JP2002057934A - Preview system and method having remote function compatible with bluetooth protocol - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a remote controller for an image acquisition device and to provide a remote controller that has a display device by which a user can view an image captured b an image capturing device. SOLUTION: The preview system consists of the remote controller comprising a display panel and a control panel and of the image capturing device. A user removes the remote controller from the image capturing device, uses the control panel for remotely controlling functions of the image capturing device and uses the display panel to preview an image captured by the image capturing device. The remote controller is removably attached to the image capturing device.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a preview apparatus and method, and more particularly, to a digital camera having a remote control that enables preview and change of an image.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Remote control cameras are well known, both standard and digital, and literature exists in the art.
For example, consider a prior art camera having a remote control removably connected to the body of the camera. This remote control presses the shutter, valve (manually determines the time)
It can be used to control various operational functions of the camera, such as making exposures, zooming, and the like.

[0003] Once a new item is adopted for a high-end camera, users expect that all such remote controls will do, but the price of the camera will be minimal. This is due to the fact that they offer much more flexibility than the old standard timed shutter release. With a simple push of a button, after a preset delay, the user instructs to take an image when ready. Otherwise, just because these remote controls are convenient, they have comparable drawbacks. Since the user does not look through the camera's viewfinder lens, he has only a brief overview of the image composition when using the remote control. That is, the image captured by the remote controller has been blind art. Thus, many wonderful pictures have been missed because users misjudged their position within the picture frame.

[0004]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a remote control for an image capture device, the remote control having a display which allows a user to view the image captured by the image capture device. To provide.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The above object comprises a display panel and a control panel, wherein a user removes a remote control from the image capture device and uses the control panel to remotely control the functions of the image capture device. This is accomplished by a preview system comprising a remote control removably attached to an image capture device that uses a display panel to preview an image captured by the image capture device.

[0006]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring to FIGS. 1 to 3, FIG. 1 is a front view of a digital camera 10 according to the present invention. FIG.
FIG. 2 is a rear view of the digital camera 10. FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram of the digital camera 10. Digital camera 1
0 has a camera housing 11 to which a remote controller 20 is detachably attached. The housing 11 includes a lens 12, a viewfinder 14, a flash 16, and an input device 18.
Input device 18 comprises various buttons, knobs, or the like that allow a user to control digital camera 10. Charge coupled device (CCD) 30, automatic gain controller (AGC) 32, analog / digital (A /
D) The converter 34, the memory 36, the processor 38, and the Bluetooth module 40 are fixed to the housing 11. The Bluetooth module 40 includes an antenna 42 and an RF transceiver 44. Other devices are also fixed to the housing 11, but are omitted because they are not directly related to the claims of the present invention.

[0007] The Bluetooth module 40 uses a Bluetooth (Bluetooth) communication protocol to carry out 2.4.
It is used for wirelessly transmitting and receiving data in a GHz radio frequency band. Bluetooth is an open standard developed by a number of manufacturers' associations and is well documented. For the present invention, the Bluetooth module is used to send and receive radio wave signals to and from the corresponding Bluetooth module 50 of the remote controller 20. Using the Bluetooth communication protocol, a communication link is established between the Bluetooth modules 50 and 40. That is, data is exchanged between the main camera body 11 and the detachable remote controller 20.

For simplicity, the lens 12 of the digital camera 10 of the preferred embodiment is a multi-element composite device. The basic function of lens 12 is simply to focus light from an image source onto CCD 30. However, the lens 12 changes the focused image, for example, so that it can be zoomed, and changes the aperture in order to change the exposure and depth of field of the image.

The CCD 30 captures this focused image and converts it to a corresponding electronic signal. The intensity of this signal is changed using the AGC 32, which has the effect of adjusting the luminance or exposure characteristics of the image. The adjusted signal is supplied to an A / D converter 34 to obtain a digital image. This process is performed continuously, and when the user presses the shutter button, which is one of the input devices 18 on the housing 11, the latest digital image is saved in the memory 36. The flash 16 is used when shooting an image under low illuminance conditions. Processor 38 is in electrical communication with all of the above electronic devices to control and direct operation.

The above description is intended to provide only a general overview of the workings of digital camera 10. Many other devices and software provide auto focus, as well as image views already shown in memory 36.
The digital camera 10 is used to perform various modes of operation such as automatic exposure, flash control, and automatic white balance. However, with these various options, a digital image is ultimately formed and this digital image is sent to the Bluetooth module 40. The Bluetooth module 40 converts the digital image according to the Bluetooth protocol, forms a transmitted digital image, and then uses the RF transceiver 44 to broadcast the corresponding radio signal from the antenna 42. Therefore, the transmitted digital image is broadcast from the housing 11 of the digital camera 10 using the Bluetooth transmission protocol. The intended destination of this broadcast is the remote control 20. Detailed information on Bluetooth hardware and software is available at www.bluetooth.com. Bluetooth. co
m.

A remote controller 20 is electrically connected to a liquid crystal display (LCD) 22 for viewing images, a control panel 28 for providing user input, a Bluetooth module 50, and all of these devices for controlling functions. Controller 58. The controller 58 comprises a memory 56 for storing both data and programs. Controller 58 executes a program stored in memory 56 to direct its operation, and thus controls the functions of remote controller 20.

The Bluetooth module 50 of the remote controller 20 is configured to interface with the Bluetooth module 40 in the camera housing 11. The Bluetooth standard is designed to allow many Bluetooth enabled devices to work together closely without interference. Thus, the Bluetooth modules are configured to be uniquely identified from one another, and thus are not confused or miscommunicated with other Bluetooth devices. By using the antenna 52, the RF signal transmitted by the Bluetooth module 40 is received by the RF transceiver 54 of the Bluetooth module 50. These signals (ie, the transmitted digital image) are decoded to obtain the digital image sent by the Bluetooth module 40.
Controller 58 then causes the digital image to be displayed on LCD 22. Therefore, the user uses the LCD 22 of the remote controller 20 as a viewfinder, like the viewfinder 14 of the camera housing 11. Digital camera 1
Changing the composition of the image taken at 0 is indicated on the LCD 22. With the remote control 20, the user can position himself or herself within the frame of the image and know exactly what type of image he wants.

For most operations of the digital camera 10, the remote control 20 can be mounted on the back of the camera housing 11, as shown in FIG. The sensor 19 of the camera housing 11 detects whether the remote controller 20 is attached to the housing 11. When the remote control 20 is mounted on the housing 11, to conserve battery power, the Bluetooth modules 40 and 50 are put into standby mode because there is no need to exchange information. In this case, the camera function is the input device 1 on the housing 11.
8 is controlled. However, it can be designed to make physical and electrical contact between the housing 11 and the remote control 20, so that data can be transferred between them without using the respective Bluetooth modules 40 and 50. Can be replaced with Such contact is L
The CD 22 is preferred because it is used as an extra viewfinder when it is inconvenient or impractical to view through the optical viewfinder 14. The contact also allows the control panel 28 to control the operation of the digital camera 10. Additionally, the LCD 22 has already been photographed,
And for reviewing the images stored in the memory 36.

Referring to FIGS. 3 and 4, FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing the remote controller 20 detached from the camera housing 11. FIG. In such a situation where the remote controller 20 of the digital camera 10 is desirable, the user removes the remote controller 20 from the camera housing 11. The sensor 19 detects that the remote controller 20 has been removed, and the Bluetooth modules 40 and 50 go from the standby mode to the active mode. The Bluetooth module 40 in the camera housing 11 is the most recent digital image (about 35 images per second)
To the Bluetooth module 50 of the remote control 20 so that the user can preview the captured image. The following method is used to achieve this function.

1. CCD30 is AGC32, lens 1
2 to capture an image using image capture characteristics such as current focus, exposure, depth of field, zoom, and the like.

2. The captured image is converted to an A / D converter 34.
To a digital image.

3. The digital image is converted to a transmitted image using the Bluetooth protocol.

4. The transmitted image is transmitted to the remote controller 20 using the RF transceiver 44 and the antenna 42.

5. The transmitted image is received by the remote controller 20 and decoded from the Bluetooth protocol to obtain the digital image of step (2).

6. LCD2 for forming a display image
Make the necessary adjustments to the digital image to meet the hardware requirements of Step 2.

7. The display image is shown on the LCD 22,
Thereby, the user can preview the image captured by the digital camera 10.

The remote controller 20 converts these display images into LC
It is displayed continuously on D22. Users focus, exposure,
The control panel 28 is used to change image capture characteristics such as depth of field, zoom, etc. The remote controller 20 controls the control panel 28 in a manner corresponding to the change of the transmission image information.
The Bluetooth module 50 is used to send the control signal generated by the Bluetooth module to the Bluetooth module 40 of the main camera housing 11. These Bluetooth encoded control signals are decoded by the Bluetooth module 40 and sent to the processor 38. The processor 38 controls the zoom of the lens 12, the exposure characteristics of the AGC 32,
Respond to these control signals in any suitable manner, such as changing the aperture of lens 12. Finally, if the user
When satisfied with the image composition, as indicated by the digital image shown on CD 22,
The control panel 28 is used to send a shutter signal to the control panel. Processor 38 stores the current digital image and then sends it to memory 36.

In low light conditions, if use of the flash 16 is desired, the processor 38 stores the most recent image in the memory 3 when receiving a shutter signal from the remote control 20.
Do not save to 6. Instead, the image captured using the flash 16 is saved. While the flash is being charged, a charge signal is displayed on LCD 22.

The use of a Bluetooth module provides great flexibility to the image capture device of the present invention, such that a dedicated remote control is no longer required. The more popular the Bluetooth module is in portable devices with the use of appropriate controls of the software installed in the portable device, the more portable devices can be used as remote controls of the image capture device of the present invention. Referring to FIGS. 5 and 6, FIG. 5 is a perspective view of another portable image capturing device, a digital camera 60 remotely controlled by a personal digital assistant (PDA) 90. FIG. FIG. 6 is a functional block diagram of the digital camera 60 and the PDA 90.

The digital camera 60 is almost identical to the digital camera shown in the first embodiment except that it does not include a detachably connected remote controller. Almost the same remote control functions are provided by the PDA 90. Therefore, the digital camera 60 is composed of a housing 61, which includes a lens 62, a viewfinder 64, and a flash 6.
6. The input device 68. In the housing 61, the CCD 7
0, an AGC 72, an A / D converter 74, a memory 76, a processor 78, and a Bluetooth module 80. Bluetooth module 80 has antenna 82, R
An F transceiver 84 is provided. All major functions of these devices are the same as those of the digital camera of the first embodiment. However, certain processor control functions differ slightly in the second embodiment with respect to the absence of a dedicated removable remote control. Therefore, the digital camera 60
Need not have the sensor of the first embodiment to detect whether the remote control is mounted on the housing 61. Thus, the Bluetooth module 80 will remain in standby mode whenever not activated by a signal from another Bluetooth module, or unless directed by the user via the input device 68.

The PDA 90 includes a processor 96 and a memory 9
8, a Bluetooth module 100, a display 92, and a user input interface 94. The user input interface 94 includes a keypad 93 and a display 92.
It consists of the upper touch sense image 95. The memory 98 comprises an operating system 97 having at least one device driver 99. The Bluetooth module 100 includes an antenna 102 and an RF transceiver.
The PDA 90 is a general purpose portable computing device and is not customized to function as a remote control for the digital camera 60 of the present invention, but can be used by the device driver 99 and the like. Device driver 9
9 is a PDA operating system 97 (eg, Windows® CE, Linux, Palm OS)
Etc.) and interfaces with the Bluetooth module 100 of the PDA 90 to configure it to communicate with the Bluetooth module 80 of the digital camera 60.

The device driver 99 is first downloaded by the user to the PDA 90, which is supplied, for example, by the manufacturer of the digital camera 60. Once installed, the device driver 99 uses a user input interface 94 representing a suitable keypad to remotely control the digital camera 60. PDA90
After properly configuring the Bluetooth module 100, the device driver 99 receives digital images from the digital camera 60 and shows them on the display 92. The device driver 99 also includes a reconfigured input interface 94, ie, a keypad 93 and a touch sensitive image 95.
A control signal is sent to the digital camera 60 according to a user input from. Input interface 94 allows a user to send commands to remotely control the focus, exposure, or zoom characteristics of a digital image. When received and decoded by the Bluetooth module 80 of the digital camera 60, the processor 78
Operate with these commands to change the focus, aperture, or zoom of the AGC 72, or the gain of the AGC 72. With the dedicated remote control described above, the digital image is displayed on the display 92 for the user to review at a rate of about 35 frames per second. Thus, the user can see changes to digital image properties instantaneously. Once satisfied, the user sends a shutter command to the digital camera 60 using the user input interface 94, thereby saving the most recent digital image to the memory 76.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that a Bluetooth enabled laptop computer can also be used to perform exactly the same functions as the PDA 90. In fact, any general purpose computing device having a display, a Bluetooth module and its constituent software, a keypad or keyboard for the interface can be used as a remote control for the digital camera 60. Additionally,
The digital cameras 60, 10 of the present invention can also be adapted for video output to be electrically connected to a video device for displaying digital images.

In contrast to the prior art, the present invention uses a Bluetooth module to receive control commands from a remote controller and to send digital images to the remote controller. By transmitting these digital images to the remote control, the remote control can continuously display the most recent image from the image capturer on its display. Thus, it is better for the user to remotely determine the exposure and composition of the image he wishes to capture.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view of a digital camera according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a rear view of the digital camera in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram of the digital camera in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 shows the remote control of FIG. 2 removed from the main camera housing.

FIG. 5 illustrates another image capture device remotely controlled by a portable device according to the present invention.

6 is a functional block diagram of the device shown in FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 10 digital camera 11 camera housing 12 lens 14 viewfinder 16 flash 18 input device 20 remote controller 30 CCD 32 automatic gain controller (AGC) 34 A / D converter 36 memory 38 processor 40, 50, 80, 100 Bluetooth module 42 Antenna 44 RF Transceiver 56 Memory 58 Controller 52 Antenna 54 RF Transceiver 60 Digital Camera 61 Case 62 Lens 64 Viewfinder 66 Flash 68 Input Device 70 CCD 72 AGC 74 A / D Converter 76 Memory 78 Processor 82 Antenna 84 RF Transceiver 90 PDA 96 Processor 92 Display 94 Input Interface 93 Keypad 95 Touch Sense Image 98 Memory 99 Device Driver 97 Operating system

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification symbol FI Theme coat ゛ (Reference) G03B 19/02 G03B 19/02 5K048 G06F 3/00 601 G06F 3/00 601 H04N 5/225 H04N 5/225 A H04Q 9/00 301 H04Q 9/00 301E 311 311T 371 371B F term (reference) 2H002 CC00 FB03 GA68 GA72 GA77 JA07 2H054 AA01 BB11 2H102 AA71 BB01 CA06 CA34 5C022 AA13 AB12 AB15 AB20 AC42 AC42 AC42 AC73 AC77 AC78 5E501 AA04 AA30 AB30 AC34 BA05 CA04 CB03 CB05 CB14 CC02 FA14 5K048 AA04 BA10 DB01 EB02 EB15 FB15 FC01 HA04 HA12 HA23

Claims (41)

[Claims] A display panel; and a control panel, wherein a user removes a remote control from the image capture device and uses the control panel to remotely control the functions of the image capture device, the image captured by the image capture device. A preview system comprising a remote control removably attached to an image capture device that uses a display panel to preview the image. 2. The image capture device further includes a transceiver, and the remote control further includes a transceiver, wherein the image capture device and the remote control mutually transmit and receive radio signals using each transceiver. The preview system according to claim 1. 3. The preview system of claim 2, wherein both the image capture device and the remote control use a Bluetooth protocol to transmit and receive radio signals. 4. The remote controller sends control signals to the image capture device using the Bluetooth protocol, and the image capture device sends the current image data to the remote control using the Bluetooth protocol, thereby causing the display panel to capture the image. 4. The preview system according to claim 3, wherein an image captured by the device is displayed. 5. The preview system according to claim 4, wherein the user uses the display panel to check image characteristics. 6. The preview system according to claim 4, wherein the control signal is for the image capturing device to change image characteristics. 7. The preview system of claim 6, wherein the control panel allows a user to send control signals to change image characteristics. 8. The preview system according to claim 7, wherein the user uses the control panel to capture the image using the current image characteristics. 9. The preview system according to claim 4, wherein a charge-coupled device (CCD) is used to generate the current image data. 10. The preview system according to claim 9, wherein the image capturing device is a digital camera. 11. The preview system according to claim 1, wherein the display panel is a liquid crystal display (LCD). 12. A remote control comprising: a display panel; and a control panel, wherein a user uses the control panel to remotely control the functions of the image capture device and displays the image capture device to view the captured images. A preview system using a panel, wherein the image capture device and the remote control are separate devices and comprise the image capture device and the remote control. 13. The preview system of claim 12, wherein both the image capture device and the remote control use a Bluetooth protocol to transmit and receive radio signals. 14. The remote controller sends control signals to the image capture device using the Bluetooth protocol, and the image capture device sends the current image data to the remote control using the Bluetooth protocol, so that the display panel captures the image. 14. The preview system according to claim 13, wherein an image captured by the device is displayed. 15. The preview system according to claim 14, wherein the user uses the display panel to check image characteristics. 16. The preview system according to claim 14, wherein the control signal is for the image capturing device to change image characteristics. 17. The control panel according to claim 1, wherein the control panel allows a user to send control signals to change image characteristics.
6. The preview system according to 6. 18. The preview system of claim 17, wherein the user uses the control panel to capture an image using the current image characteristics. 19. Charge coupled device (CCD) or CM
15. The preview system according to claim 14, wherein an OS sensor is used to generate current image data. 20. The preview system according to claim 12, wherein the image capturing device is a digital camera. 21. The preview system according to claim 12, wherein the remote controller is a personal digital assistant (PDA) or a portable personal computer (PC). 22. The preview system according to claim 12, wherein the display panel is a liquid crystal display (LCD). 23. An image acquisition device for generating image data from an image; a lens for focusing an image on the image acquisition device; and an automatic gain controller (AG) for controlling a gain characteristic of the image acquisition device.
An analog / digital (A / D) converter for converting image data into a digital image; a memory for storing the digital image; and a Bluetooth module for establishing communication with a remote device. A digital camera that uses a Bluetooth module to receive control signals from a remote device to control its operation and uses the Bluetooth module to send digital images to the remote device. 24. The remote device is a portable device capable of establishing radio signal communication according to a Bluetooth communication protocol, the portable device comprising a keypad and a display panel,
24. The digital camera according to claim 23, wherein a user uses a keypad to control the operation of the digital camera and views the digital image on a display panel. 25. The portable device is under an operating system and an operating system that mediates between the PDA hardware and the digital camera to allow a user to use the PDA to control the operation of the digital camera. 25. The digital camera according to claim 24, wherein the digital camera is a personal digital assistant (PDA) including a device driver running on the PDA, and displays a digital image sent from the digital camera on a display panel of the PDA. 26. The portable device mediates between the operating system and the hardware of the laptop computer and the digital camera to enable the user to use the laptop computer to control the operation of the digital camera. 25. The digital camera according to claim 24, wherein the digital camera is a laptop computer comprising a device driver running under an operating system, and displays a digital image sent from the digital camera on a display panel of the laptop computer. 27. The digital camera according to claim 24, wherein the user uses a keypad to change the focus of the lens of the digital camera and watches the effect of the focus change on the display panel. 28. The digital camera according to claim 24, wherein the user uses a keypad to change the gain of the AGC to change the exposure of the image, and watches the effect of the change in exposure on the display panel. 29. The digital camera according to claim 24, wherein the user uses a keypad to save the digital image in the memory. 30. The digital camera according to claim 24, wherein the remote device is detachably connected to the digital camera. 31. The digital camera according to claim 23, wherein the remote device is a device separate from the digital camera. 32. An image acquisition apparatus comprising: a charge-coupled device (C);
24. The digital camera according to claim 23, which is a CD). 33. The digital camera according to claim 23, wherein the image collection device is a CMOS sensor. 34. An image capture device for capturing an image according to current image capture characteristics; converting the captured image to a transmitted image; sending the transmitted image to a remote controller; converting the transmitted image to a display image. A display panel for displaying a preview image sent from the image capture device to the remote control comprising a step of displaying a display image on the display panel for a user to preview the image captured by the image capture device;
A remote control comprising a control panel for controlling the operation of the image capture device and a preview method for the image capture device. 35. The image capture device further includes a transceiver, and the remote controller further includes a transceiver, wherein the image capture device and the remote controller transmit radio signals to each other using each transceiver, or transmit the radio signals to each other. 35. The preview method according to claim 34, wherein the preview method is received. 36. The preview method according to claim 35, wherein the image capture device uses a Bluetooth protocol to send the transmitted image, and the remote controller uses a Bluetooth protocol to receive the transmitted image. 37. The preview method of claim 36, wherein the remote controller sends a control signal to the image capture device using a Bluetooth protocol to change the image capture characteristics. 38. The method of claim 37, wherein the control panel allows a user to send control signals to change image capture characteristics. 39. The preview method according to claim 34, wherein a charge-coupled device (CCD) is used to capture the image. 40. The preview method according to claim 34, wherein the image capturing device is a digital camera. 41. The preview method according to claim 34, wherein the display panel is a liquid crystal display (LCD).