JP2008005433A - Image data transfer apparatus, image data transfer method and program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a data transfer method, apparatus or program, making it possible to continue photographing of a digital camera, by transferring image data to an external storage device via a communication apparatus and deleting, from a storage device of the digital camera, the image data which has been transferred completely. <P>SOLUTION: The invention concerns the image data transfer method which transfers image data stored in a removable memory to other data processing apparatus by using data communication means, including the steps of: rearranging the image data (step S205); displaying the rearranged image data in the order of rearrangement (step S206); transferring the rearranged image data to other data processing apparatus in the order of rearrangement (step S208); and deleting the transferred image data automatically, after completion of transfer of the image data transferred in the order of rearrangement in the transferring step. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an image data transfer device, an image data transfer method, and a program for use in a digital camera or the like that can be connected to a data processing device having a communication function such as a mobile phone.

  In recent years, the performance of digital cameras has been remarkably improved, and the size of images that can be taken has been increasing. As the image size increases, the data size of the image data also increases, and the number of image data that can be stored in the storage device that stores the captured image data tends to decrease.

  Therefore, if shooting is continued with the digital camera, the capacity of the storage device attached to the digital camera may be insufficient due to the image data, and shooting may not be continued.

  Therefore, a method of connecting a digital camera to a communication device, transferring photographed image data to other data storage means, securing a storage area of a storage device in the digital camera, and enabling photographing to be continued Was devised.

  For example, in Patent Document 1, reference is made to shooting date data and last reproduction date data, image data that is three months or more after the last reproduction is transferred to an external storage device, and the remaining memory capacity of the storage device for newly taking a picture is determined. A method of securing has been devised.

JP 2000-341619 A

  Digital cameras can shoot by changing shooting conditions such as image size and data compression rate. For this reason, the image data stored in the storage device of the digital camera changes in data size depending on the setting of the image size at the time of shooting, the difference in the compression rate setting of the data compression at the time of storing the image data, and the like. That is, captured image data has a large data size or a small data size, and the data size varies.

  Therefore, when the memory capacity of the storage device of the digital camera is insufficient, one of the image data stored in the storage device is connected to a communication device and transferred to a file server or the like, and the remaining memory capacity is reduced. Even if it is opened, the storage capacity may not be secured. Specifically, if the image data that happened to be transferred is a small image size and the image data that was shot in the high compression mode when the data was saved, there was sufficient storage for the next shot. Capacity cannot be secured.

  Therefore, if the image size of the setting to be shot next is large, or if you try to shoot with the compression rate setting at the time of saving data set to low compression or no compression, you can secure enough memory capacity to shoot. In some cases, shooting could not be started.

  When data is transferred by communication means, a method of compressing data on the data transmission side, transferring compressed data to the communication means and then expanding the data received by the data receiving means is generally used. It is used. However, the data compression performed here can generally be expected to have the effect of data compression of the communication means if the compression rate of the data to be transferred is low, but if the data to be transferred is data compressed at a high compression rate The data compression effect of the communication means cannot be expected so much.

  Accordingly, when image data having the same data size is transferred, there is a problem that the data transfer time required for data transfer varies depending on the image data.

  In view of the actual situation, the present invention transfers image data to an external storage device via a communication device, and deletes the image data that has been transferred from the storage device of the digital camera body, thereby continuing the shooting of the digital camera. We propose an image data transfer device and the like that can be used.

An image data transfer apparatus according to the present invention includes a data communication unit and a removable memory, and transfers the image data stored in the removable memory by the data communication unit to another data processing apparatus. The sorting means for sorting the image data, the display means for displaying the sorted image data in the sorted order, and the other data processing device in the sorted order of the image data. It comprises transfer means for transferring, and delete means for automatically deleting the image data transferred in the rearranged order after the transfer is completed.
The image data transfer method of the present invention is an image data transfer method for transferring image data stored in a removable memory by a data communication means to another data processing apparatus, wherein the image data is rearranged. A display step for displaying the rearranged image data in the rearranged order, a transfer step for transferring the rearranged image data to the other data processing device in the rearranged order, and the forwarded order in the rearranged order. A deletion step of automatically deleting the image data after the transfer is completed.
The program of the present invention is characterized in that each step of the method described above is executed by a computer.

According to the image data transfer device of the present invention, for example, when the storage device of a digital camera is insufficient and shooting becomes impossible, the digital camera is first connected to a communication device and stored in the storage device. Search the image data. Then, according to the search condition, the image data is transferred to the external storage device via the communication device, and the image data that has been transferred is deleted from the storage device of the digital camera body, thereby ensuring the remaining memory capacity of the storage device and It is possible to continue shooting with the camera.
Here, there is a feature in the prioritization of image data transfer. Specifically, it is possible to transfer data at high speed by preferentially transferring image data with a low compression rate. Also, since data with a low compression rate tends to increase the file size on the storage device, image data with a large file size is preferentially transferred. In that case, even if the number of images to be transferred is small, it can be expected that the number of shootable images after data transfer can be increased.

  Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In this embodiment, a method of transmitting image data captured by a digital camera to a communication destination storage device via a mobile phone in a data communication system in which a digital camera and a communication device such as a mobile phone are connected will be described. Specifically, a method for selecting image data with a low compression rate from image data stored in the storage device of the digital camera and transmitting the image data to the external storage device at the time of transmission will be described.

  FIG. 1 shows a system configuration of a digital camera and a communication apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. Here, 1 is a digital camera, 2 is a CPU, 3 is an image processing unit, 4 is a display device, 5 is a storage device, 6 is an image input unit, 7 is a RAM, 8 is a user interface, 9 is an external device connection interface, 10 is a communication device, and 11 is an external device connection interface.

  First, the operation of the digital camera 1 will be described. All of the following control is performed by starting on the CPU 2 software loaded from a medium (not shown) on the program memory of the RAM 7.

  The image input unit 6 adjusts the amplitude and gain of an electrical signal for an image formed on an image input device such as a CCD, and converts the image from an analog signal to a digital signal. Next, the digital signal is converted into a value on the color coordinate system of the image by using the image processing unit 3. Here, the color coordinate system includes a coordinate system of various color spaces such as an RGB coordinate system in addition to the YC coordinate system, but is not specified in the present invention.

  Data corresponding to the number of image pickup pixels of the CCD is output from the image input unit 6 in synchronization with the pixel clock. That is, the value on the control line output from the image input unit 6 is a pixel clock, and the value on the data line is actual image data.

  Further, similarly, a control signal is output on the control line of the image input unit 6 according to the size of the imaging area of the CCD. That is, an HD signal is output every time one line of the imaging area starts, and a VD signal is output every other field of the imaging area.

  In this manner, the image-captured and color-converted signal is output in synchronization with the control signal generated by the image processing unit 3 and input to the image processing unit 3.

  The image processing unit 3 mainly reads / writes data from / to the RAM 7, reads / writes data from / to the recording device 5, drives the display device 4, writes data to the display device 4, converts signals from the CPU 2, and writes to the image input unit 6. This is where control signal transmission is handled.

  When the image processing unit 3 sets the digital camera to the shooting mode, the digital camera starts a preview operation. Image data is generated by thinning out the image data from the image input unit 6 in accordance with the number of pixels of the display device 4 and stored in the RAM 7.

  Further, the display device 4 is notified that the transfer of the image data has been completed. The display device 4 reads the image data stored in the RAM 7 in accordance with the data transfer completion signal from the image processing unit 3.

  The display device 4 supplies the image data read from the RAM 7 to the display drive circuit. As a result, the image data read by the image input unit 6 can be displayed on the liquid crystal display panel on the display device 4.

  By continuously performing the above processing, the image of the subject is displayed as a moving image on the liquid crystal panel of the display device.

  When the photographer presses a shutter button provided in the user interface 8, the image processing unit 3 temporarily stops the image processing for preview. Further, from the thinned image generation, image data read from the image input unit with the image size set by the photographer and various shooting condition parameters is generated and stored in the RAM 7. Thereafter, the CPU 2 compresses the image data stored in the RAM 7 and stores it in the storage device 5. The above operation is the processing flow of the photographing operation of the digital camera.

  The storage device 5 is generally a removable flash memory, and can be removed from the digital camera body and taken image data can be taken out to another image processing device.

  The digital camera 1 also includes an external device connection interface 9 and can transfer image data stored in the storage device 5 to an external device.

  The data communication device 10 may be, for example, a mobile phone, and includes an external device connection interface 11 and can communicate data with other data processing devices such as a digital camera.

  In addition, the data processing apparatus 10 can be connected to data communication means such as another mobile phone or a modem (not shown) to transmit and receive data. As a result, the image data stored in the storage device 5 of the digital camera 1 can be transferred to another data processing device (not shown).

  Therefore, the photographer repeats photographing with the digital camera, and when the storage capacity of the storage device 5 runs out and the photographing cannot be continued, the storage device 5 is first removed from the digital camera and the storage device 5 is connected to another data processing device. To do. Then, the image data stored in the storage device 5 is moved to another data processing device, and the storage capacity of the storage device 5 is increased, so that the storage capacity of the storage device 5 is recovered and shooting is performed. It is carried out.

  In addition, when the storage capacity of the storage device 5 is lost and shooting cannot be continued, there is no other data processing device nearby, the storage device 5 is removed from the digital camera, and the storage device 5 is connected to another data processing device. When the image data in the storage device 5 cannot be moved to another data processing device, the digital camera is first connected to the communication device via the external device connection interface 9. Then, the communication device performs data communication with another data processing device connected to the communication device, transfers the image data in the storage device 5 to the other data processing device, secures the storage capacity of the storage device 5, and performs shooting. It is also possible to continue.

  A method for transferring image data of the digital camera 1 according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

  In step S201, after the digital camera 1 is turned on, the remaining amount of the storage device 5 is confirmed. If the remaining amount of the storage device 5 is below a certain level, the digital camera 1 displays a message on the display device 4 to notify the user that the remaining amount of the storage device is low. The notified user determines whether to perform data communication (step S202).

  In step S202, when another data processing device is nearby, the user removes the memory card attached to the digital camera from the digital camera body, and reads the memory card reader or the like connected to the other data processing device. Attach to. Then, the image data is transferred to another data processing apparatus, the memory card is freed up, and then the memory card is returned to the digital camera (step S203). As described above, it is possible to ensure the remaining amount of the storage device and continue shooting.

  On the other hand, when the digital camera 1 notifies the user that the remaining amount of the storage device 5 is insufficient, if there is no other data processing device for transferring image data in the storage device nearby, the process proceeds to step S204. . The user connects the external device connection interface 9 of the digital camera and the external device connection interface 11 of the communication device with a communication cable, communicates between the communication device 10 and another data processing device, and takes a captured image in the storage device 5. Transfer the data to another data processing device.

  Here, in step S <b> 204, the digital camera 1 selects image data to be transferred via the communication device 10. Further, in step S205, the compression rate of the image data is examined, and the data is arranged in the order of the image data with the low compression rate. The compression rate of the image data is stored in the header information of the image data as the accompanying data of the image data when the image data is generated. A method of recognizing the compression rate by reading the header information, or a method of calculating the compression rate of the image data by calculating from the image size and the data size stored in the header information of the conventional image data can be considered.

  Data sorted in ascending order of compression rate should be set using parameters set by the user, such as the amount of transfer data set in advance by the user or the remaining capacity of the storage device after data transfer set in advance by the user. Determine the total amount of data to be transferred. Then, the image data is selected in the order of images with the lowest compression rate, image data is selected up to the number that satisfies the total amount of data to be transferred, and the selected image data is displayed in the thumbnail format on the display device (step S206).

  The user confirms the transfer image data displayed in the thumbnail format on the display, and determines whether or not the image data automatically selected by the digital camera 1 may be transferred (step S207). If the data can be transferred, a transfer start button assigned to the selection key or the like of the digital camera 1 is pressed to start transferring the image data (step S208).

  If the image automatically selected by the digital camera 1 includes image data that is not desired to be transferred, the user deletes the corresponding image data from the transferred image data.

  In this case, the digital camera automatically determines the next candidate transfer image data and adds it to the transfer image list displayed in the thumbnail format of the display device 4.

  After the above transfer image data changing operation is repeated and a list of image data to be transferred is completed, the user presses a transfer start button assigned to a selection key or the like of the digital camera 1 to start transferring the image data.

  The image data photographed by the digital camera 1 may be accompanied by additional data such as prohibition of deletion or image data to be printed in the header information. In addition, by recording the prohibition of data transfer in the header information, it is possible to separate the transferable image data from the untransferable image data before investigating the compression rate of the image data. It is.

  When the start of data transfer is instructed by the user's key operation of the digital camera 1, the digital camera 1 operates a communication device connected by a communication cable, connects to another data processing device, and connects to the connected data processing device. The selected image data is transmitted.

  The selected data is image data having a low compression rate among the image data stored in the memory of the digital camera 1. In general, a data communication means transmits data that is compressed using a data compression technique to transfer data to shorten the communication time, and decompresses the data on the receiving side.

  Data with a low compression rate is highly likely to be compressed to a small amount of data by data compression performed at the time of data communication. Conversely, image data that has been subjected to data compression cannot be transferred even if data compression is performed again during data communication. There is a high possibility that it will not lead to compression.

  In this embodiment, since image data with a low data compression rate is preferentially transferred to another data processing apparatus, there is a high possibility that the data compression effect by the data communication means will be high, and the communication time can be shortened. It becomes.

It is a figure which shows the system configuration | structure of the digital camera and communication apparatus which concern on embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart for demonstrating operation | movement in the digital camera which concerns on embodiment of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

1 Digital camera 2 CPU
3 Image processing unit 4 Display device 5 Storage device 6 Image input unit 7 RAM
8 User interface 9 External device connection interface 10 Communication device 11 External device connection interface

Claims (4)

An image data transfer device that has data communication means and a removable memory, and transfers image data stored in the removable memory by the data communication means to another data processing device,
Rearrangement means for rearranging the image data;
Display means for displaying the sorted image data in the sorted order;
Transfer means for transferring the rearranged image data to the other data processing device in the rearranged order;
An image data transfer device comprising: deletion means for automatically deleting the image data transferred in the rearranged order after the transfer is completed.   2. The image data transfer apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the rearranging unit rearranges the image data stored in the removable memory in descending order of data compression rate. An image data transfer method for transferring image data stored in a removable memory by data communication means to another data processing device,
A rearrangement step of rearranging the image data;
A display step of displaying the sorted image data in the sorted order;
A transfer step of transferring the rearranged image data to another data processing device in the rearranged order;
And a deletion step of automatically deleting the image data transferred in the rearranged order after the transfer is completed.   A program for causing each step of the method according to claim 3 to be executed by a computer.

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