JPH06245121A - Electronic still camera device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To allow the electronic still camera itself to reproduce a picked-up picture and to send a picture signal. CONSTITUTION:A reproduction circuit is built in an electronic still camera main body 1 so that a picture reproduced by the reproduction circuit is displayed on a monitor 2 provided to the main body. Furthermore, a transmission unit 3 is mounted onto the main body 1 to use the transmission unit 3 to send a picture signal. Moreover, the transmission unit is mounted removably, then the signal is sent by various transmission standards.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an electronic still camera capable of reproducing image data and displaying the reproduced image and transmitting the image data.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Since an electronic still camera records a still image on a recording medium such as a magnetic disk, the recorded image can be instantly played back on a monitor without chemical treatment such as development. For this reason, the quickness of the camera makes it a particularly suitable camera for commercial use such as life news photography. Also,
Since an electronic still camera requires a higher resolution than a video camera for recording a still image, a high-density CCD image pickup device having 300,000 to 400,000 pixels is generally used.

A conventional electronic still camera is shown in FIG.
FIG. 3A is a perspective view seen from the front diagonally, and FIG.
FIG. 3 is a perspective view seen from diagonally behind. In this figure, 2
Reference numeral 0 is an electronic still camera main body, 21 is an optical viewfinder, 22 is a lens for forming an image on an image sensor, 23 is a shutter for capturing a still image, 24 is a display unit for displaying shooting information, and 25 is It is a magnetic disk slot.

The electronic still camera 20 shown in FIG. 3 has a lens 22 when the shutter is pressed while looking at the viewfinder 21.
The image signal projected through the image sensor such as CCD through
The captured image signal is captured at the timing when the shutter 23 is pressed, signal processing for recording is performed, and the captured image signal is recorded on the magnetic disk inserted into the magnetic disk insertion slot.

Photographing information at the time of photographing, the number of frames photographed, and the like are displayed on the display unit 24. In order to reproduce an image taken by this electronic still camera on a monitor, a device for reproducing and displaying an image signal from a magnetic disk is required. An outline of this monitor reproducing system is shown in FIG.

In FIG. 4, 20 is an electronic still camera,
Reference numeral 30 is a magnetic disk on which an image captured by the electronic still camera 20 is recorded, 40 is a reproducing device for reproducing the image recorded on the magnetic disk 30, 50 is a display device for displaying the image reproduced by the reproducing device 40, Reference numeral 60 is a telephone for transmitting a reproduced image through a telephone line.

In the system shown in FIG. 4, in order to display the image photographed by the electronic still camera 20 on the monitor,
The magnetic disk 30 is taken out from the electronic still camera 20 and set in the reproducing device 40. Then, the reproducing device 40 may be operated to reproduce the recorded image from the magnetic disk 30 and display the image on the display device 50. When it is necessary to send a captured image from a remote place for use in a news report, the reproduced image signal is converted into, for example, a signal that can be sent through a telephone line, and is sent to the exchange through the telephone 60. Just send it out.

[0008]

However, in the reproducing system shown in FIG. 4, since the reproducing device 40 and the display device 50 are separated from each other, the connection between the devices is complicated and their operation becomes complicated, There is a problem in that it is difficult to take advantage of the immediacy of the electronic still camera. Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide an electronic still camera capable of immediately monitoring a reproduced image and transmitting an image signal.

[0009]

A main body of an electronic still camera has a built-in playback function, and a monitor display unit for displaying a played back playback image is provided. To be able to replaceably install a transmission unit that can transmit data.

[0010]

The image captured by the electronic still camera can be monitored by a large number of people on the spot, and the image signal can be transmitted from the electronic still camera using a line such as a telephone. Further, since the transmission unit is replaceable, the image signal can be transmitted to a personal computer, a printer, etc., and a network such as LAN can be used.
Furthermore, since the transmission unit is bidirectional, the image signal transmitted from the outside can be displayed on the monitor and recorded on the recording medium.

[0011]

FIG. 1 shows an electronic still camera according to an embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1, 1 is an electronic camera main body, 2 is a monitor which plays a role of displaying a reproduced image and a viewfinder, 3 is a bidirectional transmission unit for transmitting an image signal, 4 is an eject button for removing the transmission unit, and 5 is a transmission unit Reference numeral 6 is an operation panel for operating 3, operation buttons for operating a reproducing function, 7 is a shutter, and 8 is a slot for inserting a recording medium such as a memory card.

To take a picture with the electronic still camera 1 shown in FIG. 1, the photographer determines the composition while looking at the screen of the monitor 2.
Press the shutter 7. At this time, the image projected on the CCD (not shown), which is an image pickup device, is displayed on the screen of the monitor 2. The monitor 2 is fixed to the main body 1 so that it can be raised and lowered, and can be set at an arbitrary angle. Also,
The monitor 2 can be composed of, for example, a liquid crystal (LCD) display.

The photographed image is recorded on the recording medium inserted into the recording medium insertion port 8. When the photographed image is desired to be viewed after photographing, the image recorded on the recording medium can be reproduced and displayed on the monitor by operating the operation switch 6 provided on the upper surface of the main body.
The operation switch 6 is composed of operation buttons for one frame reproduction, frame advance frame return, continuous reproduction and the like.

When the photographed image is to be transmitted,
Insert the transmission unit 3 into the mounting part provided beside the body 1,
The image signal may be sent to a transmission line (not shown) via the transmission unit 3. At this time, the operation of the transmission unit 3 is performed by operating the operation button of the transmission unit operation panel 5 provided on the rear portion of the main body 1. As the transmission unit 3, units of various transmission standards are prepared and may be replaced according to the transmission standard used. Therefore, the transmission unit 3 can be taken out by pushing the eject button 4.

Further, when an image signal is transmitted from a transmission line (not shown), it can be received by the transmission unit 3, reproduced inside the main body 1 and displayed on the monitor 2. Also, the transmitted image signal can be recorded on a recording medium.

FIG. 2 shows a block diagram of the electronic still camera shown in FIG. In FIG. 2, parts having the same reference numerals as those in FIG. 1 are the same parts. In this figure, 2 is a monitor that plays a role of displaying a reproduced image and a viewfinder, 3 is a transmission unit that transmits an image signal, 10 is an image pickup device composed of a CCD, and 11 is an image signal received by the image pickup device 10. A signal processing circuit for processing, 12 is a compression / expansion circuit for compressing and recording an image signal and expanding it at the time of reading, 13 is a recording / reading circuit for recording to / from the recording medium 14, and 15 is a transmission unit 3 A switch for selecting and supplying an image signal to be transmitted or a received image signal, and a reproducing circuit 16 for reproducing the image signal.

In FIG. 2, the image signal projected on the CCD 10 is applied to the signal processing circuit 11 to produce γ (gamma).
Signal processing such as correction and separation of luminance signal and chromaticity signal is performed. The output of the signal processing circuit 11 is applied to the compression / expansion circuit 12 to be converted into a digital signal, and then compressed to a data amount of 1/10, for example. The compressed image data is recorded on the recording medium 14 by the recording / reading circuit 13 at the timing when the shutter is pressed.

The output signal of the signal processing circuit 11 is also applied to the reproducing circuit 16 so that the reproducing circuit 16 reproduces the image signal and the monitor 2 projects the image projected on the CCD 10. When the photographed image is desired to be viewed, the image data recorded on the recording medium 14 is recorded and read out by the circuit 1
It is read by 3 and applied to the compression / expansion circuit 12. The read image data is expanded by the compression / expansion circuit 12, converted into an analog signal, reproduced by the reproduction circuit 16 and applied with the image signal to the monitor 2.
The reproduced image is displayed on the monitor 2.

When transmitting a photographed image for use in a news photo, etc., the switch 15 is switched to the b contact side to read the image data transmitted from the recording medium 14 by the recording / reading circuit, and further by the compression / expansion circuit. After doing
An image signal is applied to the transmission unit 3 via the switch 15, and the transmission unit 3 forms the signal into a signal form conforming to the transmission standard and sends it to the transmission line.

Further, the image projected on the CCD 10 may be taken out from the signal processing circuit 11, the image signal may be applied to the transmission unit 3 via the switch 15 and sent out to the transmission line 3. Next, when the image data is sent from the transmission line, the switch 15 is switched to the contact a side, and the image signal received by the transmission unit 3 is applied to the recording and reading circuit 13 via the switch 15, It can be recorded on the recording medium 14 by the recording / reading circuit 13. When the switch 15 is switched to the b contact side, the image signal received by the transmission unit 3 is applied to the reproduction circuit 16 via the switch 15, and the reproduced image signal is displayed on the monitor 2.

If a modem is used as the transmission unit 3, it can be connected to a telephone line or a digital line such as ISDN. Also, as the transmission unit 3, SCSI
(Small Computer System In
It is possible to transmit to a personal computer, a hard disk, a printer or the like by using a unit of the transmission standard of the interface). Further, if an Ethernet transmission standard unit is used as the transmission unit 3, an image signal can be transmitted using a local area network (LAN).

If the image signal is binarized and subjected to the dither method and then transmitted, a halftone image signal can be transmitted. Moreover, since this image signal can be received using FAX, the image signal can be received without preparing a dedicated receiving device. In the above description, the digital data is converted and recorded in the recording medium, but the analog signal may be recorded in the recording medium without being converted into the digital data.

[0023]

Since the present invention is configured as described above, an image taken by an electronic still camera can be monitored by a large number of people on the spot, and the electronic still camera can be used by using a line such as a telephone. Image signals can be transmitted. Also, since the transmission unit can be replaced, image signals can be transmitted to a personal computer, printer, etc., and LAN
, Etc. can also be used. Furthermore, since the transmission unit is bidirectional, the image signal transmitted from the outside can be displayed on the monitor and recorded on the recording medium.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an electronic still camera according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an electronic still camera according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a conventional electronic still camera.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a conventional reproduction system for reproducing a still image.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1,20 Electronic still camera body 2 Monitor 3 Transmission unit 4 Eject button 5 Transmission unit operation panel 6 Operation switch 7,23 Shutter 8 Recording medium insertion slot 21 Finder 22 Lens 24 Display section 25 Magnetic disk insertion slot 30 Magnetic disk 40 Playback Device 50 Display device 60 Telephone

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A recording unit for recording still image data photographed on a recording medium, a reproducing unit for reproducing the recorded image data, a monitor for displaying a screen at the time of photographing and displaying the reproduced image, An electronic still camera device, comprising: a transmission unit for transmitting recorded image data, wherein the transmission unit is replaceably mounted according to a transmission standard. 2. The electronic still camera device according to claim 1, wherein a memory card is used as the recording medium. 3. The electronic still camera device according to claim 1, wherein an optical disk is used as the recording medium. 4. The transmission unit is configured to be capable of bidirectional transmission, image data sent from the outside is received and reproduced, and the reproduced image is displayed on the monitor. An electronic still camera device according to claim 1. 5. The transmission unit is configured to be capable of bidirectional transmission, image data sent from the outside is received, and the image data is recorded on the recording medium. 4. The electronic still camera device according to any one of 3 to 3.