JP4557610B2 - Image recording apparatus and control method thereof - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a technique for retrieving and extracting desired image data from a plurality of image data.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in order to classify and organize image data of captured images in an image recording apparatus such as a digital camera, a technique has been proposed in which a storage folder for image data is designated and stored each time a photograph is taken ( Patent Document 1).

In addition, a technique has been proposed in which image data matching a key image is retrieved and extracted from a plurality of image data stored in a storage medium (Patent Document 2).
JP 2003-319296 A. Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2000-76302.

  In recent years, the capacity of storage media for storing images has been remarkably increased, and the number of image data that can be stored in one storage medium has been dramatically improved. For this reason, the need for image search processing has been increasing.

  However, in the above-described method, since a complicated operation is required when specifying a key image, the key image specifying operation is troublesome. In particular, the user interface of a digital camera is inferior in operability as compared with a personal computer, which has spurred the troublesome task of specifying a key image.

  By the way, it is not uncommon recently that a user has a plurality of large-capacity storage media. If an image search is executed in a digital camera while exchanging a plurality of such storage media, the key image must be designated again each time the image is exchanged, so that the key image designation work becomes very troublesome. In particular, when manually creating a key image, the same picture has to be drawn every time. In addition, it has been difficult to execute an image search for a plurality of storage media using the same search condition. This is because it is difficult to accurately draw the same picture every time, or to photograph the same subject every time and use it as a key image.

  That is, since the conventional digital camera has only one memory card slot, the image data of the key image and the image data to be searched are stored in one memory card. As a result, the key image cannot be used in common among a plurality of storage media.

  Accordingly, the present invention aims to solve at least one of such problems and other problems. Other issues can be understood throughout the specification.

In order to solve the above-described problems, according to the present invention, an image recording apparatus that captures and records an image, the connection unit connecting a first storage medium that stores a plurality of image data to be subjected to image search Unlike the first storage medium, a second storage medium for storing key image data used as a search condition independent from a plurality of image data to be subjected to the image search, and connected to the connection unit A search extraction unit for searching the image data matching or similar to the key image data from the first storage medium and extracting a search result, wherein the search extraction unit displays the extracted search result If the first storage medium is stored in the second storage medium and the first storage medium is removed from the connection unit and replaced with another storage medium, the replacement storage medium is replaced with the previous storage medium. Used for the first storage medium Search results are extracted by searching image data with the key image data, and the second storage medium is a search result extracted from a plurality of storage media by the search and extraction unit until an explicit erasure instruction is given. Is stored in a unified manner, and an image recording apparatus is provided .

  According to the present invention, in the image recording apparatus, the first storage medium that stores the image data to be searched and the second storage medium that stores the search conditions are connected or mounted, so that the key image or the like It is possible to reduce the work of specifying search conditions. Further, if the second storage medium is left as it is and the first storage medium is replaced with the third storage medium, an image search can be executed on a plurality of storage media using the same search condition.

  In the following, an embodiment useful for understanding the high-level concept, middle-level concept, and low-level concept of the present invention is shown. Note that not all of the concepts included in the following embodiments are described in the claims. However, it should be understood that this is not intentionally excluded from the technical scope of the patented invention, but is not described in the scope of claims because it is equivalent to the patented invention.

  FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary configuration of an image recording apparatus according to the present embodiment. The image recording apparatus 100 is an information processing apparatus that incorporates or connects an imaging device such as a digital camera, a digital video camera, a PDA with a camera, or a mobile phone with a camera.

  The photographing lens 101 is an optical component that forms a subject image on the image sensor 102. The A / D converter 103 is a circuit that converts an analog signal output from the image sensor 102 into a digital signal.

  The timing generation circuit 106 is a circuit that supplies a clock signal and a control signal to the image sensor 102, the A / D converter 103, and the D / A converter 108. The timing generation circuit 106 is controlled by the memory control circuit 104 and the system control circuit 112.

  The image processing circuit 107 performs predetermined pixel interpolation processing and color conversion processing on the data from the A / D converter 103 or the data from the memory control circuit 104.

  The memory control circuit 104 controls the A / D converter 103, the timing generation circuit 106, the image processing circuit 107, the DRAM 105, the D / A converter 108, the nonvolatile memory 111, and the compression / decompression circuit 110. Data output from the A / D converter 103 is written to the DRAM 105 or the nonvolatile memory 111 via the image processing circuit 107 and the memory control circuit 104 or via the memory control circuit 104. The DRAM 105 may be backed up by a power supply device (not shown) such as a battery. In this case, the stored contents of the DRAM 105 are retained even when the main power supply of the image recording apparatus 100 is turned off.

  The image display unit 109 is a display device including an image display control circuit and a liquid crystal display. Display image data written in the DRAM 105 is displayed on a liquid crystal display which is a part of the image display unit 109 via the D / A converter 108. Note that if the image data captured using the image display unit 109 is sequentially displayed, an electronic viewfinder function can be realized. The image display unit 109 can arbitrarily turn on / off the display according to an instruction from the system control circuit 112. For example, when the display is turned off, the power consumption of the image recording apparatus 100 can be greatly reduced.

  The non-volatile memory 111 is a storage medium that stores captured still image data and moving image data, and stores program codes for controlling the image recording apparatus 100. Note that the nonvolatile memory 111 may have a storage capacity sufficient to store a predetermined number of still image data and a predetermined time of moving image data. This makes it possible to write a large amount of image data in the nonvolatile memory 111 even in continuous shooting or panoramic shooting in which a plurality of still images are continuously shot.

  The compression / decompression circuit 110 has a function of compressing / decompressing image data by discrete cosine transform (DCT) or the like. For example, image data stored in the DRAM 105 is read, compression processing or decompression processing is performed, and the processed data is written in the DRAM 105.

  The system control circuit 112 is a circuit that comprehensively controls the entire image recording apparatus 100. The shutter button 113 and the shooting mode setting button 114 are part of the operation unit, and are operated by the operator when selecting a moving image or a still image, a continuous shooting mode, a single shooting mode, or the like. Reference numeral 115 denotes a button operated when setting the number of recording pixels and the compression rate. When the search mode setting button 116 is pressed, a key image data editing menu is displayed on the image display unit 109. Through the key image data editing menu, key image data can be designated, a search result storage destination can be designated, and a search start can be instructed.

  The memory card controller 120 is a control circuit that controls one or more memory cards. The first memory card 121 and the second memory card 122 are detachable and replaceable memory type storage media for storing image data files and the like. These are, for example, memory cards equipped with a non-volatile memory such as a flash memory, and have a larger storage capacity than a built-in memory. The first memory card 121 is connected to a first connector 123 that functions as a connection unit. The second memory card 122 is connected to a second connector 124 that functions as a connection unit.

In the present embodiment, two memory cards are illustrated, but it goes without saying that the present invention can also be applied to three or more storage media. If the capacity of the nonvolatile memory 111 is large enough to store a plurality of image data, at least one memory card slot is sufficient.
Furthermore, the type of each storage medium may be the same or different. That is, the type of mounting form may be different, such as a built-in storage medium and a removable exchange storage medium, the type of medium may be different, such as a memory and a hard disk drive, and the type of connection interface May be different.

  FIG. 2 is a rear view of the image recording apparatus of the present invention. Description of the parts already described is omitted. Reference numeral 201 denotes an optical viewfinder. The cross key 207 which is a part of the operation unit is used, for example, when selecting a menu in the liquid crystal finder or moving the pointer. It is also used when various imaging parameters are specified during shooting. The memory cards 121 and 122 are inserted into memory card slots provided on the side surfaces of the main body. The memory card slot is usually covered with a cover 208. A connector 121 or 122 is provided inside the memory card slot.

  FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating exemplary control processing of the image recording apparatus according to the present embodiment. This flowchart corresponds to a subroutine for search processing. For example, when detecting the operation of the search mode setting button 116, the system control circuit 112 displays a search menu on the display unit 109 according to the operation content.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of a search menu according to the present embodiment. A shaded portion 401 in the search menu represents an item being selected. The shaded portion 401 can be moved according to the operation of the cross key 207, for example. That is, when the system control circuit 112 detects the operation of the cross key 207, the system control circuit 112 recognizes the item being selected and moves the shaded portion 401. The movement of the shaded portion 401 is appropriately reflected on the image display unit 109 in accordance with a command from the system control circuit 112. Further, when the search mode setting button 116 is operated to detect another, the system control circuit 112 executes the selected item.

  In step S301, when the system control circuit 112 detects that “designation of search key image” included in the search menu 400 is selected, the system control circuit 112 executes key image data designation processing. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing that the designation of the search key image is selected in the present embodiment. The system control circuit 112 reads the candidate (image data) from the storage medium storing the candidate key image data in the nonvolatile memory 111, the DRAM 105, or the second memory card 122 and displays the candidate (image data) on the image display unit 109. To do. When there are a plurality of key image data candidates, the system control circuit 112 creates and displays thumbnail images of each candidate.

  FIG. 6 is a diagram showing thumbnail images related to key image candidates in the present embodiment. In this example, nine candidate image thumbnails are displayed. The system control circuit 112 sets a candidate 601 designated in accordance with the operation of the cross key 207 as key image data. A plurality of key image data may be designated.

  In step S302, the system control circuit 112 converts the designated image data into key image data. For example, in order to distinguish key image data from original image data, file management information of key image data is created based on file management information of original image data. For example, the file name of the selected image data is converted according to a predetermined conversion rule, and the file name of the key image file is created. As the conversion rule, for example, there is a method of adding a suffix to the file name of the original image data, changing the extension, or changing the attribute of the file. Alternatively, it may be a rule that file management information is created by storing key image data in a specific folder.

  In step S <b> 303, the system control circuit 112 writes the selected key image into the nonvolatile memory 111. Note that the system control circuit 112 may store the key image in the DRAM 105 as long as the battery is energized even after the power to the second memory card 122 or the main body is turned off. That is, even if the first memory card 121 storing the image data to be searched for the image is replaced with the third memory card, it can be stored in any storage medium as long as the key image can be held. It is good.

  In step S304, when the search start is selected from the search menu 400 and an execution instruction is input, the system control circuit 112 searches and extracts image data that matches the set key image from the first memory card. Note that “match” is a concept that includes not only the case where the key image data and the image data to be searched match 100%, but also a case where the key image data is more than a predetermined similarity. When performing an image search based on the degree of similarity between the key image data and the image data to be searched, this degree of similarity can be set as appropriate.

  In step S <b> 305, the system control circuit 112 writes the image data in the non-volatile memory 111 when there is image data that has been searched and extracted.

  In step S <b> 306, the system control circuit 112 reads the retrieved image data and causes the display unit 109 to display the image data. The image currently displayed on the display unit 109 is continuously displayed until the next image data is retrieved and extracted. The system control circuit 112 may create thumbnails for a plurality of image data that have been searched and extracted, and display the thumbnails side by side. The system control circuit 112 may switch between the former display mode and the latter display mode according to the operation of the cross key 207 or the like.

  In step S307, when the system control circuit 112 detects that the search is completed, the system control circuit 112 selects whether to end the search or to replace the memory card and continue the search. For example, a message for inquiring whether the memory card is exchanged and whether or not the search is continued (or terminated) is displayed on the display unit 109, and the system control circuit 112 determines which one according to the operation signal from the cross key 207. It is determined whether is selected. If the search end is selected, the process proceeds to step S309, and if the continuous search is selected, the process proceeds to step S308.

  By doing so, it is possible to continuously search for image data that matches the key image data that is the search condition, while exchanging a plurality of memory cards. If the search end is selected from the operation unit when the image search is completed for all the memory cards, the system control circuit 112 ends the search process.

  In step S308, the system control circuit 112 recognizes the third memory card when the first memory card 121 (or the second memory card 122) is replaced with a third memory card. When the third memory card is recognized, the process proceeds to S304, and the key image data used for the first memory card 121 is used again to search for image data.

  As described above, when performing image search for a plurality of memory cards, it is convenient for the user because only the key image is set first, and the subsequent key image setting is unnecessary. The system control circuit 112 may automatically restart the image search when the replaced memory card is correctly recognized. Alternatively, the system control circuit 112 may restart the image search after waiting for an instruction from the operation unit such as the cross key 207.

  In step S309, the system control circuit 112 causes the display unit 109 to display the retrieved image data.

  In step S310, when image data desired to be saved is selected from the displayed thumbnails through the operation of the cross key 207, the system control circuit 112 stores the selected image data in the first memory card 121 or the second memory. Write to card 122. It is assumed that the information is stored in advance through the operation unit.

  In step S <b> 311, the system control circuit 112 deletes the retrieved image data from the nonvolatile memory 111. Note that the system control circuit 112 may continuously hold only the thumbnails of the image data in the nonvolatile memory 111 when erasing the searched and extracted image data. Thereafter, the process returns to the main subroutine.

  According to the above-described embodiment, in the image recording apparatus 100, the first storage medium (for example, the first memory card 121 or the second memory card 122) that stores the image data to be searched is connected, and the first Since the second storage medium (for example, the non-volatile memory 111) having a different type from the storage medium is mounted and the search condition is stored in the second storage medium, the first storage medium is the first storage medium. Even if the storage medium is replaced with the third storage medium, search conditions such as key image data are continuously held in the image recording apparatus 100. Therefore, when the image search is executed for the third storage medium, the search condition designation work is reduced.

  Needless to say, the first memory card 121 or the second memory card 122 may be employed as the second storage medium. Note that the second storage medium may not be the nonvolatile memory 111. For example, a storage medium that can hold the stored contents even after the image recording apparatus 100 is turned off, such as a volatile storage medium that is energized by a backup power supply, may be used. In this way, the first storage medium and the second storage medium may be of different types.

  Furthermore, as in this embodiment, when managing key image data and original image data, file management information such as file name, folder name, file extension name, or file attribute is managed differently. It becomes easy to distinguish the key image data from the original image data. Furthermore, if the file management information of the key image data is derived from the file management information of the original image data, it will be easy to understand that the two are closely related.

  Further, the system control circuit 112 has a copy function of reading image data stored in the first storage medium and writing at least part of the read image data as key image data to the second storage medium. (For example, S301 to S303). That is, since key image data can be selected from image data prepared in advance, the burden on the user will be reduced as compared with input by handwriting.

  FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing another exemplary control method according to this embodiment. In addition, about the process already demonstrated, description is abbreviate | omitted by attaching | subjecting the same referential mark.

  This control process is particularly effective when the image recording apparatus 100 does not include the non-volatile memory 111 that can store key image data or the storage capacity of the memory 111 is insufficient. For example, if a plurality of memory cards can be simultaneously connected in the image recording apparatus 100 (that is, if there are a plurality of memory card slots), the key image data is stored in the second memory card 122 instead of the nonvolatile memory 111. Can be stored.

  FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an example of a search menu according to the present embodiment. This flowchart is executed when “designation of search result storage destination” is selected in the search menu 400.

  In step S <b> 700, when the system control circuit 112 detects that the search result storage destination designation 801 is selected from the search menu 400, the system control circuit 112 designates the storage destination of the searched and extracted image data.

  FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of a screen for selecting a storage medium as a storage destination. The system control circuit 112 recognizes the currently connected memory card through the memory card controller 120, creates a screen (FIG. 9) listing the recognized memory cards, and displays the screen on the display unit 109. In this example, the first memory card 121 or the second memory card 122 can be designated as a search result storage destination. When the system control circuit 112 determines that the free space of the nonvolatile memory 111 is sufficient to store a plurality of image data extracted and extracted, the nonvolatile memory 111 is also displayed as a storage destination candidate in the display unit. 109 may be displayed.

  For example, when the second memory card 122 is selected as the search result storage destination, the system control circuit 122 may also store the key image data in the second memory card 122. It should be noted that the storage destination of the key image data may be selected in the same manner as the search result or instead of the search result.

  Thereafter, the above-described steps S301 to S308 are executed, and the storage destination of the image data that has been searched and extracted is the storage medium selected in step S700.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, when the image recording apparatus can simultaneously connect two or more memory cards, the key image data is stored in the memory card connected to one memory card slot. Then, by connecting a plurality of memory cards to other memory card slots while sequentially exchanging them, an image search can be executed using the common key image data for the plurality of memory cards. In addition, since the retrieved and extracted image data is stored in the memory card, it is possible to uniformly manage the results of image retrieval for a plurality of memory cards.

[Other Embodiments]
In the above-described embodiment, the system control circuit 112 reads key image data from a second storage medium (for example, the second memory card 122 or the non-volatile memory 111), and edits the read key image data. An editing function for writing the edited key image data to the second storage medium may be provided.

  Further, the system control circuit 112 may have a function of deleting key image data stored in the second storage medium. In particular, when there are a plurality of key image data, it becomes possible to use the storage capacity of the second storage medium meaningfully by appropriately deleting unnecessary key image data. The display unit 109 that can be mounted on the image recording apparatus is relatively small compared to a personal computer or the like. Therefore, the number of key image data that can be displayed on the display unit 109 is limited. Therefore, by appropriately deleting the key image data, it will be easier to visually select the key image data.

  Although various embodiments have been described in detail above, the present invention may be applied to a system constituted by a plurality of devices, or may be applied to an apparatus constituted by one device.

  In the present invention, a software program (in this embodiment, a program corresponding to the flowcharts shown in FIGS. 3 and 7) for realizing each function of the above-described embodiment is directly or remotely supplied to the system or apparatus. This can also be achieved by a computer included in the system or apparatus reading and executing the supplied program code.

  Accordingly, since the functions and processes of the present invention are implemented by a computer, the program code itself installed in the computer also implements the present invention. That is, the computer program itself for realizing the functions and processes is also one aspect of the present invention.

  In this case, the program may be in any form as long as it has a program function, such as an object code, a program executed by an interpreter, or script data supplied to the OS.

  As a recording medium for supplying the program, for example, flexible disk, hard disk, optical disk, magneto-optical disk, MO, CD-ROM, CD-R, CD-RW, magnetic tape, nonvolatile memory card, ROM, DVD (DVD-ROM, DVD-R).

  As another program supply method, a client computer browser is used to connect to an Internet homepage, and the computer program of the present invention itself or a compressed file including an automatic installation function is downloaded from the homepage to a recording medium such as a hard disk. Can also be supplied. It can also be realized by dividing the program code constituting the program of the present invention into a plurality of files and downloading each file from a different homepage. That is, a WWW server that allows a plurality of users to download a program file for realizing the functional processing of the present invention on a computer may be a constituent requirement of the present invention.

  In addition, the program of the present invention is encrypted, stored in a storage medium such as a CD-ROM, distributed to users, and key information for decryption is downloaded from a homepage via the Internet to users who have cleared predetermined conditions. It is also possible to execute the encrypted program by using the key information and install the program on a computer.

  In addition to the functions of the above-described embodiments being realized by the computer executing the read program, the OS running on the computer based on the instruction of the program is a part of the actual processing. Alternatively, the functions of the above-described embodiment can be realized by performing all of the processes.

  Furthermore, after the program read from the recording medium is written in a memory provided in a function expansion board inserted into the computer or a function expansion unit connected to the computer, the function expansion board or The CPU or the like provided in the function expansion unit performs part or all of the actual processing, and the functions of the above-described embodiments are realized by the processing.

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary configuration of an image recording apparatus according to the present embodiment. FIG. 2 is a rear view of the image recording apparatus of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating exemplary control processing of the image recording apparatus according to the present embodiment. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of a search menu according to the present embodiment. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing that designation of key image data is selected in the present embodiment. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing thumbnail images related to key image candidates in the present embodiment. FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing another exemplary control method according to this embodiment. FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an example of a search menu according to the present embodiment. FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of a screen for selecting a storage medium as a storage destination.

Claims (8)

An image recording apparatus for capturing and recording an image,
A connection unit for connecting a first storage medium for storing a plurality of image data to be subjected to image search ;
Unlike the first storage medium, and a second storage medium for storing the key image data to be used as a separate search criteria from a plurality of image data to be subjected to the image search,
A search extraction unit for searching the image data matching or similar to the key image data from the first storage medium connected to the connection unit, and extracting a search result ;
Including
The search extraction unit stores the extracted search result in the second storage medium, and when the first storage medium is removed from the connection unit and replaced with another storage medium, after the replacement The image data is searched for the key image data used for the first storage medium before the exchange with respect to the other storage medium, and a search result is extracted.
The image recording apparatus, wherein the second storage medium continuously stores search results extracted from a plurality of storage media by the search extraction unit until an explicit erasure instruction is given .   The second storage medium is a storage medium capable of holding stored contents even after the image recording apparatus is turned off, such as a nonvolatile storage medium or a volatile storage medium energized by a backup power source. The image recording apparatus according to claim 1. When managing said image data and the key image data, file names, folder names, claims that further comprising a management unit for managing made different each file management information such as the file extension name or file attributes 3. The image recording apparatus according to 1 or 2 . An editing processing unit that reads the key image data from the second storage medium, edits the read key image data, and writes the edited key image data to the second storage medium ; the image recording apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized. The image recording apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4, further comprising a deleting means for deleting the key image data stored in said second storage medium. The first reading the image data stored in the storage medium, further comprising a copying means for writing in said at least a portion of the image data read out as the key image data a second storage medium the image recording apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 5.   Unlike the first storage medium, a connection unit that connects a first storage medium that stores a plurality of image data to be image-searched, and a search that is independent from the plurality of image data to be image-searched A second storage medium that stores key image data used as a condition, and a method for controlling an image recording apparatus that captures and records an image,
  A search extraction step of searching the image data matching or similar to the key image data from the first storage medium connected to the connection unit, and extracting a search result;
  The search extraction step includes:
  Storing the extracted search results in the second storage medium;
  When the first storage medium is removed from the connection unit and replaced with another storage medium, it is used as the first storage medium before replacement with respect to the other storage medium after replacement. Searching image data with the key image data and extracting a search result;
Including
  The control method further includes:
  An image recording apparatus comprising: a step in which the second storage medium continuously stores search results extracted from a plurality of storage media in the search and extraction step until an explicit erasure instruction is issued Control method.   Unlike the first storage medium, a connection unit that connects a first storage medium that stores a plurality of image data to be image-searched, and a search that is independent from the plurality of image data to be image-searched A second storage medium that stores key image data used as a condition, and an image recording apparatus that captures and records an image,
  A control program that searches the image data that matches or is similar to the key image data from the first storage medium connected to the connection unit, and functions as search extraction means for extracting a search result,
  The search extraction means includes:
  The extracted search result is stored in the second storage medium, and when the first storage medium is removed from the connection unit and replaced with another storage medium, the other storage medium after replacement is stored. On the other hand, it is means for searching image data with the key image data used for the first storage medium before replacement and extracting a search result,
  Further, the control program is stored in the image recording apparatus.
  A control program that functions as means for continuously storing search results extracted from a plurality of storage media in the search and extraction step in the second storage medium until an explicit deletion instruction is issued .

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