JP2003250126A - Image recording apparatus and control method thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To solve a problem on operation of a conventional image recording apparatus wherein a user judges that an operation intended by the user is not executed, resulting in instructing other operation because it takes a long time before a major image is displayed. <P>SOLUTION: The image recording apparatus records an image on a medium to be recorded on the basis of image data from an image data source, when a decode processing section 700 decodes encoded image data from the data source, whether or not a thumbnail image included in the encoded image data is decoded is discriminated (S4), and a display form of the image displayed on a display section is revised depending on the result of discrimination (S5, S6). <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 an image recording apparatus for inputting image data from an image pickup apparatus such as a digital camera or an image data source such as a memory and recording the image data on a recording medium, and a control method thereof.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a personal computer or a digital camera (digital still camera: DSC), a card-shaped storage medium (memory card) is generally used as a medium for storing image data. 2. Description of the Related Art A printer device is known that reads the created image data and prints on a printing paper.

In such a printer device, if a printer device capable of displaying the contents of the image stored in the memory card (hereinafter referred to as a viewer) is connectable to the printer device when selecting the image to be printed, A desired image can be selected by referring to the image displayed on the viewer.

The image data stored in such a memory card is generally compressed and stored. Depending on the image file format, the number of pixels is small and the image is rough, but the decoding process is fast and the image is displayed at high speed. Possible images (hereinafter, thumbnail images) and normal images (hereinafter, main image)
There are two types. When selecting a print image, such a thumbnail image is displayed on the viewer, and then the thumbnail image is converted into a main image and displayed, so that the user can feel the operation of image selection and confirm the image quality. It is compatible. The thumbnail image is an image obtained by reducing a normal main image in order to display a large number of images in a list. In an application of a personal computer, it is difficult to determine the content of the file by the image file name, and therefore it is generally known to display a thumbnail image obtained by reducing the main image together with the file name. Also in digital cameras,
It is also known that a plurality of thumbnail images can be displayed side by side on a display unit provided on the main body.

[0005]

However, in the case of the image file format in which the thumbnail image is not originally stored, or when the thumbnail image is damaged, the main image is directly displayed without displaying the thumbnail image. It is converted and displayed. However, since such image conversion into a main image requires a long processing time, the user does not know what is being executed until the decoding process of the image is completed and the main image is displayed on the viewer. Since there is no such operation, there is a problem in operation such as determining that the operation intended by the user has not been executed and instructing another operation until the display is made.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-described conventional example, and when a thumbnail image cannot be displayed for some reason when displaying an image, by displaying that fact in a distinguishable manner, finally It is an object of the present invention to provide an image recording apparatus and a control method thereof for eliminating user's anxiety until an image is decoded and displayed.

[0007]

In order to achieve the above object, the image recording apparatus of the present invention has the following structure.
That is, an image recording device for recording an image on a recording medium based on image data from an image data source, the decoding means for decoding the encoded image data from the image data source, and the image data Display means for displaying an image based on the display, judgment means for judging whether or not the thumbnail image included in the encoded image data could be decoded by the decoding means, and the display according to the judgment result by the judgment by the judgment means. Display control means for changing the display form of the image displayed on the means.

In order to achieve the above object, the control method in the image recording apparatus of the present invention has the following configuration.
That is, a control method in an image recording apparatus for recording an image on a recording medium based on image data from an image data source, the decoding step of decoding encoded image data from the image data source, Change the display mode of the image displayed on the display unit according to the determination step of determining whether the thumbnail image included in the encoded image data can be decoded in the decoding step and the determination result of the determination in the determination step. And a display control step to perform.

[0009]

Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the present embodiment, a recording apparatus (photo direct printer apparatus) having a PC card slot and adopting an inkjet method as a recording method will be described as an example.

FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view of a photo-direct printer apparatus 1000 according to an embodiment of the present invention.
This photo direct printer has a function as a normal PC printer that receives data from a host computer (PC) and prints it, and directly reads and prints image data stored in a storage medium such as a memory card.
Alternatively, it has a function of directly receiving image data from a digital camera and printing it.

In FIG. 1, the main body forming the outer shell of the photodirect printer 1000 according to the present embodiment is
It has exterior members for the lower case 1001, the upper case 1002, the access cover 1003, and the discharge tray 1004. Further, the lower case 1001 forms a substantially lower half part of the apparatus 1000, and the upper case 1002 forms a substantially upper half part of the main body, and a combination of both cases forms an accommodation space for accommodating each mechanism described later therein. It has a hollow body structure having an opening formed in each of an upper surface portion and a front surface portion thereof. Further, one end of the discharge tray 1004 is rotatably held by the lower case 1001, and the opening formed in the front surface of the lower case 1001 can be opened and closed by the rotation. Therefore, when the recording operation is performed, by rotating the discharge tray 1004 to the front side to open the opening, it becomes possible to discharge the recording sheets from here, and the discharged recording sheets are sequentially arranged. It can be loaded. In addition, the output tray 100
Two auxiliary trays 1004a and 1004b are accommodated in the sheet 4, and the support area of the sheet can be expanded or reduced in three stages by pulling out the respective trays as necessary.

One end of the access cover 1003 is rotatably held by the upper case 1002 so that an opening formed on the upper surface can be opened and closed. By opening the access cover 1003, the inside of the main body is opened. The recording head cartridge (not shown) or the ink tank (not shown) housed therein can be replaced. Although not particularly shown here, when the access cover 1003 is opened and closed, a protrusion formed on the back surface of the access cover 1003 rotates the cover opening / closing lever, and the rotation position of the lever can be detected by a micro switch or the like. Thus, the open / closed state of the access cover can be detected.

A power key 1005 is provided on the upper surface of the upper case 1002 so that it can be pressed. On the right side of the upper case 1002, an operation panel 1010 including a liquid crystal display 1006 and various key switches is provided. The structure of the operation panel 1010 will be described later in detail with reference to FIG. An automatic feeding unit 1007 automatically feeds the recording sheet into the apparatus main body. A paper interval selection lever 1008 is a lever for adjusting the distance between the recording head and the recording sheet. Reference numeral 1009 denotes a card slot into which an adapter to which a memory card can be attached is inserted, and the image data stored in the memory card can be directly fetched and printed via this adapter.
Examples of the memory card (PC) include a compact flash (registered trademark) memory, smart media, and memory stick. Reference numeral 1011 denotes a viewer (a liquid crystal display unit) that can be attached to and detached from the main body of the apparatus. When searching for an image to be printed from images stored in the PC card, an image for each frame or an index image is displayed. Used to display. Reference numeral 1012 denotes a terminal for connecting a digital camera described later, and 1013 denotes a USB bus connector for connecting a personal computer (PC).

FIG. 2 is a schematic perspective view showing the structure of the recording head of the photo-direct printer apparatus 1000 according to this embodiment.

A recording head cartridge 1200 according to this embodiment has an ink tank 1300 for storing ink as shown in FIG. 2 and a recording head for ejecting ink supplied from the ink tank 1300 from nozzles according to recording information. 1301 and the recording head 130
1 is a so-called cartridge type, which is detachably mounted on the carriage 1102. When recording, the recording head cartridge 1
200 is reciprocally scanned along the carriage axis, and accordingly, a color image is recorded on the recording sheet. In the recording head cartridge 1301 shown here, in order to enable high-quality color recording of a photographic tone, as ink tanks, for example, black, light cyan (LC), light magenta (LM), cyan, magenta, and yellow are independently formed. Ink tanks are prepared, and each of them is detachable from the recording head 1301.

In the present embodiment, the case of using the above-mentioned 6-color ink will be described, but the present invention is not limited to the case of using these 6-color inks, for example, black and cyan. It may be an ink jet printer that records using four color inks, magenta and yellow. In that case, independent ink tanks for each of the four colors may be detachable from the recording head 1301.

FIG. 3 shows an operation panel 1 according to this embodiment.
It is a general-view figure of 010.

In the figure, the liquid crystal display section 1006 displays menu items for setting various data relating to the items printed on the left and right sides thereof. The items displayed here are the first photo number of the range you want to print, the specified frame number (start / -designate), the last photo number of the range you want to finish printing (end), the number of copies (copies), and the print number. Type of paper (recording sheet) to be used (paper type), number of photos to print on one sheet (layout), specification of print quality (quality), whether to print the date taken (date) Print), designation of whether to correct and print a photo (image correction), display of the number of sheets required for printing (number of sheets), and the like. Each of these items is displayed with the cursor key 20.
It is selected or designated by using 01. Reference numeral 2002 denotes a mode key, and each time the key 2002 is pressed, the type of printing (index printing, all-frame printing, one-frame printing, etc.) can be switched, and the corresponding LED of the LED 2003 is turned on accordingly. . Reference numeral 2004 denotes a maintenance key, which is used for maintenance of the printer such as cleaning of the recording head 1301 and entering a print area designation mode. A print start key 2005 is pressed to instruct the start of printing or to establish maintenance settings. Reference numeral 2006 denotes a print stop key, which is pressed to stop printing or to give an instruction to stop maintenance.

Next, with reference to FIG. 4, the structure of the main part relating to the control of the photodirect printer apparatus 1000 according to the present embodiment will be described. In FIG. 4, parts common to those in the above-mentioned drawings are given the same symbols and their explanations are omitted.

In FIG. 4, reference numeral 3000 denotes a control section (control board). Reference numeral 3001 denotes an ASIC (dedicated custom LSI), the configuration of which will be described later in detail with reference to the block diagram of FIG. A DSP (digital signal processor) 3002 has a CPU inside, and performs various control processes described later and a luminance signal (RGB) to a density signal (CM).
YK) conversion, scaling, gamma conversion, image processing such as error diffusion. 3003 is a memory,
It has a program memory 3003a for storing a control program of the CPU of the DSP 3002, a RAM area for storing a program at the time of execution, and a memory area functioning as a work memory for storing image data and the like. Three
Reference numeral 004 denotes a printer engine, which is equipped with a printer engine of an inkjet printer that prints a color image using a plurality of color inks. 300
Reference numeral 5 denotes a USB bus connector as a port for connecting the digital camera 3012. Reference numeral 3006 is a connector for connecting the viewer 1011. 3008 is a USB bus hub (USB HUB).
When 0 performs printing based on the image data from the PC 3010, the data from the PC 3010 is directly passed through and the printer engine 30 is transmitted via the USB bus 3021.
Output to 04. As a result, the connected PC 30
The printer 10 can directly exchange data and signals with the printer engine 3004 to execute printing (function as a general PC printer). Reference numeral 3009 denotes a power supply connector which inputs a DC voltage converted from commercial AC by a power supply 3013. The PC 3010 is a general personal computer, 3011 is the above-mentioned memory card (PC card), and 3012 is a digital camera. Incidentally, the control unit 3000 and the printer engine 300
4 exchanges signals with the USB bus 30 described above.
21 or via the IEEE1284 bus 3022.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the ASIC 3001. In this FIG. 5 as well, portions common to those in the previous drawings are given the same symbols and their explanations are omitted.

A PC card interface unit 4001 reads image data stored in the attached PC card 3011 or writes data to the PC card 3011. 4002 is IEEE128
The 4 interface unit exchanges data with the printer engine 3004. This IEEE1284
The interface unit is a bus used when printing the image data stored in the digital camera 3012 or the PC card 3011. A USB interface unit 4003 exchanges data with the PC 3010. A USB host interface unit 4004 exchanges data with the digital camera 3012. An operation panel / interface unit 4005 inputs various operation signals from the operation panel 1010 and outputs display data to the display unit 1006. A viewer interface unit 4006 controls the display of image data on the viewer 1011.
An interface unit 4007 controls interfaces with various switches and the LEDs 4009.
4008 is a CPU interface unit, which is a DSP 300.
It controls the exchange of data between the two. Four
Reference numeral 010 is an internal bus (ASIC bus) that connects these units.

This control program is constructed in a multitasking format in which each functional module is tasked.
The main task configuration is shown in FIG.

In FIG. 6, reference numeral 8000 denotes a system control task, which performs arbitration of the entire system such as issuing events between tasks, sequence control associated with the end of events, and exclusive processing. Reference numeral 8001 denotes a key event task, which is based on the key operation on the operation panel 1010.
Analyzes the pressed key. Reference numeral 8002 denotes a display task on the LCD display unit 1006, which is activated when UI control or a message display request is generated on the display unit 1006, and executes display control on the display unit 1006. Reference numeral 8003 denotes a task activated by reading / writing from / to the PC card 3011 or inputting / outputting data by IEEE1394, Bluetooth, or the like. A USB printer task 8004 is activated by data transfer from the PC 3010 connected via the USB bus.
It is activated by the printer interrupt of B and executes the function as a PC printer. 8005 is activated by the system control task 8000 and initializes the firmware. System control task 800
In response to the message from 0, USB which is a lower task
It starts and ends the control task and USB bus task. 8006 is activated by the USB task
Data is read from the digital camera 3012 connected via the, and various communication controls are executed. A file task 8007 controls input / output such as file opening, closing, reading, and writing. A task 8008 is started from the Centronics interface connected to the printer engine 3004, and is a DM of print data.
A transmission, status response, etc. are executed. An image processing task 8009 receives RGB data, creates YMCK data by the above-described 3D processing, tetrahedral interpolation, color conversion, scaling, error diffusion processing, and the like, and finally outputs raster image data to be output to the printer engine 3004. create. 8010 is a page create task, J
Decompress PEG data and convert it to image data, or create image data from BMP format data,
Alternatively, image data is created from the HTML document, and image processing such as photo data correction and gradation correction and RG are performed.
B data is created. Reference numeral 8011 denotes a viewer task which executes display control to the viewer 1011 while the viewer 1011 is connected.

FIG. 7 is a flow chart for explaining the process of reading the image data from the PC card 3011 and displaying it on the viewer 1011 in the photo-direct printer apparatus according to the present embodiment. A program for executing this process is stored in the program memory 3003a and is executed under the control of the DSP 3002. This process is started by inserting a memory card into the card slot 1009, for example.

First, in step S1, the PC memory card 3
The image data stored in 011 is searched, and when a plurality of image data are stored, they are sorted to determine the reading order, and the file name and path of the image data to be read are acquired. Next, in step S2,
The decoding processing unit 700 is instructed to decode the thumbnail image stored in the image file. Generally, this image data is compressed and stored in the JPEG format, so that encoded data for thumbnail images is prepared. As a result, the decoding processing unit 700
Decode the thumbnail image data of the encoded data,
The decoding result and the decoded data are returned. This decoding processing unit 700 is realized by the above-described page create task 8010 in this embodiment. In this way, the process proceeds to step S3, the decoding result is received, and in step S4, it is determined whether the decoding of the thumbnail image is normally completed. In this embodiment, this determination process is
The determination is made based on whether the image size of the decoded thumbnail image is “0”. When the processing is normally completed (the image size is “0” or more), the process proceeds to step S5, the decoded thumbnail image is displayed on the viewer 1011 and the process proceeds to step S7. On the other hand, if the decoding of the thumbnail image fails (the image size is “0”) in step S4, the process proceeds to step S6, the viewer 1011 displays an icon such as an hourglass, and the process proceeds to step S7. In addition, as an example when the decoding of this thumbnail image fails,
The thumbnail image data may not exist, or the thumbnail image data may be broken.

Thus, the process proceeds to step S7, and next, the decoding processing unit 700 is instructed to decode the main image. Thereby, the decoding processing unit 700 decodes the main image data of the encoded data and returns the decoding result and the decoded data (step S8). Next, in step S9, it is checked whether the decoding of the main image is normally completed. When the processing is normally completed, the process proceeds to step S10, the decoded main image is displayed on the viewer 1011 and the display processing of this image ends. On the other hand, if the decoding of the main image fails in step S9, the process proceeds to step S11, a message indicating that the file is damaged is displayed on the viewer 1011, and the processing for the damage of the image file is performed.

FIG. 8 is a diagram for explaining an example of image display on the viewer 1011 associated with the display processing according to the present embodiment.

In the figure, reference numeral 800 indicates an image displayed on the viewer 1011 before this processing is executed.
Reference numeral 801 denotes the thumbnail image of the processing target image which is displayed after the decoding of the thumbnail image is completed. This is Figure 7
Is displayed by the process of step S5. Reference numeral 802 denotes a display example in the case where the decoding of the thumbnail image is not successful. Here, an icon 803 indicating an hourglass is added to the image 800 and displayed. This is displayed by the processing in step S6 of FIG. Here, the display is not limited to such an icon, and may be a message or another image, as long as the display indicates to the user that processing is in progress. . Further, although the icon 803 is added to the original image 800 to be displayed here, the original image may be deleted. Reference numeral 804 shows a display example of the finally decoded main image, which is displayed by the processing of step S10 in FIG.

In step S11 of FIG. 7, if the image file is damaged and cannot be decrypted, the viewer 101
In FIG. 1, a predetermined image prepared in advance may be displayed, or the display of the image may be deleted.

Further, in the display processing of 802, for example, an animated icon indicating that the user is operating or a character indicating that the user is operating may be displayed.

(Other Embodiments) As described above, the object of the present invention is to provide a storage medium storing a program code of software for realizing the function of the embodiment to a system or apparatus, and the system or apparatus. This can also be achieved by the computer (or CPU or MPU) of (1) reading and executing the program code stored in the storage medium. In this case, the program code itself read from the storage medium realizes the functions of the above-described embodiments, and the storage medium storing the program code constitutes the present invention. As a storage medium for supplying such a program code, for example, a floppy disk, hard disk, optical disk, magneto-optical disk, CD-ROM, CD-R, magnetic tape, non-volatile memory card, ROM, etc. may be used. You can

Further, by executing the program code read by the computer, not only the functions of the above-described embodiments are realized, but also the OS (operating system) running on the computer is operated based on the instruction of the program code. This also includes the case where the system) performs a part or all of the actual processing and the processing realizes the functions of the above-described embodiments.

Further, after the program code read from the storage medium is written in the memory provided in the function expansion board inserted in the computer or the function expansion unit connected to the computer, based on the instruction of the program code. It also includes a case where the CPU or the like provided in the function expansion board or the function expansion unit performs a part or all of the actual processing, and the processing realizes the functions of the above-described embodiments.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, when the encoded image data is decoded and displayed, the thumbnail image of the encoded data is absent or damaged and can be displayed quickly. When thumbnails cannot be displayed, it can be displayed so that the user can understand that it takes time to display the main image.

As a result, the user can determine whether or not the device is operating normally even if the image is not displayed. Thereby, the user's anxiety can be removed.

[0037]

As described above, according to the present invention, when the thumbnail image cannot be displayed for some reason when displaying the image, the fact is displayed so that the thumbnail image can be identified so that the image is finally displayed. There is an effect that it is possible to remove the user's anxiety during the time when is decoded and displayed.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view of a photo-direct printer device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic perspective view of a recording head of the photodirect printer device according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a schematic view of an operation panel of the photodirect printer device according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a main part relating to control of the photodirect printer apparatus according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an ASIC of the photodirect printer device according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a multitask configuration in which a task is made into each functional module in the control program of the photodirect printer apparatus according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing an image display process in the photo direct printer device according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a display example for explaining the processing of FIG.

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification code FI theme code (reference) // H04N 101: 00 H04N 5/93 Z (72) Inventor Takao Aichi 3-30 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo No. 2 Canon Inc. (72) Inventor Akihiko Hamamoto 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Canon Inc. (72) Inventor Tetsuya Kawanabe 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Canon Incorporated (72) Inventor Makoto Hibi, 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Canon Inc. (72) Inventor, Fumihiro Goto 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Canon Inc. (72) Inventor Masato Oshima 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Canon Inc. (72) Inventor Mitsuhiro Ono 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Ya non Co., Ltd. in the F-term (reference) 2C087 AB01 AB05 AC07 BB16 BB20 BD24 BD52 CB16 CB20 5B021 AA01 LB07 NN00 PP04 5C053 FA04 FA06 FA08 GB21 HA29 LA01 LA03 5E501 AA06 AC15 BA02 BA05 CA04 CB02 FA04 FA05 FA46 FB04

Claims (12)

[Claims] 1. An image recording apparatus for recording an image on a recording medium based on image data from an image data source, comprising: decoding means for decoding encoded image data from the image data source; Display means for displaying an image based on the image data, judging means for judging whether or not the thumbnail image included in the coded image data can be decoded by the decoding means, and depending on a judgment result by the judgment of the judging means. And a display control unit that changes a display form of an image displayed on the display unit. 2. The display control means, when the determination means determines that the thumbnail image cannot be decoded by the decoding means, adds a predetermined image to the image being displayed and displays it on the display means. The image recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein: 3. The display control means displays a predetermined image on the display means when it is determined by the determination means that the thumbnail image cannot be decoded by the decoding means. The image recording device described in 1. 4. The image recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the determination unit makes a determination based on a size of a thumbnail image included in the encoded image data. 5. The image data source is a memory card, and the determination means determines whether the memory card is mounted.
The image recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein it is determined whether or not the thumbnail image can be decoded by the decoding unit. 6. A control method in an image recording apparatus for recording an image on a recording medium based on image data from an image data source, comprising a decoding step of decoding encoded image data from the image data source. And a determination step of determining whether or not the thumbnail image included in the encoded image data could be decoded in the decoding step, and a display of an image displayed on the display unit according to the determination result of the determination in the determination step. A display control step of changing the form, and a control method in an image recording apparatus. 7. In the display control step, when it is determined in the determination step that the thumbnail image cannot be decoded in the decoding step, a predetermined image is attached to the image being displayed and displayed on the display unit. The control method in the image recording apparatus according to claim 6, wherein: 8. The display control step displays a predetermined image on the display unit when the thumbnail image is determined to be undecodable in the decoding step in the determination step. 7. The control method in the image recording device according to item 6. 9. The control method in an image recording apparatus according to claim 6, wherein in the determining step, the determination is performed based on a size of a thumbnail image included in the encoded image data. 10. The image data source is a memory card, and in the determining step, it is determined whether or not the thumbnail image can be decoded in the decoding step according to the mounting of the memory card. 10. A control method in the image recording apparatus according to any one of items 9 to 9. 11. A program for executing the control method according to any one of claims 6 to 10. 12. A computer-readable storage medium storing a program for executing the control method according to any one of claims 6 to 10.