JP2001016491A - Digital still camera - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a digital still camera by which a file to be stored in a storage medium such as a memory card is easily managed. SOLUTION: The digital still camera is provided with the attachable and detachable memory card 9, a CCD 3 for picking-up the image of an object and obtaining image data and CPU 13 for storing image data in the memory card 9 as an image data file in a prescribed form and also managing one memory card 9 as a plurality of logical memory cards. Thus, a storage control means stores image data in the prescribed form as the image data file and a memory managing means manages one storage medium as a plurality of logical storage media so that one recording medium is used as a plurality of logical storage media to easily manage the file.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention relates to a digital still camera, and more particularly, to a digital still camera capable of using a removable storage medium.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A digital still camera using an ATA-type memory card as a storage medium has been widely used. Memory cards of the same specifications are also used for various types of devices with built-in computers, such as personal computers (hereinafter referred to as "PCs").
Memory cards are used in both digital still cameras and personal computers.

For example, a single memory card is shared between a digital still camera and a personal computer, an image is recorded by a digital still camera using a certain memory card, and the image information of the memory card is stored on the personal computer. Classification,
It has also been used to perform processing such as organizing or image synthesis, and to reproduce the image again with a digital still camera.

[0004] As described above, when a memory card is used in both a digital still camera and a personal computer, the format of the memory card is changed to the DOS (DISK OP) of the personal computer.
ERATING SYSTEM). In recent years, standardization of file formats, directory names, and file naming has been standardized, and this method can be used not only for personal computers but also for data exchange between digital cameras and printers, and between digital cameras. .

On the other hand, the capacity of a memory card is increasing due to the increase in the capacity of semiconductors. In addition, due to the miniaturization of the HDD, H which can be used in a slot for a memory card is used.
There is also DD.

[0006]

However, as described above, there is a problem that as the memory capacity of the memory card increases, the number of storable files increases and file management becomes difficult.

[0007] The present invention has been made in view of the above, and has as its object to provide a digital still camera that facilitates management of files stored in a storage medium such as a memory card.

[0008]

Means for Solving the Problems To solve the above-mentioned problems,
According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a digital still camera capable of using a removable storage medium, comprising: an imaging unit configured to capture an image of a subject to obtain image data; A storage control unit that stores the file as a file in the storage medium; and a memory management unit that manages one storage medium as a plurality of logical storage media.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect, the memory management means can arbitrarily set an area size of the plurality of logical storage media in accordance with a user's instruction. I decided to be.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect, the memory management means can arbitrarily set the number of the logical storage media in accordance with a user's instruction. did.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect, the memory management means can set one or more of the plurality of logical storage media in a DOS partition.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect, the memory management means can delete the logical storage medium in accordance with a user's instruction.

The invention according to claim 6 is the invention according to claims 1 to
The invention according to claim 5, further comprising a memory search means for searching whether or not the logical storage medium is present at the time of startup or when a storage medium is inserted.

[0014] The invention according to claim 7 is the invention according to claims 1 to
In the invention according to any one of claims 6, the storage medium is a memory card.

[0015]

Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of a digital still camera according to the present invention.

The digital still camera shown in FIG. 1 has a lens 1, a mechanical mechanism 2 including an autofocus, a CCD 3,
CDS circuit 4, A / D converter 5, digital signal processing circuit 6, compression / expansion circuit 7, DRAM 8, memory card 9,
LCD 10, driver 11, SG 12, CPU 13, operation unit 14, strobe 15, microphone 16, AMP / FIL
TER 17, D / A converter 18, audio data compression / expansion circuit 19, A / D converter 20, AMP / FILTER2
1 and the OSD 22 and the like.

The lens unit includes a lens 1, a mechanical mechanism 2 including an autofocus (AF), an aperture, and a filter unit.
The mechanical shutter of the mechanical mechanism 2 performs simultaneous exposure of two fields. The CCD (Charge Coupled Device) 3 converts the subject image input via the lens unit into an electric signal (analog image data). CDS
The (correlated double sampling) circuit 4 is a circuit for reducing noise in the CCD type image pickup device. The A / D converter 5 converts analog image data input from the CCD 3 via the CDS circuit 4 into digital image data.
That is, the output signal of the CCD 3 is converted into a digital signal by the A / D converter 5 through the CDS circuit 4 at an optimum sampling frequency (for example, an integer multiple of the subcarrier frequency of the NTSC signal).

The digital signal processing section 6 divides the image data input from the A / D converter 5 into color difference data and luminance data, and performs various processing, correction, and data processing for image compression / decompression. The image compression / decompression circuit 7 performs, for example, image compression / decompression processing based on JPEG.

On the other hand, the sound is converted into an electric signal by a sound-electric signal conversion element such as a microphone 16 to become sound data, amplified by an AMP / FILTER 17 and cut off to a required band, and then a D / A converter 18. Is converted into digital audio data at a sampling frequency twice or more the predetermined band. Further, the digital audio data is subjected to compression / encoding processing by an audio data compression / expansion circuit 19.

The DRAM 8 temporarily stores the compressed image data. The compressed image data is recorded on the memory card 9 as an image data file, and the compressed audio data is recorded on the memory card 9 as an audio data file.

An image corresponding to the image data recorded on the memory card 9 is displayed on the LCD 10.
The LCD 10 displays the set state of the digital still camera, for example, the set mode display and error display. The operation unit 14 includes buttons for externally performing function selection, shooting instructions, and other various settings.

The CPU 13 responds to an instruction from the operation unit 14 or an external operation instruction from a remote controller (not shown).
In accordance with a control program stored in a ROM (not shown), the operation of each unit of the digital still camera is controlled using a RAM (not shown) as a work area. For example, C
The PU 13 manages the memory of the memory card 9 (FIGS. 7 to 1).
1), control of the recording operation of the image data and audio data on the memory card 9, and control of the reproduction operation of the image data file and the audio data file recorded on the memory card 9.

Next, the recording operation of the image data of the digital still camera will be described. First, a subject image input through the lens 1 is converted into an electric signal (analog image data) by the CCD 3 and then input to the A / D converter 5 through the CDS 4 to convert the analog image data into digital image data. Is converted. The converted digital image data is signal-processed by the digital signal processing circuit 6 and stored in the DRAM 8 via the CPU bus. The digital image data stored in the DRAM 8 is input to the compression / expansion circuit 7 via the CPU bus, compressed, and again processed by the DRAM 8.
Is stored in When the compression process ends, the CPU 13
The compressed image data stored in the DRAM 8 is recorded as an image data file in a predetermined format on the memory card 9 via the CPU bus.

Next, the reproduction operation of the digital still camera will be described. When an image data file of the memory card 9 to be reproduced is specified by the operation of the operation unit 14, image data obtained by performing a compression process on the specified image data file is read and stored in the DRAM 8. This DRAM 8
The image data stored in the CPU is compressed /
The data is input to the expansion circuit 7, expanded, and
It is stored in M8. The decompressed image data stored in the DRAM 8 is input to the digital signal processing circuit 6 via the CPU bus, converted into a video signal, and
Displayed as 0.

Next, a format configuration of the memory card 9 when one memory card 9 is logically used as a plurality of memory cards will be described. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a format of the memory card 9. The memory card 9 has an attribute memory 100 as shown in FIG.
And a common memory 101. The attribute memory 100 stores card attribute information such as a device type, an access speed, and a storage capacity. The common memory 101 includes a section management information area 102 in which section information of each assigned section is stored, and a data management area 103 including a plurality of data areas (data area 1, data area 2, ...).

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of the area arrangement of the section management information area 102 in FIG. Block management information area 102
As shown in FIG. 3, the master boot area 200, the partition information 201 to 204 of the partitions 1 to 4, and the end flag 2
05.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the structure of the section information of FIG. The partition information includes information for partition allocation, and as shown in FIG. 4, an active flag 301 indicating whether the partition is valid, a partition start position 302, a file system type 303, a partition end position 304, the number of sectors / The information includes information on the cylinder 305 and the total number of sectors 306.

The data area of the data management area shown in FIG. 2 includes a memory management area 401 and a data file area 402, as shown in FIG. The memory management area 401 stores DOS information and includes a boot sector area 403, a FAT area 404, and a directory entry area 405.

In the boot sector area 403, parameters necessary for reading data from the memory card 9, that is, the number of FATs (file allocation tables), the number of directory entries, and the like are recorded.

In the FAT area 404, an FAT entry, which is information on a state in which data of each file is recorded, is written. The position on the memory where the data is recorded is indicated by a cluster number which is the number of the data write unit.

FIG. 6 shows a directory entry area 405.
FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of data stored in a. In the directory entry area 405, as shown in FIG. 6, the file name, file attribute, reserved area,
Information on the creation / update time, creation / update date, the physical position (FAT start number) of the corresponding file or subdirectory entry, and the size of the file are recorded. As the file name, when the corresponding file is a data file, a file name including an extension which is one of the attribute information of the file, and when the corresponding file is a subdirectory name, a directory name is recorded. You. When a subdirectory is created in the directory, the directory entry of the subdirectory is also written.

The data file area 402 stores an image data file 406, an audio data file 407, a relation file 408, and the like. The image data file includes a header (file attributes and the like are recorded) and image data (eg, JPEG data), and the audio data file includes a header (file attributes and the like are recorded) and audio data (eg, ADPCM). Data). The relation file 408 is a file for storing individual recording order and combination information, and includes a header (where file attributes and the like are recorded) and data (file mutual relation information).

Next, an example of the operation of the digital still camera having the above-mentioned configuration relating to the memory card will be described with reference to the flowcharts shown in FIGS. 7 is a flowchart for explaining an operation relating to the memory card of the digital still camera, FIG. 8 is a flowchart for explaining the section detection processing of the flowchart of FIG. 7, and FIG. 9 is a view for explaining the section creation processing of the flowchart of FIG. 10 is a flowchart for explaining the active partition setting process of the flowchart of FIG. 7, and FIG. 11 is a flowchart for explaining the partition deletion process of the flowchart of FIG.

In FIG. 7, first, when the power switch of the digital still camera is turned on and power is supplied, the CPU 13 determines whether or not the memory card 9 is inserted into the digital still camera (step S1).
01). If the result of this determination is that the memory card 9 has not been inserted into the digital still camera, the CPU 13
Displays on the LCD 10 that the memory card 9 is not inserted and notifies the operator (step S10).
2).

When the memory card 9 is inserted,
The process proceeds to step S103, and the CPU 13 performs a partition detection process of the memory card 9 (see FIG. 8). Next, it is determined whether or not there is an instruction to create a section of the memory card 9 by the user operating the operation unit 14 (step S104). 9) (step S105), but if there is no instruction to create a partition of the memory card 9, the process proceeds to step S106.

In step S106, the CPU 13 operates the operation unit 14 to operate the memory card 9 by the user.
It is determined whether there is an instruction to set the active partition of the memory card 9. If there is an instruction to set the active partition of the memory card 9, the active partition setting process (see FIG. 10) is executed (step S 107). If there is no active partition setting instruction, the process proceeds to step S108.

In step S108, it is determined whether or not there is an instruction to delete the partition of the memory card 9 by the operation of the operation unit 14 by the user. (See FIG. 11) (step S109). On the other hand, if there is no instruction to delete the partition of the memory card 9, the process proceeds to step S110.

In step S110, the CPU 13 detects whether or not the memory card has been replaced. If the CPU 13 has detected the replacement of the memory card, the CPU 13 proceeds to step S103.
Then, the section detection processing is performed. On the other hand, when the replacement of the memory card is not detected, the process proceeds to step S111, and when the power is turned off, the flow is terminated. On the other hand, when the power is not turned off, the process returns to step S104, and Wait for instructions.

Next, the specific processing of the section detection processing (step S103) of FIG. 7 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. As described above, this section detection process is executed at the time of startup (when the power is turned on) or when replacement of a memory card is detected.

First, the CPU 13 reads attribute information (card attribute information) stored in the attribute memory 100 of the memory card 9 (step S200).
Then, the CPU 13 initializes the counter N to “0”.
(Step S201), and then the value of the counter N is incremented by "1" (step S202).
Then, the CPU 13 reads the section information of the section N from the memory card 9 (step S203), and determines whether the read section N is valid (the active flag is ON) (step S204). If it is determined that the section N is valid, the CPU
13 stores the section information of the section N in a RAM (not shown) (step S205). On the other hand, if it is determined in step S204 that the section N is not valid, the process proceeds to step S2.
Shift to 06.

In step S206, it is determined whether or not the section N is the last section (in the example shown in FIG. 3, the last section is the section 4).
In step 202, the value of the counter N is incremented by "1", and the same processing is performed for the next section N. That is, it is determined whether the sections from the first section to the last section are valid.

When the process is completed up to the last section (step S2)
06), determine whether there is at least one valid section,
If there is no valid section, the process proceeds to the section creating process in FIG. 7, while if there is no valid section, the process proceeds to step S105 in FIG.

Each of the sections stored in the RAM described above is
It is used as a separate memory card by the CPU 13 for recording and reproduction. That is, there are logical memory cards as many as the number of valid sections. This allows
The user can manage files by using one memory card as a plurality of logical memory cards.

Next, the specific processing of the section creation processing (step S105) of FIG. 7 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. As described above, this section creation processing is executed when there is an instruction from the user or when a valid section is not detected in the above-described section detection processing (see FIG. 8).

First, the CPU 13 displays a settable area size on the LCD 10 (step S300).
Notify the user of the configurable area size. Next, the area size of the section is designated by the user operating the operation unit 14 (step S301). And CP
U13 determines whether or not the area size specified by the user can be set (step S302). If the specified area size cannot be set, the process goes to step S302.
Returning to 301, the area size is designated again by the user, and if the designated area size can be set, the position of the section (the start position of the section, the section End position) and size information (number of sectors / cylinder, total number of sectors) are set (step S303). Then, the CPU 13 performs the DOS format on the data management area of the set section.
Then, the process proceeds to the active partition setting process in step S107. As described above, the user can freely set the area size of each section.

Next, the specific processing of the active partition setting processing (step S107) of FIG. 7 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. As described above, the active partition setting process is executed when there is an instruction from the user or after the partition creation process (see FIG. 9) ends.

First, the user designates one or a plurality of active partitions (step S400).
Then, the CPU 13 initializes the counter N to “0”.
(Step S400), and then increments the value of the counter N by “1” (step S402).
Then, the CPU 13 determines whether or not the section N is the designated section (step S403), and when determining that the section N is the designated section, sets the active flag of the section information of the section N to ON. (Step S404), the file system type of the partition information of the partition N is set to DOS (Step S405), and the process proceeds to Step S408.

On the other hand, if it is determined in step S402 that the section N is not the designated section, the CPU 13
If the active flag in the section information of the section N is ON, the active flag is set to OFF (step S406). Subsequently, when the file system type of the partition information of the partition N is set to DOS, the CPU 13 sets the file system type to non-DOS (step S40).
7) The process proceeds to step S408.

In step S408, it is determined whether or not the section N is the last section (in the example shown in FIG. 3, the last section is section 4).
In step 401, the value of the counter N is incremented by "1", the same processing is performed for the next section N, and the same processing is repeated from the first section to the last section (steps S401 to S408). On the other hand, when the process is completed up to the last section (step S408), the process proceeds to step S108 in FIG.

Next, the specific processing of the section deletion processing (step S109) of FIG. 7 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. As described above, this section deletion processing is executed when there is an instruction from the user.

First, a section to be deleted is designated by the user operating the operation section 14 (step S50).
0). Then, the CPU 13 clears the section information of the section designated to be deleted (step S501). Specifically, for the section information of the specified section, the active flag is set to OFF, the file system type is set to non-DOS, and the start position, end position, number of sectors /
Clear the total number of cylinders and sectors.

As described above, in this embodiment, one memory card is managed as a plurality of logical memory cards, so that one memory card is logically managed as a plurality of memory cards. Can be handled. Specifically, for example, the user operates in an environment similar to the case where a plurality of memory cards are used, such as, for example, section 1 being the first logical memory card and section 2 being the second logical memory card. File management becomes possible. This facilitates file management even when handling a large number of files.

In this embodiment, since the user can arbitrarily set the area size of the logical memory card, the user can arbitrarily set the area size of the logical memory card.

Also, in the present embodiment, the user can set the validity / invalidity of the memory card section, that is, the user can arbitrarily set the number of logical memory cards. Therefore, the user can arbitrarily set the number of logical memory cards.

Further, in this embodiment, since the partition of the memory card (logical memory card) can be set as the DOS partition, the logical memory card can be set as the DOS partition.

Further, in the present embodiment, since the user can delete the section information of the section (logical memory card), the usability of the user is improved.

In this embodiment, when the digital camera is activated or when the memory card is replaced, it is determined whether or not a valid partition (logical memory card) exists in the memory card. It is possible to use both a memory card that has been divided in a conventional manner and a conventional memory card.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and can be implemented with appropriate modifications without departing from the spirit of the invention.

[0060]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention, the storage control means stores the image data in a predetermined form as an image data file in the storage medium, and the memory management means stores one image data. Since the medium is managed as a plurality of logical storage media, one storage medium can be used as a plurality of ethical storage media, which facilitates file management.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect, the memory management means can arbitrarily set the area size of the plurality of logical storage media in accordance with a user's instruction. Since there is, the user can arbitrarily set the area size of the logical memory card in addition to the effect of the first aspect of the invention.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect, the memory management means can arbitrarily set the number of logical storage media in accordance with a user's instruction. Therefore, in addition to the effect of the first aspect, the user can arbitrarily set the number of logical storage media.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect, the memory management means can set one or more of a plurality of logical storage media in a DOS partition. In addition to the effects of the first aspect, the logical memory card can be set in the DOS partition.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the invention, the memory management means can delete the logical storage medium in accordance with a user's instruction. In addition to the effects of the invention described in 1, the user convenience is improved.

According to the invention of claim 6, in the invention of any one of claims 1 to 5,
The memory search means is activated at the time of starting or when a storage medium is inserted.
Since it is determined whether or not a logical storage medium exists, in addition to the effect according to any one of claims 1 to 5, a logically divided memory card and a conventional memory card are provided. Can be used.

According to the seventh aspect of the invention, in the digital still camera according to any one of the first to sixth aspects, the storage medium is a memory card. In addition to the effects of the invention described in any one of claims to 6, it is possible to use one memory card as a plurality of logical memory cards.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of a digital still camera according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a format of a memory card.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of a configuration of a section management information area in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of a configuration of section information in FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of a configuration of a data area of a data management area in FIG. 2;

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of a configuration of data stored in a directory entry area of FIG.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart for explaining an operation relating to a memory card of the digital still camera.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating a section detection process in FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating a section creation process of FIG. 7;

FIG. 10 is a flowchart for explaining an active partition setting process of FIG. 7;

FIG. 11 is a flowchart illustrating a section deletion process of FIG. 7;

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 1 lens 2 mechanical mechanism 3 CCD 4 CDS circuit 5 A / D converter 6 digital signal processing circuit 7 compression / expansion circuit 8 DRAM 9 memory card 10 LCD 11 driver 12 SG 13 CPU 14 operation unit 15 strobe 16 microphone 17 AMP / FILTER Reference Signs List 18 D / A converter 19 Audio data compression / expansion circuit 20 A / D converter 21 AMP / FILTER 22 OSD

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. A digital still camera capable of using a removable storage medium, an imaging means for capturing an image of a subject to obtain image data, and a storage for storing the image data in a predetermined form as an image data file in the storage medium. A digital still camera, comprising: a control unit; and a memory management unit that manages one storage medium as a plurality of logical storage media. 2. The digital still camera according to claim 1, wherein said memory management means can arbitrarily set an area size of said plurality of logical storage media according to a user's instruction. 3. The digital still camera according to claim 1, wherein the memory management means can arbitrarily set the number of the logical storage media according to a user's instruction. 4. The digital still camera according to claim 1, wherein said memory management means can set one or more of said plurality of logical storage media in a DOS partition. 5. The digital still camera according to claim 1, wherein said memory management means can delete said logical storage medium in accordance with a user's instruction. 6. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising memory search means for searching whether said logical storage medium is present at the time of starting or inserting said storage medium.
The digital still camera according to any one of the above. 7. The digital still camera according to claim 1, wherein the storage medium is a memory card.