JP2004178607A - Information apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an information apparatus capable of organizing shot images while shooting them, and of recording data for management, and provided with a retrieval method for efficiently retrieving the shot images. <P>SOLUTION: This information apparatus has: a scheduling function allowing input of a scheduled time and a schedule; a built-in timepiece; a camera function whereby a time at which image data was shot is automatically recorded in the image data as associated data. When the image data shot at the scheduled time exist, a mark is put on at least either of the scheduled time or the schedule on a display screen showing the schedule, and when the mark is operated, the image data are retrieved. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

The present invention relates to an information device that handles digitized information.

  2. Description of the Related Art In conventional photography using a silver halide film, advances in camera technology such as automation of AF and AE have made it possible to obtain a photograph intended by a photographer with a simple operation.

  However, when searching for the photos that you need from among the photos you have taken, how the photos that have been taken is organized is the decisive factor in the search load, and it is solely due to the efforts of the photographer. is there.

  In other words, no matter how many wonderful pictures reflecting the photographer's intentions are taken, if they are not well organized, they are as if they were dead. The only consideration for organizing was the date imprint function, which had not been done yet.

  For this reason, the photographer must organize the photographs into albums and the like even after the photographing, and record what they photographed, which is very troublesome.

  Also, in an electronic still camera that records a photograph as an electric signal on a floppy (registered trademark) disk, no system has been improved in this regard. That is, since the information added to the image information is about a date and a serial number, the photographed contents must be described on a recorded floppy (registered trademark) disk and managed.

Further, since these data are recorded by being superimposed on an analog signal which is image data, it is necessary to rewrite the image data itself for rewriting these data and to add them later, which increases the circuit scale. In addition, it is not possible to access only these data at the time of searching, and it is difficult to perform high-speed searching (for example, see Patent Document 1).
JP-A-5-151269

  As a record that can be recorded automatically at the time of shooting with a relatively simple configuration, it is conceivable to record the date and time of shooting, but when searching for images with time data, remember when and what you did It has to be inconvenient.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide an information device provided with a search method capable of recording data for organizing and managing photographed images while photographing and efficiently searching for photographed images.

The present invention has a schedule function capable of inputting a scheduled time and a schedule, a built-in clock, and a camera function in which the time at which the image data was captured is automatically recorded as related data in the image data. In the information device having, when there is image data captured at the scheduled time, at least one of the scheduled time and the schedule is marked on a display screen for displaying a schedule, and the image is displayed when the mark is operated. Data is now searched.

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to arrange photographed images while photographing, and to easily search for photographed images.

  The best mode for carrying out the invention is the following embodiment.

  FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an appearance of a notebook type electronic camera 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

  This notebook type electronic camera 1 has a camera body 3 and an upper lid 5, both of which are mechanically and electrically connected by a hinge 4. The hinge 4 is provided with a switch (not shown) so that the open / closed state of the hinge 4 (upper lid 5) can be detected.

  Various cards can be inserted into the card insertion slot 9 formed in the main body 3, and the functions of the camera main body 3 are added according to the contents written in the ROM incorporated in each card. You. When a memory card MC containing a memory for recording images and a CPU for controlling the camera is mounted, the camera body 3 functions as an electronic camera.

  Hereinafter, functions of the camera body 3 when the memory card MC is mounted will be described.

  The inside of the camera body 3 is configured as shown in FIG. The imaging unit 2 includes a CCD 22 that photoelectrically converts a subject image formed by the imaging lens 21, an aperture shutter 25, a low-pass filter 28, and an infrared cut filter 30. The knob 31 is a focus adjusting knob provided integrally with the member holding the photographing lens. By sliding the knob up and down, the distance between the photographing lens 21 and the CCD 22 changes, and the focus is adjusted. Note that the detailed description of the imaging unit 2 is publicly known and will not be repeated.

  The signal extracted by the imaging unit 2 as an electric signal is converted into a video signal for display on a liquid crystal display device 7 described later or stored in a memory by a well-known signal processing circuit (not shown). A sampling process is performed. The signal processing circuit also performs signal processing such as reproducing a video signal from the memory information in order to display the video information stored in the memory on the liquid crystal display device 7.

  The liquid crystal display device 7 displays various information. When used as an electronic still camera, the liquid crystal display device 7 functions as a viewfinder (EVF) as shown in FIG. 6, and displays a screen during shooting. In addition, a known electrostatic switch is provided on the display screen of the liquid crystal display device 7. When the screen is touched with a pen (not shown), it is possible to detect which part of the screen has been touched.

  The release button 15 is a button for giving a trigger to start shooting, and the power switch 18 is a switch for turning on and off the power of the main body.

  The panel switch group 17 is provided inside the upper cover 5, and can be operated with the hinge 4 opened. A part of the panel switch group 17 is for an electronic organizer function built in a main body ROM (not shown), and the rest changes its function depending on the type of card inserted into the card insertion slot 9. It is configured to be.

  The camera body 3 has a built-in clock (not shown) for managing time.

  The main body ROM is provided with a schedule function and a data management function such as a telephone number and an address as an electronic organizer function. In addition to the schedule function, those related to the present invention will be described below. Is well-known and will not be described.

  Next, the operation of the schedule function of the present apparatus will be described.

  FIG. 3 shows a display screen of a schedule table of the liquid crystal display device 7 according to the present embodiment, taking Jan. 22, 1993 as an example.

  This indicates that a golf is scheduled from 8:00 to 17:00 on January 22, 1993, and a party is scheduled from 17:00 to 19:00. On the upper part 7a of the liquid crystal display device 7, the current time obtained by the built-in clock is always displayed.

  FIG. 4 shows the data structure of "golf" and "party" shown in FIG. According to this, “golf” has time data “1993/01/22/08 / 00-1993 / 01/22/17/00”, person data “Yoshida”, “Inoue”, “Goto”, and a place. The data “ABC golf club” and other data “Awaiting 6:00, Shibuya” are included as related data. Also, the “party” includes time data “1993/01/22/17/00 to 1993/01/22/19/00” and person data “Yoshida”, “Inoue”, “Goto”, “Arai”, It has “Yamamoto”, “Hamada”, “Aoyama” and location data “ABC golf club” as related data.

  The numbers (data) “1”, “2”, “3”, and “4” in the related data indicate that the following data is time, person, place, and other data, respectively. Therefore, if the user touches “golf” in the display screen of FIG. 3 (hereinafter referred to as “operate”) with an input pen (not shown), and operates “party” as shown in FIG. 5 (b), the related data is displayed. The display data in FIGS. 5A and 5B are underlined, which will be described later.

  Next, the operation of the camera function of the present apparatus will be described.

  FIG. 6 shows a display screen of the liquid crystal display device 7 when the camera function is used. The liquid crystal display device 7 displays an image continuously captured by the image sensor, functions as an EVF, and displays the time of the built-in clock on the upper part 7a of the liquid crystal display device 7. When the release button 15 is pressed in this state, the image at that time is stored in the memory of the memory card MC.

  At this time, as shown in FIG. 7A, the time at which the image was taken (in this case, "13:28 on January 22, 1993") is automatically recorded as related data. Further, by operating the "person" in the display screen of FIG. 7A with an input pen (not shown) and inputting the person name (in this case, "Yoshida"), the person data "Yoshida" is displayed. If "place" is operated and a place name is input (in this case, "ABC golf club"), place data "ABC golf club" is recorded as related data (FIG. 7B). In addition, by operating "other" and inputting data, "other" data can be recorded as related data.

  At this time, the data structure of the captured image is as shown in FIG. According to this, “image 1” has time data “01/22/13/28/1993”, person data “Yoshida”, and location data “ABC golf club” as related data, and finally, image data have. This data is also used as schedule data that “image 1” was photographed at 13:28 on January 22, 1993.

  Next, an image search operation of the present apparatus will be described.

  In the related data display screen as shown in FIG. 9A (similar to FIG. 5A), data with an underline (for example, “Inoue”) is replaced with data of the same content (“Inoue”). This indicates that there is image data possessed as related data. Therefore, for example, when "Inoue" is operated, the latest image data among the image data having "Inoue" as the related data is displayed (FIG. 9B). Further, a search on the time axis can be performed by an arrow key on the upper right 7b.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 10A, in the display of the schedule screen which has already been scheduled in the past (see the schedule on January 22 on January 24), "picture search" is displayed in the upper right 7b portion. A key is displayed, and when the key is operated, a display as shown in FIG. Again, there is data with an underline (eg, “golf”), which means that image data having time data included in the time data of the data (“golf”) Indicates that it exists. Therefore, when "golf" is operated, for example, "golf" has time data "1993/01/22/08 / 00-1993 / 01/22/17/00" as related data, and is included in the meantime. The image having the time data to be searched is searched and displayed from an image close to “1993/01/22/08/00” (FIG. 10C). Also at this time, the search on the time axis can be performed by the arrow keys in the upper right part 7b.

  Just by inputting "golf" as the search data in this way, it searches by referring to the time data that it has as related data, so even if there are other golf images, It is possible to easily search for the image of the golf that is set.

  When the "person" key in the upper right 7b is operated in the state of FIG. 10B, image data having the same person data as the data ("golf") is present. Data is underlined. Therefore, when “golf” is subsequently operated, an image having the related data of the person data “yoshida”, “inoue”, and “goto” of “golf” is displayed at the time “1993/01/22/08 / 08-1993”. / 01/22/17/00 ”is searched and displayed (FIG. 10C). At this time, the search on the time axis can be performed by the arrow key on the upper right 7b.

  Further, at this time, by simply operating the "person" key as search data and inputting "golf", a search can be performed by referring to the person data possessed by the related data. "And" person ", and efficient data search can be performed. In this case, the search can be performed without remembering the person's name.

  The same operation is performed when the "place" key and the "other" key on the upper right 7b are operated in the state of FIG. 10B.

  Further, in FIG. 10B, a black mark 7d is attached on the time axis 7c. As shown in FIG. 8, this is indicated by the schedule data indicating that the image was taken at this time. By manipulating the part, the image is searched and displayed. Therefore, when the black mark in FIG. 10B is operated at about 13:00, the image of FIG. 10C is also searched.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, when the schedule information having the time data as the related data and the information device that handles the image information having the time data as the related data, when the search by the certain schedule information is performed, By outputting, as a search result, image information having the same content as the time data associated with this information or the time data of the content included in the time data as the related information, the search can be performed very easily. .

  Also, if you enter a schedule, time data is automatically added to image information at the time of shooting, and data creation for image management is performed, so images are organized at the same time as shooting, It is convenient.

Note that, in the present embodiment, an example of a notebook type electronic camera in which all the components are integrated is shown, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the same applies even if it is not integrated. It has an effect.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an appearance of a notebook type electronic camera according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a partially cutaway plan view showing an internal configuration of a camera body in the embodiment. FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a display example of the liquid crystal display device in the embodiment. FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing a configuration of schedule data in the embodiment. FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a display example of the liquid crystal display device in the embodiment. FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a display example of the liquid crystal display device in the embodiment. FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a display example of the liquid crystal display device in the embodiment. FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a configuration of image data in the embodiment. FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a display example of the liquid crystal display device in the embodiment. FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a display example of the liquid crystal display device in the embodiment.

Explanation of reference numerals

1 ... notebook type electronic camera,
2 ... Imaging unit,
3 ... camera body,
4 ... hinge,
5 ... top lid,
7 ... Liquid crystal display,
9 ... Card slot,
15. Release button,
17 Panel switch group
18. Power switch,
21 ... Imaging lens,
22 ... CCD,
25 ... Aperture shutter,
28 ... Low-pass filter,
30 ... Infrared cut filter,
31 ... knob.

Claims (7)

An information device having a schedule function capable of inputting a scheduled time and a schedule, a built-in clock, and a camera function in which the time at which the image data was captured is automatically recorded as related data in the image data. ,
When there is image data captured at the scheduled time, at least one of the scheduled time and the schedule is marked on the display screen displaying the schedule, and when the mark is operated, the image data is searched. Information equipment characterized by the fact that: In claim 1,
An information device, wherein the mark attached to the scheduled time is a mark on a time axis. In claim 1,
An information device characterized in that the mark attached to the schedule is an underline. In claim 1,
The input to the information device is performed by touching the display screen with a pen. In claim 1,
An information device, wherein the search displays the latest image among images having the scheduled time as related data. In claim 1,
The image data is associated with location data input by a photographer. The location data is displayed on a display screen displaying a schedule, and the image data is searched when the display is operated. Information equipment characterized by the following. In claim 1,
The image data is associated with personal data input by a photographer, the location data is displayed on a display screen displaying a schedule, and the image data is searched when the display is operated. Information equipment characterized by the following.

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