JP3018323B2 - Electronic still camera - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an electronic still camera for recording a still image on a recording medium.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a CCD (Charge Coupled Device) is used to capture an optical still image captured by a lens.
2. Description of the Related Art There is known an electronic still camera that converts an electric signal into an electric signal and stores the electric signal in a recording medium such as a semiconductor memory or a floppy disk. In this electronic still camera, since a still image is recorded as electrical information, it can be reproduced on a television receiver as it is, transferred to a remote location using a telephone line, or subjected to various image processing. It has the feature of being able to.

[0003]

In a conventional electronic still camera, when a photograph is taken using a self-timer, a subject to be shot can be recognized by shortening an interval of an electronic sound or the like when a shutter is released. Had the following problems. (A) When there is a lot of noise or the subject is far away from the place where the electronic still camera is installed, there is a problem that it is difficult to know how much time is left in the self-timer. (B) Therefore, there is a problem that it is difficult to know when the shutter is released.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide an electronic still camera capable of easily confirming when a shutter is to be released even in a place with a large noise or a considerable distance from an installation place.

[0005]

In order to achieve the above object, an electronic still camera according to the first aspect of the present invention comprises: a photographing means for photographing an image optically;
Display means for displaying an image photographed by the photographing means; time measuring means for measuring an elapsed time during a self-timer operation; and photographing by the photographing means during a self-timer operation.
The display of the shadowed image on the display unit is stopped, and an image corresponding to the elapsed time measured by the timer unit is displayed on the display unit to facilitate the visual recognition of the subject. Switching display control means for displaying the image by effectively utilizing the display surface.

In a preferred embodiment, the display means may have a finder function. Further, the display means may be movably provided so that its display surface is directed to the photographer side, for example. Further, the image may be, for example, a number that counts down according to the elapsed time by the timer. Also, the control means may be, for example,
Most of the display surface of the display means is used as described in 5.
Then, the image may be displayed.

[0007]

[0008]

[0009]

According to the present invention, when the self-timer operation starts time measurement by timer means, this time, the switching display control means
Therefore, the image taken by the photographing means is displayed on the display means.
The display is stopped, and an image corresponding to the elapsed time measured by the timer is displayed on a display provided on the side of the subject and displaying an image captured by the imaging unit, so that the subject can be easily recognized. In order to achieve this, display is made by effectively using the display surface of the display means. Therefore, even when the subject to be photographed is far away from the place where the noise is loud or the installation place, the subject to be photographed can easily recognize the timing at which the shutter is released.

[0010]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. A. Configuration of the present embodiment A-1. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an electronic still camera according to one embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, reference numeral 1 denotes a CCD, which converts a still image formed through a lens (not shown) into an electric signal and supplies the electric signal to a buffer 2. Buffer 2
After amplifying the still video signal to a predetermined level, A /
It is supplied to the D conversion unit 3. The A / D converter 3 converts the still video signal into digital data (hereinafter, referred to as a video signal), and then supplies the digital data to a TG (Timing Generator) 4. The TG 4 generates a timing signal for controlling the driving circuit 4 for driving the CCD 1 and supplies it to the driving circuit 5, and also takes in the video signal according to the timing signal and outputs it to the data bus.

Reference numeral 6 denotes a DRAM (dynamic memory), which is a storage medium for temporarily storing a video signal output from the TG 4. This video signal is read out at the point of time when shooting for one screen is completed, and is subjected to a color calculation process for separating a luminance signal and a color signal. Reference numeral 7 denotes the luminance signal and the color signal separated by the color operation
PEG (Joint Photographic Coding Experts Group)
This is a compression / expansion unit that performs processing of expanding a compressed video signal while compressing by a compression method such as a compression method.
Reference numeral 8 denotes a flash memory for storing the compressed video signal (luminance signal and color signal). A key input unit 9 includes an operation mode (a video capture key, a reproduction key) of the electronic still camera, a switch for setting various setting values, and the like. 9a is a self-timer switch for operating the self-timer function. The states of the key input section 9 and the self-timer switch 9a are taken in by a CPU (central processing unit) 10.

The CPU 10 controls the operation of each unit according to the program in the ROM 11 and the state of the switch of the key input unit 8. A random access memory (RAM) 12 is used as a working area of the CPU 10. Reference numeral 13 denotes an I / O port that functions as an interface for inputting / outputting a video signal or the like converted into a serial signal. Reference numeral 14 denotes a timer for measuring the actual time according to an instruction from the CPU 10. Next, 15 is an SG (Signal Generater).
A color signal is superimposed on the luminance signal expanded by the compression / expansion unit 7, a synchronization signal and the like are added, a digital video signal is created, and the digital video signal is output to the VRAM (video RAM) 16 and the D / A converter 17.

The VRAM 16 is a storage medium for storing the digital video signal. Also, the D / A converter 17
Converts the digital video signal output from the SG 15 into an analog signal (hereinafter, referred to as an analog video signal), outputs the output from an output terminal via a buffer 18, and supplies the output to an LCD (liquid crystal display) 19. LCD19
Displays an image according to the analog video signal supplied via the buffer 18.

A-2. FIG. 2 shows an external view of the electronic still camera of the present embodiment.
This will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing the appearance of the electronic still camera when the self-timer is used. In the figure, an electronic still camera includes a photographing unit 21 provided with a lens 20 and a monitor unit 2 provided with the LCD 19 described above.
The photographing unit 21 and the monitor unit 22 are connected by a connecting shaft 23 that is rotatable about an axis. In normal use, the lens 20 is
The photographing unit 21 or the monitor unit 22 is rotated so that the LCD 19 faces the photographer. On the other hand, when the self-timer is used, the photographing unit 21 or the monitor unit 22 is rotated so that both the lens 20 and the LCD 19 face the subject, and the state is illustrated. In the state shown in the figure, the display on the LCD 19 can be seen from the subject side. If the LCD 19 has a size of several inches,
The display can be easily confirmed even if the subject is far away.

A-3. Next, a functional configuration of the electronic still camera when the self-timer is used will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a schematic functional configuration of the electronic still camera when the self-timer is used. In the figure,
Components corresponding to those in FIG. 1 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and description thereof will be omitted. In FIG. 3, a reference numeral 30 indicates a time when the shutter is released during the self-timer operation to the subject.
This is a character generation unit in which self-timer image data to be displayed on the LCD 19 is stored. A specific example of the self-timer image data will be described later.

The self-timer image data is stored in accordance with the elapsed time of the self-timer which measures the time from the start of the operation to the release of the shutter when the self-timer operates.
The elapsed time is represented as an image. The character generation unit 30 includes a storage medium for storing self-timer image data corresponding to the elapsed time of the self-timer, and output means for outputting the self-timer image data in synchronization with the elapsed time of the self-timer. Have been. In this embodiment, the storage medium for storing the self-timer image data is realized by the ROM 11 shown in FIG. 1, and the output means is realized by processing (software) by the CPU 10, but includes dedicated hardware. You may do so.

Next, the LCD 19 displays one of the image data output by the TG 4 and the self-timer image data output by the character generator 30.
Switching means for supplying to the This switching means 31
Supplies the image data output by the TG 4 to the LCD 19 during normal operation, in other words, except during the self-timer operation.
0 supplies the self-timer image data output to the LCD 19. In this embodiment, the switching means 3
1 is realized by processing (software) by the CPU 10, but may be provided with dedicated hardware.

A-4. First of self timer image data
Display Example Next, the image data for the self-timer described above is shown in FIG.
This will be described with reference to FIG. FIGS. 4A and 4B show the LCD 19.
FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing an example of self-timer image data displayed in FIG. The self-timer image data shown in FIGS. 4A and 4B is countdown image data in which the elapsed time of the self-timer is reduced by one count.
The count value is represented by a number. In the figure, the numbers are outlined and displayed at the center of the LCD 19, and the background (shaded portion) is solid black. The mark above the numeral indicates the use of the self-timer. The image data for the self-timer shown in FIG. 9A is at the beginning of the self-timer operation, and the image data for the self-timer shown in FIG. By adopting such a display format, the subject can visually know the remaining time until the shutter is released.

A-5. Second of self timer image data
Display Example Next, a second display example of the self-timer image data described above will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 5 (a),
FIG. 4B is a schematic diagram illustrating another example of the self-timer image data displayed on the LCD 19. FIG. 5 (a), (b)
The image data for the self-timer shown in (1) is image data instructing the elapsed time by the self-timer by the length of the annular white band, and the length of the annular white band is shortened according to the elapsed time. The image data for the self-timer shown in FIG. 9A is at the beginning of the self-timer operation, and the image data for the self-timer shown in FIG. By adopting such a display format, the subject can visually know the remaining time until the shutter is released.

B. Next, the self-timer operation of the electronic still camera described above will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 6 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of this embodiment. First, when using the self-timer, as shown in FIG.
19 are directed toward the subject. Then, the self-timer switch 9a is operated.

(A) Initial setting Steps S10 and S12 described below are processing for performing initial setting for the self-timer operation. First, when the self-timer switch 9a is operated, the CCD 1 is turned off in step S10. State. Functionally,
As shown in FIG. 3, the switching means 31 switches from the CCD 1 side to the character generation section 30 side. Next, step S1
At 2, the timer variable TIME is set to the initial value, "10". Timer variable TIME represents a number (image data) displayed on LCD 19. Next, the process proceeds to step S14.

(B) Timer Timekeeping & Display Processing Steps S14 to S24 described below are processing for operating / stopping the timer 14 for measuring the actual time and processing for updating the timer variable TIME according to the actual time. First, in step S14, the timer 14 is turned on.
As a result, the timer 14 measures the actual time. Next, in step S16, a number (image data) corresponding to the value of the timer variable TIME is generated by the character generation unit 30 and displayed on the LCD 19. In this case, the timer variable T
Since "10" is set in the IME as an initial value, the character "10" shown in FIG. 4A is displayed on the LCD.

Next, the process proceeds to step S18, where the timer 14
It is determined whether or not “1 second” has elapsed.
Here, if “one second” has not elapsed, step S
The determination result at step 18 is “NO”, and the same
18 is repeated. Then, when the elapsed time by the timer 14 reaches “1 second”, the determination result in step S18 becomes “YES”, and the process proceeds to step S20.
In step S20, it is determined whether or not the timer variable TIME is "0". If the timer variable TIME is not "0", the result of the determination in step S20 is "NO", and the flow proceeds to step S22. Step S2
At 2, the timer variable TIME is decremented by "1", and the process returns to step S16.

Thereafter, steps S16 to S22 described above are repeatedly executed until the timer variable TIME becomes "0". Since the timer variable TIME is decremented by “1” in step S22, the number displayed on the LCD 19 in step S16 is “10”, “9”, “8”,. 1 ". Therefore, the person who is the subject can check the elapsed time by looking at the numbers displayed on the LCD 19. As a result, it is possible to easily know when the shutter is released. Then, the timer variable TIME is "0"
Is satisfied, the result of the determination in step S20 is “YE
S ", and proceeds to step S24. In step S24, the timer 14 is turned off, and the time measurement is stopped. Then, the process proceeds to step S26.

(C) Photographing & Still Image Recording Processing Steps S26 and S28 described below are processing for photographing with the CCD 1 and recording the photographed still image. First, in step S26, the switching means 31 shown in FIG.
Is switched from the character generation unit 30 side to the CCD1 side,
The CCD 1 is turned on. Next, the process proceeds to step S28, the shutter is released, and the subject is photographed. The image data of the photographed subject is processed as follows.

The still image formed through the lens is CC
It is converted into an electric signal by D1, and through a buffer 2,
It is supplied to the A / D converter 3. The A / D converter 3 converts the still image signal into digital image data, supplies the digital image data to the TG 4, and outputs the digital image data to the data bus. The image data is temporarily stored in the DRAM 9. This D
CPU 10 responds to the image data stored in RAM 9.
Is performed, and a luminance signal and a color signal are generated from the video signal. The luminance signal and the chrominance signal are compressed /
After being transferred to the decompression unit 7 and compressed by the JPEG method, it is stored in the flash memory 8.

(D) Reproduction processing When a reproduction key is operated by the key input unit 9,
Predetermined compressed video signals (compressed luminance and chrominance signals) are read from the flash memory 8 and transferred to the compression / expansion unit 7 to be expanded. Next, the expanded luminance signal and chrominance signal are transferred to the SG 15 and converted into a video signal, and then converted to a L / D signal via the D / A converter 17 and the buffer 18.
It is displayed on CD19. Note that the flow of the image data described above is not limited to the self-timer operation, and is the same in normal shooting.

As described above, in the present embodiment, when the self-timer operates, the LCD 19 serving as a monitor for a photographed image is displayed on the LCD 19.
According to the elapsed time of the self-timer, the elapsed time is displayed at least visually recognizable,
The subject can visually know the remaining time until the shutter is released.

In the above-described embodiment, the image data for the self-timer is shown in FIG. 4 or FIG.
The present invention is not limited to this, and the following method may be adopted. (a) In addition to displaying the self-timer image data in the countdown format, the elapsed time may be pronounced by voice. In this case, as shown in FIG. 1, the audio generator 40 has audio data that has been sampled in advance and emits a predetermined audio in accordance with the time measured by the timer 14.
May be provided. By doing so, it is possible to confirm by voice in addition to the display, and it is possible to more reliably recognize. (b) The display color of the LCD 19 may be changed according to the elapsed time. For example, according to the elapsed time,
Change the colors to blue, green, yellow, and orange so that when the shutter is released, the color changes to red. This way,
Even when the number displayed on the LCD 19 is too large to be read between the electronic still camera and the subject, it is possible to reliably recognize the number.

(C) Further, the LCD 19 may be turned on and off at a cycle corresponding to the elapsed time. For example, at the beginning of the self-timer operation, it blinks slowly, blinks gradually according to the elapsed time, and when the shutter is released,
Set to the lighting state. In this case, when the electronic still camera and the subject are far apart from each other such that the numbers displayed on the LCD 19 cannot be read, or when the subject cannot determine a color change such as color weakness or color blindness. Even if there is, it can be surely recognized.

(D) The size of the self-timer image data displayed on the LCD 19 may be changed according to the elapsed time. For example, it is displayed small at the beginning of the self-timer operation, gradually increased according to the elapsed time, and displayed on the entire LCD 19 when the shutter is released. In this case, when the electronic still camera and the subject are too far apart from each other to read the number displayed on the LCD 19, or when the subject is color-blind,
Even when a color change such as color blindness cannot be determined, it can be reliably recognized.

(E) The LCD 19 may be gradually filled with a predetermined display color according to the elapsed time. For example, in the initial stage of the self-timer operation, the LCD 17 is gradually filled from the top, bottom, left and right (or four corners), and when the shutter is released, the entire surface of the LCD 17 is filled with a predetermined display color. In this case, when the electronic still camera and the subject are far apart from each other such that the numbers displayed on the LCD 19 cannot be read, or when the subject cannot determine a color change such as color weakness or color blindness. Even so,
Can be reliably recognized. (f) Further, at least two or more of the above display methods may be combined. By doing so, it is possible to reliably recognize even under various photographing conditions.

[0033]

According to the present invention, when the self-timer operation starts time measurement by timer means, this time, switching display
The control means displays a table of images taken by the photographing means.
The display on the indicating means is stopped, and an image corresponding to the elapsed time measured by the timing means is provided on the subject side.
Display means for displaying a video imaged by the imaging means,
Since the display surface of the display means is effectively used for display to facilitate the visual recognition of the subject, the following effects can be obtained. (1) The subject can easily check the remaining time of the self-timer even when the noise is loud or the location of the subject to be photographed is far away from the installation location of the electronic still camera. . (2) Therefore, the subject, who is the subject, can easily recognize when the shutter is released.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an electronic still camera according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating an appearance of the electronic still camera when a self-timer according to the embodiment is used.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a functional configuration of the electronic still camera when the self-timer according to the embodiment is used.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of self-timer image data displayed on the LCD 19 according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram illustrating another example of self-timer image data displayed on the LCD 19 according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the present embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 CCD (photographing means) 2,18 buffer 3 A / D converter 4 TG 5 drive circuit 6 DRAM 7 compression / expansion part 8 flash memory 9 key input part 9a self-timer switch (switch means) 10 CPU (control means) 11 ROM (storage means) 12 RAM 13 I / O port 14 timer (time measuring means) 15 SG 16 VRAM 19 LCD (display means) 40 sound generation unit (sound generation means)

Claims (5)

(57) [Claims] 1. A photographing means for optically photographing an image, a display means provided on a subject side for displaying an image photographed by the photographing means, and measuring an elapsed time during a self-timer operation. When the timer means and the self-timer are operating, the image captured by the
The display of the image on the display unit is stopped, and the image according to the elapsed time measured by the timer unit is effectively used on the display surface of the display unit to facilitate the visual recognition of the subject. An electronic still camera, comprising: a switching display control means for displaying the electronic still image. 2. The electronic still camera according to claim 1, wherein said display means has a finder function. 3. The electronic still camera according to claim 2, wherein said display means is movably provided so that a display surface thereof is directed toward a photographer. 4. The electronic still camera according to claim 1, wherein the image is a number that counts down in accordance with an elapsed time by the timing unit. 5. The electronic still camera according to claim 1, wherein the switching display control means displays the image using a large part of a display surface of the display means.