JP2000209542A - Digital still camera system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a digital still camera system where arrangement and retrieval of the picture data of photographed objects are facilitated and the user-friendliness is markedly enhanced. SOLUTION: The digital still camera system consists of a digital still camera main body 1 and an identification code transmitter 10 that transmits an identification code of an object 15. The digital still camera main body 1 consists of an identification code reception section 2 that receives the identification code, an identification code storage section 3 that stores and references an identification code list used for recording and retrieving picture data or the like, a control section 4, a photographing section 5, an operation section 6, and a recording section 7 that records the photographed picture data or the like onto a recording medium 8. The identification code transmitter 10 consists of an identification code storage section 12 that stores identification codes, an identification code transmission section 11 and a control section 13. An identification code of an object is cross-referenced with the picture data of the photographed object and stored, and classification and retrieval of the pictures of photographed objects are executed by using the identification codes.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a digital still camera device for sequentially recording photographed images as digital image data, and more particularly, to the conversion of image data using object identification information recorded in association with image data. The present invention relates to a digital still camera device that performs classification and search.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as a digital still camera device for sequentially recording captured images of a subject as digital image data in a recording means, a device having a structure as shown in FIG. 7 is generally known. In the digital still camera device, the digital still camera device main body 51 has a control unit 54, a photographing unit 55, an operation unit 56, a recording unit 57 for recording image data of a photographed image on a recording medium 58 such as a semiconductor memory, and a recording unit 57 for recording the image data. The display unit 61 is configured to display image data recorded in the unit 57. The control unit 54, the imaging unit 55, the operation unit 56, the recording unit 57, and the display unit 61 are interconnected by an internal bus 59.

In the digital still camera device, a photographer 66 operates the operation unit 5 of the digital still camera device main body 51.
When the digital still camera device 6 is operated,
1 starts photographing of the subject 65, and image data of the subject 65 is obtained by the operation of the photographing unit 55. The image data is associated with information on the date and time of photographing, time information, and information related to photographing such as shutter speed, and is sequentially recorded on the recording medium 58 by the recording unit 57.

[0004]

In the above-mentioned conventional digital still camera apparatus, the information relating to the image data recorded on the recording medium 58 includes, as described above, information on the date and time of photographing, shutter information, and the like. It contains only information related to the time of shooting, such as speed. For this reason,
Later, from a large number of images taken by the user, for example, person A
When it is necessary to select and confirm a specific image, such as an image relating to Mr., as information that serves as a clue for the search, as described above, among the data recorded in association with the image data, There was only information about the date and time of shooting.

That is, in the conventional digital still camera device, when classifying a large number of photographed images, time-series classification based on information on the date and time of photographing can be performed relatively easily. Type of subject, for example, person A
When extracting an image in which Mr. is captured, there is a problem that the user must sequentially display all the images on the display unit 61 and select the image while checking the displayed image.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a digital still camera device which facilitates organizing and retrieving image data of a photographed subject and greatly improves the usability.

Another object of the present invention is to provide, in addition to the above object, a digital still camera device which uses a signal transmitted from an electronic device generally owned by a subject as identification information of the subject. It is in.

It is still another object of the present invention to provide a digital still camera apparatus in which a sound generated by a subject is used as identification information.

[0009]

According to the present invention, there is provided a digital still camera apparatus for sequentially recording photographed objects as image data in a recording means, wherein the identification information predetermined for each object is provided. Identification information transmitting means for transmitting the identification information, identification information receiving means for receiving the identification information, and control means for sequentially recording the received identification information of the subject and the corresponding image data of the subject in the recording means. It is characterized by having.

[0010] According to this configuration, since the identification information of the subject is associated with the photographed image data and recorded in the recording means, after that, it is easy to organize and search the image data using the identification information of the subject. Can be executed.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the digital still camera device according to the first aspect, the identification information transmitting means is an electronic device that generates a unique signal possessed by the subject. And

[0012] The electronic device may be a general public line terminal such as a mobile phone widely held, or an infrared emitting device such as an IC card or a remote control device generally used in home appliances. Machine can be used. By using such an electronic device, the subject does not need to have a device for transmitting special identification information.

Further, the invention according to claim 3 is based on claim 1.
Wherein the identification information transmitted by the identification information transmitting means is a voice uttered by a subject.

If the subject's own voice is used as the subject's identification information and the subject is identified by voice recognition, the subject can be identified without having any identification device.

[0015]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, an embodiment of a digital still camera device according to the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a system configuration of one embodiment of a digital still camera device according to the present invention. The digital still camera device includes a digital still camera device main body 1 and an identification code transmitter 10 provided separately from the digital still camera device main body 1 for use in identifying a subject 15.

The digital still camera device main body 1 includes:
An identification code receiving unit 2 for receiving an identification code transmitted from an identification code transmitter 10, an identification code storage unit 3 for storing and referring to an identification code list used for recording or searching for image data, a digital still camera device A control unit 4 for controlling the entire main body 1; a photographing unit 5 for photographing a subject 15 and outputting image data thereof; an operation unit 6 for operating the digital still camera device main body 1; 8 includes a recording unit 7 for recording. The identification code receiving unit 2, the identification code storage unit 3, the control unit 4, the imaging unit 5, the operation unit 6, and the recording unit 7 are mutually connected by an internal bus 9.

On the other hand, the identification code transmitter 10 includes an identification code storage unit 12 for storing an identification code, an identification code transmission unit 11 for transmitting the identification code stored in the identification code storage unit 12, and A control unit 13 controls the entire identification code transmitter 10. The identification code storage unit 12 and the identification code transmission unit 1
1 and the control unit 13 are also mutually connected by the internal bus 14.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a process for recording an image taken by the digital still camera apparatus main body 1 described in FIG. In the digital still camera apparatus main body 1, when the photographer 16 operates the operation unit 6, the photographing processing unit 21 photographs the subject 15. The image file creation processing unit 22 performs image processing such as image compression on captured image data, and creates an image file 23 in an internal format.

On the other hand, after the digital still camera device main body 1 operates the operation section 6 during photographing to perform a photographing operation and an operation of creating the image file 23, the digital still camera device main body 1 transmits the identification code transmitter 10 carried by the subject 15 to the identification code transmitter 10. An identification start signal 17a is sent toward the user. Upon receiving the identification start signal 17a,
The identification code transmitter 10 described with reference to FIG. 1 transmits the identification code 17b of the subject 15 stored in the identification code storage unit 12 from the identification code transmission unit 11.

By the way, in the identification code table 19 in the digital still camera device main body 1, as shown in FIG. 4, a correspondence table of the object and the identification code which can be identified by the digital still camera device main body 1 is registered. The identification code determination processing unit 18 searches the identification code table 19 for the identification code 17b received by the identification code receiving unit 2, and, for example, when the received identification code 17b is “123”, the corresponding subject information “person” The subject identification information 20 is generated by extracting “Mr. A”.

The classification processing section 24 classifies the image file 23 created by the image file creation processing section 22 by the identification information 20 and associates the identification information 20 with the image file 23 so that the image file 23 can be recorded on the recording medium 8. A certain recording file 25 (see FIGS. 5 and 6) is created. The recording file 25 is recorded on the recording medium 8 by the recording processing unit 26.

Next, the flow of the operation of identifying the identification code of the subject 15 and classifying it into each item in the digital still camera device having the above-described configuration will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

When the photographer 16 operates the operation section 6 of the digital still camera apparatus main body 1 to photograph the subject 15 (step S1), in the digital still camera apparatus main body 1, the image file creation processing section 22 converts the image file 23 into an image file. It is created (step S2).

Thereafter, the identification code receiving section 2 outputs the object 15
Receives the identification code 17b transmitted from the identification code transmitter 10 owned by the user (step S3). The identification code determination processing unit 18 determines whether the received identification code 17b is registered in the identification code table 19 (Step S4). If the received identification code 17b is registered in the identification code table 19 (Step S
In step 4, Y), step S5 is executed. On the other hand, if the received identification code 17b is not registered in the identification code table 19 (N in step S4), step S6 is executed.

In step S5, the identification information 20 of the subject 15 is obtained from the received identification code 17b. Also,
In step S6, since the type of the subject 15 cannot be identified, the common item is the identification information 20 of the subject 15.

The classification processing unit 24 creates a recording file 25 from the image file 23 created by the image file creation processing unit 22 and the identification information 20 of the subject 15 identified by the identification code identification processing unit 18. 2
6 to record on the recording medium 8 (step S7). Thus, a series of steps for identifying the identification code of the subject 15 and classifying the identification into each item is completed.

FIGS. 5 and 6 show examples of the structure of the recording file 25. FIG. The recording file 25 shown in FIG. 5 has a format in which the image file and the identification information are linked. With such a file configuration, the subject 15 can be easily searched.

In the recording file 25 shown in FIG. 6, items (identification information 1, identification information 2, etc.) corresponding to the identification information are prepared, and the identification information item indicating each subject is added to the image file of the subject related thereto. (Image file 1, image file 2, image file 3, etc.). In this way, the related image files are classified for each item, and by specifying the item, the related image file can be immediately searched.

As shown in FIG. 6, when a plurality of identification codes are identified on the digital still camera main body 1, common items are set, image files are classified therein, and each item is classified. Alternatively, the image files may be classified at the same time.

In the embodiment of the present invention described above, the identification code transmitter 10 is replaced with a dedicated public line terminal such as a cellular phone or an IC, instead of the dedicated one having the configuration described in FIG. An infrared transmitter such as a remote control device generally used in cards and home appliances can be used, and furthermore, a voice transmitter such as a transceiver or a voice generated by the subject itself can be used, and an identification code receiving unit can be used. 2, a voice recognition circuit may be provided to identify a subject by voice recognition.

Although the identification code is not particularly changed in the above embodiment, the identification code can be changed according to the subject 15 by rewriting the identification code storage section 12 of the identification code transmitter 10. It is.

Further, the same effect can be obtained when the photographer 16 having the digital still camera device clearly specifies the identification code by, for example, pressing a button of the digital still camera device main body 1 at the time of photographing.

[0034]

As described in detail above, according to the present invention,
Since the identification information of the photographed subject is stored in association with the image information of the photographed subject, classification and search of the image of the photographed subject can be executed using the identification information of the subject, The remarkable effect that the trouble of classifying and retrieving the image of the subject is greatly reduced can be obtained.

In addition, electronic devices such as a general public line terminal such as a portable telephone, which is widely and generally possessed, an infrared transmitter such as an IC card, and a remote control device generally used in home appliances, etc. If the signal transmitted from the device is used as the identification information of the subject, the subject does not need to have a device for transmitting special identification information, so that the burden of classifying and searching for the image of the subject after shooting is reduced. Therefore, the restrictions imposed on the subject side to reduce the image quality are reduced, and the usability of the digital still camera device is improved.

Furthermore, if the subject's own voice is used as the subject identification information and the subject is identified by voice recognition, the subject can be identified without having any identification device. There are no restrictions imposed on the subject in order to reduce the burden of classifying and retrieving the image of the subject after shooting, and the usability of the digital still camera device is further improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a system configuration diagram of one embodiment of a digital still camera device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a configuration of a processing block of one embodiment of the digital still camera device in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a flowchart of subject identification processing of one embodiment of the digital still camera device in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a configuration diagram of an identification code table of one embodiment of the digital still camera device according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a configuration diagram of a recording file of one embodiment of the digital still camera device according to the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a configuration diagram of another recording file of one embodiment of the digital still camera device according to the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a system configuration diagram of a conventional digital still camera device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 digital still camera device main body 2 identification code reception unit 3 identification code storage unit 4 control unit 5 imaging unit 6 operation unit 7 recording unit 8 recording medium 9 internal bus 10 identification code transmitter 11 identification code transmission unit 12 identification code storage unit 13 Control unit 14 Internal bus 15 Subject 16 Photographer 17b Identification code 18 Identification code discrimination processing unit 19 Identification code table 20 Identification information 21 Imaging processing unit 22 Image file creation processing unit 23 Image file 24 Classification processing unit 25 Recording file 26 Recording processing unit

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A digital still camera device for sequentially recording photographed objects as image data in a recording means, comprising: identification information transmitting means for transmitting predetermined identification information for each subject; and identification information for receiving the identification information. A digital still camera apparatus comprising: a receiving unit; and a control unit that sequentially records the received identification information of the subject and the corresponding image data of the subject in the recording unit. 2. The digital still camera device according to claim 1, wherein the identification information transmitting unit is an electronic device that generates a unique signal possessed by the subject. 3. The digital still camera device according to claim 1, wherein the identification information transmitted by the identification information transmitting means is a voice uttered by a subject.