JP2002191007A - Image pickup device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image pickup device provided with a removable radio communication module for the purpose of downsizing and weight reduction of the image pickup device that can wirelessly transfer video data to an external device in large storage capacity. SOLUTION: The image pickup device where a coding processing circuit 106 applies compression coding to a video signal outputted from an image pickup element 102 and a memory card 108 stores the compression-coded video signal, is provided with a wired communication I/F 109 that externally transfers video information recorded in the memory card 108. Connecting a radio communication module 112 to the wired communication I/F 109 builds up a virtual cable onto radio communication. Thus, the image pickup device can transfer video information through radio communication to an external device 113 by using a conventional communication procedure without remarkable revision of the image pickup device and its application.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an imaging apparatus for transferring video information from an imaging section or video information recorded on a recording medium to an external device by wireless communication.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As an example of a conventional imaging apparatus, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open
The thing described in 7-46525 gazette is known. FIG. 9 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a conventional imaging apparatus disclosed in the publication. In this imaging apparatus, an optical system 901 represented by a lens is provided with an aperture and a shutter (not shown) basically similar to a photographic camera using a silver halide film. Then, the aperture and the shutter are automatically adjusted based on the amount of the imaging light incident through the lens, and an appropriate exposure is performed by a so-called AE.

The imaging system includes a CCD solid-state imaging device (hereinafter, referred to as a CCD solid-state imaging device).
An image pickup device 902 is mounted, and the image pickup device 90
2 outputs a color video signal. The imaging signal processing circuit 903 performs predetermined signal processing on the analog video signal, and supplies the analog video signal to the A / D converter 904. A / D converter 9
Numeral 04 converts the output of the imaging signal processing circuit 903 into a digital signal of, for example, 8 bits / 1 pixel and converts it into a digital video signal for one screen (one frame or one field).
This digital video signal is temporarily stored in the frame memory 905.

The digital video signal read from the frame memory 905 is output to a data compression circuit 906.
The data compression circuit 906 performs data compression such as the JPEG method, and records the compressed data on the memory card 907. By such data compression processing, the amount of recording data is reduced.

When video information is recorded on the memory card 907, the video information is read from the memory card 907. And a communication interface (communication I / F) 9
08 transmits this video information through a predetermined communication line Ln.
The data is transferred to the external device 912 having a large capacity storage function.

FIG. 10 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the external device 912. The external device 912 includes an application 1001, a communication interface 1002, and a large-capacity video recording unit 1003, and records transferred video information in the large-capacity video recording unit 1003. In this case, the transferred video information is decompressed as necessary,
Recorded as compressed data.

A system control circuit 909 including a microcomputer includes an operation unit 910 and a display / instruction unit 9.
11 is connected. The system control circuit 909 supplies various control signals for controlling the flow of the video information as described above to the imaging signal processing circuit 903, the frame memory 905, and the memory card 907.

[0008]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In an imaging apparatus,
To make it easy to handle as a portable device,
It is required to be small and lightweight. In some cases, a communication interface (communication I / F) 908 is provided as shown in FIG. 9 so that the photographer's behavior is not restricted and communication can be performed even when the photographer is away from an external device. In this case, there is a stronger demand on the wireless communication interface than on the wired communication interface.

[0009] However, although the imaging device of FIG. 9 is provided with a wired communication I / F 908, if a wireless communication interface is further provided, the size of the imaging device itself becomes large, and the requirement of small size and light weight is satisfied. There is a problem that it becomes impossible to do so. Another problem is that if a wireless communication interface is to be connected to the outside, a new connector cannot be added as long as the wireless communication interface is kept small and lightweight. Even if a wireless communication interface can be provided, there is a problem that an application having a new communication procedure is required for an external device.

The present invention has been made in view of such conventional problems, and transfers video information to an external device by wireless communication without significantly changing the main body of the imaging apparatus and the application. It is an object of the present invention to realize an imaging device which can be used.

[0011]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a video signal processing means for performing signal processing on a video signal from an image sensor, and an encoding apparatus for performing coding processing on the video signal from the video signal processing means. Processing means, recording means for recording video information from the encoding processing means on a removable recording medium or reading from the recording medium, video information from the encoding processing means, and video recorded on the recording medium A wireless communication means for transferring any one of the information to the outside by a wired communication procedure, and a virtual serial port interface detachable from the wired communication means and constructing a virtual communication cable by wireless communication When transferring video information to an external device, the wireless communication means is connected to the wired communication means, and the wired communication means is connected to the wired communication means. The used, it is characterized in that so as to transmit the image information via the virtual communication cable construction of the wireless communication means.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a video signal processing means for processing a video signal from an image sensor, an encoding processing means for encoding a video signal from the video signal processing means, Recording means for recording video information from the encoding processing means on a removable first recording medium or reading from the first recording medium, and a second recording medium capable of detaching video information from the encoding processing means. Recorded on the recording medium of the second or the second
A second recording means for reading from the recording medium, and a wireless communication means detachably attached to the second recording means in place of the second recording medium, wherein the video information is transferred to an external device. Attaching the wireless communication means to the second recording means,
The wireless communication means transmits the video information from the encoding processing means or the video information recorded on the first recording medium.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a video signal processing means for processing a video signal from an image sensor, an encoding processing means for encoding a video signal from the video signal processing means, and Recording means for recording or reading video information from an image processing means on a removable recording medium, and detachable from the recording means in place of the recording medium, comprising a memory unit and a wireless communication means When transferring video information to an external device, the memory and the wireless communication unit are attached to the recording unit, and the video from the encoding processing unit is transmitted by the wireless communication unit. The information or the video information recorded in the memory unit is transmitted to the outside.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the imaging apparatus according to the third aspect, the wireless communication means includes: a virtual serial port interface for constructing a virtual communication cable by wireless communication; Interface conversion means for converting video information recorded in the memory unit into a wired communication procedure and inputting the converted information to the virtual serial port interface.

[0015]

(Embodiment 1) An imaging apparatus 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 imaging apparatus according to the present embodiment, and the same parts as those in the conventional example are denoted by the same reference numerals. The optical system 101 has a lens, and is provided with a diaphragm and a shutter similar to a photographic camera.

The image pickup device 102 is constituted by, for example, a CCD, and converts a subject into an image pickup signal. The A / D converter 103 converts a color video signal output from the image sensor 102 into a digital signal of, for example, 10 bits / 1 pixel. The video signal processing circuit 104 is a video signal processing unit that performs predetermined signal processing on the input digital video signal. The frame memory 105 temporarily stores the digital video signal for one screen (one frame or one field) output from the video signal processing circuit 104.

The encoding processing circuit 106 includes a frame memory 1
05, read a digital video signal, for example, JPEG
This is an encoding processing unit that performs data compression by an encoding process such as a system. The memory card I / F 107 is a recording unit that records video information from the encoding processing circuit 106 on the memory card 108, which is a removable recording medium, and reads video information from the recording medium. Memory card 108
Reference numeral denotes a recording medium that can be attached to and detached from the imaging device, and a memory card interface (memory card I / F) 107
To store the compressed data.

A wired communication interface (wired communication I /
F) 109 is a wired communication unit that reads video information from the memory card 108 via the memory card I / F 107 and supplies the video information to the wireless communication module 112 when video information is recorded on the memory card 108. The wireless communication module 112 is a wireless communication unit that wirelessly transfers data to the external device 113. The external device 113 includes a large-capacity video recording unit, and a personal computer (PC) also corresponds to this.

A system control circuit 111 including a microcomputer includes an operation unit 110 having operation keys.
Is connected. The system control circuit 111 generates various control signals for controlling the flow of the video information as described above, and generates the video signal processing circuit 104 and the frame memory 1.
05, encoding processing circuit 106, memory card I / F10
7 and the wired communication I / F 109.

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of the wireless communication module 112 used in the imaging apparatus according to the present embodiment. The wireless communication module 112 has a virtual serial port interface 201, wireless communication software 202, wireless communication hardware 203, and an antenna 204. The virtual serial port interface 201 is an I / F for constructing a virtual communication cable. The wireless communication software 202 is software in which a communication protocol stack and the like are installed. The wireless communication hardware 203 is hardware for performing wireless communication such as baseband and RF.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the external device 113 used in the image pickup apparatus of the present embodiment. The external device 113 includes an application 301, a virtual serial port interface 302, a wireless communication software 3
03, a wireless communication hardware 304, an antenna 305, and a large-capacity video recording unit 306. Application 3
01 is a program for performing expansion processing of compressed data and the like. The virtual serial port interface 302 is an I / F for constructing a virtual communication cable. The wireless communication software 303 is software in which a communication protocol stack and the like are installed. Wireless communication hardware 304
Is hardware for performing wireless communication such as baseband and RF. The large-capacity video recording means 306 is a large-capacity storage medium for recording and reproducing data and a driver for the medium.

The operation of the imaging apparatus of the present embodiment configured as described above will be described. FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing a wired communication procedure according to the present embodiment. FIG. 4 shows a communication procedure when still image data is transferred from an imaging device such as a digital camera to an external device 113 such as a personal computer (PC).
In the figure, ENQ indicates an inquiry, ACK indicates an acknowledge response, and EOT indicates a transfer end.

In the optical system 101 shown in FIG. 1, the amount of the imaging light incident through a lens is automatically adjusted by a stop and a shutter, and an appropriate exposure is performed by a so-called AE. Next, the imaging light from the optical system 101 is
2 and is converted into an analog video signal. The color video signal is converted by the A / D converter 103 into a digital video signal of, for example, 10 bits / 1 pixel.
This digital video signal is input to the video signal processing circuit 104, and subjected to predetermined signal processing such as contour enhancement. The output of the video signal processing circuit 104 is temporarily stored in the frame memory 105 as a digital video signal for one screen (one frame or one field).

The digital video signal read from the frame memory 105 is input to an encoding processing means 106, and in the case of a still image, for example, is compressed and encoded by an encoding process such as JPEG. These compressed data are recorded on the memory card 108 via the memory card I / F 107. By encoding such a video signal, the amount of recorded video information can be reduced.

Further, when video information is recorded on the memory card 108 in the still image transmission mode, the recorded video information is read from the memory card 108.
This video information is transferred to the external device 113 having a large-capacity video recording function through the wired communication I / F 109 and the wireless communication module 112.

As described above, by configuring the wireless communication module 112 to be connectable to the wired communication I / F 109, a video signal can be transferred by wireless communication without adding a new connector to the imaging apparatus.

In the moving image transmission mode, the digital video signal read from the frame memory 105 is
The compression encoding is performed by an encoding process such as the MPEG system or the DV compression system. The video information of such a moving image is transferred to the external device 113 through the wired communication I / F 109 and the wireless communication module 112. Also in this case, the amount of recorded video information can be reduced by encoding the video signal.

By performing wireless communication, a moving image can be shot and moving image information can be recorded for a long time without restricting the action of the photographer and even when the external device 113 is away.

The system control circuit 111 switches modes such as a moving image transmission mode for photographing / transmission and a still image transmission mode for transmitting a still image recorded on the memory card 108 in accordance with an instruction from the operation unit 110. It can be performed. At this time, from the system control circuit 111,
Various control signals for controlling the flow of the video information as described above are transmitted to the video signal processing circuit 104 and the frame memory 10.
5, encoding processing circuit 106, memory card I / F10
7, and the wired communication I / F 109.

Here, the wireless communication module 1 shown in FIG.
Operation 12 will be described. When the wireless communication module 112 is connected to the wired communication I / F 109, the wired communication I / F
From the perspective of 109, it looks as if the communication cable is connected. Therefore, the wired communication I / F 109 can transmit the video information to the external device 113 according to the conventional wired communication procedure. That is, the wireless communication software 2
02, the wireless communication hardware 203, and the antenna 204, actual transmission of video information can be performed by wireless communication.

Next, the operation of the external device 113 shown in FIG. 3 will be described. The video information transferred through the virtual communication cable is transmitted to the wireless communication hardware 304 and the wireless communication software 30.
3. Provided to the application 301 via the virtual serial port interface 302. Thus, the video information is reproduced according to the conventional wired communication procedure. The application 301 expands the video information as necessary and records it in the large-capacity video recording means 306, or records the compressed data as it is.

Here, a wired communication procedure when transmitting still image data from the imaging apparatus to the personal computer (PC) as the external apparatus 113 will be described with reference to FIG. Wired communication I / F 109 of the imaging device and external device 11
Software for implementing the wired communication procedure is installed in the application 301 in the application 3. P
When C captures still image data from the imaging device, first, P
C transmits an ENQ to the imaging device. Next, an ACK for ENQ is returned from the imaging device to the PC. Next, a transmission request command of still image data is transmitted from the PC to the imaging device. This transmission request command includes parameters such as the number of transmission bytes. When the imaging device receives the transmission request command, it returns a command response signal. When the PC receives the command response signal, it returns an ACK. As a result, the PC and the imaging device can transmit and receive still image data.

The image information of the still image is divided into a plurality of still image data frames from the imaging device, and the still image data is transmitted in frame units. The PC returns an ACK every time still image data is received in frame units. When receiving the still image data of the last frame, the PC returns EOT. Upon receiving the EOT, the imaging device returns an ACK and ends the transmission of the still image data.

From the wired communication I / F 109 of the imaging apparatus in which such a wired communication procedure is implemented, and from the application 301 in the external device 113, the wireless communication module 112 is connected as if a communication cable is connected. Since the user can see, the video information can be transmitted using this wired communication procedure.

When the wired communication I / F 109 is used to connect the wireless communication module 112, video information can be transmitted by wireless communication to an external device without changing the circuit configuration of the imaging device or adding a new circuit. The effect of being able to transfer to 113 is obtained.

Further, since the video information is transferred to the external device 113 by wireless communication using the originally provided wired communication procedure, the communication can be performed by the conventional application 301 without adding a new communication procedure. The effect that can be obtained is also obtained.

Also, with such a configuration of the imaging device,
There is an effect that a moving image can be captured and large-capacity moving image information can be recorded without restricting the photographer's action and even when the photographer is away from the external device 113.

When the wireless communication module 112 is not used, by removing the wireless communication module 112, the effect of reducing the size and weight of the imaging device in actual use can be obtained.

In the above description, the communication procedure is for transferring still picture data. However, the same effect can be obtained with a conventional communication procedure for transferring moving picture data.

In the above description, it is assumed that the application 301 of the external apparatus 113 transmits and receives video information using a wired communication procedure and records the video information in the large-capacity video recording means 306. However, if the application 301 has this communication procedure, it is possible to display and print the video information, and the same effect as in the case of recording the video information can be obtained.

In the above description, the external device 113 is a personal computer (PC). However, as long as the device has an application for implementing a communication procedure, the external device 113 may be a display device, a printing device, a communication device, or the like. Even PC
The same effect as in the case of can be obtained.

In the above description, the encoding processing circuit 1
06 encoding processing, JPEG, MPEG, DV
Although any one of the compression methods has been described, any coding processing method that reduces the amount of video information can provide the same effect as the above-described coding processing method.

(Embodiment 2) Next, an image pickup apparatus according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention will be described. FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a configuration of the imaging apparatus according to the present embodiment. The same parts as those in the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals, and detailed description is omitted. This imaging apparatus includes an optical system 101, an imaging element 102, an A / D converter 103, a video signal processing circuit 10
4. Frame memory 105, encoding processing circuit 106, memory card 108, operation unit 110, system control circuit 1
Having 11 is similar to that shown in FIG. Unlike the first embodiment, the first memory card I / F5
07, a second memory card I / F 509 is provided, and a wireless communication card 512 that is removable from the second memory card I / F 509 is provided.

The first memory card I / F 507 holds the memory card 108 in a detachable manner, records compressed data of video signals and other data on the memory card 108, and stores compressed data and other data from the memory card 108. This is a first recording unit for reading data. The second memory card I / F 509 is connected to the first memory card I / F 50
7 is a second recording unit having the same configuration as that of the wireless communication card 7, and particularly holds the wireless communication card 512 in this embodiment in a detachable manner. The memory card 108 has a first memory card I / F
The storage medium 507 is a removable storage medium, and is referred to as a first storage medium here. On the other hand, the second memory card I / F5
When a removable storage medium is used in the storage unit 09, it is referred to as a second storage medium.

The wireless communication card 512 is a wireless communication means having a connection terminal of the same standard as that of the memory card 108 for inputting and outputting video data, and transferring data to the external device 113 by wireless communication. FIG. 6 is a configuration diagram of the wireless communication card 512. This wireless communication card 51
2 includes a memory card / serial communication conversion unit 601, a virtual serial port interface 602, wireless communication software 603, wireless communication hardware 604, and an antenna 605. Memory card / serial communication conversion means 60
Numeral 1 is for serially converting data read from the memory card 108 to generate serial communication data. The virtual serial port interface 602 is an I / F for constructing a virtual communication cable. The wireless communication software 603 is software in which a communication protocol stack and the like are installed. The wireless communication hardware 604 is hardware for performing wireless communication such as baseband and RF.

The operation of the imaging apparatus according to Embodiment 2 configured as described above will be described. The configuration of the external device 113 is the same as that shown in FIG. The wired communication procedure is the same as that shown in FIG. In the optical system 101 of FIG. 5, the amount of the imaging light incident through the lens is automatically adjusted by the aperture and the shutter, and the appropriate exposure is performed by the so-called AE. Next, the optical system 1
The imaging light from 01 is photoelectrically converted by the imaging device 102 to become an analog video signal. This color video signal is A /
In the D converter 103, the digital video signal is converted into a digital video signal of, for example, 10 bits / 1 pixel. This digital video signal is input to the video signal processing circuit 104, and subjected to predetermined signal processing such as contour enhancement. The output of the video signal processing circuit 104 is temporarily stored in the frame memory 105 as a digital video signal for one screen (one frame or one field).

The digital video signal read from the frame memory 105 is input to an encoding processing circuit 106, and in the case of a still image, for example, is compressed and encoded by an encoding process such as the JPEG method. These compressed data are recorded on the memory card 108 via the first memory card I / F 507. By encoding such a video signal, the amount of recorded video information can be reduced.

Further, when video information is recorded on the memory card 108 in the still image transmission mode, the recorded video information is read from the memory card 108.
This video information is transferred to the external device 113 having a large capacity video recording function via the second memory card I / F 509 and the wireless communication card 512.

As described above, the second memory card I / F 50
By attaching the wireless communication card 512 to the image pickup device 9, an effect is obtained that a video signal can be transferred by wireless communication without adding a new connector to the imaging device.

In the moving image transmission mode, the digital video signal read from the frame memory 105 is
The data is compressed and encoded by an encoding process such as the MPEG system or the DV compression system. The video information of such moving images is
The data is transferred to the external device 113 through the memory card I / F 509 and the wireless communication card 512. Also in this case, the amount of recorded video information is reduced by encoding the video signal.

By performing wireless communication, a moving image can be shot and moving image information can be recorded for a long time without restricting the action of the photographer and even when the external device 113 is away.

A system control circuit 111 composed of a microcomputer operates in accordance with an instruction from the operation unit 110, such as a moving image transmission mode for photographing / transmission and a still image transmission mode for transmitting a still image recorded on the memory card 108. Mode switching can be performed. At this time, various control signals for controlling the flow of the video information as described above are transmitted from the system control circuit 111 to the video signal processing circuit 104, the frame memory 105, and the encoding processing circuit 10.
6, and supplied to the first memory card I / F 507 and the second memory card I / F 509.

Here, the operation of the wireless communication card 512 shown in FIG. 6 will be described. When the wireless communication card 512 is attached to the second memory card I / F 509, the memory card /
The serial communication conversion means 601 allows the memory card 10
8 is converted into serial communication data and input to the virtual serial port interface 602. The virtual serial port interface 602 causes the memory card / serial communication conversion unit 601 to look as if the communication cable is connected. Therefore, the memory card / serial communication conversion unit 601 can transmit the video information to the external device 113 according to the conventional wired communication procedure. That is, the wireless communication software 603
With the wireless communication hardware 604 and the antenna 605, actual transmission of video information can be performed by wireless communication.

Next, the operation of the external device 113 shown in FIG. 3 will be described. The video information transferred through the virtual communication cable is transmitted to the wireless communication hardware 304 and the wireless communication software 30.
3. Provided to the application 301 via the virtual serial interface 302. Thus, the video information is reproduced according to the conventional wired communication procedure. The application 301 expands the video information as necessary and records it in the large-capacity video recording means 306, or records the compressed data as it is.

The wired communication procedure for transmitting still image data from the imaging device to the personal computer (PC), which is the external device 113, is the same as the wired communication procedure in the first embodiment, and will not be described here.

According to such a configuration, the second memory card I / F 509 is used to connect the wireless communication card 512.
Is advantageous in that video information can be transferred to the external device 113 by wireless communication without changing the circuit configuration of the imaging device or adding a new circuit.

Further, since the video information is transferred to the external device 113 by wireless communication using the conventional wired communication procedure, communication can be performed by the conventional application 301 without adding a new communication procedure. The effect that can be obtained is also obtained.

Also, with such a configuration of the imaging device,
There is an effect that a moving image can be captured and large-capacity moving image information can be recorded without restricting the photographer's action and even when the photographer is away from the external device 113.

When the wireless communication card 512 is not used, by removing the wireless communication card 512,
The effect that the imaging device at the time of actual use can be reduced in size and weight can also be obtained.

In the above description, the communication procedure for transferring still image data has been described as an example. However, any conventional communication procedure for transferring moving image data may be used. The effect of can be obtained.

In the above description, the application 301 of the external apparatus 113 transmits and receives video information using a wired communication procedure and records the video information in the large-capacity video recording unit 306. However, if the application 301 has this communication procedure, it can also display and print video information, and can obtain the same effects as in the case of recording video information.

In the above description, the external device 113 is described as a personal computer (PC). However, if the external device 113 is a device having an application for realizing a communication procedure, a display device, a printing device, a communication device, or the like is used. However, the same effect as that of the PC can be obtained.

In the above description, the encoding processing circuit 1
06 encoding processing, JPEG, MPEG, DV
Although it has been described as one of the compression systems, any encoding system that reduces the amount of video information can provide the same effects as the above-described encoding system.

(Embodiment 3) Next, an image pickup apparatus according to Embodiment 3 of the present invention will be described. FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an imaging apparatus according to the present embodiment. The same parts as those in the first or second embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals, and detailed description thereof will be omitted. This imaging apparatus includes an optical system 101, an imaging element 102, an A / D converter 103, a video signal processing circuit 104, a frame memory 105, an encoding processing circuit 10
6, having a memory card I / F 107, an operation unit 110, and a system control circuit 111 are the same as those shown in FIG. Unlike the first embodiment, a feature is that a memory and a wireless communication card 712 are provided at the output unit of the memory card I / F 107 as a recording unit.

The memory and wireless communication card 712 is a memory and a wireless communication unit that can be attached to and detached from the memory card I / F 107. The memory unit and the wireless communication card 712 have the functions of the memory card 108 and the wireless communication module 112 in FIG. 708 and a wireless communication unit 709. The memory and wireless communication card 712 has connection terminals of the same standard as the memory card 108 for inputting and outputting video data.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the memory and the wireless communication card 712. The memory and the wireless communication card 712 include a memory card / serial communication conversion unit 801, a memory unit 802, a virtual serial port interface 803, wireless communication software 804, wireless communication hardware 805, and an antenna 805. Then, the memory card / serial communication conversion unit 801 and the memory unit 802 function as the memory unit 708 in FIG.

Memory card / serial communication conversion means 80
Reference numeral 1 denotes a unit for serially converting data read from the memory unit 802 to generate serial communication data.
The virtual serial port interface 803 is an I / F for constructing a virtual communication cable. Wireless communication software 8
Reference numeral 04 denotes software in which a communication protocol stack and the like are installed. The wireless communication hardware 805 is hardware for performing wireless communication such as baseband and RF.

The operation of the imaging apparatus according to Embodiment 3 configured as described above will be described. The configuration of the external device 113 is the same as that shown in FIG. The wired communication procedure is the same as shown in FIG. In the optical system 101 of FIG. 7, the amount of the imaging light incident through the lens is automatically adjusted by the aperture and the shutter, and the appropriate exposure is performed by the so-called AE. Next, the optical system 1
The imaging light from 01 is photoelectrically converted by the imaging device 102 to become an analog video signal. This color video signal is A /
In the D converter 103, the digital video signal is converted into a digital video signal of, for example, 10 bits / 1 pixel. This digital video signal is input to the video signal processing circuit 104, and subjected to predetermined signal processing such as contour enhancement. The output of the video signal processing circuit 104 is temporarily stored in the frame memory 105 as a digital video signal for one screen (one frame or one field).

The digital video signal read from the frame memory 105 is input to the encoding processing circuit 106, and in the case of a still image, for example, is compressed and encoded by an encoding process such as the JPEG method. These compressed data are stored in the memory and the wireless communication card 7 via the memory card I / F 107.
12 is recorded in the memory unit 708. By encoding such a video signal, the amount of recorded video information can be reduced.

Further, when video information is recorded in the memory and the wireless communication card 712 in the still image transmission mode, the recorded video information is read from the memory unit 708. This video information is stored in a memory card / serial communication converter 801, virtual serial port interface 803, wireless communication software 804, wireless communication hardware 805
Through the external device 1 having a large capacity video recording function
13 is transferred.

As described above, by attaching the memory and the wireless communication card 712 to the memory card I / F 107, it is possible to provide a wired communication I / F or use a video signal for wireless communication without using a card dedicated to a wireless communication module. Can be transferred.

In the moving image transmission mode, the digital video signal read from the frame memory 105 is
Compression encoding is performed by an encoding process such as the MPEG system or the DV compression system. The video information of such a moving image is stored in the memory card I / F 107 and the memory and wireless communication card 71.
2 and transferred to the external device 113. Also in this case, the amount of recorded video information is reduced by encoding the video signal.

By performing wireless communication, a moving image can be photographed and moving image information can be recorded for a long time without restricting the action of the photographer and even when the external device 113 is away.

A system control circuit 111 composed of a microcomputer operates in accordance with an instruction from the operation unit 110 to transmit and receive a still image recorded in the memory and the wireless communication card 712. Mode switching such as a transmission mode can be performed. At this time, various control signals for controlling the flow of the video information as described above are supplied from the system control circuit 111 to the video signal processing circuit 104, the frame memory 105, the encoding processing circuit 106, and the memory card I / F 107. You.

Here, the operation of the memory and wireless communication card 712 shown in FIG. 8 will be described. Memory card I / F107
When the memory and the wireless communication card 712 are attached to the virtual serial port interface, video information from the memory card I / F 107 or the memory unit 802 is converted into serial communication data by the memory card / serial communication conversion unit 801 and the virtual serial port interface 803 is input.
With the virtual serial port interface 803, the communication cable appears to the memory card / serial communication conversion unit 801 as if it were connected.
Therefore, the memory card / serial communication conversion unit 801 can transmit the video information to the external device 113 according to the conventional wired communication procedure. That is, actual transmission of video information can be performed by wireless communication using the wireless communication software 804, the wireless communication hardware 805, and the antenna 806.

Next, the operation of the external device 113 shown in FIG. 3 will be described. The video information transferred through the virtual communication cable is transmitted to the wireless communication hardware 304 and the wireless communication software 30.
3. Provided to the application 301 via the virtual serial interface 302. Thus, the video information is reproduced according to the conventional wired communication procedure. The application 301 expands the video information as necessary and records it in the large-capacity video recording means 306, or records the compressed data as it is.

The wired communication procedure for transmitting still image data from the imaging device to the personal computer (PC), which is the external device 113, is the same as the wired communication procedure in the first or second embodiment. I do.

According to such a configuration, in order to connect the memory and the wireless communication card 712, video information can be externally transmitted by wireless communication without changing the circuit configuration of the image pickup apparatus or adding a new circuit. The effect of being able to transfer to the device 113 is obtained.

Further, since the video information is transferred to the external device 113 by wireless communication using the conventional wired communication procedure, communication can be performed by the conventional application 301 without adding a new communication procedure. The effect that can be obtained is also obtained.

Also, with the configuration of such an imaging device,
There is an effect that a moving image can be captured and large-capacity moving image information can be recorded without restricting the photographer's action and even when the photographer is away from the external device 113.

When the memory and wireless communication card 712 are not used, by removing this card,
The effect that the imaging device at the time of actual use can be reduced in size and weight can also be obtained. In addition, the memory and the wireless communication card 7
When the card 12 is not used, the card can be removed and a memory card can be inserted instead to perform a basic operation as an imaging device.

In the above description, the communication procedure for transferring still image data has been described as an example. However, if the communication procedure is conventionally provided for transferring moving image data, the same applies. The effect of can be obtained.

In the above description, the application 301 of the external device 113 transmits and receives video information using a wired communication procedure and records the video information in the large-capacity video recording unit 306. However, if the application 301 has this communication procedure, it can also display and print video information, and can obtain the same effects as in the case of recording video information.

In the above description, the external device 113 is described as a personal computer (PC). However, if the external device 113 is a device having an application for realizing a communication procedure, a display device, a printing device, a communication device, etc. However, the same effect as that of the PC can be obtained.

In the above description, the encoding processing circuit 1
06 encoding processing, JPEG, MPEG, DV
Although it has been described as one of the compression systems, any encoding system that reduces the amount of video information can provide the same effects as the above-described encoding system.

[0086]

As described above, according to the imaging apparatus of the first aspect, when the wireless communication means is connected, the interface of the wired communication means is used, so that the wireless communication can be performed without changing the imaging apparatus. An effect is obtained that video information can be transferred to an external device. In addition, since the video information is transferred to the external device by wireless communication using the wired communication procedure, an effect that communication can be performed by a conventional application without adding a new communication procedure is obtained. Further, when the wireless communication means is not used, the effect that the imaging device main body can be reduced in size and weight can be obtained by removing the wireless communication means.

According to the imaging apparatus of the second aspect,
When connecting the wireless communication unit, the interface of the second recording unit is used, so that the imaging device is not changed and
An effect is obtained that video information can be transferred to an external device by wireless communication. When not using the wireless communication means, remove the wireless communication means,
The effect that the imaging device main body can be reduced in size and weight can also be obtained.

According to the imaging apparatus of the third and fourth aspects, when connecting the memory and the wireless communication means, the interface of the recording means is used, so that the video information can be transferred by wireless communication without changing the imaging apparatus. The effect of being able to transfer to an external device is obtained. Further, when the memory and the wireless communication unit are not used, the effect that the imaging device main body can be reduced in size and weight can be obtained by removing the memory wireless communication unit.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of an imaging device according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of a wireless communication module used in the imaging device according to the first embodiment;

FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram of an external device used in the imaging device according to each embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a timing chart showing a wired communication procedure between the imaging device and an external device according to each embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of an imaging device according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a configuration diagram of a wireless communication card used in the imaging device according to the second embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of an imaging device according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a configuration diagram of a memory and a wireless communication card used in an imaging device according to a third embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of a conventional imaging device.

FIG. 10 is a configuration diagram of an external device used for a conventional imaging device.

[Explanation of symbols]

Reference Signs List 101 optical system 102 imaging element 103 A / D converter 104 video signal processing circuit 105 frame memory 106 encoding processing circuit 107 memory card interface (I / F) 108 memory card 109 wired communication interface (I / F) 110 operation unit 111 System control circuit 112 Wireless communication module 113 External device 201, 302, 602, 803 Virtual serial port interface 202, 303, 603, 804 Wireless communication software 203, 304, 604, 805 Wireless communication hardware 204, 305, 605, 806 Antenna 301 Application 306 Large-capacity video recording means 507 First memory card interface (I / F) 509 Second memory card interface (I / F) 512 Wireless communication card 60 , 801 Memory card / serial communication converter 712 memory and a wireless communication card 708 memory unit 709 wireless communication means

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page F term (reference) 5C022 AB02 AC42 5C052 AA17 GA02 GB06 GE08 5C053 FA08 GB36 KA04 KA25 LA14 5C054 AA01 AA05 CC02 DA06 GA04

Claims (4)

[Claims] A video signal processing unit that performs signal processing on a video signal from an image sensor; an encoding processing unit that performs an encoding process on the video signal from the video signal processing unit; and video information from the encoding processing unit. Recording means for recording on or reading from a removable recording medium, and one of the video information from the encoding processing means and the video information recorded on the recording medium, And a wireless communication means detachable from the wired communication means and having a virtual serial port interface for constructing a virtual communication cable by wireless communication, and transferring the video information to an external device. If so, the wireless communication means is connected to the wired communication means, and the wired communication means uses the wired communication procedure to construct the wireless communication means. Imaging device is characterized in that so as to transmit the image information via the virtual communication cable. 2. A video signal processing unit for performing signal processing on a video signal from an image sensor, an encoding unit for encoding a video signal from the video signal processing unit, and video information from the encoding unit. For reading from or reading from the first recording medium,
Recording means for recording the video information from the encoding processing means on a removable second recording medium or reading the video information from the second recording medium.
Recording means, and wireless communication means detachably attached to the second recording means in place of the second recording medium. When video information is transferred to an external device, the second recording means An imaging apparatus comprising a wireless communication unit, wherein the wireless communication unit transmits video information from the encoding processing unit or video information recorded on the first recording medium. 3. A video signal processing means for performing signal processing on a video signal from an image sensor, an encoding processing means for encoding a video signal from the video signal processing means, and video information from the encoding processing means. A recording unit that records on or reads from the removable recording medium, and is detachable from the recording unit instead of the recording medium,
A memory configured by a memory unit and a wireless communication unit; and a wireless communication unit. When the video information is to be transferred to an external device, the memory and the wireless communication unit are attached to the recording unit, and the wireless communication unit is provided. An image pickup apparatus characterized in that the image information from the encoding processing means or the image information recorded in the memory unit is transmitted to the outside. 4. The wireless communication means comprises: a virtual serial port interface for constructing a virtual communication cable by wireless communication; and converting video information from the recording means or video information recorded in the memory into a wired communication procedure. 4. The imaging apparatus according to claim 3, further comprising: an interface conversion unit for inputting the data to the virtual serial port interface.