JP2003125345A - Electronic still image pickup unit - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an electronic still image pickup unit capable of not only automatically adding arbitrary comment information to a picture photographed by a user, but also easily switching and changing or automatically erasing the comment information to be added to the photographed picture. SOLUTION: This electronic still image pickup unit is provided with a means for registering at least one comment information to be added to a photographed picture by a user, a means for selecting the comment information to be added to the photographed picture from a comment information group, and a means for, when any specific comment information is selected, automatically adding the comment information to the photographed picture.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an electronic still image pickup device for electronically recording an image such as a digital camera.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In the prior art, it was not possible to add arbitrary information to an image taken by a user. Alternatively, adding arbitrary information to an image has been limited to after photography. Also, only one piece of information can be registered.

[0003]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional example, since the user cannot add arbitrary information and cannot automatically add it at the time of shooting, it is appropriate because the situation at that time cannot be remembered after a while after shooting. Information cannot be added. Also, there is a problem that it is not easy to change the added information. The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and its object is not only to automatically add arbitrary comment information to an image captured by a user, but also to easily switch and change comment information to be added. Another object of the present invention is to provide an electronic still image pickup device which can be automatically deleted.

[0004]

To achieve the above object, the present invention provides a means for a user to register one or more comment information to be attached to a photographed image, a means for storing a comment information group, and a comment information group. An electronic still image capturing device including a unit for selecting comment information to be attached to a captured image from the device and a unit for automatically adding comment information to the captured image when specific comment information is selected. Is configured.

[0005]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an electronic still image pickup device according to the present invention. In FIG. 1, 101 is a lens for capturing an optical image of a subject.
Reference numeral 2 is an image pickup device such as a CCD. Although not shown, an A / D converter that converts an analog signal captured by the image sensor into a digital signal is also included in this portion.

Reference numeral 103 denotes an LCD for confirming a photographed image and displaying comment information, 104 denotes an operation unit including a switch for inputting comment information and selecting a menu, and 105 denotes various devices. It is a device driver such as an ASIC that integrates a control unit for controlling.
Further, 106 is a system bus for exchanging signals, 10
Reference numeral 7 denotes a central processing unit (CPU) which controls calculation and control.
8 is a main memory (RAM) used as a work area, 1
Reference numeral 09 is a storage device for recording image data of the photographed image and attribute information about the image such as photographing date and time and comment information.
The storage device 109 needs to be non-volatile. The storage device 109 may be a PC card or a removable memory card defined by JEIDA or the like, or may be a non-detachable one such as a built-in flash memory.

Reference numeral 110 denotes a non-volatile memory (N) for holding information such as setting information which is difficult to be erased even when the power is turned off.
VRAM) and 111 are ROMs for storing programs and fonts.

FIG. 2 is a conceptual diagram showing an example of the data structure of an image file in the electronic still image pickup device according to the present invention.

In FIG. 2, reference numeral 200 surrounded by a dotted line represents an entire image file recorded in the storage device 109. The image file includes a header 210 and image data 220 surrounded by a broken line. The header 210 allows the user to enter arbitrary comment information, and the marker 21
1 indicates the start of comment information, and size 212 indicates the data amount of comment information. Reference numeral 213 is the comment information itself. The image data 220 is recorded after performing an appropriate compression process as needed.

FIG. 3 is a conceptual diagram showing an example of a data structure of comment information registered in the electronic still image pickup device according to the present invention.

The data has a linked list structure as shown in the figure, and 300 is management data of a comment information group, which is the number of registered comment information, the identifier of the selected comment information, and the first comment information. Contains a pointer.
301 to 303 are elements of the linked list corresponding to each registered comment information, and each element is composed of a pointer to the next element and comment information. In the last element, the pointer to the next element has a value indicating the end of the list.
By adopting a list structure, the number of comment information can be changed. A list of such comment information is available in RAM
The comment information itself is held in the NVRAM 110 or the storage device 109 so as to be held even when the power is turned off.

FIG. 4 is a flow chart showing an example of processing in the electronic still image pickup device according to the present invention. still,
S401 to S413 show each step.

First, it is determined whether or not there is an operation from the operation unit 104 (S401), and the processing of S401 is repeated while there is no operation. If there is any operation as a result of this determination, that operation is analyzed (S402). As a result of this analysis, it is determined whether the operation is an image recording operation (S40).
3) If it is an image recording operation, a predetermined image recording process is performed (S409), and the process returns to S401.

Next, if the result of determination in S403 is that the operation is not an image recording operation, it is determined whether or not the operation is a comment information registration operation (S404), and if it is a comment information registration operation, A predetermined comment information registration process is performed (S410), and the process returns to S401. Next, if the result of determination in S404 is that the operation is not a comment information registration operation, it is determined whether or not the operation is a comment information selection operation (S405). Comment information selection processing is performed (S411),
Return to S401.

Next, if the result of determination in S405 is that the operation is not a comment information selection operation, it is determined whether or not the operation is a comment information change operation (S406), and if it is a comment information change operation. A predetermined comment information change process is performed (S412), and the process returns to S401. Next, S4
As a result of the determination in 06, if the operation is not the comment information changing operation, it is determined whether the operation is an image deleting operation (S
407) If it is an image deletion operation, a predetermined image deletion process is performed (S413), and if it is not an image deletion operation, a process according to the operation is performed (S408), S401.
Return to.

FIG. 5 is a flow chart showing an example of image recording processing in the electronic still image pickup device according to the present invention. Note that S501 to S507 indicate each step.

First, a folder for recording images and a file name for recording images are determined (S501), and the storage device 10
Open the file for recording the image in 9 (S50
2). Next, by checking the management data 300 of the comment information group, it is judged whether or not there is current comment information, that is, selected comment information (S503). The header including the information is written in the opened file (S504), and if there is no selected comment information, the header not including the comment information is written (S505). Next, the image data is written after being subjected to compression processing or the like as necessary (S50
6) Close the file for recording the image (S50
7), the process ends.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing an example of comment information registration processing in the electronic still image pickup device according to the present invention. Note that S601 to S604 indicate each step.

First, the user operates the operation unit 104 to input comment information (S601). It is determined whether the comment information has been input (S60).
2) If the input is not completed, the comment information continues to be input. Once you have entered the comment information,
The comment information is stored in the NVRAM 110 or the storage device 109.
(S603), the new comment information is added to the comment information list on the RAM 108, 1 is added to the number of comment information (S604), and the process is ended.

FIG. 7 is a flow chart showing an example of comment information selection processing in the electronic still image pickup device according to the present invention. Note that S701 to S703 indicate each step.

First, a list of comment information is displayed on the LCD 103.
Is displayed on the screen (S701). Next, the user operates the operation unit 104.
The comment information is selected by operating (S70).
2). Note that the options at this time also include the option of not adding comment information to the image. When selected, the current comment information in the management data 300 of the comment information group is updated (S703), and the process ends.

FIG. 8 is a flow chart showing an example of the first comment information changing process in the electronic still image pickup device according to the present invention. Note that S801 to S805 indicate each step.

First, when the user operates the operation unit 104 to select one of the image files stored in the storage device 109 (S801), if there is comment information for the image file, the comment information is displayed. If not, that effect is displayed on the LCD 103 (S802). Next, the user operates the operation unit 104 to input new comment information (S803). Then, it is determined whether or not the comment information input is completed (S804), and if the input is not completed, the comment information input in S803 is continued. When the input of the comment information is completed, the comment information of the selected image file is updated (S80
5), the process ends.

FIG. 9 is a flow chart showing an example of the comment update process in the electronic still image pickup device according to the present invention. Note that S901 to S908 indicate each step.

First, open the selected image file (S
901), a temporary file for creating an image file with updated comment information is opened in the storage device 109 (S).
902). Next, the new comment information input in S803 or S1103 and the same header as the selected image file other than the comment information are written in the temporary file (S903), and the image data of the image file is written in the temporary file. (S904), the temporary file is closed (S905), and the image file is closed (S906).
Then, after deleting the image file (S907), the file name of the temporary file is changed to the file name of the image file (S908), and the process ends.

FIG. 10 is a flow chart showing an example of the first image deletion process in the electronic still image pickup device according to the present invention. Incidentally, S1001 to S1008 indicate respective steps.

First, the user operates the operation unit 104 to select a file to be deleted from the image files stored in the storage device 109 (S1001). Next, the comment information of the image file is searched (S100
2) It is determined whether there is comment information (S100).
3). As a result of this determination, if the image file includes comment information, the comment information is stored in the storage device 10.
By sequentially comparing with the comment information of all the other image files in 9, the image file including the same comment information as the image file is searched (S1004).

Next, it is judged whether or not there is another image file including the same comment information as the image file (S100).
5) As a result of the judgment, if there is no image file including the same comment information, the comment information is deleted from the NVRAM 110 or the storage device 109 (S1006), and the RAM 108 is deleted.
Deleted from the list of comment information held in
The number of comment information is decremented by 1 (S1007). And
The image file is deleted from the storage device 109 (S100
8), the process ends. If the result of determination in S1003 is that the image file does not include comment information,
Alternatively, as a result of the determination in S1005, if there is no image file including the same comment information as the comment information included in the selected image file, the image file is simply stored in the storage device 10.
9 is deleted (S1008), and the process ends.

FIG. 11 is a flow chart showing an example of the second comment information changing process in the electronic still image pickup device according to the present invention. Note that S1101 to S1112 indicate each step.

First, when the user operates the operation unit 104 to select one of the image files stored in the storage device 109 (S1101), if there is comment information for the image file, the comment information is displayed. If not, that effect is displayed on the LCD 103 (S1102).

Next, the user operates the operation unit 104 to input comment information (S1103). Then, it is judged whether the input of the comment information is completed (S
1104), if the input is not completed, S1103
Continue entering comment information for. When the input of the comment information is completed, a display requesting the user to instruct whether to change the comment information included in all the image files and the same comment information included in the selected image file is displayed on the LCD 103. (S1105). It is determined whether the instruction given by the user operating the operation unit 104 is to change the same comment information included in all the image files and included in the selected image files (S1106). ), If it is an instruction to update only the comment information of the selected image file,
Update the comment information of the selected image file (S1
107) and ends the process.

As a result of the determination in S1106, the storage device 109
If it is instructed to update the comment information of all the image files in the above, it is determined whether or not there is another image file that has not been checked (S1108), and if there is still, the comment of the image file is checked. It is determined whether the information is the same as the comment information of the selected image file (S110).
9), if the same, comment update processing is performed (S111).
After 0), if not the same, the process immediately returns to S1108. S
If there is no other image file that has not been checked as a result of the determination in 1108, the comment information held in the NVRAM 110 or the storage device 109 is updated to the newly input comment information (S1111), and the RAM 108 is updated.
The list of comment information held in is also updated to the newly input comment information (S1112).

FIG. 12 is a flow chart showing an example of the second image deletion process in the electronic still image pickup device according to the present invention. Note that S1201 to S1210 indicate each step.

First, the user operates the operation unit 104 to select a file to be deleted from the image files stored in the storage device 109 (S1201). Next, the comment information of the image file is searched (S120
2) It is determined whether there is comment information (S120).
3). As a result of this determination, if the image file includes comment information, the comment information is stored in the storage device 1.
By sequentially comparing with the comment information of all the other image files in 09, the image file including the same comment information as the image file is searched (S1204).

Next, it is determined whether or not there is another image file including the same comment information as the image file (S12).
05) If the result of this determination is that there is no image file containing the same comment information, then a display is displayed on the LCD 103 asking the user to instruct whether to delete the comment information (S1206). It is determined whether the instruction given by the user operating the operation unit 104 is to delete the comment information (S1207). If the instruction is to delete the comment information, the comment information is stored in the NVRAM 110 or the storage device. Deleted from 109 (S1208), RAM1
It is also deleted from the comment information list held in 08 and the comment information number is decremented by 1 (S1209). Then, the image file is deleted from the storage device 109 (S1
209), and the process ends.

As a result of the determination in S1203, if the image file does not include comment information, or S12
If there is no image file that includes the same comment information as the comment information included in the selected image file as a result of the determination in 05, or if the result of the determination in S1207 is that the comment information is not to be deleted, the image file is simply deleted. It is deleted from the storage device 109 (S1210), and the process ends.

In the electronic still image pickup device according to the present invention, a digitizer may be provided on the LCD 103 to select an image or input comment information.

In the electronic still image pickup device according to the present invention, the comment information may be converted to voice data by providing a voice input device, a voice processing device and a speaker. In that case, the “display of comment information” in S802 and S1102 becomes “reproduction of comment information”.

In the electronic still image pickup device according to the present invention, an external interface may be provided to connect to an external device such as a personal computer so that each operation can be performed from the external device.

[0041]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the present invention, a user can register one or more pieces of comment information to be attached to a photographed image, a means for storing a comment information group, and a comment information group. An electronic still image capturing device including a unit for selecting comment information to be attached to a captured image from the device and a unit for automatically adding comment information to the captured image when specific comment information is selected. Since it is configured, the effect that not only the comment information is automatically added to the image taken by the user but also the comment information to be added can be easily switched, changed, or automatically deleted is obtained. To be

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an electronic still image pickup device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a conceptual diagram showing an example of a data structure of an image file in the electronic still image pickup device according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a conceptual diagram showing an example of a data structure of registered comment information in the electronic still image pickup device according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an example of processing in the electronic still image pickup device according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an example of an image recording process in the electronic still image pickup device according to the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing an example of comment information registration processing in the electronic still image pickup device according to the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing an example of comment information selection processing in the electronic still image pickup device according to the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing an example of a first comment information changing process in the electronic still image pickup device according to the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing an example of comment update processing in the electronic still image pickup device according to the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing an example of first image deletion processing in the electronic still image pickup device according to the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing an example of second comment information change processing in the electronic still image pickup device according to the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing an example of second image deletion processing in the electronic still image pickup device according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

101 lens 102 image sensor 103 LCD 104 Operation part 105 device driver 106 system bus 107 CPU 108 RAM 109 storage device 110 NVRAM 111 ROM 210 header 211 marker 212 size 213 Comment information 220 image data

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. A means for a user to register one or more comment information to be attached to a photographed image, a means for storing a comment information group, a means for selecting comment information to be attached to a photographed image from the comment information group, and specifying. An electronic still image pickup device having means for automatically adding comment information to a photographed image when the comment information is selected. 2. The electronic still image pickup device according to claim 1, further comprising means for displaying a list of comment information when selecting comment information to be attached to a photographed image from the comment information group. 3. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: a unit for presenting comment information attached to a photographed image to a user, and a unit for changing comment information attached to a photographed image.
The electronic still image pickup device described. 4. The electronic still system according to claim 3, further comprising means for changing all the comment information of the image having the same comment information when the comment information attached to the photographed image is changed. Image pickup device. 5. The electronic still image pickup device according to claim 1, further comprising means for deleting registered comment information. 6. The electronic still image pickup device according to claim 5, further comprising means for automatically deleting the comment information when all the images with the registered comment information are deleted. 7. When all the images with the registered comment information are deleted, a means for confirming to the user whether or not to delete the comment information, and a comment information if the user instructs not to delete the comment information. 7. The electronic still image pickup device according to claim 6, further comprising means for canceling the deletion.