JP2000196996A - Digital camera, reproducing device and memory card - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To obtain a storage management system capable of speedily reproducing the stored data in a desired order by recording the attribute information of a managing area for managing the packet of picture information as writing prohibition to a cluster where picture information is stored at the time of storing picture information is a memory card. SOLUTION: Attribute information of the managing area managing the packet of picture information is recorded as writing prohibition to the cluster where picture information is stored at the time of storing picture information in the memory card. In an information storage managing system with respect to this memory card, 16 bytes are use per one packet in a directory area and concerning one packet 22, the number of the cluster 14 of its top and the number of using clusters are stored. In the directory area, a kind of read/write protect display is also provided as an attribute in the directory area. The directory is provided corresponding to the packet, the attribute is also managed in packet unit.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a storage management system for a memory card, for example, a storage management system for storing data such as image data as a file on the memory card.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art For example, in a digital electronic still camera, when image data representing a photographed image is stored in a memory card, a method of storing the storage order of each image in a memory and management data indicating that the images have been stored are also stored. , Pending patent application by the applicant,
62-120073. This image data recording device can perform selective erasure for each image, and can rearrange and rearrange the order of images. This is realized by adding a recording order code representing the recording order of images at the time of recording image data. With this method, to erase certain images that have already been recorded and record other images, and to be able to play these images in the proper order,
The recording order codes are rewritten and re-assigned. This re-application took a lot of time.

A pending patent application by the same applicant as the present application, Japanese Patent Application No. 1-10997, proposes a memory management system capable of efficiently storing data of variable size.
According to this, the storage area of the memory card is divided into a plurality of clusters, and in a memory card storage management method for managing storage of information for each cluster, for example, one frame of image information among a plurality of clusters is stored. Indicate the relationship of things in the memory allocation table (MAT),
The configuration is such that a cluster in which the initial part of one frame of image information is stored is indicated in a directory. In this prior art, when an image is individually erased, the recorded contents are shifted by filling the erased portion of the directory, thereby responding to a request for reproduction according to the temporal order of recording.

[0004]

However, in general, the demands of users of digital electronic still cameras and the like tend to be diversified. For example, not only the reproduction order according to the time series of recording, but also the frame number of the image is changed. It is required that the images can be reproduced in an appropriate order or in an order desired by the user.

In this specification, the term "memory card" refers not only to a storage medium in which a semiconductor storage element is supported by a card-shaped support but is detachably connected to another device. A semiconductor storage medium detachably connected to another device, such as a memory cartridge in which an element is sealed in a mold package and detachably connected to another device.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In view of such a demand, an object of the present invention is to provide a storage management method for a memory card which can quickly reproduce stored data in a desired order.

[0007]

According to the present invention, an area for storing information of a memory card is divided into a plurality of storage units having a predetermined storage capacity, and a memory card for managing storage of information for each storage unit is provided. In the storage management method, a first display indicating a storage of a set of related information among a plurality of storage units is stored in a storage area of a memory card, and the first display of the plurality of storage units is The storage area includes a second display indicating whether or not writing is prohibited for the instruction, and when writing information to the memory card, the second display of the plurality of storage units indicates that writing is prohibited. Find the missing one and write the information to that storage unit.

According to the present invention, there is provided a memory card conforming to such a storage management method, which comprises a first storage area for storing a first display and at least one of a plurality of storage units. And a second storage area separate from the first storage area for storing information, wherein the first storage area further includes a storage unit that is indicated by a first display among a plurality of storage units. A second display indicating whether to prohibit writing to the memory card. The second display is referred to when writing information to the memory card, whereby the second display of the plurality of storage units is write-protected. The information is written to the one not displaying.

According to the present invention, there is also provided a storage device of a memory card suitable for such a memory card, which displays a first display for a set of related information among a plurality of storage units in a first manner. A first writing means for writing to a storage area of a plurality of storage units; a search means for searching for a plurality of storage units whose second display does not indicate write-protection; A second writing means for writing information to a storage unit which is retrieved and whose second display does not indicate write-protection;
The writing means writes the second display into the first storage area with the second display being write-protected for the storage unit in which the writing has been performed.

Further, according to the present invention, there is provided a memory card reproducing apparatus suitable for the above-mentioned memory card, wherein a first display is provided in a first storage area of the memory card, and information is written in the memory card. Date and time data indicating time are stored, the reproducing device reads first display and date and time data from the first storage area, and the read first display for a plurality of storage units. , Or second reading means for reading information in the second storage area in accordance with the first display in the order represented by the read date and time data.

According to the present invention, the reproducing apparatus further comprises: input means for inputting a third display indicating an order in which a set of information is to be reproduced, and the input third display is stored in the first storage area. Writing means for writing, wherein the first reading means reads the third display from the first storage area, and the second reading means reads the third display from the plurality of storage units according to the read first display. The information in the second storage area is read out in the order indicated by the display 3.

[0012]

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

FIG. 1 conceptually shows a storage management method according to the present embodiment.
The storage area 12 shown in FIG. 2 is divided into clusters 14 having a predetermined storage capacity, and a directory (DI
R) 16 (Fig. 2) and a memory allocation table (MA
T) 18 has been introduced. In the present embodiment, the remaining area of the storage area 12 is used as an image data area 20 for storing image data. The capacity of the cluster 14 may be arbitrarily large. For example, data required to represent one image as a video signal in a standard format, which is called a "packet", is a positive integer of this image data. It is only necessary to accumulate a fraction.

In this embodiment, basically, one packet of image data 22 is stored in an arbitrary cluster 14. MAT region 18
Stores data indicating the association of the cluster 14 in which one packet of image data 22 is stored, that is, MAT data. The MAT data is, for example, one packet of image data 22.
Contains the identification information of the cluster 14 which is directly connected to the remaining image data but is stored, for example, a number. If there is no remaining image data, the cluster 14 is designated by a predetermined code, for example, "all 1" (binary value).
Indicates that 22 is the end. The directory area 16 stores identification information indicating the cluster 14 in which the first one of the image data is stored for each image, that is, for each packet 22, for example, a start cluster number and the number of used clusters. Thus, the cluster 14 in which the image data of one image is stored is specified.

For example, if the storage capacity of the memory card 10 is 64
In the example of M bits, 1024 clusters 14 can be provided with the size of the cluster 14 being 64K bits. Numbers # 0 to # 1023 are assigned to each cluster 14 in the order of physical arrangement. Clusters # 0, # 1, and # 2 store management data. As shown in FIG. 4, the management data includes a header 400, a directory 16 and a MAT 18, which are stored in respective sub-areas. Remaining cluster # 3
# 1023, image data is accumulated, and this image data also includes a header 402 unique to each image.

One packet 22 is stored in one or more clusters 14. So a packet is
It can also be called a logical area in which image data representing one image is stored. The packet 22 is given a number in a practical order, for example, the input order of image data.
When the number 22 is deleted, the number becomes empty, and is newly assigned to the image data to be stored from the next time. One packet of image data 22 is stored in one or a plurality of clusters 14. An empty area 14a (FIG. 1) may exist in the last cluster 14. The capacity of the packet 22 that can be stored in the memory card 10 depends on the number of clusters storing image data,
That is, it is equal to [the number of clusters 14 of the card 10]-[the number of clusters storing the management data].

The header 15 uses 16 bytes in the present embodiment, and stores management data as illustrated in FIG. Of these management data, in particular, the memory card 10
The number of clusters 14 already recorded in is represented by the number of used clusters 404, and the number of remaining available clusters 14 is represented by the number of remaining clusters 406.

In this embodiment, the directory area 16 uses 16 bytes per packet as shown in FIG. 6, and the number 408 of the leading cluster 14 of one packet 22 is used for one packet 22.
And the number of used clusters 410 are stored. In this embodiment, since the number of clusters is 1024, two bytes are used for the start cluster number. The area for storing the start cluster number and the number of used clusters of the unused directory is represented by “all 0s”. Since the cluster # 0 does not store image data, no inconsistency occurs. In this embodiment, the memory area used by the specific packet 22 is indicated by the top cluster number 408 and the number of used clusters 410 as described above.

As shown in FIG. 6, the directory area 16 is provided with a kind of read / write protection display as an attribute 28. Since the directory 16 is provided for each packet, this attribute is also managed for each packet. In this example, as shown in FIG. 10, the attribute 28 uses, in this embodiment, particularly the lower two bits “XX” of one byte. As for these 2 bits, “00” indicates that the packet 22
"01" indicates that reading is prohibited, "10" indicates that writing is prohibited, and "11" indicates that reading and writing is prohibited. In any case, in this embodiment, the significant bit “1” indicates inhibition. Note that writing includes erasing. Such an attribute display does not necessarily need to be provided in the directory area 16, and may be provided in, for example, a MAT area 18 described later.

The directory area 16 also has a date / time area 412 of 6 bytes per packet.
The date and time when 22 was recorded on the memory card 10 is written. In this embodiment, the date and time information includes the last two digits of the Christian era to the second, so that continuous shooting can be supported.

As shown in FIG. 6, the directory area 16 also has an area 420 for storing an image number, which is an area for writing an image number that can be arbitrarily assigned to the packet 22 by the user. The user has access to this image number 42
By using 0, the frames of the image can be edited so that they are reproduced in a desired order. That is, the image number 420 is a display that defines the order in which the user wants to reproduce images.

The directory area 18 further includes a 1-byte information classification 414, an image mode 416, and an image quality mode.
418 is also recorded. These have bit configurations as shown in FIGS. 7, 8 and 9, respectively. For example, the information classification 414 indicates the type of information to be recorded, that is, an image,
The distinction between voice and data is represented by 2 bits. In the image system 416, the upper two bits are allocated to the standard color television system of NTSC and PAL, the lower one bit is allocated to color / black and white, and the lower five bits are allocated to the display of the number of pixels.
Further, in the image quality mode 418, upper 4 bits are allocated to display of a compression method such as discrete cosine conversion, differential PCM, delta PCM, and the like, and lower 4 bits are allocated to display of a compression ratio. FIG. 13 shows an example of the contents of the directory 16 storing such information. In the figure, data on clusters is omitted. The DIR number means the order of addresses in the directory area.

In this embodiment, these attributes 28, the top cluster 408, the number of used clusters 410, the date and time 412, and the image number 420
The storage area of each directory, that is, the packet 22
A unit is provided. However, this is not always necessary, and all the packets 22 may be collectively stored for each type of information.

For example, the attribute 28 is collectively stored for all packets, the first cluster 408 is stored for all packets, and the number of used clusters 410, the date and time 412, and the image number 420 are stored for all packets. May be. Further, for example, the attribute 28, and the leading cluster 408 and the number of used clusters 410 may be stored together in the order of the packets. In terms of the efficiency of search and writing, it is more advantageous to store the information collectively for each type of information than to store the information for each packet 22.

The MAT area 18 uses 2 bytes per cluster as shown in FIG. 11, and stores information for specifying the cluster 14 to be followed. In the present embodiment, the value of the MAT 18 is such that no image data is stored in the cluster 14,
For example, "All 0" in unused or erased state
At the end of the packet 22, "all 1", that is, 16
Take the hexadecimal "FFFF". In this embodiment, the number of clusters 14 used for storing the packets 22 is 1021. Some packets 22
If there are other clusters 14 following this for
As shown in FIG. 12, a value corresponding to the storage location address of the storage area 20 where the continuous cluster 14 is stored, that is, a value indicating the upper 10 bits in this embodiment.

FIG. 2 shows an embodiment in which such a storage management method is applied to a digital electronic still camera. This embodiment has a digital electronic still camera 52 to which the memory cartridge 10 is detachably connected by a connector 50, and the camera 52 is connected to an imaging device 56 through an imaging lens 54.
This is a still image photographing storage device for photographing an object scene and storing image data representing the photographed scene in the memory card 10. The output of the imaging device 52 is subjected to signal processing such as color adjustment by a signal processing circuit 58, and is output to an analog / digital
(A / D) The conversion circuit 60 converts the data into corresponding digital data. The digital data is color-separated by a signal processing circuit 62, compression-encoded, and processed by a data selector 64.
Through the connector 50.

The camera 52 manually inputs various instructions such as, for example, an exposure instruction, a data compression mode designation, and a write protection designation, and indicates, for example, that there is no free cluster required for recording image data. It has an operation display section 66 for displaying the state of the apparatus such as an alarm to the user. The instruction input to the operation display unit 66 is transmitted to the system control unit.
The state of the apparatus is sent to the operation display section 66 from the control section 68.

The system control section 68 is a control device for controlling the operation of the entire camera 52, and also controls writing to the memory card 10. In this embodiment, a part of the storage area used by the system control unit 68 includes an empty cluster / DIR table 30.
0 is provided. Free cluster / DIR table 300
4 is a table showing the idle / busy state of each directory 16 of the memory card 10 connected to the camera 52 and the idle / busy state of each cluster 14 of the memory card 10.

A clock 430 for generating date and time data is connected to the system control unit 68. This is a calendar circuit which mainly provides data of the shooting date and time recorded in the date and time area 412 of the directory area 16 to the system control unit 68.

A compression rate setting circuit 70 is connected to the system control section 68. The compression rate setting circuit 70 controls the encoding and compression of image data according to the data compression mode specified on the operation display section 66 under the control of the system control section 68. This is a circuit for setting the rate in the signal processing circuit 62. As the compression coding method, for example, orthogonal transform such as two-dimensional cosine transform or sub-sampling, and quantization are advantageously applied.

The data selector 64 is a selection circuit for selectively transmitting image data from the signal processing circuit 62 and control data associated with the system control unit 68 to the memory card 10 through the connector 50. The MAT information writing circuit 72 and the free cluster specifying circuit 74 are connected. The DIR / MAT information writing circuit 72 is a writing circuit that generates data to be written to the directory 16 and the MAT 18 of the memory card 10. The empty cluster designation circuit 74
A circuit that manages the occupation of the cluster 14 that stores the image data of the memory card 10. The MAT 18 is searched and the vacant cluster is specified to the system control unit 68.

The memory card 10 has an address designating circuit 76, and an address for designating the storage location is stored in the system controller.
This is provided through connector 50 from 68. The memory card 10 has an address bus 78 and a data bus 80 for the storage areas 16, 18 and 20, the former being an addressing circuit 76.
And the latter is connected to a connector 50.

When the card 10 is loaded into the camera 52, the system controller 68 checks the logical consistency between the directory 16 and the MAT 18. This is to enable efficient use of the card 10 even if the management data of the two is inconsistent. Upon connection to the camera 52 via the connector 50 of the card 10, the system control unit 68 executes an initial setting mode for creating an empty cluster / DIR table 300. In this initial setting mode, all the directories 16 of the card 10 are searched, and for the directory whose use is indicated, the MAT 18 indicated by the directory is tracked, and all the clusters 14 belonging to the directory are listed up. Set the display “1” in use at the corresponding position of 300. This search is performed for attribute 28 of directory area 16. In this example, writing is permitted for the cluster 14 in which “0” is set in the lower second bit (FIG. 10) of the attribute area 28.

The operator sets the compression mode of the image data on the operation display section 66. The system control unit 68 calculates the number of clusters 14 necessary for storing the image data in the image data area 20 of the card 10 based on the data amount after compression, and searches the MAT 18 using the free cluster / DIR table 300. . If the number of free clusters equal to or larger than the number of clusters necessary for the image data to be stored exists, the system control unit 68 specifies the free cluster 14 and stands by.

When a shooting instruction is input by operating the operation display unit 66, the system control unit 68 drives the imaging device 56 to image the object scene. Processing such as adjustment is performed, and the data is converted into corresponding digital data by the A / D conversion circuit 60.
Further, the data is compressed by the signal processing circuit 62 at the compression ratio set by the compression ratio setting circuit 70, and is stored in the data buffer 63. At the same time, the system control unit 68 generates an address of the image data storage area 20 in accordance with the already designated cluster 14 number, and the data and the address are input to the memory card 10 through the connector 50.

Cluster 14 used for storing image data
Is a display with an attribute 28 permitting writing. The order is arbitrary, preferably a directory
16 is acceptable. Therefore, when one of a series of directories 16 is deleted, the subsequent directories are not shifted so as to fill them, and the deleted directory is used.

In the memory card 10, directory data is stored in the directory 16 in accordance with the specified address,
The MAT data is written in 18 and the image data is written in the image data area 20. The directory data and the MAT data are supplied from the system control unit 68 to the DIR / MAT information writing circuit 72, and the circuit 72 writes the data in the directory area 16. This data includes the date and time data obtained from the clock 430, the first cluster number 408 of the selected cluster 14,
The number of used clusters 410, the information classification 414, the image method 416, and the image quality mode 418 (FIG. 6) are included. Image quality mode 418
Are stored in the system control unit 68 from the operation display unit 66. In the attribute area 28 of the directory 16 corresponding to the cluster 14 in which the image data has been newly written, the system control unit 68 normally sets the second bit below it, that is, the write protection display (FIG. 10) to “1”. And write. The created directory 16 will be similar to the one shown in FIG. 13, but
It is not written in the image number area 420. In the figure, the used display is indicated by a circle, and the unused display is indicated by X.

As can be seen from this, according to the present embodiment, the display of the write and read protection is included in the attribute area 28 provided in the directory area 16 so that, for example, in the middle of a series of clusters 14, One can be erased and the image data of another packet 22 can be written into it. Therefore, it is not necessary to perform processing such as reconfiguring the directory 16 for the cluster 14 to be recorded, and the image data can be written quickly. As described above, since the data in the different directories 16 can be quickly written to the memory card 10, the electronic still camera 52 can appropriately cope with high-speed continuous shooting.

The memory card 10 storing the image data in this way can be reproduced by a reproducing apparatus 200 as exemplified in FIG. A signal processing circuit 204 is connected to a connector 50 connected to the memory card 10 through a data selector 202.
Is connected, and the signal processing circuit 204 is a circuit for expanding and decoding the compressed image data by a predetermined expansion method. The decoded image data is digital / analog (D
/ A) The conversion circuit 206 converts the signal into a corresponding analog signal. This analog signal is processed by another signal processing circuit 208 in RGB.
Signal or a standard television signal such as NTSC, and output from the output 210 to the video monitor 212,
It is displayed as a visible image.

The decompression method and the decompression rate to be decompressed by the signal processing circuit 204 are set to be the same as the data compression method and the compression rate when recording is performed on the memory card 10 by the camera 52. This setting is performed by the compression ratio (image quality mode) setting circuit 216 under the control of the system control unit 214. In this embodiment, the system control unit 214 reads out the image quality mode data 418 (FIG. 9) including the compression method and the compression ratio stored in the header 400 of the directory area 16 and sets the data from the setting circuit 216 to the signal processing circuit 204.

The system control unit 214 is a control device that controls the overall operation of the digital electronic still player 200 in response to the operation display unit 222. The system control unit 214 includes an image number writing circuit 218 and a DIR. The MAT information reading circuit 220 is connected. The image number writing circuit 218
Image number data in the directory area 16 of the memory card 10
This is a circuit for writing 420. The image number is a desired number input by the operator from the operation display unit 222, and defines the order in which images are to be reproduced. The DIR / MAT information reading circuit 220 is connected to the memory card 10 connected to the device 200.
This is a circuit for reading the directory 16 and the MAT 18 from the memory.

Based on the read data, the system control unit 214 sorts the data and creates a cluster table. These tables are created as time series tables 450 and 452. Time series table 45
Reference numeral 0 denotes a table in which data indicating the directory numbers read from the directory area 16 are rearranged in the order of the photographing date / time data 412. FIG. 14 illustrates a table 450 created for the example shown in FIG. Image number table 45
Reference numeral 2 denotes a table in which directory number data is rearranged in the order of image numbers, an example of which is shown in FIG.

The operation display unit 222 inputs data necessary for editing such as designation of a frame of an image to be played back by the apparatus, designation of a playback order described later, playback / deletion instructions, and image numbers. It is a manual operation display device that displays the state of the system to the operator.

The operation of the reproducing apparatus 200 will be described. When the memory card 10 is connected to the playback device 200 via the connector 50,
In response to this, the system controller 214 responds to the directory 16 and the card 16 via the DIR / MAT information reading circuit 220.
Read MAT 18. The system control unit 214 obtains the time series table 450 and the image number table 45 from these data.
Create 2.

In a normal operation, for example, the operation display unit 22
2 to input the number of the frame to be played, the system control unit 21 according to these tables 450 and 452.
4 generates an address of a cluster in which an image of a frame to be reproduced is stored, and reads out image data from the image data area 20. This reading is performed based on the attribute of the directory area 16.
28. In this example, the cluster 14 in which “0” is set in the least significant bit (FIG. 10) of the attribute area 28 is allowed to be read. The read image data is read from the connector 50 to the playback device 200, and is read by the signal processing circuit 20.
The data is decompressed at 4 and stored in the data buffer 205. The stored image data is converted by the D / A conversion circuit 206 into a corresponding analog signal. This analog signal is converted into a television signal format by the signal processing circuit 208 and reproduced as a visible image on the monitor 212.

In the present apparatus, the order of frames to be reproduced can be arbitrarily set by inputting an image number from the operation display section 222. When you enter this image number,
The system control unit 214 writes the image number in the directory area 16 of the memory card 10 via the image number writing circuit 218. Therefore, the image number input by the user on the operation display unit 222 is also stored in the directory 16 of the memory card 10. Directory with the image number written
16 is illustrated in FIG.

In the present apparatus, when an image of a plurality of frames, that is, a packet 22 is to be reproduced, the system control unit 214 operates as follows. When time-series reproduction is designated for these frame images from the operation display unit 222, the system control unit 214
Reproduction is performed in the order in which recording was performed on the directory 16 in 52. When a plurality of packets are recorded for the same date and time, reproduction is performed in the order of the directory 16. This makes it possible to appropriately reproduce continuously shot images. This time-series reproduction is performed with reference to the time-series table 450 created by the system control unit 214. When the reproduction in the order of the image numbers is designated, the system control unit 214
With reference to the image number table 452, reproduction is performed in accordance with the image number assigned by the present apparatus or stored in the memory card 10. In the default state in which the reproduction order is not specified, the directory 16 is reproduced in the order of the address arrangement on the directory area.

[0048]

According to the present invention, since data in different directories can be quickly written to a memory card, an electronic still camera can appropriately cope with high-speed continuous shooting. When the present invention is applied to an electronic still camera, three types of playback order can be set, that is, playback in the order of shooting frames, playback in the order of shooting date and time, and playback in an arbitrary order. In the reproduction in the order of the photographing frames, for example, another image can be recorded in the erased frame, so that the reproduction suitable for the intuition of the user is realized.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a conceptual diagram showing an information storage management method for a memory card employed in a digital camera according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an example in which the present invention is applied to a digital camera.

FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram illustrating an example in which the present invention is applied to a playback device.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of a storage area of a memory card.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a header area in a storage area of a memory card.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of a directory area in a recording area of a memory card.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of an information classification area in a directory area.

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of an image mode area in a directory area.

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of an image quality mode area in a directory area.

FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of an attribute area in a directory area.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a MAT area in a recording area of a memory card.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing a configuration example of an area corresponding to each cluster in a MAT area.

FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating an example of storage contents of a directory in a playback state according to the embodiment.

FIG. 14 is a diagram illustrating an example of the content of a time-series table created by the playback device.

FIG. 15 is a diagram illustrating an example of the content of an image number table created by the playback device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10 Memory card 14 Cluster 16 Directory 18 MAT 20 Image data 22 Packet 66 Operation display section 68,214 System control section 72 Directory / MAT change circuit 74 Free cluster designation circuit 218 Image number writing circuit 220 DIR ・ MAT information read circuit 300 Free cluster / DIR Table 430 Clock 450 Time series table 452 Image number table

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification symbol FI Theme coat ゛ (Reference) H04N 7/24 H04N 7/13 Z

Claims (48)

[Claims] 1. A digital camera that records image information obtained by imaging on a memory card, wherein the memory card has a storage area divided into a plurality of clusters having a predetermined storage capacity and storing information, A management area for managing storage of the information is provided in any one of the clusters of the cluster, and the management area is a cluster in which the image information is recorded as one packet, and a cluster of the cluster configuring the packet. A MAT area in which MAT information indicating association is recorded, and a directory area in which directory information indicating a cluster at the head of the packet is recorded. The management area includes a cluster in which the image information is recorded. Attribute information indicating whether or not writing of the image information is prohibited is recorded, the camera includes: an imaging unit that captures an object scene; Output means for outputting image information captured by the means to the memory card, and control means for controlling the imaging means and the recording means to record the image information on the memory card, the control means comprising: The directory information and MAT from the memory card
A reading unit that reads information; and a writing unit that controls writing of the image information based on the directory information and the MAT information, wherein the writing unit stores the image information in the memory card. A digital camera, wherein attribute information of a management area for managing a packet of the image information is recorded in a cluster in which the image information is recorded in a write-protected manner. 2. The camera according to claim 1, wherein the control unit erases the contents of the directory information corresponding to the packet of the image information when erasing the image information of the packet recorded on the memory card. A digital camera, wherein information allowing writing of image information to a cluster corresponding to the packet is recorded in the attribute information. 3. The digital camera according to claim 1, wherein said control means records said attribute information in said directory area. 4. The digital camera according to claim 1, wherein said control means records said attribute information in said MAT area. 5. The camera according to claim 1, wherein the management area includes an area for recording an image number that defines a reading order of a packet of image information recorded on the memory card. A digital camera, wherein when reading out and reproducing the image information recorded in the memory card by the reading means, the packets of the image information are read out in an order according to the image number. 6. The camera according to claim 1, wherein the management area includes an area for recording date and time information, and wherein the control unit stores the date and time information when recording the image information on the memory card. A digital camera characterized by recording in a management area. 7. The camera according to claim 6, wherein the control means reads out the image information recorded on the memory card by the reading means and reproduces the image information in a time-series order according to the date and time information. A digital camera which reads out the packet of the image information. 8. The camera according to claim 1, wherein the control unit reads the image information recorded on the memory card by the reading unit and reproduces the image information. A digital camera, characterized by reading out a packet. 9. The camera according to claim 1, wherein the control unit searches for an empty cluster necessary for recording the image information when recording the packet of the image information on the memory card. A digital camera, further comprising: searching means, wherein directory information for managing the packet is recorded in an empty area of the management area according to the address of the searched cluster. 10. The digital camera according to claim 9, wherein said control means determines, based on a data amount of said image information, whether there is an empty cluster for recording said image information. 11. The camera according to claim 10, wherein
The digital camera according to claim 1, further comprising means for displaying an alarm when there is no free cluster for recording the image information. 12. The camera according to claim 10, wherein
The camera includes a signal processing unit that compresses and encodes image information captured by the imaging unit, and the control unit performs settings for an encoding process,
A digital camera, wherein the empty cluster is determined based on a data amount of image information that has been compression-encoded according to the setting. 13. The camera according to claim 12, wherein
The digital camera according to claim 1, wherein the control unit sets a compression ratio of the compression encoding in the processing unit. 14. The camera according to claim 1, wherein said memory card is detachably connected to said output means, and said control means includes means for checking the consistency of the recorded contents of said memory card. A digital camera characterized by the following. 15. The camera according to claim 14, wherein
The digital camera according to claim 1, wherein the control unit checks the logical consistency of the directory information and the MAT information based on the MAT information. 16. A memory card reproducing apparatus which divides a storage area for storing information into a plurality of clusters having a predetermined storage capacity and reads information from a memory card storing information for each of the divided clusters. In the memory card, a management area for managing storage of the information is provided in any of the plurality of clusters, and the management area includes a cluster in which image information is recorded as one packet, and forms the packet. A MAT area in which MAT information indicating the association of the cluster to be recorded is recorded; and a directory area in which directory information indicating a head cluster of the packet is recorded. The management area includes a cluster in which the image information is recorded. Attribute information indicating whether or not writing of the image information is prohibited is recorded in the device. Connecting means for inputting information read from the memory card and outputting information from the device to the memory card; first reading means for reading the directory information and MAT information; and image information of the packet. The directory information and
Second reading means for reading based on MAT information; output means for processing and outputting image information read from the memory card; and controlling the reading order of the image information by designating the reading order of the packets. A playback device comprising a control unit. 17. The reproducing apparatus according to claim 16, wherein the apparatus includes a writing unit that writes an image number corresponding to the image information in a unit of packet in a management area of the memory card. A reproducing apparatus for reading out the image information in packet units in an order corresponding to the image number. 18. The reproducing apparatus according to claim 17, wherein, when the image number has not been recorded in the management area, the second reading means performs the recording in the recording order of the directory information in the management area. A reproducing apparatus for reading out image information of a packet corresponding to directory information. 19. The reproducing apparatus according to claim 16, wherein date and time information relating to the image information in packet units is recorded in the management area, and the second readout means is arranged in an order according to the date and time information. And reproducing the image information in packet units. 20. The playback device according to claim 19, wherein the second reading unit recognizes date and time information indicating the same date and time as each other, and in a packet corresponding to the date and time information, in a recording order of the directory information. A reproducing apparatus for reading out image information of a packet corresponding to the directory information. 21. A memory card having a storage area for storing image information divided into a plurality of clusters each having a predetermined storage capacity and including a semiconductor memory for storing the image information in the cluster. In a memory card in which a management area for managing storage is provided in any of the plurality of clusters, the management area has one or more clusters in which one frame of image information is recorded as one packet, A MAT area in which MAT information indicating the association of the clusters constituting the packet is recorded in cluster units, and a directory area in which directory information indicating the head cluster of the packet is recorded. Has an image recording area for recording the image information, and the management area includes a cluster in which the image information is recorded. Memory card attribute information indicating whether to inhibit writing of the image information is characterized in that it comprises a region to be recorded. 22. The memory card according to claim 21, wherein the directory area indicates a first area in which date and time information is recorded, a second area in which the attribute information is recorded, and the first cluster. A third area in which information is recorded. 23. The memory card according to claim 21, wherein the attribute information includes information indicating whether or not reading of the packet is prohibited. 24. The memory card according to claim 21, wherein the directory area includes a fourth area in which an image number assigned to the packet is recorded. 25. The memory card according to claim 21, wherein the directory area includes a fifth area in which information indicating the number of clusters used in the packet is recorded. . 26. The memory card according to claim 21, wherein the directory area includes a sixth area in which information relating to compression of image information in the packet is recorded. 27. The memory card according to claim 21, wherein the MAT area records a first area for recording information for specifying the connection of the cluster, and information for indicating whether the cluster is used or unused. And a third area for recording information indicating whether or not the cluster is the last packet. 28. The memory card according to claim 27, wherein the first to third areas use a recording area of a plurality of bytes per cluster. 29. A storage management method of image information in a digital camera that records image information obtained by imaging on a memory card, wherein the memory card is divided into a plurality of clusters having a predetermined storage capacity and storing information. A management area for managing storage of the information is provided in one of the plurality of clusters, and the management area includes a cluster in which the image information is recorded as one packet; A MAT area in which MAT information indicating the association of clusters constituting the packet is recorded; and a directory area in which directory information indicating a cluster at the head of the packet is recorded. Attribute information indicating whether or not the writing of the image information is prohibited for the recorded cluster is recorded. An output step of outputting image information representing the object scene to the memory card, and a control step of performing writing control when recording the image information on the memory card, wherein the control step includes: From the directory information and MAT
A reading step of reading information; and a writing step of controlling writing of the image information based on the directory information and the MAT information, wherein the writing step includes storing the image information in the memory card. A method for storing and managing image information in a digital camera, wherein attribute information of a management area for managing a packet of the image information is recorded in a cluster where the image information is recorded as write-protected. 30. The storage management method according to claim 29, wherein, when erasing the image information of the packet recorded on the memory card, the control step deletes the contents of the directory information corresponding to the packet of the image information. A method for storing and managing image information in a digital camera, comprising: erasing and recording information permitting writing of image information to a cluster corresponding to the packet in the attribute information. 31. The storage management method according to claim 29, wherein the control step records the attribute information in the directory area. 32. The storage management method according to claim 29, wherein the control step records the attribute information in the MAT area. 33. The storage management method according to claim 29, wherein the management area includes an area for recording an image number that defines a reproduction order of a packet of image information recorded on the memory card. In the method of reading and reproducing image information recorded in the memory card, a packet of the image information is read in an order according to the image number, and the method for storing and managing image information in a digital camera. 34. The storage management method according to claim 29, wherein the management area includes an area for recording date and time information, and the control step includes the step of recording the date and time information when recording the image information on the memory card. Is recorded in the management area. 35. The storage management method according to claim 34, wherein, when reading and reproducing the image information recorded on the memory card, the control step includes the step of arranging the image information in chronological order according to the date and time information. A method for storing and managing image information in a digital camera. 36. The storage management method according to claim 29, wherein, when reading out and reproducing the image information recorded on the memory card, the control step includes a step of recording the packet of the image information in the recording order of the directory information. A method for storing and managing image information in a digital camera, characterized by reading. 37. The storage management method according to claim 29, wherein, when recording the packet of the image information on the memory card, the control step searches for an empty cluster necessary for recording the image information. Storing a directory information for managing the packet in an empty area of the management area in accordance with the address of the searched cluster. . 38. The storage management method according to claim 37, wherein the control step determines, based on a data amount of the image information, whether there is an empty cluster for recording the image information. A method for storing and managing image information in a camera. 39. The storage management method according to claim 38, wherein when there is no free cluster for recording the image information, an alarm is displayed. Management method. 40. The storage management method according to claim 38, wherein the method includes a signal processing step of compression-encoding the image information captured by the imaging means, A method for storing and managing image information in a digital camera, wherein the setting is performed and the empty cluster is determined based on the data amount of the image information that has been compression-encoded according to the setting. 41. The storage management method according to claim 40, wherein said control means sets a compression ratio used in said signal processing step. 42. A storage management method according to claim 29, wherein said control step checks the consistency of the recorded contents of said memory card. 43. The storage management method according to claim 42, wherein said control step comprises:
A method for storing and managing image information in a digital camera, comprising checking the logical consistency of the information based on the T information. 44. A memory card reproducing method for dividing a storage area for storing information into a plurality of clusters having a predetermined storage capacity and reading information from a memory card storing information for each of the divided clusters, In the memory card, a management area for managing storage of the information is provided in any of the plurality of clusters, and the management area includes a cluster in which image information is recorded as one packet, and forms the packet. A MAT area in which MAT information indicating the association of clusters to be recorded is recorded; and a directory area in which directory information indicating a head cluster of the packet is recorded. The management area includes a cluster in which the image information is recorded. Attribute information indicating whether or not to prohibit writing of the image information is recorded in the memory card. A connection step of connecting to the location, and the first reading step of reading the directory information and MAT information, the image information of the packet the directory information and
A second reading step of reading based on MAT information; an output step of processing and outputting image information read from the memory card; and controlling a reading order of the image information by designating a reading order of the packets. A method for reproducing a memory card, comprising a control step. 45. The reproducing method according to claim 44, wherein the method includes a writing step of writing an image number corresponding to the image information of the packet unit in a management area of the memory card. And reading out the image information in packet units in the order corresponding to the image numbers. 46. The reproducing method according to claim 45, wherein, when the image number is not recorded in the management area, the second reading step is performed in the recording order of the directory information in the management area. A method for reproducing a memory card, comprising reading out image information of a packet corresponding to directory information. 47. The reproducing method according to claim 44, wherein the management area has recorded therein date and time information relating to the image information in packet units, and the second reading step includes: Reading the image information in packet units. 48. The reproducing method according to claim 47, wherein the second reading step, when recognizing date and time information indicating the same date and time as each other, includes, in a packet corresponding to the date and time information, a recording order of the directory information. Reading out image information of a packet corresponding to the directory information.