JP2003333490A - Image browsing system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image browsing system capable of efficiently displaying an index image for searching/browsing every image information obtained from a digital camera in an information processing device connected to the digital camera. <P>SOLUTION: The digital camera 11 creates the index image S1 comprising shrinked images of still images and moving images, and transmits the index image S1 to a PC body 30 for storage. The digital camera 11 also creates combined frame images G1, G2, etc., comprising each frame images composing the moving images, and performs streaming transmission of the combined frame images to the PC body 30. The PC body 30 displays the received index image S1, and updates the index image S1 to the index image S2 with each frame images in the combined frame image G1. Similarly, the index image S2 is updated to an index image S3 with each frame images included in the combined frame image G2 received successively. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,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 which acquires and records moving image information or still image information showing a subject image, and information which is connected to the digital camera and which can display each image information in a viewable manner. An image browsing system including a processing device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years,
A digital camera that can record a moving image in addition to a still image and that can be used by connecting to an information processing device such as a general personal computer (PC) has been commercialized. According to such a digital camera, by connecting to the information processing device, a still image and a moving image that have been taken are displayed on the display included in the information processing device, and the image data of those images is provided in the information processing device. It can be stored in a recording device such as a hard disk.

By the way, when browsing still images and moving images 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, the PC side Using each image data, the image corresponding to each image data is reduced and displayed at the same time, or an index image in which a predetermined number of browsing images are arranged in a predetermined layout on a single frame is created and displayed. Is often done. However, the index image display processing on the PC side in this case is subject to restrictions depending on the data transfer rate of the transfer path connecting the digital camera and the PC, since the moving image has a relatively large data amount. There is. Therefore, in order to solve this problem, in order to relatively speed up the data transfer on the transfer path, the original moving image data is simply thinned out or the resized image data is transmitted, so that the index on the PC side is reduced. It has been performed to improve searchability of browsing images by image display (for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 5-8134).
No. 9).

However, in the above prior art, the PC
The image quality of the browsed image displayed on the side is unavoidably deteriorated, and the searchability of the image may be significantly decreased. In particular, in order to display the moving image on the PC side while suppressing the deterioration of the image quality as much as possible, it is necessary to secure the optimum frame rate of the transferred image according to the data transfer state of the transfer path, and the PC It is preferable to reduce the amount of data transferred from the digital camera to the PC, which is required for displaying the index image on the side, as small as possible. By reducing the amount of transfer data for displaying the index image on the PC side as much as possible, the display response of the index image can be improved without depending on the frame rate of the transfer image. It is possible to easily deal with increasing the amount of data per one frame of the transfer image in order to increase the resolution in the above.

The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and in an information processing apparatus connected to a digital camera, an index image for searching and browsing each image information acquired by the digital camera is displayed. An object is to provide an image browsing system capable of displaying efficiently.

[0006]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, image acquisition means for acquiring image information of a moving image or a still image showing a subject image, and image information acquired by the image acquisition means are stored. Image information corresponding to each of the browsing images included in the index image in which a predetermined number of browsing images are arranged in a predetermined layout on a single frame from the image information stored in the storage unit When at least one of the image selection unit to be selected and the image information selected by the image selection unit is image information based on a moving image, frame image extraction for extracting a plurality of frame images forming the moving image at a predetermined extraction interval Means, index image for creating index image information corresponding to the index image based on the image information selected by the image selecting means Creating means, index image sending means for sending the index image information created by the index image creating means, and frame image sending means for sending the frame image information corresponding to each frame image extracted by the frame image extracting means. A digital camera provided, an index image receiving means for receiving the index image information transmitted by the index image transmitting means, a frame image receiving means for receiving the frame image information transmitted by the frame image transmitting means, and the frame image receiving Index image updating means for updating the index image information received by the index image receiving means based on the frame image information received by the means, image display means for displaying an image, and index received by the index image receiving means Image information Accordingly, the display device includes display control means for displaying the index image indicated by the image display means and displaying the index image indicated by the index image information updated by the index image update means on the image display means. And an information processing device.

According to the first aspect of the invention, in the digital camera, the image information obtained by the image obtaining means is obtained by the image obtaining means and the storage means is obtained by the image obtaining means by the image obtaining means. Is memorized. Further, the image selection means stores the image information corresponding to each of the browsing images included in the index image in which the predetermined number of browsing images are arranged in a predetermined layout on the single frame, by the storage means. Selected from image information. Here, when at least one of the selected image information is image information based on a moving image, the frame image extracting means extracts a plurality of frame images forming the moving image at a predetermined extraction interval. The index image creating means creates index image information corresponding to the index image based on the image information selected by the image selecting means. The created index image information is transmitted by the index image transmitting means. Further, the frame image information corresponding to each frame image extracted by the frame image extracting means is transmitted by the frame image transmitting means, for example, as streaming data.

On the other hand, in the information processing apparatus, the index image receiving unit receives the index image information transmitted by the index image transmitting unit of the digital camera, and the frame image receiving unit also receives the index image information.
The frame image information transmitted by the frame image transmitting means of the digital camera is received. Further, the index image updating means updates the index image information received by the index image receiving means based on the frame image information received by the frame image receiving means. The display control means displays the index image indicated by the index image information received by the index image receiving means on the image display means, and the index image indicated by the index image information updated by the index image updating means. Is displayed. Therefore, the image display means of the information processing apparatus can efficiently display the index image for browsing the contents of each image information obtained by the digital camera, and as a result, work such as retrieval of each image information. The efficiency can be improved.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, the index image creating means included in the digital camera uses image information based on a still image as a browsing image included in the index image. It is characterized in that index image information is created using a browsing still image based on the browsing image and a browsing moving image based on one of the frame images extracted by the frame image extracting means.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, in the digital camera, the index image creating means extracts the browsing still image based on the image information of the still image and the frame image as the browsing image included in the index image. By creating index image information using a moving image for browsing based on one of the frame images extracted by the means, an information processing apparatus that receives this index image information improves the display response of the index image. be able to.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the second aspect of the present invention, the frame image transmitting means included in the digital camera includes, as the frame image information, each frame extracted by the frame image extracting means. The images are sequentially transmitted in a batch for each extraction order, and the index image updating unit included in the information processing apparatus is included in the frame image information each time the frame image receiving unit receives the frame image information. The index image information is updated by replacing each frame image collected for each extraction order as a browsing moving image included in the index image information received by the index image receiving means.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, in the digital camera, the frame image transmitting means collectively transmits the frame images extracted by the frame image extracting means as frame image information in the order of extraction. To be done. Here, frame images having the same number of frames, such as the frame image of the second frame and the frame image of the third frame, are collected and sequentially transmitted as one image information. On the other hand, in the information processing apparatus, each time the frame image receiving unit receives the frame image information by the index image updating unit, each frame image collected in each extraction order included in the frame image information is displayed as an index image. The index image information is updated by replacing the moving image for browsing included in the index image information received by the receiving unit. In this way, by transferring only the frame image information corresponding to the moving image for browsing in which the index image displayed on the image display unit of the information processing apparatus changes, the frame image information displayed on the image display unit of the information processing apparatus is displayed. It is possible to improve the data transfer efficiency when updating the index image.

[0013]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a schematic configuration of an image browsing system 10 according to this embodiment. The image browsing system 10 includes a digital camera 11 to be described later and software for performing predetermined processing on various image data including moving images and still images and displaying the same on the display 30A, which will be described in detail later. Built-in general configuration (CPU, memory, hard disk, data input device,
A personal computer (PC) main body 30 (including a data communication device), and the digital camera 11 and the PC main body 30 are USB (Univer
They are connected by a USB transfer path 28 composed of a cable of the sal serial bus standard, and various data can be exchanged with each other via the USB transfer path 28. Also,
The digital camera 11, which will be described in detail later, is configured so that an external recording medium 32 having portability can be mounted, and the external recording medium 32 can store each image data of a still image and a moving image obtained by shooting. It is possible to store each in a predetermined file format in a readable and writable manner. As the external recording medium 32, a portable recording medium such as a smart medium (SmartMedia (R)), a compact flash (CompactFlash), an ATA (AT Attachment) card, and a floppy disk can be adopted.

FIG. 2 shows a schematic structure of the digital camera 11. The digital camera 11 is a CPU that is a main control unit for the overall operation of the digital camera 11.
12, an image pickup system control unit 14, an image compression / expansion unit 16, and an LCD for controlling display of a liquid crystal display (LCD) 18A.
A control unit 18, 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 with each other. Has been done.

The image pickup system control unit 14 controls an image pickup system (not shown) for picking up a subject image, selects the subject image as a moving image or a still image as desired, and picks up the subject image. To obtain digital image data corresponding to.

The image compression / expansion unit 16 is for compressing the digital image data in a predetermined image compression format, and for expanding the compressed digital image data in accordance with the compression format. In the present embodiment,
As the predetermined image compression format, JPEG (Joint Photographic Exp
The erts group) format is adopted, and AVI (Audio Video Interleave) is applied to digital image data of moving images.
d) Adopts the format.

An LCD 18A is connected to the LCD control unit 18, and the display control of various information on the LCD 18A is performed.

The built-in memory 20 is an RA for temporarily storing mainly digital image data obtained by photographing.
M, and a ROM that stores various control programs and predetermined parameters in advance. The RAM is also used as a work area when the image compression / expansion unit 16 performs compression / expansion processing.

The media I / F 24 is for relaying transmission / reception of various data to / from an external recording medium 32 for storing digital image data obtained by photographing, and various data for the external recording medium 32. And the reading of various data written in the external recording medium 32 are controlled.

The communication I / F 22 is for relaying exchange of various data with the PC body 30 via the USB transfer path 28, and is a US transmitted from the PC body 30 side.
It controls the reception of the effective transfer rate value in the B transfer path 28 and the image size information (requested image size information) to be displayed on the display 30A, and the data transmission related to the index image described later.

Image browsing system 10 according to the present embodiment
Then, the index image for browsing each image is created based on the digital image data of a plurality of moving images and still images obtained by shooting with the digital camera 11, and is displayed on the PC main body 30 side.

As shown in FIG. 3, the index image S1 is a reduced image (reduced still images P1 to P5 and reduced images) corresponding to each of the digital image data of the moving image and the still image on the base frame image F. Moving images M1 to M
4) and its attribute text (text information indicating attribute information such as image data file name) are arranged in a predetermined layout (in the present embodiment, three reduced images are arranged in each of the vertical and horizontal directions, for a total of nine reduced images). , Layout information in which attribute texts are arranged at the bottom of each reduced image). The data amount of the entire index image S1 is set based on the requested image size information. Further, although details of the reduced moving images (M1 to M4) will be described later, a plurality of frame images forming the original moving image are extracted at a predetermined extraction interval, and each extracted frame image is reduced. The reduced frame images are sequentially replaced and displayed.

In creating the index image S1, the digital camera 11 converts the digital image data corresponding to the moving image and the still image stored in the external recording medium 32 in a predetermined file format as shown in FIG. It is read via / F24, expanded by the image compression / expansion unit 16, and first temporarily stored in the built-in memory 20.

Further, a reduced image corresponding to each digital image data temporarily stored in the built-in memory 20 is generated. Here, for the digital image data corresponding to the still image, reduced still images (P1 to P5) are generated by reducing the original still image to a predetermined size. Also, for digital image data corresponding to moving images,
A plurality of frame images forming the original moving image are extracted at predetermined extraction intervals, and reduced frame images obtained by reducing each extracted frame image to a predetermined size are generated as reduced moving images (M1 to M4). The extraction interval for extracting the frame image from the original moving image is set based on the effective transfer rate value in the USB transfer path 28.

Further, as shown in FIG. 3, the frame image F
In the above, the reduced still images (P1 to P5) generated by the layout are arranged, and the first frame of each reduced frame image is arranged as the reduced moving image (M1 to M4), and the index image S1 is obtained. create.

As shown in FIG. 4, the index image S1 created by the digital camera 11 is transmitted to the PC main body 30 side and held in the memory or hard disk of the PC main body 30 (storage transmission).

Further, in the digital camera 11, as shown in FIG. 4, the second frame of each of the reduced frame images (M
1A, M2A, M3A, M4A) are arranged side by side without a gap and combined into one image, and a combined frame image G1 and the third frame of each reduced frame image (M1B, M2B, M3)
(B, M4B) are arranged side by side without a gap and combined into one image, and the combined frame images G1 and G respectively corresponding to the same frame number of the reduced frame images.
A composite frame image similar to that in 2 is generated, and the generated composite frame images (G1, G2, ...) Are isochronously transferred at a transfer rate set based on the effective transfer rate value in the USB transfer path 28 ( Streaming transmission).

On the PC body 30 side, as shown in FIG.
The index image S1 stored and transmitted from the digital camera 11 is read from the memory or the hard disk and displayed on the display 30A.

Further, on the PC main body 30 side, as shown in FIG. 4, when the composite frame image G1 is stream-transmitted from the digital camera 11, the second frame of each reduced frame image combined with the composite frame image G1 is transmitted. Each (M1A,
M2A, M3A, M4A) and the index image S
The index image S2 is created by replacing the corresponding reduced frame images arranged in No. 1 with the first frame.
It is designed to be displayed on the display 30A. Then, similarly, the composite frame image G2 from the digital camera 11 is similarly obtained.
Is transmitted by streaming, its composite frame image G2
The third frame of each reduced frame image combined in (M1
B, M2B, M3B, M4B) of the corresponding reduced frame images arranged in the index image S2.
The index image S3 is created by replacing the frame images (M1A, M2A, M3A, M4A) and is displayed on the display 30A. Note that the following composite frame images G1 and G2 are also applied to the subsequent composite frame images.
Each index image is created in the same manner as above and is displayed on the display 30A.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described.

Image browsing system 10 according to the present embodiment
At, the processing routine shown in FIG. 5 is executed in the digital camera 11.

First, in step 100, the effective transfer rate value in the USB transfer path 28 and the display 30.
The requested image size information indicating the display image size displayed in A is acquired from the PC body 30 side, the data amount of the entire index image S1 is set based on the acquired requested image size information, and the acquired effective transfer rate value is set. Based on the index image S1 and composite frame images G1, G2,
Set the transfer rate of.

In the next step 102, it is determined whether or not each reduced image forming the index image to be created includes a moving image, and in the case of a negative determination, step 1 which will be described later.
If the determination is affirmative, the process proceeds to the next step 104, where the frame images forming each moving image are extracted at the extraction interval corresponding to the transfer rate of the composite frame images set in step 100, and the predetermined frame images are extracted. A reduced frame image reduced in size is generated. It should be noted that the length of the moving image extraction may be set to a time zone in which the content can be confirmed from the beginning of the file.

In the next step 106, the above step 1
Using the second and subsequent frames of the reduced frame image obtained in 04, the composite frame images G1, G2, ...
・ Create.

In the next step 108, the reduced still image (P1) generated by reducing the still image to a predetermined size is generated.
To P5) and for the moving image, the first frame of the reduced frame image obtained in step 104 is used as the reduced moving image (M1 to M4), and the index image S1 is set in accordance with the data amount set in step 100. create.

In the next step 110, the created index image S1 is stored and transmitted to the PC body 30 at the transfer rate set in step 100.

After the index image S1 is transferred, when the reduced image forming the index image S1 is only a still image and does not include a moving image, that is, step 1 above.
When the composite frame images G1, G2, ... Are not created in 06, a negative determination is made in step 112, and this processing routine is ended.

On the other hand, after the index image S1 is transferred, if the reduced image forming the index image S1 includes a moving image, that is, the composite frame images G1, G2, ... In this case, an affirmative decision is made in step 112, and the next step 11
4, the composite frame images G1, G2, ... Are transferred to the PC main body 3 at the transfer rate set in step 100 above.
Streaming transmission to 0 sequentially.

Further, the PC main body 30 executes the processing routine shown in FIG.

First, in step 200, the index image S1 stored and transmitted from the digital camera 11 is sent.
It is determined whether or not is received. If the determination is negative, the step 200 is repeated. If the determination is positive, the process proceeds to the next step 202, the received index image S1 is displayed on the display 30A, and the next Go to step 204.

Here, when the user gives an instruction to end the display of the index image to the PC body 30 or the digital camera 11, the affirmative decision is made in step 204, and the index image is ended by terminating this processing routine. Display is terminated.

On the other hand, if the user does not instruct the PC body 30 or the digital camera 11 to end the index image display, a negative determination is made in step 204, and the process proceeds to the next step 206.

In step 206, the composite frame image G1 stream-transmitted from the digital camera 11,
It is determined whether or not G2, ... Is received, and if the determination is negative, the process returns to step 204, and if the determination is affirmative, the process proceeds to the next step 208 and the received composite frame image G
1 (, G2, ...), instead of the reduced moving images (M1 to M4) of the displayed index image S1,
Reduced frame images obtained from the composite frame images are newly reduced moving images M1A, M2A, M3A, M4A (M1
B, M2B, M3B, M4B, ...), and the index image S1 is updated by creating the index images S2 (, S3, ...).
Return to 2 and display on the display 30A.

Therefore, on the PC main body 30 side, the index images displayed on the display 30A are sequentially updated based on the composite frame images (G1, G2, ...) Transmitted by streaming from the digital camera 11, The reduced moving image in the index image can be displayed with movement, and the contents can be easily confirmed. It should be noted that when a video to be viewed is selected from the index images displayed here, the selected moving image or still image may be enlarged and displayed. Also in this case, only the selected images may be transmitted by streaming, and
You may download and send. The USB transfer path 28
The transfer rate of the communication I / F 22 of the digital camera 11.
When it depends on, the data may be transmitted at the transfer rate specified on the digital camera 11 side.

As described above, according to the image browsing system according to the present embodiment, even when a moving image is included in the index image displayed on the PC body side, transfer is performed while suppressing deterioration of the image quality. Data can be transferred with a significantly reduced data amount, and the index image can be displayed efficiently.

In this embodiment, when the index image S1 stored and transmitted from the digital camera 11 includes a moving image, the first frame of the reduced frame image of the moving image is arranged. However, not limited to this, only a reduced still image is arranged in the index image S1 transmitted from the digital camera 11 for storage, and for a reduced moving image, from the composite frame image of the first frame of the reduced frame image of the moving image. The composite frame images of the second and subsequent frames of the reduced frame image of the moving image may be sequentially streamed, and the PC main body 30 side may update and display the index image based on each transmitted composite frame image. .

Further, although the case where the digital camera 11 and the PC main body 30 are connected by USB has been described in the present embodiment, the present invention is not limited to this, and a mode in which they are connected by wired communication other than USB (for example, IEEE 1394). Alternatively, a mode of connecting by wireless communication (for example, Bluetooth, IrDA, etc.) may be adopted. Also in this case, the same effect as that of the present embodiment can be obtained.

In the present embodiment, the JPEG format and the AVI format are used as the compression format of digital image data.
Although the case where the format is adopted has been described, the present invention is not limited to this, and for example, the M-JPEG (Motion-JPEG) format or MPEG (Moving Picture Experts Group) is used.
Other compression formats such as formats may be adopted. Also in this case, the same effect as that of the present embodiment can be obtained.

[0050]

As described above, according to the present invention,
In the information processing device, the index image transmitted from the digital camera is received and displayed on the display unit, and at least one of the browsing images of the index image is received.
If the information is moving image information, the index images are sequentially updated and displayed using the frame images that are sequentially transferred, so that the index information acquired by the digital camera in the information processing device connected to the digital camera is acquired. Further, it has an excellent effect that it is possible to provide an image browsing system capable of efficiently displaying index images for searching and browsing each image information.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of an image browsing system 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 a diagram for explaining an example of an index image according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining an example of data transfer related to index images between the digital camera and the PC according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a flow of image transfer processing according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a flow of image display processing according to the embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 Image viewing system 11 digital camera 12 CPU 16 Image compression / decompression unit 20 built-in memory 22 Communication I / F 24 Media I / F 26 bus 28 USB transfer path 30 PC body 30A display 32 external recording media

   ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued front page    F term (reference) 5C052 AA17 AC08 CC01 CC11 DD04                       EE02 EE03 GA01 GA03 GA06                       GA08 GA09 GB07 GC03 GC05                       GE08                 5C053 FA06 FA14 GA11 GB21 HA29                       JA07 KA03 LA01 LA11 LA15

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. An image acquisition unit for acquiring image information of a moving image or a still image showing a subject image, a storage unit for storing the image information acquired by the image acquisition unit, and a predetermined layout with a predetermined layout on a single frame. Image selection means for selecting image information corresponding to each of the browsing images included in the index image in which a number of browsing images are arranged from the image information stored in the storage means, and selected by the image selection means. If at least one of the image information is image information based on a moving image, a frame image extracting means for extracting a plurality of frame images forming the moving image at a predetermined extraction interval, and image information selected by the image selecting means Index image creating means for creating index image information corresponding to the index image based on the index image, and the index image creating means A digital camera having index image transmitting means for transmitting the index image information created by the above, and frame image transmitting means for transmitting the frame image information corresponding to each frame image extracted by the frame image extracting means; Index image receiving means for receiving the index image information transmitted by the image transmitting means,
A frame image receiving means for receiving the frame image information transmitted by the frame image transmitting means, and updating the index image information received by the index image receiving means based on the frame image information received by the frame image receiving means. Index image updating means, image display means for displaying an image, and the index image indicated by the index image information received by the index image receiving means is displayed on the image displaying means,
An image browsing system, comprising: an information processing device including a display control unit that controls the image display unit to display the index image indicated by the index image information updated by the index image updating unit. 2. The index image creating means included in the digital camera is extracted as a browsing image included in the index image by the browsing still image based on image information of a still image and the frame image extracting means. The image browsing system according to claim 1, wherein index image information is created using a browsing moving image based on one of the frame images. 3. The frame image transmitting means included in the digital camera, as the frame image information, sequentially transmits the frame images extracted by the frame image extracting means in the order of extraction, and the information. Each time the frame image receiving means receives the frame image information, the index image updating means included in the processing device collects the frame images collected in each extraction order included in the frame image information as the index image. 3. The image browsing system according to claim 2, wherein the index image information is updated by replacing the moving image for browsing included in the index image information received by the receiving unit.