JP2009043059A - Information processor, control method thereof, program and storage medium - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a start screen of application which prevents a user from being bored until a browsing screen is completedly displayed, the application transferring image data to an information processor from a digital camera. <P>SOLUTION: An information processor displays image data received by a receiving means on the start screen until the browsing screen can be displayed. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus, a control method thereof, a program, and a storage medium, and more particularly to a technique for acquiring and displaying image data stored in an imaging apparatus or the like.

  With the spread of digital cameras, various applications for transferring image data from a digital camera to a personal computer (hereinafter referred to as “PC”) and allowing the user to view the image data on the PC are known.

  Such an application provides a function for displaying image data received from a digital camera in an order that is easy for the user to view. Specifically, a function of rearranging the image data in order of the shooting date and displaying the list by using the shooting date and time of the image data received from the digital camera is provided.

  However, in order for a PC on which such an application is installed to rearrange image data and display a list, it takes time to execute the processing. Furthermore, as the number of image data transferred from the digital camera increases, the time required for the list display becomes slower because the sorting process takes a longer time.

Therefore, a method of displaying a screen prepared by an application, which is called a splash window, as a start-up screen until preparation for list display is completed is widely known. As a typical example of the splash window, the application name display and the current processing status are displayed, and the progress status is displayed with a progress bar. Further, as a splash window rendering method, a method of generating and displaying a startup screen based on previously recorded user operation history information is known (see Patent Document 1).
JP 2001-79262 A

  However, since the conventional application only displays a screen prepared in advance on the application side, the user is easily bored.

  In order to solve the above-described problems, an information processing apparatus according to the present invention includes a first display control unit that displays a startup screen of an application for receiving image data from a communication device on the display device, and image data from the communication device. Receiving means, and second display control means for displaying a browsing screen including the image data on a display device based on the attribute information of the image data received by the receiving means, and the first display The control means displays the image data already received by the receiving means on the start-up screen until the browsing screen can be displayed by the second display control means.

  According to the present invention, since the startup screen using the image data to be transferred is displayed, it is possible to provide a startup screen that attracts the user's interest.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. A system configuration in the embodiment of the present invention is shown in FIG. The system in the present embodiment includes a digital camera 1 that is an example of a communication device and a computer 2 that is an example of an information processing device that receives image data captured by the digital camera 1. The digital camera 1 and the computer 2 are connected using a communication path 3 such as a USB (Universal Serial Bus).

  The configuration of the digital camera 1 is shown in FIG. The CPU 100 controls each part of the digital camera 1 according to the input signal and program. The subject image passes through the condenser lens 101, and the subject image picked up by a CCD (Charge Coupled Device) 102 is converted into an electrical signal. Then, it is converted into a digital signal by the A / D converter 103. A RAM (Random Access Memory) 104 temporarily stores data such as shooting data and various parameters. The flash memory 106 is a storage medium for storing captured image data, a control program, and the like. The flash memory 106 may be built in the digital camera 1 or may be detachable like a memory card, for example. An LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) 109 displays captured image data and various GUIs (Graphical User Interface) such as information notified to the user. The VRAM 108 stores image data to be displayed on the LCD 109. The input device 107 is a member mainly operated by the user, and accepts a user input for instructing a release button used at the time of shooting, an image feed at the time of image reproduction, and the like. The input device 107 can be a button, lever, wheel, touch panel, or the like. The communication device 105 is an interface for connecting the digital camera 1 and the computer 2. Although not shown here, the digital camera 1 has a built-in posture sensor, and can detect the vertical and horizontal postures of the digital camera. Based on this posture sensor, the CPU 100 assigns a vertical shooting attribute to image data shot in a so-called vertical posture.

  Next, the configuration of the computer 2 is shown in FIG. Similar to the digital camera 1, the computer 2 includes a CPU 200, a RAM 202, an input device 203, a VRAM 204, a display device 205, and a communication device 206. As the input device 203 of the computer 2, a pointing device such as a keyboard or a mouse can be used. A hard disk device (hereinafter referred to as “HDD”) 201 stores image data received from the digital camera 1 and various data such as a program for controlling the computer 2. An application program (hereinafter simply referred to as “application”) for transferring and displaying image data in the present embodiment is also stored in the HDD 201. Although the input device 203 and the display device 205 are described as components of the computer, they may be connected to the computer as external devices and controlled by the CPU 200.

  In this embodiment, the communication path 3 uses a USB cable, but is not necessarily limited to wired communication. For example, wireless communication such as a wireless LAN represented by IEEE 802.11b may be used.

  Next, a screen displayed on the computer 2 by the application will be described.

  When the user instructs to start an application using the input device 203 of the computer 2, a splash window is first displayed on the display device 205. The splash window will be described later.

  After the splash window is displayed, the browsing screen shown in FIG. 4 is displayed. On the browsing screen, thumbnails of image data stored in the flash memory 106 of the digital camera 1 are displayed as a list in a state where the thumbnails are arranged in order of shooting date and time.

  Reference numeral 402 denotes thumbnails of image data stored in the flash memory 106 of the digital camera 1, and these are all arranged in order of shooting date and time, which is attribute information of the image data or thumbnails. A shooting date and time as shown at 401 is displayed at the boundary of the shooting date and time. By this display, the area of the thumbnail list is divided for each shooting date and time, so that the user can easily search for a thumbnail based on the shooting date and time.

  Reference numeral 403 denotes a shooting year button. When the user selects the shooting year button 403 using the input unit 203, thumbnails of image data shot in the selected shooting year are displayed in a list.

  Reference numeral 404 denotes an enlarged display button. When the user selects an arbitrary thumbnail using the input unit 203 and presses the enlargement display button 404, image data corresponding to the selected thumbnail is enlargedly displayed on the display device 205.

  Reference numeral 405 denotes an image transfer button. When the user selects an arbitrary thumbnail using the input unit 203 and presses the image transfer button 405, image data corresponding to the selected thumbnail is stored in the HDD 201.

  Reference numeral 406 denotes a print button. When the user selects an arbitrary thumbnail using the input unit 203 and presses the image transfer button 405, image data corresponding to the selected thumbnail is transmitted to a printer (not shown) and printed.

  Reference numeral 407 denotes a delete button. When the user selects an arbitrary thumbnail using the input unit 203 and presses the image transfer button 405, image data corresponding to the selected thumbnail is deleted from the flash memory 106 of the digital camera 1.

  Next, processing from when the digital camera 1 and the computer 2 are connected to when the browsing screen 400 shown in FIG. 4 is displayed will be described with reference to FIGS.

  First, in step S501, the digital camera 1 and the computer 2 are connected to each other. The CPU 100 of the digital camera 1 detects that it is connected to the computer 2 and shifts the digital camera 1 to a communication mode.

  In step S502, for each image file stored in the flash memory 106, the CPU 100 extracts a fixed size area from the beginning of the file.

  In step S503, the CPU 100 stores the extracted image file fragment in the RAM 104 as cache data. The fixed size extracted here is set in advance, and the size is the size including the thumbnail and header information included in the image file.

  Further, the same processing is repeated in order from the latest image data among the image data stored in the digital camera 1 (steps S504 to S507). However, the flash memory 106 does not necessarily include only image data captured using the digital camera 1. For example, it includes data that has been edited with the digital camera 1 and newly saved, and image data that has been rewritten and added from the computer. Therefore, the processing order is not necessarily the same as the shooting date and time order.

  The CPU 100 repeats the process shown in FIG. 5 until extraction of file fragments from all image files is completed or the capacity of the RAM 104 becomes equal to or greater than a predetermined value. As a result, the RAM 104 stores a plurality of file fragments.

  The above is the processing performed by the digital camera 1 when the digital camera 1 and the computer 2 are connected. Next, FIG. 6 shows a processing flow when an application installed in the computer 2 is started. The application may be activated in accordance with a user instruction, or the CPU 200 may automatically activate the application when it is detected that the computer 2 is connected to the digital camera 1.

  First, in step S601, the CPU 200 transmits an acquisition request for collectively acquiring the file fragments stored in the RAM 104 in step S503 or the like to the digital camera 1.

  When the digital camera 1 receives the acquisition request, in step S602, the CPU 100 reads all the file fragments stored in the RAM 104, and transmits them all at once to the computer 2 in step S603.

  After transmitting the file fragment, in step S604, the CPU 100 clears the cache data stored in the RAM 104.

  Then, the CPU 100 checks whether or not an image file from which file fragments have not yet been extracted is stored in the flash memory 106. If there is an image file from which file fragments have not yet been extracted, the CPU 100 extracts a fixed-size file fragment of the image file in step S605 and stores it in the RAM 104 in step S606. The CPU 100 repeats the processing of step S604 and step S605 for the image file from which the file fragment has not yet been extracted, and prepares for the next acquisition request from the computer 2.

  On the other hand, when the computer 2 receives the file fragment transmitted from the digital camera 1, the CPU 200 analyzes the received file fragment in step S607. In this analysis process, the CPU 200 extracts thumbnails and shooting date / time information from the file fragment and stores them in the RAM 202.

  Next, two processes are performed using the information obtained by the analysis process. One is a process of rearranging the list of image data in order of shooting date and time. Compared to the splash window display process, the time required for the process of rearranging the list of image data is longer. Therefore, while the rearrangement process is being performed, the splash window display process, which is another process, is performed in parallel. Hereinafter, these processes will be described.

  First, the rearrangement process will be described. In step S610, the CPU 200 manages the list of thumbnails and shooting date / time information extracted in step S608. In this embodiment, in order to manage in order of shooting date and time, the extracted thumbnails and shooting date and time information are inserted into the list, and the list is sorted based on the shooting date and time information.

  Next, the splash process will be described. As described above, this process is executed using the time during which the process of step S610 is performed.

  When the thumbnail is extracted in step S608, the CPU 200 generates a splash window using the extracted thumbnail in step S609, and displays the splash window on the display device 205 as a startup screen.

  When the sorting in step S610 is completed, the CPU 200 transmits an acquisition request for collectively acquiring the file fragments stored in the RAM 104 again (step S614).

  If the file fragment that has received the acquisition request is cached in the RAM 104, the same processing as in steps S602 to S610 is repeated. If there is no cache for the file fragment to be acquired in the RAM 104, the CPU 100 of the digital camera 1 transmits a notification to that effect to the computer 2 (step S611).

  If it is determined that there is no file fragment acquired from the digital camera 1, the CPU 200 determines whether or not the sorting is completed (step S615). If the sorting is completed, the display of the splash window is terminated (step S615). S612).

  Based on the rearranged information, the browsing screen shown in FIG. 4 is displayed on the display device 205 (step S613).

  FIG. 7 shows an example of a splash window in the present embodiment. In the splash window in the present embodiment, buttons such as so-called 403 to 407 are not displayed, and an operation input from the user is not accepted.

  Reference numeral 701 denotes an application name.

  Reference numeral 702 denotes a thumbnail extracted in step S608. In the present embodiment, the CPU 200 displays ten thumbnails of the extracted thumbnails in the splash window, but this number is not necessarily required.

  If there are a large number of extracted thumbnails, the thumbnails 702 to be displayed may be switched at regular intervals. In this case, when thumbnails that have been extracted are displayed in real time, switching is performed very frequently, and the thumbnails 702 are difficult to see. Therefore, in this embodiment, the displayed image data is switched at once at a rate of once every 1 to 2 seconds. That is, ten thumbnails 702 are switched and displayed every 1 to 2 seconds. Accordingly, it is possible to display more types of image data while maintaining a switching speed that is easy for the user to see, and display that does not bore the user.

  In this embodiment, the CPU 200 displays the extracted thumbnails in the order of extraction. That is, the thumbnail order is not rearranged and displayed. This is because, in view of the fact that the splash window is an effect screen until the browsing screen 400 is displayed, priority is given to increasing the time until display.

  In addition, the CPU 200 may determine whether or not there is a vertical shooting attribute included in the file fragment in step S608. In step S <b> 609, the CPU 200 generates a splash screen so that thumbnails of image data having the vertical shooting attribute are rotated 90 degrees and displayed. As a result, the image data is displayed in the correct orientation even in the splash window, and the visibility of the user is improved.

  In this embodiment, the rearrangement process is given as the reason why it takes a long time to display the browsing screen. However, depending on the application, the display may take a long time for other reasons. For example, when a new display image is generated on the computer 2 side instead of the received thumbnail, or when image processing such as red-eye correction and color processing is performed on the received image, it takes a long time to complete display preparation. Will be required. As described above, the splash window according to the present embodiment may be displayed while performing a process that takes a long time until the browsing screen can be displayed.

  As described above, the computer 2 in the present embodiment is configured to display the image data being transferred in the splash window. When the user uses an application for transferring and viewing image data, the image data transferred to the user is the most interesting image. According to the configuration of the present embodiment, the user can confirm the image data that is currently being transferred on the splash window, so that it is possible to provide an image of interest to the user. Also, the image data to be transferred varies depending on the date and time. Therefore, the image data displayed in the splash window also varies depending on the date and time, so that the user is not bored.

  Also, the user can grasp the transferred image at an early stage by looking at the splash window before the browsing screen is displayed.

  The object of the present invention is achieved by executing the following processing. That is, a storage medium that records a program code of software that realizes the functions of the above-described embodiments is supplied to a system or apparatus, and a computer (or CPU, MPU, etc.) of the system or apparatus is stored in the storage medium. This is the process of reading the code. The supply form may be supplied by directly accessing a system or a device storage medium, or may be supplied via another device.

  In this case, the program code itself read from the computer-readable storage medium realizes the functions of the above-described embodiments, and the program code and the storage medium storing the program code constitute the present invention. become.

  Moreover, the following can be used as a storage medium for supplying the program code. For example, floppy (registered trademark) disk, hard disk, magneto-optical disk, CD-ROM, CD-R, CD-RW, DVD-ROM, DVD-RAM, DVD-RW, DVD + RW, magnetic tape, nonvolatile memory card, ROM or the like. Alternatively, the program code may be downloaded via a network.

  Further, the present invention includes a case where the function of the above-described embodiment is realized by executing the program code read by the computer. In addition, an OS (operating system) running on the computer performs part or all of the actual processing based on an instruction of the program code, and the functions of the above-described embodiments are realized by the processing. Is also included.

  Furthermore, a case where the functions of the above-described embodiment are realized by the following processing is also included in the present invention. That is, the program code read from the storage medium is written in a memory provided in a function expansion board inserted into the computer or a function expansion unit connected to the computer. Thereafter, based on the instruction of the program code, the CPU or the like provided in the function expansion board or function expansion unit performs part or all of the actual processing.

It is a figure which shows the system configuration | structure in embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram of a digital camera in an embodiment of the present invention. It is a block diagram of a computer in an embodiment of the present invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the browsing screen in embodiment of this invention. It is the schematic of the browsing screen by embodiment of this invention. It is a sequence diagram which shows a part of image transfer process in embodiment of this invention. It is a sequence diagram which shows a part of image transfer process in embodiment of this invention.

Claims (9)

An information processing apparatus in which an application for receiving image data from a communication apparatus is installed,
First display control means for displaying a startup screen of the application on a display device;
Receiving means for receiving image data from the communication device;
Second display control means for displaying a browsing screen including the image data on a display device based on attribute information of the image data received by the receiving means;
The first display control means displays the image data already received by the receiving means on the start-up screen until the browsing screen can be displayed by the second display control means. apparatus. Sorting means for sorting the image data received by the receiving means in a predetermined order;
The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the second display control unit displays the image data on the browsing screen based on the order sorted by the sorting unit.   3. The sorting according to claim 2, wherein when the sorting by the sorting means is completed, the first display control means ends the display of the startup screen, and the second display control means displays the browsing screen. The information processing apparatus described in 1.   4. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the first display control unit switches image data to be displayed on the start-up screen at regular intervals.   5. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the first display control unit displays the image data on the startup screen in the order received by the receiving unit.   6. The information according to claim 1, wherein the first display control unit rotates image data according to an attribute of the received image data and displays the rotated image data on the startup screen. Processing equipment. An information processing apparatus control method in which an application for receiving image data from a communication apparatus is installed,
A first display control step of displaying a startup screen of the application on a display device;
A receiving step of receiving image data from the communication device;
A second display control step of displaying a browsing screen including the image data on a display device based on the attribute information of the image data received in the reception step;
In the first display control step, the image data that has already been received by the reception step is displayed on the start-up screen until the browsing screen can be displayed by the second display control step. Device control method. On the computer,
A first display control step of displaying an application startup screen on a display device;
A receiving step of receiving image data from the communication device;
Based on the attribute information of the image data received in the receiving step, a program for executing a second display control step for displaying a browsing screen including the image data on a display device,
In the first display control step, the image data that has already been received by the reception step is displayed on the startup screen until the browsing screen can be displayed by the second display control step.   A computer-readable storage medium storing the program according to claim 8.

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