some cases, it became an image. This
It is also possible to correct with software on the computer
However, since the calculation for the correction is required, the playback speed
Is undesirably slow. The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances.
AndImages can be displayed in the expected display mode
At the time of recording the image,
Set the recording mode so that recording can be performed according to the settings.
This kind of equipmentIt is intended to provide. [0006] SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONElectronic still turtle
When recording image information on a recording medium, the
Of different types of image display devices with different
Record in a mode compatible with any of the image display devices
Recording mode setting means for setting the recording mode and the recording mode
The image information on the recording medium is
Associated with recorded image information in the area where related information is stored
The sub information indicating the image display mode related to the image information is
To record in a reproducible mode along with the reproduction of image information
Electronic still camera device comprising:
There is a mode for recording the sub information and a mode for not recording
And means for switching between the mode and the mode. [0007] [0008] Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
I do. 1 to 5 show an embodiment of the present invention.
It is. The electronic still camera of this embodiment is an IC memo.
Ricardo as a recording medium, and its configuration
A description will be given with reference to FIG. Via optical system 1
The incident optical image of the subject is arranged on the image plane.
Analog power by the imaging system 2 composed of
It is converted into an air signal. Imaging output from the imaging system 2
The signal is maintained at a constant DC level by the clamp circuit 3.
After the analog / digital conversion circuit (hereinafter referred to as A / D
Abbreviated as conversion circuit. ) Convert to digital signal by 4
Is written to the frame memory 6 and temporarily stored.
It is. Writing to the frame memory 6 has been completed.
Then, under the control of the memory controller 5,
Data from the frame memory 6 and
Sine transform circuit (hereinafter abbreviated as DCT.
Then, it is described as DCT / IDCT. ) 7
Data conversion necessary for data compression is performed, and the coder / decoder 8
Output to In the coder section of the coder / decoder 8,
Various data and tables required for compression processing
While referring to the written auxiliary memory 9, the video
Compress the data. And the compressed data is
Detachable to the electronic still camera through data bus 20
Memory card 1 as information recording means attached to
Written to 0. Next, the video data recorded as described above is
The electronic still camera follows the flow of the signal for playback.
Continue to explain about LA. The above IC memory card 10
The data read from the
Input to the coder / decoder 8,
Restore the compressed data in the decoder
An extension process is performed. This expanded data is DC
The inverse DCT processing is performed in the T circuit 7 and the frame memory 6
Is written to. Decompression processing of all data ends
This time, the data from the frame memory 6 is
It is read by the control of roller 5 and
The force is applied by the digital process 11 to, for example, NTSC.
The video signal is converted into a video signal based on the video signal. And D / A
(Digital / analog) conversion circuit 12
The signal is converted to a
Electronic view fine after impedance matching
(Hereinafter abbreviated as EVF) 14 to the photographer.
The image is reproduced so that it can be observed. And at the same time,
The video signal is output to the external video output terminal 15.
Swelling. The electronic still camera is composed of these components.
In addition, character information such as date and time is generated and displayed on the screen.
Character generator 16 for on-screen display
And a display unit 17 for displaying various operation modes described later.
And an operation unit 18 for performing various operations.
Are controlled by the system controller 19
It is supposed to be. The recording of the IC memory card 10, etc.
When recording on a medium, use a format that can be recognized on a personal computer.
Format (for example, DOS format)
It is converted and recorded. Next, when recording with the above electronic still camera,
Will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.
When the recording operation is started, first, the
A recording mode switching switch, which is a recording mode recognition means described later.
From the state of the switch 49 (see FIG. 4).
The status is camera compatible mode or PC compatible mode
It is determined whether it is set (S1). PC mode
When the display is
Vertical interpolation is performed to support the spect ratio.
(S2). That is, writing to the frame memory 6
When transferring the inserted image data to DCT7,
For example, one line every five lines
By sending the same data one by one,
Compatible with PC displays with twice the aspect ratio
Can be Also, the camera is in camera-compatible mode
Sometimes, this interpolation processing is not performed because it is not necessary. Then, the image data is subjected to compression processing by DCT7.
(S3), and as described above, the IC memory card 10
Etc. (S4). At this time, the record
Image data of two formats are mixed on the medium
Therefore, as the identifier, the head of the image data
Minutes indicate whether the mode is for PC or camera
Flags are added as header information, so that
Use this as a guide for class recognition. In the case of a personal computer, DOS (disk
File name used in the operating system)
In, for example, if the file is compatible with PC
Is CAM when the file is compatible with PC and camera.
Which extension should be used to classify data
May be. It also manages various types of image data in an integrated manner.
A control file is provided in the recording medium
You may make it manage by classifying by file.
In this case, write data to the control file.
It can be classified by inserting. Next, when reproducing with the above-mentioned electronic still camera,
Will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.
When the classification data is written in the header in the above recording operation
Will be described by taking the reproduction operation of Play mode
At the time of recording, the data is recorded on a recording medium such as the IC memory card 10.
Data that is stored in the
Is read (S11), and then the actual header is read.
The image data is read (S12). And coder / de
The data is sent to the decoder section of the coder 8 to perform the decompression processing.
(S13) The DCT 7 performs the necessary data inverse transformation. So
Then, the system controller 19
From the data flag, the data is the image data for the camera.
Or image data for a personal computer (S14). The read data is image data for a personal computer.
Data, the reverse of the interpolation process performed during recording is performed.
While performing the processing (inverse interpolation processing) (S15), the frame
Data is written to the memory 6. That is, 5 lines
After being sent, the above interpolated one line is
Since it is sent, the system that eliminates this one line
In response to a command from the controller 19, the memory controller 5
Controlled. By such inverse interpolation processing, IC memo
Display for personal computer written on Ricard 10
Data in an aspect ratio format compatible with
Playback on a monitor conforming to the NTSC system without any problems.
Can be. On the other hand, the above read data is
If the data is
Is written in the frame memory 6 as it is. Next, referring to an example of the operation unit 18 shown in FIG.
The operation of the electronic still camera will now be described. Electric
Various states of the camera are displayed on the top of the child still camera.
An LCD 47 constituting the display unit 17 is provided.
I have. On the left side of the LCD 47, a zoom
The zoom tele switch (in the figure, ZOOMT and
indicate. ) 31 performs a zoom wide operation toward the front side.
Zoom wide switch (shown as ZOMW in the figure)
You. ) 32 are provided. Before these zoom switches 31 and 32
On the side, in the recording mode, for example, white balun
Speed, shutter speed, exposure compensation value, power focus
Used to change the mode of the
Mode, it is used for frame advance and frame rewind, etc.
Up switch (indicated as UP in the figure) 33 and down
A switch (indicated as DOWN in the figure) 34 is provided.
Have been. These up / down switches 33 and 34
On the right side of the table, there are 10 different switches over 2 rows and 5 columns.
Are arranged. These are moved from the first row to the fifth row
It will be described in order. In the first column and first row, the recording mode
To adjust the white balance when
Auto mode, sunny mode, cloudy mode, etc.
White balance switch for changing the white balance mode
Switch (displayed as WB in the figure) 35 in the first column and second row.
Is the record just before pressing while in record mode.
Playback of the selected image, and
View switch to delete (VIEW, ERASE in the figure)
Is displayed. ) 36 is in the second column, first row,
Sometimes exposure mode, such as auto iris mode or manual
Exposure compensation switch to change to dual iris mode
(Indicated as +/- in the figure.) 37 is in the second column and second row.
Is the focus mode, that is, AF mode in the recording mode.
Mode to switch between power mode and power focus mode.
Cas switch (indicated as FOCUS in the figure) 38
However, in the first row of the third column, the flash mode
Mode, for example, auto strobe mode, strobe off mode
Flash switch to change the flash mode, external flash mode, etc.
H (indicated as strobe in the figure) 39 is in the third column and second row
In the recording mode, various compression modes described later
The compression mode switch to be changed (displayed as MODE in the figure)
You. ) 40 is in the 4th column, 1st row, in the recording mode
Recording speed mode, ie self-timer mode, continuous
Change the shooting mode, interval shooting mode, etc. and play
In the mode, the playback speed, that is, the interval
Drive switch for changing raw, continuous playback, etc.
Display as DRIVE. ) 41 is written in the fourth column and the second row.
In the recording mode, you can mainly change the hue and color
Ture switch (indicated as “PICTURE” in the figure)
You. ) 42 is the electronic still video camera
No matter which mode the camera is in, press for more than 3 seconds
Continue to enter the time setting mode to enter year, month, day, hour
Time switch to change the settings of the camera date function such as
Switch (indicated as TIME in the figure) 43 is 5 columns and 2 rows
In the eyes, ON / OF of the power of the electronic still video camera
Power switch to switch F (shown as POWER in the figure)
I do. ) 44 are provided. The time switch 43 is described in more detail below.
Specifically, when entering the time setting mode, the number of frames on the LCD 47
In the display part 70 (see FIG. 5), the year is flashing first.
At the same time
Indah 14 flashes in the year. And this
The blinking part is the up / down switch 33,
It is a part that can be changed by operating the operation unit 34. As well
Each time you press the time switch 43 again,
The month, date, time, etc. are displayed blinking sequentially.
Change using the up / down switches 33 and 34
Can be. Needless to say, the electronic view
Similarly, the changed part is also blinking displayed in the finder 14.
You. The time switch 43 is pressed for three seconds or more.
If you press for a short time, the timing sound
It can also be used to turn on and off various alarm sounds
You. On the right side of these switches, the first stage
AF lock, two-stage trigger to instruct recording start at the second stage
A gas switch (displayed as trigger in the figure) 45 is provided.
Have been. Next, on the front surface of the electronic still camera,
Are white roses in the recording mode in order from the left.
All settings such as sensing, focus, and exposure compensation
The photographer can set the full auto shooting mode and these settings
To switch between adjustable manual shooting modes
, A manual switch which is a slide switch (in the figure,
Displayed as AUTO / manual. 46) on the right
, Slide to the left to record mode, slide to the right
Two-stage recording that switches to playback mode
Playback switch (displayed as PLAY / CAM in the figure)
You. ) 48 is further to the right,
Shoot in camera compatible mode or computer compatible mode.
Turn off recording mode with slide switch
Exchange switch (displayed as camera / PC in the figure) 49
Each of them is located on the right
Child viewfinder (displayed as EVF in the figure) 14
Is provided. Also, digital images can be obtained as in this camera.
For devices that handle this, transmit images using a telephone line.
It becomes possible. At this time, the switch as described above
In order to improve the operability in such a configuration,
Assign multiple functions to one switch as described
You may do it. That is, in the camera mode
Switch 48 for switching between playback and recording
Switches between transmission and reception in the transmission mode,
Trigger switch 4 indicating the start of shooting in the camera-compatible mode
5 starts transmission / reception in the transmission mode, and
Time switch to set the date and time in
Switch 43 sets the transfer destination telephone number in the transmission mode.
Change the compression mode in the recording mode.
Mode switch 40 plays in the playback mode each time it is pressed.
Switch / send / receive, and connect in camera compatible mode.
The drive switch 41 for changing the shooting mode such as the
In the transmission mode, one image transmission, all image transmission, and a specific
Various types of transmission such as program transmission that continuously transmits only
The transmission mode may be switched. Also, some telephone numbers of the other party are stored.
If you do not do anything, call the first party
Automatically dials and also dials a different party.
If you want to make it possible to change it by operating means
Remember who you call most often
Then, the operability is further improved. A plurality of functions are provided in such a limited switch.
To increase the number of switches unnecessarily
Clean switch without compromising operability
High operability can be obtained by arrangement. As mentioned above,
To assign multiple functions to the same switch,
Distributed intuitively from the functions of the switch
Is not disruptive to the operator.
No. Next, an example of display on the LCD 47 will be described.
Will be described with reference to FIG. Table indicated by phone mark
61 and a table indicated by "TRANSMIT" and reverse characters
Indicated at 62 is a signal indicating that the mode is the transmission mode at the time of lighting.
It is the transmission mode display, and when it is not lit, the normal camera pair
Mode. It is arranged near the lower side of the display 62.
In the display 64 of the arrow mark, the displays 61 and 62 are turned on.
In the transmission mode, the center bar and the left corner are displayed.
The mark lights up at the same time to form a left-pointing arrow.
Image data is being sent from the camera to the phone.
Page to indicate that it is in transmit mode, while the center
The bar-shaped display and the triangular mark on the right light up at the same time
When configuring arrows, when you receive data from the phone
To indicate that it is in reception mode
I have. The direction of the arrow in the display 64 is the transmission mode.
Slide and switch between transmission and reception when
Match the slide direction of the recording / playback switch 48
Display that is intuitively understandable for the operator.
Has become. The playback mode indicated by "PLAY" and the inverted character
The mode display 63 is illuminated to turn on the electronic still camera.
This indicates that the camera is in the playback mode. The display 65 indicated by the lower battery mark is
Displays the power consumption of the main battery of the electronic still camera.
Battery warning display.
The large part on the right goes out and the battery level is low
That is easy to understand,
When the battery runs out, the small part on the left inside the display turns off and the battery
This is a display indicating that it is empty. A display 66 indicated by a note on the right side is a note.
On / off of timing sound and various warning sounds at the start of recording
This is a buzzer display indicating. At the bottom, "N, E, S, F"
The displayed display 67 is displayed on the compression mode switch 40.
Therefore, the set compression mode is displayed, and
"N" indicates normal compression, which is a normal compression mode,
"E" has a higher compression ratio than the normal compression mode.
Economy compression that can record many images,
"S" has a lower compression ratio than the normal compression
Studio compression, a mode for recording detailed images,
"F" is a mode to record an image as it is without performing compression processing.
The fine uncompressed mode is shown. Display of the lower three 7-segments 68
Can be recorded on a recording medium such as the IC memory card 10.
This is a remaining frame number display in which the remaining amount is displayed by the number of shots. The lower part is indicated as "FULL-AUTO".
Display 69 indicates the full auto mode in the recording mode.
Is displayed. The display below is the strobe mode display 77.
Yes, the display 77a represented by "AUTO"
The display 77b represented by "SS" indicates the flash mode.
The low-speed shutter strobe mode is represented by “OFF”.
The displayed display indicates the flash off mode with “EXT”.
Display 77d indicates the external strobe mode, [FILL-
The display 77e represented by "INN" is a forced flash mode.
Mode is shown. Returning to the center left of the display on the LCD 47,
The display 70 of three large 7-segments surrounded by
In the recording mode, the number of frames to be shot next is displayed.
Displays the number of frames being played in raw mode.
It is. "ERASE" on the lower side is indicated by inverted characters.
Erase display 71 is displayed for each frame.
Be in erase mode such as All Erase
Is displayed. An interface indicated as "INT" on the lower left side of FIG.
The global mode display 72 is displayed in the recording mode.
Global shooting, interval playback in playback mode
Are respectively shown. On the right side, a program indicated as "PROG"
The RAM mode display 73 indicates that the program
Recording mode, program playback in playback mode
Are displayed. Continuous shooting indicated by an overlapping rectangle on the lower left side
The mode display 74 indicates, for example, one second after the recording mode.
Indicates that the camera is in continuous shooting mode, such as
It is shown. The "Hi" display 75a and "L"
The display 75 indicated by the display 75b of "o"
4 or the display 72 shown above.
Indicates the speed of the interval mode.
The display 75a of "Hi" is displayed when the mode is early, and when the mode is late.
Is used to light the "Lo" display 75b.
You. On the right side is a self-timer mode.
Self-timer mode display 76 for displaying
Are arranged. Also, the light is turned on in the recording mode as a whole.
The segment lights up at the bottom of the display surface in playback mode
Segments are divided into upper and lower sides of the display surface
This makes it easier for the operator to understand
You. According to such an embodiment, the photographer can
When the purpose is to play on a TV
Shooting in response mode and importing images with a computer
Shooting in PC mode when
By doing so, there is no special processing on the PC.
Images with a compatible aspect ratio without processing
Can be played immediately. In addition, PC compatible mode
Even if the image data was shot in
Can be played directly on a TV without using an electronic still
Easily link data between camera and computer
be able to. Thus, mainly displayed on the TV monitor
Electronic still camera that was considered as a device for
The image corresponding to various image processing equipment in a wider field
Position as a general-purpose image input device that supplies data
be able to. In the above embodiment, the aspect
Vertical interpolation of image data to match ratio
In contrast to this, the data in the horizontal direction of the image data was
Even if the thinning process is performed,
Thus, substantially the same effect can be obtained. In the above embodiment, the CCD and the personal computer are used.
With a configuration that matches the aspect ratio of the computer display
However, it may be configured to match the number of pixels.
Of course, it is possible, and in this case, the above-described interpolation processing is performed.
Instead of changing the number of pixel data transfers.
U. That is, the frame is controlled by a command from the memory controller 5.
When transferring data from the memory 6 to the DCT 7
In the case of the Sokon-compatible mode, for example, 640 × 40
What is necessary is just to transfer only the data of 0 pixels.
The data to be compressed is 640 × 400.
This is done with the number of pixels that match the display mode of the computer.
Without any special processing on the PC.
Image data can be displayed and processed as it is. At this time,
The part of the regular screen 768 x 480 that was not transferred is
However, since nothing is displayed in this part,
It becomes black on the electronic viewfinder 14 or the like that is observed.
At this time, for example, the character generator 16
Generates characters that can be recognized as Sokon data
And superimpose it on this blank part
In this way, it is good for the operator to know. Other
Also any of 512x512 and 640x480
It is not possible to easily respond to the number of pixels with almost the same configuration
Needless to say. What's more, with just the number of pixels for a PC
No, the number of pixels for PAL and the number of pixels for high definition
Can respond. On the other hand, in the above embodiment, one recording
Normal image data and other information such as Pasoko
Some image formats, such as image data for
To the end of the image data,
By attaching the header, the system controller 19
Determine the format and switch off the camera processing operation.
I am trying to change it. However, this header is
On the other hand when processing or playing back images
May get in the way. Therefore, the module that attaches this header
Mode, and a mode without
If the header is not added by switching,
Can be selected to maintain high data compatibility with Sokon
You may do it. In addition, data processing on a personal computer
Generally, go from the beginning of the data and end at the end of the image data.
Headers at the beginning of image data
Instead of setting a mode to add to the end of the image data.
You may make it go. With this, on the personal computer
Image data format
Can be determined. [0049] 【The invention's effect】As described above, according to the present invention,
Of the image so that the image can be displayed in the specified display mode.
When recording, set the recording mode that matches the display mode.
Recording can be performed as set.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a main part of an electronic still camera showing one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing an operation when recording is performed by the electronic still camera according to the embodiment. FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an operation at the time of reproduction by the electronic still camera of the embodiment. FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing an operation unit of the electronic still camera according to the embodiment. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a display on an LCD serving as a display unit of the embodiment. [Description of References] 5 ... Memory controller 6 ... Frame memory 7 ... Discrete cosine transform circuit (DCT / IDCT) 8 ... Coder / decoder 10 ... IC memory card 19 ... System controller 49 ... Recording mode switch

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Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] [Claim 1] When recording image information on a recording medium
Multiple types of image display devices with different aspect ratios, pixel numbers, etc.
Record in a manner compatible with any of the image display devices
Recording mode setting means for setting whether or not to perform, and according to the setting by the recording mode setting means, on a recording medium.
Image to be recorded in an area for storing information related to the
Represents an image display mode related to the image information in association with the information
The sub-information can be reproduced in a manner that can be reproduced with the reproduction of the image information.
An electronic still camera device comprising: a sub information recording unit for recording; and a mode for recording the sub information and a mode for not recording the sub information.
Electronic still further comprising means for switching
Camera device.