JP2000106660A - Device and method for recording image - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To speedily retrieve the target image out of recorded images corresponding to the condition using a device with satisfactory operability by selecting one of plural retrieval conditions, which corresponds to the operating mode of the device and retrieving the image recorded in an image recording means according to the selected retrieval condition. SOLUTION: At photographic recording mode, a recording start switch 12 requests the start of recording operation to a memory card 6. At photographic recording or reproducing mode, a retrieval start switch 13 requests the start of retrieving operation for digital image data recorded in the memory card 6. An image quality setting switch 14 sets the image quality and size of an image at recording of the digital image data onto the memory card 6. A system control part 10 controls various kinds of operation by detecting input signals from a photographed image signal processing part 3, digital signal processing part 4, memory card 6 and further operating switches such as mode changeover switch 11.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention relates to an image recording apparatus and method.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art With the recent spread of personal computers to general households and the development of multimedia technology, the need for digitally recording video and audio has been rapidly increasing.
By recording the video as digital data, affinity with a computer is enhanced, and various processing and editing by a user are facilitated.

[0003] Under such a background, an image recording method such as a video camera or a digital camera is used as a means for photographing an image of a subject and recording the photographed image on a recording medium such as a magnetic tape, a semiconductor memory, a magnetic disk, or an optical disk. Playback devices are known. These image recording / reproducing apparatuses are different from silver halide cameras in that they are provided with video display means such as a liquid crystal display, and not only can use the video display means to check the video being captured, but also can display the content of the captured image. Or check the contents immediately by playing back the recorded image, select an unnecessary image from the recorded video,
The selected image can be easily deleted on the spot.

[0004]

However, the recording capacity of a semiconductor memory, an optical disk, or the like used as a recording medium in the above-described image recording / reproducing apparatus has been increasing due to recent technical innovations. Is increasing.

On the other hand, since these recording media are still expensive, the photographed images are not stored on the recording medium as they are, but the images recorded on the recording medium are not stored on other recording media such as a hard disk device. After transferring to a large-capacity recording medium, an image recorded on the recording medium is erased, thereby repeatedly using an expensive recording medium.

However, as the recording capacity of the recording medium increases, the search operation for searching for a target image from a large number of recorded images becomes difficult.

In particular, the recording capacity of a recording medium is insufficient at the time of photographing or the like, and in order to enable new photographing, unnecessary images are erased from already recorded images, and the recording capacity for new photographing is reduced. In order to secure images, if a quick search cannot be performed in order to distinguish whether or not the image is a good image to be deleted, a chance of taking a picture is missed, and an image recorded on a recording medium is lost. When transferring to another large-capacity recording medium for storage from within, if you try to select from among many images while checking the contents of the images recorded on the recording medium, quick image search The confirmation could not be performed, and the operation was very complicated for the user.

According to the present invention, in order to solve the above-mentioned problem, an image search function with good operability capable of quickly searching for a target image from images recorded according to the use condition of the apparatus is provided. It is an object to provide an image recording apparatus and method having the same.

[0009]

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided an image recording apparatus, comprising: an image pickup unit for picking up an image; and a recording medium for storing the image picked up by the image pickup unit. And a plurality of different search conditions, each of which corresponds to an operation mode of the apparatus, and any one of the plurality of search conditions corresponds to the operation mode of the apparatus. And a search unit for searching for an image recorded in the image recording unit according to the selected search condition.

An image recording apparatus according to a second aspect of the present invention is the image recording apparatus according to the first aspect, further comprising an image display for displaying an image captured by the imaging means and an image recorded in the image recording means. Means, wherein the image searched by the search means is displayed by the image display means.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the image recording apparatus of the first aspect,
Image number information for distinguishing images, image quality setting information for image data, image size information for image data, shooting date / time information for image data, deletion permission / non-permission setting for image data corresponding to the image data to be recorded A plurality of types of additional information such as information are recorded on a recording medium together with the image data, and the search means is configured to perform a search based on at least one of the plurality of types of additional information in accordance with an operation mode of the apparatus. A search condition is set in accordance with the search condition, and an image recorded in the image recording means is searched according to the set search condition.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the image recording apparatus according to the third aspect, the operation mode of the apparatus is set to a photographing recording mode for recording a captured image on a recording medium. Enables the search means to search for an image recorded on the recording medium according to a search condition set corresponding to the shooting recording mode, and reproduces the image recorded on the recording medium. When the reproduction mode is set, it is possible to search all the images recorded on the recording medium without setting a search condition in the search means.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the image recording apparatus of the third aspect,
It has a plurality of image quality types that can be set when recording a captured image on a recording medium, and information indicating the image quality set when recording the captured image on a recording medium is image quality setting information of the image data. It is characterized by setting as.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the image recording apparatus according to the fifth aspect, the operation mode of the apparatus is set to a photographing recording mode for recording a photographed image on a recording medium. According to the search conditions set in the search means in accordance with the image quality setting information of the image data set in the current shooting recording mode, the current shooting of the images recorded on the recording medium is selected. It is characterized in that it is possible to search for an image recorded with the same image quality setting as the image quality setting information of the image data set in the recording mode.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in the image recording apparatus according to the first aspect, the image recording means uses any one of a semiconductor memory, a magnetic disk, an optical disk, and the like as a recording medium. It is characterized by the following.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided an image recording method for photographing an image and recording the photographed image on a recording medium, wherein each of the plurality of types corresponds to an operation mode of the apparatus. Search conditions, any one of the plurality of search conditions can be selected in accordance with the operation mode of the apparatus, and the image recorded on the recording medium can be searched according to the selected search condition. It is characterized by the following.

(Operation) According to the above-described configuration and method, a target image can be quickly retrieved according to the use condition of the apparatus.

[0018]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below.

[First Embodiment] FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a digital camera as an image recording / reproducing apparatus according to the present invention.
1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a digital camera as an image recording / reproducing device according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

In FIG. 2, reference numeral 1 denotes a photographing lens for photographing a subject image, 2 denotes an image pickup device for photoelectrically converting a subject image photographed by the photographing lens 1 into an electric signal, and 3 denotes the image pickup device 1 A photographed image signal processing unit 4 that performs signal processing on the electric signal output from the unit to generate a photographed image signal, and performs a compression process by converting the photographed image signal generated by the photographed image signal processing unit 3 into digital data during recording. A digital signal processing unit 5 for performing expansion processing for returning digital photographed image data to an original photographed image signal at the time of reproduction; the digital image random access for saving data a memory unit, wherein the DRAM (D ynamic R andom a cc
ess M emory) shall be used. Reference numeral 6 denotes an image recording unit for recording digital image data generated by the digital signal processing unit 4 on a recording medium. The image recording unit 6 includes a nonvolatile semiconductor memory as a recording medium. It is in the form of a card that can be attached to and detached from the recording / reproducing apparatus main body (hereinafter referred to as a memory card). The memory card 6 includes a memory unit having the nonvolatile semiconductor memory and a memory control unit that controls a data write operation, a read operation, an erase operation, and the like in the memory unit. Reference numeral 9 denotes an image display unit composed of a liquid crystal display or the like for displaying a video being shot or reproducing and displaying digital image data recorded on the memory card 6, and 7 denotes a captured image signal processing unit 3. And a display signal generation unit for generating a display signal for displaying a captured image signal output from the digital signal processing unit 4 on a display of the image display unit 9. The display signal generation unit 7 generates the display signal generated by the display signal generation unit 7. A display driving unit 11 for driving a display of the image display unit 9 in accordance with the image recording mode, and a “photographing / recording mode” for recording digital image data corresponding to a subject image to be photographed on the memory card 6 or recording on the memory card 6 A mode changeover switch that is operated when the user performs selection switching between a "playback mode" for reading and reproducing the read digital image data. Recording start switch for requesting the start of the recording operation, 13
Is a search start switch for requesting the start of a search operation of digital image data recorded on the memory card 6 in the photographing recording mode or the reproduction mode, and 14 is a search start switch for recording digital image data on the memory card 6. An image quality setting switch 10 for selecting and setting the image quality and image size of the image is a photographed image signal processing unit 3, a digital signal processing unit 4, a memory card 6, a mode switch 11, a recording start switch 12, and a search start switch 13. , A system control unit including a microcomputer that detects an input signal from an operation switch such as an image quality setting switch 14 and controls various operations.

The operation of the digital camera having the above-described configuration when the "photographing / recording mode" is selected by the mode changeover switch 11 and digital image data corresponding to the photographed subject image is recorded on the recording medium. explain.

In the "photographing / recording mode", first, a subject image photographed by the photographing lens 1 is formed on an image pickup surface of the image pickup device 2, and the subject image formed on the image pickup surface of the image pickup device 2 is photoelectrically converted. To form an electric signal, and then perform a signal processing in a photographic image signal processing unit 3 in the next stage to form a photographic image signal. The formed photographic image signal is converted into a digital signal processing unit 4 and a display signal generation unit. 7

The display signal generator 7 generates a display image signal based on the captured image signal supplied from the captured image signal processor 3, and the display driver 8 generates an image in accordance with the display image signal. By driving the display unit 9, the image of the subject being shot is displayed on the display screen of the image display unit 9. That is, the user can select the composition of the subject image to be finally photographed and recorded while viewing the photographed image displayed on the image display unit 9.

On the other hand, in the digital signal processing section 4, the user operates the recording start switch 12 while watching the photographed image displayed on the image display section 9, and the system control section 1
When the start of photographing and recording is requested at 0, the photographed image signal for one screen supplied from the photographed image signal processing unit 3 is digitized, and then temporarily stored in the memory unit 5, and the stored digital image data is stored. Is subjected to a compression process such as “JPEG”, and then stored in the memory unit 5 again.

By the way, in the digital signal processing section 4,
When compressing digitized image data, by setting the image quality of the image to be recorded, the data compression ratio according to the image quality is automatically selected.

That is, in the above-described compression processing such as "JPEG", the higher the compression ratio is, the smaller the amount of image data for one screen is, but the image quality is deteriorated. In digital cameras, the image quality (for example, high image quality (compression ratio: 1/5), standard image quality (compression ratio: 1/10), and low image quality (compression ratio: 1 / 20), three different image quality settings are possible, and the image quality can be selected from these.) And the image size (for example, LARGE (size:
640 pixels x 480 pixels), SMALL (size: 32
Two different image sizes (0 pixels × 240 pixels) can be set, and the image size is selected from these. The image quality setting switch 14 for selecting and setting the image quality is provided. The user operates the image quality setting switch 14 before shooting and recording to select the image quality and the image size of the image to be recorded according to the situation and desire. Accordingly, the system control unit 10 sets a compression rate corresponding to the selected image quality and image size to the digital signal processing unit 4, and the digital signal processing unit 4 sets the compression rate set by the system control unit 10. It is configured to compress digital image data digitized at a rate and temporarily stored in the memory unit 5.

The digital image data which has been subjected to the compression processing in the digital signal processing section 4 as described above is read out from the memory section 5 and stored in the memory card 6 in a data string format as shown in FIG. Be recorded.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a data string format of data recorded on the memory card 6, and stores information (hereinafter, referred to as index information) relating to digital image data stored in a subsequent image data area 42. An index area 41 for storing the digital image data for one screen, an image data area 42 for storing the digital image data for one screen, and an end mark 43 indicating the end of the image data. It is configured. In the index area 41, for example,
Image number information for distinguishing recorded images (hereinafter, referred to as
Information such as serial number), image data image quality setting information, image data image size information, image data shooting date / time information, image data erasure permission / non-permission setting information, and the like. The information and the end mark are added to the digital image data that has been subjected to the compression processing in the digital signal processing unit 4 and then recorded on the memory card 6.

Next, when the "photographing / recording mode" is selected by the mode changeover switch 11, an image retrieving operation for confirming the photographed / recorded image and erasing unnecessary image data from the memory card 6 are performed. Therefore, an image search operation for specifying image data that may be deleted from the image data recorded on the memory card 6 will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.

When the user operates the search start switch 13 to instruct the system control circuit 10 to start the search operation, in step S11 the memory card 6 is turned on.
The search for the index area storing the index information added to the image data recorded in is started. If the index area storing the index information is detected in step S12, the process proceeds to step S13. Then, the image quality setting information of the image data in the index information stored in the detected index area is searched.

Then, it is determined whether or not the image quality setting information retrieved in step S14 is the same as the image quality in the currently set photographing and recording mode, and the image quality indicated by the retrieved image quality setting information is set to the current setting. If the image quality is the same as the image quality in the shooting / recording mode, the process proceeds to step S15. Otherwise, the process returns to step S11 without reading the image data stored in the image data area, and returns to the next index information. Search for.

If it is determined in step S14 that the image quality indicated by the searched image quality setting information is the same as the image quality in the currently set shooting and recording mode, the image quality is stored in the image data area. Image data that has been read, and reads the read image data into a digital signal processing unit 4.
Then, a signal processing at the time of reproduction, such as expansion processing, is performed to generate a captured image signal, and the generated captured image signal is supplied to the display signal generation unit 7 and displayed as a reproduced image on the display screen of the image display unit 9.

Then, in step S16, the user confirms the reproduced image, determines that the reproduced image is to be erased or rewritten to a new image, and operates an erasure permission switch (not shown). The operation is shifted to an operation or a recording operation of a new image, and it is determined that the reproduced image is not recorded on the memory card 6 without being erased or rewritten to a new image, and an erase disable switch (not shown) is operated. In this case, the process returns to step S11 to search for the next index area.

If it is determined in step S12 that the next index area has not been detected and all the index information of the image data recorded on the memory card 6 has been searched, the search operation is terminated, and it is detected that all the search has been performed. By repeatedly performing the above-described processing until the image data is recorded, the index information of the image quality setting information that is the same as the image quality in the currently set shooting and recording mode is added to the image data recorded on the memory card 6. Only image data can be read and displayed.

As described above, in the photographing / recording mode, in order to confirm the photographed / recorded image, an image search operation is performed, and unnecessary image data is deleted from the memory card 6 in order to delete the unnecessary image data from the memory card 6. In the image search operation for specifying the image data that may be deleted from the image data that is being deleted, all the images recorded on the memory card 6 are not reproduced and displayed, but are currently set. By instantly retrieving and reproducing and displaying only images recorded with the same image quality setting as the image quality in the shooting and recording mode, the operation of confirming an image after photographing or confirming an image for erasing or rewriting is confused. It can be done quickly without the need.

Next, when the "reproduction mode" is selected by the mode change switch 11, the operation of searching for an image recorded on the memory card 6 will be described with reference to FIG.
This will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.

When the user operates the search start switch 13 to instruct the system control circuit 10 to start the search operation, in step S21 the memory card 6
The search for the index area storing the index information added to the image data recorded in is started. If the index area storing the index information is detected in step S22, the process proceeds to step S23. .

Then, the image data stored in the image data area following the index area detected in step S23 is read, and the read image data is subjected to signal processing during reproduction such as expansion processing in the digital signal processing unit 4. To generate a captured image signal, supply the generated captured image signal to the display signal generation unit 7, and display it as a reproduced image on the display screen of the image display unit 9.

Then, in step S24, the user confirms the reproduced image, determines that the reproduced image is to be deleted or rewritten to a new image, and operates an erasure permission switch (not shown). The operation is shifted to an operation or a recording operation of a new image, and it is determined that the reproduced image is not recorded on the memory card 6 without being erased or rewritten to a new image, and an erase disable switch (not shown) is operated. In this case, the process returns to step S21 to search for the next index area.

If it is determined in step S22 that the next index area has not been detected and all the index information of the image data recorded on the memory card 6 has been searched, the search operation is terminated, and it is detected that all the search has been performed. By repeating the above-described processing until all the image data recorded on the memory card 6 is read out and displayed.

As described above, in the search operation for searching for an image recorded on the memory card 6 in the reproduction mode, the image is recorded on the memory card 6 regardless of the index information stored in the index area. All the image data are sequentially reproduced and displayed.

FIG. 5 is a diagram schematically showing the above-described search operation, and FIG. 5A is a diagram showing a recording state of image data recorded on the memory card 6. That is, FIG. 5A shows (a), (b), (c), and (g) of the image data of seven screens from (a) to (g) recorded on the memory card 6. The image data of the screen is shot and recorded with the image quality set to "High quality".
The image data of the screens of (d), (e), and (f) indicate that the image quality is set to “standard image quality” and is captured and recorded.

In the state where the image data is recorded on the memory card 6 as described above, in the search operation in the photographing / recording mode, the case where “high image quality” is set as the image quality in the current photographing / recording mode is set. 5B, only the image data of the screens (a), (b), (c), and (g) are searched and displayed as shown in FIG. 5B. (A) to (g) as shown in (C)
All the image data of the seven screens up to are searched and displayed.

FIG. 6A shows a display example on the image display section 9 at the time of the search operation in the photographing / recording mode.
As shown in FIG. 6, the display screen may be divided into a plurality of areas (nine areas in FIG. 6), and the reproduced images may be sequentially reduced and displayed in each area in the order of the search and reproduction. At this time, the image number information stored in the index area of each image may be read out and displayed together with the image as shown.

FIG. 6B shows a display example on the image display unit 9 at the time of the search operation in the photographing / recording mode.
As shown in the figure, no image is displayed for the image data (d), (e), and (f) of the screen that does not match the search condition, but only the image number information is displayed so that the user can understand that the data exists. May be displayed, or a monochrome image may be displayed instead of the reproduced image.

In the present embodiment, the case where “high image quality” is set as the image quality in the current shooting / recording mode is described as an example, but “standard image quality” and “low image quality” are described.
Is set, an index area in which image quality information corresponding to those image qualities is stored is searched, and the searched image data may be reproduced and displayed.

In the above description, an example has been described in which only image data shot and recorded with the same image quality setting as that in the current shooting and recording mode is read and displayed as search conditions in the shooting and recording mode. Not limited to this, for example,
In the search operation in the shooting and recording mode, only the images searched by the shooting date and time information of the image data may be displayed. In this case, for example, “only images shot on the same date as the current shooting date and time are displayed. And display it. "Can be performed quickly.

As a search condition in the photographing / recording mode, only the image retrieved by the image data erasure permission / non-permission setting information may be displayed. When the recording capacity of the memory card 6 is insufficient and unnecessary image data needs to be erased immediately, an image that can be erased from among the images recorded on the memory card 6 (that is, an erase permission And reproduces and displays only the image indicated by the image data to which the setting information is added) for confirmation. This operation can be performed quickly and automatically without causing confusion, and unnecessary image data can be instantaneously obtained. Can be selected and deleted.

Further, as a search condition in the photographing / recording mode, only the image retrieved by the image size information of the image data may be displayed. In this case, for example, “the image size in the current photographing / recording mode” And only the image data captured and recorded with the same image size setting as described above is read and displayed ".

In any of the above cases, in the search operation in the reproduction mode, all the image data recorded on the memory card 6 is read and displayed.

As described above, in the digital camera as the image recording / reproducing apparatus according to the present embodiment,
By appropriately setting the search condition of the image data to be performed in the shooting and recording mode according to the use situation and displaying only the searched image data, in the shooting and recording mode,
If you want to check the image data that has already been recorded, you can quickly and automatically search for and check the target image data from many image data. If the image data becomes insufficient and it becomes necessary to delete unnecessary image data immediately, it is possible to quickly search and confirm only the image data that can be deleted from the image data recorded on the recording medium. This makes it possible to instantly select and delete unnecessary image data.

[Second Embodiment] Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described.
An embodiment will be described. In the first embodiment, a digital camera using a detachable card-shaped image recording unit for recording data in a semiconductor memory as an image recording unit has been described as an example of the image recording / reproducing apparatus of the present invention. In the embodiment, as shown in FIG. 7, a digital camera using a device for recording data on an optical disc as an image recording unit will be described as an example of the image recording / reproducing apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a schematic configuration diagram of a digital camera as an image recording / reproducing apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention, and has the same functions as those of the digital camera according to the first embodiment shown in FIG. Are denoted by the same reference numerals, and detailed description is omitted.

In FIG. 7, reference numeral 15 denotes a unit for recording digital image data generated by the digital signal processing unit 4 upon recording on an optical disk which is a recording medium. A modulation / demodulation processing section 16 for performing demodulation processing for returning the obtained data to the original digital image data, and 16 has a laser beam emitting section for recording or reproducing on an optical disk and a reflected light receiving section. Optical pickup unit, 1
Reference numeral 7 denotes a phase change optical disk as a recording medium, 18 denotes a motor for rotating the optical disk 17, 19 denotes a motor drive unit for driving the motor 18, 20 denotes a photographed image signal processing unit 3 and digital signal processing. The unit 4 controls the recording / reproducing operation for the optical disk 17, and further detects various input signals from operation switches such as a mode switch 11, a recording start switch 12, a search start switch 13, and an image quality setting switch 14, and controls various operations. This is a system control unit including a microcomputer and the like. In the present embodiment, an optical disk of a phase change method is used, but the present invention is not limited to this, and an optical disk of a magneto-optical method may be used.

Hereinafter, in the digital camera having the above-described configuration, the "photographing / recording mode" is selected by the mode switch 11, and digital image data corresponding to the photographed subject image is recorded on the optical disk as a recording medium. Will be described.

In the modulation / demodulation processing section 15, in order to record the digital image data generated by the digital signal processing section 4 on an optical disk which is a recording medium, the modulation processing is performed on the digital image data. The data is recorded on the optical disk 17 by the laser light emitted from the emission unit of the optical pickup unit 16 according to the applied data.

It should be noted that data is recorded on the optical disk 17 coaxially along the circumference of the optical disk rotating at high speed, thereby forming a data recording pattern as schematically shown in FIG. The data string format of the image data of each screen is, as shown in FIG. 8B, the index area 4 in the same manner as in the first embodiment shown in FIG.
1, an image data area 42 and an end mark 43,
These form a data string format of digital image data for one screen and are recorded on the optical disc 17.

Next, when the "photographing / recording mode" is selected by the mode changeover switch 11, an image retrieving operation for confirming a photographed / recorded image and erasing unnecessary image data from the optical disk 17 are performed. Therefore, an image search operation for specifying image data that may be deleted from the image data recorded on the optical disk 17 will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.

When the user operates the search start switch 13 to instruct the system control circuit 20 to start the search operation, the system control unit 20 sets the optical disk 17
The optical disk is rotated at a high speed by a motor 18 and a motor drive unit 19 in order to read data recorded in the optical disk, a laser beam is emitted from the emission unit of the optical pickup unit 16 to the optical disk 17, and the reflected light is reflected by the optical pickup unit. The data is picked up by a light receiving section 16 and the picked-up data is demodulated in a modulation / demodulation processing section 15 to restore the original digital image data.

Then, in step S11, the search for the index area storing the index information added to the digital image data reproduced from the optical disk 17 as described above is started, and in step S12 the index information is stored. If an index area is detected, the process proceeds to step S13 to search for image quality setting information of image data in index information stored in the detected index area.

Then, it is determined whether or not the image quality setting information searched in step S14 is the same as the image quality in the currently set photographing / recording mode, and the image quality indicated by the searched image quality setting information is set to the current setting. If the image quality is the same as the image quality in the shooting / recording mode, the process proceeds to step S15. If the image quality is not the same, the process returns to step S11 without reading out the image data stored in the image data area. Search for.

If it is determined in step S14 that the image quality indicated by the searched image quality setting information is the same as the image quality in the currently set shooting / recording mode, the image quality is stored in the image data area. Image data that has been read, and reads the read image data into a digital signal processing unit 4.
6 performs a signal processing at the time of reproduction such as expansion processing to generate a photographed image signal, and supplies the generated photographed image signal to the display signal generating unit 7.
The display screen is divided into a plurality of areas as shown in (1), and the reproduced images are sequentially reduced and displayed in each area in the order of the search and reproduction.

Then, in step S16, the user confirms the reproduced image, determines that the reproduced image is to be erased or rewritten to a new image, and operates the erasure permission switch (not shown). When an operation or a new image recording operation is performed, and it is determined that the reproduced image is to be recorded on the optical disk 17 without being erased or rewritten to a new image, and an erasure disable switch (not shown) is operated. Returns to step S11 to search for the next index area.

When it is determined in step S12 that the next index area has not been detected and all the index information of the image data recorded on the optical disk 17 has been searched, the search operation is terminated, and it is detected that all the search has been performed. By repeating the above-described processing, the image data to which the index information of the image quality setting information same as the image quality in the currently set shooting / recording mode is added among the image data recorded on the optical disc 17. Can be read out and displayed.

As described above, in the photographing / recording mode, an image is recorded on the optical disk 17 in order to search for an image when confirming the recorded image and to erase unnecessary image data from the optical disk 17. In the image search operation for specifying the image data that may be deleted from the image data, not all the images recorded on the optical disk 17 are reproduced and displayed, but the currently set photographing / recording mode. Instantly search and play back and display only the images recorded with the same image quality setting as the image quality at the time, so that the confirmation operation of the image after shooting or the confirmation operation of the image for erasure or rewriting can be performed quickly without confusion. It is possible to do.

Next, when the "reproduction mode" is selected by the mode changeover switch 11, the operation of searching for an image recorded on the optical disk 17 will be described with reference to FIG.
This will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.

When the user operates the search start switch 13 to instruct the system control circuit 20 to start the search operation, the optical disc 17 is started in step S21.
The search for the index area storing the index information added to the image data recorded in is started. If the index area storing the index information is detected in step S22, the process proceeds to step S23. .

Then, the image data stored in the image data area following the index area detected in step S23 is read out, and the read out image data is subjected to signal processing at the time of reproduction such as expansion processing in the digital signal processing unit 4. To generate a captured image signal, supply the generated captured image signal to the display signal generation unit 7, and display it as a reproduced image on the display screen of the image display unit 9.

Then, in step S24, the user confirms the reproduced image, judges that the reproduced image is to be erased or rewritten to a new image, and operates the erasure permission switch (not shown). When an operation or a new image recording operation is performed, and it is determined that the reproduced image is to be recorded on the optical disk 17 without being erased or rewritten to a new image, and an erasure disable switch (not shown) is operated. Returns to step S21 to search for the next index area.

If it is determined in step S22 that the next index area has not been detected and all the index information of the image data recorded on the optical disk 17 has been searched, the search operation is terminated, and it is detected that all the search has been performed. By repeating the above-described processing, all the image data recorded on the optical disk 17 is read and displayed.

As described above, in the search operation for searching for an image recorded on the optical disk 17 in the reproduction mode, all the images recorded on the optical disk 17 are recorded regardless of the index information stored in the index area. Image data is sequentially reproduced and displayed.

In the above description, an example has been described in which only image data shot and recorded with the same image quality setting as that in the current shooting and recording mode is read out and displayed as search conditions in the shooting and recording mode. Not limited to this, the first
Similarly to the embodiment, for example, in the search operation in the reproduction mode, all the images recorded on the optical disk 17 are displayed, whereas in the search operation in the shooting mode, the image data is shot. Display only images searched by date / time information, display only images searched by setting information of permission / non-permission of deletion of image data, and display only images searched by image size information of image data You may do it.

The data recording pattern and the data string format of the optical disk 17 are not limited to the example shown in FIG. 8, and data may be recorded, for example, as shown in FIG.

As shown in FIG. 9A, the recording area on the optical disk 17 is divided into a recording area for image data (a) and a recording area for search data (b), and is divided as shown in FIG. 9B. An image number data area for recording the image number data indicating the image number corresponding to each image data, an image data area for recording the image data, and an end mark for indicating the end of the data sequence for one screen. Image data of the image of the image data, and only the image data is recorded in the recording area (a) for the image data. As shown in FIG. 9C, an image number indicating the image number corresponding to each image data An image number data area for recording data, an index data area for recording index information such as image quality setting information, image size information, shooting date and time information, and erasure permission / non-permission setting information, and an end of data string. Ri constitute a search data of the end mark and the one screen image for instructing, so as to record only the search data in the recording area for the search data (b).

Then, as described above, the optical disk 17
When the search operation is performed in the photographing recording mode when the data is recorded in the recording data, first, the index information recorded in the retrieval data recording area (b) shown in FIG. The image number information corresponding to the index information that satisfies the search condition is sequentially read, and the read image number information is sequentially stored in the system control unit 20 and recorded in the search data recording area (b). When the search of all the search data is completed, the system control unit 2
By reading out the image data recorded in the image data recording area (a) according to the image number information corresponding to the index information satisfying the search condition stored in 0, a more rapid search can be performed. Actions can be taken.

As described above, in the digital camera as the image recording / reproducing apparatus according to the present embodiment,
By appropriately setting the search condition of the image data to be performed in the shooting and recording mode according to the use situation and displaying only the searched image data, in the shooting and recording mode,
When the user wants to check the already recorded image data, the user can quickly and automatically search for and check the target image data from many image data. Insufficient recording capacity,
When it becomes necessary to delete unnecessary image data immediately, only image data that can be deleted can be quickly searched and confirmed from the image data recorded on the optical disc, and the image data may be deleted. Unnecessary image data can be instantly selected and deleted.

Although the recording and reproduction of a still image by a digital camera has been described as an example in the first and second embodiments, the present invention can be applied to the recording and reproduction of a moving image, and the same effect can be obtained. Can be obtained.

[0078]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention,
According to the image recording apparatus and method described in and 8, when capturing an image and recording the captured image on a recording medium,
Each has a plurality of different search conditions corresponding to the operation mode of the device, and any one of the plurality of search conditions is selected according to the operation mode of the device, and the selected search condition is selected. By making it possible to search for images recorded on the recording medium according to search conditions, it is possible to quickly search for a target image from images recorded according to the use condition of the apparatus. The effect is obtained.

According to the image recording apparatus of the second aspect,
The image recording apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: an image display unit that displays an image captured by the imaging unit or an image recorded in the image recording unit, wherein the image searched by the search unit is displayed. By displaying the image on the image display means, it is possible to quickly search for the target image from the images recorded according to the use condition of the device and to confirm the content thereof. Can be

According to the image recording apparatus of the third aspect,
The image recording device of the image recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein, in correspondence with the image data to be recorded, image number information for distinguishing images, image quality setting information of image data, image size information of image data, A plurality of types of additional information such as shooting date / time information of image data and setting information of permission / non-permission of erasure of image data are recorded on a recording medium together with image data. A search condition is set based on at least one type of additional information among a plurality of types of additional information, and an image recorded in the image recording unit is searched according to the set search condition. It is possible to quickly search for a target image from images recorded in accordance with usage conditions according to search conditions set based on additional information. Results can be obtained.

According to the image recording apparatus of the fourth aspect,
4. The image recording apparatus according to claim 3, wherein when the operation mode of the apparatus is set to a photographing recording mode for recording a captured image on a recording medium, the search unit corresponds to the photographing recording mode. In a case where a reproduction mode for reproducing an image recorded on the recording medium is set according to the retrieval condition set by the user, and the reproduction mode for reproducing the image recorded on the recording medium is set. In the shooting recording mode, when it is desired to check image data already recorded, it is possible to search all the images recorded on the recording medium without setting the search condition in The target image data can be quickly and automatically searched for and confirmed from among the image data of the recording medium. Particularly, in the recording mode, the recording capacity of the recording medium is insufficient. When it becomes necessary to delete unnecessary image data, it is possible to quickly search and confirm only image data that may be deleted from the image data recorded on the recording medium, and may delete the image data. An effect is obtained that unnecessary image data can be instantaneously selected and deleted.

According to the image recording apparatus of the fifth aspect,
The image recording device of the image recording apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the image recording device has a plurality of types of image quality that can be set when recording a captured image on a recording medium, and records the captured image on a recording medium. The information indicating the image quality set in the image data is set as the image quality setting information of the image data, so that a search set based on the image quality set when the image is set to be recorded on the recording medium from among the recorded images. An effect is obtained that a target image can be quickly searched according to a condition.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the image recording apparatus of the fifth aspect, the operation mode of the apparatus is set to a photographing recording mode for recording a photographed image on a recording medium. According to the search conditions set in the search means in accordance with the image quality setting information of the image data set in the current shooting recording mode, the current shooting of the images recorded on the recording medium is selected. By making it possible to search for images recorded with the same image quality setting information as the image quality setting information of the image data set in the recording mode, when recording on a recording medium from among the recorded images An effect is obtained that it is possible to quickly search for an image recorded with the same image quality setting as the set image quality.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in the image recording apparatus according to the first aspect, the image recording means uses any one of a semiconductor memory, a magnetic disk, an optical disk, and the like as a recording medium. By doing so,
In an image recording apparatus that uses any one of a semiconductor memory, a magnetic disk, an optical disk, and the like as a recording medium, it is possible to quickly search for a target image from images recorded according to a use state of the apparatus. The effect is obtained.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a digital camera as an image recording / reproducing device of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram of a digital camera as an image recording / reproducing device according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a data string format of data recorded on a memory card.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating an image search operation.

FIG. 5 is a conceptual diagram schematically illustrating an image search operation.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a display example at the time of a search operation in a shooting and recording mode.

FIG. 7 is a schematic configuration diagram of a digital camera as an image recording / reproducing device according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of a data recording pattern and a data string format of an optical disc.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing another example of a data recording pattern and a data string format of an optical disc.

[Explanation of symbols]

 REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 photographing lens 2 image pickup device 3 photographed image signal processing unit 4 digital signal processing unit 5 memory unit 6 image recording unit (memory card) 7 display signal generation unit 8 display drive unit 9 image display unit 10, 20 system control unit 11 mode switching Switch 12 Recording start switch 13 Search start switch 14 Image quality setting switch 15 Modulation / demodulation processing unit 16 Optical pickup unit 17 Optical disk 18 Motor 19 Motor driving unit

Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. An image capturing means for capturing an image, an image recording means for recording an image captured by the image capturing means on a recording medium, and a plurality of different search conditions each corresponding to an operation mode of the apparatus. Searching means for selecting one of the plurality of search conditions in accordance with the operation mode of the apparatus, and searching for an image recorded in the image recording means in accordance with the selected search condition An image recording apparatus comprising: 2. The image recording apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising an image display unit configured to display an image captured by the image capturing unit and an image recorded in the image recording unit. The image recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image is displayed by the image display means. 3. The image recording means according to the image data to be recorded, includes image number information for distinguishing images, image quality setting information of image data, image size information of image data, photographing of image data. Multiple types of additional information, such as date and time information and image data erasure permission / non-permission setting information,
The information is recorded on a recording medium together with the image data, and the search means sets a search condition based on at least one type of additional information of the plurality of types of additional information in accordance with an operation mode of the apparatus. 2. The image recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein an image recorded in said image recording means is retrieved according to a retrieval condition. 4. When the operation mode of the apparatus is set to a shooting / recording mode for recording a picked-up image on a recording medium, a search set by the search means corresponding to the shooting / recording mode is performed. It is possible to search for an image recorded on the recording medium according to a condition, and when a reproduction mode for reproducing an image recorded on the recording medium is set, the search condition is set by the search means. 4. The image recording apparatus according to claim 3, wherein all the images recorded on the recording medium can be searched without performing. 5. The image recording means has a plurality of image quality types that can be set when recording a captured image on a recording medium, and is set when recording the captured image on a recording medium. The image recording apparatus according to claim 3, wherein information indicating image quality is set as image quality setting information of the image data. 6. When the operation mode of the apparatus is set to a photographing / recording mode for recording a photographed image on a recording medium, the image data set in the current photographing / recording mode by the search means. According to the search condition set corresponding to the image quality setting information, the image recorded on the recording medium is recorded with the same image quality setting information as the image data setting information of the image data set in the current recording mode. The image recording apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the searched image can be searched. 7. The image recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said image recording means uses any one of a semiconductor memory, a magnetic disk, an optical disk, and the like as a recording medium. 8. An image recording method for capturing an image and recording the captured image on a recording medium, wherein each of the plurality of retrieval conditions includes a plurality of different search conditions corresponding to an operation mode of the apparatus. An image recording apparatus that selects any one of the search conditions according to the operation mode of the apparatus, and enables an image recorded on the recording medium to be searched according to the selected search condition. Method.