JP3143517B2 - 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 a recording apparatus for recording on an information signal recording medium.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As an example of such a recording apparatus, an electronic still camera capable of recording a still image and sound using a magnetic disk called a still video floppy as a recording medium is already commercially available.
An electronic still camera using a memory card having a solid-state memory element such as an SRAM or an EEPROM has also been proposed.

However, a memory card has a limited storage capacity due to the degree of integration of the memory and the number of memory elements that can be mounted, and the memory price is higher than other media. It is not possible at the moment.

On the other hand, if a large-capacity magnetic recording medium represented by a hard disk is used, large-capacity recording can be performed at relatively low cost.

[0005]

However, in the case of an electronic still camera using a hard disk, large-capacity recording can be performed at low cost, but data recorded on the hard disk is destroyed due to vibration and impact. There was something. In particular, if the management data recorded in the management data area is destroyed, the data may not be able to be read.

On the other hand, in the case of an electronic still camera using a memory card, data is not destroyed by vibration or impact, but there is a problem that large-capacity recording cannot be performed at low cost.

This problem occurs not only in the electronic still camera but also in other recording devices.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and has as its object to provide a highly reliable, large-capacity, and inexpensive recording apparatus.

[0009]

In order to achieve the above object, a recording apparatus of the present invention records an information signal and recording management information on a recording medium, and stores the recording management information in a recording medium other than the recording medium. It is characterized in that it is also recorded on the second recording medium.

[0010] The recording apparatus of the present invention is a recording apparatus for recording information given to a recording medium, and determines whether a recording medium to be used has a second recording medium different from the first recording medium. And recording management information related to the given information in the first recording medium and the second recording medium according to the identified result.

[0011] The recording apparatus of the present invention is a recording apparatus for recording a still image on a recording medium. When recording on a recording medium, management information and image information recorded on the recording medium are stored in the recording apparatus.
A recording apparatus for recording data on a non-volatile solid-state memory element integrally formed with a recording medium.

[0012]

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 10 denotes a photographing lens, 12 denotes a shutter having an aperture function, 14 denotes an image pickup device for converting an optical image into an electric signal, 16 denotes a process circuit for performing known camera signal processing such as gamma correction, Reference numeral 18 denotes an A / D converter for converting an analog output of the process circuit 16 into a digital signal, reference numeral 20 denotes an image compression circuit for compressing data by adaptive discrete cosine transform (ADCT) or the like, reference numeral 100 denotes a switch for switching between data with and without image compression. 22 is a buffer memory. Reference numeral 24 denotes a memory control circuit for controlling the A / D converter 18, the compression circuit 20, and the buffer memory 22. The data compressed by the compression circuit 20 is used for compression, and the data of the A / D converter 18 is used for no compression. Is written to the buffer memory 22 under the control of the memory control circuit 24. 26 is an interface with the memory card 28 or the hard disk 80, and 90 is a connector.

In the recording area of the memory card 28, a management data area (for example, FAT (File Alocati)
on Table) 30 and an information data area 32, from which data is read and written from outside via an interface 34 and a connector 36. Further, the information of the write protect (write prohibition) 38 is also read out to the outside via the interface 34 and the connector 36. The interface 34 is a control circuit such as a CPU and an MPU,
Non-volatile memory such as ROM, E ² PROM, and R
It is configured by an AM or the like, and controls the memory card 28 based on a predetermined program.

The recording area of the hard disk 80 has a management data area 82 and an information data area 84, from which data is read and written from outside via an interface 86 and a connector 88. In addition, hard disk 8
0 has a management data area 106 composed of a non-volatile memory such as an E ² PROM, from which data is read and written externally via an interface 86 and a connector 88. 106 is formed integrally with the hard disk 80. The interface 86 includes a control circuit such as a CPU and an MPU, a nonvolatile memory such as a ROM and an E ² PROM,
The hard disk 80 is configured by a RAM or the like, and controls the hard disk 80 based on a predetermined program.

Reference numeral 40 denotes a focusing lens for the photographing lens 10.
A lens driving circuit for driving a lens;
, A distance measuring circuit 44 for measuring the distance to the subject, a photometric circuit 46 for measuring the brightness of the subject, and a flash unit 48. Reference numeral 50 denotes a system control circuit for controlling the entire system, 52 denotes a display device such as a liquid crystal display device for displaying an operation state and the like, and 54 denotes a memory for storing constants, variables and the like for operation of the system control circuit 50.

Reference numeral 58 denotes a switch group for inputting various operation instructions of the system control circuit 50. The switch group 58 includes, for example, a main switch 60, a release button (not shown) which is closed during operation of a release button (not shown), and instructs distance measurement and photometry by the distance measurement circuit 46 and the photometry circuit 48. A release switch 64 which is closed upon completion of the operation of the button and instructs recording of a photographed image on the memory card 28 or the hard disk 80, a single (S) mode for photographing one or a set of images, continuously Mode switch 66 for selecting a continuous (C) mode in which a plurality of or a plurality of sets of images are photographed and a self-timer photographing mode, the number of recorded images, distinction between frame recording / field recording, aspect ratio, pixel configuration, compression Image mode switch 68 for selecting the image recording method such as the method and compression ratio, and erase mode switch for selecting the erase mode 0, and erase switch 7 for instructing the execution of the erasure
There are two.

Reference numeral 102 denotes a power supply control circuit for detecting and controlling the state of the power supply, and 104 denotes a power supply. 104 is a battery, DC-
It is configured by a DC converter, a switch for switching a block to be energized, and the like, and is controlled by 102. 102 detects the presence or absence of a battery, the type of battery, and the remaining battery level, and controls 104 based on the detection result and an instruction from the system control circuit 50.

The system control circuit 50 controls the photographing lens 1 by the lens driving circuit 40 according to the measurement result of the distance measuring circuit 44.
Drive the focusing lens of the photographic lens 10
Is controlled to be in focus. The system control circuit 50 also
Based on the measurement result of the photometric circuit 46, the shutter drive circuit 42 determines the opening time of the shutter 12 so as to obtain the optimum exposure amount.

The operation of the first embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 2, 3, 5 and 6. FIG. 2 shows a flowchart of the main routine of this embodiment.

When the power is turned on, the system control circuit 50 initializes flags and control variables (S1), confirms the state of the power supply (S2), and closes the main switch 60 (S3). It is detected whether the hard disk 80 is connected (S4). In S2, if the power supply is not normal, such as no battery installed or the battery level is extremely low, or if the hard disk 80 is not connected in S4, a warning is issued by the display device 52. Display is made (S14), and power supply confirmation and operation of the main switch 60 are waited (S2, 3).

The system control circuit 50 searches for management data of the hard disk 80 (S5), and
Based on various modes set by the switch group 58 and mode setting switching corresponding to the medium identification flag, the number of frames,
The date, the operation mode, and the like are displayed (S6). If there is no recordable free space in the information data area 32 or the information data area 84 (S7), a warning is displayed (S14), and the power switch and the main switch 60 are displayed. Wait for operation (S2,
3).

If the distance measurement / photometry switch 62 is off, S
Returning to step 2 (S8), if it is on, distance measurement and photometry are performed by the distance measurement circuit 44 and the photometry circuit 46, the photographic lens 10 is focused on the subject, and the shutter time is determined (S).
9). The details of the distance measurement / photometry operation will be described later. Distance measurement
Distance measurement / photometry (S9) until the photometry switch 62 is ON and the release switch 64 is ON (S10).
repeat.

When the release switch 64 is turned on,
The photographing is executed (S11). Details of the shooting will be described later. 1
After taking one image, the system control circuit 50
Image data is read from the memory 22, and data is written through the interface 26, the connector 90, the connector 88 of the hard disk 80, and the interface 86 (S12). Details of data writing will be described later.

After writing the data, the process returns to S8 if shooting is to be continued in the continuous shooting mode, and returns to S2 if not in the continuous shooting mode or if continuous shooting is to be terminated (S13).

FIG. 3 is a detailed flowchart of the data writing in S12 of FIG.

The data of the photographed image is written to the information data area 84 via the connector 88 of the hard disk 80 and the interface 86 (S31). When the data of the captured image has been written (S32), the management data of the captured image (that is, the image recorded in the information data area) is written into the management data area 82 (S33), and the management data is written into the nonvolatile memory management data area 106. Also writes this management data (S34). As a result, it is possible to prevent the management data area of the hard disk from being destroyed due to vibrations and shocks, so that information data cannot be read.

In this case, it is necessary to write the error correction code together with the management data when writing the management data to the hard disk, but the error correction code may also be written when writing the data to the nonvolatile memory.

Further, the error correction code used for writing to the hard disk and the error correction code used for writing to the non-volatile memory may be different or the same code.

[Other Embodiments] A second embodiment of the present invention will be described.

In FIG. 7, reference numeral 90 denotes the memory card 28.
Alternatively, a connector 26 for connecting the hard disk 80 is an interface with the memory card 28 or the hard disk 80.

The recording area of the memory card 28 includes a management data area 30 and an information data area 32, from which data is read and written from outside via an interface 34 and a connector 36. Further, the information of the write protect (write prohibition) 38 is also read out to the outside via the interface 34 and the connector 36. The interface 34 includes a control circuit such as a CPU and an MPU, a ROM,
² non-volatile memory, such as PROM, and is constituted by a RAM, etc. and controls the memory card 28 based on a predetermined program. Blocks having the same numbers as those in FIG. 1 have the same functions, and thus description thereof will be omitted.

The operation of the second embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 4, 5, 6, 8 and 9. FIG. 8 shows a flowchart of the main routine of this embodiment. When the power is turned on, the system control circuit 50 initializes flags, control variables, and the like (S71), confirms the state of the power (S72), and closes the main switch 60 (S73).
0, a state where the memory card 28 or the hard disk 80 is connected is detected (S74). Details of this medium detection operation will be described later.

In S72, if the power supply is not in a normal state, such as no battery is installed or the battery level is extremely low, a warning is displayed on the display device 52 (S8).
4) Wait for power supply confirmation and operation of the main switch 60 (S72, 73).

The system control circuit 50 operates according to the medium connected to the memory card 28 or the hard disk 80.
(S75), and based on the management data, various modes set by the switch group 58 and mode setting switching according to the medium setting, the number of frames, date, operation mode, and the like are displayed (S76). Information data area 32
Alternatively, if there is no recordable free area in the information data area 84 (S77), a warning is displayed (S84), and a power check and an operation of the main switch 60 are waited for (S72, S7).
3).

If the distance measurement / photometry switch 62 is off, S
Returning to 72 (S78), if it is on, distance measurement and photometry are performed by the distance measurement circuit 44 and the photometry circuit 46, and
The focus of 0 is set on the subject, and the shutter time is determined (S79). The details of the distance measurement / photometry operation will be described later.
Until the distance measurement / photometry switch 62 is on and the release switch 64 is turned on (S80), the distance measurement / photometry S
Repeat 79.

When the release switch 64 is turned on,
The photographing is executed (S81). Details of the shooting will be described later. 1
After taking a picture, the system control circuit 50 reads out the image data from the buffer memory 22 and reads the interface 26, the connector 90, and the connector 88 and the interface 86 of the hard disk 80 when the hard disk 80 is connected. Through the memory card 28
Is connected, the data is written via the connector 36 and the interface 34 of the memory card 28 (S82). Details of data writing will be described later.

After writing the data, the process returns to S78 if shooting is to be continued in the continuous shooting mode, and returns to S72 if the shooting is not in the continuous shooting mode or if continuous shooting is to be terminated (S83).

FIG. 4 is a detailed flowchart of the medium detection in S74 of FIG.

Memory card 28 and hard disk 8
0 is detected (S41) and the medium identification flag is set according to the identification result (S42,
43). When the memory card 28 is connected, the interface 26 and the connector 90, the connector 36
Then, the write protect 38 is read via the interface 34 (S44). If write protection is not set on the memory card 28 or
If a disk is connected, the medium detection routine ends. If the write protect 38 has been set, a warning is displayed (S45), and the power check and the main
Wait for the operation of the switch 60 (S2, S3 or S72,
73).

FIG. 9 is a detailed flowchart of the data writing in S82 of FIG.

The data of the photographed image is written to the information data area 84 via the connector 88 of the hard disk 80 and the interface 86 (S91). When the data of the captured image has been written (S92), the management data of the captured image (that is, the image recorded in the information data area) is written to the management data area 82 (S93). S7 in FIG.
If the medium identification flag has been set in the hard disk at S4 (S94), the nonvolatile memory management data area 10
This management data is also written in No. 6 (S95). As a result, it is possible to prevent the management data area of the hard disk from being destroyed due to vibrations and shocks, so that information data cannot be read. If the medium identification flag is set in the memory card in S74 of FIG. 8 (S9
4), end the write routine.

Next, a third embodiment of the present invention will be described.

In FIG. 10, the recording area of the hard disk 80 includes a management data area 82 and an information data area 8.
And data is externally read and written via the interface 86 and the connector 88. Further, the hard disk 80 has a management data area 106 and an information data area 108 composed of a non-volatile memory such as an E ² PROM, and data is read and written from outside via the interface 86 and the connector 88. . In addition, a write protect (write inhibit) 110
Is read out to the outside via the interface 86 and the connector 88. 106, 108, and 110 are formed integrally with the hard disk 80. Blocks having the same numbers as those in FIG. 1 have the same functions, and thus description thereof will be omitted.

The operation of the third embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 2, 4, 5, 6, and 11.

FIG. 2 is a flow chart of the main routine of the third embodiment, which is the same as the first embodiment and will not be described.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing the state of FIG. 2 used for describing the third embodiment.
4 shows a detailed flowchart of data writing in S12. The data of the captured image is written in the information data area 84 via the connector 88 of the hard disk 80 and the interface 86 (S101). Further, only the image data necessary for compressing the information amount is obtained (S102).
The data is written to the nonvolatile memory information data area 108 via the connector 88 and the interface 86 of the hard disk 80 (S103). As a result, it is possible to prevent the information data area of the hard disk from being destroyed due to vibrations and shocks, thereby preventing information data from being completely lost. When the data of the captured image has been written (S104), the management data of the captured image (that is, the image recorded in the information data area) is written in the management data area 82 (S104).
105), this management data is also written to the nonvolatile memory management data area 106 (S106). As a result, it is possible to prevent the management data area of the hard disk from being destroyed due to vibrations and shocks, so that information data cannot be read.

FIG. 5 is a detailed flowchart of the distance measuring / photometric operation in S9 of FIG. 2 and S79 of FIG. The distance to the subject is measured by the distance measuring circuit 44, the measured data is stored in the memory 54 (S51), the brightness of the subject is measured by the photometric circuit 46, and the measured data is stored in the memory 5.
4 (S52). It is determined whether or not a flash is necessary based on the photometric value of the photometric circuit 46 (S53). If necessary, a flash flag is set and the flash 4 is set.
8 is charged (S54).

FIG. 6 is a detailed flowchart of the photographing in S11 of FIG. 2 and S81 of FIG. The system control circuit reads the distance data to the subject stored in the memory 54, and drives the focusing lens of the photographing lens 10 by the lens driving circuit 40 to focus on the subject (S61). Further, the shutter 12 is opened by the shutter drive circuit 42 in accordance with the photometric data stored in the memory 54 to expose the image sensor 4 (S62, S6).
3). It is determined whether or not the flash 48 is necessary based on the flash flag (S64). If necessary, the flash 48 is emitted (S65). Waiting for the end of exposure of the image sensor 14 (S66), the shutter 12 is closed (S6).
7) The charge signal is read from the image sensor 14, and the process circuit 16, the A / D converter 18, the compression circuit 20 and the switch 100 when compression is performed, and the switch 100 only when compression is not performed. Then, the data of the photographed image is written into the buffer memory 22 via the memory. (S68).

In the description of the embodiment, both the memory card 28 and the hard disk 80 have been described as being separated from the recording apparatus main body and can be arbitrarily connected.
Of course, there is no problem even if one or both of the memory card 28 and the hard disk 80 are fixed to the recording apparatus main body.

There is no problem if the memory card 28 and the hard disk 80 are integrated and the connector 36 and the connector 88 are configured in common. In this case, there is no problem even if the interface 34 and the interface 86 are configured in common.

As can be easily understood from the above description,
According to the present embodiment, the recording medium is connected to the recording medium, the recording is performed on the recording medium, and the management information recorded on the recording medium is also recorded on the non-volatile solid-state memory element integrated with the recording medium. Thus, it is possible to prevent the management information area of the recording medium from being destroyed due to vibration and impact, and from being unable to read image information.

In addition, the apparatus has connection means for a plurality of different types of recording media, and determines whether the connected storage medium is a solid-state memory element, a magnetic recording medium, a magneto-optical recording medium, an optical recording medium, or the like. In addition to performing the recording on the identified recording medium, the management information recorded on the identified recording medium is also recorded on the nonvolatile solid-state memory element integrated with the identified recording medium in accordance with the identified result. Thus, it is possible to prevent the management information area of the recording medium from being destroyed due to vibration and impact, and from being unable to read image information.

Further, it has means for connecting to a recording medium, performs recording on the recording medium, and records management information and image information recorded on the recording medium also into a non-volatile solid-state memory element integrated with the recording medium. By doing so, it is possible to prevent the management information area and the image information area of the recording medium from being destroyed due to vibrations and shocks, thereby preventing the image information from being read out.

In the above embodiment, an electronic camera for recording still image information on a medium has been described as an example. However, the present invention is not limited to this embodiment, and may be used together with another recording device, for example, a word processor, a computer, or a word processor. It may be a device.

The first and second recording media in this embodiment may be tape-shaped media, optical cards, or semiconductor memories.

[0057]

According to the present invention, since the recording management information is stored in another recording medium, the fear that the management information is damaged can be reduced. Furthermore, since the management information relating to the integrally formed nonvolatile memory is recorded, the management information can be easily accessed.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration block diagram of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart of a main routine of the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart of a write routine according to the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of a medium detection routine according to the embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of a distance measurement / photometry routine according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart of image recording according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a configuration block diagram of another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart of a main routine of another embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart of a write routine according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 10 is a configuration block diagram of another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart of a write routine according to the present embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 10 photographing lens 12 shutter 14 image sensor 16 process circuit 18 A / D converter 20 compression circuit 22 buffer memory 24 memory control circuit 26 interface 90 connector 92 connector 28 memory card 30 management data area 32 information data area 34 interface 36 connector 38 Write protect 40 Lens drive circuit 42 Shutter drive circuit 44 Distance measurement circuit 46 Photometry circuit 48 Flash 50 System control circuit 52 Display device 54 Memory 58 Switch group 60 Main switch 62 Distance measurement / photometry switch 64 Release switch 66 Mode Switch 68 Image mode switch 70 Erase mode switch 72 Erase switch 80 Hard disk 82 Management data area 84 Information data area 86 Interface Source 88 connector 106 nonvolatile memory management data area 108 nonvolatile memory information data area 110 write protect 102 power supply control circuit 104 power supply

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] 1. A recording apparatus for recording an information signal and recording management information on a recording medium and recording the recording management information on a second recording medium different from the recording medium. 2. A recording device for recording information provided on a recording medium, wherein the recording device identifies whether a recording medium to be used has a second recording medium different from the first recording medium,
A recording apparatus for recording record management information relating to the given information on the first recording medium and the second recording medium according to a result of the identification. 3. A recording apparatus for recording a still image on a recording medium, wherein when recording on the recording medium, management information and image information recorded on the recording medium are integrated with a non-volatile solid-state recording medium. A recording device for recording data on a memory element.