JP2001128043A - Picture photographing/accumulating device and picture displaying/printing device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To solve a problem that accumulation capacity cannot completely be used up. SOLUTION: A picture take-in part 101 taking in a picture and outputting it as a digital picture, a scalable encoding part 102 compressing the digital picture at a bit rate which is set and generating encoding data, a data accumulation part 103 accumulating encoding data, an accumulated residual capacity managing part 104 managing accumulated residual capacity, a photographing number setting part 105 setting the number of pictures which are to be photographed hereafter with respect to the accumulated residual capacity and outputting the bit rate allocated to encoding data of the respective pictures at the time of setting the number of photographing pictures and the remaining number of photographing pictures/picture quality display part 106, which displays the number of pictures that can be photographed hereafter at the bit rate which is set at the time of photographing and a picture quality level which can be kept at the bit rate, are installed. Thus, the device can be realized without executing a redundant processing, accumulated capacity can be used without a gap and a problem that the last one picture cannot be accumulated can be avoided.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention is capable of setting the number of images to be taken with respect to a storage capacity, increasing the remaining storage capacity by partially removing each shot image data, and reducing the number of shots per unit time. It is possible to perform continuous shooting of images after designation, to read out image data that has been shot at a desired bit rate or transmission time, or to shoot an image typified by a digital camera equipped with a function that enables transmission to a communication path. The present invention relates to a storage device and an image display / printing device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a conventional technique, for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No.
No. 219807, the image quality of an image captured using an image compression apparatus called JPEG, that is,
An image photographing / accumulating device having a function of controlling the number of photographed images, that is, a digital camera will be described.

FIG. 13 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a conventional digital camera. The photographing is performed while adjusting the encoding parameters so that a desired number of images can be stored in a preset image quality mode. The encoded image is encoded using JPEG, which is an international standard for still image encoding.

In FIG. 13, reference numeral 901 denotes an image capturing unit which digitizes and captures an external image by releasing a shutter. A compression unit 902 generates fixed-length encoded data in accordance with a preset image quality mode and the number of shots. A storage unit (memory) 903 stores encoded data of each image generated by the compression unit 902. A remaining amount calculation unit 904 calculates the number of remaining images that can be shot based on a preset number of images. A remaining amount display unit 905 displays the remaining number of recordable images to the user of the digital camera. Reference numeral 906 denotes a fixed-length unit that uses statistical processing before compression so that the length of the encoded data generated by the compression unit 902 becomes a value derived from the set number of shots. The compression ratio used in step 902 is set. In the statistical processing, for example, a spatial frequency analysis of an image is performed, and if the number of high frequency components is large, processing such as setting a higher compression ratio is performed.

FIG. 14A is a flowchart showing a flow of JPEG compression processing used as a compression section 902 of a conventional digital camera. In the figure, step S1 is a DCT process, in which a DCT (Discrete Cosine Transform) is performed on a captured digital image to perform DCT.
This is for generating coefficients. Next, step S2 is a quantization process in which the generated DCT coefficients are subjected to a quantization process using the selected quantization table. Next, step S3 is an encoding process in which the quantized D
The value of the CT coefficient is entropy-coded by Huffman coding.

FIG. 14B shows a format of encoded data obtained by compressing a photographed digital image by JPEG. In the figure, reference numeral 911 denotes a marker which holds encoding parameter information such as an image size and a quantization table used for encoding processing.
Reference numeral 912 denotes compressed image data, and the quantized D
This is data obtained by Huffman coding the CT coefficients.

[0007]

In a conventional image photographing / accumulating apparatus, since JPEG is used for an image compression part, compression for encoding data to have a fixed length, that is, compression is required to perform rate control. Setting of encoding parameters through statistical processing or the like before processing is indispensable, and it is necessary to provide a rate control device separately from the compression device, and the number of processing blocks has been increased.

Although the encoding parameters set before the encoding process correspond to the estimated value of the encoded data amount to be generated, they do not accurately control the data amount generated by the compression process. There has been a problem that the storage capacity cannot be completely used up, or that the last several images out of the designated number may not fit in the storage capacity unless the image quality is significantly reduced.

Further, when trying to avoid these problems,
Even when the designated number of shots is not changed after several shots, it is necessary to measure the remaining amount of the storage capacity as appropriate and feed it back to the rate control, thereby increasing the processing amount.

In the conventional example, since the encoded data is generated by JPEG, to change the size of the encoded data once stored in the storage capacity, first, the encoded data is Huffman-decoded and returned to DCT coefficients. Then, after performing a new quantization process, it is necessary to perform Huffman coding,
The amount of data cannot be reduced directly on the encoded data. In other words, reduce the data amount of the captured image,
Decoding processing and DCT except inverse DCT to increase the remaining storage capacity
It is necessary to re-execute the encoding process except for the above, which has caused an increase in the amount of processing.

In the conventional example, since encoded data is generated by JPEG, when transmitting the stored encoded data of each image to the outside of the photographing apparatus, all the encoded data constituting the same image must be transmitted. Significant images cannot be decoded. For this reason, as seen in recent digital cameras, there has been a problem that the transmission time of encoded data increases as the resolution of a captured image increases. Further, there is a problem that the transmission time is wasted by transmitting coded data capable of reproducing the required image quality or more despite the low image quality requirement at the receiving end. In addition, display /
Unnecessary data is transmitted even when the printing resolution is lower than the shooting resolution, causing the same problem.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problem. By using rate scalable coding as a compression device, encoded data generated without using statistical processing or the like as pre-processing can be obtained. Accurately controls the size, controls the calculation of the remaining storage capacity only when changing the set number of shots in the middle, expands the remaining storage capacity by deleting a part of the coded data of each stored image, It is an object of the present invention to obtain an image photographing / accumulating device having a communication function that saves transmission time by extracting and transmitting a part of coded data.

[0013]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an image photographing / accumulating apparatus, comprising: image capturing means for capturing an image and outputting the digital image as a digital image; and compressing the digital image with a set data amount. Coding means for generating coded data, data storage means for storing the generated coded data, and setting the number of images to be taken with respect to the remaining capacity of the data storage means, and coding each image. And a photograph number setting means for calculating a data amount.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided an image photographing / accumulating apparatus for identifying a data portion to be deleted on each encoded data by reading a significance of each data on the encoded data from the data accumulating means. Further comprising: a storage data reading unit, and a storage remaining capacity expansion unit that expands a storage capacity by deleting a portion carrying the low importance information as data exceeding the new allocation capacity from data of each stored image, and When the remaining capacity increasing mode is selected in which the coded data that has already been accumulated is partially deleted and accumulated in the enlarged remaining capacity, the number of images to be taken is set. This is to recalculate the storage allocation capacity for the encoded data of each image.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided an image photographing / accumulating apparatus which selects which image data is to be transmitted among the stored images, and converts a part of the encoded data of the transmitted image. A transmission image selection / data amount setting unit for setting whether to transmit or send all, and reading encoded data corresponding to the image selected by the transmission image selection unit from the encoded data stored in the data storage unit. An encoded data reading unit for specifying which data portion holds relatively important information, and each bit constituting encoded data read by the encoded data reading means when transmitting a part. Based on the importance of
It further comprises a transmission data extraction unit for extracting encoded data of a data amount set from the data storage unit, and a data transmission unit for transmitting the extracted encoded data of each image to a transmission path. .

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an image capturing / accumulating device, comprising: an image capturing means for capturing an image and outputting the digital image as a digital image; Scalable encoding means for generating, the data storage means for storing the generated coded data, and storage remaining capacity management means for managing the remaining storage capacity that decreases by storing the coded data, The number of shots to be taken can be set for the remaining storage capacity, the number of shots setting means for outputting a bit rate that can be assigned to the encoded data of each image when setting the number of shots, and the bit rate set at the time of shooting. It is provided with a remaining number of images / image quality display means for displaying the number of images that can be taken in the future and the image quality level that can be held at the bit rate.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an image photographing / accumulating apparatus, wherein, when setting the number of images to be photographed, a remaining capacity accumulating mode for accumulating an image to be taken in the future at an accumulating remaining capacity at that time, or each of the already accumulated images. Accumulation mode selecting means for selecting any of the remaining capacity increasing modes for partially deleting the encoded data and accumulating the enlarged accumulated remaining amount, and for specifying the data portion to be deleted on each encoded data. Coded data reading means for reading the importance of each piece of data on the coded data from the data storage means, and deleting and storing, from the data of each stored image, a portion which carries the information of low importance as data exceeding the newly allocated capacity Further comprising a storage remaining capacity enlarging means for enlarging the capacity, wherein the number-of-photographs setting means sets the number of images to be taken from now on when the remaining capacity increasing mode is selected. , In which recalculate the storage quota to encoded data of the shot-already stored the images.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an image photographing / accumulating device, comprising: transmission image selecting means for selecting which image data to transmit among the stored images; and code stored in the data storage means. A coded data reading unit that reads coded data corresponding to the image selected by the transmission image selection means from the coded data, and specifies which data portion holds relatively important information; Sending data amount setting means for setting whether to send a part or all of the coded data of the image to be transmitted, and each of the coded data read by the coded data reading means when sending a part. Based on the importance of the bits,
It further comprises a transmission data extraction unit for extracting encoded data of a data amount set from the data storage unit, and a data transmission unit for transmitting the extracted encoded data of each image to a transmission path. .

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, the image photographing / accumulating apparatus further comprises a transmission resolution setting means for setting a reproduction resolution of the transmission data when transmitting the encoded data of the image to the transmission line. Coded data reading means specifies a portion carrying information of the resolution or less among bits constituting encoded data of an image to be transmitted, according to the set transmission resolution, reads the importance of the specified data, The transmission data extraction unit extracts data corresponding to a desired resolution from the encoded data of each image by a set data amount according to the read result of the encoded data reading unit, and outputs the extracted data to the data transmission unit. Is what you do.

The image display / printing device according to claim 8 of the present invention is a data receiving means for receiving encoded data of an image transmitted to a transmission path, and reproducing the received encoded data at a transmission resolution. Image decoding means, an image output means for displaying or printing the reproduced image data, and a resolution feedback means for instructing the resolution of the encoded data to be sent to the device to which the data is sent. .

[0021]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Embodiment 1 An image photographing / accumulating device according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an image photographing / accumulating device according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of a scalable encoding unit of the image capturing / accumulating device according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. In the drawings, the same reference numerals indicate the same or corresponding parts.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 101 denotes an image capturing unit for capturing an image from the outside world and outputting it as a digital image;
Reference numeral 2 denotes a scalable encoding unit that encodes the digital image output from the image capturing unit 101 at a set bit rate in a rate scalable manner and outputs encoded data.
03 is a data storage unit that stores encoded data of each image,
104 is a storage remaining capacity management unit that manages the remaining capacity of the data storage unit 103; 105 is a shooting that sets how many images are to be shot and stored in the future and calculates an appropriate bit rate for shooting the same number of shots A number setting unit 106 is a remaining number / image quality display unit that indicates how many images can be taken under the current setting and the image quality of the image to be taken.

In FIG. 2, reference numeral 102a denotes a wavelet transform unit for performing a wavelet transform on the input digital image by sub-band division and sending out a wavelet transform coefficient, and 102b a quantizing unit for discretizing the value of the wavelet transform coefficient. Reference numeral 102c denotes an entropy encoding unit that entropy-encodes the quantized value of the wavelet transform coefficient for each bit plane, and 102d denotes an encoding unit that performs processing for entropy encoding a plurality of wavelet transform coefficients collectively for each subband. A processing unit configuration unit; 102e, an encoding process control unit that selectively encodes a bit plane necessary to generate encoded data that achieves the best image quality at the set bit rate;
Reference numeral 102f denotes a coded stream generation unit that arranges the coded data of each bit plane generated by the entropy coding unit 102c according to a preset criterion and uses the coded data as image coded data.

Next, the operation of the image capturing / accumulating device according to the first embodiment will be described with reference to the drawings.

The image capture unit 101 captures an image from the outside world through a CCD or the like using a shutter signal as a trigger, and sends the image as a digital image to a scalable encoding unit 102 at the subsequent stage.

The scalable encoding unit 102 encodes the digital image input from the image capturing unit 101 at a bit rate calculated from the number of images set by the number-of-images setting unit 105 and the remaining storage capacity, and encodes the image. The encrypted data is transmitted to the data storage unit 103.

The data storage unit 103 stores the encoded data sent from the scalable encoding unit 102 and sends a signal to the remaining image / image quality display unit 106 to reduce the number of images that can be taken each time one image is stored. I do.

The storage remaining capacity management unit 104 sets the storage capacity of the data storage unit 103 as an initial value, and subtracts a data amount corresponding to a bit rate used at that time from the initial value each time an image is taken. Hold. The held value is used to calculate an encoding bit rate that enables the number of images set by the number-of-images setting unit 105 to be stored in the remaining storage capacity.

After setting the number of images to be shot, the number-of-shots setting unit 105 calculates the bit rate required to store the set number of images with respect to the value of the remaining storage amount held in the remaining storage capacity management unit 104. Then, the calculated bit rate is sent to scalable encoding section 102. The setting of the number of shots can be performed not only when the image data is stored for the first time, but also after several images have been shot. When the setting of the number of shots is released, encoding at a bit rate preset as a default value, or encoding that gives the highest image quality that can be realized by the encoding method used in the scalable encoding unit 102 for each image Data generation is performed.

When the number of images to be shot is set by the number of images to be shot setting unit 105, the remaining image and image quality display unit 106 calculates the total value of the number of images shot so far and the number of images shot from now on. At the time of setting and every time one image is taken,
The total value of the calculated number of shots and the number of shots that can be shot are displayed. At the same time, the image quality that can be reproduced at the bit rate (r bit / pel) set at that time is indicated in N stages (N: maximum image quality (r ≧ r _N ), N
-1: r _N > r ≧ r _N−1 ,. , 1: Lowest image quality (r ₂ > r
≧ r ₁ )). If the number of shots has not been set once, including the default value, in the number-of-shots setting unit 105, the remaining number of shots is not displayed, and the reproducible image quality is displayed as N.

The operation of the rate scalable encoder 102 shown as an example will be described below.

The wavelet transform unit 102a performs an L-stage wavelet transform on a digital image as each image frame, and outputs its wavelet transform coefficient. For example, as shown in FIG.
Digital images are represented by LL ₁ (vertical low frequency component, horizontal low frequency component), HL ₁ (vertical low frequency component, horizontal high frequency component), LH ₁ (vertical high frequency component, horizontal low frequency component), HH ₁ (Vertical high frequency component, horizontal high frequency component)
And wavelet transform.

[0033] In the second stage, LL ₂ a digital image by performing the same subband division and the first stage to the lowest frequency component LL ₁ at the first _{stage, LH 2, HL 2, HH} 2, L
Wavelet transform is performed by sub-band division into H ₁ , HL ₁ , and HH ₁ .

Similarly to the second stage, the digital image is subjected to wavelet transform by sequentially subdividing the lowest frequency component similarly to the second stage, and is repeatedly executed until the L-stage wavelet transform is completed.

When the wavelet transform unit 102a outputs the wavelet transform coefficient, the quantization unit 102b compares the wavelet transform coefficient with a finite number of thresholds, quantizes the wavelet transform coefficient, and outputs the quantized wavelet transform coefficient value. I do. When the value of the wavelet transform coefficient is obtained as an integer value, explicit quantization processing is omitted, and each transform coefficient value is output as a quantization result.

The entropy coding unit 102c sequentially converts the values of the quantized wavelet transform coefficients in each coding processing unit constituted by the coding processing unit forming unit 102d from the most significant bit plane to the least significant bit plane. Entropy coding is performed for each bit plane.
Regarding the encoding of the sign bit (sign bit) of each wavelet transform coefficient, after the effective bit is first encoded in the bit plane encoding of each wavelet transform coefficient, the next lower bit plane of the same transform coefficient is encoded. Performed before encoding. As shown in FIG. 3B, the encoded data of the upper plane is treated as data having a higher resolution.

The encoding processing unit constituting unit 102d calculates the number of wavelet transform coefficients corresponding to the number of pixels output from the quantization unit 102b for each subband, for each block obtained by dividing each subband into a plurality of blocks, and the like. And a processing unit for performing entropy coding is generated.

In order to generate encoded data for reproducing the highest image quality achievable at a desired bit rate, the encoding processing control unit 102e controls the encoded data up to which level bit plane of each encoding processing unit. The number of bitplanes to be entropy-coded is controlled for each coding processing unit, taking into account whether or not to use the bitplanes to generate the coded bitstream, or the amount of data required after all bitplanes have been coded Are sequentially extracted from the one corresponding to the most significant bit plane. If the bit rate is not specified, encoding is performed up to the least significant bit plane in each encoding processing unit, and all obtained data is used for generating an encoded stream.

The coded stream generation unit 102f operates as shown in FIG.
As shown in (c), the encoded data of each bit plane generated by the entropy encoding unit 102c is sorted in the order of importance (importance 1, importance 2,...) In order to improve image quality. ), And generates an encoded bit stream 102g of the image. Note that, at the head of the coded bit stream 102g, header information describing the image size and various coding parameters is placed, and when not all wavelet transform coefficients are used as one coding processing unit,
Further, when the order of arranging the encoded data of the bit planes of each encoding processing unit is not fixed, the encoded stream can be appropriately inserted by inserting tag information that can specify from which encoding processing unit the data is generated. Be composed.

As is clear from the above, the first embodiment
According to the above, by compressing image data by rate scalable coding, in order to obtain a data amount corresponding to the set number of images, without separately performing processing such as repetition of preprocessing or coding processing, the storage capacity can be reduced. There is an effect that the number of images set for the remaining amount can be photographed and accumulated. Also, there is an effect that the set number can be set to an arbitrary value in increments of one.

In other words, according to the first embodiment, the designated number of images with respect to the remaining storage capacity is subjected to redundant processing such as pre-processing before encoding or repeated application of the encoding processing. There is an effect realized without. In addition, since the data size after compression can be accurately controlled, the storage capacity can be used without a gap, and there is an effect that the problem that the last one cannot be stored can be avoided.

Embodiment 2 Embodiment 2 An image photographing / accumulating apparatus according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an image capturing / accumulating device according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention.

In FIG. 4, in addition to the configuration shown in FIG. 1, the number set by the number-of-photographs setting unit 105 is stored in the remaining storage capacity at that time (remaining storage mode), or the storage capacity is expanded and stored. Storage mode selection unit 201 for selecting whether to perform (remaining capacity increase mode) and data storage unit
3, an encoded data reading unit 202 that reads the encoded data of each image and recognizes which part of the encoded data carries relatively important information, and accumulates the encoded data according to the read result of the encoded data. And a storage remaining capacity increasing unit 203 that deletes a portion of low importance from each encoded data and increases the storage remaining capacity.

Next, the operation of the image photographing / accumulating device according to the second embodiment will be described with reference to the drawings.

The accumulation mode selection unit 201 operates when the number set by the number-of-photographs setting unit 105 is larger than the number of remaining images displayed by the remaining number-of-photographs / image-quality display unit 106.
When the remaining capacity accumulation mode is selected, a bit rate appropriate for accumulating the set number in the remaining capacity value held in the accumulation remaining capacity management unit 104 is calculated as in the first embodiment, and the bit rate is calculated. Is sent to the scalable encoding unit 102.

On the other hand, when the remaining capacity increasing mode is selected,
A bit rate is calculated in the case where the total number of the number of images shot so far and the number of images to be shot calculated by the remaining number of images / image quality display unit 106 is stored in the storage capacity of the data storage unit 103 at the same rate. , The calculated value, the encoded data reading unit 202, and the scalable encoding unit 10
Send to 2.

When the encoded data reading unit 202 receives the bit rate value calculated by selecting the remaining capacity increasing mode from the accumulation mode selecting unit 201, the encoded data reading unit 202 The encoded data of the image is read, and the data set corresponding to the bit rate received from the accumulation mode selection unit 201 is specified in order from the one holding the information of high importance, and the specification result is transmitted to the storage remaining capacity increasing unit 203. I do. When the data in the coded stream is arranged in the order of high importance to low importance, it is only necessary to read the number of the stream corresponding to the bit rate received from the head.

The storage remaining capacity increasing section 203 holds the data set specified by the encoded data reading section 202 and deletes other unnecessary data portions. An example of a process for deleting an unnecessary portion of the encoded data of each image is as follows. The deletion of the unnecessary portion of the encoded data is started from the encoded data of the image stored at the head of the data storage unit 103.

In the operation, as shown in FIG. 5A, first, encoded data of each image is read. Thereafter, as shown in FIGS. 7B and 7C, the encoded data reading unit 2
The data set specified in 02 is extracted from the read data and written from the beginning of the data storage unit 103.
Subsequently, the coded data stored second is read out, the unnecessary part is similarly deleted, the unnecessary part is deleted first, and the data is written immediately after the data stored in the data storage unit 103. The same processing is performed on the encoded data stored after the third, and the processing of the storage remaining capacity increasing unit 203 ends with the completion of the processing for all the encoded data already stored.

As is clear from the above, the second embodiment
According to the method described above, the relatively unimportant data portion of the coded data of each captured and stored image can be deleted to increase the remaining storage capacity. This has the effect that the number of images that can be shot is secured and shooting can be continued even after the shooting has ended.

That is, according to the second embodiment, the reduction in the amount of encoded data of an image that has been photographed and has been stored can be temporarily decoded and re-encoded, that is, without performing transcoding processing. Since this is enabled by deleting some information on the data, there is an effect that the increase in the remaining storage capacity can be realized with less processing. In addition, since the remaining storage capacity can be enlarged after shooting, there is an effect that a proper number of shots can be secured even after the remaining storage capacity becomes insufficient.

Embodiment 3 FIG. An image capturing / accumulating device according to Embodiment 3 of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an image capturing / accumulating device according to Embodiment 3 of the present invention.

In FIG. 6, in addition to the configuration shown in FIG. 1 or FIG. 4, a data transmission unit 301 for transmitting the encoded data of each image stored in the data storage unit 103 to a wired or wireless transmission path, and A transmission image selection unit 302 for selecting which image of the encoded data to be transmitted; a transmission data amount setting unit 303 for setting how much of the stored encoded data of each image is transmitted; The encoded data of the image to be transmitted is encoded
And a transmission data extracting unit 304 for extracting a set amount of data from the encoded data of the image based on the result read in step (1).

Next, the operation of the third embodiment will be described.

When the data transmission unit 301 receives the data transmission start signal, the transmission image selection unit 302 converts the image data stored in the data storage unit 103, as shown in FIGS. In order to select encoded data corresponding to the selected image and extract the data amount set by the transmission data amount setting unit 303 from each encoded data of the selected image, the encoded data of the same image is encoded. Data reading unit 2
02 to determine which data portion holds relatively important information.

The transmission data amount setting section 303 stores a communication speed of a communication path as a transmission destination, a data amount determined based on a time or a transmission speed which can be allocated for each transmission of each image data, or a code to be transmitted. The transmission data amount is set so that all of the coded data is transmitted, and the set value is transmitted to the transmission data extraction unit 304.

The transmission data extraction unit 304 is provided with the data shown in FIGS.
As shown in (d), based on the result of the identification by the encoded data reading unit 202, the data amount set by the transmission data amount setting unit 303 is sequentially extracted from the important information of each encoded data of the transmission target image. , USB at the data sending unit 301,
The extracted data is transmitted to a wired or wireless communication path via a serial or parallel interface or a wired or wireless telephone modem.

As is apparent from the above, the third embodiment
According to this, in addition to being able to directly transmit the encoded data of the target image from the image capturing / accumulating device, it is also necessary to transmit all bits constituting each encoded data or to transmit a part of the bits. Because it can be set, if the transmission speed of the communication path used for data transmission is slow or if high quality reproduction is not required at the destination, the transmission time can be shortened by transmitting only part of the data. To play.

That is, according to the third embodiment, the image photographing apparatus is provided with the function of transmitting a photographed image to an external transmission path, and the photographing / photographing apparatus is adapted to perform photographing / photographing in accordance with the communication speed of the transmission path, the image quality request of the receiving destination, and the like. By realizing the function of transmitting the desired amount of information among the stored encoded data of each image, the transmission time of each image data and the power consumption required for the processing can be reduced by application requirements, that is, the required speed and required image quality. It has the effect of being kept to a bare minimum.

Embodiment 4 Embodiment 4 An image photographing / accumulating apparatus according to Embodiment 4 of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an image capturing / accumulating device according to Embodiment 4 of the present invention.

In FIG. 8, in addition to the configuration of FIG. 6, a transmission resolution setting unit 401 for designating a spatial resolution for reproducing encoded data of a transmitted image at a receiving destination is provided. In the fourth embodiment, it is essential to use the encoding device using the wavelet transform shown in FIG. 2 as the scalable encoding unit 102.

The transmission resolution setting section 401 includes spatial resolutions (vertical and horizontal dimensions of the photographed image) corresponding to the number N of wavelet divisions set by the wavelet transform section 102a constituting the scalable encoding section 102, including the image resolution at the time of photographing. Among the directions (1/1, 1/2,..., 1/2 ^N ), the display or print resolution of the receiver of the encoded data, such as a PC, a portable information terminal, a display of a portable telephone, a printer, etc. A resolution is selected, and the selected resolution is sent to the encoded data reading unit 202 and the data sending unit 301. The resolution information sent to the data sending unit 301 is sent to the receiving side as overhead information of the encoded data.

The setting of the transmission resolution is performed by ascertaining the required resolution on the receiving side in advance, and then taking a photographing / accumulating device (transmitting side).
In addition to the setting, the feedback information may be sent from the receiving side to the sending side when the connection between the sending side and the receiving side is established.

The coded data reading unit 202 operates as shown in FIG.
As shown in (d), when the resolution selected by the transmission resolution setting unit 401 is received, the encoded data of each image already stored in the data storage unit 103 is read, and which part of the data is selected. According to the resolution, it is specified which part of the corresponding data bears relatively important information. Based on the result of the specification, the part corresponding to the data amount set by the transmission data amount setting unit 303 is determined. Data sets to be transmitted are specified in the order of importance, and the specified result is transmitted data extraction unit 3
04.

As shown in FIG. 10, which resolution is supported is inserted into the coded stream as to which data portion is generated from the coding processing unit carrying information of the resolution or less. It is performed by specifying the tag information. In this example, the tag holds information on how many bytes of data from each encoding processing unit constitute the data of the corresponding importance.

As is apparent from the above, the fourth embodiment
According to the third embodiment, in addition to the effect shown in the third embodiment, since it becomes possible to transmit coded data focused on data having the display resolution on the data receiving side, it is possible to transmit to the receiving end having a low display / printing resolution. The transmission time required for data transmission can be further reduced. The amount of data each time the resolution is 1/2 to about 1/4, i.e., the amount of data in the resolution 1/2 ^k can in about 1/4 ^k.

That is, according to the fourth embodiment, the image photographing apparatus is provided with the function of transmitting the photographed image to the external transmission path, and the coded data of the corresponding spatial resolution is provided in response to the display resolution request of the destination. By selectively transmitting only the image data, there is an effect that the transmission time of each image data and the power consumption required for the same processing can be suppressed to the minimum necessary corresponding to the display resolution on the receiving side.

Embodiment 5 Embodiment 5 An image display / printing apparatus according to Embodiment 5 of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 11 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an image display / printing apparatus according to Embodiment 5 of the present invention. Also,
FIG. 12 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an image decoding unit of an image display / printing apparatus according to Embodiment 5 of the present invention.

In FIG. 11, reference numeral 501 denotes a data receiving unit for receiving encoded data of an image from a transmission line; 502, an image decoding unit for decoding and reproducing the encoded data of the received image;
An image output unit 03 displays or prints the decoded and reproduced image, and a reference numeral 504 denotes a resolution feedback unit that sends the display or print resolution information of the image display or printing device to the image decoding unit 502 and the encoded data transmission side. .

In FIG. 12, reference numeral 502a denotes a coded data separation unit for extracting coding parameters and entropy coded data from input coded data, respectively.
b, an entropy decoding unit for entropy decoding the extracted entropy-encoded data and restoring the value of the wavelet transform coefficient; 502c, an encoding processing unit constituting unit showing the wavelet transform coefficient reproduced by the same entropy decoding process; Reference numeral 502 denotes an inverse quantization unit that performs an inverse quantization process on the values of the entropy-decoded wavelet transform coefficients, and 502e denotes an inverse wavelet transform unit that performs an inverse wavelet transform on the inversely quantized wavelet transform coefficients to reproduce an image.

Next, the operation of the fifth embodiment will be described.

When the connection between the sending side and the receiving side of the encoded data is established, the resolution feedback section 504 feeds back the display or printing resolution information of the image display or printing device as the receiving side to the encoded data sending side. At the same time, the information is sent to the image decoding unit 502, and indicates the image playback resolution.

If the reproduction resolution is specified on the transmission side, the information is sent to the reception side after the connection is established, and
The image is sent to the image decoding unit 502. In this case, designation of the reproduction resolution information on the receiving side and feedback to the transmitting side are not performed.

The data receiving section 501 has a resolution level closest to the display or print resolution fed back from the resolution feedback section 504, a minimum resolution level above the display or print resolution, or a maximum resolution level below the display or print resolution. The minimum encoded data required to reproduce the image is received from the transmission side and transmitted to the image decoding unit 502.

The image decoding unit 502 decodes the entropy coded data by using the coding parameters as control information and reproduces the image data. The detailed operation is as follows.

The coded data separation section 502a separates the received data into coding parameters such as an image size, a filter, and a quantization step size and entropy decoded data, and separates the coding parameters into reference information for each subsequent processing section. And sends the entropy-encoded data to the entropy decoding unit 502b.

The encoding processing unit forming unit 502c specifies the minimum processing unit subjected to entropy encoding according to the encoding parameter, and indicates the destination of the data entropy decoded by the entropy decoding unit 502b.

The entropy decoding unit 502b performs entropy decoding processing on the encoded data, restores the quantized value of the wavelet transform coefficient for each processing unit indicated by the encoding processing unit configuration unit 502c, and dequantizes the quantized value. Transformation part 5
02d.

The inverse quantization unit 502d performs an inverse quantization process on the quantized value of the wavelet transform coefficient obtained by the entropy decoding process, reproduces the value of the wavelet transform coefficient, and sends the value to the inverse wavelet transform unit 502e. Send out.

The wavelet inverse transform unit 502e performs a wavelet inverse transform process on the values of the wavelet transform coefficients up to the resolution level extracted on the encoded data sending side by the information fed back by the resolution feedback unit 504, and converts the image data. Reproduce.

As is apparent from the above, the fifth embodiment
According to the resolution specified on the sending side of the encoded data of the image, or only the minimum data necessary for image reproduction at the resolution specified by the receiving side is extracted from the encoded data of the image and received, Since the decoding process is performed, the amount of memory for buffering the received encoded data can be reduced. Further, since the decoding process is performed only on the minimum necessary data, an effect of reducing the calculation amount of the decoding process can be achieved as compared with a case where an image having the same resolution as that of the encoding is reproduced.

That is, according to the fifth embodiment, since only the minimum coded data necessary for displaying an image or reproducing an image having a print resolution is received, the transmission time can be minimized. In addition, there is an effect that the memory size for buffering the encoded data is minimized, the decoding process performed on the encoded data is minimized, and the processing amount can be reduced.

[0083]

As described above, the image photographing / accumulating device according to the first aspect of the present invention includes image capturing means for capturing an image and outputting the digital image as a digital image, and compressing the digital image with a set data amount. Encoding means for generating encoded data, a data accumulating means for accumulating the generated encoded data, and setting the number of images to be taken with respect to the remaining capacity of the data accumulating means. And the number-of-photographs setting means for calculating the amount of digitized data,
It is possible to capture the specified number of images for the remaining storage capacity without performing pre-processing before encoding, or performing redundant processing such as repeated application of encoding processing. Therefore, the storage capacity can be used without gaps, and the effect that the last one could not be stored can be avoided.

As described above, the image photographing / accumulating device according to the second aspect of the present invention specifies the data portion to be deleted on each encoded data from the encoded data. Encoded data reading means for reading the importance, and storage remaining capacity expanding means for expanding a storage capacity by deleting a portion carrying information of low importance as data exceeding the newly allocated capacity from data of each stored image. When the remaining capacity increase mode is selected in which the coded data that has already been stored is partially deleted and stored in the enlarged storage capacity, the number of images to be shot is set. Since the storage allocation capacity for the encoded data of each captured / stored image is recalculated, the remaining storage capacity can be expanded with less processing.
There is an effect that a proper number of images can be secured even after the remaining storage capacity becomes insufficient.

As described above, the image photographing / accumulating apparatus according to the third aspect of the present invention selects which image data of the stored images is to be transmitted, and sets the encoded data of the transmitted image. Outgoing image selection and data amount setting means for setting whether to send a part or all of the image data, and an image corresponding to the image selected by the outgoing image selecting means from encoded data stored in the data storing means. A coded data reading unit for reading coded data and specifying which data portion holds relatively important information; and coded data read by the coded data reading means when transmitting a part. A transmission data extraction unit that extracts encoded data of a data amount set from the data storage unit based on the importance of each bit constituting Data transmission means for transmitting the coded data of each image to the transmission line, so that the transmission time of each image data and the power consumption required for the processing are required according to the application requirements, that is, the required speed and required image quality. This has the effect of being minimized.

Further, as described above, the image photographing / accumulating apparatus according to the fourth aspect of the present invention includes image capturing means for capturing an image and outputting it as a digital image, and compressing the digital image at a set bit rate. Scalable encoding means for generating encoded data, data accumulating means for accumulating the generated encoded data, and a storage capacity for managing a storage capacity that is reduced by accumulating the encoded data. Capacity management means, setting of the number of shots to be taken with respect to the remaining storage capacity, and setting of the number of shots to be set at the time of shooting; A remaining number of images / image quality display means for displaying the number of images that can be taken in the future at the bit rate, and the image quality level that can be held at the bit rate. With this configuration, it is possible to capture a specified number of images with respect to the remaining storage capacity without performing pre-processing before encoding or performing redundant processing such as repeated application of encoding processing. Since the data size can be accurately controlled, the storage capacity can be used without gaps, and the effect that the last one could not be stored can be avoided.

As described above, the image photographing / accumulating apparatus according to claim 5 of the present invention has a remaining capacity accumulation mode for accumulating images to be photographed in the remaining remaining capacity at the time of setting the number of images to be photographed, or A storage mode selecting means for partially selecting each of the coded data already stored and storing the coded data in the enlarged storage capacity and selecting one of the remaining capacity increasing modes; Encoded data reading means for reading the importance of each piece of data on the encoded data from the data storage means, and bears the information of low importance as data exceeding the newly allocated capacity from the data of each stored image. Means for increasing the remaining capacity by deleting a portion, wherein the number-of-photographs setting means, when the remaining-capacity increasing mode is selected, starts photographing from now on. When the number of images to be stored is set, the storage allocation capacity for the coded data of each captured and stored image is recalculated, so that the remaining storage capacity can be expanded with less processing, and even after the remaining storage capacity becomes insufficient, This has the effect that the number of shots can be secured.

As described above, the image photographing / accumulating device according to the sixth aspect of the present invention includes a transmitting image selecting means for selecting which image data among the stored images is to be transmitted; Reading the encoded data corresponding to the image selected by the transmission image selecting means from the stored encoded data, and identifying which data portion holds relatively important information; And the encoded data of the image to be transmitted.
Sending data amount setting means for setting whether to send a part or all of the data; and, when sending a part, the data amount based on the importance of each bit constituting the encoded data read by the encoded data reading means. A transmission data extraction unit for extracting encoded data of a data amount set from the storage unit; and a data transmission unit for transmitting the extracted encoded data of each image to a transmission path. And the power consumption required for the processing can be minimized in accordance with the application requirements, that is, the required speed and required image quality.

As described above, the image photographing / accumulating apparatus according to claim 7 of the present invention includes a transmission resolution setting means for setting a reproduction resolution of transmission data when transmitting encoded data of an image to the transmission path. Furthermore, the encoded data reading means specifies a portion carrying information of the resolution or less among bits constituting encoded data of an image to be transmitted, according to the set transmission resolution, and Reading the importance, and the transmission data extraction means,
According to the result of reading by the encoded data reading means, data corresponding to a desired resolution is extracted from the encoded data of each image by a set data amount and output to the data transmitting means. There is an effect that the transmission time and the power consumption required for the processing can be suppressed to the minimum necessary corresponding to the display resolution on the receiving side.

Further, as described above, the image display / printing apparatus according to the eighth aspect of the present invention comprises: a data receiving means for receiving encoded data of an image transmitted to a transmission line;
Image decoding means for reproducing the received encoded data at a transmission resolution, image output means for displaying or printing the reproduced image data, and indicating the resolution of the encoded data to be transmitted to a device to which the data is transmitted And the resolution feedback means to minimize the transmission time, minimize the memory size for buffering the encoded data, and minimize the decoding process applied to the encoded data. This has the effect of reducing the amount.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an image photographing / accumulating device according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a scalable encoding unit of the image photographing / accumulating device according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an operation of a wavelet transform unit, bit plane coding, and a coded stream of the image capturing / accumulating device according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an image photographing / accumulating device according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an operation (increase of the remaining storage capacity) of the image photographing / accumulating device according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an image capturing / accumulating device according to Embodiment 3 of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an operation (extraction of transmission data) of an image photographing / accumulating device according to Embodiment 3 of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an image capturing / accumulating device according to Embodiment 4 of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an operation (extraction of transmission data) of the image photographing / accumulating device according to Embodiment 4 of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an image photographing and recording method according to Embodiment 4 of the present invention.
FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an operation (reading of encoded data) of the storage device.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an image display / display according to Embodiment 5 of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a printing device.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing an image display / display according to Embodiment 5 of the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of an image decoding unit of the printing device.

FIG. 13 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a conventional image capturing / accumulating device.

FIG. 14 is a diagram illustrating the operation of a conventional image capturing / accumulating device.

[Explanation of symbols]

101 image capturing unit, 102 scalable encoding unit,
103 data storage unit, 104 remaining storage capacity management unit, 1
05 number-of-photographs setting unit, 106 remaining-image-number / image-quality display unit, 201 storage-mode selection unit, 202 encoded-data reading unit, 203 storage-remaining-capacity increasing unit, 301 data transmission unit, 302 transmission image selection unit, 303 transmission data amount Setting unit, 304 transmission data extraction unit, 401 transmission resolution setting unit, 501 data reception unit, 502 image decoding unit, 5
03 Image output unit, 504 resolution feedback unit.

Continued on front page F-term (reference) 5C022 AA13 AC01 AC18 AC42 AC52 AC69 5C052 AA17 AB04 CC11 DD02 DD08 GA02 GA06 GB01 GC05 5C053 FA27 GB06 GB17 GB22 JA16 KA26 LA03 LA04 LA06 5C059 KK35 MA24 MA35 PP01 SS15 TA19 TA31 TA57 TA60 TC15

Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. An image capturing means for capturing an image and outputting it as a digital image, an encoding means for compressing the digital image with a set data amount to generate encoded data, and the generated encoded data An image storing means for storing the number of images to be taken with respect to the remaining capacity of the data storing means and calculating the amount of encoded data of each image. Shooting and storage device. 2. An encoded data reading means for reading the importance of each data on the encoded data from the data accumulating means for specifying a data portion to be deleted on each encoded data, A storage remaining capacity expanding unit that deletes a portion carrying the information of low importance as data exceeding the new allocated capacity and expands a storage capacity, wherein the number-of-images setting unit converts each of the encoded data already stored. When the remaining capacity increase mode is selected to increase the remaining capacity that has been partially deleted and enlarged, the number of images to be shot is set, and the storage allocation capacity for the coded data of each shot and stored image is calculated. 2. The image photographing / accumulating device according to claim 1, wherein the image photographing / accumulating device is performed again. 3. A transmission image selection / data for selecting which image data among the stored images is to be transmitted, and setting whether to transmit a part or all of the encoded data of the transmitted image. Reading the coded data corresponding to the image selected by the transmission image selecting means from the coded data stored in the data storing means, and which data portion holds relatively important information A coded data reading unit for specifying whether or not the data is read, and when transmitting a part, the data is set from the data storage unit based on the importance of each bit constituting the coded data read by the coded data reading unit. A transmission data extraction unit that extracts encoded data of the extracted data amount; and a data transmission unit that transmits the extracted encoded data of each image to a transmission path. The image photographing / accumulating device according to claim 1, further comprising: 4. An image capturing unit for capturing an image and outputting the digital image as a digital image; a scalable encoding unit for compressing the digital image at a set bit rate to generate encoded data; Data storage means for storing data, storage capacity management means for managing the storage capacity that decreases by storing the encoded data, and the number of images to be taken can be set for the storage capacity, A number-of-photographs setting means for outputting a bit rate that can be assigned to the encoded data of each image when setting the number of images to be captured; a number of images that can be taken in the future at the bit rate set at the time of photographing; An image capturing / accumulating device, comprising: a remaining image capturing number / image quality display means for displaying the image number. 5. When setting the number of images to be taken, a remaining capacity accumulation mode for accumulating an image to be taken in the future at an accumulation remaining capacity at that point of time, or enlarging by partially deleting each encoded data already stored. An accumulation mode selecting means for selecting one of a remaining capacity increasing mode for accumulating the remaining amount of accumulated data, and an important part of each data on the encoded data from the data accumulating means for specifying a data portion to be deleted on each encoded data. Encoded data reading means for reading the degree of importance, and storage remaining capacity expanding means for expanding a storage capacity by deleting a portion carrying the less important information as data exceeding the newly allocated capacity from the data of each stored image. When the remaining capacity increase mode is selected, the number-of-shots setting means sets the number of images to be shot in the future, and stores the number of shot and stored images in encoded data. 5. The image capturing / accumulating device according to claim 4, wherein the product allocation capacity is recalculated. 6. A transmission image selecting means for selecting which image data among the stored images is to be transmitted, and said transmission image selecting means selected from the coded data stored in said data storage means. An encoded data reading unit that reads encoded data corresponding to an image and specifies which data portion holds relatively important information; and sends a portion of encoded data of an image to be transmitted. Sending data amount setting means for setting whether or not to send all, and when sending a part, setting from the data storage means based on the importance of each bit constituting the encoded data read by the encoded data reading means. A transmission data extraction unit that extracts encoded data of the extracted data amount; and a data transmission unit that transmits the extracted encoded data of each image to a transmission path. Imaging and storage device according to claim 4, characterized by comprising. 7. A transmission resolution setting means for setting a reproduction resolution of transmission data when transmitting encoded data of an image to the transmission path, wherein the encoded data reading means is configured to transmit the encoded data in accordance with the set transmission resolution. Identifying a portion of the bits constituting the encoded data of the image to be transmitted, which carries the information of the resolution or less, and reading the importance of the identified data. The transmission data extracting unit includes the encoded data reading unit. 7. The image capturing apparatus according to claim 6, wherein data corresponding to a desired resolution is extracted from the encoded data of each image by a set data amount and output to the data transmission unit in accordance with the read result of the image capturing. A storage device; 8. A data receiving unit for receiving encoded data of an image transmitted to a transmission path, an image decoding unit for reproducing the received encoded data at a transmission resolution, and displaying or displaying the reproduced image data. An image display / printing apparatus comprising: an image output unit for printing; and a resolution feedback unit for indicating a resolution of encoded data to be sent to a device to which data is sent.