JP2002221753A - Menu display method of camera - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a menu display method of a camera having improved operability. SOLUTION: The menus are arranged along longitudinal direction of a LCD panel 14 for display, and the menu is selected by left and right buttons 17c, 17d of a cursor button 17. Set items in the menu are selected by upper and lower buttons 17a, 17b. Page selection menus capable of selecting menu groups to be displayed on the LCD panel 14 from a plurality of menu groups are set in all menu groups, respectively. The page selection menu is selected by the left and right buttons 17c, 17d and the menu group to be displayed is selected by the upper and lower buttons 17a, 17b. The menu 51 at the right end is selected by pressing the left button 17c once while the menu 55 at the left end is selected and the menu 55 at the left end is selected by pressing the right button 17d once while the menu 51 at the right end is selected.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a camera, and more particularly, to a method of displaying a menu used for setting functions of a camera.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An optical object image is converted into an electric image signal by a CCD image sensor or the like, and image data obtained by digital conversion is stored in a memory such as a smart media (product name). Portable electronic still cameras have become widespread. Such an electronic still camera is provided with an LCD panel that reads out image data from a memory and displays a reproduced image. This LC
The D panel is used as an electronic viewfinder for displaying a captured image in real time.
When various settings such as sensitivity setting, white balance setting, and self-timer setting are performed, a setting screen for each setting operation is displayed.

When setting such a camera as described above, the number of menus related to settings such as imaging becomes extremely large, and the number of menus that can be displayed at one time is limited on an LCD panel having a narrow display screen. Therefore, it is necessary to use a menu display method in which all menus are divided into a plurality of menu groups and one of the menu groups is switchably displayed.

FIGS. 8 and 9 show setting screens of the electronic still camera. FIG. 8 shows a first menu group, and FIG. 9 shows a second menu group. As shown in FIG.
Five menus 72 to 76 are displayed on the CD panel 71, and the menu is selected and set by the left and right buttons of the cursor button. Four menus 73 to 76 on the left
Is a menu related to photographing, etc.
Is a menu for switching a menu group to be displayed. By pressing the right button of the cursor button once with the menu 72 selected, a second menu group is displayed as shown in FIG.

The LCD panel 71 has five menus 7
7 to 81 are displayed, and a menu is selected and set as in the first menu group. Four menus on the right 7
7 to 80 are menus related to photographing and the like, and a menu 81 at the left end is a menu for switching a menu group to be displayed. When the left button of the cursor button is pressed once in a state where the menu 81 is selected, a first menu group is displayed.

Further, even if the left button of the cursor button is pressed while the menu 76 is being selected, the leftmost menu 76 is kept selected. Similarly, even if the right button of the cursor button is pressed while the menu 77 is being selected, the menu 77 at the right end is held in a selected state.

[0007]

However, when selecting the menu 77 from the state where the menu 76 is selected, the right button of the cursor button must be depressed nine times, which significantly reduces the operability. make worse. Note that this setting screen can display a menu group of two pages in total, but there is a camera that can display a menu group of three or more pages, further deteriorating operability.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and has as its object to provide a camera menu display method with improved operability.

[0009]

In order to achieve the above object, a method for displaying a menu of a camera according to the present invention comprises a page selection menu which allows a menu group to be displayed on a display device to be selected from a plurality of menu groups. Provided in all menu groups,
The display selection of the menu group is performed by selecting a page selection menu by the operation means and selecting a menu group to be displayed on the display device.

The menus are displayed side by side on the display device, and the operating means is a cursor button for selecting a menu with the left and right buttons and selecting a setting item in the menu with the up and down buttons. By pressing the left button once when the leftmost menu is selected, the rightmost menu is selected, and by pressing the right button once when the rightmost menu is selected, The leftmost menu is selected.

[0011]

FIG. 1 is an external perspective view of an electronic still camera (hereinafter abbreviated as camera) 2 and FIG.
Is a rear view thereof. As shown in FIG. 1, a lens barrel 4 provided with a photographing lens 3 is provided at the center of the front surface of the camera 2 so as to be slidable in the optical axis direction. Above the lens barrel 4, an objective-side finder window 5 and a strobe light emitting unit 6 for irradiating a subject with strobe light are provided. A release button 7 is provided on the upper surface of the camera 2. A rotatable shooting mode dial 8 is provided below the release button 7, and can select a shooting mode such as a night view mode and a continuous shooting mode in addition to the automatic shooting and the manual shooting.

On the back of the camera 2, as shown in FIG.
A control panel 11 is provided. The control panel 11 incorporates an eyepiece side finder window 12, an operation switch group 13, an LCD panel 14, and the like. The LCD panel 14 constitutes an electronic viewfinder and is used for confirming and observing a reproduced image.

The operation switch group 13 includes a power switch 1
6, a cursor button 17, a mode changeover switch 18, an execute button 19, a cancel button 20, and the like. The cursor buttons 17 include four buttons 17a to 1
7d, which can be pressed in four directions, up, down, left, and right, and is used for operations such as digital zooming, operations in various shooting modes, and frame selection during reproduction in combination with other buttons. The mode changeover switch 18
The mode of the camera 2 is switched by rotating the camera. The camera 2 has a shooting mode for shooting and recording a subject image,
There is a playback mode in which the stored image is played back on the LCD panel 19. When the mode changeover switch 18 is on the upper side, it is in the shooting mode, and when it is on the lower side, it is in the playback mode.

When the execute button 19 is pressed, an item selected by the cursor button 17 is determined, and a setting screen of the camera 2 is displayed on the LCD panel 14. When the cancel button 20 is pressed while the setting screen is displayed, the LCD panel 1 is pressed.
4 to delete the setting screen.

On the bottom of the camera 2, a memory card slot (not shown) covered with a slot cover (not shown)
The memory card 30 (see FIG. 3), which is an additional image memory, is set, and image data is recorded. A battery chamber (not shown) for inserting a battery is provided near the slot cover, and a power supply cover (not shown) for covering the battery chamber is provided.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram schematically showing a configuration of the camera 2. As shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 3, the camera 2
U, a program ROM, a data RAM and the like are controlled by a system controller 31. The system controller 31 also detects the state of the operation switch group 13 and performs each processing based on the state.

A CCD 32 on which the subject light is focused is built in the back of the photographing lens 3. The subject light transmitted through the photographing lens 3 and focused on the CCD 32 is reflected by the CCD 32.
And the image data is input to the image data processing unit 33. The image data processing unit 33 converts the photoelectric signal input from the CCD 32 into an NTSC signal and converts the photoelectric signal into an NTSC signal.
Enter 4 As a result, the LCD panel 14 displays C
The images formed on the CD 32 are displayed continuously,
Can be used as a viewfinder. When the release button 7 is operated, the subject light formed on the CCD 32 at that time is stored in the internal memory 3 as image data.
4 or the memory card 30.

FIG. 4 to FIG. 6 are explanatory views showing a photographing setting screen displayed on the LCD panel. As shown in FIGS. 4 to 6, the LCD panel 14 includes first to third menu groups 41 to 4.
3 are displayed, the name of each menu is displayed on the upper side, and the setting state of each menu is displayed on the lower side.

The first menu group 41 includes five menus 5
1 to 55 are displayed, and the page selection menu, the detailed setup, the ISO sensitivity setting, the white balance setting, and the self-timer setting are set in order from the menu 51 on the right end. Further, five menus 56 to 60 are displayed in the second menu group 42, and the menu 56 at the right end is displayed.
, A page selection menu, exposure correction setting, strobe light amount setting, sharpness setting, and manual focus setting in this order. The third menu group 43 includes 3
Two setting menus 61 to 63 are displayed, and a page selection menu, a photometry setting, and a duplicate shooting setting are set in order from the menu 61 on the right end. Note that the execute button 19
By pressing once, the setting screen is displayed. When the cancel button 20 is pressed while the setting screen is displayed, the setting screen is deleted from the LCD panel 14. Immediately after the execution button 19 is pressed, the first menu group 41 is displayed, and the menu at the right end 51,
That is, the page selection menu is selected.

Each menu can be selected by pressing the cursor button 17 left or right. A setting item group 6 for selecting a setting item is located above the selected menu.
4 is displayed. By pressing the cursor button 17 up or down, a setting item can be selected from the setting item group 64.

When the page selection menu provided at the right end of the entire menu group is selected, the selected menu group is displayed only by pressing the up and down buttons 17a and 17b of the cursor button 17. For other menus,
The setting item is selected by pressing the up and down buttons 17a and 17b of the cursor button 17, and is set by pressing the execution button 19. The setting status displayed below the menu is also displayed as the setting item is changed.

When the leftmost menu 55, 60, 63 is selected, the left button 17c of the cursor button 17 is pressed.
By pressing once, the rightmost menus 51 and 5 are displayed.
By pressing the right button 17d of the cursor button 17 once while selecting the rightmost menus 51, 56, 61, the leftmost menus 55, 60, 6 are displayed.
3 are each selected.

Next, the operation of the above embodiment will be described with reference to a schematic flowchart shown in FIG. The power of the camera 2 is turned on by operating the power switch 16. When the mode changeover switch 18 is set to the upper side, a photographing mode is set. When performing framing with a viewfinder, the LCD panel 14 is used for image display. The image transmitted through the photographing lens 3 and formed on the CCD 32 is converted into an NTSC signal by an image data processing unit 33 and
It is input to panel 14. The LCD panel 14 has a CC
Images taken at D32 are displayed continuously. The photographer observes the LCD panel 14 and performs framing. When the release button 7 is operated after the framing is determined, the image captured by the CCD 32 is converted into dedicated image data by the image data processing unit 33 and recorded in the built-in memory 34 or the memory card 30.

The mode is changed from the photographing mode to the reproducing mode by changing the mode changeover switch 18 from the upper side to the lower side. The image data processing unit 33 reads image data from the built-in memory 34 or the memory card 30, converts the image data into an output image signal, and inputs the output image signal to the LCD panel 14. L
An image is displayed on the CD panel 14 and the cursor button 17
By pressing, the recorded images are displayed in order.

By pressing the execute button 19 irrespective of the photographing mode and the reproduction mode, a first menu group 41 is displayed on the LCD panel 14 as shown in FIG. Further, the page selection menu which is the menu 51 at the right end is selected, and a setting item group 64 of the menu is displayed. Since the first menu group 41 is displayed on the LCD panel 14, the setting item 1 is selected. By pressing the upper button 17a of the cursor button 17, the setting item 2 is selected, and the second menu group 42 is displayed. Further, by pressing the upper button 17a of the cursor button 17 from that state, the third menu group 43 is displayed.

To change the menu 60 manual focus setting of the second menu group 42 to ON while the first menu group 41 is displayed, press the left and right buttons 17c and 17d of the cursor button 17 and select the page selection menu. I do. A selection item group of the page selection menu is displayed, and the second menu group 42 is displayed by pressing the upper button 17a of the cursor button 17 once and selecting 2 of the setting items. Right button 17 of cursor key 17
By pressing d once, the menu 60 manual focus setting is selected, and a group of setting items is displayed.

OFF is selected as a setting item, and the upper button 17a of the cursor button 17 is pressed once to select ON. Pressing the execution button 19 changes the manual focus setting to ON. In addition, the setting state is displayed as ON accordingly. Thus all three
Ten types of settings for pages can be set, and page selection menus 51, 56, 6 provided at the right end of all menu groups
By using 1, the display of the menu group can be easily switched, so that the operability is improved and many types of function settings can be easily performed.

In the above embodiment, the electronic still camera is used. However, other cameras such as an electronic still camera with a printer are effective as long as the menu group needs to be switched at the time of setting. In addition, by displaying each menu group in a different color, the selection of the menu group becomes clear, thereby preventing erroneous selection. In the present embodiment, all 3
A menu group of pages has been displayed, but if there are more than three pages, the page selection menu is more effective. Also,
In this embodiment, the menus are arranged in one row in the lateral direction of the LCD panel 14, but may be arranged in the vertical direction, or in two or more rows.

[0029]

As described above, according to the camera menu display method of the present invention, a page selection menu that allows the user to select a menu group to be displayed on the display device from the entire menu group is provided in all menu groups. By selecting the page selection menu with the operation means and selecting the menu group to be displayed on the display device, the display of the menu group is switched, so that
Operability is improved, and camera functions can be easily set.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front perspective view of an electronic still camera embodying the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a rear view of the electronic still camera shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of an electronic still camera.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing a setting screen of the electronic still camera.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing a setting screen of the electronic still camera.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing a setting screen of the electronic still camera.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating processing of a setting menu of the electronic still camera.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram showing a setting screen of a conventional electronic still camera.

FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram showing a setting screen of a conventional electronic still camera.

[Explanation of symbols]

 2 Electronic still camera 13 Operation switch group 14 LCD panel 17 Cursor button 19 Menu execution button 20 Cancel button 51, 56, 61 Page selection menu

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Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A display device for dividing a plurality of menus for setting functions into a plurality of different menu groups and displaying one of the menu groups in a switchable manner, menu selection and setting in the selected menu. Operating means for selecting an item, a page selection menu for enabling a menu group to be displayed on the display device to be selectable from all menu groups is provided for all menu groups, and a page selection menu is selected by the operating means. A menu display method for a camera, wherein the display of a menu group is switched by selecting a menu group to be displayed on a display device. 2. The menu is displayed side by side on the display device, and the operation means selects a menu with a left button and a right button, and selects a setting item in the menu with an up button and a down button. Cursor button, and when the leftmost menu is selected,
By pressing the button twice, the rightmost menu is selected,
2. The menu display method for a camera according to claim 1, wherein the leftmost menu is selected by pressing the right button once while the rightmost menu is selected.