JP2000106665A - Image pickup device and computer-readable storage medium - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To attain coding processing of a series of video signals, without using a main memory of a large capacity at a CPU side in the case of applying coding processing to a series of the video signal obtained by consecutive shots and recording the processed signals in a recording medium. SOLUTION: A signal conversion section 104 converts signals obtained through consecutive shots into prescribed video signals, which are stored in a process memory 105. A coding,section 106 sequentially applies coding to the video signals, and the coded signal is once stored in a main memory 107, from which the signal is transferred to the process memory. After the end of the consecutive shots the data are read from the process memory, and a recording section 110 records the data in a recording medium.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention relates to an imaging apparatus and a computer-readable storage medium used for the imaging apparatus.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 10 shows a conventional image pickup apparatus for recording a video signal as digital data. In FIG. 10, an imaging device 1 such as a CCD via an aperture 100 and a lens 101
The subject image formed on the image 02 is converted into an electric signal, and further converted into a digital signal by the A / D converter 103. This digital signal is then sent to the signal converter 104, where it is converted into a video signal of a predetermined format, here a luminance / color difference signal. This signal is sent to the display unit 111 except during recording, and is displayed as finder information by a display device such as an LCD. These processes are controlled by the CPU 108.

At the time of recording, a video signal is sent to an encoding unit 106 for compression processing, compressed in a predetermined format, and then recorded in a main memory 107 on the CPU side through an internal bus of the encoding unit 106. . Here, it is assumed that the compression method conforms to the JPEG format, that is, DCT (discrete cosine transform) and Huffman encoding processing are performed. In this case, the video signal is output by the raster scan in the signal conversion unit 104, but is input by the block scan in the encoding unit 106.
Is output to the process memory 106, where it is temporarily converted to a scan method.
Sent to 6. The control of the process memory 105 is performed by the signal conversion unit 104.

[0004] The encoding section 106 compresses and encodes the input video signal, and sequentially sends the encoded signals to the main memory 107 on the CPU side for storage. CPU108
After the encoding process is completed, the encoded video signal stored in the main memory 107 is sent to the recording unit 110 and recorded on a recording medium.

When performing high-speed shooting (continuous shooting) such as quick shooting, the following operation is performed. The video signal stored in the process memory 105 by the signal conversion unit 104 is sent to the encoding unit 106 in the order of block scan.
The encoding unit 106 sequentially sends the encoded data onto the bus and stores the data in the main memory 107 on the CPU side.

[0006] After the above-described encoding processing, to shorten the photographing interval, time-consuming recording processing on a recording medium is omitted, and the next video signal processing is performed while the encoded video signal is held in the main memory 107. That is, the next video signal is stored in the process memory 105 in the signal conversion unit 104,
After that, the encoding unit 106 performs the encoding process again, and stores the next encoded video signal in another free area of the main memory 107.

When there is no more free space in the main memory 107 corresponding to one screen of the encoded video signal, the CP
U108 sends the plurality of encoded video signals of the main memory 107 to the recording unit 110, and performs recording collectively. When the recording of all the coded video signals in the main memory 107 is completed, the quick shooting process is restarted, the video signal is converted and recorded in the process memory 105, and the video signal is coded again.
The quick shooting is performed until an end determination such as a predetermined time is made.

[0008]

In the above-described image pickup apparatus, when performing a quick shooting, the recording speed largely depends on the capacity of the main memory on the CPU side. In order to increase the speed of the rapid shooting, it is necessary to make the capacity of the main memory large enough for one coded video signal. However, this memory capacity is not usually used entirely, and is used only for quick shooting. Therefore, the cost was also large.

The present invention has been made in view of such a situation, and has as its object to reduce the capacity of a main memory and perform a high-speed photographing operation.

[0010]

In order to achieve the above object, an image pickup apparatus according to the present invention has an image pickup means for photographing a subject and outputting an electric signal, and converting the electric signal into a video signal of a predetermined format. Converting means, a first memory means for storing the converted video signal, an encoding means for encoding the video signal from the first memory means and outputting encoded data, and the encoded data And a recording means for recording the coded data from the second memory means on a recording medium, causing the imaging means to perform a continuous shooting operation. During a shooting operation, the encoded data sequentially stored in the second memory means is sequentially transferred to the first memory means, and after the continuous shooting, the first data is transferred to the first memory means.
Control means for reading out the encoded data from the memory means and transferring the encoded data to the second memory means, and then providing the encoded data from the second memory means to the recording means. .

In the storage medium according to the present invention,
A process of continuously photographing a subject and sequentially outputting electric signals; a process of sequentially converting the electric signals into video signals of a predetermined format; a process of storing the converted video signals in a first memory means; A process of encoding the video signal from the first memory unit and outputting encoded data; a process of storing the encoded data in a second memory unit;
Processing for sequentially transferring the encoded data sequentially stored in the memory means to the first memory means, and reading out the encoded data from the first memory means after the end of the continuous photographing, and Transferring to a memory means;
A process for reading the encoded data from the second memory means and recording the encoded data on a recording medium.

[0012]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. [First Embodiment] FIG. 1 shows an imaging apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention. In this apparatus, two types of large and small can be selected as the photographed image size, and fine and normal can be selected as the resolution. In addition, the system is also capable of selecting quick shooting (continuous shooting). In the case of quick shooting, the size is fixed at a small size and the resolution is normal.

The apparatus has a main memory 107 and a process memory 105 for image processing.
07 is controlled by the CPU 108 and the process memory 10
5 is controlled by the signal conversion unit 104. The CPU 108 controls the entire apparatus, and the photographer performs an instruction on the operation unit 109 to select a single-shot / rapid-shot shooting mode, select a shooting size (large, sma11), and the like.

Pressing a shutter button (not shown) on the operation unit 109 starts shooting / recording of an image. First, the operation at the time of framing before the shutter button is pressed will be described. At the time of framing, the shot video is not recorded in the process memory 105,
It is displayed on the CD 112.

The operation at this time is as follows. First, the image formed on the image sensor by the lens is converted into an electric signal by the image sensor 102 and further converted into a digital signal by the A / D converter 103. The imaging device 102 includes a driving unit 113
And the field / frame reading can be switched, but the field reading is performed during the framing operation. The signal at this time is
Is a signal obtained by adding two lines vertically to the color filters arranged in the color filter. This is sent to the signal conversion unit 104 and converted into a video signal composed of luminance and color difference. This is the image sensor 102
, And the luminance / color difference signals output from the signal conversion unit 104 are also output in the raster scan order.

The signal conversion unit 104 converts the signal from the image sensor 102 and, at the same time, detects the exposure amount of the captured video and the value of the high frequency component contained in the video signal. These values are stored in an internal register of the signal conversion unit 104 and read out to the CPU 108 via the bus 114. These values are updated every time corresponding to one field of the video signal. In the CPU 108, the signal conversion unit 1
From the exposure amount and the high frequency component value read from 04,
By controlling the position of the lens 101 and the aperture 100, the AE
-Perform the AF operation.

Before the photographer inputs recording start,
That is, when the shutter button is not pressed down, the luminance / color difference signal output from the signal conversion unit 104 is sent to the display unit 111. The display unit 111 performs a predetermined conversion for displaying the transmitted luminance / color difference signals on the LCD 112 at the subsequent stage, and displays the captured video. This transformation also absorbs differences due to the size of the image being captured. The size is small
Is one-fourth of large, and this sma
The number of pixels of the size 11 matches the number of pixels of the LCD 112.

Therefore, when displaying a large-sized image, the vertical and horizontal 1/2 are thinned out without changing the angle of view.
After the resolution is reduced and converted into the same size as the number of LCD display pixels, the luminance / color difference signal is converted into an analog signal via a VRAM and a D / A converter (not shown), and a horizontal / vertical synchronization signal is sent to the LCD 112.

The above is the framing operation before shooting.
After determining the composition, the photographer depresses the shutter button to start the photographing operation and performs photographing. The shutter button is a two-step input, and the position of the hand-pressed state is S
1. The position in the fully pressed state is expressed as S2. First, in the state where S1 is pressed, the AE / AF operation is performed in a state where the step unit is made finer than in the framing operation. Thereafter, when S1 is released, the process returns to the framing operation again.

When S2 is pressed after S1, the mode shifts to the main photographing mode, and the video recording operation is started.
When S2 is pressed, the AE operation is first performed at the current lens position, and the aperture amount is adjusted based on the calculation of an appropriate exposure amount. After that, the image sensor 10 has an appropriate exposure time.
2 is exposed, an optical barrier (not shown) arranged on the front surface of the image sensor is closed, and the exposure is completed. After the exposure, the subject signal is read from the image sensor 102 by reading the frame in this case. This frame read data is A
After the / D conversion, the data is temporarily stored in the process memory 105 via the signal conversion unit 104. It takes a time corresponding to two fields to save the frame data.

Following the completion of the exposure, the process memory 10
5 is transmitted to the signal converter 104.
, Are converted into a video signal composed of luminance and chrominance, and recorded in the process memory 105 again. Since the capacity of the process memory 195 is sufficient to store two large-size video signals, the stored frame signals from the image sensor 102 can be stored without erasing them. A luminance / color difference signal can be stored.

At the time of the luminance / color difference signal conversion processing, a thumbnail image is simultaneously created. This is because the generated luminance and chrominance signals are added in a predetermined fixed block range to generate luminance and chrominance signals with reduced resolution at the same angle of view.
This is a process of storing data in a free area.

The luminance stored in the process memory 105
The color difference signal is sent to the encoding unit 106 after changing the scan method from raster scan to block scan. The encoding unit 106 sets the quantization tables determined in advance by specifying the resolution fine and normal. The luminance and chrominance signals sent to the encoding unit 106 are subjected to DCT processing and quantization processing for each input block, and then subjected to Huffman transform, and output the compressed encoded data to the bus 114. The CPU 108 sequentially writes the encoded data into the main memory 107. The data flow at this time is as shown in FIG.

The output data from the encoding unit 106 is output with an 8-bit bus width for encoding. On the other hand, CPU
Since the bit width of 108 is 16 bits, the data to be written into the main memory 107 requires only the upper byte or the lower byte. To avoid slowing down the storage speed at this point,
The output data is stored as 2 bytes without performing byte conversion.

After encoding all the luminance / color difference signals, the CPU 108 sends the encoded data in the main memory to the recording unit 110, and writes the video data on the recording medium in a predetermined format. As described above, only the upper or lower byte of the data to be written here is valid,
Here, U108 performs word / byte conversion, and records only valid data on the recording medium. At the same time, the signal conversion unit 104 reads out the luminance / color difference signal data stored in the process memory in the raster scan order, sends the data to the display unit 111, and displays the captured video on the LCD 112.

After this processing is completed, the process memory 105
The remaining luminance / color difference signals for thumbnails are read in the block scan order and input to the encoding unit 106. Since the resolution is lower than that of the original image, the compression ratio in the encoding unit 106 is different, but a thumbnail image basically subjected to the same encoding process is generated and stored in the main memory 107.

After completing the thumbnail encoding process, the CPU 1
08 stores the encoded thumbnail image in the recording unit 110.
On the recording medium via the PC, and also records the association with the original image according to an arbitrary file system. During this process, L
The captured video is still displayed on the CD 112. When an arbitrary time elapses from the thumbnail recording, the CPU 108 determines that the main shooting mode has ended,
After the display of the recorded image on the LCD 112 is completed, the entire system is shifted to the framing mode again to prepare for the next photographing.

The above is the processing in normal photographing, and this processing is performed commonly for the size (large, small) of the image to be photographed. small mode is large
The number of pixels is halved in the horizontal and vertical directions at the same angle of view as in the e-mode.

Next, the operation in the quick shooting mode will be described. In the quick shooting mode, shooting is continuously performed while the shutter button is kept pressed by the photographer. In this mode, the image size to be shot is small
l, the resolution is fixed to normal.

In the quick shooting mode, the same operation as in the above-described normal shooting is performed until the shutter button is pressed down to S1. When the shutter button is pressed down to S2, a video recording operation in the quick shooting mode is started. First, as in the case of normal shooting, the CPU obtains an optimum AE amount from the AE evaluation value of the currently shot video and adjusts the aperture amount.

Thereafter, the image of the first one field is first exposed to the image sensor 102. After the exposure, the electric signal from the image sensor is read out. This reading method is different from the normal photographing and is performed by field reading. Therefore, in the normal photographing, the optical barrier closed at the end of the exposure remains open, the image sensor 102 always performs the exposure operation, and the exposure time is determined only by the electronic shutter.

The video signal read from the image sensor 102 is A / D converted into a digital signal and temporarily stored in the process memory 105. Unlike normal shooting, the time required so far is a time corresponding to one field. Field data stored in the process memory 105 is read out in raster order as in normal shooting and sent to the signal conversion unit 104. , And into a luminance / color difference signal. The converted luminance / color difference signals are recorded in a free area of the process memory.

In the quick shooting mode, the size of the image to be shot is fixed to small, so that at least large
In the process memory 105 having a capacity of two e-sizes, only a 1/8 area is used. At this time, the field data from the image sensor 102 also exists in the process memory.
The free space of No. 5 is at least as large as 1.5 sheets.

The position in the process memory where the field data and the luminance / color difference signals from the image sensor 102 are stored is fixed, and the previous video signal is overwritten each time a new video comes. At the time of generating the luminance / color difference signals, the luminance / color difference signals for the thumbnails in which the video signals are greatly thinned out are also generated and stored in the process memory 105 as in the case of the normal shooting. This thumbnail luminance / color difference signal is not encoded at this point in order to shorten the interval at the time of rapid shooting, and is stored in the process memory in the form of the luminance / color difference signal. This recording position is sequentially written with the position shifted by the number of photographed images at that time so that the respective luminance / color difference signals do not overlap.

The luminance / color difference signals stored in the process memory are sent to the encoding unit 106 after changing the scanning method from raster scan to block scan. Encoding unit 1
The luminance and chrominance signals sent to 06 are subjected to DCT processing and quantization processing for each input block, and then to Huffman transform, and output this data to a bus 114. CPU108
Sequentially writes the encoded data into the main memory 107. The data flow at this time is as shown in FIG.

As described above, here, the encoding unit 106
Although the output data width and the bus width of the CPU 108 do not match, the CPU writes 8-bit data as 16-bit data to the main memory 107 without performing byte-word conversion.

After encoding all the luminance / color difference signals, the CPU 108 stores the encoded data in the main memory in a free area of the process memory 105, and secures a memory area for recording the next encoded data. . At this time, CP
Although 16 bits of data are sent from the U 108 to the bus, the signal conversion unit 10 that controls the process memory 105
In No. 4, unnecessary 8 bits of the 16 bits are not stored, and only the necessary 8 bits are packed and stored in the memory. The data flow of this processing is as shown in FIG.

Unlike the normal photographing, the video signal encoding end processing does not encode the thumbnail luminance / color difference signals, and at this point, the storage sequence of one video signal in the memory ends. At this time, the captured video signal data does not exist in the main memory 107 and the recording medium on the CPU side, and the field data from the image sensor 102, which is stored first in the process memory, is converted. There are four types of data: a luminance / chrominance signal, luminance / chrominance signal data for thumbnails which are greatly thinned out, and encoded data obtained by compression-encoding the luminance / chrominance signal of the main image.

Of these, the field data from the image sensor 102 and the luminance / color difference signals of the main image are overwritten and updated each time exposure is performed. The coded data and the luminance / color difference signals for thumbnails are stored in the process memory for the number of photographed images until the end of the quick shooting.

After the above-described processing of one image signal is completed, the image signal of the next one field is read from the image sensor 102. In the quick shooting mode, in order to shorten the photographing interval, the process memory 105 of the encoded data on the main memory is used as shown in the sequence of FIG.
During the movement, exposure for the next photographing is performed. This signal is subjected to A / D conversion in the same manner as the first field data,
The data is overwritten at a fixed predetermined position on the process memory. This is converted into a luminance / color difference signal by the signal conversion unit 104, and is also written at a fixed position on the process memory.

At this time, a luminance / color difference signal for thumbnails is generated at the same time, and is written at a position that does not overlap with the thumbnail image generated in the previous sequence.

After the luminance and chrominance signals are stored in the process memory 105 in the raster scan order, the luminance and chrominance signals are read out by block scan and sent to the encoding unit 106. CP
U 108 stores the encoded data output from encoding section 106 to bus 114 again in main memory 107.

All encoded data is stored in the main memory 107.
, The CPU 108 writes the encoded data again in the free space on the process memory starting from the position where the previous encoded data write ended. Also, at this time,
Further, if the shutter button is kept pressed, the image pickup device 102 performs exposure of the next image.

The end of the quick shooting mode is detected when the photographer stops pressing the shutter button or when the encoded data in the main memory is not completely written in the process memory 105. At this time, the last encoded data exists in the main memory, and the encoded data up to that point is stored in the process memory of the signal conversion unit 104.

The CPU 108 first sends the encoded data on the main memory to the recording section 110 and records it on a recording medium. Thereafter, the CPU 108 moves the encoded data in the process memory one by one to the main memory 107, sequentially sends the encoded data to the recording unit 110, and similarly records the data on the recording medium.
At this time, in the encoded data shot by a series of quick-shots, information for identifying the same quick-shot group is recorded together with the encoded data. The data flow at this time is as shown in FIG.

Further, the luminance / color difference signals for thumbnails corresponding to the moved encoded data are sequentially sent to the encoding unit 106 to produce encoded thumbnail images, and the encoded images are encoded in the same manner as the data for normal shooting. Data associated with the coded data is also created and recorded on the recording medium in the same manner.

If the recording medium runs out of free space during the recording, the last encoded data recorded in the first recording time is deleted, and the data to be recorded is adjusted in the order of the recording time. After the recording of all the quick data on the recording medium is completed, the CPU 108 starts preparing for the next photographing.

The processing at the time of photographing has been described above. Next, the processing at the time of reproduction will be described. The main flow of the reproduction is to send the luminance / color difference data obtained by expanding the encoded data on the recording medium by the encoding unit 106 to the display unit 11 and display it to the operator. Further, the image data on the recording medium is accompanied by at least information at the time of photographing indicating at least one of single photographing and quick photographing in addition to the encoded video signal data.

First, the process of reproducing the single shot data is as follows. The encoded image data on the recording medium is
First, the data is read from the recording medium by the CPU 108 and temporarily stored in the main memory 107. Next, CPU1
In step 08, after the encoding unit 106 and the signal conversion unit 104 are set for decompression, the encoded data in the main memory are sequentially input to the encoding unit 106, and the encoded data is extended. The decompressed data is passed to the signal conversion unit 104 as a luminance / color difference signal in the block scan order.

The signal conversion unit 104 writes the luminance / color difference signals into the process memory 105 while controlling the memory address so that the signals are arranged in the raster scan order. After decompressing the encoded data for one image, the luminance / color difference signals in raster scan order are written on the process memory.

Thereafter, the CPU 108 controls the signal conversion unit 104
To send a signal playback command. In the signal converter 104,
When a playback command is received, the brightness
The luminance / color difference signals are read out in raster scan order while controlling the scale address so that the color difference signals have a size corresponding to the display unit 111, and are sequentially sent to the display unit 111. The display unit 111 records the transmitted luminance / color difference signals in a VRAM (not shown), and
The data on M is read and displayed on the LCD 112.

Next, the reproduction processing of the data shot at a speed is performed as follows. A series of snap shot data on the recording medium,
The images are read out one by one by the CPU 108 in the order of the quick shooting,
It is stored in the main memory 107. Next, the stored data is sequentially stored in a predetermined position of the process memory 105 through the signal conversion unit 104, and thereafter, the processing is repeated for the number of times of the number of quick copies, and all the quick data are stored in the process memory 105.

A series of snap shot data is stored in the process memory 105.
After that, the CPU 108 reads out the first image data from the process memory 105 and stores it in the main memory 107. Thereafter, the encoding unit 106 and the signal conversion unit 104
, A command for signal decompression processing is issued, and decompression processing is started.

The data sent from the CPU 108 to the encoder 106 is decompressed, converted into luminance / color difference signals, and sent to the signal converter 104 in the order of the block scan. The signal conversion unit 104 converts the luminance / color difference signals in the block scan order into the raster scan order, and writes the signals in a free area of the process memory 105 that does not overlap with the encoded data for reproduction.

After the data for one image has been decompressed, the CP
U108 transmits a command for image reproduction to the signal conversion unit 10.
Send to 4. Upon receiving the playback command, the signal conversion unit 104
Display unit 1 displays luminance / color difference signal data as in the case of single-shot reproduction.
11 for display to the operator.

After displaying one image, the CPU
Reads the next encoded data on the process memory and stores it in the main memory 107. The same processing as that for the first image is performed, and the luminance and color difference signals of the second image are expanded on the process memory. Thereafter, after a certain period of time has elapsed from the reproduction processing of the first image, the CPU 108 issues a command for the reproduction processing of the expanded second image to the signal conversion unit 104, and performs the reproduction processing.

By repeatedly performing the above-described processing, a quick-shot image can be reproduced for the operator at regular time intervals. At this time, after all the encoded data on the process memory has been reproduced, the expansion / reproduction processing of the head image is performed again.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the coded data at the time of the quick shooting is stored in the process memory 105.
By transferring and storing the data to an empty area, the CPU-side main memory 107 can be used as an image processing process memory that originally requires a large capacity without increasing the capacity. For this reason, even when a recording medium having a low read / write speed is used, a quick-shot image can be taken / recorded quickly without deteriorating system performance.
Can be played.

[Second Embodiment] FIG. 6 shows an imaging apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention. In the present embodiment, the main memory 107 and the process memory 105 have independent data buses 116 and 117, respectively. Also in this apparatus, the photographed image size is from two types, large and small, and the resolution is f
Ine and normal can be selected.
The photographer selects an image size and a resolution by giving an instruction to the operation unit. In addition, the photographer has a single shooting mode and a quick shooting mode as a shooting mode. In the quick shooting mode, the image size and the resolution are small and normal, respectively.
Becomes

First, when a power switch of an imaging device (not shown) is pressed, power is supplied to each block connected to the CPU 108, the main memory 107, and the system bus 117. In this state, the CPU 108 performs a system check, a free space check of the recording medium mounted on the recording unit 110, and the like. If no abnormality is detected in the system and if the recording medium has a free space equal to or larger than a preset capacity, the CPU 108 shifts to a shooting mode. If an abnormality is found in the system, a warning lamp (not shown) on the operation unit 109 is blinked to notify the operator of the abnormality.

When the mode shifts to the photographing mode, the CPU 108 supplies power to each block connected to the process bus 116. Further, the CPU 108 issues a command for performing a power-on sequence of the process memory 105 to the process memory controller 115, and
5 is ready for normal use. Next, the CPU 108
Similarly issues a command to the image sensor 102, the A / D converter 103, and the signal converter 104 to generate a control signal for sequentially processing video signals to the memory controller 115, The video signal flows on the process bus.

After the mode is shifted to the photographing mode, an operation of sending the photographed image to the display unit 111 without recording it and displaying it on the LCD 112 is performed until a shutter button (not shown) is pressed. This operation consists of two processes, shooting and display.
It is performed in a time sharing manner.

First, at the time of capturing a video signal, the video signal formed on the image sensor is converted into an electric signal, and is converted into a digital video signal by the A / D converter 103. This digital signal is sent to the signal conversion unit 104, where a luminance / color difference signal is generated based on the color filter arrangement of the image sensor, and the data is sequentially passed on the process bus. The luminance / color difference signals on the process bus are stored in the process memory 105 at an arbitrary timing by the memory controller 115. The memory controller controls the process memory 105 based on the timing control signal sent to the signal converter so that a necessary portion of the video signal is written. The signal flow at this time is as shown in FIG.

When a video signal for one screen is taken into the process memory 105 by the memory controller 115,
The memory controller 115 sends an interrupt signal to the CPU 108 to interrupt the generation of the shooting control signal. CP
Upon receiving the interrupt, the U 108 sequentially reads out the video signals taken into the process memory via the memory controller 115 and sends the signals to the display unit 111. The display unit 111 records a video signal in a VRAM (not shown), sequentially reads data from the VRAM at a predetermined timing, and displays an image captured for framing to an operator.

After reading all the video signals in the process memory, the CPU 108 issues a command to the memory controller 115 to fetch the video signals again. By repeatedly performing the above-described capture and display of the video signal, a moving image for framing is displayed to the operator. The operator checks the subject by watching the video, adjusts the composition for shooting, and then depresses the shutter button for shooting to shoot.

When the shutter button is depressed,
When the PU 108 detects, the CPU 108 shifts to the recording mode. At this time, if the shooting mode is the single shooting mode, the following processing is performed on one image, and then the shooting mode is ended. If the shooting mode is the quick shooting mode, the following processing is performed a predetermined number of times. finish.

The operation in the recording mode is as follows. First, the CPU 108 issues a command for capturing a video signal for one screen, and the memory controller 1 responds accordingly.
Reference numeral 15 generates a control signal for capturing one screen. With this operation, the digital signal converted into the luminance / color difference signal from the image sensor 102 through the A / D converter 103 and the signal converter 104 is stored in the process memory in the raster scan order. The data flow at this time is as shown in FIG.

Thereafter, a rec review process for displaying the photographed video to the photographer is executed. This is because the luminance / color difference signals on the process memory are displayed on the display unit 112.
The address is controlled so as to correspond to the required size and angle of view, and only the necessary luminance and color difference signals flow on the process bus, and data is sent from the system bus to the display unit 111 via the memory controller 115. Is displayed to the photographer. Thereafter, the luminance / color difference signals recorded in the process memory are sent to the encoding unit 106 by the memory controller 115 after changing the scanning method from raster scan to block scan.

The encoding unit 106 reads the luminance / chrominance signal changed to block scan from the process bus 116 and sends the encoded data onto the system bus. This data is downloaded from the system bus by the memory controller 115 and written back to the process memory 105.

The processing at this time is performed in a time-sharing manner, and is as follows. First, the memory controller 115
6 until the data input Wait signal is output, the luminance / color difference signal is read from the process memory 105, and data is continuously input to the encoding unit 106 (FIG. 8). Encoding unit 10
When the wait signal is output from 6, the reading of the luminance / color difference signal is interrupted, and the coded data is read from the system bus side and written to a free area of the process memory 105 (FIG. 9).

When the data input Wait signal from the encoding unit 106 disappears during the recording of the encoded data, the memory controller 115 interrupts the reading and writing of the encoded data and resumes the input of the luminance / color difference signal. The above processing is repeated to perform the encoding / compression processing of the luminance / color difference signal.

At the end of the encoding process, both the luminance / color difference signal before the encoding process and the encoded data after the encoding process have been stored in the process memory 105. Here, when the photographing is finished, the CPU 108 reads out the encoded data in the process memory via the memory controller 115 and records it on the recording medium through the recording unit 110. After recording, the process exits from the recording mode and shifts to the shooting mode.

If the photographing is to be continued, the CPU
Reference numeral 108 does not record the encoded data on the recording medium at this time, but performs the operation in the recording mode again. At this time, the luminance / chrominance signal and the encoded data are recorded on the process memory. Among these, the luminance / chrominance signal is overwritten by the next photographing, but the encoded data is retained, and the new encoded data is stored. Data is stored in other free areas. As described above, the recording of the video signal can be repeatedly performed as long as the process memory has a free area.

If there is no free space in the process memory during the encoding process, the CPU 108 suspends the encoding process of the last photographed image and reads out all the encoded data in the process memory so far. Recording unit 110
Through the recording medium. After recording, since only the last captured luminance / color difference signal is stored in the process memory, the luminance / color difference signal data is subjected to encoding processing again, and the encoded data is stored in the process memory.

After that, since the data can be stored continuously, the CPU 108 performs processing in accordance with the state of the shutter button of the operation unit 109 or the setting of the number of continuous shots. In the shooting sequence at this time, the next shot image is always exposed during recording in order to shorten the quick shooting interval, and after the encoding is completed, reading of the video signal and conversion to the luminance / color difference signal,
The sequence is such that the luminance / color difference signals appear on the process bus only when recording is performed.

As for the processing at the time of reproduction, similarly to the first embodiment, at the time of reproducing the image data obtained by the quick shooting, a series of encoded data is first stored in the process memory 105.
After performing recording, a continuous reproduction operation is performed to reproduce a snapshot.

As described above, in the present embodiment, the luminance / color difference signal and the encoded data are stored in the process memory 105 when the main memory 107 on the CPU side does not have a large capacity. It can be used also as a main memory for image processing which originally requires a large capacity.

Next, the storage medium according to the present invention will be described. The system according to each of the embodiments shown in FIGS.
When configured with a computer system including the U106 and a memory, the memory configures a storage medium according to the present invention. The storage medium stores a program for executing the above-described operation.

The storage medium includes ROM, R
Semiconductor memory such as AM, optical disk, magneto-optical disk,
A magnetic storage medium or the like may be used, and these may be a CD-ROM,
The present invention may be applied to an FD, a magnetic card, a magnetic tape, a nonvolatile memory card, or the like.

Therefore, the storage medium is used in a system or apparatus other than the system according to each embodiment, and the system or the computer reads out and executes the program code stored in the storage medium to execute each embodiment. The same function as that of the embodiment can be realized, the same effect can be obtained, and the object of the present invention can be achieved.

An OS running on a computer
When performing part or all of the processing, or after the program code read from the storage medium is written to a memory provided in an extended function board or an extended function unit connected to the computer, Even when the CPU or the like provided in the above-mentioned extended function board or extended function unit performs a part or all of the processing based on the instruction of the program code, the same functions as those of the embodiments can be realized and the same effects can be obtained. Can be obtained, and the object of the present invention can be achieved.

[0082]

As described above, according to the present invention, the capacity of the second memory means such as the main memory on the control side is reduced when performing continuous shooting requiring a large-capacity memory area at high speed. By using the free area of the first memory means such as the image processing process memory which originally requires a large capacity without increasing the size, high-speed and large-capacity processing can be performed without increasing the cost for the memory. It can be carried out. Also, at the time of reproduction, high-speed reproduction of continuously shot video can be performed by similarly using the free area of the image processing memory.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an imaging device according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a flow of processing data according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a flow of processing data according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a flow of processing data according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a timing chart of a process according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing an imaging device according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing a flow of processing data according to a second embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing a flow of processing data according to the second embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram showing a flow of processing data according to the second embodiment.

FIG. 10 is a block diagram showing a conventional imaging device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 100 imaging element 104 signal conversion unit 105 process memory 106 encoding unit 107 main memory 108 CPU 109 operation unit 110 recording unit 111 display unit 112 LCD 113 driving unit 114 data bus 115 process memory controller 116 process data bus 117 system data bus

Claims (11)

[Claims] An imaging unit for photographing a subject and outputting an electric signal; a converting unit for converting the electric signal into a video signal of a predetermined format; a first memory unit for storing the converted video signal; Encoding means for encoding the video signal from the first memory means and outputting encoded data; second memory means for storing the encoded data; and encoding from the second memory means. An imaging device having a recording unit for recording data on a recording medium, wherein the imaging unit performs a continuous shooting operation, and during the continuous shooting operation, the encoded data sequentially stored in the second memory unit is The coded data is sequentially transferred to the first memory means, and after the continuous shooting is completed, the encoded data is read out from the first memory means and transferred to the second memory means. A control unit for controlling the memory unit to supply the encoded data to the recording unit. 2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said control means performs a process of reading said encoded data from said first memory means and transferring it to said second memory means during exposure of said imaging means. Item 2. The imaging device according to Item 1. 3. The electric signal output from the imaging means is output for each field during the continuous shooting,
2. The image pickup apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the signal is output for each frame during normal photographing. 4. In the continuous photographing, the converting means creates a series of video signals for thumbnails and stores them in the first memory means. 2. The imaging apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a video signal is recorded on the recording medium together with the encoded data. 5. A reproducing means for reproducing encoded data of a series of videos at the time of the continuous shooting from the recording medium, and after transferring the encoded data of the reproduced series of videos to the second memory means. Decoding means for transferring the data to the first memory means, decoding the encoded data in the first memory means, and storing the decoded video data in the first memory means. The imaging device according to claim 1. 6. The imaging apparatus according to claim 5, further comprising a display unit for reading out the decoded video data from the first memory unit and displaying the read out video data. 7. The imaging apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a predetermined one of a plurality of resolutions is selected during the continuous shooting. 8. The imaging apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a predetermined one image size is selected from a plurality of image sizes during the continuous image shooting. 9. The image size at the time of continuous image capturing is smaller than the image size at the time of normal image capturing.
Or the imaging device according to 8. 10. A process for continuously photographing a subject and sequentially outputting electric signals; a process for sequentially converting the electric signals into video signals of a predetermined format; and recording the converted video signals in a first memory means. Processing, encoding the video signal from the first memory means and outputting encoded data, storing the encoded data in the second memory means, and sequentially storing the encoded data in the second memory means. A process of sequentially transferring the encoded data to be recorded to the first memory unit; and, after the end of the continuous shooting, reading the encoded data from the first memory unit and transferring the encoded data to the second memory unit. A computer-readable storage medium storing a program for executing a process and a process of reading the encoded data from the second memory unit and recording the encoded data on a recording medium. 11. The apparatus according to claim 10, wherein said process of reading said encoded data from said first memory means and transferring it to said second memory means is performed during exposure of said object imaging means. Computer readable storage medium.