GB2400261A

GB2400261A - Mobile telephone having camera and composition determining mirror.

Info

Publication number: GB2400261A
Application number: GB0413344A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Masaki Shimamura
Original assignee: NEC Corp
Current assignee: NEC Corp
Priority date: 2001-12-28
Filing date: 2002-12-30
Publication date: 2004-10-06
Anticipated expiration: 2022-12-30
Also published as: GB0413344D0; GB2400261B

Abstract

A portable device, such as a mobile phone handset (1, Figure 3), includes a camera (22) and a display means (11) comprising a liquid crystal display (LCD) panel 72, semi transparent mirror layer 73 to the rear of the display, and an illuminating device 74 positioned behind the semi transparent reflector. The display 72 may be put into a transparent, light transmitting state, allowing mirror 73 to reflect a scene to be imaged by the camera, enabling a user to compose an image to be photographed. Alternatively, as shown in Figure 21, the display may comprise a LCD screen (76) with a light controlling film (78) in front, the half mirror (79) being placed in front the light controlling layer (78), and the lighting device or backlight (77) being positioned to the rear of the LCD (76). While a photograph is being taken, the light controlling layer is put into a light blocking state, similarly allowing reflection of a scene in the mirror.

Description

PORTABLE ELECTRONIC DEVICE

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a portable electronic device having a photographic function and more particularly to a portable electronic device such as a portable cellular phone being equipped with, for example, an electronic still camera, which is preferably used when 0 an operator (photographer) takes a picture of himself/herself.

The present application claims priority of Japanese Patent Application No. 2001-401963 filed on December 28, 2001, which is hereby incorporated by reference.

Description of the Related Art

Recently, portable electronic devices such as a portable cellular phone have not only an original function of providing for a telephone conversation (voice communication) but also a function of carrying out data communications. That is, such a portable electronic device is provided with a browser and/or a mailer which enable an access to a homepage through the Internet to send or receive E-mail, thus allowing a user to enjoy, with ease, an Internet connection service and/or E-mail service, irrespective of time and/or place.

Moreover, in recent years, a portable cellular phone being equipped with an electronic still camera, as is disclosed, for example, in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2000-295323 has become generally and widely used. In the disclosed portable cellular phone, a sender can send E-mail to which the face of the sender and/or the landscape surrounding the sender are attached as image data and a receiver can confirm an appearance of the sender from the attached image data on a display of a portable cellular phone.

The portable cellular phone having the function of s taking a photograph, such as a folding portable cellular phone 101 as shown in FIG. 24, is provided with a small-sized mirror portion 104 placed just beside a lens window 103 of an electronic still camera mounted on the rear surface of a housing 102 to check a photographing lo position to which is to be fixed when an operator takes a picture of himself/herself. The operator, when taking a picture of himself/herself, has the portable cellular phone 101 positioned so that an image of the operator is visible in the mirror portion 104 and checks to see, while observing the image of the operator appearing on the mirror portion 104, that the image of the operator does not deviate from the area in which a photograph can be successfully taken.

However, the conventional folding portable cellular phone 101 has a problem in that a concave and convex shape of the above mirror portion 104 provide an abnormal feeling from a design viewpoint, and the mirror portion 104 can become conspicuous due to specular reflection and, when not being used as a mirror, in particular, is not favourable from an aesthetic viewpoint. Moreover, the conventional folding portable cellular phone 101 presents another problem in that, since its mirror portion 104 is placed, from the aesthetic viewpoint, only in a limited small area on the rear face of the folding portable cellular phone 101 so as not to be conspicuous, it is difficult to exactly check on the range in which a clear photograph can be taken and it is impossible to reliably take a photograph of a desired subject all the time.

In view of the we have appreciated that it would be 3 desirable to provide a portable electronic device which enables the operator to know the area in which a photograph can be successfully taken, or the position of a subject to be photographed when a picture is taken.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The invention is defined by the independent claims to which reference should now be made. Advantageous features are set forth in the appendant claims.

The present invention allows, a mirror for determining the photographic composition of a subject to be photographed to be put into the specular state only when needed. Therefore, the operator can have not an abnormal feeling, but a favourable feeling from an aesthetic viewpoint about the portable electronic device.

Also, since an operator can easily decide photographic composition of a subject to be photographed based on an image of the subject to be photographed viewed in the mirror reflector when it is in an appearance state, and can confirm the area for photographing or the position of a subject to be photographed, failure in photographing can be prevented.

Furthermore, a display unit, serving also as the mirror for determining photographic composition of the subject to be photographed, can be operated to function as the mirror only while the photograph is being taken and to function as the normal display device used to display characters or images, while the photograph is not being taken.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Preferred embodiments of the invention will now be described in detail, by way of example, and with reference to the drawings, in which: FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing configurations of a folding portable cellular phone and a state in which its housing is closed according to a first embodiment of the present invention; - 4 - FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing configurations of the folding portable cellular phone and a state in which its housing is opened according to the first embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 3 is a diagram showing configurations of the folding cellular phone and a state in which its housing is opened according to the first embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 4 is a schematic block diagram showing JO configurations of the folding portable cellular phone of the first embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view schematically illustrating configurations of an auxiliary display section of the folding portable cellular phone of the first embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating operations of the folding portable cellular phone of the first embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating operations of the folding portable cellular phone of the first embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 8A is a diagram illustrating operations of the folding portable cellular phone and showing a state in which its auxiliary display section not operating as a mirror portion; and FIG. 8B is a diagram illustrating operations of the folding portable cellular phone and showing a state in which its auxiliary display section is operating as the mirror according to the first embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 9 is a cross- sectional view schematically showing configurations of a mirror portion of a folding portable cellular phone according to an alternative implementation; FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view schematically showing configurations of a light-controlling film in the mirror portion of FIG. 9; - 5 - FIG. 11 is a flowchart illustrating operations of the portable cellular phone as shown in Fig. 9; FIG. 12 is a perspective view showing configurations of a folding portable cellular phone according to a second embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 13 is a perspective view showing configurations of the folding portable cellular phone according to the second embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 14 is a schematic block diagram showing lo configurations of the folding portable cellular phone according to the second embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 15 is a cross-sectional view schematically illustrating configurations of a main display section of the folding portable cellular phone according to the second embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 16 is a flowchart illustrating operations of the portable cellular phone of the second embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 17 is a perspective view showing configurations of a folding portable cellular phone according to a third embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 18 is also a perspective view showing configurations of the folding portable cellular phone of the third embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 19 is a schematic block diagram showing configurations of the folding portable cellular phone of the third embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 20 is a cross-sectional view showing configurations of an auxiliary display section of a portable cellular phone according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 21 is a cross-sectional view schematically showing configurations of an auxiliary display section of a portable cellular phone of a fifth embodiment of the present invention; - 6 - FIG. 22 is a cross-sectional view schematically showing configurations of an auxiliary display section of a portable cellular phone employed in a modified example of the first embodiment; FIG. 23 is a perspective view showing configurations of a portable cellular phone employed in another modified example of the first embodiment; and FIG. 24 is a diagram illustrating a conventional technology.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

First Embodiment The portable cellular phone (portable electronic device) 1 of the first embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1 to FIG. 3, is provided with a foldable housing 2 and has, in addition to its original function of providing for a telephone conversation (voice communication), a function of photographing using an embedded electronic still camera and a function of carrying out data communications in which a homepage can be browsed and/or E-mail can be sent and received, by connecting to, for example, the Internet.

Moreover, as shown in Figure 4, the portable cellular phone 1 of the first embodiment, is provided with a control section 3 to control each of the components of the main body of the portable cellular phone l; a storing section 4 to store a processing program to be executed by the control section 3 and/or various pieces of data or the like; an electronic still camera section 5 to take a photograph of a person and/or the surrounding landscape, or the like to be sent; an antenna 6 to send and receive radio waves; a wireless communication section 7 to modulate voices and/or data and to send them through the antenna 6 as radio waves, and to receive the radio waves through the antenna 6 and to demodulate them to voices and/or data to have a telephone conversation or carry out data communications according to a specified protocol; an operating section 8 made up of various types of operating keys or the like, a main display section (serving as a first display unit) 9 made up of a liquid crystal display device being placed on the side serving as the inside face when the portable cellular phone is folded; an auxiliary display section 11 made up of a liquid crystal display, being placed on the side serving as an outside portion when the portable cellular phone 1 is folded, the auxiliary display unit 11 being used as a mirror for lo determining photographic composition of a subject to be photographed, as a displaying unit, and as a second display unit as needed; a loud speaker 12 to output voices; a microphone 13 to receive voices; a power source 14 made up of battery or the like; and a signal arrival notifying lamp 15 to notify arrival of a signal by being lit.

The foldable housing 2 of the first embodiment, as shown in FIG. 3, is made up of an upper housing 17 and a lower housing 18 both being connected to each other through a hinge portion 16. The hinge portion 16 operates to connect the upper housing 17 to the lower housing 18 in a freely rotatable manner, which provides a foldable structure to the portable cellular phone 1.

The control section 3 executes various programs stored in the storing section 4 including a switching control program to switch the auxiliary display section 11 between the case where the auxiliary display section 11 is used for normal display and the case where the auxiliary display section 11 is used as a mirror; a display control program to control the main display section 9; a browser operating as a program to browse a homepage; a mailer, operating as a program to create, send, or receive Email.

The control section 3 therefore controls each of the components and performs processing of management of information by using various registers and/or flags included in the storing section 4.

The storing section 4 is made of semiconductor memories such as a ROM (Read-Only Memory), RAM (Random Access Memory), or the like and stores various programs such as the switching control program, display control program, or the like, to be executed by the control section 3, and various kinds of information including received information, image data obtained through photographing by the electronic still camera section 5 or the like. The storing section is provided with a variety of registers and flags to be used by the control section 3 to run the above programs. The switching control program describes procedures to exert control so that the auxiliary display section 11 can be used as the mirror with all pixels being put into a light transmitting state at a time of being photographed, and the auxiliary display section 11 can be used not as the mirror but as a device to display, for example, present time, notification of arrival of data and/or messages, or the like, except at the time of being photographed.

The electronic still camera section 5 is mounted on a face serving as the outside of the portable cellular phone 1 when the upper housing 17 is folded and has a lens window 21 on which light coming from a subject to be photographed is incident; a camera lens 22 made up of, for example, a wide-angle lens placed in a vicinity of the lens window 21; an image pickup device 23 made up of a COD (Charge Coupled Device) image pickup device to perform photoelectric conversion on an image formed through the camera lens 22, and to output an image signal as an electric signal, to an image processing section 24 which performs AD (Analog to Digital) conversion on the image signal transmitted from the image pickup device 23 and image processing such as a gamma correction, colour-space conversion, or the like on digitized signals; and a shutter button 25 placed on an upper end of the upper housing 17. - 9 -

Moreover, an optical axis of the camera lens 22 is set so that it is slanted slightly downward relative to the normal of the surface of the auxiliary display section 11 being placed on an outside of the upper housing 17 and so that, when an operator (photographer) takes a photograph of himself/herself, the area in which the operator is visible in the auxiliary display section 11 operating as a mirror is such as to match the area of which the photograph is taken.

The operating section 8 is placed on a face serving as the inside face of the lower housing 18 when the portable cellular phone is folded. On the inside face of the lower housing 18 are arranged a photographing mode selecting key 8a, to select a photographing mode which enables photographing by the electronic still camera section 5; a mail mode selecting key to create, send, or receive E-mail; a conversation mode selecting key to have a voice telephone conversation; a browser mode selecting key to run a browser for browsing of a home page; a clear key to switch from the photographing mode or the like to a stand-by mode in which a stand-by screen is displayed and a start of operations and arrival of data and/or messages or the like are waited for; a power source key; a ten-key key pad to input numerals or the like; a cursor key pad to move a cursor on a display screen appearing on the main display section 9 in an up-and-down and left-and-right directions, and the like. The main display section 9 is made up of a transparent-type liquid crystal display device being placed on the face serving as the inside face of the upper housing 17 when the housing is folded.

The auxiliary display section 11, as shown in FIG. 5, is placed below the lens window 21 and is made up of a specular reflection-type liquid crystal display whose plane shape is approximately rectangular. The auxiliary display section 11 has a liquid crystal panel 26 constructed of many pixels; a front light (surface illuminating device) 27 placed on the front (that is, on - 10 the side facing the viewer of the auxiliary display section 11) of the liquid crystal panel 26; and a specular reflecting plate (specular reflection section) 28 placed on the rear of the liquid crystal panel 26.

The liquid crystal panel 26 is, for example, a TFT (Thin Film transistor)-type panel, whose outer shape is rectangular, and which, as shown in FIG. 5, has a TFT substrate 29 on which a plurality of TFTs and transparent pixel electrodes are formed; a facing substrate lo 31 fixed in a manner so as to face the TFT substrate 29 with space of several I'm interposed between the facing substrate 31 and the TFT substrate 29; a liquid crystal layer 32 put into the above space in a hermetic manner; a deflector 33 placed on the t face of the facing substrate 31, and a quarter-wave plate 34.

The front light (surface illuminating device) 27 is provided with a beltshaped light emitting source 35 made up of a fluorescent lamp or the like to emit light, and a light-guiding plate 36 made of light-transmitting materials on which light fed from the belt-shaped light emitting source 35a is incident from a side of its light incident end face 36a, to apply light from a plane-shaped light illuminating face 36b toward the liquid crystal panel 26 placed on the rear of the front light (surface illuminating device) 27, and to have reflected light fed from the liquid crystal panel 26 transmitted from the light illuminating face 36b toward the side of a prism face 36c, on which parallel ridgeline groups each having undergone surface processing so as to provide a prism shape are formed.

In the auxiliary display section 11, at the time of taking a photograph in particular, all pixels making up the liquid crystal panel 26 are put in a light transmitting state and, as a result, reflected light fed from the specular reflecting plate 28 is viewed by the operator, and an image of a subject to be photographed in a photographing range is visible in an approximately - 11 - rectangular region. Here, the shape and size of the auxiliary display section 11 when being used as a mirror corresponds to the photographing range in which a subject to be photographed can be captured as image data. At the time of not being photographed, the present time, notification of arrival of data and/or messages, for example, are displayed.

Next, operations of the portable cellular phone 1 of the first embodiment are described by referring to FIG. 6 to FIG. 8B. First, after the power has been turned ON, the control section 3 is put in a stand-by mode in which the start of inputting operations by the operator and/or notification of arrival of data and/or messages or the like are waited for, and a stand-by screen is displayed on the main display section 9. As shown in FIG. 8A, present time, notification of arrival of data and/or messages, or the like displayed on the auxiliary display section 11 (Step ST11, see FIG. 6). In this state, when the operator presses down the photographing mode selecting key 8a and selects a photographing mode (Step ST12), operations are changed to be in the photographing mode.

This causes the control section 3 to put all of the pixels making up the liquid crystal panel 26 into a light transmitting state (display in white) (Step ST13), allowing the operator to see light reflected off the specular reflecting plate 28. That is, as shown in FIG. 8B, the auxiliary display section 11 operates as the mirror to show an image of a subject to be photographed in the mirror.

Moreover, the control section 3 has the main display section 9 display the subject to be photographed on-screen, and display a message that the main display section 9 is currently in a photographing stand-by state and that photographing is made possible by pressing down of the shutter button 25.

The operator, if wishing to take a photograph of himself/herself, as shown in FIG. 7, holds the portable - 12 cellular phone 1 and directs the camera lens 22 to himself/herself to decide the photographic composition while viewing the auxiliary display section 11 being used as the mirror. That is, the operator corrects the posture or the like of the portable cellular phone 1, so that his/her face may be viewed in such a manner so that it has a desired size or a position. After the operator has determined the photographic composition of the subject to be photographed and confirmed the area in which lo photographing is performed, the operator presses down the shutter button 25 (Step ST14). Moreover, at this point, the control section 3 feeds a predetermined voice signal to the microphone 13 to generate a shutter sound.

The control section 3, having received the image data obtained by photographing from the image processing section 24, stores it in the storing section 4 (Step ST15) and has the main display section 9 display an image based on the image data. After that, if the operator wants to send an E-mail with a photographed image of himself/herself attached, for example, to a friend and performs a sending operation by pressing down a mail mode selecting key in the operation section 8 to put operation into a mail mode, the control section 3 sends the image data obtained by photographing, through the wireless communication section 7, to the other portable cellular phone designated by the operator.

Thus, according to the portable cellular phone 1 of the first embodiment, since the auxiliary display section 11 can be used as the mirror only when a photograph is taken and as a normal display device to display, for example, the present time or the like when a photograph is not taken, the operator (photographer) has not an abnormal feeling but a favourable feeling from a design (aesthetic) viewpoint. Moreover, since the operator can surely determine photographic composition based on the image of the subject to be photographed and can confirm the area (parts) to be photographed or the position of the subject - 13 to be photographed, it is possible to prevent an unfavourable photograph from being taken. Moreover, the auxiliary display section 11 can be used not only for confirming an area for photographing but also for making himself/herself appear neat.

Figures 9, 10 and 11 show an alternative implementation of a phone device. Instead of an auxiliary display section, a mirror portion is provided which has no function of display and is used as a mirror when a lo photograph is taken. The configuration is otherwise the same as that described in the first embodiment and the

descriptions is simplified accordingly.

A folding portable cellular phone 1 is provided with a specular section 37 which is placed below a lens window 21 and is used as a mirror as necessary, for example, to determine the photographic composition when an operator is taking a photograph of himself/herself. The specular section 37, as shown in FIG. 9, has a specular reflecting plate 38 and a light-controlling film (light- controlling layer) 39 being placed on a front of the specular reflecting plate 38, light transmittance of which is controlled according to an applied voltage.

In the specular section 37, the light-controlling film 39 is put into a light-transmitting state and the entire specular section 37 is used as a mirror mainly while a photograph is taken, and the light-controlling film 39 is put into a light-intercepting state mainly while no photograph is taken so that externally-fed light is scattered. The light-controlling film 39, as shown in FIG. 10, has a liquid crystal layer 40c made up of a polymer matrix 40b in which micro-capsules (the diameter of each capsule being, for example, lam to 2m each having a hermetically placed liquid crystal) 40a are dispersed; transparent conductive layers 40d and 40e, one being placed on one side of the liquid crystal layer 40c and the other being placed on the other side of the liquid crystal layer 40c. - 14

When no voltage is applied between the transparent conductive layers 40d and 40e, molecules of the liquid crystal, hermetically put into the microcapsules 40a, are oriented in an arbitrary direction and light incident on the liquid crystal layer 40c is scattered and the liquid crystal layer 40c is put into an opaque and whitish state.

Moreover, when an alternating current or direct current of, for example, 30V to 150V is applied between the transparent conductive layers 40d and 40e, the liquid 0 crystal molecules hermetically put into the micro-capsules 40a are arranged in the direction of the electric field, and the liquid crystal layer 40c becomes transparent to light. If the applied voltage is lowered, the liquid crystal layer 40c is put into a semi-transparent state in which a part of the incident light is scattered.

Next, the operations of this device will be described by referring to FIG. 11. First, after the power has been turned ON, the control section 3 is put into a stand-by mode to wait for a start of operator's inputting operations or arrival of data and/or messages, or the like and so that a stand-by screen is displayed on the main display section 9. No power is applied to the light-controlling film 39 so that it is put into a lightintercepting state to scatter incident light (Step ST21, see FIG. 11). In this state, when the operator presses down a photographing mode selecting key 8a to select a photographing mode (Step ST22), operation is changed to be in the photographing mode.

As a result, the control section 3 applies a predetermined voltage to the light-controlling film 39 to put it into a transparent state (Step ST23) so that the operator can see light reflected off the specular reflecting plate 38. That is, the specular section 37 is used as a mirror in which an image of a subject to be photographed can be viewed. In this state, the operator, if wishing to take a photograph of himself/herself, directs the camera lens 22 to himself/herself, holds the - 15 portable cellular phone 1 at the ready and corrects the posture of the portable cellular phone 1 so that his/her face may be viewed in a manner that has a desired size or a desired position.

s After the operator determines the photographic composition of a subject to be photographed and confirms the area for photographing, the operator presses down a shutter button 25 (Step ST24).

The control section 3, when having received image lo data obtained by photographing from the image processing section 24, stores the received image data in a storing section 4 (Step ST25) and stops the supply of a voltage to the light-controlling film 39 to put it into a lightintercepting state so that incident light is scattered, and then feeds, based on the image data, a predetermined display signal to the main display 9 to display an image. After that, the control section 3, by an operator's transmitting operation, sends image data obtained by photographing through a wireless communication JO section 7 to another portable cellular phone, or the like designated by the operator.

Since its specular section 37 is used as a mirror only when a photograph is taken and it intercepts light and scatters light while the photograph is not taken, the operator (photographer) has not an abnormal feeling but a favourable feeling from a design (aesthetic) viewpoint.

Moreover, since the operator can surely decide photographic composition of a subject to be photographed based on the image of the subject to be photographed that has been looked in the specular section 37 being used as the mirror while the photograph is taken and can confirm an area in which photographing is performed or a position of a subject to be photographed, failure in photographing can be prevented. - 16

Second Embodiment The configuration of the folding portable cellular phone of the second embodiment differs from that of the first embodiment in that a lens window and a camera lens of an electronic still camera section are placed on the face serving as the inside portion when an upper housing of the folding portable cellular phone is folded and in that a main display section is made up of a liquid crystal display device that can be used asa mirror if necessary. A flip sensor adapted to check whether or not the housing is opened is provided so that the main display section can be used as a mirror when the housing that had been closed is opened. As a result, the auxiliary display section is used only for normal display and is not used as a mirror. Otherwise, the configurations is approximately the same as that of the first embodiment.

A foldable portable cellular phone 1A of the second embodiment, as shown in FIG. 12 to FIG. 14, is provided with a foldable housing 41; a control section 42; a storing section 43; an electronic still camera section 44; an antenna 45; a wireless communication section 46; an operating section 47; a main display section 48 made up of a reflecting-type liquid crystal display which is placed on the side serving as the inside while the foldable housing 41 is folded, the display section serving as a mirror for determining photographic composition of a subject to be photographed, display device, and first display unit as needed; an auxiliary display section 49 (also serving as a second display unit) made up of, for example, a transmitting-type liquid crystal display device which is placed on the side serving as the outside while the foldable housing 41 is folded; a flip sensor 51 (opening and closing detecting unit) used to check whether the foldable housing 41 is opened or not; a loudspeaker 52; a microphone 53; and a power source section 54.

The main display section 48, as shown in FIG. 15, has a liquid crystal panel 55; a front light (surface - 17 illuminating device) 56 placed on the front of the liquid crystal panel 55, a light-controlling film (light-controlling layer) 57 placed on the back side of the liquid crystal panel 55, the light transmittance of which is controlled according to an applied voltage; and a specular reflecting plate 58 placed on a rear of the light-controlling film 57. In the main display section 48, mainly at a time of being photographed, all pixels in the liquid crystal panel 55 are put in a light-transmitting state (to be displayed in white) and the light-controlling film 57 is put in a transmitting state. As a result, the entire main display section 48 is used as the mirror.

Mainly at the time of not being photographed, the light-controlling film 57 is put into a light-intercepting state and characters or images are displayed. The flip sensor 51 checks if the foldable housing 41 is opened or not and, based on a result from this check, the control section 42 has the main display section 48 serve as a mirror when the foldable housing 41 is changed from its closing state to its opening state and puts the main display section 48 into a photographing stand-by state.

Operations of the foldable portable cellular phone 1A of the second embodiment are described by referring to FIG. 16. In a state where the foldable housing 41 is closed, the flip sensor 51 sends a closing state detecting signal to the control section 42 and the control section 42, based on the closing state detected signal, keeps the device in photographic stand-by mode (Step ST31, see FIG. 16). When the foldable housing 41 is changed from a closed state to an opened state (Step ST32), the flip sensor 51 sends an opening state detecting signal to the control section 42 which, based on the opening state detected signal, is changed to a photographing mode and controls the liquid crystal panel 55 so that all of its pixels are put in a light- transmitting state (to be displayed in white). At the same time, it applies a predetermined voltage to the light-controlling film 57 to put it into a - 18 transparent state (Step ST33) so that light is reflected off the specular reflecting plate 58 and can be seen by an operator. That is, the main display section 48 is used as a mirror so that an image of the subject to be photographed may be viewed.

In this state, the operator, if wishing to take a photograph of himself/herself, directs the camera lens 22 to himself/herself, holds the foldable portable cellular phone 1A at the ready and, at a same time, corrects the lo posture of the foldable portable cellular phone 1A so that his/her face may be seen in the main display section 48 in a manner that has the desired size or position. Thus, after the operator has determined the photographic composition and confirmed the area in which photographing is performed, the operator presses down a shutter button (Step ST34).

The control section 42, after having received image data obtained by photographing from an image processing section 24, stores the received image data in the storing section 43 (Step ST35) and stops application of a voltage to the light-controlling film 57, so that it is put into a light-intercepting state in which it scatters incident light and, based on the image data, feeds a predetermined display signal to the main display section 48 to display an image.

After that, the control section 42, by an operator's transmitting operation, sends image data obtained by photographing through the wireless communication section 46 to another portable cellular phone, or the like designated by the operator.

The configuration of the foldable portable cellular phone 1A of the second embodiment, allows almost the same effects obtained in the first embodiment to be achieved.

Additionally, since a region being used as the mirror is relatively wide, the area for photographing and/or for the position of a subject to be photographed can be more reliably confirmed, the photographic composition can be - 19 determined smoothly, and failures in photographing can be prevented. Moreover, since the light-controlling film 57 is put into a light-intercepting state to scatter externally-fed light, glare of the display is reduced, thereby improving the quality of display. Moreover, since the lens window 21 and camera lens 22 are placed only on the face serving as the inside while the upper housing is folded, design of the foldable portable cellular phone 1A can be simplified and its beauty can be improved.

Moreover, since, when the housing is opened, the main display section 48 is used as the mirror and is put into the stand-by state, speedy photographing can be achieved.

Furthermore, since the main display section 48 having a comparatively wider area can be used as the mirror, it is made possible for the user to use the wider area for, to make their appearance neat.

Third Embodiment The configurations of the folding portable cellular phone of the third embodiment differs greatly from that of the second embodiment, in that a shutter button 25 employed in the third embodiment is not used, and a photographing mode selecting key 47a serves as the shutter button 25.

Moreover, a flip sensor 51 employed in the third embodiment is not used, and the photographing mode selecting key 47a is used to select the photographing mode. Otherwise, the configuration is the same as that of the third embodiment and the corresponding description will be simplified accordingly.

The portable cellular phone 1B of the third embodiment, as shown in FIG. 17 to FIG. 19, is provided with a foldable housing 41; a control section 42; a storing section 43; an electronic still camera section 44B; an antenna 45; a wireless communication section 46; an operating section 47; a main display section 48 made up of a reflecting-type liquid crystal display, which is - 20 placed on the side serving as the inside while the foldable housing 41 is folded, and is used as a mirror if necessary for determining the photographic composition of the subject to be photographed; an auxiliary display section 49 made up of, for example, a liquid crystal display device which is placed on the side serving as the outside while the foldable housing 41 is folded; a loud speaker 52; a microphone 53; and a power source section 54.

JO The electronic still camera section 44B, as shown in FIG. 17 to FIG. 19, is made up of a lens window 21; a camera lens 22; an image pickup device 23; and an image processing device 24. The shutter button specifically designed and used in the second embodiment is not employed. The control section 47 has the photographing mode selecting key 47a, which is used to select a photographing mode, make the electronic camera section 44B take a photograph, and serve also as the shutter button.

In this embodiment, the control section 42 exerts control in such a manner that, when the photographing mode selecting key 47a is pressed down the first time, the main display section 48 is made to operate as the mirror and when it is pressed down the second time, photographing is completed.

The configurations of the portable cellular phone 1B of the third embodiment, allows almost the same effects obtained in the second embodiment to be achieved.

Additionally, in the third embodiment, since the shutter button is not used, it is possible to reduce the number of components and to improve the beauty of the portable cellular phone 1B.

Fourth Embodiment The configuration of the portable cellular phone of the fourth embodiment differs greatly from that of the first embodiment in that an auxiliary display section 71 is constructed of a transmittingtype liquid crystal - 21 display device. The auxiliary display section 71, as shown in Figure 20, has a liquid crystal panel 72; a half mirror 73 placed on the rear of the liquid crystal panel 72; and a backlight 74 placed on the rear of the half mirror 73.

Otherwise, the configurations is the same as that of the first embodiment and the corresponding description is simplified accordingly.

Next, the operation of the portable cellular phone of the fourth embodiment will be described below.

First, after the power has been turned ON, the control section 3 is put into a stand-by mode in which the start of inputting operations by an operator and/or notification of arrival of data and/or messages or the like are waited for, and a stand-by screen is displayed on a main display section 9, and the present time, notification of arrival of data and/or messages, or the like are displayed on the auxiliary display section 71.

At this time, a part of the illuminating light emitted from the backlight 74 passes through the half mirror 73 and is applied to the liquid crystal panel 72 and, while a part of externally-fed light having once passed through the liquid crystal panel 72 is also reflected off the half mirror 73 and is applied to the liquid crystal panel 72. The control section 3 feeds a display control signal to the auxiliary display section 71 to have it make an ordinary display.

In this state, when an operator presses down a photographing mode selecting key 8a to select a photographing mode, operations are changed to be in the photographing mode. This causes the control section 3 to exert control so that the liquid crystal panel 72 and its all pixels are put into a light-transmitting state (to be displayed in white) and the backlight 74 to go off. As a result, a part of the externally-fed light having once passed through the liquid crystal panel 72 is reflected off the half-mirror 73 and can be seen by the operator.

That is, the auxiliary display section 71 is used as the - 22 mirror and an image of a subject to be photographed is viewed therein.

Moreover, the control section 3 has the main display section 9 display a subject to be photographed and the main display section 9 be put into a photographing stand-by state, in which it displays a message that photographing is possible by pressing down a shutter button 25.

The operator, if wishing to take a photograph of lo himself/herself, directs the camera lens 22 to himself/herself, holds the portable cellular phone at the ready and corrects the posture of the portable cellular phone so that his/her face may be seen in the auxiliary display section 71 in a manner that has the desired size or position. After the operator has determined the photographic composition of the subject to be photographed, the operator presses down the shutter button 25.

The control section 3, having received image data obtained by photographing from the image processing section 24, stores it in the storing section 4 and, at a same time, displays the image on the main display section 9 based on the image data. After that, the control section 3, by an operator's sending operation, sends the image data obtained by photographing, through a wireless communication section 7, to another portable cellular phone or the like designated by the operator.

The configuration of the portable cellular phone of the fourth embodiment, allows almost the same effects obtained in the first embodiment to be achieved.

Fifth Embodiment The configuration of the portable cellular phone of the fifth embodiment differ from those in the fourth embodiment in that a light-controlling film is placed on a front of the liquid crystal panel and a half mirror is placed on the front of the light-controlling film. 23

Otherwise, the configurations is the same as that of the fourth embodiment and the corresponding descriptions will be simplified accordingly.

The auxiliary display section 75 of the fifth embodiment, as shown in FIG. 21, is made up of a liquid crystal panel 76; a backlight 77 placed on the rear of the liquid panel 76; a light-controlling film 78 placed on the front of the liquid crystal panel 76; and a half mirror 79 placed on the front of the liquid crystal panel 76.

lo Next, operations of the portable cellular phone of the fifth embodiment will be described. First, after the power has been turned ON, a control section 3 is put in a stand-by mode in which the start of inputting operations by an operator and/or notification of arrival of data and/or messages or the like are waited for. After having applied a predetermined voltage to the light-controlling film 78 to put it into a transparent state, the present time, notification of arrival of data and/or messages, or the like are displayed on the auxiliary display section 75. At this point, illuminating light emitted by the backlight 77 is applied to the liquid crystal panel 76 and passes through the light- controlling film 78 and the half mirror 79 to be viewed visually by the operator. Here, though a part of the externally-fed light is reflected off the half mirror 79, the intensity of the light is small compared with light emitted from the liquid crystal panel 76 and can be treated as negligible.

In this state, when the operator presses down a photographing mode selecting key 8a and selects a photographing mode, operations are changed to be in the photographing mode. That is, the control section 3 stops the supply of voltage to the light-controlling film 78 and puts it into a light-intercepting state. This causes the light fed from the liquid crystal panel 76 to be intercepted by the light-controlling film 78 and a part of the externally-fed light to be reflected off the half mirror 79 so that it is visible to the operator. That is, - 24 the auxiliary display section 75 is used as a mirror in which an image of a subject to be photographed can be viewed. Moreover, the control section 3 has the main display section 9 display the subject to be photographed existing at a front of a camera lens 22 and the main display section 9 be put into a photographing stand-by state and display a message that photographing is possible by pressing down a shutter button 25.

The operator, if wishing to take a photograph of lo himself/herself, directs the camera lens 22 to himself/herself, holds the portable cellular phone at the ready and corrects the posture of the portable cellular phone so that his/her face may be seen in a manner that has the desired size or position. After the operator has determined the photographic composition of a subject to be photographed and confirmed the area for photographing, the operator presses down the shutter button 25. The control section 3, when having received image data obtained from photographing from an image processing section 24, stores it in a storing section 4 and has the main display section 9 display an image based on the image data.

After that, by the operator's sending operations, the control section 3 sends the image data obtained by photographing, through a wireless communication section 7, to an other portable cellular phone designated by the operator.

The configuration of the portable cellular phone of the fifth embodiment, allows almost the same effects as the fourth embodiment to be achieved.

It is apparent that the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments but may be changed and modified in ways that would occur to the man skilled in the art.

For example, in the above embodiments, as the example of the portable electronic device, a portable cellular phone is used. However, a PHS (Personal Handy-phone System), PDA (Personal Digital Assistance) having a - 25 function of wireless communications, or the like may be employed as well, which can provide same effects obtained by using the portable cellular phone. Moreover, it is not necessary that the portable electronic device has the function of wireless communications, and a portable electronic device having the function of a digital camera, such as a wristwatch-type digital camera, may be employed.

Also, a notebook-type personal computer with an embedded camera or the like may be used. Furthermore, in the case lo of the portable cellular phone, it is not necessary that the portable cellular phone is of a folding type.

Also, in the above embodiments, as the display device employed in the main display section or in the auxiliary display section, a liquid crystal display is used.

However, for example, an EL (Electroluminescent Display) device may be employed. Moreover, as the display device, a CRT (Cathode-Ray Tube) or a plasma display may be used.

That is, as shown in FIG. 22, an auxiliary display section 81 to be employed in the above embodiments may be constructed in a manner that a specular reflecting plate 83 is placed on the side of the rear face of an EL display panel 82 made up of a plurality of transparent inorganic EL devices. The EL display panel 82, when having received a predetermined control signal from the control section, performs normal display and all regions of the EL display panel 82 are put in a transparent state when supply of a voltage to its all pixels has been stopped. Then externally-fed light passes through the EL display panel 82 and is reflected off the specular reflecting plate 83, and reflected light can be viewed. In this case, the auxiliary display section 81 may be also constructed in a manner that the light-controlling film is put between the EL display panel 82 and the specular reflecting plate 83 and a light-controlling film is so controlled as to be put into a transparent state only when the light-controlling film is used as a mirror. Thus, by using the EL display - 26 panel 82, the number of components can be reduced, thereby achieving miniaturization and light-weight construction.

Also, in the above embodiments, when the main display section or the auxiliary display section is made to operate as the mirror, all regions of the display faces are used as the mirror, however, a part of the regions of the display faces may be configured so as to function as the mirror. The area, the position, or the shape of a region of the display face to be used as a mirror may be designed that they can be changed whenever necessary.

Moreover, in the region not being used as the mirror, a character, a pattern, or the like may be displayed.

Furthermore, the main display section or the auxiliary display section may be used as the mirror except when it is used for photographing and/or by the user to make his/her appearance neat; that is, the mirror can be used for enjoying a predetermined pattern or animation.

In the above embodiments, a case where a still image obtained by photographing using the electronic still camera is sent is described. However, the portable cellular phone employed in the embodiments may be used as a television telephone. The upper half region of the main display section may be used as the mirror so that an operator himself/herself may be viewed in the mirror, for example, to determine the photographic composition, and a lower half region of the main display section may be not used as the mirror but may be used to display an image of a subject to whom the operator is going to send the image obtained by photographing.

Also, as the camera lens, not only a wide-angle lens but also a standard lens may be used. A plurality of camera lens configured so as to be selectable may be provided. The area or the position of the region of the main display section and auxiliary display section that can be used as the mirror may be varied depending on the type of the camera lens. - 27

Moreover, in the first embodiment, the display section is put into the photographing stand-by state when a photographing mode selecting key 8a is pressed down after the housing 2 has been opened. In the second embodiment, the display section is put into the photographing stand-by state when the housing that had been closed is opened. A way to synchronize opening and closing operations of the housing with operations of the display section may be set in advance so that it can be lo changed depending on the state of the portable cellular phone in each of operation modes. For example, an operator may have a setting menu displayed on the main display section, and set the synchronization of the opening and closing operations of the housing with operations of the display section. Then, according to the setting, when the housing that had been closed is opened, the display section is made to operate so as not to be put into a photographing mode, but so as to be used only as a mirror or when the housing that had been closed is opened, the display section is made to be put into a mailing mode.

Also, in the first embodiment, if the main display section or the auxiliary display section are operated so as not to function as the mirror, they can be used to perform normal display. However, if neither of them is used as the mirror, then they can be used without displaying anything. Moreover, a stroboscopic device may be provided.

Also, in each of the above embodiments, the configurations employed in the main display section may be used in the auxiliary display section and the configurations employed in the auxiliary display section may be used in the main display section. For example, in the second embodiment, the main display section is made up of the liquid crystal panel, front light, light-controlling film, and specular reflecting plate.

However, the auxiliary display section may be constructed using the same components for the main display section. - 28

Also, in the first embodiment, the portable cellular phone is so constructed that a photograph is taken at the same time as when the shutter button 25 is pressed down.

However, it may be constructed so that a self-timer is provided so as to take a photograph after a predetermined period of time. In this way, the portable cellular phone may be configured so that, in the photographing mode, an arrival notification lamp flashes for the predetermined period of time.

lo Moreover, in the first embodiment, a front light is used as the surface illuminating device of the liquid crystal panel. However, if externally-fed light having sufficient intensity can be obtained, only the externally-fed light need be employed.

Also, in the first embodiment, the auxiliary display device is placed below the lens window and the camera lens. However, as shown in FIG. 23, an auxiliary display section having a relatively large area is provided at the centre of which a lens window 92 and a camera lens 93 may be placed. In the first embodiment, the case is described where the shutter button is placed at an upper end of the upper housing, however, the shutter button may alternatively be placed on a side end.

Also, the case is described where a mirror portion made up of the mirror reflecting plate and a light-controlling film is placed on the rear (on the side serving as the outside when the housing is folded) of the housing. However, the mirror reflecting plate and the light-controlling film can be placed on the side of the housing and, if necessary, can be used as the mirror.

Also, in the fourth embodiment, a light-controlling film may be placed between the liquid crystal panel and the half mirror. Also, in the fifth embodiment, when the auxiliary display section is used as the mirror, the backlight may be switched off.

Furthermore, the light-controlling film 78 may not be incorporated and, when light is emitted from a side of the - 29 llquid crystal panel 6, the half mirror 79 may be operated to function as the mirror. -

Claims

1. A portable electronic device comprising: a camera to take a photograph of a subject; display means comprising a liquid crystal panel having a plurality of pixels being able to display characters and/or images, a semi-transparent mirror layer placed on the rear of the liquid crystal panel, for serving as a composition determining mirror, and a surface illuminating device placed on the rear of the lo semi-transparent mirror layer; and control means to control the display means so that the pixels in a part of or all of the display means are put into a light transmitting state while a photograph is being taken and so that characters and/or images are not displayed.

2. A portable electronic device comprising: a camera to take a photograph of a subject; a display means comprising a liquid crystal panel having a plurality of pixels being able to display characters and/or images, a light-controlling layer placed on the front of the liquid crystal panel, a semi-transparent mirror layer being placed on the front of the lightcontrolling layer for serving as a composition determining mirror, and a surface illuminating device being placed on the rear of the liquid crystal panel; and control means to control the display means such that, while the photograph is being taken, the light-controlling layer is put into a light-intercepting state and, while the photograph is not being taken, characters and/or images are displayed and the light-controlling layer is put into a light-transmitting state. - 31

3. The portable electronic device according to any previous claim, further comprising a foldable housing made up of an upper housing and a lower housing, both being coupled to each other through a hinge portion.

4. The portable electronic device according to claim 3, comprising a first display means placed on the side of the housing which serves as the inside of the housing when the housing is folded closed, and a second display means placed on the side serving as the outside of the housing lo when the housing is folded closed, and wherein at least one of the first and second display means is so disposed as to serve as a composition determining mirror when needed.

5. The portable electronic device according to claim 3, wherein the display means is placed in a region surrounding the lens window of the camera.

6. The portable electronic device according to claim 3, further comprising detecting means to determine whether the housing is folded open or is folded closed, wherein the control means is configured to control the display means according to a detection signal fed from the detecting means.

7. The portable electronic device according to claim 6, wherein the control means, at least when the housing is changed from its closed state to its opened state, put the display means into a specular state.

8. The portable electronic device according to any preceding claim, further having the function of providing for a telephone conversation and the function of providing for data communications. - 32

9. The portable electronic device according to any preceding claim, wherein the control means is configured to control the display means, such that display characters and/or images are displayed while the photograph is not being taken.

10. A portable electronic device substantially as herein described with reference to figures 1 to 23 of the accompanying drawings.