JP3620220B2 - Image management system - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention manages images taken by a camera that takes images. system In particular, image management suitable for electronic video cameras that record digitally encoded video system About.
[0002]
[Prior art]
In the past, moving images were shot Silver salt It has been widely used from 8mm movie using film to video camera using magnetic recording video tape. In particular, video cameras using VHS-C cassettes and 8 mm video cassettes are widely used for home use.
[0003]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
The recording medium used by the above-described moving image photographing camera is a tape-like medium, and the photographed images are always continuously arranged on the tape in the photographing order. Therefore, the captured images are always stored in units of tape, and when viewing, it is necessary to view them in order of time from the top of the tape.
[0004]
In order to solve this problem, a method has been developed in which an index signal is marked in the middle of the tape, and a necessary place is searched by fast-forwarding to the index position. Among them, the “Pocket Digital Movie” DV1 manufactured by Victor records recorded images on a video tape as digital signals, and performs playback operations from a personal computer so that playback images from a certain time on the tape to a certain time can be recorded. As a unit, a plurality of units are defined, and a method for reproducing images in an arbitrary order other than the order recorded on the tape has been developed and released.
[0005]
However, since this method also uses a medium called tape, it takes time to display the specified image, and in addition, management of the image on the tape is expressed only in relative time counted from the beginning of the tape. Management of recorded images was troublesome. Although it is possible to save multiple specified units of images as a single program-like continuous image with a title, these operations must be performed while viewing the captured images after shooting. The work to be done was by no means simple.
[0006]
The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and an object of the present invention is to provide a randomly accessible recording medium that overcomes the shortcomings of recording information that can only be described and reproduced in a conventional manner, such as a video tape. Is used as an information recording medium, and recording data of an electronic camera that records shooting information on this randomly accessible recording medium is recorded and stored as information that can be viewed by a user with a simple operation. Image management system Is to provide.
[0007]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In one representative invention of the image management system according to the present application, a recording unit that records image information on a randomly accessible recording medium, and the image information recorded by the recording unit is automatically converted based on the attribute of the image information. Classified Have information Menu generating means for generating a menu, and the menu generated by the menu generating means includes a plurality of pieces of image information. Identify the information Configured to include.
In another representative invention of the image management system according to the present application, a recording means for recording image information on a randomly accessible recording medium, and an attribute of the image information With automatically classified information A plurality of menus, and image information recorded by the recording means is automatically classified into one of the plurality of menus.
According to still another typical invention of the image management system according to the present application, a plurality of pieces of image information recorded on a randomly accessible recording medium are automatically classified based on attributes of the image information; , Based on the automatically classified information Information indicating a list of image information and , And a means for automatically generating a menu screen based on the menu, and an output means for outputting the menu screen to the display means. The image information selected from the menu screen is reproduced and displayed on the display means. Configured to let you.
More specifically, in the invention of the image management system according to the present application, the image is not a sequential medium such as a tape, but a random access such as a hard disk that generates one unit of image file for each shot. An electronic camera that records on a medium capable of recording is used to capture an image. Then, automatically create a menu that allows the user to specify a large number of image files generated at the time of shooting in units of several seconds to several tens of seconds according to specific conditions such as the time range and place for shooting, The image file and menu are written on a writable mass storage medium. Then, during reproduction, the image management system displays a menu screen and selects and displays an image designated by the user while viewing the menu screen.
[0008]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Embodiments of an image management apparatus according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of an image management system using an image management apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, and this system includes an image management apparatus and an electronic camera.
[0009]
In FIG. 1, an electronic camera 10010 has a function of recording a moving image or a still image as digital data. Reference numeral 10000 denotes an image management apparatus, which uses a write-once (write-once) optical disc 10020, which is a rewritable and low-cost removable medium in this embodiment. Reference numerals 10030 and 10040 denote screens when the captured images recorded on the optical disc 10020 are reproduced by the image management apparatus 10000. Reference numeral 10030 denotes a menu screen for the user to select the captured images. Reference numeral 10040 denotes a menu screen. This is a captured image that was played back.
[0010]
The image management apparatus 10000 automatically generates a menu screen 10030 from a plurality of moving images or still images input from the electronic camera 10010 and records it on the write-once optical disc 10020 together with image data. Here, when a menu with a menu screen is selected, the menu screen 10030 can reproduce specific image information or display a menu of the next hierarchy, and can select and reproduce image information. However, it is also possible to reproduce not only one unit of input image information file but also a plurality of pieces of image information as a single continuous image information. Specifically, a plurality of pieces of image information captured on a specific date can be reproduced continuously.
[0011]
By writing such a menu screen 10030 on the write-once optical disc 10020 together with the image information, the image information captured by the electronic camera 10010 is saved on a low-cost write-once optical disc, and a playback image is designated by a simple operation. It is also possible to create a platform-free optical disc that can be freely reproduced by other optical disc reproducing apparatuses.
[0012]
2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the image management apparatus and the electronic camera in the image management system of FIG. 1. The image management apparatus 20100 in FIG. 1 corresponds to the image management apparatus 10000 in FIG. 1, and the digital camera 20000 in FIG. Corresponds to the electronic camera 10010 of FIG.
[0013]
The digital camera (electronic camera) 20000 converts an image pickup signal output from the image pickup element 20011 into a digital image using the signal processing circuit 20010, performs compression processing by the encoder / decoder 20020, and records it in the removable HDD 20020. The recorded compressed image data is decompressed by an encoder / decoder 20020 and can be viewed on a liquid crystal display device 20030 built in or externally attached to the digital camera 20000.
[0014]
The image management apparatus 20100 includes a CPU 20110, an encoder / decoder 20120, a memory 20130, an HDD 20140, a write-once optical disc (CD-R) drive 20105, a video interface (I / F) 20160, and a PC interface (I / F). ) 20170, a camera interface (I / F) 20180, and a remote control interface (I / F) 20190. Further, the image management apparatus 20100 can be controlled by the remote controller 20191, and a command from the remote controller 20191 is transmitted to the image management apparatus 20100 by the remote control I / F 20190.
[0015]
The detachable HDD 20200 removed from the digital camera 20000 is directly attached to the image management apparatus 20100, or the digital camera 20000 and the image management apparatus 20100 are directly connected using the camera I / F 20180, so that the captured digital compressed image data can be captured. The data is input to the image management apparatus 20100 and recorded once in the HDD 20140. The recorded digital image data is decompressed through an encoder / decoder 20120, and can be viewed on a display device such as an external television (not shown) via a video I / F 20160. Similarly, an image input from the video I / F 20160 can be compressed using the encoder / decoder 20120 and recorded as digital compressed image data in the HDD 20140.
[0016]
Corresponding to the digital image data written in the HDD 20140, a menu screen as shown in FIG. 1 is automatically created based on the shooting date / time data and the like, and the digital image data together with this menu screen is stored in the CD-R. The data is recorded on a write-once optical disc mounted on the drive 20135.
[0017]
As will be described later, the user can specify free characters and designs on the menu screen, and these can be input from a terminal device connected by the PC-I / F 20170. Further, the image management apparatus 20100 can be controlled from the terminal apparatus connected to the PC-I / F 20170 in the same manner as the above-described remote controller.
[0018]
Next, a procedure for displaying an image recorded on an optical disc (recordable optical disc) as described above will be described.
The contents of the optical disc loaded with the CD-R drive 20130 on which the image data and the menu screen have been recorded in advance are read according to a command from the CPU 20110. First, the menu screen is read and displayed on a display means such as a television (not shown) connected by the video I / F 20160. The user sees this menu screen, selects image data to be viewed using the remote controller 20111, and the CPU 20110 reads the designated image data from the optical disk mounted on the CD-R drive 20135, and the encoder / decoder 20120. Then, the compressed data is decompressed and displayed on the display means through the video I / F 20160 as in the menu screen.
[0019]
Here, the instruction to the image management apparatus 20100 can be performed by a terminal device connected using the PC-I / F 20160 as well as the remote control 20191, and at the same time, the menu screen and the image are displayed on the terminal device. It can also be done with a display device. At this time, the image decompression processing may be performed using a decoder built in the terminal device instead of the encoder / decoder 20120 built in the image management device 20100. In this case, since the image data transmitted to the terminal device via the PC-I / F 20170 is in a compressed state, even if the communication speed is relatively low, the user can wait due to the slow line speed. In addition, it is possible to reproduce a moving image.
[0020]
FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram in units of time axis showing the shooting state of image data handled by the image management apparatus according to the present embodiment.
In FIG. 3, 30000 is image data of a captured moving image or still image, and shooting is performed in the order of the time axis 30050. For example, the first five are “Happo-one Climbing Day 1” 30010, the next seven are “Happo-one Climbing Day 2” 30020, the next six are “Azumino Walking” 30030, and the last four are It was taken in the situation of “Return” 30040.
[0021]
FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing the state of the image data in the recording medium handled by the image management apparatus according to the present embodiment.
In FIG. 4, 40000 shows the internal structure of the removable HDD shown in FIG. 2, and each square indicates a sector of the HDD. “Happo-one mountain climbing first day-1” 40020 to “Happo-one mountain climbing first day-5” 40024, which are continuous in the time axis direction at the time of shooting, are not consecutive in the HDD and are arranged at random. Further, a newly photographed image is written in an area that is free in the HDD at that time, and in some cases, one image data may not be continuously arranged in the HDD.
[0022]
FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing the description content of the image data handled by the image management apparatus according to the present embodiment.
In FIG. 5, 50,000, 50010, and 50020 are information (attribute information) describing information related to the image data body. These indicate a file name, a shooting date, a shooting time, a shooting time, and the like. In the future, information such as a shooting location obtained by a location detection device such as a GPS can also be added. These pieces of attribute information are used as a menu screen automatically generated by the image management apparatus according to the present embodiment and as a search key for image data.
[0023]
FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an example of a display screen output by the image management apparatus according to the present embodiment.
FIG. 6A shows a first menu screen, which is a menu screen common to all optical discs created by the image management apparatus in the present embodiment. The disc number is displayed in the title of the screen (60011), and three menus (60013) are shown below. “1” is classified by date and time, and when this is selected with the cursor 60012, a menu for selecting a photographed image by date and time in FIG. 6B is displayed. “2” is a menu for selecting photographed images by date, and when this is selected, a menu for selecting photographed images by date in FIG. 6C is displayed. “3” is all, and all the images on the optical disc are reproduced in order of date and time without the menus (b) and (c) of FIG.
[0024]
FIG. 6B shows a list of images recorded in the optical disc by date (60021) and time (60022), and indicates that each moving image is a length or a still image. The STILL character (60025) is displayed. The user can view the corresponding image by selecting from this list with the cursor 60024.
[0025]
FIG. 6C shows a list of images recorded in the optical disc by date (60031), and displays the length of each image organized by date (60032).
[0026]
Although not shown here, when playing back by date and all together, playback is a mixture of moving images and still images, but at the end of playback of each image, the user puts a pause on the remote control etc. By instructing at, it is possible to move to the next image reproduction, or to automatically reproduce all images continuously by building a program that displays still images for a certain period of time.
FIG. 6D shows an image displayed according to each of these menus.
[0027]
Although not shown in FIG. 6, the first I-PICTURE of the image indicated by the cursors 60024 and 60034 in FIGS. 6B and 6C is reduced and displayed on the screen, for example, on the lower right, so that the image is reduced. Is easier to select. At this time, since it is the first frame of the compressed moving image that is read from the optical disk, it takes almost no time to read it. Furthermore, when creating these menu screens, a reduced (thumbnail) image of I-PICTURE is created as the menu screen itself, for example, as a menu screen that displays the screen in 9 × 3 × 3 split screens. It is also possible to select with a cursor from the menu screen by the reduced image division screen, and in this way, the user can select an image more easily and reliably.
[0028]
FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a second example of a display screen output by the image management apparatus according to the present embodiment.
FIG. 7A shows a first menu screen, which is a menu screen common to all optical disks created by the image management apparatus according to the present embodiment. The disc number is displayed in the title of the screen (70001), and the following four menus are shown. “1” is classified by date and time, and when this is selected by the cursor 70012, a menu for selecting a photographed image by date and time in FIG. 6B is displayed. “2” is a menu for selecting photographed images by date. When this is selected, a menu for selecting photographed images by date in FIG. 6C is displayed. “4” is all, and all the images stored in the optical disc are reproduced in order of date and time without the menus (b) and (c) of FIG.
[0029]
The option “3” by shooting comment is to display the individual display of each image as a comment sentence set separately for each image instead of the date and time. As will be described later, this comment text is input from a terminal device connected to the image management apparatus when automatically generating data to be recorded on the optical disc, or in the attribute information shown in FIG. input.
[0030]
FIG. 7B shows a menu for selecting an image for each shooting comment. In this example, the comment indicating the content of each image is the same as that shown in FIG. 3 for each date. It is described in the contents. When the menu screen shown in FIG. 7B is used, it is not necessary for the user to select a date or time by checking, for example, his / her own diary when selecting an image to be viewed. Can be selected.
[0031]
FIG. 7C shows a list of images specified in FIG. 7B among the list of images recorded on the optical disc. Here, the images collected by date are displayed. Display length.
[0032]
Although not shown here, when playing back by date and all together, playback is a mixture of moving images and still images, but at the end of playback of each image, the user puts a pause on the remote control etc. By instructing at, it is possible to move to the next image reproduction, or to automatically reproduce all images continuously by building a program that displays still images for a certain period of time.
FIG. 7D shows an image displayed according to each of these menus.
[0033]
Here, as a method for realizing a menu screen display of an image and a function of selecting an image to be actually reproduced according to the menu screen, the playback control of the video CD 2.0 may be used. In this case, as shown in FIG. The menu screens as shown in (a), (b), and (c) are still images, and are automatically generated by the image management apparatus according to the present embodiment. The design can be set freely by the user including not only the contents of the descriptive characters but also the design of the image by inputting from the terminal device described later, or it can be selected from existing designs prepared in advance. is there.
[0034]
FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a connection form of the image management apparatus according to the present embodiment with a terminal device.
A terminal device is connected to the PC-I / F of the image management apparatus 80020 shown in FIG. Reference numeral 80010 denotes a portable information terminal device, which can easily input a shooting comment as shown in FIG. 7B by pen input or virtual keyboard input. Further, by connecting a personal computer 80030, it is possible to input a shooting comment, and it is also possible to create a still image of the menu screen itself using graphic design software or the like. In addition, the image data recorded on the optical disk can be transferred to the personal computer through the PC-I / F and viewed on the screen of the personal computer, and the image data can be pasted on software such as a word processor of the personal computer. Operation is also possible.
[0035]
The PC-I / F may use a serial port that is normally used for communication using a modem for sending a simple menu screen character or controlling an image management apparatus, and also for transferring image data. When transferring or sending the designed still image data to the image management apparatus, a dedicated or general-purpose high-speed bidirectional interface may be used.
[0036]
Further, a shooting comment may be input by directly connecting an input pad or a keyboard (not shown) to the image management apparatus of the present embodiment. Furthermore, using a voice input device such as a microphone (not shown in FIG. 2), voice input and voice recognition by a program installed in the CPU and memory of the image management device can be used to input a shooting comment. Good. At this time, the selection instruction on the menu selection screen in FIGS. 6 and 7 may be similarly performed by voice input.
[0037]
FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a description of information for actually selecting image data in accordance with the selection from the menu screen and the menu screen in the image management apparatus according to the present embodiment.
In FIG. 9, 90010 is an example of a menu screen. For example, when “3” is selected, the image is shot at 7:14:24 on 96/9/17, and 1 ′ 4 A moving image shot for 5 ″ is displayed. Reference numerals 90020 and 90030 are examples of files indicating the description contents of the menu screen and the relationship from each menu to the next menu or image data.
[0038]
90020 describes the menu screen of FIG. 7B, and the file name is Index1.txt. The description contents are a menu number, a shooting comment, and a file name describing a menu to be displayed next when the menu is selected. For example, when index2.txt is selected, 90030 files are referenced. Here, Azumino walk A list of image data taken on (96/9/17) is displayed. Specifically, the shooting date and time, the shooting time length or still image display, and the file name of this image are described.
[0039]
The menu screen 90010 is displayed based on the above file. By selecting the image “3”, the file name FILE0003. An MPG image is displayed. Here, index1. txt is a shooting comment notation, index2. Although the date and time of the photographed image are displayed at txt, these may be mixed, and index1. The next menu file and image data may be mixed in txt. That is, on a certain menu screen, when “1” is selected, the next menu screen appears, and when “2” is selected, the designated moving image may be displayed. Specifically, in the menu screen of FIG. 7A, when “1” to “3” are selected, the next menu screen appears, and when “4” is selected, a captured image is displayed. In the playback control of the video CD 2.0 illustrated in FIG. 7, these pieces of information are described in PSD (Play Sequence Descriptor).
[0040]
FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram showing a method of copying the created optical disk in the image management apparatus according to the present embodiment.
In conventional image shooting using a video tape, when copying (dubbing) a tape, it is necessary to use two video decks to connect them. Since the image management apparatus according to the present embodiment uses a write-once optical disc (CD-R), it is necessary to supply captured image data at a stable speed, and it has an HDD having a capacity of one optical disc or more. By using this HDD, the optical disk can be copied with a single mounted CD-R drive. Specifically, by copying the contents of the copy source optical disk 100010 to the HDD 100020, and then replacing the optical disk 10010 in the CD-R drive with a new unfilled optical disk 100030 and writing the contents of the HDD 100020. Then, copying from the optical disk 100010 to 100030 is performed.
[0041]
FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram showing a method for adding new information to the created optical disc in the image management apparatus according to the present embodiment.
In the write-once optical disc (CD-R) described in FIG. 10, it is necessary to stably describe information at a constant speed, and it is difficult to add new information once information is described. In order to solve this, information can be added by using a method called multi-session. However, the type of CD-ROM drive from which an optical disc recorded by this method is read is limited. The standard does not guarantee multi-session support.
[0042]
In this embodiment, since the media price of a write-once optical disk (CD-R) is low, the contents of the optical disk are copied to the HDD once as shown in FIG. By writing to another optical disk, additional description to the optical disk can be performed as a result. Specifically, the contents of the master optical disc 110010 are copied to the HDD 110020 as in FIG. Next, new image data from the digital camera 110040 is added to the contents of the HDD 110020. Accordingly, an information file index. The contents 110050 of txt are automatically rewritten. After that, a new unfilled optical disk 110030 is loaded into the CD-R drive, and the contents of the HDD 110020 are written, whereby information can be added to the optical disk 110030.
[0043]
In addition to the above example, additional writing is performed in multi-session until one optical disk is full, and finally copying is performed by the method shown in FIG. 10, thereby converting the multi-session disk into a single session disk. It is possible to provide an optical disc that can be read even by an optical disc drive that does not support multi-session discs.
[0044]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the present invention, shooting data of an electronic camera that records shooting information on a randomly accessible medium that overcomes the shortcomings of a medium that can only be described and reproduced in a conventional manner such as a video tape. , Record and save as information that can be viewed by users with simple operation Image management system Can be provided.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of an image management system using an image management apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration in an image management system using an image management apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram in units of a time axis indicating a shooting state of image data handled by the image management apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a state of image data in a recording medium handled by the image management apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing description contents of image data handled by the image management apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing a first example of a display screen output by the image management apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing a second example of a display screen output by the image management apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram showing a connection form with a terminal device in the image management apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram showing a description of information for actually selecting image data in accordance with a selection from the menu screen and the menu screen in the image management apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram showing a method of copying the created optical disc in the image management apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram showing a method of adding new information to the created optical disc in the image management apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.
[Explanation of symbols]
10000, 20100, 80020 Image management device
10010, 20000, 110040 Electronic camera (digital camera)
10020, 100010, 100030, 110010, 110030 Write-once optical disc (CD-R)
10030 Menu screen
10040 Playback image
2001 Signal processing circuit
2001 Imaging device
200220 Encoder / Decoder
20030 Liquid crystal display device
201010 CPU
20120 Encoder / Decoder
Memory
20140 HDD
20105 Write-once optical disc (CD-R) drive
20160 Video interface (Video I / F)
20170 PC interface (PCI / F)
20180 Camera interface (Camera I / F)
20190 Remote control interface (Remote control I / F)
20131 remote control
20200 Removable HDD
80010 Portable information terminal device
80030 Personal computer

Claims (10)

Recording means for recording image information on a randomly accessible recording medium;
Menu generating means for generating a menu having information automatically classified based on the attribute of the image information, the image information recorded by the recording means,
The menu generated by the menu generating means includes information for specifying a plurality of pieces of image information. Recording means for recording image information on a randomly accessible recording medium;
A plurality of menus having information automatically classified based on image information attributes;
An image management system for automatically classifying image information recorded by the recording means into one of the plurality of menus. Information that automatically classifies a plurality of pieces of image information recorded on a randomly accessible recording medium based on attributes of the image information, and information that indicates a list of image information based on the automatically classified information , a means for automatically generating a menu with,
Output means for outputting a menu screen to the display means based on the menu,
An image management system, wherein image information selected from the menu screen is reproduced and displayed on the display means. The image management system according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
An image management system comprising means for recording the menu on the recording medium. The image management system according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
An image management system comprising only one random-accessible recording medium drive device. The image management system according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
The image management system according to claim 1, wherein the attribute is information including at least one of shooting date / time information of the image, film name information, image type, and shooting location information. The image management system according to claim 3.
An image management system, wherein a menu screen output based on the menu is a reduced image of the image information. The image management system according to claim 3.
The image management system, wherein the menu screen has a plurality of options classified based on the attribute of the image information, and the options include an option for selecting another menu screen. The image management system according to claim 8,
An image management system characterized in that the option can be described by an arbitrary character string. The image management system according to claim 1 or 2,
A random-accessible first recording medium; and a random-accessible second recording medium,
An image management system for copying image information recorded on the first recording medium by the recording means to the second recording medium based on the menu.

Images