JP3513250B2 - External control device for imaging device - Google Patents

Description

Description: BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an external control device for externally controlling an image pickup device such as a digital electronic camera. 2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a conventional electronic camera. In the figure, an optical image of a subject incident through a lens 1 and an aperture / shutter 2 is converted into an electric image signal by an image pickup device 3 such as a CCD. The image signal is subjected to pre-processing such as CDS and AGC in a pre-processing circuit 4 and further converted into a digital signal in an A / D converter 5 and then processed by a process circuit 6 to obtain image data of a predetermined format. Become. This image data is temporarily stored in the memory 7, compressed and encoded by the compression circuit 8, and recorded on the recording medium 9. The memory controller 10 controls the A / D converter 5 and the compression circuit 8, and the CPU 11 controls the whole as a system controller. In the above-described conventional electronic camera, the processing contents of the CPU 11 as a system controller are fixedly provided in a ROM as firmware, and how to perform image recording is determined beforehand at a factory. Therefore, it was not possible to respond to various demands of users. Therefore, the present applicant supplies an external program to the camera from an external host computer, records the program on the recording medium 9, and provides the camera with a mechanism capable of executing the external program at the time of photographing. We have proposed a technology that can expand image information. For example, a bar code is read as an external program, and the bar code is read immediately after the photographing, and is recorded on the recording medium 9 as supplementary information of the photographed image. It is also conceivable to record the photographed image after performing some processing. For example, an external program for converting a captured image into a line art image, an edge detection image, and the like can be supplied. Since these converted images generally have a much smaller amount of data than the photographed original images, the data compression efficiency is improved, and an effect that more images can be recorded on the recording medium 9 can be expected. [0005] The technique proposed as described above extends the shooting by performing some processing on the shot original image. However, since such a function is not desired by all users, it is provided as an external program. When a plurality of such external programs are provided to a camera, the external programs are operated by a version of the camera or a control program installed in a ROM of the camera. The camera itself and the external control system for providing external programs to the camera cannot be known, and in some cases there is a risk of hang-up, However, there is a problem that a malfunction occurs. An object of the present invention is to solve the above problem. More specifically, the present invention stores information such as camera version information, required program names and corresponding parameters in an external program. The purpose is to eliminate hang-ups and malfunctions. Another object of the present invention is to prevent an inoperable camera or external control system when an unknown external program is operated in response to a camera version or application version upgrade. According to the present invention, there is provided an external control apparatus for an image pickup apparatus which performs a predetermined process on an image picked up by the image pickup apparatus in a state where a communication state with the image pickup apparatus is established. Input / output means for transferring a program to the imaging apparatus and inputting information from the imaging apparatus; version information of the imaging apparatus input from the input / output means and version information stored in the external program And an installation unit that installs the external program in the device when the determination unit determines that the external program is operable. . According to the present invention, each piece of information such as version information is stored in an external program, and the information is compared with each piece of information set in the camera. Can be determined whether or not is operable. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an electronic camera according to the present invention. In the figure, 1 is a lens, 2 is an aperture / shutter, 3 is an image sensor, 4 is a pre-processing circuit, and 5 is an A / A
A D converter, 6 is a process circuit, and 8 is a compression circuit, each corresponding to FIG. Reference numeral 7 denotes a RAM, which is a memory 7 shown in FIG.
Corresponding to 9 is a recording medium, 10 is a DMA (Direct Memory Access) for transferring data.
Corresponds to the memory controller 10 of FIG. Reference numeral 11 denotes a CPU as a system controller. Reference numeral 12 denotes an E ² PROM as a non-volatile memory for recording an external program, 13 a ROM for storing the processing contents of the CPU 11, 14 a personal computer as an externally connected external control device, 15 a cable, and 16 a personal computer. An external connector for connecting 14 via a cable 15;
Reference numeral 17 denotes an operation unit of the camera, and reference numeral 18 denotes a display unit for displaying an operation state of the camera. The process in which the image data obtained from the A / D converter 5 is temporarily stored in the RAM 7 and then compression-coded and recorded on the recording medium 9 is performed in the same manner as in FIG. Next, the operation will be described. In this embodiment, the version information of the camera, the name of the program to be used, and the parameters that the program should mean are stored in the external program. These information, such as version,
As shown in FIG. 2, it is stored in the form of a tag (TAG) 20, and only necessary items are described. Here, the external program is described as a set of modes for operating the camera. First, the processing of the application program of the computer 14 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. Step S301: Start the application program of the personal computer 14 and enter the configuration mode. Step S302 The version of the application software is set in the variable VerPC. In step S303, a TSR (resident program) name that can be used by the PC application software is set in a variable TSRPC. Step S304: The parameter name of the TSR that can be used by the PC application software is set in the variable TSRParamPC. Step S305 The configuration mode is read from the camera through the communication cable 15 and the input / output interface. Communication format is parallel port, serial port, SCSI
Any form may be used. In step S306, the version, TSR name, and TSR parameter name are set in the variable V
erCamera, TSRCamera, TSRPar
Substitute amCamera. Step S307 If VerPC is equal to VerCamera, or if VerPC> VerCamera, step S3
08, otherwise jumping to step S311. Versions usually take the form of upper compatibility, but there are some conditions where the scope is narrow but only works with the same version. Step S308 If TSRPC and TSRCamera are equal, the process jumps to step S309, otherwise jumps to step S311. Step S309: TSRParamPC and TSRParamCamera
If is equal to, jump to step S309, otherwise jump to step S311. Step S310 The configuration mode is edited. Step S311: Warn the user that the configuration mode cannot be changed. This warning is displayed in text if the display unit 18 can display text, and is displayed graphically if it can be displayed graphically. Step S312 This configuration mode is installed in the camera. Step S313: If another configuration mode is selected, the process proceeds to step S305; otherwise, the process proceeds to step S314. Step S314 End of Procedure Next, the processing of the camera will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. Step S401 The camera is started, and the user operates an operation button (mode button) of the camera shown in FIG. 5 to select an external program mode of the camera. Step S402 The version of the camera's ROM 13 is set in the variable VerCamera. Step S403: A TSR name that can be used by the camera is set in the variable TSRCamera. Step S404: A parameter name of a TSR that can be used by the camera is set in a variable TSRParamCamera. Step S405 The configuration mode is read from the PC 14 through the communication cable 15 and the external connector 16. Step S406 From the read configuration mode, the version, TSR name, and TSR parameter name are
erConfig, TSRConfig, TSRPar
Substitute amConfig. Step S407: VerCamera and VerConfig are equal;
Alternatively, if VerCamera> VerConfig, the process proceeds to step S408; otherwise, the process proceeds to step S411.
Jump to There are times when this is the same version as the PC application software.
In that case, the comparison is VerCamera = VerConfig. Step S408 If TSRCamera and TSRConfig are equal, go to step S409; otherwise, go to step S411.
Jump to Of course, if the tag does not exist in FIG. 2, it cannot operate. Step S409 TSRPParamera and TSRPParamCo
If nfig is equal, the process jumps to step S409; otherwise, the process jumps to step S411. As in step S408, the operation cannot be performed unless a tag exists in FIG. Step S410: Operate in this configuration mode. Step S411: Warn the user that this configuration mode cannot be changed. This warning blinks on the display unit 18 shown in FIG. 5 to inform the user that the mode is not possible due to the operation, and urges the user to switch to another mode. As a matter of course, another mode is selected by operating the mode button in FIG. If the display unit 18 can display text, a warning is issued in text. Step S412: End of procedure The detailed sequence for photographing an image is not directly related to the present invention and will not be described in detail here. As described above, according to the present invention, the operable environment of the external program, such as camera version information, and information on necessary programs and parameters are stored in the external program. By comparing the information with the set information, an inoperable external program is not started, and hang-ups and malfunctions of the camera and the external control system can be reduced. Even if an unknown external program (for example, a version 1 camera uses an external program for version 2) is installed, no malfunction occurs. Further, a warning can be given to the user.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram illustrating an example of a tag that records information stored in an external program. FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing processing of an application program of a personal computer. FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an operation of the camera. FIG. 5 is a configuration diagram near a display unit of the camera. FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing a conventional electronic camera. [EXPLANATION OF SYMBOLS] 3 imaging device 9 recording medium 11 CPU 12 E ² PROM 14 PC 16 external connector 18 display unit

────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-6-22189 (JP, A) JP-A-4-177426 (JP, A) JP-A-2-127728 (JP, A) JP-A-6-127728 139056 (JP, A) JP-A-64-18835 (JP, A) JP-A-2-210534 (JP, A) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) H04N 5/225

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims 1] In a state where a communication state with the imaging device is established,
An input / output means for transferring an external program for performing predetermined processing to the image captured by the imaging device to the imaging device and inputting information from the imaging device; and Determining means for comparing the version information of the imaging device with version information stored in the external program to determine whether or not the external program is operable, and when it is determined that the external program is operable, An external control device for an imaging device, comprising: an installation unit that installs the external program in the imaging device.