JP2001045409A - Electronic camera - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an electronic camera by which a user can slowly confirm contents of a specific picture among moving pictures without need for troublesome operation. SOLUTION: This electronic camera has a still picture release switch 31 used to instruct photographing of the still picture and a consecutive shot release 32 used to instruct start and stop of photographing a moving picture. The electronic camera records a moving picture, which is photographed by an instruction of the consecutive shot release 32 under control by a system controller 21, to a memory card 20. In the case that photographing of a still picture is instructed by the still picture release switch 31 while a moving picture is photographed, a still picture flag is set to the still picture when photographing of the still picture in the moving picture recorded in the memory card 20 is instructed, and the still picture with the still picture flag added thereto is displayed in parallel with reproduction display of the moving picture when the moving picture recorded in the memory card 20 is reproduced in a way of picture-in-picture display form.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an electronic camera having a continuous shooting function.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An image of a subject is formed on a solid-state image sensor, for example, a CCD two-dimensional image sensor by an imaging optical system and converted into an electric signal. Electronic cameras that record on such recording media are becoming widespread.

With the increase in the capacity of the recording medium and the improvement in image processing speed, not only a still image but also a moving image composed of a plurality of temporally continuous still images has been photographed. Various types of electronic cameras having a so-called continuous shooting function for performing playback and display have also been commercialized.

[0004]

When reproducing a moving image, it is often desired to slowly check only one or several specific images among a plurality of still images constituting the moving image. In such a case, in the conventional electronic camera, the playback state of the moving image is switched from continuous playback to playback in units of one frame, and a frame advance operation is performed until a desired image is selected, whereby a desired image is displayed. The frame advance operation was stopped at the point of time.

[0005] However, such a method has a problem that it takes time and effort to select an arbitrary image in the moving image.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide an electronic camera capable of slowly confirming the contents of a specific image in a moving image without requiring complicated operations.

[0007]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention adds identification information to a desired still image in a moving image when capturing a moving image, and adds the identification information when reproducing the moving image. The main point is that a still image to which is added is displayed using a part of the display screen.

That is, the electronic camera according to the present invention comprises a first release means for instructing the photographing of a still image and a second release means for instructing the start and stop of the photographing of a moving image composed of a plurality of temporally continuous still images. A second release means, a recording means for recording a moving image captured by an instruction from the second release means on a recording medium, and a second release means in which a moving image is being captured by the second release means. Recording control means for adding identification information to a still image of the moving image recorded on the recording medium when the photographing of the still image is instructed when photographing of the still image by the release means is instructed; At the time of reproducing and displaying the moving image recorded on the recording medium, the still image to which the identification information is added is reproduced for a predetermined time using a part of the display screen in parallel with the reproducing and displaying of the moving image. Characterized by comprising a reproduction control means for performing control to display.

With such a configuration, each still image constituting a moving image is identified as, for example, a parent image of a picture-in-picture image or among a plurality of still images constituting a moving image. The still image to which the information has been added is displayed as a child image of the picture-in-picture image, and in a scene considered to be particularly important at the time of shooting, the user gives a still image shooting instruction and adds identification information. By simply performing such operations, it is possible to slowly check the contents of the still image without performing a complicated operation such as a special key operation during reproduction.

[0010] When there are a plurality of still images to which identification information is added in the moving image, the reproduction control means may perform control for selectively reproducing and displaying these plurality of still images sequentially. Alternatively, control for reproducing and displaying the plurality of still images in parallel may be performed. In this way, there are some scenes that are considered particularly important by the user at the time of shooting, and by adding identification information to each of these scenes, the still images of those scenes are confirmed sequentially or simultaneously. be able to.

[0011]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of an electronic camera according to one embodiment of the present invention.

The subject light passes through the imaging lens 1, and the amount of light is controlled by the diaphragm 2. The imaging lens 1 is AF
The aperture 2 is driven by a motor 3, and the aperture 2 is driven by an aperture motor 4. The AF motor 3 and the aperture motor 4 are driven by motor drivers 5 and 6, respectively.

The subject light that has passed through the imaging lens 1 and the aperture 2 enters a CCD two-dimensional color image sensor (hereinafter simply referred to as a CCD) 7 which is a color solid-state imaging device. Thus, a subject image is formed on the imaging surface of the CCD 7. The CCD 7 includes a plurality of pixels that perform photoelectric conversion arranged in a two-dimensional matrix to form an imaging surface, and further includes a color filter disposed on the imaging surface.
The driving control by the driver 8 accumulates signal charges corresponding to the subject image formed on the imaging surface.
The signal charges accumulated on the imaging surface are read out from the CCD 7 as electric signals called pixel signals.

The pixel signal read from the CCD 7 is A
After being converted into a digital signal by the / D converter 9, the digital signal is input to an image processing unit 10, an AE (automatic exposure) processing unit 11, an AF (automatic focus adjustment) processing unit 12, and an AWB (automatic white balance adjustment) processing unit 13. Is done. Image processing unit 10
By performing color signal separation, CDS (correlated double sampling) and other processes on pixel signals,
A color image signal of a predetermined format is generated.

The AE processing section 11 receives the digitized pixel signal output from the A / D converter 9 and performs an arithmetic processing mainly on the cumulative addition of the pixel signals from each pixel. A according to the brightness of the subject based on
An E evaluation value (photometric value) is obtained, and the amount of light is controlled by controlling the aperture 2 via an aperture motor 4 based on the AE evaluation value.
The automatic exposure (A
E) Perform processing.

The AF processing unit 12 receives the digitized pixel signal output from the A / D converter 9 and extracts, for example, a high-frequency component of a pixel signal for one screen by a high-pass filter. An AF evaluation value corresponding to the contour component amount on the high frequency side is calculated by performing arithmetic processing such as cumulative addition, and based on the calculated AF evaluation value, the imaging lens 1 is controlled in the optical axis direction via the AF motor 3 to automatically focus. An adjustment (AF) process is performed.

The AWB processing unit 13 receives the digitized pixel signal output from the A / D converter 9 and receives the digitized pixel signal in the image processing unit 10 so that white is correctly reproduced regardless of the color temperature of the subject. An automatic white balance (AWB) process for controlling generation of a color image signal is performed.

The color image signal generated by the image processing unit 10 is temporarily stored in the buffer memory 14. A color image signal read from the buffer memory 14 is guided to a display processing unit 15, where it is converted into a form suitable for display output, and then supplied to a color liquid crystal display (LCD) 16 of a TFT system or the like to be displayed as an image. Is done.

The buffer memory 14 is further connected to a compression processing section 17 and an expansion processing section 18. A memory card 20 as a recording medium for recording image data and accompanying data is connected to the compression processing section 17 and the expansion processing section 18 via a recording / reproduction processing section 19. The memory card 20 is configured using a semiconductor memory such as a card-type flash memory, for example. The recording medium is not limited to the memory card 20, and various forms such as a magnetic recording medium such as a hard disk or a floppy disk can be used.

The compression processing section 17 reads out the image signal stored in the buffer memory 14 and performs a compression (encoding) process by a predetermined compression method, for example, a JPEG method. The image data encoded by the compression processing unit 17 is converted into a form suitable for recording on the memory card 20 by the recording and reproduction processing unit 19, and then recorded on the memory card 20. However, a normal still image is recorded as a JPEG file on the memory card 20, while a moving image, which is a plurality of temporally continuous still images, is recorded as a motion JPEG file.

The image data recorded on the memory card 20 is reproduced through a recording / reproducing processing section 19 and decompressed (decoded) by a decompression processing section 18 in a process reverse to the compression method of the compression processing section 17. . The decompressed image signal is temporarily stored in the buffer memory 14, and can be appropriately displayed and output on the liquid crystal display 16 via the display processing unit 15.

The system controller 21 includes an operation unit 30
Each part is controlled based on a command from the
U. Specifically, the system controller 21 includes a CCD driver 8, an A / D converter 9, an image processing unit 10, an AE processing unit 11, an AF processing unit 12, an AWB processing unit 13, a buffer memory 14, a display processing unit 15, Processing unit 17, decompression processing unit 18, and recording / reproduction processing unit 19
Control.

The operation unit 30 generates a command signal for performing various operations based on the operation of the camera user and transmits the command signal to the system controller 21. The operation unit 30 is provided with a still image release switch 31, a continuous shooting release switch 32, and a mode switch 33, which are particularly related to the present invention.

The still image release switch 31 is a switch for giving an instruction to shoot a still image. The continuous shooting release switch 32 is a two-stage operation switch for instructing start and stop of shooting of a moving image composed of a plurality of temporally continuous still images. An instruction to stop shooting is issued in the second stage operation. The mode switch 33 is a switch for switching between a recording (photographing) mode and a reproduction (display) mode.

The system controller 21 records the still image on the memory card 20 when the still image release switch 31 is instructed to shoot the still image while the moving image is being shot by the continuous shooting release switch 32. The recording control unit 19 controls the recording and reproduction processing unit 19 to add a still image flag to a corresponding still image in the moving image to be shot, that is, a still image shot at the moment when the shooting of the still image is instructed. The still image flag is identification information indicating that the still image to which the still image flag is added is a still image to be displayed independently.

Further, at the time of reproducing and displaying the moving image recorded on the memory card 20, the system controller 21 displays the still image with the still image flag added thereto on the liquid crystal display 16 in parallel with the reproducing and displaying of the moving image. The reproduction control for reproducing and displaying for a predetermined time using a part of the screen is performed on the recording / reproduction processing unit 19.

Next, an operation procedure at the time of capturing a moving image in the present embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. These operations are realized as control by the system controller 21 and processing of the system controller 21 itself.

First, it is checked whether or not the first-step operation of the continuous shooting release switch 32 has been performed, that is, whether or not the continuous shooting release is on (step A1). If the continuous shooting release is on, a photographing operation is performed (step A2). ). In this photographing operation, after the AF operation, the AE operation and the AWB operation in the AE processing unit 11, the AF processing unit 12, and the AWB processing unit 13 are sequentially performed, the imaging by the CCD 7, the image processing in the image processing unit 10, the buffering, The compression processing by the compression processing unit 17 via the memory 14 and the recording of the moving image on the memory card 20 by the recording / reproduction processing unit 19 are performed. Compression processing unit 1
7 is, for example, a JPEG method. When a moving image is captured, a still image is
It will be recorded as a PEG file.

Each time one shooting of a still image at the time of shooting a moving image is completed, it is checked whether or not the still image release switch 31 has been turned on by the user, that is, whether or not the still image has been released (step A3). If so, the still image flag F is set in the corresponding still image, that is, the still image captured at the moment when the still image release is turned on (step A4).

Next, it is determined whether or not the second-step operation of the continuous shooting release switch 32 has been performed, that is, whether or not the continuous shooting release has been turned off (step A5). If left on,
After waiting for a predetermined time (for example, 0.2 seconds when the moving image is shot at 5 frames / second) until the next shooting timing comes in step A6, the operations in steps A2 to A6 are turned off in step A5. Repeat until.
In some cases, a still image release is performed a plurality of times during a single moving image image shooting. In such a case, the still image flag F is set each time a still image is released.

When the continuous shooting release is turned off in step A5, the motion JPEG recorded on the memory card 20 is turned off.
Post-processing of the file, for example, setting of a file header portion is performed (step A7). Through such a series of moving image photographing processing, a moving image in which the still image flag F is added to the still image desired by the user is recorded.

FIG. 3 shows an example of the configuration of a motion JPEG file recorded as a moving image on the memory card 20. The motion JPEG file (extension: mjp) has a recording start time (year, month, day,
(Hour, minute, second)
The motion JPEG file is “990309101004”.
-01 "," 990309101004-02 "," 9
90309910104-03 ",... And a JPEG still image file (extension: jpg) with a file name of JPEG still image release.
A still image flag F (F = 1) is added to the still image file.

Next, with reference to a flowchart shown in FIG. 4, an operation procedure at the time of reproducing a moving image (motion JPEG file) recorded as described above will be described. This operation is also realized as control by the system controller 21 and processing of the system controller 21 itself.

First, I = 0 is set as an initial setting (step B1). Here, I is a flag that is set to “1” when a picture-in-picture (hereinafter referred to as PinP) image is reproduced.

After this initial setting, the first image of the motion JPEG file recorded on the memory card 20 is selected (step B2), and the selected still image is expanded, that is, reproduced and decoded (step B3) and displayed. (Step B4). The display of the still image is performed until it is determined in step B5 that a predetermined time (for example, 0.5 seconds) has elapsed.

Next, it is checked whether I = 1 (step B).
6) If I = 1, it is further checked whether j = J (step B7). Here, j is the value of the continuous display number counter of PinP images. J is the maximum number of consecutively displayed PinP images (for example, 6), and is 0.5 × 6 = 3 seconds in time. If j = J, I and J are set to 0 (step B8).

If I = 1 is not satisfied in step B6, the process proceeds to step B9. Also, at step B6, I = 1,
If j = J is not satisfied in step B7, the process proceeds to step B9. Further, if j = J in step B7, I and J are set to 0, and then the process proceeds to step B9. Step B9
Then, the presence or absence of the next still image in the motion JPEG file is checked (step B9). If you don't have the next image,
The process ends. If there is a next still image in step B9, that image is selected (step B10), and whether or not still image flag F is set for that image is determined.
That is, it is checked whether or not F = 1 (step B11).

Here, if F = 1, a PinP image with the image selected in step B10 as a parent image and a child image is developed and displayed (step B12). After this,
1 is set to each of I and J (step B13), and the process returns to step B4. If F = 1 is not satisfied, it is further checked whether I = 1 (step B14). If I = 1, the image selected in step B10 is defined as a parent image, and the immediately preceding image with F = 1 is defined as a child image. The developed PinP image is developed and displayed (step B15). Thereafter, j is incremented by 1 (step B16), and the process returns to step B4. If I is not 1 in step B4, the PinP image is not displayed, only the image selected in step B10 is developed and displayed (step B17), and the process returns to step B4.

As described above, in the present embodiment, the still image flag F, which is identification information, is added to a desired still image by a user's still image release operation at the time of shooting a moving image, and when the moving image is reproduced and displayed, Step B1 in FIG.
5, a still image to which the still image flag F is added is used as a PinP image using a part of the display screen (small screen) for a predetermined time (in this example, 3 seconds determined by the maximum continuous display number J of PinP images). Playback display.

Therefore, it is possible to slowly confirm the contents of a specific still image desired by the user at the time of reproduction and display by an extremely simple operation of performing a still image release operation when capturing a moving image. The purpose of the period can be achieved.

FIG. 5 shows a display example of a PinP image according to the present embodiment. A parent image 51 and a child image 52 are displayed on the display screen 50 of the liquid crystal display 16 or an external display. In step B15 of FIG. 4, each still image of the moving image is sequentially displayed as the parent image 51, and the child image 52 is displayed.
, A specific still image to which the still image flag F is added is displayed.

More specifically, FIG. 5 is an example of a display screen when a state of a sports race at an athletic meet is photographed as a moving image, and a parent image 51 is an image immediately after all players of a sports race have completed a goal, and a child image 52. Represents, for example, an image at the moment when the child of the photographer finishes the goal. In other words, this is a display screen when the photographer performs a still image release at the moment when the child finishes a goal in a situation where a photographer's child is participating in a race where the child is participating as a moving image. The image 51 is a still image that changes every moment of a moving image, and the child image 52 is a still image to which a still image flag F is added by a still image release. This corresponds to the display screen in step B15 in FIG.

On the other hand, in step B12 of FIG. 4, since the still image flag F has not been added to the still image reproduced and displayed so far, each still image of the moving image is sequentially displayed as the parent image as described above. However, the same still image as the parent image is reproduced and displayed for the child image.

In the above embodiment, as shown in FIG. 5, only the latest still image to which the still image flag F has been added is displayed as the child image 52, and the still image is captured when a moving image is shot. When there are a plurality of still images to which the image flag F is added, the still images are
Are sequentially reproduced and displayed. However, the form of the reproduction display in the present invention is not limited to this. For example, a plurality of still images to which the still image flag F is added as shown in FIG. 6 may be reproduced and displayed in parallel. .

That is, on the display screen 60 in FIG. 6A, still images constituting a moving image are reproduced and displayed as the parent image 61, but the still image flag F is added as the child images 62a and 62b. The two latest still images are reproduced and displayed. The display screen 60 in FIG. 6B is almost the same as that in FIG. 6A, but the size of a plurality of still images reproduced and displayed as the child images 62a and 62b is increased, for example, for an image with a newer time. It is different.

[0046]

As described above, according to the present invention, a still image to which identification information is added among a plurality of still images constituting a moving image is displayed on the display screen in parallel with the reproduction display of the moving image. By using the display, the user can give a still image release instruction and add identification information such as a still image flag in a scene that is considered to be particularly important at the time of shooting. It is possible to provide an electronic camera capable of slowly confirming the contents of a still image of an important scene without performing the complicated operation of.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an electronic camera according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure at the time of capturing a moving image in the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is an exemplary view showing a configuration of a motion JPEG file which is a moving image recorded on a memory card in the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is an exemplary flowchart showing a processing procedure when reproducing a moving image in the embodiment.

FIG. 5 is an exemplary view showing an example of a display screen of a moving image and a still image to which a still image flag is added according to the embodiment;

FIG. 6 is an exemplary view showing another example of a display screen of a moving image and a still image to which a still image flag is added according to the embodiment;

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Imaging lens 2 ... Aperture 3 ... AF motor 4 ... Aperture motor 5, 6 ... Motor driver 7 ... CCD (imaging element) 8 ... CCD driver 9 ... A / D converter 10 ... Image processing unit 11 ... Automatic exposure processing unit DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 12 ... Autofocus adjustment processing part 13 ... Automatic white balance adjustment processing part 14 ... Buffer memory 15 ... Display processing part 16 ... Liquid crystal display 17 ... Compression processing part 18 ... Decompression processing part 19 ... Recording / reproducing processing part (recording means) 20 ... Memory card 21 ... System controller (recording control means, playback control means) 30 ... Operation unit 31 ... Still image release switch (first release means) 32 ... Continuous shooting release switch (second release means) 33 ... Mode switch

──────────────────────────────────────────────────の Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification symbol FI Theme coat ゛ (Reference) H04N 5/907 H04N 5/781 520B 5/91 5/91 EF Term (Reference) 5C022 AA13 AB04 AB12 AB17 AB29 AC03 AC31 AC32 AC42 AC54 AC56 AC69 AC74 5C052 AA17 AB04 CC11 DD02 EE02 EE03 EE08 GA02 GA03 GA07 GB06 GC03 GC05 GD03 GE04 GE08 GF04 5C053 FA08 FA27 GB36 JA21 KA03 KA04 KA24 KA25 LA01 LA06

Claims (3)

[Claims] A first release means for instructing the photographing of a still image; a second release means for instructing a start and stop of photographing of a moving image composed of a plurality of temporally continuous still images; Recording means for recording, on a recording medium, a moving image captured by an instruction from the second release means; and stationary by the first release means in a state where the moving image is captured by the instruction from the second release means. A recording control unit that adds identification information to a still image at the time when the photographing of the still image in the moving image recorded on the recording medium is instructed when photographing of the image is instructed; and recording on the recording medium. At the time of reproducing and displaying the moving image, the still image to which the identification information is added is reproduced and displayed for a predetermined time using a part of the display screen in parallel with the reproducing and displaying of the moving image. An electronic camera, comprising: a playback control unit that controls the electronic camera. 2. When there are a plurality of still images to which the identification information is added in a moving image recorded on the recording medium, the reproduction control means sequentially selects the plurality of still images. 2. The electronic camera according to claim 1, wherein control for reproducing and displaying is performed. 3. The reproduction control means, if there are a plurality of still images to which the identification information is added in a moving image recorded on the recording medium, reproduces the plurality of still images in parallel. 2. The electronic camera according to claim 1, wherein display control is performed.