JP2002369107A - Image information recording device, image information recording system, and image information recording device control program - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To solve the problem about the fact that a picture image imaged and recorded by a portable personal computer equipped with a camera can not be easily related to information obtained from the outside through the Internet or the like. SOLUTION: Image data imaged by a camera unit 11 are recorded in a recording medium provided in a record/reproduction unit 14. When a selecting operation of 'relating information to image' is carried out through a control unit 12 after an image pickup is finished, a user inputs retrieval information through a control unit 12, and a communication unit 15 transmits the retrieval information to a server 2 or 3 through a network 1. An answer from the server 2 or 3 is received by the communication unit 15 through the network 1, and its information content is displayed on a display unit 13. When the receiving content is acceptable, the received information is recorded in a recording medium, and link information to additional information is added to control information related to a target image and overwritten. When the rewritten information is reproduced later, the additional information can be easily retrieved if necessary, and information supplementing the image can be presented to the user.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to an image information recording apparatus,
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image information recording system and an image information recording device control program, and more particularly to an image information recording device that acquires information related to a recorded image from outside using a communication unit, and records and accumulates a recorded image in association with acquired information. , An image information recording system and an image information recording device control program.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, a portable personal computer (hereinafter abbreviated as a personal computer) equipped with a camera and capable of recording an image taken by the camera on a storage medium in the apparatus has been commercialized. . In addition, some portable personal computers can be connected to the Internet to obtain information, and some have a wireless communication function and can obtain information even outdoors.

[0003]

However, in a portable personal computer equipped with the above-mentioned camera, although a photographed image can be sent by e-mail or the like or a title or the like can be superimposed on the image, it can be processed. It is not possible to easily associate information obtained from outside via the Internet or the like with an image captured and recorded.

[0004] The present invention has been made in view of the above points,
Information obtained externally through communication means is recorded in the form of a link as additional information to the image information recorded and recorded, and it is possible to easily call up the additional information as necessary when playing it back at a later date It is an object of the present invention to provide an image information recording apparatus, an image information recording system, and an image information recording apparatus control program which can present information complementing an image to a user.

[0005]

In order to achieve the above object, an image information recording apparatus according to the present invention comprises: a photographing means for photographing image information; and image information photographed by the photographing means on a recording medium together with management information. First recording means for recording, built-in or externally connected communication means for communicating with an external server, and specification for specifying an arbitrary target image from image information recorded on a recording medium Means, search information input means for inputting search information for acquiring additional information related to the target image specified by the specifying means, and search information input by the search information input means, Information acquisition means for transmitting the information corresponding to the search information from the server as a response, and information arbitrarily selected from among the information acquired by the information acquisition means, as additional information. A link setting unit for setting associated with the management information related to the target image specified by the constant unit,
A second recording unit for recording, on a recording medium, the additional information linked by the link setting unit and management information on the target image is provided.

According to the present invention, additional information associated with a target image arbitrarily selected from image information photographed by the photographing means and recorded on the recording medium is obtained from an external server, and is linked and recorded. It can be recorded on a medium.

Further, in order to achieve the above object, an image information recording system according to the present invention comprises: an image information recording apparatus which transmits at least a part of information obtained from a server connected via a network to the image information recording apparatus itself; Is an image information recording system for recording on a recording medium together with image information captured, wherein the image information recording device has the above configuration, and a server is connected via a network to a storage device storing at least reference information in advance. Communication means for communicating with the image information recording apparatus, and information corresponding to the search information from the image information recording apparatus received by the second communication means, from the reference information in the storage apparatus. Search means for detecting and transmitting the detection information as a response to the image information recording device using the second communication means. .

In order to achieve the above object, an image information recording apparatus control program according to the present invention causes a computer to function as a communication unit, a specifying unit, an information obtaining unit, and a link setting unit of the image information recording unit. It is characterized by the following.

[0009]

Next, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows a schematic configuration diagram of an embodiment of an image information recording system according to the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, the image information recording system includes an image information recording apparatus 10 and one or more servers (here, for example, two servers 2 and 3), which are connected to the Internet or another communication network. 1 is connected through the first connection. The image information recording device 10 and the network 1 are connected by a wireless line. The configuration of the servers 2 and 3 will be described later.

The image information recording apparatus 10 includes a camera unit 11 including a lens, an image pickup device, a camera signal processing unit, an operation unit 12 having operation buttons and the like for a human to operate, and for confirming a captured image. A display unit 13 for displaying and displaying an operation screen, a recording / reproducing unit 14 for recording / reproducing images taken by the camera unit 11 and information obtained from outside through communication, and a wireless connection to the external network 1 It is configured as a portable device including a communication unit 15 for transmitting and receiving information, a central processing unit (CPU) for controlling the entire device, and a control unit 16 including a memory and the like around the CPU. Communication unit 1
Although 5 is illustrated as being built in the image information recording apparatus 10, it may be connected to the outside of the apparatus.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the image information recording apparatus according to the present invention. In the figure, the same components as those in FIG. 1 are denoted by the same reference numerals. In FIG. 2, at the time of shooting, an image signal obtained by shooting by the camera unit 11 is encoded (MPEG
The encoded signal is encoded by a high-efficiency encoding method such as the Picture Experts Group, and the required bit amount is reduced. The encoded signal is supplied to the recording / reproducing signal processing unit 22 to add an error correction code, record modulation, and the like. Is recorded on the recording medium 23 after the recording signal processing described above is performed.

On the other hand, a display signal indicating information such as the remaining amount of the recording medium and the remaining amount of the battery, which is output from the CPU 25 as necessary, is transmitted via the I / O port 26 to the switching / superimposing means 24.
After being superimposed on the image signal from the camera unit 11 in
The data is supplied to the display unit 13 and displayed on a display device composed of a liquid crystal or the like.

At the time of reproduction,. The image signal reproduced from the recording medium 23 is subjected to reproduction detection and error correction processing by a recording / reproduction signal processing unit 22, and then a decoding unit 27 decodes a highly efficient coded signal generated at the time of recording in a decoding unit 27. And supplied to the switching / superimposing means 24. On the other hand, after the display signal indicating information such as the remaining battery level output from the CPU 25 as necessary is superimposed on the image signal from the decoding unit 27 by the switching / superimposing means 24 via the I / O port 26. Are supplied to the display unit 13 where they are displayed on a display device composed of liquid crystal or the like. These recording and reproducing operations are performed by the CPU 25 controlling each block in accordance with a program stored in the nonvolatile memory 30 in response to an operation performed by the user on the operation unit 12.

Next, the operation for transmitting and receiving information to and from the outside will be described. In this case, according to the operation information from the operation unit 12, the CPU 25 controls the communication unit 15 and connects to the external network 1 via the antenna 17 to perform communication. The information received by the communication unit 15 via the antenna 17 is transmitted to the I / O port 26 as needed.
Is stored in the recording medium 23 via the.

The CPU 25 includes an operation unit 12, a communication unit 15,
In addition to the I / O port 26, a temporary storage memory 29 for temporarily storing data required during processing and a non-volatile memory 30 for storing programs and data necessary for operation are provided on the bus 3.
1 connected. A program for performing operations such as recording and reproduction and communication and a program for performing the linking operation of the present invention are stored in the nonvolatile memory 30. Here, a recording medium 23 for recording image data
And the non-volatile memory 30 for storing the program may be shared by using the same hard disk or the like.

In the image information recording apparatus 10, a program group and data as shown in FIG. 3 are incorporated in the nonvolatile memory 30 as software for realizing the functions of the present invention. In the figure, a target image selection program 35 is a program for performing a process of selecting a target image to be linked from recorded images. The search information creation program 36 is a program for creating search information for performing a search. The obtained data handling processing program 37 is a program for processing for linking information obtained through communication to a target image.

The function control program 38 controls the flow of the entire processing, starts up an appropriate one of the programs 35, 36, and 37 where necessary, and executes the communication unit 1
For example, it controls the transmission and reception of data with 5th mag. In addition to these programs, the non-volatile memory 30 also includes display screen data serving as a user interface in each process, and data 39 including search condition items and the like.

A recording medium 23 for recording an image, which is mounted or built in the recording / reproducing unit 14 in FIG. 2, is made of a disk or a semiconductor, and has a management information recording area 4 as shown in FIG.
1, an additional information recording area 42 and a photographed image information recording area 43. The additional information recording area 42
This is an area for recording additional information obtained from outside in the present invention. In the data recorded in the additional information recording area 42, the list information is recorded in the management information recording area 41. Each time new information is recorded in the additional information recording area 42, the list information is updated. .

In the management information recording area 41, a list of recorded contents is provided for each image in the case of a still image, and for a continuous image from the start to the stop of a moving image in the case of a moving image. Information such as a unique name (automatically given in a fixed manner unless otherwise specified by the user), compression ratio (recording mode), recording time (for moving images), recording position (address) on the recording medium, etc. Is recorded.
The photographed image information recording area 43 is an area for recording a data body of an image photographed by the camera unit 11.

It should be noted that all or a part of these areas may not be particularly divided, and whether or not the content of the recorded information file is a photographed image or additional information is determined by the name of the file. Although it is not necessary to make it possible to identify by an extension or the like, or to divide the data into physically separated areas, the data may be stored as data belonging to different folders on a file system.

Next, a schematic operation in a case where additional information is obtained and a link is attached to a recorded image by the image information recording apparatus 10 which is a portable device will be described with reference to a flowchart of FIG. I do. The specific operation procedure of each program will be described later. After the photographing is completed, when the user confirms the selection operation of “associate with image” by the operation unit 12 based on the menu (step 10).
1) The target image selection program is started, and the target image is selected (for which of the previously recorded images the additional information is to be obtained) (step 102).

Thereafter, a search information creation program 36 is started, and according to an operation screen presented by the program,
The user selects and determines information for search (search information) from the menu and inputs the information from the operation unit 12 (step 103). Then, the search information is input to the communication unit 15 by the function control program 38, and the communication unit 15 receives the search information and transmits this information from the antenna 17 of FIG.
(Step 10)
4).

The function control program 38 detects that a response from the server 2 or 3 has been received by the communication unit 15 via the network 1 (step 10).
5), the acquired data handling processing program 37 is started. The acquired data handling processing program 37 first causes the display unit to display a screen of the received information content (step 10).
6) It is determined whether or not the user operates the operation unit 12 and inputs OK (step 107).

First, if it is not OK, the process returns to the selection of the search information in step 103, and the search condition is changed, and the search information after the change is selected by the user from the menu and determined. If the user does not want any more searches,
Here, by performing a cancel operation, the process exits from this routine (this process is not shown).

If it is determined in step 107 that the received content is OK, the received information is recorded in the additional information recording area 42 in the recording medium 23 (step 10).
8). Then, information of a link to additional information is added to the management information on the target image written in the management information recording area 41 and overwritten and saved (step 109). The details of each operation will be described below.

According to the present invention, information related to a photographed image is
It is obtained from an external server via a network and stores the association between images and their information. To do so, specify which image to associate with the information from the captured images and specify it Need to save information. Hereinafter, an example of the method will be described.

FIG. 6 shows an example of an operation menu in the image information recording apparatus according to the present invention. When a "tool" 51 in the menu is opened, a selection item 52 "Associate with image" is included in the menu. . The selection item 53 “Get related information” above this is an item for obtaining information independently of the association with the image, and it is also possible to set the association with the image after obtaining the information.

When the user selects the item 52 "Associate with image" from the menu when the photographing is completed, the target image selection program 35 shown in FIG.
In FIG. 3, a selection image captured on a small screen 61 is displayed as shown in FIG. 7, and a selection item 62 for selecting to associate information with the selected image and a selection item for selecting an image for obtaining related information 63 is displayed.

The operation flow of the selection screen will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. An image (representative image in the case of a moving image) is displayed on the small screen 61 in FIG. 7, but when the screen of FIG. 7 is first entered, the image recorded immediately before that is displayed. The image displayed on the small screen 61 is “this image” in a selection item 62 “Associate information about this image” in a “select image” screen displayed on the right side of the small screen 61. That is, when additional information about the image is obtained after recording, the user can proceed to the next step only by selecting and instructing (for example, clicking) the selection item 62 of “associate information about this image”.

That is, the target image selection program 35 selects the item 62 of “associate information about this image”.
It is monitored whether or not an instruction has been selected (step 20 in FIG. 8).
1) When a selection instruction (for example, click) is made, a selection screen of “information to be associated” is darkly displayed on the display unit 13 to be selectable (active) as shown in FIG. 7 (step 202 in FIG. 8). If not instructed, it is determined whether or not the selection item 63 “select an image to be associated with information” on the “select image” screen is selected (step 203 in FIG. 8).

When it is desired to obtain additional information for another image that has already been recorded, the user clicks a selection item 63 "select an image to be associated with information" to enter an image selection process (FIG. 8). Step 204). In this image selection processing, first, a screen as shown in FIG. 9 is displayed on the display unit 13. Here, a screen is displayed in which the already recorded contents are represented by thumbnails. Displaying such a list and selecting an image is generally performed in a digital still camera commercialized in recent years or a moving image camera using a disc. Good.

In FIG. 9, ten images are displayed.
When more images are recorded, the thumbnail images before and after can be displayed by designating the picture of the button 71 having the lower left triangle mark. Here, if the user clicks an image to which related information is to be linked and clicks an OK button 72, the display returns to the previous display of FIG. 7 and the currently selected image is displayed on the small screen 61.

At this stage, the image to be associated with the additional information is determined by clicking the selection item 62 of "associate information with this image". When the image to be associated is determined in this way, this selection information is stored in the temporary storage memory (29 in FIG. 2) in the main body. When the linking of the related information is stopped, the cancel button 73 shown in FIG. 9 may be selected and designated, whereby the procedure for linking is stopped and the temporary storage memory (FIG. The selection information accumulated in 2) 29) is deleted (step 205 in FIG. 8). If the cancel button 73 has not been selected, step 201 in FIG.
Return to the processing of.

On the other hand, until the selection of the image is not completed, the items in the [association information] shown in FIG. 7 are inoperable. However, when the target image is determined, these items are activated, and the display is switched to a display with clear shading as shown in FIG. 7 (step 202 in FIG. 8). When the selection screen of “information to be associated” is displayed on the screen, the target image selection program 35 determines whether or not the selection item 64 of “recorded file” shown in FIG. 7 has been selected (FIG. 8). In step 206), when the selection is instructed, the information to be associated as additional information is selected from the already obtained information (step 207 in FIG. 8).

In this method, a list is displayed on the display unit 13 using the obtained information list data recorded in the management information recording area (41 in FIG. 4) in the recording medium (a display example is not shown). Then, the selection is determined by the operation of the user. Then, in the same manner as described later when newly acquiring additional information, the acquired data handling processing program 37 is activated to perform linking (step 208 in FIG. 8).

As described above, in this embodiment, information is obtained from the outside first, and the image to be linked can be specified later, so that, for example, the user goes out to shoot a flower. Before that, it is possible to obtain information on flowers in advance and use them to associate them with captured images.

When a selection screen of "information to be associated" is displayed on the screen, when it is determined in step 206 of FIG. 8 that the selection item 64 of "recorded file" shown in FIG. 7 is not instructed, The target image selection program 35 determines whether or not the selection item 65 of “newly obtained” shown in FIG. 7 is selected (step 209 in FIG. 8). When the selection is specified, the selection of search information is performed. The process is entered (step 210 in FIG. 8).

Even when the information is obtained after specifying the image, when the information is obtained and viewed, but an appropriate one is not found, the association operation is canceled so that the operation can be performed. 7 is selected (step 211 in FIG. 8).
When selected, the selection information stored in the temporary storage memory (29 in FIG. 2) is deleted, and when not selected, the process returns to step 206.

In the search information selection process of step 210 in FIG. 8, in order to connect to the outside and obtain information, it is necessary to send the search information to an external server. Creation of search information for this purpose is performed by activating the search information creation program 36 in FIG. The operation will be described below.

In order to create search information, information about a genre that the user is likely to photograph and data on a display screen for operation are previously stored in a nonvolatile memory 30 in the image information recording device 10 which is a portable device. ing. First, in the process of “selection of target image” in the preceding stage, when it is decided to shift to search information selection processing, the search information creation program 36 is started, and the genre information is first displayed as a menu (display example is as follows). Not shown). The user selects an appropriate genre from among them. For example,
When shooting a flower, select "flower" in "plant". Here, it is assumed that the user does not know the name of the flower, but has photographed it because he liked it, and wishes to obtain and associate information about the flower as additional information.

In this case, when "flower" is selected by the menu operation, a screen for setting the characteristics of the flower as shown in FIG. 10, for example, is displayed on the display unit 13 as the next search form. Here, different menu items are set for each genre. In FIG. 10, the color and shape of the flower are selected by opening a menu, and the shape of the flower and the shape of the leaf are changed by operating the lower triangle button of the prepared image, and the corresponding one is selected. And display it.

After the user checks all the items in this manner, by clicking the "send" button 74 at the lower right of FIG. 10, the selected information is converted into a format suitable for transmission as described later. And stored in the memory. Then, the search information creation program 36 ends, and then a transmission process is performed by the transmission function (composed of the communication unit 15 and the antenna 17) of the image information recording device 10.

FIG. 11 shows a schematic format example of the transmission data transmitted in the transmission processing. At the head of the transmission data, identification information 75 indicating the transmission data of the present invention is attached as a header. Next, information such as the address of the transmitting image information recording apparatus is transmitted as the sender data 76. Next, search fields (such as "plants") 7
7, the information of the small classification ("flower", etc.) 78 is sent, and then the search data body 79 (information of the result selected using FIG. 8) is sent.

Here, the sending party (server) may be a personal computer at home or a server of a company that provides information for the image information recording apparatus. In the latter case, in particular, as a modified example relating to the setting and transmission of search information, a trader sets up a search site on the Internet and searches for various genres such as "various flowers" (FIG. 10). Page, and the user obtains a search screen each time by accessing the page from the image information recording apparatus 10, and selects each item of the form and transmits it to the server. Can also.

In this case, the image information recording apparatus 10 does not require the above-described search information creation program 36, and the image information recording apparatus 10 includes, as search information input means, information on a link to a search site, It is sufficient that the operation unit 12 is provided for the user to perform an input operation according to the screen displayed when accessing this site. The information on the link to the selected site is, for example, a “Newly Obtain” button 65
When the user clicks on this button 65, connection to this site is established, so that the user can easily obtain a search information input screen.

In FIG. 1, the server 2 or 3 which has received the search information from the image information recording device 10 via the network 1 has recorded therein the information contents of the server itself, such as encyclopedias and plant picture books. A search is performed for the information in the recording medium, and the information of the obtained search result is returned. In recent years, the capacity of hard disk devices for personal computers has increased remarkably, and those having a capacity of several tens of GB have become standard. So, for example, several CD-ROMs,
Even for encyclopedias (capacity is several GB) supplied in the form of a DVD-ROM, it is sufficiently possible to copy and use the entire contents data on a hard disk.

Therefore, the above servers 2 and 3
As shown in FIG. 2, a hard disk 81 is used as the above-described recording medium, and information contents such as an encyclopedia 82, a plant pictorial book 83, an insect pictorial book 84, and a tourist guide 85 are recorded on the hard disk 81 in advance. In addition to such reference information, information search management software 86 for performing the information search of the present invention is also stored in the hard disk 81, and is set to be always started when the personal computer is started. ing.

The servers 2 and 3 include a central processing unit (CPU) 87 for searching and reading recorded information 82 to 85 on the hard disk 81 and information search software 86,
87 has a memory 88 used for storing an operation program and reading / writing data, and a communication unit 89 connected to an external network. Data input from an external network via the communication unit 89 is analyzed by the resident information search management software 86 to determine whether there is identification information indicating information for the system of the present invention.

Here, if the information is found to be information for the system of the present invention, the information retrieval management software 86 then analyzes the subsequent data and performs processing in accordance with the data. For example, if the major category is “plant”, the plant picture book 83 is activated. Here, the color, shape, and the like of the flower are input on the image information recording apparatus 10 side. By setting the input items to match the items that can be used for the search in the plant picture book 83 of the server. The search here can be easily performed.

The information retrieval management software 86 detects that the retrieval result has been obtained, and sends out the retrieved information to the image information recording apparatus 10 using the communication function of the server. If appropriate data is not obtained by the search, message data indicating that there is no corresponding data is transmitted.

In FIG. 1, the image information recording device 10 comprises:
The function control program 38 monitors the response, and when a response from the server 1 or 2 is received, the function control program 38 displays the content to the user on the display unit 13 and simultaneously selects OK or NO. Is displayed. The user can input the information appropriateness judgment by clicking the OK or NO button.

When the user selects and inputs OK,
The acquired data handling processing program 37 shown in FIG. 3 is started, and information obtained by communication is recorded as additional information in the additional information recording area 42 of the recording medium 23 shown in FIG. 4, and the additional information recorded here is recorded. A link is set to the previous image information, and this link information is stored in the management information recording area 4.
1 is recorded. The details of the operation will be described below.

FIG. 13 shows each of the above areas 41 of the recording medium.
The following shows specific examples of information recorded in Nos. To 43, and is an example of a case where a file name is automatically given at the time of recording and recorded. Take a picture and mpic as shown
Assume that a file named 001216-004.mpg is created. “Mpic” in this name indicates an MPEG image, and “001216-004” indicates 200
This is the fourth record taken on December 16, 0.

In the management information recording area 41, management information for each recorded image is recorded as photographed image information list information b. When this photographing recording is performed, the photographed image information list information b contains mpic001216-00
4. Information about mpg is added and recorded.

As shown in FIG. 13C, the management information includes a recording address, a file name, a file type,
In addition to the update date and time, the recording mode, the recording time, the size, and other predetermined management information, information about the link is entered. Before setting a link, the item of the number of links is “0”, and links 1 and 2 are null (all 0s) (where a plurality of links can be set). I have.

Now, this "mpic001216-00"
It is assumed that “4.mpg” is the image selected as the target image. In this case, as described above, “mpic00
The information of the file name “1216-004.mpg” is stored in the temporary storage memory 29. By communication, "FL
It is assumed that an HTML document “W001216-001.html” has been obtained. This information is written in the additional information recording area 42 as shown in FIG.
As shown by a in the management information recording area 41, information such as the address of this file is recorded.

When the user performs an operation for setting the image as additional information, the file name “FLW00121”
6-001.html ”is stored in the temporary storage memory 2
9 elsewhere. Then, the information “mpic001” of the target image stored in the temporary storage memory 29 is stored.
216-004.mpg "is read out and retrieved from the photographed image information list information b. Then, the number of links in the detailed information is increased by one. The number of links resulting from this is k. First, the temporary storage memory 2
9, the file name of the additional information “FLW0012”
16-001.html ". Here, in addition to the file name, information such as the title of the information may be recorded at the same time.

The "mpic" linked in this way is
The management information “001216-004.mpg” is recorded and reproduced in the management information recording area 41 of the recording medium 23 via the I / O port 26 in FIG. 2 instead of the management information of the same file before linking. Recorded by the signal processing unit 22.

Here, instead of storing all of the received related information in the additional information recording area 42, the server returns some information matching the search condition, and the user saves only the favorite information among them. It may be.

The image information recording apparatus 1 which is a portable terminal
At 0, the received information body is only stored temporarily,
As the association, information transmitted from the server together with the information itself, such as an address on the server or the Internet where the information exists, may be stored. In this case, the related information storage unit is unnecessary, and this address is recorded as the link destination in the management information. According to this method, when the related information is viewed later, the user accesses the site having the information each time and obtains the information.

As described above, when a response from the server 2 or 3 is received, a message prompting selection of OK or NO is displayed on the display unit 13 together with the content by the function control program 38. Is selected and input. On the other hand, in the above case, when the user selects and inputs NO, a screen is displayed on which the user can change the search condition.

When the search condition is changed, the user selects whether to search from the same server or to change to another server, and inputs by selecting one of them. If the search conditions are not changed, a search request from another server is automatically sent to the server. The server that has received the information refers to the information of another server that this server has in advance, and in the case of, for example, “flower”, obtains the information by accessing a site having flower information, and To send the information content together with the information of the site.

As described above, since the additional information is linked to the image information, if a predetermined operation is performed while the image information is being reproduced (for example, a predetermined button in the operation unit is pressed), The additional information can be displayed immediately by the following method, and the image information and the additional information can be handled as a set even in viewing at a later date.

1. Display image information and additional information on multiple screens. 2. Superimpose on image information to display additional information. 3. The display of the image information is temporarily interrupted, the additional information is displayed, and when the user performs an operation of returning from the display of the additional information to the image information, the image information is displayed (from a continuation in the case of a moving image).

When there is a plurality of pieces of link information, when the user performs an operation of displaying additional information, for example, a selection list first appears at the bottom of the screen, and the cursor is placed on desired additional information in the list and clicked. Thereby, it is possible to select and display from a plurality of pieces of additional information.

In the above description, the link information is written in the management information. However, the image information file has a format in which sub-code information can be written in addition to the image data in the image information file. Link information may be recorded in the image information file.

By the way, the program for realizing each of the above functions in the image information recording apparatus 10 is written by the manufacturer of the image information recording apparatus 10 into a storage medium such as a semiconductor memory or a hard disk built in the apparatus at the time of manufacture. In the case of shipment, the person who purchased the image information recording apparatus 10 can use it from the beginning, which is convenient. But,
Even if the image information recording device 10 does not have a recording medium in which such a program is written, if the device has the basic configuration shown in FIG. 2, by installing the program later, Each of the functions described above can be provided.

For example, if the image information recording device is a DVD-
If the video disk camera uses a RAM as a recording medium and can read a DVD-ROM or a CD-ROM, the DVD-ROM on which the program is written is used.
This function can be used in the future by inserting a ROM or a CD-ROM into the drive of this apparatus, performing an installation operation, and storing it in a nonvolatile memory built in the apparatus.

Further, a program for realizing the function of the present invention is previously written in a part of a DVD-RAM or the like for image recording, and when using this function, the DVD-RA
The program on M may be accessed and operated. In this case, the user writes the program in the DVD-RAM in advance at home using a personal computer, or sells and supplies a recording medium such as a DVD-RAM in which a program for realizing this function is written in advance. I do. Here, the program to be written in the former is
The user can use the program by purchasing a CD-ROM or the like containing the program in advance, or by storing the program on a hard disk in a personal computer by downloading from the Internet.

Further, programs and data for realizing the present invention may be supplied using the communication function.
That is, when a user accesses a predetermined site and performs a predetermined operation to instruct download, a server of the site transmits a program or data for realizing the function of the present invention to the image information recording apparatus.

The image information recording apparatus decompresses the file containing the received program data, installs the file, obtains the program and data, and stores it in the nonvolatile memory. Here, when the installation is performed, a new program and data are taken into the image information recording device, and “Associate with image” is displayed in “Tool” in the operation menu of FIG. 6 originally possessed by the image information recording device. (Or indicate to the user that what was displayed in light text before installation was darkened and available for use), and clicking on it resulted in the display of FIG. Such an operation is started (the function control program 38 of FIG. 3 is started).
Thus, the data on the menu is altered.

[0072]

As described above, according to the present invention,
The additional information associated with the target image arbitrarily selected from the image information photographed by the photographing means and recorded on the recording medium is acquired from an external server, set as a link, and recorded on the recording medium. Also, at the time of reproduction at a later date, additional information can be easily called up as necessary, and information for complementing the image can be presented to the user, so that the usability of the image information recording apparatus can be improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of an embodiment of an image information recording system according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an embodiment of an image information recording apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of a program group and data incorporated in a nonvolatile memory in the image information recording device of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a configuration diagram of a recording medium for image recording that is mounted on or built in the image information recording apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a schematic explanatory flowchart when obtaining additional information and linking the image recorded by the image information recording apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of an operation menu in the image information recording device of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of a selection screen in the image information recording device of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating an operation based on an operation on a selection screen in the image information recording apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of an image selection processing screen in the image information recording device of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of a screen for setting a feature of a flower in the image information recording apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating an example of a format of transmission data.

FIG. 12 is a configuration diagram of an embodiment of a server in FIG. 1;

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a specific example of information recorded in each area of a recording medium in the image information recording device of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 1 network 2, 3 server 10 image information recording device 11 camera unit 12 operation unit 13 display unit 14 recording / reproducing unit 15 communication unit 16 control unit 17 antenna unit 21 encoding unit 22 recording / reproducing signal processing unit 23 recording medium 24 switching / superimposing means 26 I / O port 27 Decoding unit 28 Communication unit 29 Temporary storage memory 30 Nonvolatile memory 31 Bus 35 Target image selection program 36 Search information creation program 37 Obtained data handling processing program 38 Function control program 39 Data (display screen data, etc.) 41 management information recording area 42 additional information recording area 43 photographed image information recording area 81 hard disk 82 encyclopedia 83 plant picture book 84 insect picture book 85 sightseeing guide 86 information search management software 87 central processing unit (CPU) 88 memory 89 communication Shinbe

──────────────────────────────────────────────────の Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification symbol FI Theme coat ゛ (Reference) H04N 5/225 H04N 5/225 F 5/91 5/91 N (72) Inventor Takeshi Oishi Yokohama-shi, Kanagawa 3-12-12 Moriyacho, Kanagawa-ku, Japan Victor Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Yutaka Ichii 3-12-12 Moriyacho, Kanagawa-ku, Yokohama-shi, Kanagawa Prefecture F-term in Japan Victor Co., Ltd. 5B050 AA10 BA10 BA15 BA20 CA06 CA07 CA08 DA08 EA19 EA20 FA13 FA19 GA08 5B075 KK07 KK13 ND06 PP10 PP22 PQ02 PQ05 UU40 5C022 AA13 AC13 AC31 AC69 5C052 AB04 AC08 CC06 CC11 DD02 5C053 FA08 FA14 GA11 GB05 GB37 HA29 JA21 LA30 LA01 LA11

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A photographing means for photographing image information, a first recording means for recording image information photographed by the photographing means together with management information on a recording medium, and a built-in communication unit for communicating with an external server Or an externally connected communication means, a specifying means for specifying an arbitrary target image from the image information recorded on the recording medium, and additional information associated with the target image specified by the specifying means. Search information input means for inputting search information for acquisition; transmitting the search information input by the search information input means to the external server using the communication means; and responding to the search information from the server. Information obtaining means for receiving the information as a response, and, among the information obtained by the information obtaining means, information arbitrarily selected as the additional information, the object specified by the specifying means Link setting means for setting the information in association with the management information relating to the image; and second recording means for recording the additional information and the management information relating to the target image linked by the link setting means on the recording medium. Characteristic image information recording device. 2. An image information recording system for recording at least a part of information obtained from a server to which an image information recording device is connected via a network together with image information photographed by the image information recording device itself on a recording medium. Wherein the image information recording apparatus includes: a photographing unit for photographing the image information; a first recording unit for recording the image information photographed by the photographing unit together with management information on a recording medium; First communication means for communicating with the external server via the network; and a target image to be associated with other information from the image information recorded on the recording medium. A search means for inputting search information for acquiring additional information associated with the target image specified by the search means; Information acquisition means for transmitting the search information input by the report input means to the server using the first communication means, and receiving a response corresponding to the search information from the server; and Link setting means for setting information arbitrarily selected from among the acquired information as the additional information in association with management information relating to the target image specified by the specifying means; and the link set by the link setting means A second recording unit for recording information and management information relating to the target image on the recording medium, wherein the server has at least a storage device in which at least reference information is stored in advance; Second communication means for communicating with the information recording device; and from the image information recording device received by the second communication means. Searching means for detecting information corresponding to the search information from the reference information in the storage device, and transmitting the detected information as a response to the image information recording device using the second communication means; An image information recording system comprising: 3. A photographing means for photographing image information, a first recording means for recording image information photographed by the photographing means together with management information on a recording medium, and a built-in or externally connected external Communication means for communicating with a server; specifying means for specifying a target image to be associated with other information from the image information recorded on the recording medium; and Search information input means for inputting search information for acquiring additional information related to the target image, and transmitting the search information input by the search information input means to the external server using the communication means, Information acquisition means for receiving a response corresponding to the search information from the server; and information arbitrarily selected from the information acquired by the information acquisition means as the additional information, Link setting means for associating and setting with the management information on the target image specified by the setting means; and second information for recording the additional information and the management information on the target image linked by the link setting means on the recording medium. A control program for an image information recording apparatus, comprising: a recording unit; and a computer functioning as the communication unit, the specifying unit, the information obtaining unit, and the link setting unit. program.