JPH10155111A - Digital camera - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To pick up a longitudinal/lateral photograph without correcting the direction of image data by providing a changeover means that selects a longitudinal direction or a lateral direction from square image data, converting the picked-up square image data into digital image data and segmenting and storing part of the data in a longitudinal direction or a lateral direction. SOLUTION: A longitudinal direction/lateral direction changeover switch 210 is a switch by which the operator selects a longitudinal direction or a lateral direction of an image and its state is coded into a digital signal and a CPU 200 reads the code. An electric signal of an object image converted by a square CCD 220 is given to an A/D converter 230, by which the signal is digital image data. An image data storage device (RAM) 250 stores part of the square image data segmented as longitudinal or lateral image data. A display controller 280 reads the stored data and displays the data on a liquid crystal display device 290.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention relates to a digital camera apparatus having a function of recording / displaying image data in a digital manner.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In general, a digital camera of this type replaces a conventional still camera system using a silver halide film, and converts an image of a subject such as a person or a landscape into a digital signal by an image pickup device such as a CCD, and flashes the image. This is a still camera system that records image data in a storage device such as a memory and displays the image data on a display device such as a liquid crystal screen.

Further, digitized image data stored in a digital camera can be transferred to a personal computer or the like via a predetermined interface, and an image can be displayed on a display screen of a display device of the personal computer. It has been.

[0004]

However, the above-mentioned conventional digital camera has the following problems.

A first problem is that in order to display an image taken by a photographer holding a conventional digital camera in a vertical position in a correct direction, it is necessary to correct and display the image. That is.

The reason is that, for example, when a digital camera is held in a vertical position for photographing, the subject is imaged with the CCD tilted by 90 degrees, and the obtained image data is also tilted by 90 degrees. In order to display the image data vertically and horizontally, for example, it is necessary to rotate the image data by 90 degrees and display it on a personal computer that has received the image data.

[0007] The second problem is that, when a photographer holds a conventional digital camera in a vertical position when taking a picture, camera shake is more likely to occur than in a case where the photographer holds the digital camera in a horizontal position. In this case, there is a problem that the possibility of occurrence of a failure at the time of photographing is increased, for example, the user's finger is reflected on the photographing screen.

[0008] The reason is that the digital camera has a shape that gives priority to the case where the digital camera is held only in the horizontal position. If the digital camera is held in the vertical position, the holding becomes unstable or a part of the flash or the lens is erroneously set. This makes it easy to cover with your hands and fingers.

[0009] For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 1-135278 discloses that when a content of a video floppy used in an electronic still camera is dubbed, a vertically long screen is made to match a horizontally long TV size, so that it can be displayed on a TV screen. As a dubbing device that makes it easy to see and does not require consideration during playback when shooting with a camera, a means for playing back an image recorded on a video floppy, and an image played back by this playback means is decomposed into predetermined pixels to separate each pixel An image memory for storing the image data, read means for reading the contents of the image memory by changing the order of the pixels so that the horizontal and vertical directions of the original image are reversed, and an image read by the read means. Or another recording means for recording on the video floppy. Ppi of dubbing devices have been proposed.

However, the apparatus described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 1-135278 has a means for correcting the direction of an image, and does not make it unnecessary to correct the direction of an image. Also, usually, images taken with a digital camera have a mixture of vertical and horizontal, but for each of them,
It is necessary for the operator to determine whether or not to correct the orientation of the image, and there is a problem that the operation becomes cumbersome.

[0011] For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 7-23280 discloses an attitude detecting means for detecting the attitude of an imaging means with respect to a subject when the image information signal output by the imaging means is displayed on a monitor means. There has been proposed a video camera apparatus that controls the attitude of a monitor screen based on output attitude information to thereby correct the relative attitude between an imaging unit and a subject.

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 7-23280 proposes a video camera apparatus provided with a means for automatically correcting the direction of an image using a sensor, but a means for correcting the direction of an image. Is still necessary, and there is a problem that the system becomes complicated.

Furthermore, none of the devices proposed in the above publications solves the second problem.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, the present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a digital camera capable of taking vertical / horizontal photographs without always correcting the direction of image data. To provide.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a digital camera capable of always taking a picture in a stable posture regardless of the length / width.

[0016]

In order to achieve the above object, a digital camera device according to the present invention comprises a vertical / horizontal switching means, an imaging means for taking a square image and converting it into digital image data, Image data storage means for storing a part of the image cut out vertically or horizontally.

According to the present invention configured as described above, a part of the square image data is changed according to the vertical or horizontal set value of the switching means for selecting either the vertical or horizontal position. The image data is cut out vertically or horizontally to create the image data.
Vertical / horizontal shooting can be switched freely.

[0018]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining an embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 1, an embodiment of the present invention includes a vertical / horizontal switching unit 100, an imaging unit 110 that captures a square image and converts it into digital image data,
An image data storage unit 120 for storing an area obtained by cutting a part of a square image vertically or horizontally, and a display unit 130
And is provided.

The vertical / horizontal switching means 100 has either a vertical or horizontal state, and can switch the state at any time according to the settings of the photographer. That is, when using the digital camera, the photographer can use the vertical / horizontal switching means 100 to determine whether to perform vertical / horizontal photographing according to the photographing intention.

The imaging means 110 takes an image of a subject in a square shape using an image sensor having a square planar shape, and converts the result into digital image data.

The image data storage means 120 cuts out a part of the square image data taken by the image pickup means 110 in accordance with the state set by the vertical / horizontal switching means 100, and converts this into a vertical or horizontal image. Store as data.

The display means 130 is an image data storage means 1
20 to display the stored image data.

[0024]

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention;

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

Referring to FIG. 2, CPU 200 is for program-controlling the entire digital camera according to the present embodiment (control of photographing, storage of image data, display, vertical / horizontal switching, etc.), and a program storage device (ROM). ) The program stored in 240 is read, and the system is controlled according to the program.

The vertical / horizontal switch 210 is a switch that can be switched by the operator to either a vertical or horizontal state. The state is encoded into a digital signal and can be read by the CPU 200.

The release button 260 is a button for notifying the CPU 100 of the timing of photographing.

The square CCD 220 is an image sensor capable of converting a subject into an electric signal. Square CCD 22
The electric signal converted by 0 is further digitally coded by an analog / digital converter (A / D converter) 230 and converted into image data.

FIG. 3 shows a square C in one embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining the shape of a CD.

Referring to FIG. 3A, the square CCD has a square shape 300 having the same number of pixels (N × N) vertically and horizontally, and can capture the frame of the subject in a square shape.

In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 3 (B) or FIG. 3 (C), a part of the square image data represented by the hatched portion at the horizontal position 310 or the vertical position 320 is shown. By storing only the region in the image data storage device 250 as image data, a vertically or horizontally shaped image can be obtained.

The image data storage device (RAM) 250
A plurality of photographed image data having a vertical or horizontal shape is stored.

The display controller 280 reads the image data stored in the image data storage device 250 and displays it on the liquid crystal display 290.

As shown in FIG. 2, each device is connected by a system bus 270.

At the timing when the photographer presses the release button 260, the image data is cut into a vertical or horizontal shape according to the state of the vertical / horizontal switch 210, and stored in the image data storage device 250. Is taken.

[0037]

As described above, according to the present invention, the following effects can be obtained.

A first effect of the present invention is that vertical / horizontal photographs can be taken without always correcting the direction of image data.

The reason is that, in the present invention, it is possible to separate vertical and horizontal photographs while keeping the direction of the CCD constant with respect to the subject. Also, in the present invention, the direction of the recorded image data is always in the correct direction with respect to the subject, and therefore, even if the image is shot in a vertical position, for example, there is no need to make 90 rotations with a personal computer or the like. .

The second effect of the present invention is that it is possible to always shoot with a stable attitude regardless of the vertical / horizontal position.
That's what it means.

The reason is that, in the present invention, even when photographing in a vertical position, it is not necessary to tilt the digital camera by 90 degrees, and the photographer can photograph in the same manner as in the horizontal position.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of an embodiment of the present invention.

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

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram for explaining a square CCD in one embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 100 vertical / horizontal switching means 110 imaging means 120 image data storage means 130 display means 200 CPU 210 vertical / horizontal switching switch 220 square CCD 230 A / D converter 240 program storage device (ROM) 250 image data storage device (RAM) 260 Release button 270 System bus 280 Display controller 290 Liquid crystal display 300 Square CCD 310 Horizontal shooting range 320 Vertical shooting range

Claims (3)

[Claims] A vertical / horizontal switching unit; an imaging unit for photographing a square image and converting it into digital image data; and a vertical or horizontal square image data depending on a state of the vertical / horizontal switching unit. A digital camera device, comprising: image data storage means for storing a part of a cut-out area. 2. An image pickup device comprising an image pickup device having substantially the same number of pixels in the vertical and horizontal directions, a switch device for selecting and switching one of a vertical position and a horizontal position, and a vertical or horizontal state of the switch device. Extracting, from a screen area of image data obtained by digitally converting a signal from the imaging unit, a predetermined horizontally-long or vertically-long rectangular area as a shooting range, and storing the extracted area as shot image data; A digital camera device characterized by the above-mentioned. 3. A square CCD having the same number of pixels vertically and horizontally.
From the data captured at, according to the setting value of the vertical or horizontal position of a switch that selects either the vertical / horizontal position provided in the main body, cut out vertically or horizontally long as image data,
This makes it possible to switch between vertical and horizontal shooting without re-orienting the camera body to the vertical / horizontal position.