JP2003234993A - Digital camera - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a digital camera which can record and reproduce sound without anxiety about careless image display stop or change of a reproduced image. <P>SOLUTION: This digital camera has a monitor button to operate on/off of a display monitor and an image change button 53 to change an image displayed on the display monitor, and stops the display images on the display monitor when a fixed time of image reproduction elapses. During sound recording and reproduction by progressing from Step S111 to Step S109, an image change operation by the button 53 or non-display operation of the display monitor by the monitor button is invalidated. In addition, image display stop operation after a lapse of a fixed time of image reproduction is inhibited. As a result, recording and reproduction of sound is executed with priority and assuredly. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2003,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a digital camera capable of recording and reproducing voice.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a digital camera, a subject image is picked up by an image pickup device such as a CCD, converted into digital image data, and recorded in a memory in the camera or a detachably provided memory card. There is. in recent years,
A digital camera capable of recording a voice in association with a photographed subject image and reproducing the recorded voice is also generally provided. With a digital camera having such a voice recording function and a voice playback function, voice recording is performed on the image immediately after the image is captured, or the image already captured and recorded on the memory card is reproduced and recorded. I am playing back.

For example, when reproducing and displaying an image in the memory card and recording the image, the image display monitor is first turned on. At this time, one of the images recorded on the memory card, for example, the last recorded image is reproduced and displayed on the monitor. Therefore, the image switching button is operated to switch the reproduced image, the image to which the sound is to be added is reproduced and displayed on the monitor, and then the sound is recorded.

[0004]

However, if the monitor button or the image switching button is inadvertently mistakenly operated while recording or reproducing the image reproduced and displayed on the monitor, the monitor may be turned off. There is a risk that the reproduced display image may be switched.

The object of the present invention has been made in view of such a situation, and it is possible to record or reproduce voice without worrying about carelessly stopping the image display or switching the reproduced display image. To provide a camera.

[0006]

The invention according to claim 1 is provided with an image pickup means for picking up a subject image, and is applied to a digital camera for recording the picked-up image, and an image display means for reproducing and displaying the recorded image. A recording means for recording the input voice, a voice recording means for recording the voice recorded by the recording means in association with the image displayed on the image display means, and a voice reproduction for reproducing the recorded voice Means and display control means for continuing reproduction display by the image display means during either audio recording by the recording means or audio reproduction by the audio reproduction means are achieved. Further, a display image switching means for switching the image displayed on the image display means to another recorded image and a display stopping means for stopping the display of the image on the image display means are provided. The display image switching operation by the display image switching means and the display stopping operation by the display stopping means may be prohibited so that the reproduction display is continued. Further, as in the invention of claim 3, the recording control means is provided so that the recording of the voice by the recording means is prohibited when the voice associated with the image displayed on the image display means is already recorded. May be. The invention according to claim 4 is applied to a digital camera for recording a captured image, which includes image capturing means for capturing an image of a subject, image display means for reproducing and displaying the recorded image, and recording for recording input voice. Means, a sound recording means for recording the sound recorded by the sound recording means in association with an image, a sound reproducing means for reproducing the recorded sound, and a sound recording means for reproducing the recorded sound when the image display means is not displaying the sound. The above-mentioned object is achieved by providing control means for recording the sound recorded by the means in association with the last recorded image. Further, as in the invention of claim 5, when the sound associated with the image displayed on the image display means is recorded by one recording / reproducing operation section, the sound reproducing by the reproducing means is instructed, If the voice associated with the image displayed on the image display means is not recorded, the voice recording by the recording means may be instructed. According to the invention of claim 6, a recording operation section for instructing the start of recording by the recording means by an operation during non-recording, and an instruction for stopping recording by the recording means by an operation during recording, and an operation during non-voice reproduction It is also possible to provide a voice reproduction operation section for instructing start of reproduction by the voice reproducing means, and for instructing stop of reproduction by the voice reproducing means by an operation during voice reproduction.

[0007]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a digital camera according to an embodiment of the present invention, and mainly shows a portion related to the present invention. The digital camera according to the present embodiment has a CCD image pickup device 10 as an image pickup means.
An image pickup section 1 having a system LSI 20, a digital circuit section 2 having a system LSI 20 as a center, a sound circuit section 3 as a recording means and a sound reproducing means, an image reproducing circuit section 4 and an operation section 5 having various operation buttons. A memory card 6 is detachably provided as a recording medium in this digital camera.

The CCD image pickup device 10 is an area type image pickup device in which a plurality of pixels are two-dimensionally arranged, and a subject image is formed on the image pickup surface of the CCD image pickup device 10 by a photographing optical system (not shown). To be done. In the present embodiment, a CCD type image pickup element will be described as an example of the image pickup element, but a MOS type image pickup element or the like may be used. The subject image is photoelectrically converted in the CCD image pickup device 10, and an electric signal corresponding to the subject image is transferred to the CCD.
It is input from the image sensor 10 to the analog signal processing circuit 11.

The analog signal processing circuit 11 is an AGC (immobility gain control circuit) or a CDS (correlated double sampling circuit).
And the like, and performs analog signal processing such as gain adjustment and noise removal on the input image signal. The image signal subjected to the analog signal processing is converted into a digital signal by the A / D conversion circuit 12 and input to the system LSI 20 of the digital circuit unit 2. A TG (timing generator) circuit 13 outputs an operation timing signal to each of the CCD image pickup device 10, the analog signal processing circuit 11 and the A / D conversion circuit 12, and controls the operation timing between them.

The system LSI 20 of the digital circuit unit 2 performs digital signal processing such as image size change, white balance processing, gamma correction, etc. on digital image data input from the A / D conversion circuit 12. Done. RO that constitutes the program memory
A program relating to these processes and a control program for the entire camera are stored in M21, and the control program is executed by the system LSI 20 when a power switch (not shown) is turned on. RAM2 that constitutes the image memory
Reference numeral 2 is used as a buffer memory for temporarily storing the image data input from the image pickup unit 1 or for performing various types of image processing and image compression / expansion processing. In addition, the voice data recorded by the voice circuit unit 3 and the voice data read from the memory card 6 for reproduction by the voice circuit unit 3 are also included in the RA.
It is temporarily stored in M22.

The input voice is the microphone 3 of the voice circuit unit 3.
Converted to analog voice signal by 0, voice processing LSI
It is input to 31. The analog audio signal input to the audio processing LSI 31 is sampled at a predetermined frequency in the audio processing LSI 31 and converted into digital audio data. The digital audio data is sequentially taken in by the system LSI 20 of the digital circuit unit 2, and is stored in the RAM 22.
Temporarily stored in. Further, at the time of reproducing the sound, the sound is output from the speaker 32.

The image reproduction circuit section 4 has a display monitor 40 as an image display means for displaying a photographed image and a reproduced image.
And a monitor controller 41 for controlling the drive of the display monitor 40. On the display monitor 40,
For example, a TFT-LCD or the like is used. The operation unit 5 is provided with a release button 51, a monitor button 52, an image switching button 53 which is a display image switching unit, a recording button 54 which is a recording operation unit, and a sound reproduction button 55 which is a sound reproduction operation unit.

The release button 51 is an operation button for performing a photographing operation. The AF operation and the focus lock are performed by a half-press operation, and the C button is activated by a full-press operation.
Image data captured by the CD image sensor 10 is captured. The monitor button 52 is an operation button for instructing on / off of the display monitor 40. When the monitor button 52 is pushed, the image file recorded in the memory card 6 is searched, and the last recorded image is reproduced and displayed on the display monitor 40. The image switching button 53 is an operation button for switching a reproduced image displayed on the display monitor 40, operating a menu displayed on the display monitor 40, and the like.

When the record button 54 is pushed, voice recording is performed by the voice circuit section 3, and the voice reproduction button 5 is pressed.
When 5 is pushed, the voice reproduction by the voice circuit unit 3 is performed. Note that the record button 54 and the voice reproduction button 55
As an operation mode, recording / playback may be started by the first push operation and recording / playback may be stopped by the second push operation, or recording may be performed only while the button push operation is continued. -A playback operation may be performed. In the present embodiment, the former is called a hold type,
The latter is called a non-hold type.

<About shooting operation> Release button 51
When is fully pressed, the image signal of the subject image picked up by the CCD image pickup device 10 is converted into the analog signal processing circuit 11.
After being subjected to analog processing such as gain adjustment and noise removal, the signal is converted into a digital signal by the A / D conversion circuit 5. Then, the digital image data input to the system LSI 20 is temporarily stored in the RAM 22. afterwards,
Image data is read from the RAM 22 into the system LSI 20, and after image preprocessing such as white balance adjustment, contour compensation, and gamma correction is performed, the image data is stored in the RAM 22 again.

When the record button 54 is pushed immediately after photographing, a voice recording operation associated with a photographed image is performed. When the operation of the record button 54 is the hold type described above, the recording is started by the first push operation, and the recording is stopped by the second push operation. On the other hand, in the case of the non-hold type, the recording is continued while the recording button 54 is pushed, and the recording is stopped when the pushing of the button is stopped. During recording, the voice circuit section 3 is operated in the recording mode. The analog signal input from the microphone 30 is sampled at a predetermined sampling frequency by the audio processing LSI 31 and converted into digital data. The data is taken into the system LSI 20,
It is temporarily stored in the RAM 22.

When the recording is completed, the voice data that has been captured and temporarily stored in the RAM 22 is recorded in the memory card 6 in association with the captured image. The image data is compressed and recorded in the memory card 6 according to the setting state of image compression at the time of shooting. If it is set to non-compressed, it is recorded without being compressed.

<< Regarding Image Reproduction >> Next, image reproduction will be described. As described above, when the monitor button 52 is turned on, the image file recorded in the memory card 6 is searched, and the last recorded image data is read from the memory card 6. If the read image data is compressed data, the system LSI 20 decompresses the data, and then rearranges the data into a predetermined format.
It is stored in the AM 22. This image data is read out again, and the image size is changed to the image size corresponding to the number of display pixels of the display monitor 40, and stored in the reproduction display area in the RAM 22. The reproduction display data stored in the reproduction display area is read by the system LSI 20, converted into an analog video signal such as RGB, and then displayed on the display monitor 40 as a photographing result. The system LSI 20 measures the reproduction display time, and if a predetermined reproduction time has elapsed,
After the reproduction is finished, the display monitor 40 is turned off.

When the image switching button 53 is operated to advance frame by frame in the image display state, the next recorded image, in this case, the first recorded image is read from the memory card 6 and displayed on the display monitor. It is reproduced and displayed on 40. On the contrary, when the image reversing operation is performed by the image switching button 53,
The previously recorded image is reproduced and displayed.
A desired image can be reproduced and displayed on the display monitor 40 by such a frame advance operation.

When the recording operation button 54 is pushed while the desired image is reproduced and displayed on the display monitor 40, the recording operation is started, and when the push operation is stopped, the recording operation is stopped and the voice stored in the RAM 22 is recorded. The data is recorded in the memory card 6 in association with the image being reproduced and displayed. In the present embodiment, the recording operation refers to the time until the voice data is stored in the RAM 22, and the recording from the RAM 22 to the memory card 6 after the recording operation is stopped is referred to as the voice recording operation. This voice recording operation does not necessarily have to be performed subsequent to the recording operation, and may be performed in the background of other operations. If the image to which the audio data is attached is reproduced and displayed on the display monitor, the operation is ignored even if the record button 54 is operated.

If audio data is already associated with the displayed image and recorded, a mark indicating that the audio data is attached together with the image is displayed on the display monitor 40. At this time, when the voice reproduction button 55 is pushed, voice reproduction is performed. During voice reproduction, the voice data recorded in the memory card 6 is once read into the RAM 22, the voice circuit unit 3 is operated in the reproduction mode, and the voice data in the RAM 22 is sequentially sent to the voice processing LSI 31. The digital audio signal is converted into an analog audio signal by the audio processing LSI 31 and reproduced by the speaker 32.

2 and 3 are flow charts showing a processing procedure for displaying a reproduced image on the display monitor 40 for recording or voice reproduction. The operation of the record button 54 and the voice reproduction button 55 will be described as a non-hold type in which the recording / reproduction operation is performed only while the button is pressed. When the monitor button 52 is pressed in step S101, the process proceeds to step S102 and the memory card 6
Check the files in. In step S103, it is determined whether or not there is an image file in the memory card 6,
If it is determined that there is an image file, the process proceeds to step S104, and if it is determined that there is no image file, a series of recording / recording
The playback operation ends.

In step S104, the last recorded image data in the memory card 6 is read and the image is reproduced and displayed on the display monitor 40. At this time, if an audio file associated with the image data is recorded in the memory card 6, an audio mark is displayed on the display monitor 40 together with the image. In step S105, timing of the reproduction time is started. In step S106, it is determined whether a predetermined reproduction time has elapsed. Step S106
If it is determined that the predetermined reproduction time has elapsed, the process proceeds to step S107 to end the image reproduction on the display monitor 40 and end the series of operations. On the other hand, step S106
If it is determined that the time has not elapsed in step S1,
Go to 08.

In step S108, it is determined whether or not the monitor button 52 is pushed during image reproduction. If it is determined that the monitor button 52 is pushed, the process proceeds to step S107, and if it is determined that the monitor button 52 is not pushed, step S109 in FIG.
Go to. In step S109, it is determined whether recording or voice reproduction is in progress. If it is determined in step S109 that recording / playback is in progress, the process proceeds to step S110,
If it is determined that recording / playback is not in progress, the process proceeds to step S113. It should be noted that “during recording” means that a recording operation from capturing voice with the microphone 30 to storing voice data in the RAM 22 is being performed.

When the process proceeds from step S109 to step S110, it is determined whether or not the recording time limit (recording limit) has been reached in step S110, or whether all the audio data has been reproduced (reproduction end). . If it is determined in step S110 that the recording limit or the reproduction is ended, the process proceeds to step S112, and if it is determined that the recording limit is not ended or the reproduction is not ended, the process proceeds to step S111. In a succeeding step S111, it is determined whether or not the recording button 54 or the voice reproduction button 55 is released. If it is determined in step S111 that it has been released, the process proceeds to step S112 to stop recording / playback, and if it is determined that it has not been released and recording / playback is in progress, the process returns to step S109. In addition, the record button 54, 55
If the operation mode of is a hold type, step S1
At 11, it is determined whether the record button 54 or the voice reproduction button 55 has been pushed again.

In step S113, the image switching button 53
Has been pushed, and if it has not been pushed, the process proceeds to step S114. On the other hand, when the image switching button 53 is pushed to instruct switching of the reproduced image, the process proceeds to step S104, the image data next to or before the image displayed on the display monitor 40 is read from the memory card 6, The image is reproduced and displayed on the display monitor 40.

In step S114, it is determined whether or not there is an audio file associated with the displayed image,
If it is determined to be present, the process proceeds to step S115, and if it is determined not to be present, the process proceeds to step S117. In step S115, it is determined whether the audio reproduction button 55 has been pressed to instruct reproduction. If it is determined in step S115 that the button has been pressed, the process proceeds to step S116 to start reproduction,
If it is determined that the button has not been pressed, step S106 in FIG.
Return to.

On the other hand, steps S114 to S1
When the process proceeds to 17, it is determined whether the record button 54 has been pressed. If it is determined in step S117 that the button has been pressed, the process proceeds to step S118 to start recording, and if it is determined that the button has not been pressed, the process returns to step S106 in FIG. If the record button 54 is not pressed,
Image reproduction display is performed until a predetermined image reproduction time elapses or the monitor button 52 is pushed again. The recording of the image reproduction time may be restarted when recording or reproduction is started in steps S116 and S118.

As described above, the processing procedure shown in the flow charts of FIGS. 2 and 3 shows the operation when the image is reproduced and displayed on the display monitor 40. If the record button 54 and the voice reproduction button 55 are operated while not performing the operation, the following operation may be performed. First, when the record button 54 is pressed, recording is started in association with the image last recorded on the memory card 6. However, if the last image already has audio data, a warning indicating that it has audio data is generated, and for example, a warning display is displayed on the display monitor and the record button 54 is not operated. Ignore and do not perform the recording operation.

On the other hand, when the voice reproduction button 55 is operated, the voice data associated with the image last recorded in the memory card 6 is reproduced. Of course, when the last image has no audio data, the operation of the audio reproduction button 55 is ignored. When recording / playing,
The last recorded image may be displayed on the display monitor 40.

In the present embodiment, as described in the flow charts of FIGS. 2 and 3, while the image is displayed on the display monitor 40 to record and reproduce the sound, that is, the record button 54 and the sound reproduction. While the button 55 is being pressed, “S109 → S110 → S111 → S10
The processing of each step is repeated as in “9 → ...”. Therefore, the operation of the image switching button 53 and the monitor button 52 is ignored, and the reproduction stop operation is prohibited even if the predetermined reproduction time has elapsed.

[Modification] In the embodiment described above, FIG.
As shown in, the record button 54 and the voice playback button 55
However, they may be replaced by a single record / playback button. At this time, the record / playback button functions as a playback button when the image reproduced and displayed on the display monitor 40 has sound data, and functions as a record button when the image has no sound data.

As for the flowchart regarding the processing procedure of the recording / reproducing operation, FIG. 3 may be replaced with FIG. 4 of FIGS. In FIG. 4, the same steps as those in FIG. 3 are designated by the same reference numerals. Step S111 in FIG. 3 is replaced by step S200 in FIG. 4,
It is determined whether or not the pressing of the record / playback button has been released. Then, if it is determined that it is released, step S1
When it is determined that the recording / playback operation is continuing, the process returns to step S109.

In step S201, it is determined whether the record / playback button is pressed. If it is determined that the button is pressed in step S201, the process proceeds to step S202, and if it is determined that the button is not pressed, step S2 in FIG.
Return to 106. When the record / play button is pressed, step S
When the process proceeds from step 201 to step S202, it is determined in step S202 whether or not the image displayed on the display monitor 40 has audio data. When it is determined that the audio data is included and the process proceeds from step S202 to step S203, the reproduction is started in step S203 and then the process returns to step S109. On the other hand, if it is determined that there is no audio data and the process proceeds from step S202 to step S204, recording is started in step S204 and then the process returns to step S109.

In this modification, one recording / playback button is used for both the recording operation button and the voice reproduction operation button, so that the space of the operation section 5 can be suppressed and the number of members can be reduced. Since it is possible to reduce the cost, it is possible to reduce the cost.

In the correspondence between the embodiment described above and the elements of the claims, the monitor button 52 constitutes a display stopping means, and the record / reproduce button constitutes a record / reproduce operation section. Further, the system LSI 20 is a voice recording means,
It has the functions of a display operation control means, a recording operation control means, and a display stop means for stopping the image display by the display monitor 40 when a predetermined image reproduction time is reached.

[0037]

As described above, according to the present invention,
Since the playback display by the image display means is continued during either voice recording or voice playback,
It is possible to reliably and preferentially record and reproduce sound without worrying about carelessly stopping the image display or switching the reproduced display image.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a digital camera according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a recording and reproducing processing procedure.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a process following FIG.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure of a modified example.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Imaging unit 2 Digital circuit section 3 voice circuit 4 Image reproduction circuit 5 Operation part 6 memory card 10 CCD image sensor 20 system LSI 40 display monitor 52 Monitor button 53 Image switching button 54 Record button 55 Voice Play Button

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A digital camera having an image pickup means for picking up a subject image and recording the picked-up image, comprising: an image display means for reproducing and displaying the recorded image; and a recording means for recording the input voice. A sound recording means for recording the sound recorded by the sound recording means in association with the image displayed on the image display means, a sound reproducing means for reproducing the recorded sound, and a sound by the sound recording means. A digital camera, comprising: display control means for continuing reproduction display by the image display means during either recording or sound reproduction by the sound reproduction means. 2. The digital camera according to claim 1, wherein display image switching means for switching the image displayed on the image display means to the other recorded image, and display of the image on the image display means. And a display stop means for stopping the display control means, wherein the display control means prohibits the display image switching operation by the display image switching means and the display stop operation by the display stopping means to continue the reproduction display. camera. 3. The digital camera according to claim 1, wherein the recording of the voice by the recording unit is prohibited when the voice associated with the image displayed on the image display unit has already been recorded. A digital camera having a recording control means. 4. A digital camera, comprising an image pickup means for picking up a subject image, for recording the picked-up image, comprising: an image display means for reproducing and displaying the recorded image; and a recording means for recording the input voice. A voice recording means for recording the voice recorded by the recording means in association with an image, a voice reproducing means for reproducing the recorded voice, and a case where reproduction display by the image display means is not performed, A digital camera comprising: a control unit for recording the sound recorded by the recording unit in association with the last recorded image. 5. The digital camera according to claim 1, wherein when the sound associated with the image displayed on the image display unit is recorded, the sound is reproduced by the reproducing unit. A digital recording and reproducing operation section for instructing and instructing the sound recording by the recording means when the sound associated with the image displayed on the image display means is not recorded. camera. 6. The digital camera according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein an instruction to start recording by the recording means is given by an operation during non-recording, and a recording by the recording means is stopped by an operation during recording. A recording operation section for instructing, and an audio reproduction operation section for instructing start of reproduction by the audio reproducing means by an operation during non-audio reproduction and an instruction for stopping reproduction by the audio reproducing means by an operation during audio reproduction. A digital camera characterized by that.