JPH09135412A - Recording and reproducing device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To quickly present information related to images or sounds (such as the date of recording, recording mode, photographic conditions, reduced images and the information of notes) for a user. SOLUTION: This device records image signals and audio signals in a recording medium 2 together with their additional information and reproduces the recorded contents in the recording medium 2. In this case, an image file 21 and a sound file 22 are provided so as to totally record these additional information in one separate map file 24. Therefore, all the additional information required for presenting the information related to images or sounds can be provided from only the map file 24. Thus, it is not necessary to conventionally read out the additional information by opening the respective image file and sound file one by one.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a recording / reproducing apparatus, and more particularly to a recording / reproducing apparatus for recording a photographed image as a digital signal and reproducing the recorded digital photographed image.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, PCMCIA (Personal Computer Memories) such as semiconductor memory cards and small hard disks have been developed.
mory Card International Association) A technique for recording images and sounds as digital signals on a recording medium has been developed.

For example, a photographed image is displayed on the PCMCIA.
There is a digital electronic still camera that digitally records on a recording medium. On this PCMCIA recording medium, for example, voice can be recorded as annotation information of an image taken by the electronic still camera. Also, PCMCI
The data recorded on the A recording medium is configured to be readable by a personal computer.

As a conventional example of the format of image data generated by the above digital electronic still camera, JEID
There is a format described in "IC memory card guideline DSC 68-pin standard for digital still cameras" issued by A (Japan Electronic Industry Development Association).

In this standard, the PCMCIA recording medium is MS-DOS (registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation, USA).
Used as a compatible block device, image data and audio data are recorded as individual files on a PCMCIA recording medium. Further, incidental information related to the image, for example, information such as a shooting date, a shooting mode, and a shooting condition is recorded in each image file.

When an image file or an audio file recorded on this PCMCIA recording medium is to be reproduced on a personal computer, the information of the file existing in, for example, a specific subdirectory is monitored by a computer monitor by using the function of MS-DOS. It is designed so that the user can select a file to be played by displaying the list above.

However, in this case, the information that the MS-DOS can understand is limited to the file name, the file creation date, the file size, and the like. Therefore, MS-DOS
The information displayed as a list when the function of is used is limited to this information.

Since these pieces of information are recorded in the continuous area on the PCMCIA recording medium in accordance with the MS-DOS directory structure rule, the information can be restored at a relatively high speed. Further, by making the file creation date coincide with the shooting date, it becomes possible to present more user-friendly information.

[0009]

However, MS-
Since the DOS cannot understand the shooting mode, shooting conditions, etc., in order to present this information to the user, application software dedicated to the DOS had to be prepared. Above "IC for digital still camera"
According to the "Memory Card Guideline DSC 68-pin standard", these pieces of information are individually recorded in each image file, so the reading application software needs to open each image file one by one and analyze the contents. there were.

That is, when the reading application software requests the MS-DOS to read the information in the image file, the MS-DOS must analyze the arrangement information of the image file on the PCMCIA recording medium and read the information. I won't. The contents of the image file are divided into small recording units called sectors, and information such as the shooting mode and shooting conditions can be placed in sectors at arbitrary locations.

Therefore, in the case of a recording medium having low access capability and the method of arranging information is random, the information reading time becomes long. Therefore, when presenting each shooting mode for a large number of image files or displaying the list of image file information for each shooting mode, it is necessary to open and read all the image files and further analyze the contents. Therefore, there is a problem that a large amount of time is required and the display to the user is significantly delayed.

By the way, the image information is of a type that can be understood only by human eyes. Therefore, at the time of playing an image, a technique has been proposed in which a reduced image of the image is first displayed on the monitor as an index image so that the user can check the contents of the image file in a short time, and it is widely used. There is.

In this technique, it is usual to record the reduced image data of the normal image file in the header portion of the corresponding original image file. For example, C-CUBE
"JPEG File Interchange Fo issued by MICROSYSTEMS
"rmat ver 1.02" describes the convention for storing reduced image data in a corresponding image file.

However, according to this rule, the recording position of the reduced image data in the image file is variable. Therefore, in order to determine the start position of the reduced image data, it is necessary to analyze the header portion of the image file, and there is a problem that the processing for this analysis becomes extra overhead.

In particular, assuming that some image files do not include reduced images, there is a problem that the analysis time may be wasted in the conventional method of opening all image files and analyzing the header part. there were.

The above problems similarly occur in a system which is configured to add audio annotation information to an image file. For example, if additional information indicating which audio file is recorded as the annotation information is recorded in the image file, the image is searched to search the audio file or whether the audio file exists. You have to actually parse the contents of the file.

Therefore, there is a problem that the presentation of the annotation information to the user is delayed due to the overhead of analyzing the image file. The above problem becomes particularly noticeable when the electronic still camera and the host computer are connected by a low-speed communication path such as RS232C.

The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and information relating to images and sounds (recording date, recording mode, photographing condition, reduced image, annotation information, etc.).
It is intended to be able to present to the user at high speed.

[0019]

A recording / reproducing apparatus of the present invention records at least one of an image signal and an audio signal on a recording medium together with their accompanying information, and reproduces the recorded contents of the recording medium. A recording / reproducing apparatus, wherein the supplementary information is collectively recorded in one map file other than the image file for recording the image signal and the audio file for recording the audio signal, and the recorded content of the recording medium is reproduced. When performing, the map file is referred to and reproduced.

Another feature of the present invention is that the additional information recorded in the map file includes at least recording date information of either an image or a sound.

Another feature of the present invention is that the additional information recorded in the map file includes at least recording mode information of either image or sound.

Another feature of the present invention is that the additional information recorded in the map file includes information on image capturing conditions.

Another feature of the present invention is that the annotation information of the image recorded in the image file is recorded / reproduced as an annotation file of image or sound, and the additional information recorded in the map file. Is characterized by including information indicating the type of the annotation information.

Another feature of the present invention is that the annotation information of the image recorded in the image file is recorded and reproduced as an annotation file, and the supplementary information recorded in the map file is the recorded information. It is characterized by including the recording position information of the annotation file on the medium.

Another feature of the present invention is that the supplementary information recorded in the map file includes information on a group in which a plurality of image files and sound files are collected according to a predetermined theme. .

Another feature of the present invention is that the reduced image of the image recorded in the image file is recorded / reproduced as a reduced image file different from the image file, and is stored in the map file. The additional information to be recorded is characterized by including recording position information of the reduced image file on the recording medium.

Another feature of the present invention is that the reduced images of the images recorded in the image file are collectively recorded in one submap file different from the image file and the map file. In addition, the recording position of the reduced image in the sub-map file is recorded as supplementary information in the map file, and when the reduced image is reproduced, the map file is referred to to reproduce the reduced image from the sub-map file. It is characterized by reading out and reproducing.

Since the present invention comprises the above technical means, at the time of recording, information to be reproduced for each image file or audio file at the time of reproduction (for example, recording date, recording mode, photographing condition) is stored for each image file or audio file. It is recorded together in one map file different from the audio file.
Then, at the time of reproduction, information relating to each image file and audio file is reproduced using only this map file and presented to the user. As a result, all the supplementary information necessary for presenting the information can be obtained only from the map file, and it is not necessary to open the individual image files and sound files one by one and read out the supplementary information as in the conventional case.

According to another feature of the present invention, the reduced image data is recorded as an independent reduced image file on the recording medium without being embedded in the image file in which the original image is recorded, and The recording position of the reduced image file is recorded in the map file as additional information.
As a result, when playing back a reduced image and presenting it to the user, based on the recording position information of the reduced image file described in the map file, the reduced image file to be presented is directly opened and converted into data. It becomes possible to access.

Further, according to another feature of the present invention, at least one or more reduced image data is not embedded in the individual image files in which the original images are recorded, but is stored in one submap file. The data are collectively recorded, and the recording position of each reduced image data in the submap file is recorded as additional information in the map file. As a result, when reproducing a reduced image and presenting it to the user, the sub-map file should be opened only once, and thereafter, based on the recording position information of the reduced image data described in the map file. , It becomes possible to sequentially access the reduced image data to be presented.

[0031]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the recording / reproducing apparatus of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In the reproduction processing of the recording / reproducing apparatus according to the present embodiment,
This can be carried out in the processing of the application when the data recorded on the recording medium A is reproduced by the personal computer and the processing of the camera when the recording / reproducing apparatus itself reproduces the data.

First, FIG. 1 shows a functional block diagram showing the elemental features of the present invention. The features of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIG. The recording / reproducing apparatus shown in FIG. 1 is roughly divided into a recording apparatus 1, a recording medium 2, and a reproducing apparatus 3.
It is composed of

The recording device 1 comprises an image recording means 11 and
The audio recording means 12 and the incidental information recording means 13 are provided. Here, the image recording means 11 records at least one or more image data on the recording medium 2 as an image file 21. The image recording means 11 outputs one image file 21 each time one image data is recorded.
And one reduced image file 22 corresponding thereto are formed.

The voice recording means 12 has at least one
One or more audio data on the recording medium 2 as an audio file 23
Is recorded as. This voice recording means 12
One audio file 23 is formed each time one audio data is recorded.

Further, the incidental information recording means 13 includes plural kinds of incidental information relating to images and sounds (recording date of images and sounds, recording mode of images and sounds, auxiliary information such as image capturing conditions, and The type and recording position of the annotation information for the image, the information about the group in which a plurality of images and sounds are grouped according to a predetermined theme, the recording position of the reduced image file,
Information such as recording positions of images and sounds) is collectively recorded on the recording medium 2 as one map file 24.

As is apparent from FIG. 1, individual image data are recorded on the recording medium 2 as individual image files 21. Therefore, when recording a plurality of image data, a plurality of image files 21 are formed on the recording medium 2. This also applies to the audio file 23.

On the other hand, only one map file 24 is formed, and all supplementary information related to each file is recorded together. Further, the reduced image data is not embedded in the image file 21 in which the original image is recorded, but is recorded as a reduced image file 22 other than the original image.

The reproducing apparatus 3 refers to the map file 24 to reproduce the image data in the image file 21 and the reduced image data in the reduced image file 22 and the audio to the map file 24. File 2
3 includes audio reproducing means 32 for reproducing the audio data in 3 and attribute information reproducing means 33 for reproducing the attribute information in the map file 24 by referring to the map file 24.

The image data recorded as the image file 21 on the recording medium 2 can be reproduced by the personal computer 4 by the image reproducing means 31, and the reproduced image can be displayed on the monitor 5. In this case, before actually displaying the image data on the monitor 5, the attribute information or the reduced image related to the image data is reproduced and displayed on the monitor 5, and the desired image to be reproduced with reference to the reproduced information. You can let the user choose a file.

For example, when reproducing the attribute information, the attribute information reproducing means 33 reads the attribute information from the map file 24 and reproduces it. Further, when reproducing the reduced image, the image reproducing means 31 refers to the reduced image recording position in the map file 24, and the reduced image data in the reduced image file 22 is read and reproduced based on the recording position.

When the annotation information about the image recorded in the image file 21 is recorded in the recording medium 2 as the audio file 23, the audio annotation information can be reproduced. In this case, the voice reproduction means 3
2, the map file 24 is referred to, and the audio data is read from the audio file 23 and reproduced based on the recording position of the annotation information.

In this case, since all the supplementary information relating to images and sounds is recorded in one map file 24, if this map file 24 is opened, all supplementary information required for information presentation can be obtained. it can. As a result, it is not necessary to open the individual image files and audio files one by one to read out the supplementary information as in the conventional case, and the information can be presented to the user much faster than in the conventional case. .

The reduced image data is the image file 2
Since it is recorded as a reduced image file 22 different from 1, the reduced image file 22 described in the map file 24 is displayed when the reduced image is displayed on the monitor 5 so that the user can select a desired file. Based on the recording position, the reduced image file 22 can be directly opened to access the reduced image data. Therefore,
Image file 2 where the original image is recorded as before
It is not necessary to open each one one by one and analyze the recording location of the reduced image, and the reduced image can be accessed at high speed.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a recording system of a camera which is an embodiment of the recording / reproducing apparatus according to the present invention. As shown in FIG. 2, the recording system of the camera according to the present embodiment includes a lens 201, an imaging device 202, an A / D converter 203, an image memory 204, a compression encoding unit 205,
Recording device 206, CPU 207, recording medium 208, operation unit 209, voice input unit 210, voice A / D converter 211
It has. Of course, other parts of the camera that are not directly related to the present embodiment, such as the diaphragm and the shutter, are provided.

In FIG. 2, an optical image of a subject captured by the lens 201 is converted into an electric image signal by an image pickup device 202 located behind it, for example, a charge-coupled device (CCD). Imaging device 202
Responds to a control signal provided by the CPU 207 to accumulate charges corresponding to the optical image of the subject and read out a video signal.

The video signal read by the image pickup device 202 is converted into digital image data by the A / D converter 203. The imaging device 202
Although not shown, various means for processing a video signal such as gamma correction, color signal formation / separation, and white balance adjustment are provided between the A / D converter 203 and the A / D converter 203.

The image data converted into a digital signal by the A / D converter 203 is stored in the image memory 204. Next, from the image memory 204 to the compression encoding unit 20.
The image data is read out to 5, and compression coding is performed here. An example of this data compression method is the JPEG method (ISO / IEC DIS
The compression method described in 10918-1) can be used.

The image data compressed and encoded in this way is recorded on the recording medium 208 via the recording device 206.
Is written to. The recording device 206 is composed of, for example, a memory card interface defined by JEIDA as an interface for the recording medium 208.
That is, the image data received from the compression encoding unit 205 is recorded on the recording medium 208 according to the interface protocol.
It is composed of a logic circuit for writing to and an interface connector.

Further, as the recording medium 208, a memory card, a hard disk or the like suitable for the recording device 206 is used. The file format on the recording medium 208 is, for example, a JEIDA memory card DO.
A format based on the S file system standard is used, and image data, audio data, and other incidental information are recorded as a file according to this format.

The operation unit 209 is for giving various instructions regarding the recording / reproducing operation in the camera of this embodiment, and the user uses the operation unit 209 to instruct recording / reproducing of images and sounds. Is possible.

For example, the CPU 207 is the operation unit 2 of the user.
When the voice recording command by the operation of 09 is detected, the CPU 2
Reference numeral 07 receives voice data input from the voice input unit 210 and converted into digital data by the voice A / D converter 211, and records the voice data via the recording device 206.
To record.

After that, the CPU 207 controls the operation unit 2 of the user.
The processing of voice recording is ended at the time when the release of the voice recording instruction by the operation of 09 is detected or when the CPU 207 determines that the voice recording instruction is released due to the lapse of a certain time.

With this configuration, for example,
By operating the operation unit 209, the user can instruct to record sound as the annotation information of the image. The simplest way to add annotation would be to record the audio data, if recorded, as the annotation of the last recorded image file.

When an EVF (Electric View Finder) or the like is installed as the user interface of the camera and the image can be reproduced by the camera itself, it becomes possible to add a voice annotation to an arbitrary image file. . An example of this is Japanese Patent Application No. 5-3 filed by the present applicant.
There is a detailed example in No. 28033.

In the embodiment described in Japanese Patent Application No. 5-328033, a group including arbitrary image files and audio files, addition of audio annotations to the groups, and the like are also proposed. The group mentioned here expresses a set of files such as images and sounds, and represents a set of data in which a plurality of images, sounds and the like are selected and collected by a user according to a certain theme.

In the present embodiment, if it is assumed that the camera records the image file, the audio file, the group information, and the annotation information about the image file and the group information, the map file described below is generated. The various additional information described below is recorded in this map file.

The map file includes an image file,
Information about an audio file and a group is represented by an image file descriptor (Image file desc), a sound file descriptor (Sound file desc), and a group descriptor (Group desc), respectively, and they are arranged in order of recording time. This will make the map file
For example, as shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 5, a tag (Map file end tag) indicating the end of the map file is arranged at the end of the map file.

Each of the above descriptors is constructed as shown in FIGS. 6, 7 and 8, respectively. As can be seen from these figures, in the present embodiment, the tag (tag) for identifying the content of each descriptor information, the descriptor length (length), and the descriptor itself in the map file are uniquely identified. Identifier for identification (descid
entifier) and are placed in the first header. Therefore, since the content of each descriptor and the size of information can be determined at the head of each descriptor, it is possible to easily analyze where the next descriptor starts.

As shown in FIG. 6, the image file descriptor includes a descriptor (File location dessert) that follows the head header and represents the arrangement information of the image file.
c), a descriptor (Properties desc) expressing attribute information of the image file, a descriptor (Thumbnail desc) expressing information about the reduced image, a descriptor (Annotation desc) expressing information about annotation information, and the like.

Here, in the location information descriptor (File location desc) of the image file, the actual recording location of the image file on the recording medium 208, for example, a file name with an absolute path designation is recorded. The image file attribute information descriptor (Properties desc
In (), all attribute information related to the image such as the shooting date, the shooting mode, and the shooting conditions are recorded.

Further, the reduced image information descriptor (Thumbn
In (ail desc), an actual recording location of the reduced image file on the recording medium 208, for example, a file name with an absolute path specified is recorded. Further, the annotation information descriptor (Annotation desc) includes an identifier (Annotation identifier) indicating that the annotation is a voice and an actual recording location of the voice file on the recording medium 208.
For example, the file name with an absolute path specified is recorded. Annotation information descriptor (Annotation desc) is
It is possible that a plurality of them exist as shown in FIG.

As shown in FIG. 7, the sound file descriptor is followed by the above-mentioned head header,
Descriptor (File
location desc) and a descriptor (Properties desc) expressing the attribute information of the audio file.

Here, in the audio file location information descriptor (File location desc), the actual recording location of the audio file on the recording medium 208, for example, a file name with an absolute path specified, is recorded. In addition, the audio file attribute information descriptor (Properties desc
In (), all the attribute information related to audio such as recording date, recording mode, and recording time are recorded.

Further, in the case of the system capable of generating the above-mentioned group, the group descriptor (Group desc) is recorded in the map file as shown in FIG. In this group descriptor (Group desc), for example, as shown in FIG. 8, after the above-mentioned header, the number of members in the group and the descriptors in the group are made unique by the number of the members. And an identifier (desc identifier) for identifying it. In the case of FIG. 8, the number of members in the group is 4
The example in the case of is shown.

In addition, after the identifier (desc identifier) for uniquely identifying the descriptor in the group, a descriptor (An that expresses information about the annotation information is described.
record notation desc). The contents of the descriptor (Annotation desc) expressing this annotation information are the same as in the case of the image file descriptor.

In this case, a group link descriptor (Group link desc) indicating that the descriptor becomes a member of a certain group is added. For example, as shown in FIG. 9, when an image file descriptor becomes a member of a certain group, a group link descriptor is inserted into the image file descriptor. In this group link descriptor, an identifier (groupe desc identifier) for identifying the group descriptor is recorded.

Next, the processing procedure of the recording system of the camera according to this embodiment will be described. In the camera of the present embodiment, each time one image data is recorded, one image file and one reduced image file are recorded in a predetermined subdirectory on the recording medium 208 and are associated with those files. Various additional information is written in the map file according to the protocol of the map file (see FIG. 6).

Also, each time one voice data is recorded,
One audio file is recorded in a predetermined subdirectory on the recording medium 208, and various supplementary information related to the audio file is written in the map file according to the map file protocol (see FIG. 7). Further, when the audio file is recorded as the image annotation file, the descriptor corresponding to the image file in the map file is rewritten to include the audio annotation file (see FIG. 6).

When a group is composed of a plurality of image files and audio files, a group descriptor (see FIG. 8) describing the group is added to the map file. Then, the group link descriptor is added to the descriptors of all the files that have become members of the group (see FIG. 9).

Next, the structure of the reproducing system of the camera according to the present embodiment is shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 3, the reproduction system of the camera according to the present embodiment includes a reproduction device 301 and an image memory 3.
02, decoding / decompression unit 303, image output unit 304, audio output unit 305, CPU 207, recording medium 208, and operation unit 209.

In FIG. 3, a recording medium 208 is the same as that shown in FIG. 2, and the image file, the reduced image file, and the audio file described above are recorded in a predetermined subdirectory, and various types of files relating to these files are recorded. Additional information (information such as a file arrangement information descriptor, a file attribute information descriptor, an annotation information descriptor, and a group descriptor) is collectively recorded on one map file different from the above-mentioned files.

The information recorded on the recording medium 208 is reproduced by the reproducing device 301. This playback device 3
01 is a memory card interface defined by JEIDA or the like as an interface for the recording medium 208, like the recording device 206 shown in FIG. That is, it is composed of a logic circuit and an interface connector for reading the audio data from the recording medium 208.

The CPU 207 reads the map file recorded on the recording medium 208 via the reproducing device 301 and analyzes the read map file. Then, the attribute information of the image or sound recorded in the map file, the reduced image, or the like is output via the image output unit 304, and is, for example, a computer monitor (not shown).
Display above. Note that information presentation of such attribute information and reduced images can be instructed by the user operating the operation unit 209.

FIG. 4 is a flow chart showing in detail the information presentation processing of the CPU 207 described above. An example of the information presentation procedure will be described below with reference to FIG. FIG.
First, the CPU 207 first executes step 401.
Then, the map file recorded on the recording medium 208 is read via the reproducing device 301.

Next, in step 402, the above step 4
All image file descriptors and sound file descriptors included in the map file read in 01 are analyzed. At this point, a descriptor expressing the attribute information of the image file and the audio file is obtained. This makes it possible to present the user with attribute information such as the recording date, recording mode, and shooting condition among various types of additional information relating to image files and audio files, in the form of a text list display, for example.

Further, at the time of step 402, since information about what kind of annotation information is attached to the image file can be obtained from the descriptor expressing the annotation information, the information can be presented to the user. Becomes For example, when a voice annotation is added, it is possible to provide a display that is easier for the user to understand by displaying it using an icon or the like representing that.

That is, at the time of step 402, the display screen as shown in FIG. 10, for example, can be presented to the user. In the example of FIG. 10, the recording date is
Attribute information such as recording time, shooting mode, file data size, flash usage state, aperture value, and shutter speed is presented. Also shown are an icon 1001 indicating whether it is an image file or a sound file, and an icon 1002 indicating that a sound annotation file is attached to the image file.

Next, in step 403, the recording medium 208
The recording position on the recording medium 208 of the reduced image file corresponding to each of the image files recorded in (1) is read from the image file descriptor. And
The reduced image files are read from the recording medium 208 via the reproducing device 301, and are read out by the image output unit 304.
To the user via. At this point, the display as shown in FIG. 11 can be performed.

In the example of FIG. 11, a reduced image is displayed for each image file together with related information. The attribute information obtained in step 402 can be used as the related information. Therefore, in FIG. 11, the same information as the various attribute information shown in FIG. 10 is displayed next to the reduced image. The icon indicating whether or not the voice annotation file is added to the image file can be expressed as 1101, for example.

Further, in the next step 404, the group descriptor in the map file read in step 401 is analyzed. As a result, the image files and audio files that are members existing in the group and the annotation files added to the group are determined. Then, the contents thus determined are presented to the user. At this point, the display as shown in FIG. 12 can be performed.

That is, in the example of FIG. 12, reduced images are displayed together with related information for all image files, and for each group existing in the map file, individual images that are members of the group are displayed. A group is represented by displaying the rectangle 1201 together with the files. Also, an icon indicating whether or not a voice annotation file is added to the group is expressed as 1202, for example.

As described above, according to this embodiment, by reading and analyzing one map file, all the supplementary information necessary for information presentation can be obtained, and the attribute information and annotation information of images and sounds can be obtained. Information such as presence / absence can be presented to the user. Therefore, it is not necessary to open a number of files for analysis, and information can be presented to the user at high speed.

The reduced image is recorded in a reduced image file different from the image file in which the original image is recorded, and its recording position is stored in the map file as supplementary information. Therefore, when presenting the reduced image to the user, the reduced image file to be presented is directly opened and the reduced image data is accessed based on the recording position of the reduced image file recorded in the map file. can do. Therefore, it is not necessary to open a number of image files one by one and analyze the recording position, so that the reduced image can be displayed at high speed.

Next, the user can select the file to be reproduced by referring to the attribute information and the reduced image displayed as shown in FIG. 10, FIG. 11 or FIG. This file selection can be performed by operating the operation unit 209, for example. For example, when the operation unit 209 is composed of a mouse, it can be selected by performing a mouse click operation on the information regarding the file to be selected.

When the user selects the desired file, C
The PU 207 analyzes the recording position on the recording medium 208 of the selected file by referring to the file arrangement information in the map file. Then, based on the analysis result, the data in the selected file is read from the recording medium 208.

For example, when a certain image file is selected by the user, the image data in the selected image file is read from the recording medium 208 via the reproducing device 301 and temporarily stored in the image memory 302. To be

Then, the image data stored in the image memory 302 is next read out to the decoding / decompressing unit 303, where it is subjected to the decoding / decompression processing. The decoding method in the decoding / expansion unit 303 is the same as the encoding method in the compression / encoding unit 205 shown in FIG.
The image data thus decoded and expanded is output to a computer (not shown) via the image output unit 304, for example.

On the other hand, when a certain audio file is selected by the user, the audio data in the selected audio file is read from the recording medium 208 via the reproducing device 301, which causes the CPU 207 and the audio output unit 305 to read. It is output to a computer (not shown) via.

Here, the case where the selected image file or audio file is reproduced on a computer (not shown) has been described, but it is also possible to reproduce it on the camera itself. In this case, a D / A converter for converting a digital signal into an analog signal may be provided inside the camera.

In this embodiment, it is possible to edit the information (image file, audio file, group information) contained in the map file. In this case, all the supplementary information related to the information to be edited is changed according to the edited content.

For example, when deleting an image file from the recording medium 208, the image file descriptor corresponding to the image file is deleted from the map file. At that time, in addition to the image file which is the data of the image body, the reduced image file, the annotation file, and the identifier (desc identifier) in the group descriptor are deleted when group-linked with other image files.

When an image file that is a member of a group is removed from the group, the identifier (desc identifier) in the group descriptor is deleted. When deleting an annotation file attached to an image file or a group, delete the annotation file identifier from the image file descriptor corresponding to the image file or the group descriptor corresponding to the group, and delete the annotation file. Just delete it.

In this way, the information in the map file is updated while always maintaining the information related to the image file, the audio file, and the group information recorded on the recording medium 208 normally.

As described above, in this embodiment, since the related information of the image file, the audio file, and the group information is collectively managed, the editing can be centrally performed, so that the system becomes simpler. There is an advantage that

<Other Embodiments> In the above embodiment,
The reduced image is recorded in each reduced image file, and the reduced image information descriptor (Th
umbnail desc), the recording locations of these reduced image files, specifically, the absolute path name and file name of the MS-DOS file are described.

However, in the case of such a system, the following problems occur. That is, when a large amount of image data is recorded on the recording medium 208, when the reduced images corresponding to the respective images are to be displayed in a list on the computer monitor, the number of reduced image files that can be opened at the same time is MS. -It is not possible to have all of these reduced image files open at once, as they are limited by DOS.

Therefore, the operation of opening and closing each reduced image file must be repeated in order to obtain a large amount of reduced image data. Such operating system overhead causes a decrease in the performance of the device.

Further, if it is necessary to search among a large number of files for the reduced image file to be presented based on the absolute path name and file name of the MS-DOS file, the time required for the search is also required. It becomes enormous, and its overhead also causes a decrease in performance.

In order to solve this problem, in the embodiment described below, a plurality of reduced images are collectively recorded in one file (hereinafter referred to as a submap file), and the reduced image information descriptor of the map file ( Thumbn
In ail desc), the position where the reduced image is recorded in the submap file is described.

In this way, the submap file need only be opened once to obtain many reduced images. Further, it is not necessary to search by file name, and it is sufficient to move the access position in the submap file. The movement of the access position in the submap file is performed by the so-called FAT (File Allocat) of MS-DOS.
ion Table: File position management table). Normally, in the operating system, the concatenated data of this FAT is read in the main memory, and therefore this work can be performed very quickly.

FIG. 13 shows an example of the structure of the submap file. As is clear from FIG. 13, the submap file has a management area for recording a table for managing the arrangement information of the reduced image and a data area for recording the actual reduced image data. The size of the management table is recorded in 4 bytes at the beginning of the submap file.

In the management table, a flag for indicating whether or not the reduced image data identified by each index value exists in the submap file is recorded in order. Since this flag can be expressed by 1 bit,
For example, if 1 kilobyte is prepared as the management table, the presence or absence of 1024 × 8 = 8192 pieces of reduced image data can be managed.

For example, in the example of FIG. 13, assuming that the data value of the first byte of the management table is "001101111", the reduced image data is stored in the data area corresponding to the index value of 0, 1, 2, 4, 5. It can be seen that is recorded. That is, the data value "1" in the management table
"0" and "0" represent the presence and absence of reduced image data, respectively.

In the data area, one piece of reduced image data is, for example, horizontal 80 pixels × vertical 60 pixels × 3.
It is recorded with (RGB) = 14.4 kilobytes. Then, as shown in FIG. 13, a plurality of reduced image data are sequentially recorded after the management table of the management area.

Usually, the file size can be detected by the function of MS-DOS. Therefore, the total number of bytes of 4 bytes of the field indicating the size of the management table and the size of the management table is subtracted from the size of the submap file, The size of the data area obtained as a result of this subtraction is the capacity required for one reduced image data (14.4 kilobytes)
It is possible to know how many reduced image data are managed by the submap file by dividing by.

As a result, the range of valid index values can be known. Furthermore, by checking the contents of the management table, it is possible to know in which area of the data area the effective reduced image data is stored.

When it is desired to newly add a reduced image to the submap file by the camera or the host computer, the flag of the management table indicates "0", that is, "no reduced image" within the range of valid index values. Find the index value. If there is such an index value, the data area of the submap file corresponding to the index value is set as a place for storing new reduced image data, and the flag of the management table is set to "1", that is, "reduced image". Change to "Yes".

On the other hand, when there is no such index value, the size of the submap file is changed so that the submap file can include new reduced image data, and the newly added data area portion is added. This is the storage area for new reduced image data. Then, the value of the flag of the management table corresponding to the index value of the newly secured data area is set to "1" to indicate "reduction image exists".
Change to At this time, if it is necessary to change the size of the management table, it is also changed. Then, the data area is moved backward as much as the management area is increased.

Then, new reduced image data is stored in the data area newly secured in the sub-map file as described above. In addition, the index value corresponding to the reduced image data is used as the placement information (File loc) of the reduced image information descriptor (Thumbnail desc) in the map file.
ation).

When it becomes necessary to read the reduced image data, the location in the submap file is calculated based on the index value of the reduced image data. Then, the access can be moved to the calculated location and the reduced image data can be read from the submap file.

At this time, the management table of the submap file is referred to in advance to check whether the index value is valid. That is, it is determined whether the index value is valid based on the relationship between the submap file size, the size of the reduced image data, and the size of the management table, and the value of the flag of the management table corresponding to the index value is “reduced image”. To see if.

When erasing the reduced image data already recorded in the submap file, for example, with the reduced image data left in the file, only the flag in the management table is set to "no reduced image." You can change it to ".

As described above, according to this embodiment, the number of times the file is opened and the number of times the file is closed to display many reduced images are reduced by the method of managing the reduced images collectively in one submap file. The number of searches by name can be reduced. As a result, it becomes possible to access the reduced image at a higher speed.

[0114]

As described above, according to the present invention,
In a recording / reproducing apparatus for recording an image signal and an audio signal together with their accompanying information on a recording medium and reproducing the recorded contents of the recording medium, the image signal recording image file and the audio signal recording audio file are different from each other. Of 1
Since the additional information is collectively recorded in one map file, all the additional information can be obtained by opening one map file when reproducing the recorded contents of the recording medium. Therefore, it is not necessary to open each image file or audio file one by one as in the conventional case and read the supplementary information, and the information presentation to the user can be performed much faster than in the conventional case.

According to another feature of the present invention, the reduced image data is recorded on the recording medium as a reduced image file different from the image file in which the original image is recorded, and the reduced image file of the reduced image file is recorded. Since the recording position on the recording medium is recorded as supplementary information in the map file, when reproducing the reduced image and presenting it to the user, the recording position information of the reduced image file described in the map file is recorded. Originally, the reduced image file to be presented can be directly opened to access the reduced image data. Therefore, it is not necessary to open the image files in which the original images are recorded one by one and analyze the recording locations of the reduced images as in the conventional case, so that the reduced images can be presented at high speed.

According to another feature of the present invention, the reduced image data are collectively recorded in one submap file, and the recording position of the reduced image in the submap file is used as supplementary information in the map file. When recording and playing the reduced image, the map file is referenced to read the reduced image from the submap file and play it back.When playing the reduced image and presenting it to the user, the submap file is read. If it is opened only once at the beginning, then the reduced image data to be presented can be sequentially accessed based on the recording position information of the reduced image data described in the map file. Therefore, it is not necessary to repeat the operation of opening and closing each reduced image file to obtain a large amount of reduced image data, and the reduced image can be presented at a higher speed.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the elementary features of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a recording system of the camera of one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a reproduction system of the camera of one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure of information presentation in the reproduction system of the camera according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a map file according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of contents of an image file descriptor in a map file according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of contents of a sound file descriptor in a map file according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of contents of a group descriptor in a map file according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing another example of the contents of the image file descriptor in the map file according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of an information presentation method according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing another example of the information presentation method according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing another example of the information presentation method according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of a data structure of a submap file according to another embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 recording device 2 recording medium 3 reproducing device 11 image recording means 12 audio recording means 13 incidental information recording means 21 image file 22 reduced image file 23 audio file 24 map file 31 image reproducing means 32 audio reproducing means 33 attribute information reproducing means 201 lens 202 imaging device 203 A / D converter 204 image memory 205 compression encoding unit 206 recording device 207 CPU 208 recording medium 209 operation unit 210 audio input unit 211 audio A / D converter 301 playback device 302 image memory 303 decoding / decompression unit 304 image output unit 305 audio output unit

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁶ Identification number Office reference number FI technical display location H04N 5/92 G11B 27/00 D

Claims (9)

[Claims] 1. A recording / reproducing apparatus for recording at least one of an image signal and an audio signal on a recording medium together with their supplementary information, and reproducing the recorded contents of the recording medium, wherein Of the image file and the audio file for recording the audio signal, the additional information is collectively recorded in one map file, and when the recorded contents of the recording medium are reproduced, the map file is referred to and reproduced. A recording / reproducing apparatus characterized by: 2. The recording / reproducing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the incidental information recorded in the map file includes at least recording date information of either an image or a sound. apparatus. 3. The recording / reproducing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the incidental information recorded in the map file includes at least recording mode information of either image or sound. 4. The recording / reproducing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the incidental information recorded in the map file includes image capturing condition information of the image. 5. The recording / reproducing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the annotation information of the image recorded in the image file is recorded / reproduced as an image or audio annotation file and recorded in the map file. The recording / reproducing apparatus characterized in that the supplementary information includes information indicating the type of the annotation information. 6. The recording / reproducing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the annotation information of the image recorded in the image file is recorded and reproduced as an annotation file, and the supplementary information recorded in the map file is: A recording / reproducing apparatus including recording position information of the annotation file on the recording medium. 7. The recording / reproducing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the incidental information recorded in the map file includes information about a group in which a plurality of image files and sound files are collected according to a predetermined theme. Recording and reproducing device. 8. The recording / reproducing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the reduced image of the image recorded in the image file is recorded / reproduced as a reduced image file different from the image file, and the map is reproduced. The recording / reproducing apparatus, wherein the incidental information recorded in the file includes recording position information of the reduced image file on the recording medium. 9. The recording / reproducing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the reduced image of the image recorded in the image file is
1 other than the image file and the map file
In addition to recording in one submap file collectively, the recording position of the reduced image in the submap file is recorded as supplementary information in the map file, and refer to the map file when reproducing the reduced image. Then, the recording / reproducing apparatus is characterized in that the reduced image is read out from the sub-map file and reproduced.