JP2007259089A - Digital camera - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a digital camera which performs starting restriction of a camera by a password with high security and by which security of a photographed image is also assured. <P>SOLUTION: There is a rectangular password input part 41 in the middle of a screen of a password input screen, the interior is divided into 16 identical rectangular areas in a grid pattern, each area functions as an input button on a touch panel and the password is constituted by an order of areas to which depressed positions belong. The starting restriction and image browsing restriction are performed by the password. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a digital camera having a touch panel.

  2. Description of the Related Art Digital cameras that take images with an image sensor such as a CCD or CMOS, convert them into digital data, and store them have become widespread. In recent years, an increasing number of digital cameras have a moving image shooting function due to an increase in storage capacity due to high integration of memory, an improvement in moving image compression technology, and a digital camera including a touch panel has been proposed.

  In Patent Document 1, a touch panel is provided on the front surface of a display unit formed on a digital camera, and a place (pressing position) where the display unit is touched when the camera is gripped is determined, and the surroundings are determined based on the pressing position. Operation buttons such as the shutter button, zoom-up button (TELE button), and zoom-down button (WIDE button) are displayed overlaid on the captured image (overlay display) so that the desired operation can be performed smoothly from the position where the operator first presses it. We have proposed a digital camera that can be easily operated.

Patent Document 2 determines that the password setting unit that stores the password, the touch panel and the touch input control circuit that accepts the input of the password when the camera is turned on, and the input password and the stored content match, and that they match. By providing a system controller that operates the camera only when it is determined, it is necessary to input the correct password to operate the camera, so it cannot be operated even if the camera is stolen. Proposes a digital camera that can avoid useless theft if it is recognized.
JP H11-164175 JP 2001-16497 A

  In the digital camera proposed in Patent Document 2, the activation of the digital camera itself is protected by a password. However, since the password is a character string based on the conventional technology, for example, by peeping by a malicious third party It can be said that safety is low because it is easily memorized. In addition, once the password is entered and the digital camera starts up, it can be operated freely thereafter. For example, if the user carelessly leaves the activated digital camera, it is shot and stored in the memory. There is a risk that an image with high confidentiality will be viewed without permission by a third party.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a digital camera capable of restricting the start of the camera with a highly secure password and ensuring the security of the captured image. It is said.

  In a digital camera provided with a display for displaying a photographed image and a touch panel that is disposed in front of the display and detects a pressed position, password holding means for holding a password for starting the digital camera, and a touch panel The upper area is divided into a plurality of areas, and the area detection means for detecting which of the plurality of areas the pressed position is, and the order of the areas where the pressing is detected by the area detection means The password recognition means for recognizing the password as a password, the first verification means for verifying the password recognized by the password recognition means and the content held by the password holding means, and the first verification means when the power is turned on Activation restriction means for activating the digital camera only when it is recognized.

  In a digital camera provided with a display for displaying a photographed image and a touch panel that is disposed in front of the display and detects a pressed position, password holding means for holding a password for starting the digital camera, and a touch panel The upper area is divided into a plurality of input frames, a handwriting input recognition means for recognizing characters or symbols input by handwriting in each input frame, and a series of characters or symbols recognized by the handwriting input recognition means as a password When the password recognition means is recognized, the first verification means for verifying the password recognized by the password recognition means and the content held by the password holding means, and when the first verification means recognizes a match when the power is turned on Activation restriction means for activating the digital camera only.

  In the digital camera, a memory for recording a photographed image and a password corresponding to each image, a browsing request unit for requesting browsing of an image on the display, a password recognized by the password recognition unit, and a password recorded in the memory. A second collation unit that collates the content with the browsing content, and a browsing restriction unit that displays an image on the display only when the second collating unit recognizes the match when the browsing request is made by the browsing request unit.

  By dividing the area on the touch panel of the digital camera into multiple areas and setting the order of areas to be pressed as passwords, activation is restricted by passwords that are difficult for third parties to remember. Since the risk of starting and using a digital camera without permission is reduced, high security can be ensured.

  In addition, by setting a character string to be handwritten on the touch panel of the digital camera as a password, the password input operation is made easy, and at the same time, the user uses arbitrary symbols, etc., instead of general characters, Since the activation is restricted by a password that is difficult for a third party to memorize, the risk of using and using the digital camera without permission by the third party is reduced, and high security can be ensured.

  In addition, by setting the above password for each image and restricting browsing, there is no risk of a highly confidential image being viewed without permission by a third party on a digital camera left after startup, which is convenient for the user. And higher security can be secured.

  A digital camera according to the present invention is shown in FIGS. A photographing lens 2 for photographing a subject is provided on the front surface of the digital camera 1, and a power switch 4 for turning on / off the power source, a release switch 5 to be pressed during photographing, and a sliding switch on the upper surface. And a mode changeover switch 3 for switching various operations depending on the position of the knob. Here, the various operations include a manual shooting mode in which shooting is performed according to a user's manual setting, an auto shooting mode in which shooting is performed with settings related to shooting automatically set, and an image browsing mode in which the shot image is browsed. Shall.

  On the back surface of the digital camera 1, a display 7 for displaying a through image at the time of shooting, a shot image, a menu at the time of setting, and the like, and a touch panel 8 are integrally disposed so as to overlap the front surface of the display 7. Yes. The touch panel 8 is an input means capable of detecting a pressed position, and is used for a portable game machine, a portable electronic notebook, and the like. In the present embodiment, it is used for inputting a password and various operations described later. Further, an operation key 6 composed of four push buttons is arranged next to the display 7 and the touch panel 8, and the user sets the number of pixels of an image to be photographed by performing these operations and the settings at the time of photographing. It is also possible to perform telephoto adjustment of the photographic lens 2, environment settings such as camera time and password setting for activation authentication described later.

  The side surface of the digital camera 1 includes a touch pen 9 for performing operations on the touch panel 8 described above and a pen holder 10 for holding the touch pen 9 when the touch pen 9 is not used to hold it in the digital camera body. Here, the touch pen 9 is used for password entry and image browsing operations, which will be described later. The touch pen 9 is used to press an arbitrary place on the screen or input characters and the like as if using a pen. be able to. The touch panel 8 can be operated with a human finger as a matter of course. However, when inputting characters or the like, the size of the input frame on the touch panel 8 is limited. In some cases, the touch pen 9 is effective. In the present embodiment, this corresponds to the case of password input by handwriting input, which will be described later.

  Further, on the side of the digital camera 1, there is a memory card 12 having a memory for recording a photographed image, and a memory card slot 11 having a connector that accommodates the memory card 12 and is electrically connected to a circuit inside the camera. And are provided. The memory card 12 is a medium used for a digital camera for general purposes, such as an SD memory card or a compact flash (registered trademark).

  Next, the configuration of the digital camera 1 and the function of each unit will be described with reference to FIG. A photographing lens 2 is arranged on the front surface of the digital camera 1 as is well known. The photographing lens 2 is moved in the optical axis direction by a lens driving unit 15 including a motor, a motor driver, a driving mechanism, and the like. The lens driving unit 15 is driven by an instruction signal from the operation control unit 25 according to an input from the operation key 6. A mechanical shutter 16 that opens and closes the photographing optical path is disposed behind the photographing lens 2 in the optical axis direction. The mechanical shutter 16 is opened and closed by outputting an instruction signal at an appropriate timing when the operation control unit 25 detects pressing of the release switch 5.

  Behind the mechanical shutter 16 in the optical axis direction, a CCD imaging device 17 is arranged as an image sensor. The CCD image sensor 17 converts subject light that has passed through the photographic lens 2 and is imaged on the light receiving surface into an electrical image signal, and based on a transfer pulse supplied from the drive circuit 19, a CDS (correlation signal) (Multiple sampling) output to the circuit 18. The image sensor may be a CMOS type image sensor instead of the CCD image sensor 17.

  The CDS circuit 18 is driven based on the drive pulse output from the drive circuit 19, reduces noise of the image pickup signal output from the CCD image pickup device 17, and outputs it to the A / D conversion circuit 20. The drive pulse of the drive circuit 19 is synchronized with the pulse signal from the operation control unit 25. The A / D conversion circuit 20 converts the input analog imaging signal into digital image data and outputs the digital image data to the operation control unit 25. The image data is subjected to various image processing and output to the compression / decompression unit 22. The compression / decompression unit 22 compresses the input image data and converts it into a data format such as JPEG. The operation control unit 25 reads the compressed image data, and stores it as an image file together with image information to be described later as a memory card 12. To record.

  Here, the structure of the image file is shown in FIG. The image file 51 includes image information 52 and image data 53. The image information 52 includes two pieces of information: presence / absence of secret setting 54 and a password 55. The presence / absence of secret setting 54 is information indicating whether or not the image is a secret image that is restricted by a password so that it is not viewed without permission from a third party when the image is highly confidential. The password 55 is a password that is collated when browsing this secretly set image.

  As described above, the mode changeover switch 3 is for switching between the three operation modes, and the operation control unit 25 performs an operation according to the set operation mode. As described above, the operation key 6 is used to perform various settings of the digital camera 1, and outputs a signal corresponding to the operation to the operation control unit 25. Appropriate processing such as menu display and setting is performed.

  As described above, the touch panel 8 is for making an arbitrary input by pressing the surface with a human finger or the touch pen 9, and the operation control unit 25 is for input of a password at the time of activation and an image browsing mode to be described later. In, the pressed position is detected. The detected position is output to the button press detection unit 26 and the area detection unit 29. The button press detection unit 26 recognizes the display range (coordinate group) of various buttons for operation displayed on the display 7 by the notification from the operation control unit 25, and the position pressed on the touch panel 8 indicates the display range. And the operation control unit 25 is notified of the result. Thereby, the operation control unit 25 can know which button on the screen is pressed. On the other hand, the button press detection unit 26 notifies the password recognition unit 30 in the same manner.

  The password input unit 24 performs a password input process from the touch panel 8 of the user when a password input screen (to be described later) is displayed on the display 7 by an instruction signal from the operation control unit 25. The password input unit 24 includes an area detection unit 29 and a password recognition unit 30. The area detection unit 29 detects which of the plurality of areas for inputting a password, which will be described later, the position pressed on the touch panel 8 and notifies the password recognition unit 30 of the detected area. Note that the display range on the display 7 necessary for specifying each area is notified from the operation control unit 25 to the area detection unit 29 in advance. The password recognizing unit 30 sequentially stores the areas where the pressing is detected, and when the button pressing detecting unit 26 detects that the determination button described later is pressed, the password recognition unit 30 regards that the input of the password has been completed, and presses the button. Are recognized as passwords, and notified to a first verification unit 28, a second verification unit 27, and an effectiveness determination unit 38, which will be described later.

  The first verification unit 28 verifies the password input from the touch panel 8 when the digital camera 1 is turned on, and notifies the operation control unit 25 of the result. Specifically, in the verification, the password recognized from the password recognition unit 30 described above is received, while the password for starting authentication of the digital camera 1 is read from the password holding unit 21 and compared, and the result is controlled. Notification to the unit 25.

  The second collating unit 27 collates the password input from the touch panel 8 when browsing the secret image in the image browsing mode, and notifies the operation control unit 25 of the result. In the collation, specifically, the password recognized from the password recognition unit 30 described above is received, while the password 55 included in the image file 51 is read from the memory card 12 and compared, and the result is operated. Notify the controller 25.

  The validity determination unit 38 determines the validity of the password input when performing the secret setting process for the image or the password input for setting the password for activation authentication for restricting activation of the digital camera 1 and results. Is notified to the operation control unit 25. Specifically, the validity is determined by determining whether the number of input areas is within a limit. Details will be described later.

  As described above, the display 7 is for displaying a menu, a photographed image, and the like in accordance with the output from the operation control unit 25, and is formed integrally with the touch panel 8, so that the buttons displayed on the display 7 are displayed. Can be input by directly pressing the button with a finger or the touch pen 9, and the operation control unit 25 detects this input and performs appropriate processing. The same applies to handwritten input of a password to be described later.

  As described above, the memory card 12 is an external module for storing the image file 51, and is electrically connected to the operation control unit 25 and the second verification unit 27 via the connector 23. The operation control unit 25 reads the image file 51 from here in the image browsing mode, and writes the image file 51 of the image taken in the manual shooting mode or the auto shooting mode here. As described above, the second verification unit 27 reads the password 55 that has been set when verifying the password input when browsing the secret image.

  The password holding unit 21 is a memory for storing a password for activation authentication of the camera system set by the user, and can be realized by, for example, an EEPROM (Electronically Erasable and Programmable Read Only Memory). The operation control unit 25 writes the password input from the touch panel 8 during the activation authentication password setting process and information on whether or not the password is set. When the power is turned on, the operation control unit 25 reads information on the presence / absence of password setting from here, and when the setting is present, the camera system is activated after receiving a notification of successful activation authentication from the first verification unit 28. On the other hand, if there is no setting, the camera system is activated unconditionally. The first verification unit 28 reads a password for activation authentication from here in order to verify the password input from the touch panel 8 when the power is turned on, and notifies the operation control unit 25 of the result.

  The operation control unit 25 performs overall control of a series of flows in each process performed by the camera system. The operation control unit 25 performs appropriate output processing for each unit or input processing from each unit while appropriately performing determination processing. is there. The operation control unit 25 controls the lens driving unit 15 based on the input from the operation key 6 in the auto shooting mode and the manual shooting mode, outputs a through image to the display 7, detects the pressing of the release switch 5, and mechanically After the shutter 16 is controlled and the image is captured, the image data input from the A / D conversion circuit 20 is output to the compression / decompression unit 22, and the compressed image data 53 is read out and stored in the memory card 12. Write as 51.

  In the image browsing mode, the operation control unit 25 reads the image file 51 from the memory card 12, outputs the image data 53 to the compression / decompression unit 22, decompresses the compressed image data 53, and displays it on the display 7. A browsing screen, a browsing restriction screen, a secret image browsing screen, and a password input screen are output. Further, the range information on the display 7 of each button to be displayed on each screen is output to the button press detection unit 26, and the range information on the display 7 of the area described above is output to the area detection unit 29 on the password input screen. Further, the operation control unit 25 appropriately performs processing based on the output of the button press detection unit 26 and the collation result of the second collation unit 27.

  In the authentication process at power-on, the operation control unit 25 determines whether or not a password is set from the password holding unit 21. If there is a setting, the operation control unit 25 outputs a password input screen to the display 7 and the first verification unit 28. The processing is appropriately performed based on the password verification result input from.

  Further, the operation control unit 25 sets the operation mode of the camera system in accordance with the input from the mode changeover switch 3, detects the input from the operation key 6, performs appropriate determination processing, and responds accordingly. An output to the display 7 and various setting processes are performed.

  Next, a series of actions in each process that is comprehensively controlled by the operation control unit 25 will be described using a flowchart. FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an outline of the activation authentication process using a password when the digital camera 1 is turned on. When the digital camera 1 is turned on when the power switch 4 is pressed (st1), information on whether or not a password is set is read from the password holding unit 21 and determined (st2). If no password is set, the camera system is activated and the process is terminated (st10). On the other hand, if there is a setting, the password input count (N) is set to 1 (st3), a password input screen is displayed (st4), and a password input waiting state is entered (st8).

  FIG. 5 shows a password input screen. Here, since the cancel button 44 is used only on a password input screen when browsing an image with browsing restriction set, which will be described later, it will not be described here assuming that it is not on the screen. There is a rectangular password input unit 41 in the center of the screen, the inside of which is divided into 16 identical rectangular areas in a grid pattern, each area functions as an input button on the touch panel 8, and the position where it is pressed is Passwords are configured according to the order of the areas to which they belong. Here, the number of areas for configuring the password can be arbitrarily set by the user in the range of 8 to 16, but the longer the password is, the higher the security is. Therefore, the password is configured with 16 areas. preferable. The number range depends on the required specifications of the product, the performance of the camera system, etc., and is not limited to 8-16. As described above, the input process on the password input screen is performed by the password input unit 24. The clear button 43 is an input button on the touch panel 8. When the clear button 43 is pressed, the input password can be temporarily cleared and the password can be input from the beginning (st5, st6), and the area pressed during the input is pressed. Used when mistaken. The decision button 42 is an input button on the touch panel 8 and is depressed after all areas constituting the password are depressed (st7), and the first verification unit 28 is input with the password read from the password holding unit 21. The password is verified (st9).

  If the passwords match as a result of the collation, the camera system is activated and the process is terminated (st10). On the other hand, if they do not match, it is determined whether or not the password input count (N) is 3 (st11). If the password input count (N) is not 3, the password input count (N) is incremented by 1 (st12) and an error message such as “Password is incorrect” is displayed on the screen ( st13), the process again shifts to the password input waiting state (st8). If the password input count (N) is 3, for example, a warning such as “User authentication has failed and the user is considered to be an unauthorized user will be stopped.” Is displayed, and the process ends ( st14).

  This activation authentication password displays a menu for performing various settings on the display 7 by operation from the operation key 6, and selects and executes a password setting menu from among them to execute a browsing password described later. The password can also be set at the same time as the above setting, and at the same time, the validity of the password is set and stored in the password holding unit 21 together with information on whether or not the password is set.

  By restricting activation with a highly secure password when the power is turned on in this way, the risk of using the digital camera without a third party's permission is reduced, so that high security can be ensured.

  In the present embodiment, the digital camera 1 that inputs the password by handwriting can be realized by signing the touch panel 8 with the touch pen 9. A password input screen at this time is shown in FIG. The password input area 45 is composed of eight frames made by dividing a rectangular area into eight equal intervals, and each frame is an input frame corresponding to one character to be handwritten. Here, the number of input frames is not limited to eight, and may be the number of frames according to product specifications, screen width, camera system performance, and the like. The same applies to the range of the number of characters constituting the password. Furthermore, if the camera system has a function that can flexibly recognize handwriting input in the frame as graphics instead of characters, it is possible to configure passwords using arbitrary symbols and pictograms as well as characters. In this case, the configuration shown in FIG. 3 requires a handwriting input recognition unit that recognizes characters or symbols that the user inputs by handwriting using the touch pen 9 instead of the area detection unit 29.

  In this way, by using a character string input by handwriting on the touch panel 8 of the digital camera 1 as a password, the password input operation can be facilitated, and at the same time, a highly secure password using symbols or the like instead of characters. High security can be secured.

  Next, image browsing restrictions will be described. FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing an outline of processing of the operation control unit in the image browsing mode. When the image browsing mode is selected by the mode switch 3 (st21), the operation control unit 25 reads the image file 51 of the image to be displayed from the memory card 12 (st22), and sets the secret setting included in the image file 51. It is determined from the presence / absence 54 information whether or not the image is a secret image (st23). If it is a secret image, the browsing restriction screen shown in FIG. 10 is output to the display 7 (st24). The image data 53 included in the read image file 51 is decompressed by the compression / decompression unit 22 every time it is read.

  The image display unit 31 of the browsing restriction screen displays that the image cannot be displayed because it is secretly set, and if the image is to be displayed, the browsing button 35 at the bottom of the screen is pressed to indicate that password input is required. No image is displayed. The shooting date and time display unit 32 is a part for displaying the date and time when the image was shot. Since the image is not displayed, the shooting date and time display unit 32 is provided so that the user cannot guess which image it is without. It is what. The next button 34 and the previous button 33 are input buttons on the touch panel 8, and when pressed, display the next or previous image in the time series of the shooting date and time among the images stored in the memory card 12 (st25). . The browse button 35 is an input button on the touch panel 8, and when pressed, authentication processing using a password is executed (st26, st27).

  A flowchart showing an outline of the authentication processing is shown in FIG. First, a password input screen shown in FIG. 5 is displayed on the display 7 (st41), and a transition to a password input waiting state from the user is made (st46). Here, the password input area 41 of the password input screen is as described above. The cancel button 44 is an input button on the touch panel 8, and when pressed, the password input is canceled and the original image display restriction screen is displayed (st42). In this case, it is regarded as an authentication failure (st28). The clear button 43 is an input button on the touch panel 8. When the clear button 43 is pressed, the input password can be temporarily cleared and the password can be input from the beginning (st 43, st 44). Used when mistaken. The enter button 42 is an input button on the touch panel 8 and is pressed after all the areas constituting the password have been pressed, and the second verification unit 27 performs verification with the password 55 already set in the image. (St45, st47). If the collation results do not match, for example, an error message such as “password is wrong” is displayed (st48), and the original image display restriction screen is displayed as authentication failure (st28, st24). On the other hand, if the collation result is a match (st47), the secret image browsing screen shown in FIG. 11 is displayed on the display 7 as a successful authentication (st28, st29).

  The image set as the secret is displayed on the image display unit 31 of the secret image browsing screen. The shooting date and time display unit 32 is a part that displays the date and time when the image was shot as described above. The next button 34 and the previous button 33 are also input buttons on the touch panel 8 as described above, and when pressed, the next or previous image stored in the memory card 12 is displayed (st30). The secret setting release button 36 is an input button on the touch panel 8, and when pressed, a secret setting release process is executed (st31, st32).

  The secret setting cancellation process is a process for canceling the setting of viewing restriction by the password of the secret image. Specifically, the operation control unit 25 overwrites and saves the information on the presence / absence 54 of the secret setting related to the image file 51 stored in the memory card 12 to “None” and clears the information of the password 55. . As a result, since it is determined to be no at the time of determining whether or not the secret image is (st23), the image is displayed on the browsing screen without inputting the password (st33).

  An image that is not a secret image or an image that has undergone a secret setting cancellation process is displayed on the image display unit 31 in the browsing screen shown in FIG. 12 (st33). The shooting date and time display unit 32 is a part that displays the date and time when the image was shot as described above. The next button 34 and the previous button 33 are also input buttons on the touch panel 8 as described above. When pressed, the next or previous image stored in the memory card 12 is displayed (st34). The secret setting button 37 is an input button on the touch panel 8, and when pressed, a secret setting process is executed (st35, st36).

  The secret setting process is a process for performing secret setting on an image that has not been set secret. FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing an outline of the secret setting process. First, a password input screen shown in FIG. 5 is displayed on the display 7 (st51), and a transition to a password input waiting state from the user is made (st56). Here, the processing (st52 to 55) until the input of the password to be set is completed is the same as that described above. When the determination button 42 is pressed on the password input screen and the password to be set by the user is determined, the validity determination unit 38 determines whether or not this is valid (st57).

  Here, this determination is to determine whether the password restrictions as described above with reference to FIG. 5 are observed. That is, it is a determination whether or not the number of areas constituting the password is in the range of 8 to 16. In the case of FIG. 6, it is determined whether the number of characters input by handwriting is less than eight or whether the characters input by handwriting are unrecognizable. If it is determined that the password is not valid by this determination, for example, an error message such as “the number of areas constituting the password is not in the range of 8 to 16” is displayed (st59), and the setting is considered to have failed ( st37), the original browsing screen is displayed (st33). Note that if the cancel button 44 is pressed on the password input screen, the setting is regarded as a failure (st52), and the original browsing screen is displayed (st33). On the other hand, if it is determined that the password is valid (st57), password setting processing is executed for the image (st58).

  The password setting process is a process for setting a viewing restriction based on the input password on the image. Specifically, the operation control unit 25 sets the information on presence / absence 54 of the secret setting related to the image file 51 stored in the memory card 12 to “Yes” and the password 55 information input by the user. Change to and save. Thus, since it is determined as a secret image when determining whether or not the secret image is present (st23), the image is not displayed unless the set password is input. After the password setting process, it is determined that the setting is successful (st37), and the above-described browsing restriction screen is displayed on the display 7 (st24).

  Thus, by protecting a highly confidential specific image with a highly secure password, there is no risk of being viewed without permission by a third party, and high security can be ensured.

It is a perspective view (front surface) which shows the digital camera of this invention. It is a perspective view (rear view) showing the digital camera of the present invention. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of a digital camera. It is a flowchart which shows the process sequence of the starting authentication process of a digital camera. It is explanatory drawing which shows the password input screen (area pressing method) of a digital camera. It is explanatory drawing which shows the password input screen (sign method) of a digital camera. It is a flowchart which shows the process sequence of the image browsing mode of a digital camera. It is a flowchart which shows the process sequence of the authentication process of the password at the time of the image browsing of a digital camera. It is a flowchart which shows the process sequence of the secret setting process of a digital camera. It is explanatory drawing which shows the browsing restriction screen of a digital camera. It is explanatory drawing which shows the secret image browsing screen of a digital camera. It is explanatory drawing which shows the browsing screen of a digital camera. It is explanatory drawing which shows the structure of the image file of a digital camera.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Digital camera 2 Shooting lens 3 Mode switch 4 Power switch 5 Release switch 6 Operation key 7 Display 8 Touch panel 9 Touch pen 10 Pen holder 11 Memory card slot 12 Memory card 15 Lens drive part 16 Mechanical shutter 17 CCD image sensor 18 CDS circuit 19 Drive Circuit 20 A / D conversion circuit 21 Password holding unit 22 Compression / decompression unit 23 Connector 24 Password input unit 25 Operation control unit 26 Button pressing determination unit 27 Second verification unit 28 First verification unit 29 Area detection unit 30 Password recognition unit 31 Image display section 32 Shooting date and time display section 33 Previous button 34 Next button 35 Browse button 36 Secret setting release button 37 Secret setting button 38 Validity determination section 41, 45 Password input area 42 The presence or absence of button 43 clear button 44 cancel button 51 image file 52 the image information 53 image data 54 private settings 55 password

Claims (3)

In a digital camera provided with a display that displays a captured image and a touch panel that is disposed in front of the display and detects a pressed position,
Password holding means for holding a password for starting the digital camera;
An area detection unit that divides the area on the touch panel into a plurality of areas, and detects which of the plurality of areas the pressed position is;
Password recognition means for recognizing the order of areas detected by the area detection means as the password;
First verification means for verifying the password recognized by the password recognition means and the content held by the password holding means;
A digital camera, comprising: an activation restriction unit that activates the digital camera only when the first collating unit recognizes a match when the power is turned on. In a digital camera provided with a display that displays a captured image and a touch panel that is disposed in front of the display and detects a pressed position,
Password holding means for holding a password for starting the digital camera;
Handwriting input recognition means for dividing the area on the touch panel into a plurality of input frames and recognizing characters or symbols input by handwriting in the respective input frames;
Password recognition means for recognizing a series of characters or symbols recognized by the handwriting input recognition means as the password;
First verification means for verifying the password recognized by the password recognition means and the content held by the password holding means;
A digital camera, comprising: an activation restricting unit that activates the digital camera only when the first collating unit recognizes a match when the power is turned on. A memory for recording images taken and passwords corresponding to the images;
Browsing request means for requesting browsing of an image on the display;
Second verification means for verifying the password recognized by the password recognition means and the content recorded in the memory;
3. The digital camera according to claim 1, further comprising a browsing restriction unit that displays an image on the display only when the second collating unit recognizes a match when the browsing request is made by the browsing request unit.

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