JPH08335387A - Picture processing device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To provide a picture processing device in which retrieving operation is easily performed by varying a reduction rate of a picture in accordance with the number of display pictures, when plural pictures are displayed in a table and the desired picture is retrieved. CONSTITUTION: Compressed data is stored in a picture data storing section 13. A signal from a remote control light receiving section 18 and an output signal of an operational switch group 19 are inputted to a recording and reproducing control section 17. The recording and reproducing control section 17 decides the size of a displayed picture in accordance with the number of picture files registered in a directory in a medium selected by depressing a medium selecting key in the operation switch group 19, display in the table is performed on a display section 20. A picture size by the recording and reproducing control section 17 is decided so as to enlarge it successively depending on comparison with the number of displays of pictures of the smallest size.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image handling apparatus, and more specifically, to an image file registered in a data management area of a recording medium and a representative image or sub management of a sub management area created in the data recording area. The present invention relates to an image handling device for displaying a list of representative images of a sub management area different from the image files registered in the area as reduced images.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a conventional data filing system such as DOS (DISK OPERATING SYSTEM), data is filed by a hierarchical directory structure. According to this directory structure method, by creating a plurality of directories in the recording medium and creating the directories in the hierarchical order from the root directory, it is possible to classify and store the data files in each directory. . On the other hand, in a conventional image filing system for filing image data, it is known that a plurality of recorded images can be displayed in a list and an image can be selected when a desired image is searched.

Therefore, the directory structure method is applied to an image filing apparatus for storing image data which is digital data, the image data to be stored is classified into some categories to create sub directories, and the image data is stored in the sub directories. Can be stored. In the image filing apparatus as described above, image data can be classified and stored for each category, which is convenient for organizing.
Also, as many sub directories as the number of entries can be created in the root directory. Since there is no limit to the number of entries in the subdirectory, images can be stored in the same subdirectory as long as the capacity of the recording medium allows.

Then, in the case of searching the image data of the saved image file, the following method can be considered.
First, the registered images and subdirectories are displayed in a list by the list display mode in which the registered images in the directory of one layer and the representative images of the subdirectory of the layer one level below are reduced.

The user selects an image in this mode, or
Select a subdirectory to proceed with the search. To proceed with the search in a subdirectory under the hierarchy, when the corresponding subdirectory is selected, a list display in the selected directory is performed as described above. By thus sequentially searching the directory, a desired image can be finally selected from the displayed images.

In order to obtain the images to be displayed as a list, when reproducing the image data, a method of filtering the pixel information from the original image or performing a thinning process to create a reduced image,
There is a method in which a so-called thumbnail image in which the number of pixels is reduced is created and stored together with a main image in advance, and the thumbnail image is used for displaying a list.

[0007]

In the conventional image filing apparatus, the reduced image size is fixed and the image list displayed by the above-described method is displayed in the image size selected in advance. Further, in the conventional apparatus, since the image data has a large amount of information, the file size is large and it is not easy to store many images in the recording medium.

However, in recent years, the spread of natural image data compression methods such as the JPEG method and the spread of large capacity media such as magneto-optical disk media have made it possible to store a large number of images relatively easily. There is.

However, when displaying a list of registered images, if the number of registered images is large, all the images cannot fit on one list display screen, and it is necessary to refer to a plurality of screens. Therefore, the search becomes complicated. Further, if the size of the reduced image is reduced in order to increase the number of images displayed on one list display screen, it becomes difficult to discriminate similar images, which makes it difficult to search.

The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and when displaying a list of registered images, it is easy to switch the list display screen, simplify the search operation, and display the list. An object of the present invention is to provide an image handling device capable of setting a screen to an appropriate size.

[0011]

One of the image handling apparatus of the present invention is an image file registered in a data management area of a recording medium and a representative image file of a sub management area created in the data area. In a recording / reproducing apparatus that displays, as a reduced image, a list of representative image files in a sub management area different from the image files registered in the sub management area, the number of pixels of the reduced image in the list display mode is displayed as a list display target. According to the number of image files registered in the management area and the number of sub-management areas, a control means is provided for changing the image size small when the number of registrations is large and changing the image size large when the number of registrations is small. In the image handling apparatus, the number of pixels of the reduced image in the list display mode is reduced when the number of registrations is large according to the number of image files and sub management areas registered in the management area targeted for list display. , If the number is small, change the image size greatly.

Another image handling device of the present invention is
When registering an image file or sub management area in the data management area, thumbnail image data of the image file,
In an image data recording device that registers thumbnail image data of a representative image file of a sub management area together, when registering an image file or sub management area, the number of pixels of the thumbnail image is registered in the management area in which data is registered. According to the number of registered and registered image files and the number of sub-management areas, there is provided control means for changing the image size small when the number of registrations is large and largely changing the image size when the number of registrations is small. In the above-mentioned image handling apparatus, when registering image data or a sub management area, the number of pixels of the thumbnail image is registered according to the number of registered and registered image files and sub management areas in the management area where the data is registered. When the number of images is large, the image size is reduced, and when the number is small, the image size is changed greatly. Still another image handling apparatus of the present invention, when registering an image file or a sub-management area in the data management area, thumbnail image data of the image file or In the image data recording device that is configured to register the thumbnail image data of the representative image file of the sub management area together,
A control means for changing the number of pixels of registered thumbnail image data in accordance with the change in the number of image files in the management area or the number of sub-management areas is set to be small when the number of registered images is large and to be large when the number of registered images is small. To have. In the above-mentioned image handling apparatus, the number of pixels of registered thumbnail image data is changed according to the number of image files in the management area and the change of the sub-management area. To do.

Still another image handling apparatus of the present invention is an image file registered in a data recording management area of a recording medium, a representative image file of a sub management area created in the data area, and a sub management area. In the image data recording / reproducing device for displaying a list of representative image files of the sub management area different from the image files registered in the list as reduced images, display screen changing means for changing the number of pixels of the display screen,
A control means is provided for changing the number of display images of the reduced image in the list display mode by changing the number of pixels of the display screen. In the image handling device, the number of display images of reduced images in the list display mode is changed by changing the number of pixels of the display screen.

[0014]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an internal configuration of an image recording / reproducing apparatus which is an image handling apparatus as a first embodiment of the present invention. This image recording / reproducing apparatus is particularly improved in image retrieval so that retrieval of image data recorded on a large-capacity medium can be easily performed. When the number of images registered in the directory or sub directory is small, a list of large images is displayed,
When the number of registered images is large, a list is displayed with a predetermined minimum image size.

As shown in FIG. 1, the image recording / reproducing apparatus 1 of this embodiment uses a video RAM to capture video signals.
A / D conversion circuit 11 that performs A / D conversion for writing to the VRAM 13c, and the image output of the VRAM 13c is D
It has a D / A conversion circuit 12 that performs A / A conversion and outputs a video signal to a monitor, an image data storage unit 13 that incorporates the VRAM 13c, a data address bus 14 and a video bus 15.

Further, the recording / reproducing apparatus 1 has a recording / reproducing control unit 17 connected to the data address buses 14 and 16.
And a remote control light receiving portion 18 that receives infrared light transmitted from the remote control (remote control) transmitter 2 and outputs the transmission signal to the CPU 17a, and its operation button on the front panel 1a (see FIG. 2) of the apparatus body. , A display unit 20 provided on the panel 1a, which is an LED group for displaying the operating state of the recording / reproducing apparatus 1, and a serial interface circuit connected to the modem 3. RS232C I / F21, PC card I / F22 of a PC card interface circuit to which the PC card 4 is connected, and a hard disk (HD) 23.
, A floppy disk drive (FDD) 24 to which the floppy disk (FD) 5 is connected, and a keyboard 6
Keyboard controller 25 to which is connected, an external hard disk (HD) 7 and an external magneto-optical disk (MO drive) 8 are connected to the parallel interface circuit SCSII / F26, DC9V system, DC5
Battery 27 and regulator 2 that constitute a V-system power supply unit
It has a configuration including 8 and.

The image data storage unit 13 includes a RAM-A 13a into which image data is temporarily taken in via a data address bus 14 or a coder circuit 13b, a coder circuit 13b for compressing or expanding image data, and a video bus. 15 or a VRAM 13c which receives a video signal via the coder circuit 13b.

The data address buses 14 and 16
Is a PC card I / F 22 or the like and the control unit 17, and the control unit 17 and the RAM-A 13a of the image data storage unit 13.
And a bus for signal transmission between the D / A conversion circuit 12 and the A / D conversion circuit 11. Further, the video bus 15 includes the VRAM 13c of the image data storage unit 13 and the D / A conversion circuit 12
Alternatively, it is a bus for transmitting a video signal between the A / D conversion circuits 11.

The recording / reproducing control section 17 controls the control elements of each section of the apparatus, and further receives the signal from the remote control light receiving section 18 and the output signal of the operation switch group 19 to operate the interval recording means. Built in,
In addition, a CPU 17a having a control means for changing the image size of the display screen in the mode of displaying a list of image files and representative images of the management area, and a character generator (CG) circuit for outputting character data to be superimposed on a video signal. 17b and R for temporarily storing data
An AM-B 17c, a ROM 17d that stores various control processing algorithms, and an EEPR that stores various data such as recording time intervals for interval recording when the power is turned off
It is composed of an OM 17e and a floppy disk drive controller (FDC) 17f that controls the FDD 24.

FIG. 2 is a layout view of the operation section on the entire panel 1a of the recording / reproducing apparatus 1, on which various switch keys of the operation switch group 19, the LED display section 20, and P are shown.
Insert slot 1 with eject key for C card 4 and FD 5
b, 1c, etc. are arranged.

Further, as the keys and the display section provided on the operation panel 1a, a switch (SW) key (for copying image data of one screen recorded on a recording medium to another recording medium is used. COPY key) 19a,
A switch key (ALLC) for copying all of all image data recorded in one recording medium to another recording medium.
OPY key) 19b, a switch key (FORMAT key) 19c for formatting the recording medium, and a switch key (ER for deleting one screen of image data)
ASE key) 19d and switch key (ALL ERASE key) 19e for erasing all of the image data
And a record designation mode switch key (REC key) 19f for recording image data, and a comment switch key (COMMENT key) 19g for adding a comment.
, A switch key (INT.REC key) 19h for setting the interval recording mode, a reproduction mode designation switch key (PLAY key) 19k, and the switch keys 19a to 19h and 19k are pressed to enter the standby state. After that, a start key (START key) 19i for starting each operation and a switch key (STOP key) 19j for stopping the above operation are provided.

On the operation panel 1a, a key (FLD / FRM key) 19l for instructing whether to record the image data by field recording or frame recording.
And a key (COMP2 key) 19m for setting the two-screen display in the multi-screen display in the reproduction mode
And a key (COMP4 key) 19n for performing four-screen display setting, and a list display key (MENU key) 19o
And a switch key (CARD
/ FD / HD / EXT key) 19p, general-purpose arrow selection switch keys 19q, 19r, 19s, 19t, character display switch key (DISP key) 19u,
For example, a switch key (SET key) 19v for setting image data compression / non-compression conditions and a power switch key (POWER key) 19w are provided. The arrow selection switch keys correspond to the upward designating key 19q and the downward designating key 19s, as well as the left designating key 19r and the right designating key 19t.

Further, the operation panel 1a includes an LED display section 20a for displaying reproduction and recording frame numbers and the like, an LED 20b for displaying a selected medium, and a recording medium as a transfer source and a transfer destination in the image data copy process. LED 20c for displaying the transfer direction and the switch keys 19a to 19 described above.
LED 20d for displaying the operation state of each key of g
And an LED display section showing a state of image data compression and non-compression processing, which is a fixed (1) display LED 20e and a fixed (2) display LED when performing compression under respective conditions.
20f, LED 20 for variable display when performing variable length compression
g, an uncompressed display LED 20h when not compressed is provided.

Before explaining the actual operation, the logical structure of the image data recording medium to which the present invention is applied and the outline of its management will be described. FIG. 3 shows the logical structure of the recording medium. The medium is roughly divided into the following four areas. That is, (1) Area 3 in which parameters indicating the logical structure are described
1 (2) First management area 32a in which a map showing the location of a file in the data area is recorded (the number of sectors in this area is (sector / FAT) × 2) (3) A fixed-size second management area 32b in which the name and file size are recorded (the number of sectors in this area is the total number of root directory entries ÷
(Number of bytes / sector / 32) (4) Area 33 (number of sectors in this area) allocated to the recording area of the data body of the file to be registered and / or the sub management area in which the subdirectory information is recorded Is the total number of sectors in the medium− (the number of sectors in the root directory + the number of sectors per FAT × the number of FATs + the number of reserved sectors).

DOS FAT (FILE ALLOCATION TABLE
In the file system, among the above-mentioned areas, the area 31 is the boot sector, the area 32a is the FAT, and the area 32b.
Is called a root directory (data management area), and the area 33 is called a data recording area. Since the root directory of the area 32b has a predetermined number of entries for each medium, if only data files are registered, only files for the number of entries can be registered. Therefore, not only files but also new directories (sub-directories) can be registered in the directory. In any case, the body of the file or directory to be registered is recorded in the data recording area 33.

The recording location of the data area and registration / deletion to / from the medium are managed by the directory and the FAT 32a. When a file or directory is registered in the root directory 32b, the entry records the file name or directory name, as well as supplementary information such as file size and date and time, and the entry number of the FAT 32a. The data recording area 33 is divided into logical recording units called clusters 34, for example.

Each entry of the FAT 32a is associated with each cluster of the data recording area on a one-to-one basis. FA
In the entry of T32a, the number of the entry to be followed next, a code indicating the last entry (there is no next entry to be followed) or an unused entry is recorded. Therefore, the cluster in which the data and the directory are recorded in the data recording area 33 can be understood by accessing the entry of the first FAT described in the directory entry and sequentially tracking the entry numbers written therein. It has become.

This is the mechanism for registering and reproducing files and directories. In the case of a sub-directory, only the entry area of the directory is placed in the data recording area 33, and the management of files and directories registered there is no different from that of the root directory.

Next, a specific operation of the image recording / reproducing apparatus of this embodiment will be described. In the following description, it is assumed that the DOS FAT file system is adopted as an example. The list display image data for searching the recorded images is generated as follows. Media selection key 19p (hereinafter, operation key or display LED
The position on the panel, such as, is selected by pressing (see FIG. 2), and when the MENU key 19o is pressed with the medium displayed by the display LED 20b loaded, first,
The image size to be displayed is determined according to the number of sub directories or image files registered in the root directory of the medium, and a list of image data is displayed. The process of the list display mode is executed according to the flowchart of FIG.

However, in the apparatus of the present embodiment, the preset minimum image size (i pixel × j pixel)
, The image of the minimum screen size is displayed in the display screen by the maximum allowable number of divisions m, which is the number of list display images m × m.
It becomes possible to display (vertical x horizontal) reduced images. Note that m is an arbitrary natural number. Further, the number of list display images when the number of vertical and horizontal divisions of the display image is reduced by k (when the image size is increased) is represented by (m−k) × (m−k).

In the list display mode, first, in step S1, the total number n of image files and subdirectories in the directory is checked. This is done by searching for an entry in the directory area of the media. However, if the relevant directory is a subdirectory, the sum of the number of image files registered in the relevant subdirectory and the number of subdirectories below it is the total n.

Next, in step S2, the list is displayed with an image size that is one size larger than the m × m reduced images in the vertical and horizontal directions when the above-mentioned preset minimum image size (i pixels × j pixels) is set. The number of displayed images A, that is, the value represented by A = (m−1) × (m−1) (1) and the total n are compared in magnitude.

If n> A as a result of the comparison / determination in step S2, the minimum image size (i pixels × j pixels) is m × m.
Image display processing is executed (step S11). n ≦ A
If so, the process proceeds to step S (S3) of comparing the sum of the number of image files and the number of subdirectories n with the number of images A ′, that is, (m−2) × (m−2).

As a result of the comparison and determination in step S3, n> A '
If so, (m−1) × (m−1) image display processing is executed (step S12). If n ≦ A ′, the process proceeds to step S4.

In the same manner, each time the step advances, the number of images represented by the square of the number obtained by subtracting 1 from the previous step is compared with n, and finally, the total sum of image files and subdirectories is 4 or less. For example, 2 × 2 image display is performed (steps S21 and S22).

As described above, the recording / reproducing apparatus of this embodiment can display a maximum of m × m reduced images on the display screen (monitor screen) with the minimum image size (i pixels × j pixels). At this time, the number of divisions m in the vertical and horizontal directions of the display screen is reduced by 1 for each successive step, and the number of list display images corresponding to the subtracted number of divisions is the number of image files and the subdirectory. The minimum value in the range that does not fall below the total number n (maximum as image size)
The number of divisions (m−k) is set so that the number of vertical and horizontal pixels of the display screen is divided by the number of divisions, and the number of pixels of the reduced image of the display screen is changed to the image size. .

If the size of the original image and the size of the display screen match, the display image size of the m × m image display processing is
The vertical and horizontal dimensions of the original image are reduced to 1 / m.
At this time, the number of horizontal pixels of the original image = i × m, and the number of vertical pixels of the original image j × m.

On the division list display screen, when the displayed data is image file data, an image reduced to the above image size is displayed, and when it is sub-directory information, the above image is displayed. When an image is registered in the subdirectory within the size, a representative image selected as an image showing the characteristics of the subdirectory from the images registered in the subdirectory is displayed.

Whether or not the subdirectory registered in the directory is an image file registration directory can be determined by referring to the subdirectory name or a relational file arranged in the same directory.

Next, the list display operation when the PC card is selected as the recording medium will be described. The data of the root directory of the PC card 4 shown in the block diagram of FIG. 1, the data of the relational file, and the file header are read from the PC card I / F 22,
RAM-B17c via data address bus 16
And the information is examined as described above.

When the image size of the list display is determined based on the information such as the directory, one frame of image data to be displayed from the PC card 4 is transferred to the RAM-A 13a or VRAM 13c via the PC card I / F 22. Transferred.

At this time, the size of the reduced image and the starting address at the time of expansion on the VRAM 13c are written in advance from the CPU 17a to a register (not shown) of the image data storage unit 13 via the data address bus 14. ing. As a result, the image data is expanded on the VRAM 13c and, for example, when the number of entries in the directory is 14, the list display is performed in the 4 × 4 display format as shown in FIG. . When the entry is a sub-directory, the representative image selected when the image is registered in the sub-directory is reduced and displayed as described above.

It should be noted that images corresponding to the frame numbers are displayed in the order of entries on each divided image on the list display screen. For the subdirectory, the symbol SB indicating the subdirectory and the above number are displayed at the same time. For example, the screens SB1, SB5, SB11, etc. of FIG. 5A are displayed. Further, it is shown that 15 and 16 frames of the divided image shown in FIG. 5A are in an unrecorded state.

In this list display state, the arrow selection keys 19q, 19r, s19, 19t shown in FIG. 2 are used,
When the cursor is moved to select an image registered in the subdirectory from the list display screen and the MENU key 19o is pressed, the image files in the subdirectory are displayed in a list. At this time, the operation of setting the display image size and the like are executed according to the above-mentioned flowchart of FIG. 4, similarly to the operation in the root directory. For example, when the number of registrations in the sub-directory is 8, the list display is performed in the 3 × 3 display format as shown in FIG.

As described above, according to the image recording / reproducing apparatus of this embodiment, the image display size at the time of list display is
By automatically changing the number of images to be displayed and minimizing the number of list display screens, the target image can be searched without checking many display screens.

Further, in the image recording / reproducing apparatus of the present embodiment, when searching for image files or other subgroups registered in the management area of the medium in group units, a list display screen with reduced images is displayed. Since the image size (number of vertical and horizontal pixels) of the reduced image that configures the list display screen is changed according to the total number of image files registered in the management area and the number of entries of another subgroup, When the number of files and subgroups registered in the search range is large, the number of images displayed on one list display screen is large, and the search can be performed with the minimum number of display screen switching times. Also, when the number of files and subgroups is small, the image size of the list display is large, and thus it is easy to distinguish similar images.

An image recording / reproducing apparatus which is an image handling apparatus showing the second embodiment of the present invention will be described. This recording / reproducing apparatus is a thumbnail image that can be used as image data when displaying a list of image data of an image file or images of reduced main image size of a representative image of a subdirectory when registering an image file or subdirectory. The device is characterized in that (sub-image) data is generated and registered. The main structure of the recording / reproducing apparatus of this embodiment is the same as that shown in FIG. 1, and the arrangement of the operation switch group and the like arranged on the front panel of the apparatus is also the same as that shown in FIG. is there.

Since the thumbnail image has a smaller data size than the main image, it does not take much time to transfer the data and can be displayed at high speed. It can be placed in the same image file as the main image data, and can also be registered as a separate file.

For example, when the files are arranged in the same image file, the structure shown in the file structure of FIG. 6 can be considered. That is, the header 51 is arranged at the beginning of the file. The header describes the image format of the main image and the sub-image (thumbnail), main image data start / end address, sub-image data start / end address, recording date and time. Next, the empty area 52a is placed, the sub-image data (thumbnail) 53 is arranged,
Further, the main image data 54 is arranged with an empty area 52b. Of course, the order of the main image data 54 and the sub image data 53 may be exchanged.

In any case, in the case of a system in which thumbnail image data is used for list display (not necessarily used), the display image size is also limited by the thumbnail image size. That is, an image having a size larger than the thumbnail size cannot be displayed from the thumbnail with the same image quality as that of the original image. Therefore, it is possible to change the thumbnail image size according to the number of recorded image files. First, a thumbnail image generation operation will be described. In the following example, it is assumed that the main image size and the display screen size match. By operating the MENU key 19o shown in the panel screen of FIG. 2, either the root in the medium or the subdirectory is selected. In this state, REC key 19f
When is pressed, the A / D conversion circuit 11 shown in the block diagram of FIG.
The image data digitized in (1) is temporarily stored in the VRAM 13c.

Next, when the START key 19i is pressed, the thumbnail image size is determined based on the processing in the thumbnail recording processing flowchart of FIG.

Next, file header data is created in the RAM-B 17c, and thumbnail image data is recorded in the data area of the PC card 4 via the data address bus 16 and the PC card I / F 22. .

Next, the flow of the thumbnail recording process of FIG. 7 will be described. Here, it is assumed that the main image size and the display screen size match. First, in step S31, the sum n of image files and subdirectories in the directory is checked. Next, in step S32, the total n and the number A of list display images in the number of vertical and horizontal divisions (m-1) displayed with an image size that is one size larger than the preset minimum displayable image size, that is, (M
−1) × (m−1) is compared.

As a result of the comparison and determination in step S32, n
> A, (1 / m) × (1 /
The thumbnail creation / recording process of the image size m) is executed (step S41). If n ≦ A, the sum n of the number of image files and the number of subdirectories and the number A ′ of list-displayed images, that is, (m−2) × (m−2) are compared in step S33. Proceed to. Step S3 above
If n> A 'as a result of the comparison and determination of No. 3, 1 / (m-
1) A thumbnail creation / recording process of size 1 / (m-1) is executed (step S42). If n ≦ A ′, the same process is repeated thereafter, and finally, if the total sum n of image files and subdirectories is 4 or less,
A thumbnail creation / recording process of (1/2) × (1/2) image size is executed (steps S51 and S52).

After the above thumbnail recording processing, C shown in FIG.
The thumbnail image is expanded on the RAM-A 13a as data of a predetermined image size by the ODER circuit 13b,
Data address buses 14 and 16, PC card I / F 22
It is recorded on the PC card 4 via. At this time, C
Parameters such as the image size and the compression rate are set in the register (not shown) of the image data storage unit 13 by the PU 17a. Thereby, for example, when the number of entries is 10, it is assumed that the display screen size and the original image size are equal, and thumbnail data, which is an image in which the vertical and horizontal sizes of the main image size are reduced to ¼, is recorded.

Following the above-mentioned writing of the thumbnail data to the PC card, the main image is similarly stored in the RAM-A1.
PC developed via 3a and via the data address bus
It is recorded on the card 4. The recorded data at this time may be uncompressed data. After that, the FAT and the directory are rewritten, and the recording is completed. The same operation is performed when the representative image in the subdirectory is registered.

As described above, in the image recording / reproducing apparatus of this embodiment, when registering an image file or a group in the sub-group of the management area of the medium, the thumbnail is registered and the image size of the thumbnail is registered. Is changed according to the total number of entries of image files and subgroups in the management area, so the image size when displaying a list and the thumbnail image size match, and the number of images when displaying a list is small. In this case, it is displayed as an image having a large image size, and it becomes easy to distinguish similar images. Further, there is an effect that the list display can be performed at high speed.

By the way, in the apparatus of the second embodiment described above,
The thumbnail image size to be recorded has been changed according to the number of recorded files. If recorded in this way, image files with different thumbnail image sizes will coexist in the same directory, and when the display image size is smaller than the thumbnail image size in the list display, it is almost the same as the image reduced from the original image. With the image quality, a display image can be created from thumbnail image data. However, the thumbnail image data having a large image size also has a large data size. Therefore, it is likely that an extra processing time for displaying is required and the recordable capacity becomes insufficient.

Therefore, when the number of image files registered in the directory or the number of subdirectories increases or decreases, the image size of the thumbnails of the image files already registered or the representative images of the subdirectories can be changed. An image recording / reproducing device can be considered. In the device of this modification, the recording process requires extra time by changing the registered thumbnail image size, but as a result of the optimized thumbnail image size, the list display can be performed speedily. .

The rewriting operation of the thumbnail image size at the time of recording and erasing in the image recording / reproducing apparatus of this modification will be described below. The recording operation itself is almost the same as in the case of the apparatus of the second embodiment described above, and the REC shown in FIG.
By pressing the button 19f, the image data will be VRAM
13c is temporarily held. The subsequent processing will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

First, in step S61, the remaining capacity is checked based on the directory and FAT information. Here, it is determined whether the recordable remaining capacity is secured. Next, the thumbnail recording process is executed by pressing the START key 19i (step S62). The processing of this subroutine is as already described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. 7 and FIG. Next, the main image recording process is executed (step S63), and this operation is also the same as the operation described with reference to FIG. 1 in the apparatus of the first embodiment.

After the image file is registered by the above process, it is determined whether or not the thumbnail image size is changed when the image file is registered (step S64). If the image size of the thumbnail is not changed, the recording process is completed, but if the image size is changed, the thumbnail rewriting process is executed (step S65), and the process of this subroutine is completed.

The erasing process has the following operation. That is, when a directory in the medium is selected by operating the MENU key 19o, an arbitrary frame in the directory is selected with arrow selection switch keys 19a, 19a.
Select by r, 19s, 19t, for example, START
By pressing the key 19i, the selected frame is erased or registered as a frame to be copied. Next, ERAS
By pressing the E key 19d, the erase standby mode is set. The subsequent operation will be described with reference to FIG.

First, in step S71, the number of image files and the number of subdirectories in the directory are checked. Next, the erasing process (step S72) is executed by pressing the START key 19i. This process
The FAT area 32a and the directory area 32b of the medium shown in FIG. 3 are erased by rewriting the data of the file to be erased. In particular,
The FAT becomes an unused code, and the directory entry becomes an erased file code. This will erase all the selected files.

Then, the thumbnail size is determined from the number of files and the number of subdirectories left in step S73. This process is the same as the process shown in FIGS. 4 and 7 described above, but the display and thumbnail recording are not performed, and only the size is confirmed. In step S74, it is confirmed whether or not the thumbnail size has been changed. This process is a process of comparing the size before erasing with the size confirmed in step S73. If there is no change, the erasing process is completed. When the thumbnail size is changed, the thumbnail rewriting process (S75) is executed according to the flowchart of FIG. 10, and the erasing process is completed.

The thumbnail rewriting process will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. When rewriting the thumbnail, first, in step S81, the number of files to be changed is checked. Next, step S8
In 2, it is determined whether or not there is a file whose thumbnail size is to be changed, and if there is no file, this process ends.

If there is a file to be changed, the data of the main image of the corresponding file is expanded in step S83. At this time, the compressed data is RAM-A 13a and the uncompressed data is VRAM 13c via the PC card I / F 22.
Transferred to. At this time, various parameters are set in the register (not shown) of the image data storage unit 13 by the CPU 17a. After that, if it is compressed data, C
The data is expanded by the CODER circuit 13b controlled by the PU 17a and expanded in the VRAM 13c. At this time, as the storage area of the data expanded on the VRAM 13c, an address or a device which is deviated from the display area is used.

Next, in step S84, the thumbnail size is changed. In this step, VRAM1
The decompressed main image 3c is compressed and expanded on the RAM-A 13a as data of a predetermined image size by the CODER circuit 13b controlled by the CPU 17a. Then, it is recorded on the PC card 4 via the data address buses 14 and 16 and the PC card I / F 22.

If the thumbnail (sub-image) data to be created is non-compressed data, thinning-out and component conversion are executed. If the thumbnail data is compressed data, it can be recorded without changing the data size. When the data size of the thumbnail data is changed, it may be necessary to save the main image data and record the thumbnail data.

In step S85, the directory and FA
Whether or not T needs to be rewritten is determined. This is because when the thumbnail image size is changed and the thumbnail (sub-image) data is rewritten, if the sub-image data size is changed,
This is because it is necessary to rewrite the directory or FAT when the size or allocation of the image file is changed. If rewriting is necessary, step S
At 86, the directory and FAT contents are rewritten. The above process is repeated, and when it is confirmed in step S82 that there is no file for changing the thumbnail image size, this routine is ended.

As described above, since the image size of the thumbnail (sub-image) of the registered image file is changed according to the number of image files in the directory and the number of sub-directories, the optimum thumbnail image according to the number of registered images. It becomes the size, and the list can be displayed at high speed. Also,
As the number of registrations increases, the file size can be saved. In addition, the list display can be speedily performed.

In the image recording / reproducing apparatus of the embodiment or the modification described above, it is assumed that the main image (original image) size and the display screen size are the same. In the case of display on a television monitor, the main image size and the display screen size are often the same. However, in recent years, Windows
(US Microsoft Corporation registered trademark)
With a personal computer or the like, multiple display screen sizes are becoming available.

Therefore, it is conceivable to switch the display screen size and use an image filing device for a wide screen. In this case, the display screen size is switched, so that the number of displayable images of the same size in the list display is increased. Change. Therefore, when changing the display screen size,
At the same time, it is conceivable to change the maximum displayable number in the list display screen. By this processing, the optimum list display screen is obtained according to the display screen size, and the search is facilitated.

As the type of display screen size, for example,
768 in the DSC68 PIN standard and the VIDEO1 standard
The screen size is × 480 pixels, which is 64 according to the VGA standard.
A screen size of 0 × 480 pixels is treated as a standard. On the other hand, the display screen size of the SVGA standard is 1024 ×
The screen size is 768 pixels and 1280 × 1024 pixels. For example, when reducing an image of 640 × 480 pixels to 1/8, the image size is 80 × 60 pixels. Therefore, while a display screen with a display screen size of 640 × 480 pixels can display a list image of 8 × 8 (64 images), a display screen of 1280 × 1024 pixels has a display screen size of 1
A 6 × 17 (272 images) list image can be displayed.

As the image recording / reproducing apparatus which is the image handling apparatus as the third embodiment of the present invention, an apparatus capable of changing the maximum number of images displayed in the list display mode according to the change of the display screen size will be described. The configuration of this device,
The layout of the operation panel is similar to that shown in the block diagram of FIG. 1 and the layout of the operation panel of FIG.

When the SET key 19v which is a switch key for setting parameters and conditions on the operation panel is pressed, a setting screen is displayed. When the display screen size is changed in the setting screen, the screen size is changed and the display is switched. At this time, the display mode setting process shown in the flowchart of FIG. 11 in which three display screen sizes can be selected is called.
Then, based on the display image size, as shown in FIGS.
The subroutine of the list display mode process of the flowchart of 4 is selected.

That is, in the display mode setting process shown in FIG. 11, the display screen sizes selected in steps S91 and S92 are checked, and the respective list display modes A, B and C are selected. In this embodiment, there are three screen sizes. Then, the MENU shown in FIG.
When the list display mode is selected by operating the key 19o), the list display mode is selected and displayed according to the display screen size. FIG. 1 showing these processes in correspondence with the flowchart of the list display mode process of FIG.
Reference numerals 2, 13, and 14 are flow charts of the list display mode A processing, mode B processing, and mode C processing, respectively.

The processes shown in FIGS. 12, 13, and 14 are processes corresponding to three display screen sizes of 640 × 480 pixels, 1024 × 768 pixels, and 1280 × 1024 pixels, and any one of them can be selected. Is. In addition,
The main image size is 640 × 480 pixels, and the minimum number of display images that determines the maximum image display number is 80 × 60 (1/8 × 1/8 of the original image size).

The difference between the image recording / reproducing apparatus of this embodiment and that of the first embodiment is that the size of the main image is not determined by the number of vertical and horizontal divisions based on the display screen size. The point is that the reduced image size is determined by the size of the (original image) divided vertically and horizontally.

Further, when the reduced image size is determined by changing the number of divisions with reference to the size of the display screen, if there are a plurality of types of display screen sizes, the variation of the reduced image size also increases. Therefore, in the apparatus of the present embodiment, the reduced image size is determined by changing the number of divisions based on the main image (original image) size, and the variation of the reduced image size is fixed regardless of the change in the display screen size. Can be simplified. Then, the variation of the reduced image size is set to 1/8, 1/7, 1 / of the main image (original image) size.
6, 1/5, 1/4, 1/3, 1/2, and the divided image sizes corresponding to the above divided values are 80 × 60, 91 × 68, 106 × 80, in terms of the number of pixels, respectively. 213 x
It becomes 160,320x160.

Each step of the list display mode processing of FIG. 12, FIG. 13, or FIG. 14 selected by checking the display screen size is the step S1 of FIG.
There is a one-to-one correspondence with S2, S3, S4. In operation, similarly to FIG. 4, the image size of the list display is selected according to the total n of the number of files in the directory and the number of subdirectories, and the divided image size in each list display mode A, B, C is The above values are adopted. When the total number n of files and the number of sub-directories in the directory is large, that is, when the number of registrations is large, the list display is executed with the reduced image having a small size. When the number of registrations is small, the reduced image size at the time of list display becomes large.

As described above, according to the image recording / reproducing apparatus of this embodiment, for a plurality of display screen sizes,
Since the number of display images in the list display mode is changed, the optimum list display screen can be obtained for each display screen size, which facilitates the search.

[0083]

As described above, the first aspect of the present invention is as described above.
According to the described image handling apparatus, when the number of files increases, the image size is reduced and a large number of images are displayed at one time, so the number of search screens can be reduced. Further, when the number of files is small, the image size becomes large, and thus it becomes easy to discriminate similar images.

According to the image handling apparatus of the second aspect of the present invention, when the number of registered files increases, the size of the registered thumbnails is also reduced, so that the list display can be performed at high speed. The file size also becomes smaller.

According to the image handling apparatus of the third aspect of the present invention, since the thumbnail image size is always optimized in accordance with the thumbnail size at the time of displaying the list, the list display is speedy.

According to the image handling apparatus of the fourth aspect of the present invention, according to the display screen size at the time of recording or erasing,
Since an optimal and wasteful list display screen can be obtained, if the display screen size is large, it is easy to perform a search.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an internal configuration of an image recording / reproducing apparatus which is an image handling apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a layout view of an operation unit on a front panel of the image recording / reproducing apparatus of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a memory logical structure of a recording medium applied to the image recording / reproducing apparatus of FIG.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of list display mode processing in the image recording / reproducing apparatus of FIG.

5A and 5B are diagrams showing a list display screen in the image recording / reproducing apparatus of FIG. 1, wherein FIG. 5A is a list display screen in a 4 × 4 display format, and FIG. 5B is a list in a 3 × 3 display format. The display screen is shown.

FIG. 6 is a memory block diagram of an image recording / reproducing apparatus which is an image handling apparatus as a second embodiment of the present invention.

7 is a flowchart of thumbnail recording processing in the image recording / reproducing apparatus of FIG.

8 is a flowchart of image data recording processing in a modified example of the image recording / reproducing apparatus of the second embodiment of FIG.

9 is a flowchart of image data erasing processing in the image recording / reproducing apparatus of FIG.

10 is a flowchart of thumbnail rewriting processing in the image recording / reproducing apparatus of FIG.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart of a display mode setting process in an image recording / reproducing device which is an image handling device as a third embodiment of the invention.

12 is a flowchart of list display mode A processing in the image recording / reproducing apparatus of FIG.

13 is a flowchart of list display mode B processing in the image recording / reproducing apparatus of FIG.

14 is a flowchart of list display mode C processing in the image recording / reproducing apparatus of FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

17a ... CPU (control means for changing the image size in the list display, control means for changing the number of images displayed in the list, display screen changing means) 32b .. Root directory (data management area) 33 .. Area, sub management area (data recording area)

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. An image file registered in a data management area of a recording medium, a representative image file of a sub management area created in the data recording area, and a sub management different from the image file registered in the sub management area. In an image handling device that displays a list of representative image files of areas as reduced images, the number of pixels of the reduced images in the list display mode, the number of image files registered in the management area that is the target of the list display, and the number of sub-management areas According to the above, the image handling apparatus is provided with a control unit for changing the image size small when the number of registrations is large and changing the image size large when the number of registrations is small. 2. When registering an image file or a sub management area in a data management area of a recording medium, thumbnail image data of the image file and thumbnail image data of a representative image file of the sub management area are registered together. When registering an image file or sub management area in the image handling device, the number of pixels of the thumbnail image is registered according to the number of registered and registered image files and sub management areas in the management area for registering data. An image handling apparatus characterized by comprising a control means for changing the image size small when the number is large and for changing the image size large when the number is small. 3. An image which, when registering an image file or a sub management area in a data management area of a recording medium, also registers thumbnail image data of the image file and thumbnail image data of a representative image file of the sub management area. Depending on the number of image files in the management area and the number of sub-management areas in the handling device, the number of pixels of registered thumbnail image data is changed to a smaller image size when the number of registered images is large, and a larger image size when the number of registered images is small. An image handling apparatus comprising a control means for controlling. 4. An image file registered in a data management area of a recording medium, a representative image file of a sub management area created in the data recording area, and a sub management different from the image file registered in the sub management area. In an image handling device for displaying a list of representative image files of areas as reduced images, display screen changing means for changing the number of pixels of the display screen and display of reduced images in the list display mode by changing the number of pixels of the display screen An image handling device comprising a control means for changing the number of images.