JPH09153129A - Image library system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To unnecessitate a storage device of a large capacity in either of an image pickup device and an image reproducer and to display a picked-up image anywhere by transmitting an image stored in an image storage means to the image reproducer in response to a request from the image reproducer. SOLUTION: An electronic still camera 1 stores the image picked-up by an image pickup means 11 in a temporarily storing means 12. When the image is stored in the temporarily storing means 12, a reading means 13 successively reads the stored image, then transmits the register request of the image and the read image itself to a library 2 through a modem 14 and a public telephone network 4 and erases an image transmitted from the temporarily storing means 12. When the modem 23 of the image library 2 receives the image register request from the electronic still camera 1, a control means 22 judges it to be the image register request and registers the received image in an image holding means 21.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image library system using a communication line such as a public telephone network.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in image capturing using an image pickup device,
As a technique for shooting without being limited by the number of shots,
There is a method in which a captured image is transmitted to an image reproducing device and is stored in a storage device of the image reproducing device.

A conventional technique for transmitting an image from an electronic still camera to an image reproducing device via a public telephone network and storing the image in a storage device of the image reproducing device will be described below. FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an electronic still camera system having an image transmission function. In FIG. 4, 100 is an electronic still camera, 5 is an image reproducing device, and the electronic still camera 100 and the image reproducing device 5 communicate with each other via the public telephone network 4.

The electronic still camera 100 includes a photographing means 101 for photographing a subject, a temporary storage means 102 for temporarily storing an image photographed by the photographing means 101, and a temporary storage means 1.
It has a reading means 103 for reading out an image from 02 and a modem 104 for sending out a signal of this image to the public telephone network 4.

The image reproducing device 5 includes a modem 54 for exchanging signals with the public telephone network 4 and an electronic still camera 10.
Image holding means 51 for holding the image transmitted from 0;
It has an image reproduction means 52 for reproducing the image held by the image holding means 51 and a display means 53 for displaying the reproduced image.

The operation of the conventional electronic still camera system having the above-described transmission function will be described below. The image photographed by the photographing means 101 of the electronic still camera 100 is stored in the temporary storage means 102. When the image is stored in the temporary storage unit 102, the reading unit 103 sequentially reads the stored images, and the modem 10
4 to a location registered in advance via the public telephone network 4. At the same time, the transmitted image is deleted from the temporary storage means 102.

The modem 54 of the image reproducing apparatus 5 stores the received image in the image holding means 51. Image reproducing means 52
Takes out an image from the image holding means 51 as necessary and displays it on the display means 53.

[0008]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional configuration, the image holding means 51 of the image reproducing device 5 needs to have a large-capacity storage device, and the captured image is transmitted to the destination image. There is a problem that an image can be displayed only by the reproducing device 5.

The present invention solves the above-mentioned conventional problems, and it is not necessary to have a large-capacity storage device in either the image pickup device or the image reproduction device, and the photographed image can be displayed anywhere. The object is to provide an image library system for

[0010]

In order to achieve this object, an image library system of the present invention stores an image picked up by an image pickup device in an image storage means of the image library,
The image stored in the image storage means is configured to be transmitted to the image reproducing device in response to a request from the image reproducing device.

With this configuration, neither the image pickup device nor the image reproduction device needs a large-capacity storage device for storing an image, whereby the image pickup device and the image reproduction device can be downsized, and By transmitting a signal from the image library, it becomes possible to take out an image at any place.

Specifically, the image library system of the present invention includes an image pickup device, an image library that receives and holds an image picked up by the image pickup device by using a communication line, and an image is sent to the image library. And an image reproducing device for making a request and receiving and reproducing the image held in the image library using the communication line.

More specifically, in the image library system of the present invention, the image pickup device has a photographing means for photographing a subject, a temporary storage means for temporarily storing the photographed image, and an image stored in the temporary storage means. The image library includes a first transmitting / receiving unit for transmitting / receiving a signal to / from the communication line, and a reading unit for reading out the image and a sending unit for sending out the read image to the communication line. The image reproducing device has an image holding unit for holding an image and a control unit for controlling the registration of the image in the image holding unit and the sending of the image from the image holding unit. Second transmitting / receiving means for exchanging signals, image requesting means for requesting image transmission to the image library, and reproduction of the image transmitted from the image library by this request. And image reproducing means may be a configuration in which a display means for displaying the image reproduced.

According to such a configuration, for example, when a large number of images are registered in the image library and the image reproducing apparatus requests the image library to transmit images,
It is possible to perform an operation in which the image library sequentially transmits the images held in the image holding means to the image reproducing device until the image corresponding to the request is sent.

Alternatively, in the image library system of the present invention, the image pickup device has a photographing means for photographing a subject, a temporary storage means for temporarily storing the photographed image, and a reading for reading out the image stored in the temporary storage means. The image library holds the image transmitted from the imaging device, and a first transmitting / receiving unit for transmitting / receiving a signal to / from the communication line. Image holding means, menu creating means for creating a menu image showing a list of images registered in the image holding means, registration of images in the image holding means, and transmission of images from the image holding means The image reproduction apparatus has a second transmission / reception means for transmitting / receiving a signal to / from a communication line, and a control means for controlling the transmission of the menu image. The image requesting means for requesting the transmission of the image including the menu image to the library, and the required image from the list of images represented in the menu image already received when the image transmission is requested. The configuration may include a selection unit for selecting, an image reproduction unit for reproducing the image sent from the image library in response to the request accompanied by the selection, and a display unit for displaying the reproduced image.

According to this structure, the menu image of the list of images held in the image holding means is created by the menu creating means, and this is transmitted to the image reproducing means, so that the required image can be selected and selected. It becomes possible to take out the product easily.

[0017]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a first embodiment of an image library system of the present invention when an electronic still camera is used as an image pickup device. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 is an electronic still camera. 2 is an image library, which is an electronic still camera 1.
Hold the image taken in. An image reproducing device 3 reproduces the images held in the image library 2. These communicate with each other via the public telephone network 4 as a communication line.

The electronic still camera 1 has a photographing means 11 for photographing a subject, a temporary storage means 12 for temporarily storing an image photographed by the photographing means 11, a reading means 13 for reading out an image from the temporary storage means 12, and a reading means. A modem 14 for sending an image to the public telephone network 4.

The image library 2 includes a modem 23 for exchanging signals with the public telephone network 4 and the electronic still camera 1.
It has an image holding means 21 for holding the image transmitted from, and a control means 22 for controlling the registration and transmission of the image.

The image reproduction device 3 is acquired by the modem 34, which exchanges signals with the public telephone network 4, the image requesting means 31, which requests the image library 2 to send out an image, and the image requesting means 31. Image reproducing means 32 for reproducing the reproduced image
And display means 33 for displaying the reproduced image.

The operation of the image library system configured as described above will be described. First, the operation of image registration from the electronic still camera 1 will be described. Electronic still camera 1
Is a temporary storage means 12 for storing the images photographed by the photographing means 11.
To memorize. When the image is stored in the temporary storage unit 12, the reading unit 13 sequentially reads the stored images. Then, an image registration request is sent via the modem 14,
The read image itself is transmitted to the image library 2 via the public telephone network 4. Also, the transmitted image is deleted from the temporary storage means 12. Image library 2 modem 23
Upon reception of the image registration request from the electronic still camera 1, the control unit 22 determines that it is an image registration request, and registers the received image in the image holding unit 21.

Next, the operation of the image transmission request from the image reproducing apparatus 3 will be described. Image requesting means 3 of the image reproducing device 3
Reference numeral 1 denotes an image transmission request from the modem 34 to the public telephone network 4.
To the image library 2 via. When the modem 23 of the image library 2 receives the image transmission request from the image reproducing device 3, the control means 22 determines that it is an image transmission request. Subsequently, of the images registered in the image holding means 21, the first registered image is selected and transmitted to the image reproducing device 3.

When the modem 34 of the image reproducing apparatus 3 receives the image from the image library 2, the image requesting means 31
The received image is transferred to the reproduction means 32. Playback means 32
Reproduces the received image and displays it on the display means 33.

In this way, until the required image is obtained,
The image request means 31 sends an image transmission request to the image library 2, and the image library 2 receives the image holding means 21.
The images held by are sequentially transmitted to the image reproducing device 3. FIG. 2 shows a flowchart of the operation of the control means 22.

According to the first embodiment described above, an image taken by the electronic still camera 1 is used as a public telephone network 4
Both the electronic still camera 1 and the image reproducing device 3 store the image by registering the image in the image library 2 via the image reproducing device 3 and transmitting the image from the image library 2 in response to a request from the image reproducing device 3. A large-capacity storage device is unnecessary. Therefore, the electronic still camera 1
The image reproducing device 3 can be downsized, and an image can be taken out by the image reproducing device 3 at an arbitrary place.

FIG. 3 shows a second example of the image library system of the present invention when an electronic still camera is used as an image pickup device.
It is a block diagram showing an embodiment. In FIG. 3, reference numeral 1 is an electronic still camera. An image library 200 holds images captured by the electronic still camera 1. An image reproducing device 300 reproduces the image stored in the image library 200. They are,
Communication is performed via the public telephone network 4 as a communication line.

The electronic still camera 1 has the same structure as that of FIG. 1, and has a photographing means 11, a temporary storage means 12, a reading means 13, and a modem 14.

The image library 200 includes a modem 23 for exchanging signals with the public telephone network 4 and an image holding means 201 for holding an image transmitted from the electronic still camera 1.
And a menu creating means 204 for creating a menu image showing a list of images held in the image holding means 201,
It has a control means 202 for controlling the registration and transmission of images and the transmission of menu images.

The image reproducing device 300 includes a modem 34 for exchanging signals with the public telephone network 4, and an image library 2.
Image requesting means 301 for requesting transmission of an image to 00
An image reproducing means 32 for reproducing the image acquired by the image requesting means 301, and a display means 33 for displaying the reproduced image.
And a selection unit 305 for selecting an image to be taken out from the menu image sent from the image library 200.

The operation of the image library system configured as above will be described. The image registration from the electronic still camera 1 to the image library 200 is the same as in the case of FIG.

The operation of the image transmission request from the image reproducing apparatus 300 will be described. The image requesting means 301 of the image reproducing apparatus 300 sends an image transmission request to the modem 34.
To the image library 200 via the public telephone network 4. When the modem 23 of the image library 200 receives the image transmission request from the image reproducing device 300, the control means 22 determines whether or not the image transmission request is made.

In the case of the first image transmission request, the control means 20
2 instructs the menu creating means 204 to create a menu image. The menu creating unit 204 is the image holding unit 20.
An image obtained by reducing all images held in 1 and assigning numbers is created as a menu image. Control means 2
02 transmits the menu image created by the menu creating means 204 to the image reproducing device 300 via the modem 23 and the public telephone network 4. Modem 3 of the image reproducing device 300
When 4 receives the menu image from the image library 200, the image requesting unit 301 transfers the received menu image to the reproducing unit 32. The reproduction means 32 reproduces the received menu image and displays it on the display means 33.

Next, when the required image is selected from the menu image displayed on the display means 33 and the number of the image is input by the selection means 305, the image request means 301 transmits the number to the image library 200. . The control unit 202 of the image library 200 takes out the image corresponding to the number received from the image reproduction device 300 from the image holding unit 201 and transmits it to the image reproduction device 300. The image requesting means 301 of the image reproducing device 300 transfers the received image to the reproducing means 32. The reproduction means 32 reproduces the received image and displays it on the display means 33.

According to the second embodiment described above, the menu creating unit 204 creates a menu image showing a list of images held in the image holding unit 201, and the menu image is reproduced. By transmitting to
The target image can be easily taken out.

Although the image pickup device is the electronic still camera 1 in the above-described embodiment, the image pickup device may be a video camera having a still image pickup mode.

[0036]

As described above, according to the present invention, an image taken by the image pickup device is registered in the image library, and the image is transmitted from the image library in response to a request from the image reproduction device. Neither of the image reproducing devices requires a large-capacity storage device for storing images, so that the image pickup device and the image reproducing device can be downsized, and by transmitting a signal from the image library, any place can be used. Images can be retrieved.

Further, a target image can be easily taken out by creating a menu image of the list of images held in the image holding means by the menu creating means and transmitting this to the image reproducing device.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a first embodiment of an image library system of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the operation of the control means in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a second embodiment of the image library system of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a conventional electronic still camera system having an image transmission function.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 electronic still camera 2 image library 3 image reproducing device 4 public telephone network 11 photographing means 12 temporary storage means 13 reading means 14 modem 21 image holding means 22 control means 23 modem 31 image requesting means 32 image reproducing means 33 display means 200 image library 201 image holding means 202 control means 204 menu creating means 300 image reproducing device 301 image requesting means 305 selecting means

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Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. An image picked up by an image pickup device is stored in an image storage means of an image library, and the image stored in this image storage means is transmitted to the image reproduction device in response to a request from the image reproduction device. An image library system characterized by being configured as follows. 2. An image pickup device, an image library for receiving and holding an image picked up by the image pickup device by using a communication line, and a request for sending an image to the image library, which is held in the image library. And an image reproducing device for receiving and reproducing the stored image using the communication line. 3. An image pickup apparatus, a photographing means for photographing a subject, a temporary storage means for temporarily storing the photographed image, a reading means for reading the image stored in the temporary storage means, and a communication of the read image. The image library has a sending-out means for sending out to the line, and the image library has a first transmitting / receiving means for transmitting / receiving a signal to / from the communication line, an image holding means for holding an image transmitted from the image pickup device, and the image holding means. The image reproduction apparatus has a second transmission / reception means for transmitting / receiving a signal to / from a communication line, which has a control means for controlling registration of an image in the means and transmission of an image from the image holding means. An image request means for requesting the image library to send an image, an image reproducing means for reproducing the image sent from the image library in response to the request, and a display means for displaying the reproduced image. Image library system according to claim 2, characterized in that. 4. The image pickup device communicates the read image with a photographing means for photographing a subject, a temporary storage means for temporarily storing the photographed image, a reading means for reading the image stored in the temporary storage means. The image library has a sending-out means for sending out to the line, and the image library has a first transmitting / receiving means for transmitting / receiving a signal to / from the communication line, an image holding means for holding an image transmitted from the image pickup device, and the image holding means. Menu creating means for creating a menu image showing a list of images registered in the means, registration of the image in the image holding means, sending of the image from the image holding means, and sending of the menu image The image reproduction apparatus has a second transmission / reception means for transmitting / receiving a signal to / from a communication line, and an image library including an image including the menu image. And image request means for requesting an outgoing,
When a request for sending an image is made, a selecting means for selecting a necessary image from the list of images displayed in the menu image which has already been received, and the image sent from the image library by the request accompanied by this selection. 3. The image library system according to claim 2, further comprising image reproducing means for reproducing the reproduced image and display means for displaying the reproduced image.