JP3120872B2 - Image recording device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image recording apparatus capable of recording still image information on a recording medium.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In the field of magnetic recording in recent years, demands for high-density recording have been increasing, and video tape recorders (V
TR), the running speed of the tape is reduced, and higher-density magnetic recording is performed.

[0003] When the running speed of the tape decreases, for example, when an audio signal is recorded using a fixed head, the relative speed cannot be increased so that the reproduced sound quality deteriorates. As one means for solving this problem, there is a method in which the length of a track operated by a rotary head is made longer than before, and an audio signal whose time axis is compressed is sequentially recorded in an extended portion thereof.

More specifically, in a rotary two-head helical scan type VTR, a magnetic tape is conventionally wound around a rotary cylinder by 180 degrees or more. In this method, the magnetic tape is wound by (180 + θ) degrees or more around a rotary cylinder. This is a method of recording an audio signal that is PCM-formed and time-axis-compressed in the wound “θ” portion.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a tape running system of such a VTR, and FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a recording locus on a magnetic tape. 1 is a magnetic tape, 2 is a rotary cylinder, 3 and 4 are heads attached to the cylinder 2, 5 is a video signal recording area of a track formed on the tape 1, and 6 is a PCM audio signal recording area. . The video area 5 is traced by 180 degrees of the rotating cylinder 2 by the heads 3 and 4, and 6 is traced by θ of the rotating cylinder 2. 7 is a running direction of the tape 1 and 8 is a rotation direction of the cylinder 2.

As described above, as an example of applying the method of recording a digital signal in another area while recording a video signal, it has been proposed to record a still image as a digital signal in the digital signal recording area. I have. If the image is a still image, it is possible to record all the information on the magnetic tape by scanning the PCM area a plurality of times. According to this method, not only can a still image be photographed using the same photographing apparatus and the same recording medium as in the case of moving image photographing, but also the tape running in the conventional VTR is stopped and the video signal of the same track is reproduced. It is possible to obtain a higher quality still image than a still image.

[0007]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional example, it takes ten to several tens of tracks to record one still image in the PCM area. It takes a vertical synchronization period. Therefore, for example, in a method in which the still image is once taken into a field or frame memory and is recorded sequentially, there is a disadvantage that high-speed continuous photographing which is realized by a silver halide camera today cannot be performed.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to solve the above-described problems and to obtain a plurality of pieces of still image information obtained by performing continuous shooting while changing the exposure at the time of shooting for each of the shot images. An object of the present invention is to provide an image information recording device capable of recording on a recording medium.

[0009]

To achieve the above object, an image recording apparatus according to the present invention comprises: a photographing means for photographing a subject and outputting still image information corresponding to the photographed subject image; An image memory for storing still image information output from the camera, and a plurality of images output from the photographing means by continuously changing the exposure at the time of photographing for each image to be photographed by the photographing means. Control means for storing still image information one by one in the image memory and recording means for recording a plurality of still image information stored in the image memory on another recording medium are provided.

[0010]

According to the above arrangement, it is possible to record a plurality of pieces of still image information obtained by continuously performing photographing while changing the exposure at the time of photographing for each image to be photographed.

[0011]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a first embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 101 denotes a first lens unit for focus adjustment, reference numeral 102 denotes a variable power lens, reference numeral 103 denotes a correction lens, and reference numeral 104 denotes a correction lens.
Is a stop, 105 is a fixed fourth group lens, 106 is an image sensor, 107, 108, and 109 are motors for focus adjustment, magnification adjustment, and aperture adjustment, respectively, 110, 111, and 11
2 is a driver for driving each of the motors 107, 108, 109; 113, 114, 115 are encoders for detecting the lens position and the aperture state;
Is an AGC circuit, 117 is a high-pass filter, 118
Is a comparator for adjusting the aperture, 119 is a microcomputer, 120, 121, 122,
123 is a pull-up resistor, 124 is a zoom tele switch, 125 is a zoom wide switch, 126 is a switch for switching between still (still image) and movie (moving image) shooting modes, 127 is a still shooting release switch,
Reference numeral 28 denotes a control device that controls the exposure time of the image sensor 106 according to a selection signal from the microcomputer 119.

Reference numeral 129 denotes a switch for selecting an image memory for storing a still image, 130, 131 and 132 denote image memories, 133 denotes a switch for selecting an output of the image memory, and 1
34 is a circuit for performing signal processing for recording an output signal from the image memory on a tape, 135 is an amplifier, 13
6 is a head, 138 is a recording tape, 139 is a microcomputer 1
This is a control circuit that controls the switching of the switches 129 and 133 by a signal from the switch 19.

FIG. 2 shows a state in which still images are recorded on a recording tape by a plurality of image memories, and the still images stored in the image memories in the order of 130, 131 and 132 are 201. , 202, and 203 in this order.

FIG. 3 shows a camera configuration according to the present invention.
301. In FIG.
301 is a camera, 302 is a release switch, 3
03 is a switch for selecting between continuous shooting and single shot.
Reference numerals 124 and 125 are zoom tele and wide switches.
If the release switch 302 is pressed even while a moving image is being shot, the still image at that time is recorded, and particularly when the 303 is on the continuous shooting side, the continuous shooting which is a feature of the present invention is executed.

When performing continuous shooting, high-speed continuous shooting is performed while selecting a memory with the switch 129. In the present embodiment, a camera having three image memories will be described as an example.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart for explaining the continuous shooting. When this flow starts at 401, 402
To determine whether or not the switch 303 is set to the continuous shooting mode. If it is determined that the mode is not the continuous shooting mode, a single shooting operation is performed in 403. In the case of the continuous shooting mode, the process waits until the release switch 302 is pressed in 404. When the release switch is pressed, the first still image is loaded into the memory 130 at 405, and the recording on the tape is permitted at 406. Then 4
At 07, a wait for keeping the continuous shooting interval constant is performed, and when the wait is completed, the second still image is stored in the memory 131 (408). Similarly (409, 410)
The third still image is stored in the memory 132, and after this is completed, the time waiting is ended (411), and the process returns to 404. Here, if the release switch is further pressed, it is determined that continuous shooting is continuing, and the operation from 405 is repeated.

In this flowchart, if the three still image recording times are taken as one unit and the still image first shot in this unit time is recorded on the tape, the still image stored in the memory 131 is deleted. Still images can be recorded in the memories 132 and 130 during recording on the tape, and still images can be stored in the memories 130 and 131 while the still images in the memory 132 are being recorded on the tape.

In the flowchart of FIG. 4, three still images are recorded as one unit, so that if the release switch is pressed once, at least three still images are recorded. Therefore, the time waiting program 407 is configured as shown in FIG. When the program is started at 501, 50
Check in step 2 if the release switch has not been released. If the switch is released, the number of the memory at this time is stored in m (register in the microcomputer) at 507, and the recording is prohibited at 508, and the recording is prohibited at 508.
Return to step 402. If the switch is not released, 50
The timer value is input at 3 and counting is performed at 504 and 505 until the timer count ends, and the time waiting program ends.

FIG. 6 shows a recording algorithm on a tape in this embodiment. In FIG. 6, when this program is started in 601, it is checked in 602 whether or not the recording permission of 406 (FIG. 4) has been made. If the recording is permitted, the memory n in the microcomputer is preset to the first memory value 130 in 603. Next, at 604, the contents of the memory n, ie, the memory 130, are recorded on the tape,
At 605, the completion of recording is confirmed. When the completion of the recording is confirmed, it is confirmed at 606 whether or not the recording is prohibited at 508 (FIG. 5).
Recording is repeated while changing the memory n to 131, 132, and 130 at 7,608. When the recording prohibition is confirmed in 606, it is confirmed in 609 whether the value of the memory n is equal to the value m stored in 507 (FIG. 5). If they are not equal, since all the still images at the time when the release button is released have not been recorded on the tape, the process returns to 607 and repeats this until n = m. Recording is performed by executing the program of FIG. 6 by interruption during the execution of the processing of FIG.

By performing the above operation and appropriately setting the waiting time of 407 (FIG. 4) according to the number of memories and the still image recording time, any number of still images can be obtained while the release switch is pressed. You can shoot.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram according to a second embodiment of the present invention. In the present embodiment, a case where continuous shooting is performed after setting the number of shots and shooting conditions in advance will be described on the assumption that the switch 303 in FIG. 3 is already in the continuous shooting mode.

When the operation is started at 701 in FIG. 7, the value of the memory n is cleared to 702 at 702. Then, it is determined at 703 whether or not the apparatus is in the recording standby state. If the apparatus is in the recording standby state, the n-th shooting condition is set at 704. The photographing conditions may be manually set by a photographer, for example, or the camera may automatically set some photographing conditions based on one set condition. Reference numeral 704 indicates a state in which this setting is being performed. If the release button is not pressed in step 404, the process returns to step 703 to set conditions.
If it is determined in 404 that the release button has been pressed, the set photographing conditions are stored in 705, and 70
At 6, the memory n is incremented by one, and the process returns to 703. In this way, the photographing conditions are set by the value n in the memory, and n still images are photographed.

Next, assuming that the recording standby state has been released and the recording state has been entered at 703, it is confirmed at 404 that the release button has been pressed. If the release button has not been pressed, the flow returns to 703 with the tape running stopped at 707. When the release is confirmed in 404,
At 708, the value of the other memory m is cleared to 0.
Then, the tape is stopped again at 709, and at 710,
The m-th imaging condition is read. At this time, the value of m is 704
Corresponds to the value of n. When the adjustment of each function of the camera with respect to the m-th shooting condition is completed in 711, the m-th still image is stored in 712 in one of the plurality of memories in the same manner as in the first embodiment. Next, at 713, it is checked whether the value of the memory m has become equal to n, and if not, it is determined that the condition setting to be photographed still remains, and at 714, m is incremented by one. Return and repeat the operation. If it is determined at 713 that m = n, a series of continuous shooting operations is terminated at 715.

According to the above operation, the shutter speed and the aperture value are set before the continuous photographing, and the high-speed photographing can be performed while continuously changing the shutter speed and the aperture value.
Further, the recording of a still image in the PCM area, which has been described so far, has a capacity of several tens of times that of a silver halide camera as a photographing capacity, and a photographing failure can be deleted. Therefore, as in the present embodiment, the number of shots is arbitrarily selected, and as many still images as necessary are shot, and for example, only good still images are selected later. This makes it possible to take full advantage of the system's features, taking advantage of the features of the system.

[0026]

As described above, according to the present invention, a plurality of pieces of still image information obtained by so-called auto bracket photographing in which photographing is continuously performed while changing the exposure at the time of photographing for each photographed image. In addition, it is possible to provide an image recording apparatus capable of recording still image information stored in the image memory on the recording medium without being affected by the time required for recording the information on the recording medium.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a relationship between a memory and recording on a tape.

FIG. 3 is an external view of the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of a continuous shooting operation in the embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of a time waiting operation in the embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart of a recording operation on a tape in the embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the operation of the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a tape running system of a VTR.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a recording track on a tape.

[Explanation of symbols]

 119 Microcomputer 129,133 Switch 130,131,132 Image memory

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] An object is photographed, and a photographed object image is formed.
A photographing means for outputting corresponding still image information; and a memory for storing the still image information outputted from the photographing means .
An image memory of the order, each image to be photographed exposed at the time of photographing in the photographing means
To shoot continuously by changing
A plurality of still image information output from the
Image recording apparatus comprising: the control means for point by point stored in Li, that a plurality of still image information stored in the image memory equipped with recording means for recording the other <br/> recording medium.