JP2005295138A - Digital camera - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a digital camera for leaving a residual capacity to a recording medium whereby a desired number of still pictures can be photographed. <P>SOLUTION: The digital camera is provided with: a shared memory for recording photographed moving picture data and still picture data; and a shared memory management means that sets a moving picture recording limit capacity for limiting the storage capacity of the amount of moving picture data to the shared memory and updates the moving picture recording limit capacity so as to almost constantly maintain a still picture recording residual capacity every time the still picture data are recorded. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to an improvement in a digital camera that can capture and record a moving image in addition to a still image.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a digital camera that captures still images and moving images records captured still image or moving image data on a memory card that is a common recording medium. For a user who uses such a digital camera, how much still images or moving images can be recorded in the currently available capacity of the recording medium in use is a serious concern.
A digital camera that displays information related to the free capacity of the recording medium is disclosed in Patent Document 1. Therefore, in the digital camera, the system controller checks the remaining capacity of the recording medium and allocates the remaining capacity to the moving image and still image at a preset ratio, and according to this allocation, the recordable time of the moving image and still image shooting The possible number is calculated and displayed.
JP 2001-69442 A

  However, even with the digital camera disclosed in the above-mentioned document, there is a problem that, depending on the usage situation, a moving image is recorded to the full capacity of the recording medium, and then no still image can be taken. The present invention is proposed to solve this problem, and an object of the present invention is to provide a digital camera that maintains a remaining capacity sufficient to capture a desired number of still images on a recording medium.

  In order to solve the above problems, in claim 1, a digital camera capable of shooting a moving image, wherein the common memory for recording the captured moving image data and still image data, and the moving image data amount in the common memory are limited. And a common memory management means for updating the moving image recording limit capacity so that the remaining recording capacity for still images is maintained almost constant each time still image data is recorded. Has proposed a digital camera.

  In particular, the common memory management means proposes a digital camera configured to decrease the moving image recording limit capacity by a predetermined capacity every time still image data is recorded.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a digital camera further comprising an operation unit, wherein the common memory management unit is configured to change the setting of the still image recording remaining capacity by a manual operation through the operation unit. .

  Further, according to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is proposed a digital camera further comprising a display unit, wherein the common memory management unit is configured to be able to display a moving image shootable time according to the moving image recording limit capacity.

  In the digital camera proposed in claims 1 to 4, every time still image data is recorded, the moving image recording limit capacity is updated so that the remaining recording capacity for still images does not decrease. The remaining recording capacity for a still image that can shoot a still image is maintained.

  Further, in claim 3, since the remaining recording capacity for still images is determined in advance, the number of still images that can be taken can be adjusted as necessary even immediately after recording a moving image.

  Furthermore, since the digital camera proposed in claim 4 displays at least one of the time for taking a moving image and the number of still images that can be taken, it is possible to easily grasp the usage status of the common memory at that time.

  In the digital camera of the present invention, the moving image recording limit capacity is set in the common memory for recording images, and the moving image recording limit capacity is updated every time a still image is shot, so that a substantially constant recording remaining capacity for still images is obtained. The embodiment will be described in detail below.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a basic configuration of a digital camera F that is an embodiment. This digital camera F is provided in a CPU, a program memory, a data memory, etc., and executes a program to control other parts, a CCD element 12 that is a photographing element, and a photographing image of the CCD element 12. An optical lens group 13 that forms an image, a CCD control unit 13 that drives and controls the CCD element 12, a common memory 14 that stores captured image data, an operation unit 15 having a plurality of operation keys, and various types of information. And a display unit 16 having an LCD for displaying a photographed image. Here, the microcomputer 11 employs a CPU, a program memory, and a data memory provided therein, but is not limited to this configuration and may have other configurations.

  The digital camera F can shoot a moving image in addition to a still image. After selecting a still image shooting or a moving image shooting by a predetermined operation from the operation unit 15, a release provided in the operation unit 15 is provided. If the button is pressed, the image data captured by the CCD element 12 is subjected to image processing by the CCD control unit 13, compressed by the processing of the microcomputer 11, and stored in the common memory 14. . Here, since the still image has a large number of pixels and colors, the image data per frame is large and is compressed by the JPEG method or the like. The moving image has a small number of pixels and colors, while the number of images increases. Compressed by etc.

  As the common memory 14, a semiconductor memory is used in this embodiment, but this may be in the form of a removable memory card or a built-in type that is not removable. Before use, it is formatted in the same manner as a general storage device, and a FAT file system is formed. When the removable memory card format is adopted, the image data is read by inserting the memory card into a memory card reader provided in a personal computer, etc. By connecting with a cable, image data is read out.

  The FAT file system is a file system often used in a device such as a hard disk, and the recording area is divided into a directory area, a FAT area, and a data area. In this file system, a file is divided and recorded in units of clusters each composed of a plurality of sectors. In the directory area, the file name of each file and the head where the file data is recorded are recorded. The corresponding clusters are recorded. The FAT stores a list of all clusters in the recording area, and stores the status of each cluster. That is, if a certain cluster is unused, information indicating that it is unused is recorded, and if a plurality of clusters are used for one file, the order is recorded as a chain.

  In the digital camera F of the present invention, the microcomputer 11 having a function as a common memory management unit sets a moving image recording limit capacity 14a for limiting the amount of moving image data recorded in the common memory 14. Every time a still image is recorded, the moving image recording limit capacity 14a is updated according to the capacity consumed at that time. In addition, the number of used clusters for each of the above FAT file systems is managed in order to grasp the capacities of the recorded moving images and still images. These values are stored as data in the data memory of the microcomputer 11, but may be stored as a file in the common memory 14.

  In addition, the common memory 14 has a still image recording remaining capacity so that a predetermined number of still images set by the user can be recorded immediately after recording the maximum number of moving images, that is, the moving image recording limit capacity 14a. It is secured. That is, the sum of the still image recording remaining capacity, the total capacity of recorded still images, and the moving image recording limit capacity 14 a is equal to the total capacity of the data area of the common memory 14. In the figure, a still image is recorded from the lower address limit of the common memory and a moving image is recorded from the upper limit, but this is to explain the concept of the moving image recording limit capacity 14a. Real clusters can be used in any order, and even when a plurality of clusters are allocated to a large file, the allocation does not necessarily have to be continuous.

  FIG. 2 is a memory map for explaining the configuration of the common memory 14 formatted with the FAT file system. Here, a capacity of 16 Mbit is given as an example, but the present invention is not limited to this. As shown in the figure, in the common memory 14, the root directory and the FAT are arranged at the lower address limit, and the data area is arranged thereafter.

  The above-mentioned still image recording remaining capacity can be updated manually when the user operates the operation unit 15, and will be described with reference to FIG.

  FIG. 3 shows the display contents of the display unit 16 when setting or changing the still image recording remaining capacity, and the operation keys 15a provided in the operation unit 15 for performing the operation. Yes. Here, the messages “Up to XX movies can be recorded” and “YY more pictures can be recorded” displayed at the top of the display 16 indicate the maximum recordable video or still image. In the description, each is calculated based on the moving image recording limit capacity 14a and the free capacity of the common memory 14 at the present time. In addition, the message “Reserved capacity is ZZ pictures” displayed at the bottom corresponds to the remaining recording capacity for still pictures, and even after recording the movie to the maximum, approximately ZZ still pictures It can be recorded.

  Here, if the operation key 15a is operated, the moving image recording limit capacity 14a is updated accordingly, and the still image recording remaining capacity also changes accordingly. That is, if the operation of the operation key 15a is received and the moving image recording limit capacity 14a is increased, the value of XX increases and the value of ZZ decreases accordingly. On the contrary, if the moving image recording limit capacity 14a is decreased, the value of XX is decreased and the value of ZZ is increased accordingly. However, since the value of YY is determined by the free capacity of the common memory 14 at the present time, it does not change in either case.

  FIG. 4 is a flowchart for explaining an image recording process at the time of photographing by the digital camera F, and shows an operation when a release key provided in the operation unit 15 is depressed. Here, when the release key is depressed by the user, the microcomputer 11 first determines whether the shooting mode is a moving image or a still image (step 100). Here, in the moving image shooting mode, while the moving image recording limit capacity 14a is determined by a method of counting the number of recorded clusters in the FAT of the common memory 14, the recorded image is recorded in the common memory as an MPEG compressed file. 14 data areas are recorded (steps 101 to 103). Recording of moving images is continued until the moving image recording limit capacity 14a is reached or the release key is released. On the other hand, in the still image shooting mode, the image data of the captured still image is recorded as a JPEG compressed file in the data area of the common memory 14, and then has a predetermined capacity (corresponding to about one still image). Only the moving image recording limit capacity 14a is decreased (steps 104 to 105).

  As described above, after recording still image data, the moving image recording limit capacity 14a is decreased by a predetermined amount, so that a substantially constant still image recording remaining capacity can be obtained even after shooting and recording a moving image. 14 data areas are maintained. That is, for example, when the capacity for 10 sheets is set as the remaining recording capacity for still images, when one still image is recorded, the moving image recording limit capacity 14a is decreased by the capacity for one still image, This compensates for the decrease in the remaining recording capacity for still images.

1 is a block diagram illustrating a basic configuration of a digital camera that is one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. It is a memory arrangement | positioning figure explaining the structure of a common memory. It is a flowchart explaining the process of a digital camera. It is drawing which shows the display part and operation part of a digital camera.

Explanation of symbols

11 Microcomputer (common memory management means)
14 Common memory 14a Video recording limit capacity 15 Operation unit 16 Display unit F Digital camera

Claims (4)

A digital camera that can shoot movies,
A common memory for recording captured video data and still image data;
The common memory has a moving image recording limit capacity that limits the amount of moving image data. A digital camera comprising a common memory management means for updating. In claim 1,
The digital camera is configured such that the common memory management unit decreases the moving image recording limit capacity by a predetermined capacity every time still image data is recorded.   3. The digital camera according to claim 1, further comprising an operation unit, wherein the common memory management unit is configured to change the setting of the still image recording remaining capacity by a manual operation through the operation unit. In any one of Claims 1-3,
A digital camera further comprising a display unit, wherein the common memory management unit is capable of displaying a moving image recordable time according to the moving image recording limit capacity.

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