JP3373042B2 - Still camera - Google Patents

Description

Description: BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a still image camera ,
In particular , audio data recorded on recording media can be played back
The present invention relates to a still image camera that can output to various devices . 2. Description of the Related Art As an image recording apparatus for recording image information as image data on a recording medium, an apparatus having a configuration for recording audio data corresponding to image information has been put to practical use. FIG. 13 shows a configuration example of a conventional image recording apparatus of this type. This example is a configuration example of a still image camera such as a so-called electronic still camera. In FIG.
A subject image is captured by a lens system 1 as a CCD as an imaging device.
2 and converted into an electric image signal. This image signal is subjected to a predetermined imaging process in the imaging process unit 3, and A
After being converted into digital image data by the / D converter 4, the digital image data is recorded in the frame memory 5. The image data from the A / D converter 4 is converted into an analog signal by a D / A converter 14 and supplied to a video output terminal 16, and an EVF (electronic view finder) 15.
And is displayed on the monitor. The frame memory 5 is controlled by a memory controller 6 for writing / reading. The image data read from the frame memory 5 is subjected to compression processing by a companding circuit 7 and is recorded on a recording medium 10 via an interface unit 9. The system controller 8 receives operation (operation instruction) information of the operation switches 13A to 13J via the switch circuit 12, controls the entire apparatus, and displays an operation state at that time on the LCD 11. At the time of reproducing an image, the image is reproduced through a reverse process. That is, the image data read from the recording medium 10 is supplied to the companding circuit 7 via the interface unit 9, subjected to an expanding process, and recorded in the frame memory 5. The image data read from the frame memory 5 is
The signal is converted into an analog signal by the D / A converter 14,
It is reproduced on the monitor via F15 or video output terminal 16. On the other hand, when recording an audio signal, the microphone 21
Alternatively, the audio signal from the external line input terminal 22 is subjected to predetermined preprocessing in the audio preprocessing unit 20, converted into digital audio data by the A / D converter 19, and then recorded in the audio memory 18. The audio data is encoded by the audio encoding / decoding circuit unit 17 and recorded on the recording medium 10 via the interface unit 9. At the time of audio reproduction, the audio data read out from the recording medium 10 via the interface unit 9 is decoded by the audio encoding / decoding circuit unit 17 and then decoded by the D / A
The signal is converted into an analog signal by the converter 23, and further subjected to predetermined audio processing by the audio post-processing unit 24, and then supplied to the audio output terminal 25 and the speaker 26. The switch group for instructing the camera operation connected to the switch circuit 12 is a well-known switch group, and includes a trigger 1 switch 13A, a trigger 2 switch 13B, a-switch 13C, a + switch 13D, a recording / reproducing (REC / REC).
PLAY) switch 13E, image / audio (PICT / S)
OUND) switch 13F, reproduction mode switch 13
G, a normal mode switch 13H, a high-speed continuous shooting switch 13I, and a low-speed continuous shooting switch 13J. [0008] In such a configuration, conventionally, a recording medium is used.
When playing back recorded audio information,
The audio information is reproduced by a built-in speaker . [0009] However, the above-mentioned problem is not solved .
A built-in switch in a compact body such as a still camera
The peaker is small and has such a good performance
But when audio information is reproduced through the speaker
The sound quality was not satisfactory. Therefore, an object of the present invention is to record on a recording medium.
Audio data that can be output to a device that can reproduce audio.
To provide a still image camera capable of reproducing high-quality sound . [0011] In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, a still image camera according to the present invention comprises image data and audio data.
Data and its own data section and
To form a file containing the band information section
A recordable still image camera that forms a subject image
Optical means, and a subject image formed by the optical means.
An imaging unit that performs photoelectric conversion into an electric signal;
A / D that converts the output electrical signal into a digital signal
Conversion means, and an image output by the A / D conversion means
Record audio data as well as audio data on a recording medium
Recording means capable of storing image data.
Of the audio data associated with the
Record file name or additional information of audio data
Enter the file name of the image data associated with
Audio data recorded on the recording medium
Features that can be output to a device that can reproduce voice
I have. According to the present invention, audio data recorded on a recording medium
Can be output to a device that can play back audio, such as an earphone.
And audio data from the audio-reproducible device (earphone).
It is possible to play. Next, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a configuration block diagram showing an example of an image recording apparatus related to the present invention. In FIG.
Components denoted by the same reference numerals as those in FIG. 13 indicate components having the same functions. In this example, there is provided an audio file information management unit 27 which manages and controls audio file information to be recorded based on a program switch 13K for instructing a program operation during recording and reproduction and switch information received via the switch circuit 12. . The audio file information management unit 27 may be provided separately as in this example, or may be stored in the ROM of the system controller 8. FIG. 2 shows an example of data arrangement on a recording medium in a state where image information, audio information, control information, and the like are stored in the recording medium. As shown in FIG. 2, the areas in the recording medium include a system management area, a control file area,
It is composed of an image 1, an image 2, an image 3, a sound 1, and a sky area. The image area consists of an image file header and image data,
The audio area includes an audio file header and audio data. During image reproduction, when the + key 13D is kept pressed, the rotation of the reproduced image displayed on the monitor continues as shown in FIG.
When no image data exists, a mute screen is reproduced, and the display on the LCD 11 at this time is shown in FIG. The recording operation in this embodiment will be described in detail with reference to FIG. 5. For the mute image shown in FIG. 5A, audio file management data such as audio recording time length and date is included in the audio file header. In the case of recording, the recording of the audio file is started by pressing the trigger 1 switch 13A,
Recording is completed by pressing down the trigger 1 switch 13A again (recording 1). FIG. 7B shows a state in which the image 1 is being reproduced. In addition to FIG. 7A, the file name of the image 1 is recorded in the audio file header as the corresponding image, or The file name of audio 1 is recorded as the corresponding audio (record 2). In FIG. 10C, the recording of the audio file is started by pressing the trigger 1 switch 13A, and the recording is ended by pressing again.
By repeatedly depressing the trigger 1 switch 13A, audio files corresponding to each of the selectively reproduced images 1, 2 and 3 are recorded (record 3). Image selection is
This is performed by operating the -switch 13C and the + switch 13D. When the program switch 13K is pressed,
The end of the recording sequence at this time is triggered 2 switch 1
3B is performed. These data are recorded in the control file as one program.
An example of a control file is shown. These operations are executed by the audio file information management unit 27. When the switch 13E indicates reproduction (PLAY) and the switch 13F indicates audio (SOUND), the system controller 8 reads the corresponding image file name in the audio file header, and the system controller 8 reads the name shown in FIG. Thus, the audio file 1 corresponding to the image 1 is reproduced (the recording of FIG. 5B is reproduced). When the switch 13E is instructed to reproduce the program by the switch 13K, it is reproduced according to the program in the control file as shown in FIG.
(C)) is reproduced). At this time, if there is no corresponding image file name in the audio file header, only the audio file is reproduced (recording in FIG. 5A is reproduced). As described above, in the program recording mode, the trigger 1 switch 13
A corresponds to the beginning and end of each audio file, and the trigger 2 switch 13B corresponds to the end of the sequence. According to the above example, a mode for simultaneously and continuously reproducing the audio file and the video file can be realized by a simple operation. Further, since the reproduction order is one file, reorganization later can be easily realized. Further, since another command can be generated by the same operation unit, the configuration is simplified. Moreover, since the sequence for repeating the association recording of the image and the sound and the operation for exiting from this sequence are not complicated, the operability is good and the risk of erroneous operation is extremely reduced. In this example, a remaining amount display switch 13L is provided, and when this switch 13L is operated, the recording medium is searched to display the remaining recordable amount of the recording medium such as the number of recordable images and the recordable time. The remaining amount information is displayed on a monitor such as the TV or the EVF 15 and the remaining amount information is output as sound by the operation of the system controller 8. Further, a warning can be issued when the remaining amount is insufficient. The display on the monitor can be performed by fade-out or numerical display. That is, for images, the remaining number of recordable images is displayed on the LCD, and for audio, the system controller 8 (or the audio file information management unit 2).
7) calculates the remaining time from the free space amount in the recording medium, sends the calculated remaining time to the audio encoding / decoding circuit unit 17 via the interface unit 9, and outputs the decoded audio data to the D / D The signal is output to the speaker 26 via the A converter 23 and the audio post-processing unit 24. The following example relating to the present invention simplifies the hardware configuration of the conventional image recording apparatus shown in FIG. The conventional image recording apparatus shown in FIG. 13 has A / D converters 4 and 1 for an image processing system and an audio processing system, respectively.
9 and the D / A converters 14 and 23 are required, so that there are problems such as an increase in cost and an obstacle to higher mounting density. In this example, the configuration is simplified by using one A / D converter and one D / A converter for the image processing system and the audio processing system. FIG. 7 is a configuration block diagram of the image recording apparatus according to the present embodiment. In the figure, components denoted by the same reference numerals as those in FIG. 1 indicate components having similar functions. In this embodiment, as shown in FIG.
1, 32, 36, and 38; a buffer memory 35; The changeover switch 32 switches and outputs the input to the A / D converter 34, and the changeover switch 3
1 switches and outputs the output from the D / A converter 33; a switch 36 switches the connection between the buffer memory 35 and the image companding circuit 7 or the audio companding circuit 37; The connection between the expansion circuit unit 7 or the audio compression / expansion circuit unit 37 and the interface unit 9 is switched. The switching operation of these changeover switches is controlled by a sound mode / image mode selection mode signal (sound / image switching signal) received via the switch circuit section 12. That is, in the audio mode, each switch selects the audio processing system (S terminal in the figure), and in the image mode, each switch selects the image processing system (I terminal in the figure). FIG. 8 shows still another example related to the present invention, which is an improved configuration of the example of FIG. 7, and which enables simultaneous reproduction of an image and a sound. In this example, the image memory 44 and the audio memory 45 are separately provided, and the changeover switch 32 and the A / D
The image data and the audio data transmitted through the converter 34 are recorded in the corresponding memories via the changeover switch 43. In addition, D / A is applied to the audio reproduction system and the image reproduction system respectively.
Converters 41 and 42 are provided to convert data read from the audio memory 45 and the image memory 44 into analog signals and output them. For example, the image data read from the recording medium 10 is first supplied to the image companding circuit section 7 via the changeover switch 38, where it is decompressed and recorded in the image memory 44. Next, the audio data similarly read from the recording medium 10 is expanded by the audio companding circuit 37 and recorded in the audio memory 45. The image data and the audio data read from the image memory 44 and the audio memory 45 are converted into analog signals by D / A converters 42 and 41, respectively, to obtain a simultaneous reproduction output. In one embodiment of the present invention, an image-only recording / reproducing apparatus is adapted to record and reproduce audio with a simple configuration. Conventionally, there is no means to make an existing image-only recording / reproducing device compatible with audio recording / reproducing. Manufacturers have to redesign and re-create one with an audio processing circuit, and users must purchase this audio-compatible device. This has led to increased costs. This embodiment solves this problem.
General-purpose RS so that it can be controlled by a personal computer, etc.
An image recording apparatus having communication control means (ROM storage software) such as H.232C is used. FIG. 9 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the present embodiment, in which a communication control unit 120 and a communication interface (I / F) are connected.
In this configuration, an image recording / reproducing apparatus 100 having a built-in unit 110 and an audio recording / reproducing apparatus 200 having a communication control unit 202 and a communication interface unit 201 are connected by a wired or wireless line. In the audio recording / reproducing apparatus 200, the system controller 203 performs overall control according to the operation instruction signal received via the switch circuit 204, and the operation state is displayed on a display unit 205 such as an LCD. The audio data from the line input terminal 207 or the microphone 208 is subjected to predetermined pre-processing by a pre-processing unit 209, is converted into digital data by an A / D converter 210, and is further converted to a voice encoding / decoding circuit unit. It is encoded at 211. The encoded audio data is stored in the data buffer 206. The signal is supplied to the speaker 215 and the line output terminal 214 via the D / A converter 212 and the post-processing unit 213. At the time of reproduction, a signal read from the data buffer 206 and decoded by the audio coding / decoding circuit 211 and converted into an analog signal by the D / A converter 212 is converted into a predetermined signal by the post-processing unit 213. After the post-processing, it is output to the line output terminal 214 or the speaker 215. FIG. 10 shows a specific configuration diagram of the present embodiment. The image recording / reproducing device 100 and the audio recording / reproducing device 200 are connected by a communication cable 300 via respective communication interface units, and an image signal from the image recording / reproducing device 100 and an audio signal from the audio recording / reproducing device 200 Is supplied to the monitor 400 to display an image and output sound. In this example, the image recording / reproducing apparatus 100 is a camera, and includes a recording medium 101 such as a memory card, a finder 102, an LCD display unit 103,
A zoom switch 104, a trigger switch 105, and the like are provided. The audio recording / reproducing apparatus 200 is provided with an LCD display unit 205, a microphone 208, a speaker 215, a trigger switch 216, and the like. The audio recording / reproducing apparatus 200 in this embodiment
Will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.
First, the communication cable 300 is connected, and it waits until the connection of the communication partner (image recording / reproducing apparatus 100) is detected (step S1), and it is determined whether a recording mode command is received (step S2). If the command has not been received, it is determined whether or not the reproduction mode command has been received (step S3). If not, the process returns to step S2, and if the command has been received, the mode shifts to the reproduction mode (step S4). ). Subsequently, it is determined whether a reproduction start command has been received (step S5). If so, the encoded data is received, decompressed and decoded to reproduce the audio data (step S6), and the reception of the reproduction end command is determined. (Step S7). In step S7, if the reproduction end command has not been received, the process returns to step S6. If the command has been received, disconnection of the communication partner (disconnection of the communication cable) is determined (step S8). Return to the processing of. In step S5, even when the reproduction start command has not been received, the process proceeds to step S8. If the communication partner is disconnected in step S8, the process ends. On the other hand, if the recording mode command has been received in step S2, the mode shifts to the recording mode (step S9), and the reception of the recording start command is determined (step S1).
0). If the recording start command has not been received, the process proceeds to step S13. If the command has been received, the audio data is compression-encoded and the encoded data is transmitted (step S11). Next, it is determined whether a recording end command has been received (step S12). If it has not been received, the process returns to step S11. If it has been received, it is determined that the communication partner has been disconnected (step S13). Here, if the communication partner has not been disconnected, the process returns to step S10, and if disconnected, the process ends. Next, the operation of the image reproducing / recording apparatus 100 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. First, after waiting for the detection of the communication partner connection (step S21), the mode is shifted to the voice mode (step S22), and it is determined whether or not the recording mode is set (step S23). Here, in the case of the recording mode, a recording mode command is transmitted (step S24),
It is determined whether the trigger switch has been operated (step S2).
5) If the trigger switch has been operated, a recording start command is transmitted (step S26). Thereafter, the data is received, and the data is written to the recording medium (step S27),
It is determined whether the trigger switch has been re-operated (re-pressed) (step S28). If the trigger switch has not been operated, the process returns to step S27. Judgment (Step S
30). If the communication partner is not disconnected, the process returns to step S25, and if disconnected, the process ends. In step S23, recording (REC)
If the mode is not the mode, a reproduction mode command is transmitted (step S31), and a reproduction file is selected (step S32).
Determine operation (press) of the trigger switch (step S
33). If the trigger switch has been operated, a reproduction start command is sent (read the stator, data is transmitted (step S35), and it is determined whether or not all data has been read (step S36). If it has not been issued, the process returns to step S35, and if it has been read, a reproduction end command is sent (step S37), and the disconnection of the communication partner is determined (step S38). When the trigger switch is not operated in step S33, the process returns to step S38, and the process proceeds to step S38. The image / audio recording / reproducing apparatus can be configured only by requesting the ROM change of the dedicated recording / reproducing apparatus and purchasing the audio recording / reproducing apparatus. As described in the foregoing, still according to the invention
According to the image camera , audio data is associated with image data.
It is possible to record on a recording medium by linking
Audio data recorded on a device can be output to a device that can reproduce audio
Device that can play audio
Allows the audio data to be reproduced with high sound quality.
A convenient still camera.
You.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a configuration block diagram showing an embodiment of an image recording apparatus related to the present invention. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of data arrangement on a recording medium in a state where image information, audio information, control information, and the like are stored in the recording medium. FIG. 3 shows a state in which the + key 13D is kept pressed during image reproduction.
FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating rotation of a reproduced image displayed on a monitor. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a display screen in a state where a mute screen is being reproduced when no image data exists. FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a recording operation in the present example. FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining the operation of the system controller 8 in the present example. FIG. 7 is a configuration block diagram of an image recording apparatus according to another example related to the present invention. FIG. 8 is a configuration block diagram showing still another example related to the present invention. FIG. 9 is a configuration block diagram of one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 10 shows a specific connection configuration diagram of the embodiment shown in FIG. 9; FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing an operation of the audio recording / reproducing apparatus 200 in the embodiment. FIG. 12 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of the image reproducing / recording apparatus 100 according to the present embodiment. FIG. 13 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of a conventional image recording apparatus. [Description of Signs] 1 lens 2 CCD 3 imaging process unit 4, 19, 34 A / D converter 5 frame memory 6 memory controller 7 companding circuit 8 system controller 9 interface unit 10 recording medium 11 LCD 12 switch circuit 13A to 13K operation Switches 14, 23, 33, 41, 42 D / A converter 15 EVF 16 Video output terminal 17 Audio encoding / decoding circuit unit 18 Audio memory 20 Audio preprocessing unit 21, 208 Microphone 22 Audio line input terminal 24 Audio post-processing Unit 25 audio line output terminal 26 speaker 27 audio file information management unit 31, 32, 36, 38, 43 selector switch 35 buffer memory 37 audio companding circuit 44 image memory 45 audio memory

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] [Claim 1] Image data and audio data are respectively stored in their own
Including the data section and the additional information section related to this data
Still images that can be recorded by forming
Optical means for forming an image of a subject, and converting the subject image formed by the optical means into an electric signal.
Imaging means for converting the electric signal, and a digital signal
A / D conversion means for converting the image data into image data and image data output from the A / D conversion means.
Recording means that can associate audio data with the
Comprising a stage, and about the self in the supplementary information section of the image data by said recording means
Record the file name of the linked audio data, or
Or the image associated with the
A device that records the file name of image data and that can reproduce audio data recorded on a recording medium.
A still image camera characterized by being able to output to a camera.