JP2001061128A - Image pickup unit - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To allow an image pickup unit to execute a series of tasks to arrange image files in the inside. SOLUTION: A digital still camera 10 temporarily stores an image file recorded on a file floppy disk 100 to a memory 19 for revising the name of the image file into a new regular file name. Then the digital still camera 10 displays images on an image display section of an LCD unit 15, one after another in sequence depending on the new regularity.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image pickup apparatus such as a digital still camera for recording image data obtained by image pickup on a recording medium.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, a digital still camera uses a removable recording medium such as a solid-state memory or a floppy disk (hereinafter referred to as a recording medium for a digital still camera) as a recording medium for recording an image file composed of an image pickup signal. Those who do are mainstream. Examples of the solid-state memory include a so-called compact flash, a so-called smart media, and a so-called memory stick.

An ordinary digital still camera records an image pickup signal on a recording medium for a digital still camera as an image file with a file name added thereto. In a digital still camera, image files are generally given serial numbers starting from 1 in the order of imaging. For example, in a digital still camera, "00"
Enter numbers such as "1" and "002" (hereinafter referred to as file numbers) and name the files "MVC001.jpg" and "MVC0".
02.jpg ”is recorded on the recording medium.

[0004] A digital still camera has a function of deleting an image file of an image whose photographing has failed. In this function, when photographing fails, the file number of the image file is omitted, and the next image file is given a file number which is increased by one. That is, a digital still camera is
"MVC001.jpg", "MVC002.jpg", "MV
File names are assigned to image files one after another, such as "C003.jpg". For example, if the image corresponding to "MVC003.jpg" fails to be captured, the file number of "003" is used. As a missing number, "MVC004.jpg" is added to the image file obtained by the next imaging.

[0005] When the digital still camera enters a playback mode, the most recently shot image file among the image files recorded on the digital still camera recording medium is automatically selected and played. The image is displayed on an image display unit such as a liquid crystal display of a digital still camera.

Further, some digital still cameras have a so-called index function that can convert images into reduced-size images, so-called thumbnail images, and display a plurality of images on an image display unit. With such an index function, a user can easily find a desired image from a plurality of images recorded on a recording medium for a digital still camera.

For example, the user causes the image display unit to display all of the images recorded on the recording medium for the digital still camera by using the index function, thereby moving the cursor or pointer to move the index image (thumbnail image). Is selected, the reproduction is executed by clicking a reproduction button or the like, and the index image can be displayed as an image of a normal size.

Some digital still cameras do not have an index function. However, in order to reproduce an image that is not the last captured image, the digital still camera generally has a feed button or the like. A desired image other than the last image taken by operation can be reproduced.

As described above, the digital still camera records a photographed signal as an image file on the recording medium for the digital still camera, and reproduces the image file recorded on the recording medium for the digital still camera by various reproduction functions. can do. Conventionally, the image file thus recorded on the recording medium for a digital still camera has been edited on a personal computer.

In editing an image file on a personal computer, an image file recorded on a recording medium for a digital still camera is usually copied to a storage device such as a hard disk device provided in the personal computer. This is performed by executing editing software such as so-called album software installed on the computer.

For example, the user executes editing software of a personal computer to change the order in which image files are played back, do not play back some images, or use an editing function such as fade-in or fade-out to perform the following. Had been edited to switch to the image.

Here, the order in which the image files are reproduced may be changed in the following cases.

For example, a function of automatically reproducing a plurality of images recorded on a recording medium for a digital still camera in a digital still camera in the order in which the images were captured, that is, in ascending order of file number (hereinafter referred to as a slide show function). ) Can be assumed. It is considered that by providing such a slide show function in a digital still camera, a plurality of images recorded on a recording medium for a digital still camera can be reproduced on an image display unit indefinitely and repeatedly. For example, it is considered that such a slide show function can be used when a digital still camera is demonstrated at a store selling the digital still camera.

In order to change the order of images to be reproduced in such a slide show function, it is necessary to rewrite the file number of the image file in the personal computer.

Further, the user checks all image files copied from the recording medium for the digital still camera on a personal computer, and classifies them by data and shooting date and time.

An image file obtained by imaging with a digital still camera as described above has conventionally been edited on a personal computer. Furthermore, recording media for digital still cameras are generally expensive except for floppy disks, and recording media used in digital still cameras are generally reused. Therefore, the image file is not usually stored in the recording medium for the digital still camera, but is copied and stored in a hard disk of a personal computer or another inexpensive recording medium such as a so-called MO or a so-called ZIP. .

[0017]

By the way, when an image file is stored on a hard disk, if the hard disk breaks down, the image file, which is valuable personal data accumulated up to that point, is destroyed. .

Such a situation can be avoided by storing the image file in the recording medium for the digital still camera. For example, copying an image file to a second digital still camera recording medium to be stored, or leaving the currently used digital still camera recording medium for storage without re-use. Thus, the above situation can be avoided. Except for the case where another recording medium such as MO or ZIP is used for storage as described above, at present, the use of a floppy disk as a storage medium for a digital still camera for storage is limited.

However, in the near future, it is expected that the price of solid-state memory will decrease significantly. In this case, it is possible to store image files in a fixed memory as if storing silver halide film. It is thought to be.
For example, if solid memory is used for storage,
It is possible to store a huge amount of image files compared to storing them on a floppy disk.

In such a case, it is considered that there is an increasing demand for a digital still camera to have a function of organizing image files stored in a fixed memory.

That is, for example, a user may wish to group image files by data and shooting date and time in a digital still camera, as in a personal computer.

When a solid-state memory is used for storage, it is conceivable that some solid-state memories are stored despite the large remaining capacity. In such a case, the user may want to arrange these solid-state memories to free up the solid-state memories. For example, image files recorded in two solid-state memories with remaining capacity are
It is collected in one solid-state memory, and the other solid-state memory is used as an empty solid-state memory in which no image file is recorded.

However, currently provided digital still cameras do not have a function of organizing image files. Therefore, in order to organize the image files recorded on the recording medium for the digital still camera, the user must
As described above, the image file must be operated on the personal computer.

That is, the user copies the image file once to the personal computer and, for example, changes the file number if the user wants to reproduce the image file in a desired order. It must be copied to a digital still camera recording medium such as a floppy disk. When organizing image files in this way, multiple operations are required,
It also takes time.

Also, the work of organizing image files is very complicated, and the user has to perform operations such as changing file names. There is a danger of erasing.

Such a problem becomes more serious as the capacity of the solid-state memory, which is expected to increase in demand, increases and the number of image files that can be recorded increases.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned circumstances, and has as its object to provide an imaging apparatus capable of executing a series of operations for organizing image files inside the apparatus.

[0028]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, an image pickup apparatus according to the present invention provides a recording medium mounted on a recording medium mounting means with regular file names in the order in which the image pickup means picked up images. Recording means for recording an imaging signal as an image file associated with, a storage means for storing an image file, and a plurality of image files recorded on a recording medium temporarily stored in a storage means. File name changing means for changing the file name of the image file to a new regular file name, and playing back the image file recorded on the recording medium mounted on the recording medium mounting means according to the regularity of the file name, Or a reproducing unit for reproducing the image file stored in the storage unit in accordance with the regularity of the file name changed by the file name changing unit.

In the image pickup apparatus having such a configuration, the image pickup signal is recorded on the recording medium by the recording means as image data to which a regular file name is assigned in the order of image pickup by the image pickup means. Further, the imaging device temporarily stores the plurality of image files recorded on the recording medium in the storage unit by the file name changing unit, and changes the file name of the image file to a new regular file name. . Then, the imaging device reproduces the image file recorded on the recording medium according to the regularity of the file name by the reproducing unit,
Alternatively, the image file stored in the storage means is reproduced according to the regularity of the file name changed by the file name changing means.

Thus, the imaging device changes the file name without regularity to a file name according to a certain regularity, and reproduces the image data by the reproducing means according to the regularity of the file name.

[0031]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. In this embodiment, the present invention is applied to a digital still camera that records an imaging signal as an image file on a recording medium.

As shown in FIG. 1, the digital still camera 10 includes a camera section 11, a signal processing section 12, a system controller 13, a camera controller 14, an LCD unit 15, an LCD drive section 16, an operation section 17, a memory controller 18, A memory 19 and a drive unit 20 are provided. The digital still camera 10 includes a floppy disk 1 as a recording medium for recording an image file.
00 is used. In the present embodiment, the digital still camera 10 configured to use the floppy disk 100 is described. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, a so-called compact flash, a so-called smart media, a so-called memory The digital still camera can also be configured to use a solid memory such as a stick.

In this digital still camera 10,
The camera unit 11 is configured as an imaging unit that captures an image of a subject and outputs an imaging signal. The drive unit 20 is configured as a recording medium mounting unit on which the floppy disk 100 is detachable and the floppy disk 100 is mounted. Are configured as storage means for temporarily storing image files.

The system controller 13 temporarily stores the plurality of image files recorded on the floppy disk 100 in the memory 19, and changes the file names of the image files to new regular file names. It has a file name change function.

Further, the signal processing unit 12, the system controller 13 and the drive unit 20
The image pickup signal is stored as image data in which the regular image file names are assigned in the order of image pickup by the floppy disk 10.
It functions as a recording means for recording 0.

The system controller 13 and the drive unit 20 function as reproducing means for reproducing the image files recorded on the floppy disk 100 in accordance with the regularity of the file names.

Further, the system controller 13,
The memory controller 18 and the drive unit 20
The image file stored in the memory 19 functions as a reproducing unit that reproduces the image file according to the regularity of the file name changed by the file name changing function.

The digital still camera 10 has a function of changing the file names of the image files recorded on the floppy disk 100, and changing the file names of a plurality of image data recorded on a plurality of floppy disks. It has a function of performing processing for recording on a floppy disk, thereby enabling image files recorded on the floppy disk to be organized. Each part of the digital still camera including these various functions will be described.

Camera section 11 of digital still camera 10
Is a CCD (Charge-Coupled Device) as an image sensor
The imaging signal obtained by the imaging device is input to the signal processing unit 12. Here, the operation of the camera unit 11 is controlled by the camera controller 14. For example, the camera controller 14 controls the shutter speed, aperture, and the like of the camera unit 11.

The signal processing section 12 performs signal processing on the image pickup signal obtained by the camera section 11. The signal processing unit 12 outputs, for example, image data of digital data by digitally converting an imaging signal. The image data output from the signal processing unit 12 is transferred to the floppy disk 10 via a drive unit 20 as an image file with a file name.
Recorded as 0.

Recording of an image file on the floppy disk 100 is performed by the drive unit 20 whose operation is controlled by the system controller 100.

Here, the drive unit 20 is a part for recording and / or reproducing data with respect to the mounted floppy disk 100. Specifically, the drive unit 20 records the image data output from the signal processing unit 12 on the floppy disk 100,
Further, the image data recorded on the floppy disk 100 is read.

The digital still camera 10 uses the drive unit 20 to drive the floppy disk 100
Is automatically given a file name. Specifically, the image files are given file names having numbers in ascending or descending order in the order in which the images were taken. In the present embodiment, a case will be described in which file names are assigned with numbers in ascending order.

For example, in the image file, "MVC001.jp
g ”,“ MVC002.jpg ”, ...,“ MVC009.jpg ”,“ MVC
A file name such as “010.jpg” is attached in the order in which the images were taken, and the numeral portion following the “MVC” in the file name (hereinafter referred to as “file number”) is ascending according to the order in which the images were taken as a regular file name portion. Here, "jpg" is an extension indicating the file type.

The "MVC" portion in the file name is a character provided for convenience in describing the present embodiment, and may be another character. Also, this character part is
The characters may be automatically determined by the digital still camera 10 or may be characters specified by the user. Further, it is not essential to include such a character portion in the file name, and the file name can be configured only with the file number. In addition, regularity is given to the file name by using numerals, but the present invention is not limited to this, and characters having regularity can be used. That is, for example, "a", "
Regular file names can also be formed using alphabetic character strings such as b "," c ",...," z ".

As described above, the digital still camera 10
The image file is automatically recorded on the floppy disk 100 with a file name.

The digital still camera 10 can also reproduce the image file recorded on the floppy disk 100 as described above. That is, the digital still camera 10 controls the drive unit 20 by the system controller 13 to read the image file recorded on the floppy
The read image is displayed on the CD unit 15.

The LCD unit 15 has a liquid crystal display as an image display unit, and is driven by an LCD drive unit 16 controlled by the system controller 13 to display an image on the image display unit.

The digital still camera 10 can reproduce image files recorded on the floppy disk 100 as described above. One function of the digital still camera 10 is to sequentially reproduce a plurality of image files recorded on the floppy disk 100. It also has a playback function (slide show function).

In the slide show function, the digital still camera 10 reproduces a plurality of image files recorded on the floppy disk 100.
In principle, playback is performed according to the regularity of the file name, that is, according to the file number.

For example, if the file names are respectively “MVC001.j
pg ”,“ MVC002.jpg ”, ...,“ MVC009.jpg ”,“ MV
When the image file is recorded on the floppy disk 100 as “C010.jpg”, the digital still camera 10 uses the slide show function to execute “MVC001.jp”.
g ”,“ MVC002.jpg ”, ...,“ MVC009.jpg ”,“ MVC
The images are sequentially displayed on the image display section of the LCD unit 15 in the order of “010.jpg”.

As described above, the digital still camera 10
Implements a slide show function according to the regularity of file names, and can also reproduce image files in an arbitrary order by a file name change function that enables rewriting of file numbers.

That is, in the above-described slide show function, a plurality of images are reproduced according to the regularity of the file names, and the regularity of the file names, that is, the plurality of images to be reproduced unless the file number is changed here. The order cannot be changed. The digital still camera 10 can reproduce a plurality of image files in an arbitrary order in the slide show function by changing a file name to a new regular file name by a file name changing function.

Specifically, the digital still camera 10
Provides a file name change function to the system controller 13,
It is realized by the memory controller 18 and the drive unit 20, and is realized by the following processing procedure.

First, an image file is read from the floppy disk 100 by the drive unit 20 controlled by the system controller 13.

For example, the digital still camera 10 has a so-called index function that can convert an image into a thumbnail image and display the thumbnail image on the image display section of the LCD unit 15. Can be displayed on the image display unit as thumbnail images.
For example, by executing this index function when performing the operation of changing the reproduction order of the image files as described above, the user can display a plurality of images recorded on the floppy disk 100 on the image display unit, With reference to these images displayed on the image display unit, the order of reproduction of the image files can be determined. Display of the thumbnail image on the image display unit by the index function will be described later in detail.

The operation unit 17 is provided with an image selection button for selecting a plurality of images displayed on the image display unit. The user operates this image selection button to select an image and determine the order of reproduction. This image selection button will be described later in detail. The operation unit 17 includes a plurality of buttons for the user to operate the digital still camera 10, and includes, for example, a playback button, a shutter button, a shutter speed button for determining a shutter speed, and the like. I have.

As described above, the image recorded on the floppy disk 100 is selected, and the selected image file is written to the memory 19 in which writing is controlled by the memory controller 18. Then, the file names of the plurality of image files are changed to new regular file names on the memory 19.

More specifically, each file name is "MVC0
01.jpg "," MVC002.jpg ", ...," MVC009.jp
g ”,“ MVC010.jpg ”, the file number is changed according to the playback order, and the file name is changed to a new regular file name. Will be described in detail later.

After the digital still camera 10 changes the file name to a new regular file name by the above-described file name changing function, the digital still camera 10 executes the slide show function to change the regularity of the new file name. The image file can be reproduced accordingly.

Further, the digital still camera 10 can record the image file whose file name has been changed in the memory 19 on the floppy disk 100 as described above. That is, the image file is stored on the floppy disk 100 while the order of reproduction in the slide show function is changed.

Further, the digital still camera 10 has a function of deleting the file number of an image file whose imaging has failed when the image file is erased when the imaging has failed. . That is, in the digital still camera 10, the file number of the image file for which imaging has failed is omitted, and the file name of the image file that has been imaged next has a file number that has been raised by one.

When an image file is erased and a file number is missing as described above, the file number of the image file that has not been erased may be skipped on the floppy disk 100. For example, if the file name is "MVC001.jpg", "MV
C002.jpg ", ...," MVC009.jpg "," MVC010.jpg "
File name is “MVC00”
2.jpg ”,“ MVC004.jpg ”,“ MVC005.jpg ”,“ MVC006.
If the six image files “jpg”, “MVC008.jpg”, and “MVC009.jpg” failed to be captured, (A) in FIG.
As shown in the figure, the file numbers were skipped. "
MVC001.jpg ”,“ MVC003.jpg ”,“ MVC007.jpg ”,“ MV
Only the image file having the file name “C010.jpg” is recorded on the floppy disk 100.

The digital still camera 10 can execute the slide show function in an arbitrary order even for a plurality of image files in which the file numbers are skipped. That is, the digital still camera 1
0 is “MVC00” recorded on the floppy disk 100.
1.jpg ”,“ MVC003.jpg ”,“ MVC007.jpg ”,“ MVC010.
jpg ”file name, for example, in any order as“ MVC
003.jpg ”,“ MVC001.jpg ”,“ MVC010.jpg ”,“ MVC00
The image files can be reproduced in the order of the file name of “7.jpg”. The digital still camera 10 realizes the continuous reproduction of a plurality of images by the following processing procedure.

First, as shown in FIG. 3, the user displays an image recorded on the floppy disk 100 on the image display section of the LCD unit 15 by the index function, and determines the order of reproducing image files. Note that the digital still camera 10 can normally display six images on the image display unit of the LCD unit. However, when displaying four images, as shown in FIG. The images are arranged in order from the time of recording.

The selection of an image displayed on the image display unit is performed by operating the above-described image selection button provided on the operation unit 17. In particular,
The operation unit 17 is provided with image selection buttons 40 as shown in FIGS. 4A and 4B, and the image selection buttons 40 are slidable in, for example, up, down, left and right directions, and can be pressed. And is provided in the operation unit 17. The user operates the image selection button 40 in the up, down, left, and right directions to move the cursor or the pointer to display the images P ₁ , P ₂ , P ₃ , P ₃ , P ₃ , P ₃ , P ₃ displayed on the image display unit 31 as shown in FIG. select P _4, it goes to confirm the selection by pressing the image selection button 40.

After the order of such reproduction is determined, the file names are read from the floppy disk 100 as “MVC001.jpg”, “MVC003.jpg”, and “MVC007.jp”.
g ”and“ MVC010.jpg ”are read out to the memory 19. The digital still camera 10
As shown in FIG. 5, "MVC003.jpg" and "MVC001.jp" are used by the file name change function so that the order of reproduction of the read image files becomes the designated order.
g "," MVC010.jpg "," MVC007.jpg "are replaced with new regular file names" a "," b "," c ","
A process for temporarily changing the name to "d" is performed.

Here, the new file name is "
The file name is a "," b "," c ", and" d ", but is not limited thereto. For example, a file name having an ascending numeral such as" 001 "or" 002 "may be used. Can also.
For example, the file names are changed to “x001”, “x002”, and “x003”.

Then, the digital still camera 10 executes the slide show function and reproduces the file based on the new regularity of the file name. That is, the digital still camera 10 reproduces images in the order of “a”, “b”, “c”, and “d” in accordance with the regularity of the character string of the alphabet. This effectively changes the original file name to "
MVC003.jpg ”,“ MVC001.jpg ”,“ MVC010.jpg ”,“ MV
This means that the image files have been reproduced in the order of “C007.jpg”, and that the reproduction of a plurality of image files in an arbitrary order has been realized.

Note that the digital still camera 10 has a temporary file name assigned to change the order of playback,
Here, the file names “a”, “b”, “c”, “d”
And the original file name, here the file name "MVC003.j
pg ”,“ MVC001.jpg ”,“ MVC010.jpg ”,“ MVC007.jp
g ”may be stored as a target table, and an image file may be reproduced based on a temporary file name with reference to the comparison table. In this case, such a target table is stored in the memory 19 or the like. Is done.

The digital still camera 10 can also temporarily record the image file stored in the memory 19 on the floppy disk 100 in order to enable the slide show function to be performed in an arbitrary order. The image file can be stored on the floppy disk 100 while the order of reproduction in the slide show function is changed.

The digital still camera 10 stores the image file on the floppy disk 100 with the order of reproduction in the slide show function being changed, according to the following processing procedure.

The digital still camera 10 includes a camera unit 1
An image file is recorded on the floppy disk 100 by assigning a regular file name according to the first rule in the order in which the images were captured by the first computer. Furthermore, digital still camera 1
0, the plurality of image files recorded on the floppy disk 100 are temporarily stored in the memory 19 by the file name change function, and the file names of the plurality of image files stored in the memory 19 are changed according to the second rule. Change to a regular file name. The processing up to this point corresponds to the above-described processing of temporarily changing the file names of the image files read from the floppy disk 100 in accordance with the order of reproduction.

Then, the digital still camera 10 changes the file name to a regular file name according to the first rule after setting the file name to a regular file according to the second rule. Then, the digital still camera 10 uses the rewriting function to
The image file to which the regular file name is given according to the first rule is recorded on the floppy disk 100 by the file name changing function stored in 9. Here, the rewriting function of the digital still camera 10 is realized by the system controller 13 and the drive unit 20.

That is, in the above-described processing, the digital still camera 10 changes the regular file name according to the first rule in the order of image pickup by the camera unit 11 at the time of image pickup.
MVC001.jpg "," MVC002.jpg ", ...," MVC009.jp
g ”and“ MVC010.jpg ”are recorded on the floppy disk 100, and the file names recorded on the floppy disk 100 are changed to“ MVC001.jpg ”and“ MVC003 ”by the file name change function. .jp
g ”,“ MVC007.jpg ”, and“ MVC010.jpg ”are temporarily stored in the memory 19, and the file names of these image files stored in the memory 19 are determined according to the order in which they are reproduced. The file name is changed to a regular file name according to the second rule such as “a”, “b”, “c”, and “d”.

The digital still camera 10 adds “MVC001.jpg” and “MVC002.jp”
g ”,“ MVC003.jpg ”, and“ MVC004.jpg ”are changed to regular file names according to the first rule, and thus image files are given regular file names according to the first rule. Is recorded again on the floppy disk 100. When re-recording on the floppy disk 100 is performed by overwriting the image file, the digital still camera 10 transmits the floppy disk before recording the image file whose file name has been changed. The image file recorded on the disc 100 before the file name is changed is deleted.

As a result, as shown in FIG. 2C and FIG. 5, the file numbers are serialized on the floppy disk 100, and "MVC001.jpg" and "MVC002.jp"
g ”,“ MVC003.jpg ”, and“ MVC004.jpg ”are stored as a plurality of image files.

With the above processing, the digital still camera 10 stores the image file on the floppy disk 100 while the order of reproduction in the slide show function is changed.

In the above example, the file number is not limited to starting with “001”.
File numbers can start with a well-defined number such as "011" or "021". That is, at the time of imaging, “MVC011.jpg”, “MVC012.jpg”, “MVC013.jp”
It is also possible to assign an image file with a corresponding file name such as "g", "MVC014.jpg".

For example, in the digital still camera 10, the file name can be changed so as not to be duplicated among a plurality of floppy disks by setting the file number to a perfect number in the file name changing function. A case in which image files recorded on three floppy disks of the first to third floppy disks are performed will be specifically described.

The digital still camera 10 changes the file name of the image file recorded on the first floppy disk to “MVC001.jpg”, as shown in FIG.
When the file name is changed to “MVC004.jpg”, the file names of the image files recorded on the second floppy disk and the third floppy disk are changed by the file name changing function as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7. Change the name.

That is, as shown in FIG.
The file names of the image files recorded on the floppy disk are “MVC003.jpg” and “MVC004.jp” respectively.
g "and" MVC009.jpg "," MVC004.jpg "and" MVC003.jp "as shown in FIG.
g ”and“ MVC009.jpg ”in the memory 19 in the order of file names.
The image file is read out, and the file name is changed to “MVC011.jpg”, “MVC012.jpg”, “
MVC013.jpg ”respectively.
Is prevented from being duplicated with the file name of the image file recorded on the floppy disk, and the original file name is "MVC004.jpg", "MVC003.jpg", "MVC009.jpg"
Is recorded on the second floppy disk so as to be reproduced in the order of.

Further, as shown in FIG.
The file names of the image files recorded on the floppy disk are "MVC005.jpg" and "MVC008.jp" respectively.
g ”,“ MVC010.jpg ”,“ MVC012.jpg ”,“ MVC015.jp
g ”,“ M ”as shown in FIG.
VC010.jpg ”,“ MVC005.jpg ”,“ MVC008.jpg ”,“ MVC
The image files are read out to the memory 19 in the order of the file names “012.jpg” and “MVC015.jpg”, and the file names are changed to “MVC021.jpg” and “MVC022.jp” as shown in FIG.
g ”,“ MVC023.jpg ”,“ MVC024.jpg ”,“ MVC025.jp ”
g ", respectively, whereby the first and second
Is prevented from being duplicated with the file name of the image file recorded on the floppy disk, and the original file name is “MVC010.jpg”, “MVC005.jpg”, “MVC008.jp
g "," MVC012.jpg "," MVC015.jpg ", so that the image file is recorded on the second floppy disk.

As described above, the floppy disk 10
Each floppy disk can be replaced with a clean file number.

Further, the digital still camera 10 can arrange a plurality of image files recorded on a plurality of floppy disks and record the images again on the floppy disk. In this case, the digital still camera 10
The plurality of image files recorded on the plurality of floppy disks are temporarily stored in the memory 19, and the file names of the plurality of image files stored in the memory 19 are changed to new regular by the file name changing function. To a new file name. For example, with the function of such a digital still camera, the user can move the image files recorded on a plurality of floppy disks having the remaining capacity to another floppy disk to arrange the floppy disks.

For example, if the file name is “MVC001.jpg”, “
A first floppy disk on which a plurality of image files, MVC003.jpg "," MVC007.jpg ", and" MVC010.jpg "are recorded, and file names" MVC002.jpg "and" MVC00 "
An example will be described in which there is a second floppy disk on which a plurality of image files, such as "4.jpg", "MVC005.jpg", and "MVC010.jpg" are recorded.

In this example, the file numbers of the image files recorded on the two first and second floppy disks have the same regularity and overlap. Also, in this example, a case is described in which an image file recorded on two floppy disks is moved to a new floppy disk. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and three or more floppy disks may be used. The present invention can be applied to a case where a recorded image file is moved to a new floppy disk. In this case, for example, the number of floppy disks to which the image files are moved is limited by the storage capacity of the memory 19.

First, in the digital still camera 10, the file names recorded on the first floppy disk mounted on the drive unit 20 are "MVC001.jpg" and "MVC001.jpg".
The image files of “C003.jpg”, “MVC007.jpg”, and “MVC010.jpg”, and subsequently, the file names recorded on the second floppy disk mounted on the drive unit 20 are “MVC002.jpg” and “MVC004”. .jpg ”,“ MVC005.jp
g ”and the image file of“ MVC010.jpg ”are read out to the memory 19.

The digital still camera 10 uses the file names of these image files read out on the memory 19 as new regular files without discrimination based on the fact that they were recorded on the first and second floppy disks. Change to first name.

That is, the digital still camera 10
The “MVC001.jpg” and “MVC003.jp” recorded on the first floppy disk as shown in FIG.
g ”,“ MVC007.jpg ”, and“ MVC010.jpg ”are named“ a ”,“ b ”,“ c ”,“
d), and further, as shown in FIG. 8B, “MVC002.jpg” and “MVC004.jp” recorded on the second floppy disk.
g ”,“ MVC005.jpg ”and“ MVC010.jpg ”are renamed to file names such as“ e ”,“ f ”,“ g ”and“ h ”. 10 is "MVC0" from the first floppy disk.
01.jpg ”,“ MVC003.jpg ”,“ MVC007.jpg ”,“ MVC01
When the image files of “0.jpg” are read out to the memory 19, the file names of these image files are changed to “a”, “
b ”,“ c ”,“ d ”and then“ MVC002.jpg ”,“ MVC004.jp ”from the second floppy disk.
The image files “g”, “MVC005.jpg”, and “MVC010.jpg” are read into the memory 19, and the file names of these image files are changed to “e”, “f”, “g”, and “h”.

As described above, the digital still camera 10
First reads image files from the first and second floppy disks onto the memory 19 and renames the image files "a", "b", "c", "
The file is temporarily replaced with a new regular file name such as d "," e "," f "," g "," h "(hereinafter, referred to as a first temporary file name).

Next, the digital still camera 10 records the image file having the first temporary file name on a new floppy disk as a file name taking into account the order of reproduction in the slide show function. Then, the first temporary file name is changed again to a temporary file name (hereinafter, referred to as a second temporary file name).

That is, the digital still camera 10
As shown in FIG. 9, "c", "h", "a", "
These first temporary file names are "A", "B", "C", "G", "b", "f", "d", and "e" so that the image files are reproduced in this order. "D", "
Replace with a second temporary file name such as E "," F "," G "," H ".

For example, when recording an image file on a new floppy disk, it is conceivable that the user desires not to change the reproduction order, so that the above operation should be selectable. It may be.

Next, in the digital still camera 10, an image file with a second temporary file name stored in the memory 19 is stored in a third floppy disk which is a new floppy disk mounted on the driver unit 20. Record

The capacity of the memory 19 may be larger than the capacity of one floppy disk. In this case, the memory 19 stores more image files than can be recorded on one floppy disk. In some cases, all the image files whose file names have been changed on the memory 19 cannot be written to the third floppy disk as described above. In such a case, writing to a fourth floppy disk, which is a new floppy disk, is performed. That is, for example, when the image file corresponding to the second temporary file name “A”, “B”, “C”, “D”, “E”, “F” is written to the third floppy disk Then, if the third floppy disk is full, the second temporary file name is "
The image files corresponding to G "and" H "are written to the fourth floppy disk.

The digital still camera 10 does not record an image file on a new floppy disk as a second temporary file name,
Refer to the original file name, "MVC001.jpg", "MVC0
02.jpg ”,...,“ MVC007.jpg ”,“ MVC008.jpg ”can be changed to the original regular file name and recorded on a new floppy disk.

[0098] Similarly, if the file number is within a predetermined number of digits even for some floppy disks, copying can be performed while continuing to send the file number in order. In the present embodiment, the description will be made assuming that the file number has three digits. In this case, the file number can correspond only to "999", but the file number is not limited to this, and a file displaying four or more digits is displayed. Numbers can also be used.

As described above, the digital still camera 10
Can change the original file name given at the time of imaging or the like to a regular file name to organize the image files.

Thus, the digital still camera 10
Can change the order in which image files are reproduced in a slide show function or the like. For example, since the order of reproduction in the slide show function of the digital still camera 10 can be changed, a plurality of images can be reproduced in an arbitrary order. Thus, the reproduction order of a plurality of images can be determined according to the user's preference.

Further, the digital still camera 10 can again record the image file whose file name has been changed in this way on a floppy disk.

Further, the digital still camera 10 can renumber the image files recorded on the floppy disk 100 even if the file numbers are missing.

Also, the digital still camera 10 uses a plurality of floppy disks 10 by using a new file name using a well-defined file number.
File numbers can be assigned without overlapping over 0.

Further, the digital still camera 10 makes it possible to record and organize image files of a plurality of floppy disks on a new floppy disk. As a result, the user can record image files recorded on a plurality of floppy disks with remaining capacity on a new floppy disk, and can create a floppy disk on which no data is recorded.

Further, when changing the file name, the digital still camera 10 once reads out the image data into the memory 19 and executes the file name changing process on the memory 19. If the file name is simply changed on the recording medium, the file name may be duplicated, which may make it impossible to read the image file having the duplicate file name. Obtains a temporary file name and stores the image file as the temporary file name in the memory 19, so that the image file cannot be read due to the duplication of the file name when such a file name is changed. Prevent,
Organize image files.

[0106]

The image pickup apparatus according to the present invention records an image pickup signal as an image file in which a regular file name is assigned to a recording medium mounted on the recording medium mounting means in the order of image pickup by the image pickup means. Recording means for storing the image files, a storage means for storing the image files, and temporarily storing the plurality of image files recorded on the recording medium in the storage means, and renaming the file names of the image files to new regular file names. File name changing means for changing the file name, and reproducing the image file recorded on the recording medium mounted on the recording medium mounting means in accordance with the regularity of the file name, or changing the file name of the image file stored in the storage means. Reproduction means for reproducing in accordance with the regularity of the file names changed by the means, so that the regular file names are assigned in correspondence with the order in which the image pickup means took the images. An image pickup signal is recorded as image data on a recording medium by a recording unit, and a plurality of image files recorded on the recording medium are temporarily stored in a storage unit by a file name changing unit, and a file of the image file is stored. The file name is changed to a new regular file name, and the image file recorded on the recording medium is reproduced according to the regularity of the file name by the reproducing means, or the image file stored in the storage means is changed to a file name. The file can be reproduced according to the regularity of the file name changed by the name changing means.

Thus, the imaging apparatus changes the file name without regularity to a file name according to a certain regularity, and reproduces the image data by the reproducing means according to the regularity of the file name. become able to.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a digital still camera that is an embodiment of an imaging apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram used to explain a process of changing a file number of an image file recorded on a floppy disk.

FIG. 3 is a front view showing an image display unit of the LCD unit of the above-described imaging device on which a plurality of thumbnail images are displayed.

4A and 4B are a plan view and a perspective view illustrating an image selection button provided on an operation unit for selecting a thumbnail image displayed on an image display unit.

FIG. 5 is a diagram used to explain a processing procedure when rewriting a file name of an image file recorded on a floppy disk to a new regular file name and recording the image file again on the floppy disk.

FIG. 6 is a diagram used to explain a processing procedure when rewriting a file name of an image file recorded on a plurality of floppy disks to a new regular file name and recording the same again on a plurality of floppy disks. So, second
FIG. 9 is a diagram used to explain a processing procedure when an image file is recorded as a well-defined file number on a floppy disk.

FIG. 7 is used to explain a processing procedure when rewriting a file name of an image file recorded on a plurality of floppy disks to a new regular file name and recording the same again on a plurality of floppy disks. And the third
FIG. 9 is a diagram used to explain a processing procedure when an image file is recorded as a well-defined file number on a floppy disk.

FIG. 8 is a diagram used to explain a process when an image file recorded on a plurality of floppy disks is moved to a new floppy disk.

FIG. 9 is a diagram used to explain a case in which an image file recorded on a plurality of floppy disks is moved to a new floppy disk and the order of reproduction is considered.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 digital still camera, 11 camera unit, 12
Signal processing unit, 13 system controller, 18 memory controller, 19 memory, 20 drive unit

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page F term (reference) 5C022 AA13 AC03 AC13 AC32 AC69 AC80 5C052 AA01 AB03 AB04 AC08 CC06 CC11 CC20 DD02 DD04 DD08 EE02 EE03 GA02 GA03 GA04 GA06 GA07 GA09 5C053 FA08 FA14 FA23 FA27 GB06 HA30 HA40 JA21 JA30 KA24 LA LA06

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. An image pickup means for picking up an image of a subject and outputting an image pickup signal, a recording medium mounting means on which a recording medium is detachably mounted, and said image pickup means on said recording medium mounted on said recording medium mounting means. Recording means for recording the image pickup signal as an image file with a regular file name corresponding to the order in which the image was taken; storage means for storing the image file; and a plurality of recording means for recording on the recording medium. File name changing means for temporarily storing the image file in the storage means and changing the file name of the image file to a new regular file name; and the recording medium mounted on the recording medium mounting means The image file recorded in the file is reproduced according to the regularity of the file name, or the image file stored in the storage unit is changed by the file name changing unit. Imaging apparatus characterized by comprising a reproducing means for reproducing in accordance with the regularity of Airu name. 2. A rewriting means for recording an image file whose file name has been changed by said file name changing means stored in said storage means on said recording medium mounted on said recording medium mounting means, 2. The imaging apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the means reproduces an image file whose file name has been changed by the file name changing means recorded on the recording medium mounted on the recording medium mounting means. 3. The recording means according to claim 1, wherein
The file names having numbers in ascending or descending order are assigned in correspondence with the order in which the images were taken, and the file name changing means is added to the file names without including the image files that have been erased. 2. The image pickup apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a new regular file name is obtained by serializing the numbers. 4. The imaging apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said file name changing means sets a new regular file name in accordance with a designated reproduction order. 5. A rewriting means for recording the image file stored in the storage means on another recording medium, wherein the file name changing means comprises a plurality of images on a plurality of recording media stored in the storage means. Rename the file
A new regular file name is provided, and the rewriting means attaches the image file to which the new regular file name is added by the file name changing means stored in the storage means to the recording medium attaching means. 2. The image pickup apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image is recorded on the other recording medium. 6. A rewriting unit for recording the image file stored in the storage unit on the recording medium, wherein the recording unit stores the image file in the image file according to a first rule in the order in which the imaging unit captures the image. The file name changing means changes the file names of the plurality of image files stored in the storage means to regular file names according to a second rule, The file name is changed to a regular file name according to the first rule, and the rewriting means is an image file having a regular file name given by the first rule by the file name changing means stored in the storage means. 2. The image pickup apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image data is recorded on the recording medium mounted on the recording medium mounting means.