JP2001203961A - Signal recording device and image pickup device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To increase the rate of data transfer to an external device and also suppress the power consumption of an internal battery. SOLUTION: When data are transferred to the external device, the power source is switched to an external power source and the transfer rate is increased.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an imaging device which can be connected to an external device, for example, a personal computer (hereinafter referred to as "PC").

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art With the advent of home-use digital video cameras and digital still cameras, there is a need to connect to a PC and transfer data taken by carrying a portable device to the PC. There is also a need to transfer data with a large amount of information, such as video data and audio data, in real time. To transfer video data, audio data, and files that require real-time transfer to a PC or other digital device at high speed, an interface capable of high-speed transfer is required.
For example, IEEE1394-1995 (High Performance Serial Bu
s) and USB (Universal Serial Bus).

When such a IEEE1394 or USB is connected to a digital video camera, the transfer speed cannot be increased unless the data transfer speed from the digital video camera to the serial bus is high.

As a camera connected to a PC, there is a Matsushita digital video camera "NV-C1". This instruction manual 1
On page 08, it is described that still image data is transmitted, but the transfer speed is not described.

[0005]

When data is transferred by connecting to a PC, the higher the transfer speed, the more real-time transfer can be performed, and there is an advantage that the transfer time is shortened.

[0006] When the transfer speed is increased, the system clock becomes faster, and power consumption is generally increased. However, an increase in power consumption is not preferable for a portable device such as a video camera driven by a built-in battery, that is, a product that requires low power consumption.

[0007]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, when the communication means is operating, the power supply of the recording / reproducing apparatus is set to an internal battery power supply so as to increase the transfer rate of data sent to the PC. Instead, it operates with externally supplied power and performs high-speed image digital processing, memory read processing, and digital interface processing so that the transfer rate is increased.

[0008]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, an imaging apparatus according to the present invention,
One embodiment of the signal recording device will be described in detail with reference to the drawing of FIG.

FIG. 1 is a circuit diagram of a video camera which is a portable small-sized recording / reproducing apparatus. 11 is an image sensor, 12
Denotes a camera signal processing unit that performs signal processing on the output from the image sensor 11, 13 denotes an image digital processing unit that performs digital processing on the output from the camera signal processing unit and performs digital processing such as MPEG, and 16 denotes an image digital processing unit 13. Output from 1
5 is a write / read processing unit that performs a process of writing to the recording medium of No. 5. The recording medium 15 may be a hard disk (HDD), DVD-RAM, or other flash memory as long as it is a recording medium.

At the time of reproduction, the recording medium 15 is converted into an interface connectable to an external device, for example, a PC by a digital interface processing unit 16 via a memory write / read processing unit 14 and connected to an external device PC via a connector 1 at 21. Is done.

On the PC side connected by 22 connectors 2,
The input data is received by the interface processing unit 23 and is internally processed.

As in this embodiment, in a video camera, recording is usually performed using electric power obtained from a built-in battery 9.
It is common practice to minimize power consumption when operating on the built-in battery. Therefore, in order to reduce power consumption as much as possible when writing to a recording medium, for example, when the recording medium 15 is an HDD, the writing operation is intermittently performed in time for the memory writing operation. The digital interface processing unit 16 may have a mode in which the transfer speed is reduced to reduce power consumption.

In this embodiment, the digital interface unit 16, the memory write / read processing unit 14, and the recording medium 15 store a high data transfer speed mode, that is, a high power consumption mode, and a low data transfer speed mode, that is, a low power transfer mode. It is characterized by having few modes.

This mode is switched by the 20 state detectors. This state detector detects that 11 connectors 1 are connected. With these 20 status detection outputs
Processing power from external power supply and 19 built-in battery 1
When the connector 1 is connected to the power supply from the battery power supply processing unit 8 by the switch 17, the power supply is switched to the external power supply. At the same time, 16 digital interface units, 14
Memory write / read processing unit, and 15 recording media
Switch to a mode that increases data transfer speed. Switching to an external power source can increase power consumption,
There is no need to consider the battery consumption time, and the data transfer speed on the main unit can be increased.
The transfer speed to the C side can be increased.

The state detecting section 20 may detect the data transfer to the PC instead of the connection of the connector. For example, a transfer signal may be increased by detecting a preparation signal for data transfer to the PC and switching the power supply source to external power.

In this embodiment, IEEE1394 can be used as a means for connecting the main body and the PC. At the same time, external power can be supplied using a power supply line in IEEE 1394. The IEEE 1394 has a power supply line, which is possible if there is a power supply capability. Therefore, the means for communicating with the external device and the means for supplying power from the outside may conform to or conform to the IEEE1394 standard.

Similarly, a USB can be used as a means for connecting the main body and the PC. At the same time, power can be supplied from outside using a power supply line in the USB connector. USB4 has a power supply line, which is possible if it has power supply capability. In this case, the communication means and the power supply means from the outside may conform to or conform to the USB standard.

[0018]

According to the present invention, in a signal recording / reproducing apparatus having communication means with an external device, when the external power source is connected to the external device, the transfer speed is increased and the transfer capability is increased. Since it can be raised, PC
Transfer time can be shortened. Further, when no external device is connected, power consumption can be reduced, so that operating time using the internal battery can be extended.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11 Image sensor 12 Camera signal processing unit 13 Image digital processing unit 14 Memory write / read processing unit 15 Recording medium 16 Digital interface processing unit 17 Changeover switch 18 Battery power processing unit 19 Built-in battery 20 State detection unit 21 Connector 1 22 Connector 2 23 Interface Processing unit 24 Power supply processing unit

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A signal recording device connectable to an external device, comprising: recording means for recording an image signal; reading means for reading a signal recorded on a recording medium by the recording means; and reading by the reading means. Transmission means for transmitting the received signal to the external device, external power supply means for supplying power from the outside, and internal power supply means for supplying power from the built-in battery. An imaging apparatus for switching a power source from the internal power supply unit to the external power supply unit to increase a reading speed of the reading unit from the recording medium. 2. An imaging device connectable to an external device, comprising: imaging means for generating an image signal from an optical image; recording means for recording an image signal output from the imaging means; and recording by the recording means. Reading means for reading a signal recorded on a medium; transmitting means for transmitting a signal read by the reading means to the external device; external power supply means to which external power is supplied; and power from a built-in battery Internal power supply means for supplying power to the external device. When connected to the external device, the power source is switched from the internal power supply means to the external power supply means, and the reading speed of the reading means from the recording medium is reduced. An imaging device characterized by raising. 3. An imaging device connectable to an external device, comprising: imaging means for generating an image signal from an optical image; recording means for recording an image signal output from the imaging means; and recording by the recording means. Reading means for reading a signal recorded on a medium; transmitting means for transmitting a signal read by the reading means to the external device; external power supply means to which external power is supplied; and power from a built-in battery When transmitting the read signal to the external device, operating the external power supply unit to increase the data transfer rate to the external device. Characteristic imaging device.