JP3642164B2 - Digital still camera device - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a digital still camera device that converts a photographed image signal into a digital image signal and records it on a recording medium.
[0002]
[Prior art]
In recent years, digital still camera devices are equipped with removable recording media so that captured image data can be moved easily and at high speed.
[0003]
A conventional digital still camera device will be described below.
FIG. 4 shows a block diagram of a conventional digital still camera device. In FIG. 4, reference numeral 10 denotes an imaging unit that captures an image. 11 is a digital signal processing unit that converts an image captured by the imaging unit 10 into a digital signal, 12 is a memory unit that is a storage unit that stores the digital image signal, 13 is a compression unit that compresses the digital image signal, and 14 is a removal unit A possible recording medium; 15 a reproduction unit for reproducing a digital image signal recorded on the recording medium 13; 17 a changeover switch for switching between an output signal of the digital signal processing unit 11 and a reproduction signal output from the memory unit 12; Is an image display unit for displaying a digital image signal output from the changeover switch 17.
[0004]
The operation of the conventional digital still camera apparatus configured as described above will be described below.
[0005]
First, at the time of shooting, an image signal shot by the imaging unit 10 is converted into a digital image signal by the digital image processing unit 11 and stored in the memory unit 12. The digital image signal in the memory unit 12 is digitally compressed by the compression unit 13 and recorded as an image file on a recording medium 14 that is removable from the apparatus. A digital image signal converted by the digital signal processing unit 11 is supplied to the display unit 16 by the changeover switch 17, and an image captured by the imaging unit 10 can be displayed.
[0006]
Next, at the time of reproduction, the reproduction unit 15 reads an image file from the recording medium 14, decompresses it to the original digital image signal, and stores it in the memory unit 12. The digital image signal read from the memory unit 12 is input to the display unit 16 via the switch 17, and the display unit 16 can display a reproduced image.
[0007]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, the above-described conventional configuration has a configuration in which a captured digital image signal cannot be recorded or reproduced unless the recording medium 14 is attached to the apparatus. In the case where the display is always displayed and the reproduced image is output from the display unit 16, the removable recording medium 14 may be stolen or lost. Further, in order to prevent theft or loss, the recording medium mounting portion of the apparatus may be closed with an adhesive tape or the like, but the aesthetics of the apparatus are significantly reduced. In addition, there is a method of creating a recording medium that is not removable from the apparatus for display purposes only, but it has a problem that the versatility is impaired and the cost is increased.
[0008]
In addition, since only one digital image can be displayed on the display unit, when a memory or recording medium having a large storage capacity is used, it takes time to search for a desired digital image, which reduces the operability.
[0009]
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to solve the above-described conventional problems, and an object thereof is to provide a digital still camera device that can perform photographing and reproduction operations and can improve operability even without a recording medium for display.
[0010]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to achieve this object, the digital still camera device of the present invention includes an imaging unit that captures an image of a subject, a digital signal processing unit that converts an image captured by the imaging unit into a digital signal, and conversion by the digital signal processing unit. Storage means for storing the digital image signal, a compression section for compressing the digital image signal of the storage means, a recording medium on which the digital image signal detachable from the apparatus and compressed by the compression section is recorded, and a recording medium A reproduction unit that reproduces a digital image signal recorded on the storage unit and stores the digital image signal in a storage unit, an image display unit that displays an image captured by the imaging unit or a digital image signal stored in the storage unit, and a recording medium. detecting that it is detached from the device to disable the function of the reproduction unit and the compression unit, at the time of shooting without storing the digital image signal stored in said storage means to said recording medium At the time of reproduction is obtained and a detection unit that controls to display the digital image signal stored in said memory means by said display means.
[0011]
With this configuration, when no recording medium is attached to the apparatus, the digital image signal that is taken is only stored in the storage means at the time of shooting, and the function of the playback unit does not work at the time of playback. The digital image signal is stored and displayed on the image display unit. Therefore, in the case of exhibiting, it is possible to execute shooting and reproduction operations without mounting a removable recording medium or without creating and mounting a special non-removable recording medium.
[0012]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
According to the first aspect of the present invention, an imaging unit that captures an image of a subject, a digital signal processing unit that converts an image captured by the imaging unit into a digital signal, and a digital image that is converted by the digital signal processing unit A storage means for storing the signal, a compression section for compressing the digital image signal of the storage means, a recording medium on which the digital image signal detachable from the apparatus and compressed by the compression section is recorded, and recorded on the recording medium The playback unit that plays back the digital image signal and stores it in the storage unit, the image display unit that displays the image captured by the imaging unit or the digital image signal stored in the storage unit, and the recording medium are detached from the apparatus. compression unit detects that have a disabled the functions of the playback unit, without storing the digital image signal stored in said storage means to said recording medium at the time of shooting, stored in the storage means at the time of reproduction And a detection unit that controls to display the digital image signal displayed on the display means. When displaying this apparatus, it is not necessary to attach a removable recording medium or to remove it. Thus, it is possible to perform shooting and playback operations without creating and mounting a simple recording medium.
[0013]
The invention according to claim 2 is the invention according to claim 1, further comprising an operation unit capable of selecting a desired digital image from the screen group when the screen group is displayed on the display unit. A plurality of display screens stored in the storage means are combined by the composite image processing unit to create and display a screen group, and a desired small display unit is selected by the operation unit. Images can be displayed quickly. In addition, since a large number of images can be stored when the storage capacity of the storage means is large, there is an effect that a desired image can be quickly selected.
[0014]
Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.
(Embodiment 1)
FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a digital still camera device according to the present embodiment. In FIG. 1, 1 is an image capturing unit that captures an image of a subject or the like, and 2 is an image captured by the image capturing unit 1 that is converted into a digital image signal. The digital signal processing unit 3 is a memory unit that is a storage means for storing the digital image signal from the digital signal processing unit 2, and in this embodiment, a dynamic random access memory (DRAM) is considered in consideration of writing and reading times. However, the present invention is not limited to this as long as it is a storage means capable of writing and reading, such as VRAM (video RAM) and SRAM (static RAM). Reference numeral 4 denotes a compression unit that compresses the digital image signal output from the memory unit 3, and reference numeral 5 denotes a recording medium that can record the compressed digital image signal output from the compression unit 4 as an image file. The recording medium is a readable / writable recording medium such as SRAM or VRAM, but may be an optical disk or magneto-optical disk. Reference numeral 6 denotes a reproduction unit which decompresses an image file recorded on the recording medium 5 and reproduces it as a digital image signal and stores it in the memory unit 3. Reference numeral 8 denotes a digital image signal taken from the digital signal processing unit 2 or from the memory unit 3. A switch 7 for switching between the digital image signal and an image display unit 7 for displaying the digital image signal selected by the switch 8, for example, a liquid crystal display unit. Reference numeral 9 denotes a detection unit that detects whether the recording medium 5 is mounted on the apparatus (mounted or not mounted).
[0015]
The operation of the digital still camera device configured as described above will be described with reference to FIG.
[0016]
First, at the time of photographing, an image signal photographed by the imaging unit 1 is converted into a digital image signal by the digital image processing unit 2 and stored in the memory unit 3. If the detection unit 9 detects that the removable recording medium 5 is attached to the apparatus, the detection unit 9 controls the operation of the compression unit 4 to be effective, and the digital signal from the memory unit 3 is detected. The image signal is digitally compressed by the compression unit 4 and recorded as an image file on the recording medium 5.
[0017]
If the detection unit 9 detects that the recording medium 5 is not mounted, the detection unit 9 controls to disable the operation of the compression unit 4, and the digital image signal from the memory unit 3 is transferred to the recording medium 5. Is not recorded. The display unit 7 is supplied with the digital image signal converted by the digital signal processing unit 2 via the switch 8, and displays the image being shot.
[0018]
Next, at the time of reproduction, if the recording medium 5 is attached to the apparatus, the detection unit 9 detects this and controls to make the reproduction unit 6 valid. Then, the reproduction unit 6 reads out the image file from the recording medium 5, decompresses it to the original digital image signal, and outputs it to the memory unit 3. The memory unit 3 stores this digital image signal.
[0019]
If the recording medium 5 is not loaded in the apparatus, the detection unit 9 detects this and controls the reproduction unit 6 to be invalidated. Then, the switch 8 is switched to the memory unit 3 side, the digital image signal stored in the memory unit 3 is read, and the digital image signal is supplied to the display unit 7 for display.
[0020]
As described above, according to the present embodiment, the detection unit 9 detects the mounting state of the recording medium 5 with respect to the apparatus, and controls the compression unit 4 and the reproducing unit 6 so that the recording medium 5 is mounted on the apparatus. When not being performed, the digital image signal from the digital image processing unit 2 is output to the display unit 7 during shooting, and the digital image signal stored in the memory unit 3 is output to the display unit 7 during playback. It is.
[0021]
(Embodiment 2)
Hereinafter, Embodiment 2 of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
[0022]
FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of the digital still camera apparatus according to the present embodiment, and FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing a display example of the display unit according to the embodiment. In FIG. 2, the same numbers are assigned to the same components as those in the first embodiment, and the description thereof is omitted. A composite image processing unit 21 stores digital image signals output from the memory unit 3 and processes a plurality of images into one image data. A composite image signal processed by the composite image display unit 21 is displayed on the display unit 7. This is an operation unit for selecting a desired image by seeing what has been done. In FIG. 3, 31 is a display unit, 31a to 31i are a plurality of small display units displayed on the display unit 31, and in this embodiment, nine small display units are displayed at a time. It is not limited to this. Reference numerals 32a and 32b denote screen feeding units capable of moving forward and backward for each screen with nine small display units as one screen.
[0023]
The operation of the digital still camera device of the present embodiment configured as described above will be described below.
[0024]
First, at the time of photographing, an image signal photographed by the imaging unit 1 is converted into a digital image signal by the digital image processing unit 2 and stored in the memory unit 3. If the detection unit 9 detects that the removable recording medium 5 is attached to the apparatus, the detection unit 9 controls the operation of the compression unit 4 to be effective, and the digital signal from the memory unit 3 is detected. The image signal is digitally compressed by the compression unit 4 and recorded as an image file on the recording medium 5.
[0025]
Next, at the time of reproduction, if the recording medium 5 is attached to the present apparatus, the reproduction unit 6 reproduces the digital image signal recorded on the recording medium 5, and if the recording medium 5 is not attached, it is stored in the memory unit 3. The stored digital image signal is output to the composite image processing unit 21. In the composite image processing unit 21, a plurality of digital image signals from the memory unit 3 are combined as one screen to form a screen group and displayed on the display unit 7 via the switch 8. An example of the display is shown in FIG.
[0026]
As shown in FIG. 3, nine small display units 31a to 31i are displayed at a time, and the user operates the operation unit 20 to move among the small display units 31a to 31i. A desired small display unit is selected from the above. As a selection method, there is a method of providing selection by providing up / down / left / right cursor keys on the apparatus main body. Moreover, it can switch to another small screen using the screen sending parts 32a and 32b. In the present embodiment, nine small display units are displayed in one screen group, but the number of small display units is not limited to this.
[0027]
As described above, according to the present embodiment, a plurality of display screens stored in the memory unit 3 are combined by the composite image processing unit 21 to create and display a screen group, and a desired small size is displayed by the operation unit 20. By selecting the display unit, a desired image can be quickly displayed. In addition, since a large number of images can be stored when the storage capacity of the memory unit 3 is large, a desired image can be quickly selected from the images.
[0028]
In the present embodiment, only the photographed image is displayed on the small display unit shown in FIG. 3, but the photographing date and time, the photographing title, and the like may be displayed together with the photographed image.
[0029]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, when presenting a digital still camera device, the present invention can perform shooting and playback operations without mounting a removable recording medium or without creating a special non-removable recording medium. It is possible to obtain an excellent effect that can be executed.
[0030]
In addition, by combining multiple display screens with the composite image processing unit to create and display a screen group and selecting the desired small display unit with the operation unit, the desired image can be quickly displayed on the screen, An excellent effect of improving operability can be obtained.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a digital still camera device according to a first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a digital still camera device according to a second embodiment of the present invention. Schematic diagram showing a display example of a digital still camera device. FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a conventional digital still camera device.
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Image pick-up part 2 Digital signal processing part 3 Memory part 4 Compression part 5 Recording medium 6 Playback part 7 Display part 8 Switch 9 Detection part

Claims (2)

An imaging unit that captures an image of a subject, a digital signal processing unit that converts an image captured by the imaging unit into a digital signal, a storage unit that stores a digital image signal converted by the digital signal processing unit, and the storage Means for compressing the digital image signal, a recording medium detachably attached to the apparatus and recording the digital image signal compressed by the compression unit, and reproducing the digital image signal recorded on the recording medium. A reproducing unit stored in the storage unit, a display unit for displaying an image captured by the imaging unit or a digital image signal stored in the storage unit, and the recording medium being detached from the apparatus. detected and, to disable the function of the compression unit the reproduction unit, at the time of shooting without storing the digital image signal stored in said storage means to said recording medium, wherein upon reproduction Symbol Digital still camera apparatus characterized by comprising a detecting unit that controls to display the digital image signal stored in the means by said display means. 2. The digital still camera device according to claim 1, further comprising an operation unit capable of selecting a desired digital image from the screen group when the screen group is displayed on the display unit.

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