JPH10341400A - Electronic camera having communication function - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent the occurrences of transmission error by receiving the remaining capacity data of image data memory inside a reception side camera, prior to image data transfer and displaying the number of images corresponding to the remaining capacitance. SOLUTION: A transmission side camera 10 and a reception side camera 20 face each other, and an optical communication light-receiving part 25 at the reception side camera 20 is irradiated with infrared rays emitted from an optical communication output 14 at the transmission side camera 10. Further, an optical communication light-detecting part 15 at the transmission side camera 10 is irradiated with infrared rays emitted from an optical communication output part 24 at the reception side camera 20. When starting inter-camera communication, the transmission side camera 10 transmits a call signal together with a transmission side ID. Corresponding to that transmission, the reception side camera 20 returns the data of remaining capacity in the image memory, together with a reception side ID while referring to a file allocation table. When the remaining capacity in the memory at the reception side camera 20 is received, the number of transmissible images corresponding to the remaining capacity is calculated and displayed in a monitor picture at the transmission side camera 10.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an electronic camera having a communication function of recording captured image data in an image data memory and transferring the image data between cameras.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Electronic cameras include an electronic still camera for capturing a still image and a video camera for capturing a moving image. Among them, for example, electronic still cameras are CCD
It has an image sensor such as, and captures images captured by the optical system,
The photoelectrically converted image data is recorded in a built-in image data memory. Unlike a traditional still camera that exposes a photosensitive film, image data can be processed by a digital signal, and editing, transferring, and recording of an image can be easily performed on a computer.

Some of such electronic still cameras have a function of optical communication using infrared rays or the like or communication using a communication cable, and have a function of transferring image data between cameras. That is, cameras having compatible communication functions are faced to each other, set to a state where two-way communication by light is possible, and normally compressed image data in the image memory is transferred from one camera to the other camera. Then, the image data is stored in the image data memory in the other camera.

[0004]

However, depending on the accuracy of the image data itself, the data capacity is generally large and the number of images that can be stored in the built-in image data memory is limited. Therefore, when the recordable capacity of the image data memory in the camera on the receiving side is small, and when image data of a larger capacity is transferred from the camera on the transmitting side, a transmission error occurs.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide an electronic camera which can prevent a transmission error from occurring when transferring image data between cameras.

Another object of the present invention is to prevent the transfer of image data beyond the remaining capacity of the image data memory of the receiving camera when transferring image data between cameras. It is to provide an electronic camera that can do it.

[0007]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention relates to an image data memory for recording captured image data and an electronic camera having a communication function for transferring the image data to a different camera. And a control unit for receiving the remaining capacity data of the image data memory in the camera on the receiving side before transferring the image data, and displaying the number of images corresponding to the remaining capacity.

[0008] Since the transmitting camera can know the receivable capacity of the receiving camera, it is necessary to prevent the transmitting camera from transmitting image data in excess of the transmittable number by using the data. Can be.

Further, according to the present invention, in the above-mentioned invention, when image data exceeding the remaining capacity is selected, the control unit prohibits the selection of the excess image data. Further, the control unit displays the number of images corresponding to the remaining capacity for each of a plurality of types of image data having different capacities.

[0010]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. However, such embodiments do not limit the technical scope of the present invention. The present invention can be widely applied to electronic cameras.
An embodiment will be described with an electronic still camera as an example.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an electronic still camera according to an embodiment of the present invention. In this example, the electronic still camera 1 has a projection lens 2, a release switch 3,
An optical communication output unit 4, an optical communication light receiving unit 5, a red-eye reduction lamp 6, a self-timer display unit 7, and the like are provided. On the back side of the camera, a monitor screen described later and other various keys are provided. The mode setting key 8 is a key for setting a photographing mode and a communication mode in addition to turning on / off the power.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a state of optical communication by two cameras. As shown in FIG. 2, the camera 10 on the transmitting side and the camera 20 on the receiving side face each other, and the infrared light emitted from the optical communication output 14 of the camera 10 on the transmitting side receives the infrared light from the camera 20 on the receiving side. The light is applied to the unit 25.
Similarly, the infrared light emitted from the optical communication output unit 24 of the camera 20 on the light receiving side irradiates the optical communication light receiving unit 15 of the camera 10 on the transmitting side. In this way, the two cameras are set at positions where the optical communication output unit and the optical communication light receiving unit face each other, and each infrared ray is radiated almost from the vertical direction. Be certain.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a schematic structure of the camera. The microprocessor 30 has a memory in which a control program for imaging and a control program for communication are stored. This microprocessor 30 includes:
The optical communication output unit 4 and the light receiving unit 5 described above are connected. Therefore, when performing communication, transmission data from the microprocessor 30 is emitted from the output unit 4 in the form of infrared rays, and reception data received by the light receiving unit 5 is sent to the microprocessor 30. Further, the mode setting key 8 and various input keys 32 described later are also connected to the microprocessor 30. The image captured by the projection lens 2 is captured by an imaging device 38 such as a CCD, and the image data obtained by the photoelectric conversion is recorded in the image memory 34 by the microprocessor 30. The monitor device 36 is provided on the back side of a camera described later, and is displayed by the microprocessor 30.

FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining the capacity management of the image memory 34. As the image memory 34, for example, a nonvolatile semiconductor memory or the like is used so that the recording data can be held even when the power is turned off. In the example of FIG. 4, five pieces of image data A to E are stored in the image memory 34. The image data stored in the image memory 34 is managed in the form of a file, and is managed by the file allocation table 35. This file allocation table 35
It is provided in a management area in the image memory 34, and manages a file name, data capacity, and an address in the image memory corresponding to each image data.

The capacity of image data varies depending on the image density and the compression method. For example, a high quality image is 10
Compressed to about 0KB, medium quality image data is 70KB
Compressed to about 50 KB for lower quality image data
Compressed to a degree. The capacity of these data may differ depending on the compression method, for example, the capacity of image data recorded in the image memory. Therefore, the number of images that can be recorded in the image memory 34 is, for example, A for high image quality.
The specification is B sheets for medium image quality and C sheets for low image quality.

In the example of FIG. 4, files A and D are high-quality image data, file B is medium-quality image data, and files C and E are low-quality image data. Further, the file allocation table 35
The recordable capacity of the image memory 34 is managed. In the example of FIG. 4, the remaining capacity is 500 KB.

FIG. 5 is a control flowchart for the electronic still camera according to the embodiment of the present invention. In this flowchart, the respective flows of the photographing mode and the communication mode are described for convenience of explanation. However, the control by the ordinary microprocessor generally adopts, for example, a multi-task OS system. In this case, a task for the photographing mode, a task for the communication mode, and various other operation buttons are used. Management tasks such as a scan task are executed in parallel.

Before describing the flow in the communication mode according to the flowchart of FIG. 5, the back side of the camera will be described.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of the back side of the camera. On the back side of the camera, a monitor screen 36, a finder 9, a cross key 40, a set key 42, a transmission key 44
Are provided. FIG. 6 shows a monitor screen when the communication mode is set by the mode setting key 8 described above. The monitor screen includes a display representing 16 images, a column 46 for the number of images that can be transmitted, a column 48 for the number of images that can be selected, and a column 5 for the number of images that have been selected.
0 is displayed respectively.

Returning to FIG. 5, in the control flow of the digital camera, the photographing mode or the communication mode is set by the mode setting key 8 as shown in step S1. Normally, the image capturing mode is set, and when there is a response from the release key 3 (S2), an image from the projection lens 2 is captured (S3).

Next, when the communication mode is set by the mode setting key 8, communication between the cameras is started (S4). At the start of the inter-camera communication, in the embodiment of the present invention, as described later, the transmitting camera 10
Transmits a call signal CALL together with the transmission side ID. On the other hand, the receiving camera 20 refers to the file allocation table 35 and returns data of the remaining capacity of the image memory 34 together with the receiving ID. This is a basic communication protocol for starting communication between cameras.

When the transmitting camera 10 receives the remaining capacity of the memory of the receiving camera (S5), it calculates the number of transmittable images according to the remaining capacity and displays it on the monitor screen 36 as a column 46. (S6).

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of an image selection screen in the communication mode between cameras. The control flowchart of FIG. 5 will be further described with reference to FIG.

As described above, the number of images that can be transmitted is displayed on the monitor screen 36 of the transmitting camera 10. FIG.
In the example shown in (1), “5” is displayed in the transmittable number column 46, and “5” is also displayed in the selectable number column 48. Here, the number of transmittable images is, for example, when there are three types of image data, high image quality, medium image quality, and low image quality, for example, how many high quality image data can be recorded in the remaining capacity of the image memory of the receiving camera. Is determined by Therefore, in this case, even if the number of transmittable images is five, if medium-quality and low-quality image data is selected, images exceeding the transmittable number of images 5 can be selected.

As another example of the display of the number of transmittable images, it is possible to display, for example, X high quality images, Y medium quality images, and Z low quality images. In this case, the transmittable number column 46 displays the number of high-quality, medium-quality, and low-quality images.

As shown in step S7 in FIG. 5, the frame indicating 16 images is moved by the cross key 40 of the transmitting camera. That is, a thick frame indicating the selected image moves in the direction of the pressed cross key. By pressing the cross key 40 as shown in FIG. 7 (2) from the state of FIG. 7 (1), the thick frame moves from the image 1 to the image 7. Then, when the set switch 42 is pressed (S9), the microprocessor 30 as the control unit determines whether the number of sheets selected so far does not exceed the receivable number (S10). Then, the selection of the transmission image is validated, and a knitting display is performed on the image 7 as shown in FIG. 7 (3) (S11). If the selected number exceeds the receivable number, a warning is displayed and the selection of the image is canceled, for example, as shown in FIG. 7 (6) (S1).
2).

The determination in step S10 in FIG.
Instead of simply determining whether or not the selected number exceeds the receivable number, it may be determined whether or not the total capacity of the selected image data exceeds the receivable capacity. However,
The number of receivable images is easier for the user of the camera to understand than the receivable amount. Therefore, in this embodiment, the number of receivable images is displayed on the monitor screen 36. In the example shown in FIG. 7, as shown in FIG.
Is selected, and further, as shown in FIG.
A total of 5 sheets of 10 and 11 are selected. When five images are selected, “5” is displayed in the selected number field 50 and “0” is displayed in the selectable number field 48. If an attempt is made to select an image further, a warning such as "cannot select any more" is displayed as shown in FIG. 7 (6), and the selection is canceled. This selection can also be canceled by indirectly displaying a warning, for example, by a method in which shading is not displayed at the image number even when the set switch 42 is pressed.

When the transmission switch 44 is pressed after the image is selected by the user (S13), the transfer of the image data between the cameras is executed (S14). When the transfer of the image data is completed, a reception confirmation signal is returned from the receiving camera 20, and the reception is confirmed by the transmitting camera 10. However, the size of the transmitted image data depends on the camera 2 on the receiving side.
Since the remaining capacity in the image memory of 0 is less than the remaining capacity, no transmission error occurs due to insufficient capacity of the image memory in the receiving camera. Therefore, the cause of the transmission error is limited to factors that can be easily determined by the user, such as the fact that optical communication during transmission has been interrupted.

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating transmission of image data between cameras. The operation of the transmitting camera 10 is shown on the left side of the drawing, and the operation of the receiving camera 20 is shown on the right side. An example of transmission data between the two cameras is shown in the middle of the drawing. Describing in order from the top, first, the positions and directions of the transmission-side camera 10 and the reception-side camera 20 are set, and are in the state illustrated in FIG. 2. Therefore, in the transmission side camera 10, the communication mode is set by the mode setting key 8, and the transmission mode is set by a key (not shown). Similarly, in the receiving camera 20, the communication mode is set by the mode setting key 8, and the receiving mode is set by a key (not shown). Then, the transmitting side camera 10 sends the transmitting side ID and the call signal CALL to the receiving side camera as the first protocol of the communication. In response, the receiving camera 20
Returns the ID of the receiving camera and the data of the remaining capacity in the image memory.

The transmitting camera 10 calculates the transmittable number from the received remaining capacity and displays the calculated number on the monitor screen 36. When an image is selected as described above and a transmission command is issued by the transmission key 44, the compressed image data is transmitted. This transmission is shown in FIG.
As shown in (2), the selected number of pieces of compressed image data sandwiched between the start code and the end code are transmitted between the communication start code and the communication end code. In the receiving camera 20, the transmitted compressed image data is stored in the image memory. The receiving camera 20 sends a reception acknowledgment response signal to the transmitting camera 1 when it successfully receives from the communication start code to the communication end code.
Send to 0. The above is the transmission of image data between cameras.

In the above-described embodiment, the transfer of image data between cameras is performed by optical communication using infrared rays. However, the transfer can be performed with the cameras connected by a predetermined cable.

[0032]

As described above, according to the present invention, when transferring image data between cameras, the transmitting camera receives the amount of image data receivable by the receiving camera before the image data is transferred. By displaying the number of transmittable images corresponding thereto on the camera on the transmitting side, it is possible to prevent the image data from being transferred beyond the remaining capacity of the image data memory on the receiving side. Furthermore, by prohibiting the transmitting camera from selecting image data exceeding the remaining capacity on the receiving side, image data having a receivable capacity can be reliably selected and transferred to the receiving camera. Therefore, occurrence of a communication error in transfer of image data can be prevented beforehand.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an electronic still camera according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a state of optical communication by two cameras.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a schematic structure of a camera.

FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining capacity management of the image memory 34;

FIG. 5 is a control flowchart in the electronic still camera according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of the back side of the camera.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an example of an image selection screen in a communication mode between cameras.

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating transmission of image data between cameras.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 10 transmitting camera 20 receiving camera 30 control unit 34 image data memory

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁶ Identification code FI H04N 5/765 H04N 5/91 L

Claims (3)

[Claims] An electronic camera having an image data memory for recording captured image data and a communication function for transferring the image data to a different camera, wherein the image data memory in a receiving camera is provided before the image data is transferred. An electronic camera, comprising: a control unit that receives remaining capacity data and displays the number of images corresponding to the remaining capacity. 2. The electronic camera according to claim 1, wherein the controller prohibits selection of the excess image data when the image data exceeds the remaining capacity. 3. The electronic camera according to claim 1, wherein the control unit displays the number of images corresponding to the remaining capacity for each of a plurality of types of image data having different capacities.