JP3537359B2 - Electronic camera - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] The present invention relates to an electronic camera.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An electronic camera is different from a silver halide camera,
The feature is that the image can be confirmed on the spot where the image was taken.
By taking advantage of these features, the LCD is automatically
There is also proposed an electronic camera having a function of displaying a photographed image (rec view function).

[0003]

However, the recview function is intended to automatically display a photographed image. Therefore, even if an image captured by the recview function is checked and it is determined that the image data of the image need not be recorded on a recording medium such as a memory card, it is not easy to delete the image data from the recording medium. That is, it is necessary to perform a troublesome operation such as once switching to the erasing mode and then performing the erasing operation.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-described conventional problems. In an electronic camera having a rec view function, when it is determined that recording of image data obtained by photographing on a recording medium is unnecessary. Another object of the present invention is to provide an electronic camera capable of easily canceling recording of image data.

[0005]

According to the present invention, there is provided an electronic camera, comprising: an imaging unit for generating electronic image data by photoelectrically converting a subject image; and temporarily storing the image data obtained by the imaging unit. Temporary storage means, an image display means for displaying an image based on the image data stored in the temporary storage means, a recording means for recording the image data stored in the temporary storage means on a recording medium, and a recording medium. and erasing means for erasing the recorded image data, and instruction means for instructing the erasure of image data recorded on the stop or the recording medium of the recording to the recording medium of the image data stored in the temporary storage means, at the one To the image data stored in the storage means
Display time of the image based on the image display means or
The above image of the image based on the image data recorded on the recording medium
Setting to set at least one of the display time on the display means
Means, and an image based on the image data stored in the temporary storage means after photographing, in a table set by the setting means.
Control is performed to display the image on the image display means according to the indicated time, and when an instruction is given from the instruction means while the image data is being recorded on the recording medium by the recording means, the image data is stored in the temporary storage means. Control is performed to stop the recording of the image data on the recording medium, and when an instruction is given from the instruction unit after the recording of the image data on the recording medium by the recording unit, the image data recorded on the recording medium is deleted. Control means for performing control so as to perform erasure by the erasing means.

Further, an electronic camera according to the present invention has an image pickup means for photoelectrically converting a subject image to generate electronic image data, and a temporary storage means for temporarily storing image data obtained by the image pickup means. Recording means for recording the image data stored in the temporary storage means on a recording medium, erasing means for erasing the image data recorded on the recording medium,
Instruction means for instructing to stop recording image data stored in the temporary storage means on the recording medium or erasing the image data recorded on the recording medium, image display means for displaying an image based on the image data, While the image data is being recorded on the recording medium by the recording means, an image based on the image data stored in the temporary storage means is displayed on the image display means, and when an instruction is given from the instruction means, the temporary storage is performed. Control to stop the recording of the image data stored in the recording medium on the recording medium, and after the recording of the image data on the recording medium by the recording means is completed, an image based on the image data recorded on the recording medium is deleted. A display period is provided to display the image on the image display unit, and when an instruction is given from the instruction unit, the image data recorded on the recording medium is deleted. And control means for controlling so as to erase the serial erasing means, characterized by comprising a.

The control means controls the image data stored in the temporary storage means to stop recording on the recording medium or to erase the image data recorded on the recording medium, and then to return to the photographable state. It is preferable to do so.

[0008] At least one of a display time of the image based on the image data stored in the temporary storage means on the image display means and a display time of the image based on the image data recorded on the recording medium on the image display means. It is preferable that the apparatus further comprises setting means for setting the image data, and the control means controls the image display means to display an image based on the image data in accordance with the display time set by the setting means. The electronic camera according to the present invention may further include: an imaging unit configured to photoelectrically convert a subject image to generate electronic image data; a temporary storage unit configured to temporarily store image data obtained by the imaging unit; Recording means for recording the image data stored in the temporary storage means on a recording medium, erasing means for erasing the image data recorded on the recording medium, and recording of the image data stored in the temporary storage means on the recording medium Instruction means for instructing cancellation of the image data or erasing of the image data recorded on the recording medium, image display means for displaying an image based on the image data, and temporarily storing the image data on the recording medium by the recording means. An image based on the image data stored in the storage means is displayed on the image display means, and when an instruction is given from the instruction means, the image stored in the temporary storage means is displayed. Control is performed to stop recording of data on the recording medium, and after the recording of the image data on the recording medium by the recording unit is completed, an image based on the image data stored in the temporary storage unit or recording on the recording medium is performed. Providing a period for displaying an image based on the received image data, displaying the image on the image display means, and erasing the image data recorded on the recording medium by the erasing means when instructed by the instruction means. And control means for performing control to perform the control.

[0009]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of an electronic camera according to the present embodiment.

The basic structure of the image pickup unit is the same as that of a normal electronic camera, and includes a lens unit 11, an image pickup device 12 including a photoelectric conversion element such as a CCD, an image pickup circuit 13, and an A / D conversion circuit 14. ing. That is, the lens unit 11
By subjecting the subject image formed by the above to photoelectric conversion by the image pickup device 12 and inputting the photoelectrically converted image signal to the A / D conversion circuit 14 via the image pickup circuit 13, a digitally converted image signal is obtained. It is configured as follows.

System controller (syscon) 15
Controls each part of the electronic camera, and has an image processing function for performing white balance processing and matrix operation, and a compression / decompression function for compressing and decompressing image data.

The buffer memory 16 temporarily stores image data and the like obtained by the imaging unit. The buffer memory 16 is also used as a work area for image processing such as white balance processing. further,
The buffer memory 16 is also used as a work area for compression / expansion processing of image data and thinning processing for displaying an image.

The memory interface 17 is a removable memory (memory card) 1 inserted into a card slot 18.
9 is an interface for transmitting and receiving information to and from the removable memory 19 via the memory interface 17.
Is read from the image information.

The video memory 20 holds display data. The display data held in the video memory 20 is sent to a video conversion circuit 21, which performs predetermined processing for displaying an image on an image display LCD 22. The image display LCD 22 performs a simple display in which a simple image processing such as approximating a γ-conversion with a straight line is performed at the time of the rec view. Further, an output signal from the video conversion circuit 21 can be transmitted to an external device via a video-out terminal 23.

The external interface 24 is an interface for communicating with an external device via an external input / output terminal 25.
Thereby, various information such as image information can be transmitted / received to / from an external device such as a personal computer.

The operation unit 26 gives various instructions to the electronic camera, and includes a release switch 26a, a mode selection switch 26b for selecting various modes, a rec view selection switch 26c for previously selecting whether or not to perform a rec view, and a rec view. A display selection switch 26d for preliminarily selecting whether to perform only the simple display or the simple display + the normal display, and to cancel the recording of the image data on the memory card or to cancel the deletion of the image data recorded on the memory card. The switch 26e includes a display time setting switch 26f for setting a display time (simple display time, normal display time) in the rec view. In the normal display, for example, an image is reproduced and displayed using image data recorded on a memory card by performing γ conversion (performed by software processing) using a formal curve. Therefore, display is performed with excellent image quality as compared with the simple display.

The mode display LCD 27 displays various modes, and the strobe light emitting section 28 emits a strobe light when performing flash photography.

The power supply section 29 supplies power to each section of the electronic camera, and a battery 30 is connected to the power supply section 29. Also, an external power supply can be connected to the power supply unit 29 via an external power supply terminal 31.

Next, an operation example of this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.
This will be described with reference to the flowcharts shown in FIGS.

First, as shown in FIG. 2, the operation when the shooting mode is selected by the mode selection switch 26b of the operation unit 26 shown in FIG. 1 (S1) will be described.

First, it is determined whether or not the simple display time T1 and the normal display time T2 in the rec view need to be changed (S2), and if so, the simple display is set by the display time setting switch 26f. The time T1 and the normal display time T2 are changed (S3). Simple display time T
When 1 and the normal display time T2 are not changed, default values of, for example, T1 = 3 seconds and T2 = 5 seconds are set.

When the release switch 26a is pressed (S
4), a predetermined imaging process is performed. That is, the image signal photoelectrically converted by the imaging device 12 is input to the A / D conversion circuit 14 via the imaging circuit 13, and the A / D conversion circuit 14 outputs image data (S5). This image data is stored in the buffer memory 16 (S6).

Subsequently, it is determined whether or not a rec view is to be performed on the image display LCD 22. Whether or not to perform the recview has been previously selected by the recview selection switch 26c (S7).

If the recview is not performed, a card recording process is performed (S8). This card recording process
This is performed as shown in the flowchart of FIG. That is, image processing such as white balance processing and matrix operation is performed on the image data stored in the buffer memory 16 (S101), and JPEG compression processing is performed on the image-processed image data (S10).
2) The compressed image data is transferred to a memory card (removable memory 19) via the memory interface 17.
(S103). Thus, the recording on the memory card is completed (S9).

When the rec view is performed, the card recording process (S10) and the simple display process (S11) are performed in parallel in time. The card recording process (S10) is as shown in the flowchart of FIG.

The simple display process (S11) is performed as shown in the flowchart of FIG. First, thinning processing is performed on the image data stored in the buffer memory 16, and the image data obtained by the imaging unit is converted into image data having a smaller number of data. This is because the number of display pixels of the image display LCD 22 is smaller than the number of pixels of the image sensor 12 (S111). The thinned image data is stored in the video memory 20 (S112),
The video conversion circuit 21 performs predetermined video processing (S
113). A simple display image is displayed on the image display LCD 22 based on the signal obtained by the video processing (S114). As described above, only simple image processing is performed on image data obtained by the imaging unit without performing processing such as compression processing and recording on a memory card, and the image data is displayed on the image display LCD as a simple image. The photographed image can be checked immediately.

If the cancel switch 26e is pressed before the recording process on the memory card is completed (S12), the recording on the memory card is stopped (S13), and the process returns to step S2. When the recording process on the memory card is completed (S14), a recording end process is performed (S15).

When the cancel switch 26e is pressed after recording on the memory card is completed (S16), the image data recorded on the memory card is deleted (S17).
It returns to step S2 again. The simple display time T1 is set to be equal to or longer than the recording processing time of the image data on the normal memory card. Therefore, after the recording to the memory card is completed, the cancel switch 2
When 6e is pressed, the image data once recorded on the memory card is erased. Simple display time T
If the cancel switch 26e is not pressed within 1 (S18), the simple display ends (S19).

As described above, the captured image is confirmed on the image display LCD 22 as a simplified display image, and when the user determines that the image need not be stored in the memory card, the cancel switch 26e is set within the simple display period. By pressing the button, it is possible to easily stop recording image data on the memory card or delete image data recorded on the memory card. Therefore, even during the recording of the image data on the memory card or after the recording of the image data on the memory card, the image data determined not to need to be recorded is not finally recorded on the memory card. Therefore, it is possible to prevent useless recording on the memory card.

Next, after the end of the simple display, it is determined whether or not to continue the normal display (S20). Whether or not to perform the normal display is previously selected by the display selection switch 26d. The simple display image, as described above,
Since the image has not been subjected to formal image processing, the image quality is not always satisfactory from the viewpoint of the fidelity to the actually photographed image. Therefore, following the simple display, a normal display with high display quality can be performed.

If the normal display is not performed, step S2
When the normal display is performed, as shown in FIG.
A normal display process is performed (S21).

The normal display process (S21) is performed as shown in the flowchart of FIG. First, the image data recorded on the memory card (removable memory 19) by the above-described card recording process (S10) is read from the memory card (S121). The read image data is stored in the buffer memory 16 (S122), and subjected to JPEG decompression processing (S123). The decompressed image data is subjected to thinning processing (S124), stored in the video memory 20 (S125), and further subjected to predetermined video processing by the video conversion circuit 21 (S12).
6). Based on the signal obtained by this video processing,
The normal display image is displayed on the image display LCD 22 (S
127). As described above, by performing the normal display after the simple display, it is possible to confirm an image captured by an image having high display quality.

Before the end of the normal display, that is, when the cancel switch 26e is pressed within the normal display time T2 (S22), the image data once recorded on the memory card is deleted (S23), and the process returns to step S2. Also, if the release switch 26a is pressed before the normal display ends (S24), the process returns to step S2. If the cancel switch 26e is not pressed within the normal display time T2 (S25), the normal display ends (S2).
6) Return to step S2.

As described above, an image having a high display quality can be viewed by the normal display. Therefore, even when the necessity of recording the image data on the memory card cannot be sufficiently determined only by the simple display, the necessity is ensured. Sex can be determined. Then, when it is not necessary to record the image data on the memory card, by pressing the cancel switch 26e, the image data recorded on the memory card can be easily erased. Therefore, useless recording on the memory card can be prevented.

Next, as shown in FIG. 7, the operation when the reproduction mode is selected by the mode selection switch 26b of the operation unit 26 shown in FIG. 1 (S51) will be described.

First, image data stored in the memory card (removable memory 19) is read from the memory card (S
52). The read image data is stored in the buffer memory 1
6 (S53), undergoes JPEG decompression processing (S54), and further performs thinning processing (S55).
The image data subjected to the thinning processing is stored in the video memory 20.
(S56), and the video conversion circuit 21 performs predetermined video processing (S57). An image is displayed on the image display LCD 22 based on the signal obtained by the video processing (S58). If another image (frame) is to be displayed (S59), another frame is designated, and the above steps S52 to S58 are repeated.

Although the embodiment of the present invention has been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and can be variously modified and implemented without departing from the gist of the present invention.

[0038]

According to the present invention, it is possible to prevent unnecessary image data from being finally recorded on a recording medium even during or after recording image data on a recording medium. It can be reliably prevented.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a system configuration example according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating an operation example of a shooting mode according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating an operation example of a shooting mode according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an operation example of the card recording process shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an operation example of the simple display process shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing an operation example of a normal display process shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing an operation example of a reproduction mode according to the embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

11 ... Lens part 12. Image sensor 13 ... Imaging circuit 14 A / D conversion circuit 15 System controller 16 ... Buffer memory 17… Memory interface 18… Card slot 19 ... Removable memory 20 Video memory 21 Video conversion circuit 22 ... Image display LCD 23 Video out terminal 24 ... External interface 25 ... External input / output terminal 26 ... Operation unit 27… Mode display LCD 28 ... Strobe flash unit 29 ... Power supply 30 ... Battery 31 ... External power supply terminal

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (58) Field surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) H04N 5/76-5/956 H04N 5/225-5/243 H04N 101: 00

Claims (5)

(57) [Claims] 1. An image pickup means for photoelectrically converting a subject image to generate electronic image data; a temporary storage means for temporarily storing image data obtained by the image pickup means; Image display means for displaying an image based on the obtained image data, recording means for recording the image data stored in the temporary storage means on a recording medium, erasing means for erasing the image data recorded on the recording medium, Instruction means for instructing to stop recording image data stored in the temporary storage means on the recording medium or erasing the image data recorded in the recording medium; and outputting an image based on the image data stored in the temporary storage means. Setting means for setting at least one of a display time on the image display means or a display time on the image display means based on image data recorded on the recording medium; Controlling the display of the image based on the image data stored in the temporary storage unit after the photographing on the image display unit in accordance with the display time set by the setting unit; When an instruction is given from the instruction means during data recording, control is performed to stop recording of the image data stored in the temporary storage means on the recording medium, and the image data on the recording medium by the recording means is controlled. An electronic camera, comprising: control means for performing control such that the image data recorded on the recording medium is erased by the erasing means when an instruction is issued from the instruction means after the end of the recording. 2. An image pickup means for photoelectrically converting a subject image to generate electronic image data; a temporary storage means for temporarily storing image data obtained by the image pickup means; Recording means for recording the recorded image data on a recording medium; erasing means for erasing the image data recorded on the recording medium; and stopping or recording the image data stored in the temporary storage means on the recording medium. Instruction means for instructing erasure of the image data recorded in the image data, image display means for displaying an image based on the image data, and image data stored in the temporary storage means while the image data is being recorded on the recording medium by the recording means. The image based on the image data is displayed on the image display means, and when an instruction is given from the instruction means, a recording medium for the image data stored in the temporary storage means is provided. After the recording of the image data on the recording medium by the recording means is completed, a period for displaying an image based on the image data recorded on the recording medium is provided, and the image is recorded on the recording medium. Control means for displaying the image data on the image display means and controlling the image data recorded on the recording medium to be erased by the erasing means when instructed by the instruction means. camera. 3. The control means returns to a photographing enabled state after stopping the recording of the image data stored in the temporary storage means on the recording medium or erasing the image data recorded on the recording medium. The electronic camera according to claim 1, wherein the electronic camera performs control. 4. The display time of the image based on the image data stored in the temporary storage means on the image display means or the display time of the image based on the image data recorded on the recording medium on the image display means. It further comprises setting means for setting at least one, wherein the control means performs control to display an image based on image data on the image display means according to the display time set by the setting means. The electronic camera according to claim 2, wherein: 5. An image pickup means for photoelectrically converting a subject image to generate electronic image data; a temporary storage means for temporarily storing image data obtained by the image pickup means; Recording means for recording the recorded image data on a recording medium; erasing means for erasing the image data recorded on the recording medium; and stopping or recording the image data stored in the temporary storage means on the recording medium. Instruction means for instructing erasure of the image data recorded in the image data, image display means for displaying an image based on the image data, and image data stored in the temporary storage means while the image data is being recorded on the recording medium by the recording means. The image based on the image data is displayed on the image display means, and when an instruction is given from the instruction means, a recording medium for the image data stored in the temporary storage means is provided. After the recording of the image data on the recording medium by the recording unit is completed, the image based on the image data stored in the temporary storage unit or the image data recorded on the recording medium is controlled. And displaying the image on the image display means by providing a period for displaying an image based on the image data. When the instruction is issued from the instruction means, the image data recorded on the recording medium is erased by the erasing means. An electronic camera, comprising: a control unit that performs the control.