JP2003333465A - Digital camera - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a digital camera which improves a searching capability for each image in an external information processor connected to search for and browse already photographed image information. <P>SOLUTION: A transmission rate value in a USB transmission path and required display image size information indicative of a display image size to be displayed on a display, transmitted from a personal computer (PC) body, are acquired (step 100), and a transmission rate (frame rate) of an index image is set on the basis of the acquired transmission rate value and requested image size information (step 102). The amount of data in each frame image of the index image is determined on the basis of the requested image size information, the index image is created according to the determined amount of data (step 104), and the created index image is transmitted to the PC in a streaming manner (step 106). As a result, the index image transmitted to the PC is sequentially displayed on the display with a display size requested by the PC. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

Description: BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention records moving image information or still image information corresponding to a subject image acquired by photographing on a predetermined recording medium, and at least an image. The present invention relates to a digital camera that can be connected to an external information processing apparatus having a display means for displaying via a predetermined transfer path, and that can transfer each image information recorded on the recording medium to the external information processing apparatus. [0004] 2. Description of the Related Art [0005]
Digital cameras that can record moving images in addition to still images and can be connected to an information processing device (external information processing device) such as a general personal computer (PC) have been commercialized. . According to such a digital camera, by connecting to the information terminal device, the still image and the moving image that have been taken are displayed on the display provided in the information terminal device, or the image data is provided in the information terminal device. It can be stored in a recording device such as a hard disk. By the way, when browsing still images and moving images that have been taken from the PC side using such a digital camera, after transmitting each image data itself from the digital camera side to the PC side, Using each image data, the image corresponding to each image data is reduced and displayed simultaneously, or an index image in which a predetermined number of browsing images are arranged in a predetermined layout on a single frame is generated and displayed. Things are often done. However, the index image display processing on the PC side in this case is restricted depending on the data transfer rate of the transfer path connecting the digital camera and the PC because the data amount of the moving image is relatively large. There is. Therefore, in order to solve this problem, the index on the PC side is simply obtained by thinning out the original moving image data or transmitting the resized image data in order to relatively speed up the data transfer in the transfer path. The searchability of browsing images by image display is improved (for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 5-8134).
No. 9 publication). However, in the above prior art, the PC
The image quality of the browsing image displayed on the side is inevitably lowered, and the searchability of the image may be greatly lowered. In particular, in order to view a moving image while minimizing the deterioration in image quality on the PC side, by securing an optimal update rate of the transfer image according to the data transfer state of the transfer path, There is a need to improve searchability. The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and has improved the searchability of each image information in an external information processing apparatus connected for searching and browsing photographed image information. The purpose is to provide a digital camera. According to the first aspect of the present invention, moving image information or still image information corresponding to a subject image acquired by photographing is recorded on a predetermined recording medium, and at least an image is recorded. A digital camera that can be connected to an external information processing apparatus having a display means for displaying via a predetermined transfer path, and that can transfer the image information recorded on the recording medium to the external information processing apparatus. The image information corresponding to each of the browsing images included in the index image information in which a predetermined number of browsing images are arranged in a predetermined layout on a single frame is recorded on the recording medium. Based on the display size of the index image information to be displayed by the image selection means to be selected from the information and the display means of the external information processing apparatus, the index A data amount setting means for setting the data amount of the image information, a transfer rate acquisition means for acquiring a data transfer rate value effective in the transfer path, a data transfer rate value acquired by the transfer rate acquisition means, and the data A frame rate setting means for setting a frame rate at the time of transferring the index image information to the external information processing device based on a data amount of the index image information set by the amount setting means; and a selection by the image selection means When at least one piece of image information is moving image information, a frame image extracting unit that extracts a frame image constituting the moving image information at an extraction interval corresponding to the frame rate, and a selection by the image selecting unit The index image information from the data amount setting means. When the image data is created to have a predetermined data amount and at least one of the image information selected by the image selection means is moving image information, each frame image extracted by the frame image extraction means Index image creation means for creating the index image information as a corresponding time-series continuous image group, and the index rate information created by the index image creation means, the frame rate set by the frame rate setting means And an image transfer means for transferring to the external information processing apparatus. According to the first aspect of the present invention, the image selecting means applies to each browsing image included in the index image information in which a predetermined number of browsing images are arranged in a predetermined layout on a single frame. Corresponding image information is selected from the image information recorded on the recording medium. The data amount setting means sets the data amount of the index image information based on the display size of the index image information to be displayed on the display means of the external information processing apparatus, and the transfer rate acquisition means is the transfer path. A valid data transfer rate value is obtained at. Further, the frame rate setting means is configured to determine the external information of the index image information based on the data transfer rate value acquired by the transfer rate acquisition means and the data amount of the index image information set by the data amount setting means. Sets the frame rate at the time of transfer to the processing device. Further, when at least one of the pieces of image information selected by the image selection unit is moving image information, the frame image extracting unit extracts a frame image constituting the moving image information at an extraction interval corresponding to the frame rate. Extract. The index image creating means creates the index image information so as to have the data amount set by the data amount setting means, using the image information selected by the image selecting means, and the image selecting means When at least one of the selected image information is moving image information, the index image information is created as a time series continuous image group corresponding to each frame image extracted by the frame image extraction means. . The image transfer means transfers the index image information created by the index image creation means to the external information processing apparatus at the frame rate set by the frame rate setting means. Note that the index image information transfer method here is preferably, for example, streaming transfer. By displaying this index image information on the display means of the external information processing apparatus, the contents of each image information obtained by photographing on the external information processing apparatus side can be easily browsed, and the search operation for each image information Efficiency can be improved. DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. As shown in FIG. 1, a digital camera 10 according to this embodiment is a USB (Universal Serial Bus).
A USB transfer path 28 composed of a standard cable is connected to a general personal computer (PC) main body 30 equipped with software capable of displaying various image data including moving images and still images on the display 30A. Various data can be exchanged with each other via the USB transfer path 28 and used. The digital camera 10, which will be described in detail later, is configured so that an external recording medium 32 having portability can be mounted, and each of the still image and the moving image obtained by photographing is recorded on the external recording medium 32. Image data can be stored in a predetermined file format so as to be readable and writable. In addition,
As this external recording medium 32, smart media (SmartMedia®), compact flash (Co
mpactFlash), ATA (AT Attachment) cards, floppy disks, and other portable recording media can be employed. FIG. 2 shows a schematic configuration of the digital camera 10 according to the present embodiment. The digital camera 10 includes a CPU 12, which is a main control unit for the overall operation of the digital camera 10, an imaging system control unit 14, an image compression / expansion unit 16, an LCD control unit 18 that performs display control of a liquid crystal display (LCD) 18A, A built-in memory 20, a communication interface (communication I / F) 22, and a media interface (media I / F) 24 are main components, and each is connected via a bus 26 so that various data can be exchanged. The imaging system control unit 14 controls an imaging system (not shown) for capturing a subject image, and selects and captures the subject image as a moving image or a still image. Is obtained as digital image data corresponding to. The image compression / decompression unit 16 is for compressing the digital image data in a predetermined image compression format and decompressing the compressed digital image data in accordance with the compression format. In this embodiment,
As the predetermined image compression format, JPEG (Joint Photographic Exp) is applied to digital image data of still images.
erts Group) format, AVI (Audio Video Interleave) for digital video data
d) The format is adopted. An LCD 18A is connected to the LCD controller 18, and display control of various information on the LCD 18A is performed. The built-in memory 20 is an RA that temporarily stores digital image data obtained mainly by photographing.
M, and a ROM that stores various control programs, predetermined parameters, and the like in advance. The RAM is also used as a work area during compression / decompression processing by the image compression / decompression unit 16. The media I / F 24 is for relaying various data to and from the external recording medium 32 for storing digital image data obtained by photographing. And reading of various data written in the external recording medium 32 is controlled. The communication I / F 22 is for relaying various data exchanges with the PC main body 30 via the USB transfer path 28, and is a US transmitted from the PC main body 30 side.
Transmission control of streaming transfer in an isochronous mode of an index image, which will be described later, and reception of an effective transfer rate value of isochronous transfer in the B transfer path 28 and image size information (request image size information) displayed on the display 30A. In the digital camera 10 according to the present embodiment, index image information for browsing photographed digital image data on the PC main body 30 side is created. This index image is image information in which image information corresponding to each digital image data is arranged in a predetermined layout (see S1, S2, and S3 in FIG. 3). The data amount of the index image is set based on the requested image size information received via the communication I / F 22. As shown in FIG. 3, in creating the index image, the digital camera 10 reads digital image data stored in a predetermined file format on the external recording medium 32 and passes it through the media I / F 24. The image compression / decompression unit 16 decompresses the image and temporarily stores it in the built-in memory 20. Further, the image compression / decompression unit 16 performs image compression processing using each digital image data temporarily stored in the built-in memory 20 so that each image data is stored in a predetermined layout (as shown in FIG. 3). An index image arranged in a 3 × 3 layout) is created. If the read digital image data includes a moving image (AVI format file),
This index image is created as a group of images (S1, S2, S3,...) Continuous in time series. Here, first, the transfer rate (frame rate) of the image group constituting the index image is set according to the data amount set based on the effective transfer rate value and the requested image size information in the USB transfer path 28. It has become. The frame rate here is a parameter indicating how many frames of the index image are transferred per second. Here, for example, when the effective data transfer rate X (kB / sec) of the USB transfer path 28 and the frame size x (kB) of one frame of the index image,
The frame rate R is set as X / x (frame / sec). Furthermore, the frame images (M1, M2, M3,...) Constituting the read moving image.
Are extracted at an extraction interval corresponding to the frame rate,
Each image (S
1, S2, S3). Also, the created index image is P
The data is transmitted to the C main body 30 as streaming data. As a result, the index image is streamed and displayed on the display 30A. Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described. In the digital camera 10 according to the present embodiment, the CPU is used when viewing and displaying images on the PC main body 30.
12, the processing routine shown in FIG. First, in step 100, the PC main body 30 is displayed.
The requested image size information indicating the transfer rate value in the USB transfer path 28 transmitted from the side and the display image size displayed on the display 30A is acquired. In the next step 102, the transfer rate (frame rate) of the index image is set based on the acquired transfer rate value and the requested image size information. Note that the frame rate set here is, for example, U.
When the data transfer rate of the SB transfer path 28 decreases,
Correspondingly, the frame rate may be lowered. In the next step 104, the data amount of each frame image of the index image is determined based on the requested image size information, and the index image is created according to the data amount. Note that, as the length of moving image extraction, a time zone during which the contents can be confirmed from the beginning of the file may be set. Further, regarding the data amount of each frame image of the index image set here, for example, when the data transfer rate of the USB transfer path 28 is lowered due to some cause at the time of transmitting the index image,
The amount of data per index image frame may be set small. In the next step 106, the created index image is isochronously transferred to the PC main body 30 side. Here, the index image created in step 104 is repeatedly transmitted. Thereby, the index image transferred to the PC main body 30 side is
The images are sequentially displayed on the display 30 </ b> A in the display size requested from the PC main body 30. Therefore, on the PC main body 30 side, the received images are sequentially updated, so that the moving images are accompanied by movements, so that the contents can be easily confirmed. Note that when a video to be viewed is selected from the index image displayed here, the selected moving image or still image may be enlarged and displayed. Also in this case, only the selected image may be transmitted by streaming, or may be transmitted by download. When the transfer rate of the USB transfer path 28 depends on the communication I / F 22 of the digital camera 10, the transmission may be performed at a transfer rate defined on the digital camera 10 side. As described above, according to the digital camera of the present embodiment, the index image displayed on the display 30A when browsing the image on the PC main body 30 side also includes a moving image. Therefore, it is possible to suppress the degradation of the image quality, secure an optimal transfer rate, and perform isochronous transfer at an update rate according to the data transfer state of the transfer path, thereby greatly improving image searchability. In this embodiment, the case where the digital camera 10 and the PC 12 are connected by USB has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and wired communication other than USB (for example,
IEEE 1394 or the like) or wireless communication (for example, Bluetooth, IrDA, etc.) may be adopted. Also in this case, the same effects as in the present embodiment can be obtained. In this embodiment, the JPEG format and the AVI are used as the compression formats for digital image data.
Although the case where the format is adopted has been described, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the M-JPEG (Motion-JPEG) format or MPEG (Moving Picture Experts Group)
Other compression formats such as a format may be adopted. Also in this case, the same effects as in the present embodiment can be obtained. As described above, according to the present invention,
An image acquired by photographing by setting a frame rate at the time of transferring index image information to the external information processing device based on the effective data transfer rate value of the transfer path to the external information processing device and the data amount of the index image information In creating index image information using information, particularly when at least one of the image information is moving image information, each frame image constituting the moving image information extracted at an extraction interval corresponding to the frame rate. The index image information is created as a time series continuous image group corresponding to each, and the created index image is transferred to the external information processing apparatus at the set frame rate. Improved the searchability of each image information in the external information processing device connected for searching and browsing It is possible to provide a digital camera, has an excellent effect that.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining an example of usage of a digital camera according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of a digital camera according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is an external recording medium according to an embodiment of the present invention;
It is a figure which shows an example of the index image information handled between a digital camera and PC. FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a flow of index image transfer processing according to the embodiment of the present invention. [Explanation of Symbols] 10 Digital Camera 12 CPU 16 Image Compression / Expansion Unit 20 Built-in Memory 22 Communication I / F 24 Media I / F 26 Bus 28 USB Transfer Path 30 PC Main Body 30A Display 32 External Recording Media

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Claims (1)

What is claimed is: 1. External information having recording means for recording moving image information or still image information corresponding to a subject image acquired by photographing on a predetermined recording medium and displaying at least an image A digital camera that can be connected to a processing device via a predetermined transfer path and can transfer the image information recorded on the recording medium to the external information processing device, and has a predetermined layout on a single frame. Image selecting means for selecting image information corresponding to each of the browsing images included in the index image information in which a predetermined number of browsing images are arranged from the image information recorded on the recording medium, The data amount of the index image information is set based on the display size of the index image information to be displayed on the display means of the external information processing apparatus. Data amount setting means, transfer rate acquisition means for acquiring a data transfer rate value effective in the transfer path, data transfer rate value acquired by the transfer rate acquisition means and the data amount setting means At least one of frame rate setting means for setting a frame rate when transferring the index image information to the external information processing device based on the data amount of the index image information, and image information selected by the image selection means In the case of moving image information, using a frame image extracting means for extracting a frame image constituting the moving image information at an extraction interval corresponding to the frame rate, and using the image information selected by the image selecting means, The index image information is set to the data amount set by the data amount setting means. In addition, when at least one of the image information selected by the image selection means is moving image information, images that are continuous in time series respectively corresponding to each frame image extracted by the frame image extraction means Index image creating means for creating the index image information as a group, and index image information created by the index image creating means is transferred to the external information processing apparatus at the frame rate set by the frame rate setting means And a digital camera having: