JP2007104709A - Digital camera - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a digital camera that explicitly indicates a user an operation state of the camera. <P>SOLUTION: A photographing LED 31 provided in the vicinity of a view finder 23 indicates an operating state of a CCD and a state LED 40 provided in the vicinity of an LCD 17 indicates a control state of a control section. Since the operating state of the CCD and the control state of the control section are explicitly indicated to the user, the state of the digital camera 1 can be easily and explicitly indicated to the user. Thus, the user can easily recognize the state of power on/off, automatic focus, a lock sate of exposure, a state under image data processing, and a photographable state of the camera. Moreover, since the state LED 40 indicates that a flash memory cannot record image data, the image data the flash memory becomes full and the user can easily recognize that the image data of the flash memory are not writable. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a digital camera.

  In recent years, electronic still cameras, so-called digital cameras, have been developed and are becoming popular.

  The digital camera is configured to convert light from an object to be photographed into an electrical signal, convert the electrical signal into image data, record the image data in an image data recording unit, and output the image data to an external image processing apparatus such as a personal computer. The external image processing apparatus performs print image data creation processing, outputs the created print image data to a printer, prints the captured image on paper, and reproduces it.

  Many digital cameras also include a liquid crystal display (hereinafter, “liquid crystal display” is referred to as an LCD) that displays a subject to be photographed and displays a reproduced image from the image data recorded in the image data recording means. The image data obtained by photoelectric conversion is compressed and recorded in the image data recording means. The compression process is performed by compressing the image data in a file format such as JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts Group).

  However, since the digital camera operates in an electronic circuit and the image data is stored in the image data recording means, a conventional silver salt photography camera (hereinafter referred to as a “silver salt photography camera”) can be used in an apparent operation. This is different from the salt camera) in the following points.

  1. In the conventional silver salt camera, the time until the incident light from the subject is exposed to the silver salt film and recorded is extremely short, whereas in the digital camera, the image is subjected to signal conversion, data compression processing, etc. It takes about a few seconds to be recorded in the image data recording means as JPEG image data.

  2. While conventional silver halide cameras can grasp the camera's operation status with mechanical sounds such as shutter sound during image capture, digital cameras do not have mechanical operation like silver halide cameras, so shutter sound There is no mechanical sound such as film winding sound.

  Above 1. And 2. For this reason, it is difficult for the user to know what operating state the digital camera is currently in when imaging. For this reason, there is a problem that the user feels anxiety or an operation error occurs due to an operation error.

  Therefore, it is possible to solve the above-described problems and display the camera's shooting possible state in addition to the power on / off state display, autofocus display, exposure lock state display, state display during image data processing, etc. Therefore, for example, it is conceivable to provide light emitting diodes of two colors, green and red (hereinafter, “light emitting diode” is referred to as LED).

However, simply providing two green and red LEDs may display different camera statuses with the same lighting state, eliminating the user's anxiety and preventing operational errors. It was difficult to do.
Further, simply increasing the number of LEDs increases the power consumption for displaying the camera status and increases the manufacturing cost.

The present invention has been made to solve such a problem, and an object of the present invention is to provide a digital camera that clearly indicates a camera state to a user.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a digital camera that reduces power consumption.

  According to the digital camera of the first aspect of the present invention, the first display unit displays the operation state of the imaging means, and the second display unit displays the control state of the control unit. The imaging unit converts light from the imaging target into an electrical signal, and the control unit controls execution of image processing, image compression processing, and the like, so that the user determines the operation state of the imaging unit and the control state of the control unit Thus, the camera state can be clearly shown to the user. Therefore, the user can easily recognize the power on / off state, auto focus, exposure locked state, image data processing state, and camera photographing enabled state. Further, for example, by providing the first display unit in the vicinity of the viewfinder and providing the second display unit in the vicinity of the LCD, the distinction between the operation state of the imaging unit and the control state of the control unit becomes particularly clear.

  According to the digital camera of the second aspect of the present invention, the second display unit displays that the image data recording means is in a state where the image data cannot be recorded, so that the image data of the image data recording means becomes full. The user can easily recognize that writing is impossible. Therefore, the camera state can be clearly shown to the user.

  According to the digital camera of the third aspect of the present invention, the second display unit displays the potential state of the power source or the type of the power source. Therefore, the battery consumption state is recognized or an AC power source such as an AC power source is used. Can be easily recognized. Therefore, the camera state can be clearly shown to the user.

  According to the digital camera described in claim 4 of the present invention, the first and second display units display various states by light emission, so that the state of the camera can be clearly shown to the user.

  According to the digital camera of the fifth aspect of the present invention, since the first and second display units have the LEDs, it is possible to reduce power consumption for displaying the state of the camera.

  According to the digital camera of the sixth aspect of the present invention, since the second display unit has the LEDs of a plurality of colors, the user can easily and reliably recognize the state of the camera.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
(First embodiment)
A digital camera according to a first embodiment of the present invention is shown in FIGS.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the digital camera 1 temporarily stores a control unit 10, a condenser lens 12, a CCD (Charge Coupled Device) 13 as an imaging unit, an A / D converter 14 as a conversion unit, and image data. A RAM (Random Access Memory) 15 as temporary storage means for recording, a flash memory 16 as image data recording means for recording image data, an LCD 17 for displaying images, and data for images displayed on the LCD 17 are stored. The VRAM 18 and the interface 19 for outputting the contents of the flash memory 16 to an external device, a photographing LED 31 as a first display unit, a status LED 40 as a second display unit, and the like.

  The control unit 10 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) and a ROM or flash memory in which programs for performing various controls of the digital camera 1 are recorded. The control unit 10 is connected to the shutter button 20 and input means 50 such as a dial switch 24 for inputting various instructions to the digital camera 1 and output means. The condenser lens 12 is provided with a diaphragm 11 for adjusting the amount of light incident on the condenser lens 12. As the CCD 13, for example, a color image is photographed by using a CCD in which a plurality of image sensors having complementary color filters of C (Cyan), M (Magenta), Y (Yellow), and G (Green) are arranged in a matrix. be able to. The complementary color filter may have three colors of C, M, and Y. In some cases, a CCD having primary color filters of R (Red), G (Green), and B (Blue) is used. As the RAM 15, a DRAM (Dynamic RAM) having a self-refresh function is used.

  The flash memory 16 is a rewritable storage medium that can hold recorded contents without being energized, and is built in the digital camera 1 or detachably attached to a card slot of the digital camera 1. By using, for example, a memory card conforming to the PCMCIA standard or a memory card that can be attached to a PCMCIA card adapter as the flash memory 16, the contents of the flash memory 16 can be directly read and written by a personal computer having a PCMCIA card slot.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the digital camera 1 is provided with a shutter button 20 and a dial switch 24 at the top. When the user presses the shutter button 20, shooting is started. The control unit 10 shown in FIG. 4 performs “half press” in which the shutter button 20 is pushed halfway through the movable range via the shutter stroke detection unit 22 and “full press” in which the shutter button 20 is pushed to the limit of the movable range or near the limit. It can be distinguished and recognized.

  The dial switch 24 is a main power switch for supplying power from a battery (not shown) to each part of the digital camera 1, and is also a changeover switch for switching the use mode of the LCD 17 shown in FIG. 1. As the battery, an AC power source can be used by connecting an AC adapter (not shown) other than batteries such as an alkaline battery, a nickel metal hydride battery, a lithium battery, and a nickel cadmium battery.

  The dial switch 24 has four modes of “View”, “On”, “Play”, and “Off”. The “View” mode is a mode in which shooting is performed using the LCD 17 as a viewfinder. The “On” mode is a mode in which the LCD 17 is not displayed in order to save the power consumption of the digital camera 1 and shooting is performed while looking through a viewfinder 23 described later. The “Play” mode is a mode in which an image based on the image data that has already been shot and recorded in the flash memory 16 is displayed on the LCD 17 and played back. The “Off” mode is a mode for turning off the power of the digital camera 1.

  As shown in FIG. 2, a condenser lens 12, a viewfinder 23, and a strobe 25 are provided on the front surface of the digital camera 1. The condensing lens 12 can be entirely covered with a barrier such as a lens cap (not shown).

  As shown in FIG. 1, an LCD 17, an input unit 50, a viewfinder 23, a shooting LED 31, and a status LED 40 are provided on the back of the digital camera 1. The photographing LED 31 is provided in the vicinity of the viewfinder 23 and emits green light when energized. The status LED 40 is provided in the vicinity of the LCD 17 and includes an LED 41 that emits green light when energized and an LED 42 that emits red light when energized. The state LED 40 emits orange light when both the LED 41 and the LED 42 are energized. The photographing LED 31 is for displaying the operating state of the CCD 13, and the state LED 40 is for displaying the control state of the control unit 10. The photographing LED 31 can distinguish and display three different states by turning on, blinking, and turning off green. Further, the status LED 40 can distinguish and display seven different states by turning on, blinking, and turning off green, red, and orange.

Next, the operation of the digital camera 1 configured as described above will be described with reference to FIGS. 4, 5, and 6.
FIG. 5 is a time chart showing the operation of the digital camera 1, and FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing operations of the control unit 10, the photographing LED 31 and the state LED 40 of the digital camera 1.

(1) When the dial switch 24 is in the “Off” position, that is, at t ₀ shown in FIG. 5, the photographing LED 31 is in the off state (step S1 and step S2 in FIG. 6). When the dial switch 24 is set to the “View” or “On” position, that is, at t ₁ shown in FIG. 5, the main power supply is turned on, and the digital camera 1 enters a standby state in which photographing can be performed. At this time, in the CCD 13, the light collected by the condenser lens 12 is converted into an electrical signal every several seconds to several tens of seconds, and then converted into a digital signal by the A / D converter 14. . In the “View” mode, the image data is transferred to the VRAM 18 and the shooting target is displayed on the LCD 17 as a moving image. Then, the photographing LED 31 changes from the blinking state to the lighting state during t ₁ to t ₃ shown in FIG. 5 (step S3 in FIG. 6).

(2) between t ₃ ~t ₅ of Figure 5 that the shutter button 20 has a "half-pressed" state, when the exposure and focus are set fixed, shooting LED31 is in a state of lighting from the state of blinking (Step S4 and Step S5 in FIG. 6). The exposure at the time of photographing can be changed by the control unit 10 controlling the aperture 11 of the condenser lens 12 and the shutter speed, that is, the charge accumulation time of the CCD 13 based on the data output from the CCD 13. The shutter of the digital camera 1 can use either a mechanical shutter that physically blocks light, or an electronic shutter that controls the charge accumulation time of the CCD 13, or both. If the exposure and focus are not fixed, the process skips step S5 in FIG. 6 and proceeds to step S6.

(3) The following processing is performed between t ₅ and t _{6 in} FIG. 5 when the shutter button 20 is set to “full press”. First, accurate photometry, focusing, etc. are performed on the subject. At t ₆ when the photometry and focusing are completed, all the charges accumulated in the CCD 13 are once discharged, and then the light from the subject to be collected collected by the condenser lens 12 enters the CCD 13. The CCD 13 converts the incident light into an electrical signal based on the amount of charge corresponding to the amount of light, and outputs it.

  (4) When the CCD 13 completes the conversion of the light from the subject to be converted into an electrical signal, the electrical signal output from the CCD 13 is converted into a digital signal by the A / D converter 14.

(5) after t ₆ shown in FIG. 5, the following processing is performed in parallel with the digital camera 1 in the above process. The digital data output from the CCD 13 and converted from an electric signal to a digital signal by the A / D converter 14 directly designates the address of the RAM 15 without going through the control unit 10 by DMA (Direct Memory Access) for high speed. To be recorded.

(6) The digital data recorded in the RAM 15 is subjected to various image corrections such as white balance adjustment, interpolation processing, and color correction between t ₆ and t ₇ shown in FIG. In order to increase the number of recorded images to 16, the image data is compressed into image data in a file format such as JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts Group), and generated as image data with a small capacity. The JPEG file is a commonly used image compression method capable of handling an image of about 16.7 million colors, and the image quality can be adjusted by changing the compression rate. JPEG compression is performed by software by the control unit 10, and a dedicated circuit can be provided for speeding up.
(7) When the compression of the image data is completed, the image data is copied from the RAM 15 to the flash memory 16 and recorded (t ₇ and t ₈ shown in FIG. 5).

  In the above (6) and (7), when the image data in the flash memory 16 is full and writing is impossible, the LED 42 of the status LED 40 is in a blinking state, that is, in red blinking (steps S6 and S7 in FIG. 6). ). And it returns to step S1 of FIG. If the flash memory 16 is writable, the image data is transferred to the flash memory 16 (step S8 in FIG. 6), and the LED 41 of the state LED 40 is blinking, that is, blinking green (step S9 in FIG. 6). . And it returns to step S1 of FIG.

  In the first embodiment, the photographing LED 31 provided in the vicinity of the viewfinder 23 displays the operation state of the CCD 13, and the state LED 40 provided in the vicinity of the LCD 17 displays the control state of the control unit 10. Therefore, the operating state of the CCD 13 and the control state of the control unit 10 can be clearly indicated to the user, and the state of the digital camera 1 can be easily indicated to the user. Therefore, the user can easily recognize the power on / off state, auto focus, exposure locked state, image data processing state, and camera photographing enabled state.

  Further, in the first embodiment, the status LED 40 indicates that the flash memory 16 is in a state in which image data cannot be recorded, so that the user is informed that the image data in the flash memory 16 is full and cannot be written. It can be easily recognized. Therefore, the state of the digital camera 1 can be clearly indicated to the user.

  Furthermore, in the first embodiment, the photographing LED 31 and the state LED 40 display various states by lighting or blinking, so that the state of the digital camera 1 can be clearly indicated to the user and the state of the digital camera 1 can be displayed. Power consumption can be reduced.

  Furthermore, in the first embodiment, the status LED 40 includes LEDs 41 and 42 and can emit a plurality of colors, so that the user can easily and surely recognize the status of the digital camera 1.

(Second embodiment)
A second embodiment of the present invention is shown in FIG. The configuration of the digital camera is the same as that of the digital camera 1 of the first embodiment shown in FIGS. Also, the same steps as those in the first embodiment shown in FIG.

  In the second embodiment, as shown in FIG. 7, when the self-timer is activated, the photographing LED is turned on (steps S11 and S12). Then, for example, the process proceeds to step S6 of the first embodiment shown in FIG. If the self-timer has not been activated, the process skips step S12 and proceeds to step S6.

  In the second embodiment, the user can easily recognize that the self-timer is activated. Therefore, the operation state of the digital camera can be clearly indicated to the user.

(Third embodiment)
A third embodiment of the present invention is shown in FIG. The configuration of the digital camera is the same as that of the digital camera 1 of the first embodiment shown in FIGS. Also, the same steps as those in the first embodiment shown in FIG.

  In the third embodiment, as shown in FIG. 8, when the strobe is being charged, the photographing LED is in a blinking state (steps S21 and S22). Then, for example, the process proceeds to step S4 of the first embodiment shown in FIG. If the self-timer has not been activated, the process skips step S22 and proceeds to step S4.

  In the third embodiment, the user can easily recognize the state in which the flash is being charged. Therefore, the operation state of the digital camera can be clearly indicated to the user.

(Fourth embodiment)
A fourth embodiment of the present invention is shown in FIG. The configuration of the digital camera is the same as that of the digital camera 1 of the first embodiment shown in FIGS. Also, the same steps as those in the first embodiment shown in FIG.

  In the fourth embodiment, as shown in FIG. 9, when the voltage of the battery is decreasing, the red state LED is blinking (step S31 and step S32). When the operation of the CCD is possible, for example, the process proceeds to step S4 of the first embodiment shown in FIG. 6, and when the operation of the CCD is impossible, the process proceeds to step S1. If the battery voltage has not dropped, the process skips step S32 and proceeds to step S4.

  In the fourth embodiment, the user can easily recognize the potential state of the battery. Therefore, the state of the digital camera can be clearly indicated to the user.

(5th Example)
A fifth embodiment of the present invention is shown in FIG. The configuration of the digital camera is the same as that of the digital camera 1 of the first embodiment shown in FIGS. Also, the same steps as those in the first embodiment shown in FIG.

  In the fifth embodiment, as shown in FIG. 10, when the shutter button is pushed in with the barrier closed, the orange state LED is in a blinking state (step S41 and step S42). Then, the process proceeds to step S1. If the barrier is not closed, the process skips step S42 and proceeds to, for example, step S4 of the first embodiment shown in FIG.

  In the fifth embodiment, the user can easily recognize that the shutter button has been pushed in with the barrier closed. Therefore, the state of the digital camera can be clearly indicated to the user.

(Sixth embodiment)
A sixth embodiment of the present invention is shown in FIG. The configuration of the digital camera is the same as that of the digital camera 1 of the first embodiment shown in FIGS. Also, the same steps as those in the first embodiment shown in FIG.

  In the sixth embodiment, as shown in FIG. 11, when the control unit is in an error state for some reason, the red state LED is lit (step S51 and step S52). Then, the process proceeds to step S1. If the controller is not in an error state, the process skips step S52 and proceeds to step S4 of the first embodiment shown in FIG. 6, for example.

  In the sixth embodiment, the user can easily recognize that the control unit is in an error state. Therefore, the state of the digital camera can be clearly indicated to the user.

(Seventh embodiment)
A seventh embodiment of the present invention is shown in FIG. The configuration of the digital camera is the same as that of the digital camera 1 of the first embodiment shown in FIGS. Also, the same steps as those in the first embodiment shown in FIG.

  In the seventh embodiment, as shown in FIG. 12, when an AC adapter is connected and an AC power supply is used, the green state LED is lit (step S61 and step S62). Then, for example, the process proceeds to step S4 of the first embodiment shown in FIG. If the AC adapter is not connected and the battery is used as the power source, the process skips step S62 and proceeds to step S4.

  In the seventh embodiment, the user can easily recognize that the AC power supply is used with the AC adapter connected. Therefore, the state of the digital camera can be clearly indicated to the user.

(Eighth embodiment)
FIG. 13 shows an eighth embodiment of the present invention. The configuration of the digital camera is the same as that of the digital camera 1 of the first embodiment shown in FIGS. Also, the same steps as those in the first embodiment shown in FIG.

  In the eighth embodiment, as shown in FIG. 13, an image based on the image data already taken and recorded in the flash memory is displayed on the LCD and played back, or the digital camera is set up (initial setting). If so, the green of the status LED is lit (step S71 and step S72). Then, for example, the process proceeds to step S4 of the first embodiment shown in FIG. If no image reproduction or setup is performed, the process skips step S72 and proceeds to step S4.

  In the eighth embodiment, the user can easily recognize that image reproduction and setup are being performed. Therefore, the state of the digital camera can be clearly indicated to the user.

  In the above-described plurality of embodiments of the present invention, the LED that emits green light when energized and the LED that emits red light when energized are used as the status LEDs. An LED that emits blue light when energized may be used as the status LED, and an LED that emits red light when energized and an LED that emits blue light when energized may be used as the status LED. Further, an LED that emits green light when energized, an LED that emits red light when energized, and an LED that emits blue light when energized may be used as the status LED. As described above, when three-color LEDs are used as the status LEDs, the green LED and the blue LED emit light in purple, so the green, red, orange and purple lights up, flashes and turns off. Nine different states can be distinguished and displayed.

1 is a rear view illustrating a digital camera according to a first embodiment of the present invention. 1 is a front view showing a digital camera according to a first embodiment of the present invention. It is a top view which shows the digital camera by 1st Example of this invention. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a digital camera according to a first embodiment of the present invention. It is a time chart which shows the operation | movement of the digital camera by 1st Example of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows operation | movement of the control part, imaging | photography LED, and status LED of a digital camera by 1st Example of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows operation | movement of the control part, imaging | photography LED, and status LED of a digital camera by 2nd Example of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows operation | movement of the control part, imaging | photography LED, and status LED of a digital camera by 3rd Example of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows operation | movement of the control part, imaging | photography LED, and status LED of a digital camera by 4th Example of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows operation | movement of the control part, imaging | photography LED, and status LED of the digital camera by 5th Example of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows operation | movement of the control part, imaging | photography LED, and status LED of the digital camera by 6th Example of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows operation | movement of the control part, imaging | photography LED, and status LED of a digital camera by 7th Example of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows operation | movement of the control part, imaging | photography LED, and status LED of a digital camera by 8th Example of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Digital camera, 10 ... Control part, 13 ... CCD (imaging means), 14 ... A / D converter (conversion means), 15 ... RAM (temporary storage means), 16 ... Flash memory (image data recording means), 20 ... shutter button, 31 ... photographing LED (first display unit), 40 ... status LED (second display unit), 41, 42 ... LED.

Claims (6)

Imaging means for converting light from an imaging target into an electrical signal;
Conversion means for converting the electrical signal output from the imaging means into image data;
Temporary storage means for temporarily storing a plurality of image data;
Image data recording means for recording image data copied from the temporary storage means;
A control unit that controls the imaging unit, the conversion unit, the temporary storage unit, and the image data recording unit;
A first display for displaying an operating state of the imaging means;
A second display unit for displaying a control state of the control unit;
A digital camera comprising:   The digital camera according to claim 1, wherein the second display unit displays that the image data recording unit is in a state where image data cannot be recorded.   The digital camera according to claim 1, wherein the second display unit displays a potential state of a power supply or a type of the power supply.   The digital camera according to claim 1, wherein the first and second display units display various states by light emission.   The digital camera according to claim 4, wherein the first and second display units include light emitting diodes.   The digital camera according to claim 5, wherein the second display unit includes a plurality of light emitting diodes.

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