JP4053183B2 - Electronic camera - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an electronic camera, and more particularly to an electronic camera provided with a printing mechanism.
[0002]
[Prior art]
In recent years, there has been a demand for the development of an electronic camera with a built-in print mechanism, that is, an electronic camera with a printer, so that an image taken with the electronic camera can be seen on the spot.
[0003]
At present, as a printing mechanism incorporated in an electronic camera, a photosensitive type that forms an image on a photosensitive film (photosensitive paper) such as an instant film has been proposed. In this method, print data is created based on image data obtained by a CCD or the like, and photosensitive paper is exposed using the print data to form an image.
[0004]
When performing normal printing, image data of an image displayed on the image display LCD is used. However, since the photosensitive paper itself and the placement position of the photosensitive paper vary, the image data is formed on the photosensitive paper from the image formation area (print area). In addition, by performing exposure using a wide range as an exposure area, an image is formed on the entire image formation area of the photosensitive paper.
[0005]
However, by using the image data of the image displayed on the image display LCD to expose a wider area than the image forming area of the photosensitive paper, the range of the image printed on the photosensitive paper is displayed on the image display LCD. It becomes narrower than the range of the image to be recorded. That is, an image in which the peripheral portion of the image displayed on the image display LCD is missing is printed on the photosensitive paper, and the intended image may not be printed.
[0006]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
Thus, conventionally, there has been a problem that the range of the image grasped by the image display means is not reliably printed on the photosensitive paper.
[0007]
The present invention has been made to solve the above-described conventional problems, and an object thereof is to make it possible to reliably print a range of an image grasped by an image display means in an electronic camera incorporating a print mechanism.
[0008]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
An electronic camera according to the present invention includes an imaging unit that photoelectrically converts a subject image to generate electronic image data, and image data generated by the imaging unit using an area wider than an image forming area of a sheet as an exposure area. An image forming unit that performs exposure based on the image and forms an image in a range narrower than the range of the captured image on a sheet, and a trimmed image trimmed to a range narrower than the range of the image formed on the sheet by the image forming unit An image display means for displaying is provided.
[0009]
It is preferable that the image display means can selectively display the trimmed image or the captured image.
[0010]
According to the present invention, an image in a range narrower than the captured image is formed on a sheet, and a trimmed image in a range narrower than that is displayed on the image display means. Therefore, the trimmed image range displayed on the image display means can be reliably formed on the paper.
[0011]
In addition, an electronic camera according to the present invention includes an imaging unit that photoelectrically converts a subject image to generate electronic image data, and an image generated by the imaging unit with an area wider than the image forming area of the paper as an exposure area. An image forming unit that performs exposure based on data and forms an image in a range narrower than the range of the captured image on the sheet, and a range of the image formed on the sheet by the image forming unit when displaying the captured image And an image display means for displaying a trimmed image trimmed to a narrower range in a distinguishable manner.
[0012]
According to the present invention, the captured image can be grasped by the image display means, and the range of the trimmed image can be identified, so that the range of the image that is surely printed on the sheet can be grasped simultaneously.
[0013]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
[0014]
FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of an electronic camera incorporating a print mechanism according to the present embodiment.
[0015]
The basic configuration of the imaging unit is the same as that of a normal electronic camera, and includes an imaging lens system 11, an imaging device 12 including a photoelectric conversion device such as a CCD, an imaging circuit 13, and an A / D conversion circuit 14. . That is, the subject image formed by the photographic lens system 11 is photoelectrically converted by the image pickup device 12, and the photoelectrically converted image signal is input to the A / D conversion circuit 14 via the image pickup circuit 13, thereby being digitally converted. The image signal is obtained.
[0016]
The operation unit 15 gives various instructions to the electronic camera, and includes a release start switch, a print start switch for instructing print start, a mode selection switch for selecting various modes to be described later, and the like. The mode display LCD 16 displays various modes described later. The strobe light emitting unit 17 emits strobe light when performing strobe shooting.
[0017]
The power supply unit 18 supplies power to each unit of the electronic camera, and a camera battery 19 and a film battery 33 described later are connected to the power supply unit 18. The camera battery 19 mainly supplies power to the camera section of the electronic camera, and the film battery 33 mainly supplies power to the printer section of the electronic camera. In addition, an external power supply can be connected to the power supply unit 18 via an external power supply input terminal 20.
[0018]
The system controller (system controller) 21 controls each part of the electronic camera, and has an image processing function for performing white balance processing, matrix calculation, and the like, and a compression / decompression function for compressing and decompressing image data. In addition, it has a pixel number conversion process (resizing process) function that converts the number of pixels of a captured image into a predetermined number of pixels, and a print image generation function that generates an image for printing.
[0019]
The memory interface 22 is an interface for transmitting and receiving information to and from the removable memory (memory card) 24 inserted in the card slot 23, and image information to the removable memory 24 is transmitted via the memory interface 22. Writing and reading of image information from the removable memory 24 are performed.
[0020]
The buffer memory 25 temporarily stores image data obtained by the imaging unit. The buffer memory 25 is also used as a work area for image processing such as white balance processing.
[0021]
The external interface 26 is an interface for communicating with an external device via the external input / output terminal 27, and various information such as image information is exchanged with the external device such as a personal computer by the external interface 26. Can be sent and received.
[0022]
The video memory 28 holds display data converted into a predetermined number of pixels by the pixel number conversion processing function of the system controller 21. The display data held in the video memory 28 is sent to the video output circuit 29, and the video output circuit 29 performs a predetermined process for displaying an image on the image display LCD 30. The output signal from the video output circuit 29 can be sent to an external device via the video out terminal 31.
[0023]
The above description mainly relates to the camera mechanism (camera unit) of the electronic camera. Next, the print mechanism (printer unit) built in the electronic camera will be described.
[0024]
For the printing mechanism, a photosensitive type that forms an image on a photosensitive film (photosensitive paper) such as an instant film is used. A plurality of photosensitive papers are stored in a removable cartridge 32, and the cartridge 32 is provided with a film battery (F battery) 33. At the time of printing, the photosensitive paper is moved by the drive control circuit 34 and the driving unit 35 (consisting of a motor and a transmission system), whereby an image is formed on the photosensitive paper in units of one line.
[0025]
The print data for one line is obtained by processing the data read from the video memory 28 using the print image generation function of the system controller 21 and is held in the line memory 36. The print data for one line held in the line memory 36 is sent to the LCD shutter 38 via the LCD control circuit 37.
[0026]
The LCD shutter 38 has a plurality of shutter portions for one line. A plurality of LEDs (R, G, B) are provided in an array corresponding to each shutter portion, and a light source 39 is configured by this LED array. Based on the image information sent from the LCD control circuit 37, the exposure time by the light from the light source 39 is changed by controlling the opening time of each shutter portion of the LCD shutter 38, and an image is displayed line by line on the photosensitive paper. It is formed.
[0027]
Next, the basic concept of this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.
[0028]
The total display image area is an image area corresponding to the image area obtained by the imaging unit (for example, an image area of 640 × 480 pixels), in other words, an area where exposure is performed based on the image data. And the image area displayed on the image display LCD in the normal reproduction mode. The trimmed image area is an image area (for example, an image area of 576 × 432 pixels) obtained by trimming an image of the entire display image area, and is displayed on the image display LCD in a shooting print mode and a reproduction print mode described later. Corresponds to the image area to be displayed. The print area (image forming area) is an area where an image printed on the photosensitive paper is displayed, that is, an area where the photosensitive paper is exposed by exposure.
[0029]
As described above, normally, when performing printing, image data corresponding to the entire display image area is used to expose a wider area than the photosensitive paper print area, so that the entire print area of the photosensitive paper is exposed. An image is formed. About this point, this embodiment and the prior art are also the same.
[0030]
Conventionally, since the entire display image area corresponds to the image area displayed on the image display LCD, the range of the image actually printed on the photosensitive paper (corresponding to the print area range) is displayed on the image display LCD. As a result, an image in which the peripheral portion of the image displayed on the image display LCD is missing is printed on the photosensitive paper.
[0031]
On the other hand, in this embodiment, the trimmed image area corresponds to the image area displayed on the image display LCD, and this trimmed image area is set to be narrower than the print area. That is, as shown in FIGS. 2A, 2B, and 2C, the trimmed image area is set so that the trimmed image area surely enters the print area even if the print area varies. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the problem that the peripheral portion of the image displayed on the image display LCD is missing and printed on the photosensitive paper as in the conventional case.
[0032]
Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described.
[0033]
The electronic camera according to the present embodiment can select any mode from the shooting print mode, the normal shooting mode, the playback print mode, and the normal playback mode by the mode selection switch of the operation unit 15 shown in FIG. It has become.
[0034]
Hereinafter, an operation when each of these modes is selected will be described with reference to each flowchart.
[0035]
First, the operation when the photographing print mode is selected by the mode selection switch will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. In this photographing print mode, printing processing is performed before image data corresponding to a photographed image is recorded on a memory card.
[0036]
In the flowchart shown in FIG. 3, it is assumed that the photographing print mode has already been selected as the initial state. When the release switch of the operation unit 15 shown in FIG. 1 is pressed, a predetermined imaging process is performed. That is, the image signal photoelectrically converted by the image pickup device 12 is input to the A / D conversion circuit 14 via the image pickup circuit 13, and the image data is output from the A / D conversion circuit 14 (S101). This image data (here, data of 1280 × 960 pixels) is stored in the buffer memory 25 (S102), and further image processing such as white balance processing and matrix calculation is performed (S103).
[0037]
Subsequently, a pixel number conversion process is performed on the image data subjected to the image processing, and the image data of (1280 × 960) pixels is converted into image data of (640 × 480) pixels. The number of pixels (640 × 480) corresponds to the number of pixels in the entire display image area described with reference to FIG. Hereinafter, the data of (640 × 480) pixels subjected to this pixel number conversion processing is referred to as all display image data for convenience (S104). All display image data that has undergone the pixel number conversion processing is stored in the video memory 28 (S105).
[0038]
All display image data stored in the video memory 28 is converted into data of (576 × 432) pixels by the video output circuit 29. The number of pixels (576 × 432) corresponds to the number of pixels in the trimmed image area described with reference to FIG. Hereinafter, this (576 × 432) pixel data is referred to as trimming image data for convenience (S106). Based on the trimmed image data, a trimmed image is displayed on the image display LCD 30 (S107).
[0039]
The user determines whether or not to perform printing by looking at the trimmed image displayed on the image display LCD 30, and when performing printing, presses the print start switch of the operation unit 15 to give a print instruction. When a print instruction is given, the following operation is performed (S108).
[0040]
First, data for one line (1 × 480) is read out from all display image data for (640 × 480) pixels stored in the video memory 28 (S109), and image processing for printing (lookup table ( (Processing to convert to RGB data for printing using the LUT) (S110), the printing data for one line (1 × 480) is stored in the line memory 36 (S111). The print data for one line stored in the line memory 36 is input to the LCD control circuit 37, and the opening time of the LCD shutter 38 is controlled by the output from the LCD control circuit 37. Printing (exposure by the light source 39) is performed (S112).
[0041]
After the printing of one line is completed, the position of the photosensitive paper is shifted by one line, and the above-described steps S109 to S112 are repeated until it is determined that the printing of all lines has been completed (S113). As a result, using the entire display image data stored in the video memory 28, one screen is printed in the print area of the photosensitive paper. As described above, since the range of the print area is wider than the range of the trimmed image area (see FIG. 2), an image in a wider range than the range of the trimmed image displayed on the image display LCD 30 is printed on the photosensitive paper. Will be.
[0042]
When printing for all lines is completed (S113), JPEG compression processing is performed on the image data for (1280 × 960) pixels stored in the buffer memory 25 (S114), and the compressed image data is compressed. Is recorded in the memory card (detachable memory 24) via the memory interface 22 (S115). Even when the print instruction is not given in step S108, the processes of S114 and S115 are performed in the same manner.
[0043]
As described above, when the photographing print mode is selected, the image in the trimmed image area is displayed on the image display LCD. The trimmed image area is set to be narrower than the print area. Therefore, the entire image displayed on the image display LCD can be reliably printed.
[0044]
Next, the operation when the normal shooting mode is selected by the mode selection switch of the operation unit 15 shown in FIG. 1 will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. In this normal photographing mode, image data corresponding to the photographed image is simply recorded on the memory card, and no print processing is performed.
[0045]
The basic operation of the normal shooting mode is almost the same as the operation of the shooting print mode shown in FIG. 3 except that no print processing is performed. The steps corresponding to the steps shown in FIG. The same step numbers are assigned, and detailed description is omitted here.
[0046]
However, in this normal shooting mode, unlike the shooting print mode, an image is displayed on the image display LCD 30 using not all trimmed image data but all display image data. Therefore, the process of S106 (process for generating trimmed image data) in FIG. 3 is not performed, and display is performed using the entire display image data of the number of pixels (640 × 480) in the step of S107.
[0047]
In this way, in the normal shooting mode, no print processing is performed, so that not all the trimmed images but all display images corresponding to the shot images are displayed on the screen.
[0048]
Next, the operation when the reproduction print mode is selected by the mode selection switch of the operation unit 15 shown in FIG. 1 will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. In this reproduction print mode, image data recorded in a memory card is read and reproduced, and image display, printing, and the like are performed.
[0049]
In the flowchart shown in FIG. 5, it is assumed that the reproduction print mode has already been selected as an initial state. When a reproduction instruction is given by the operation unit 15 shown in FIG. 1, the image data subjected to the JPEG compression process is read from the memory card (detachable memory 24) via the memory interface 22 (S201). Subsequently, JPEG decompression processing is performed on the read image data (S202), and image data of (1280 × 960) pixels is stored in the buffer memory 25 (S203).
[0050]
Subsequently, pixel number conversion processing is performed on the image data stored in the buffer memory 25, and the image data of (1280 × 960) pixels corresponds to the number of pixels of the entire display image area (640 × 480) pixels. Data (all display image data) is converted (S204). All display image data that has undergone the pixel number conversion processing is stored in the video memory 28 (S205).
[0051]
All display image data stored in the video memory 28 is converted by the video output circuit 29 into (576 × 432) pixel data (trimming image data) corresponding to the number of pixels in the trimming image area (S206). Based on the trimmed image data, a trimmed image is displayed on the image display LCD 30 (S207).
[0052]
The user looks at the captured image displayed on the image display LCD 30 to determine whether or not the image is a desired image (whether or not the next image needs to be displayed) (S208). The above-described steps S201 to S207 are repeated until an image is displayed on the image display LCD 30.
[0053]
The subsequent steps S209 to S214 are the same as the steps S108 to S113 shown in FIG. That is, when a print instruction is issued, one screen is printed on the photosensitive film using all display image data stored in the video memory 28.
[0054]
As described above, even when the reproduction print mode is selected, the image in the trimmed image area is displayed on the image display LCD as in the case where the shooting print mode is selected. The trimmed image area is set to be narrower than the print area. Therefore, the entire image displayed on the image display LCD can be reliably printed.
[0055]
Next, the operation when the normal reproduction mode is selected by the mode selection switch of the operation unit 15 shown in FIG. 1 will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. In this normal playback mode, image data recorded on the memory card is simply read out and played back, and no print processing is performed.
[0056]
The basic operation of the normal reproduction mode is almost the same as the operation of the reproduction print mode shown in FIG. 5 except that no print processing is performed. The steps corresponding to the steps shown in FIG. The same step numbers are assigned, and detailed description is omitted here.
[0057]
However, in this normal shooting mode, unlike the shooting print mode, an image is displayed on the image display LCD 30 using not all trimmed image data but all display image data. Therefore, the process of S206 (process of generating trimmed image data) in FIG. 5 is not performed, and display is performed using all display image data of the number of pixels (640 × 480) in the step of S207.
[0058]
As described above, since the print process is not performed in the normal reproduction mode, not the trimmed image but the entire display image corresponding to the photographed image is displayed on the screen.
[0059]
In the present embodiment, the following changes are possible, and an example of this change will be described with reference to FIG.
[0060]
In the photographing print mode (FIG. 3) and the reproduction print mode (FIG. 5) described above, the trimmed image is displayed on the image display LCD 30, but in this modification, as shown in FIG. The entire display image (640 × 480 pixels) is displayed on the LCD 30 and the trimming image (576 × 432 pixels) included in the entire display image area is displayed so that it can be identified as the trimming image. For example, the trimmed image area may be displayed with a normal tone, and the area obtained by removing the trimmed image area from the entire display image area (the area indicated by hatching in FIG. 7) may be displayed with a halftone.
[0061]
According to this modified example, since the entire display image area is displayed on the screen even in the shooting print mode and the reproduction print mode, the entire image shot with the electronic camera can be grasped and the trimming image area can be identified. Therefore, it is possible to simultaneously grasp the area that is surely printed on the photosensitive paper.
[0062]
Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention.
[0063]
【The invention's effect】
According to the present invention, since the trimmed image is displayed on the image display means and the range of the trimmed image is narrower than the range of the image forming area (print area), the range of the trimmed image grasped by the image display means is ensured. Can be printed on.
[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 an explanatory diagram showing the concept of an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an operation when a photographing print mode is selected in the embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an operation when a normal shooting mode is selected in the embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an operation when a reproduction print mode is selected in the embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing an operation when a normal playback mode is selected in the embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing a concept of a modification of the embodiment of the present invention.
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11 ... Shooting lens system 12 ... Imaging device 13 ... Imaging circuit 14 ... A / D conversion circuit 15 ... Operation part 16 ... Mode display LCD
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 17 ... Strobe light emission part 18 ... Power supply part 19 ... Camera battery 20 ... External power supply input terminal 21 ... System controller 22 ... Memory interface 23 ... Card slot 24 ... Detachable memory 25 ... Buffer memory 26 ... External interface 27 ... External input / output terminal 28 ... Video memory 29 ... Video output circuit 30 ... Image display LCD
31 ... Video out terminal 32 ... Cartridge 33 ... Film battery 34 ... Drive control circuit 35 ... Drive unit 36 ... Line memory 37 ... LCD control circuit 38 ... LCD shutter 39 ... Light source

Claims (3)

Imaging means for photoelectrically converting a subject image to generate electronic image data;
Image forming means for performing exposure based on the image data generated by the imaging means with an area wider than the image forming area of the paper as an exposure area, and forming an image of a range narrower than the captured image area on the paper;
An electronic camera comprising: an image display unit that displays a trimmed image trimmed to a range narrower than a range of an image formed on a sheet by the image forming unit. The electronic camera according to claim 1, wherein the image display means can selectively display the trimmed image or the captured image. Imaging means for photoelectrically converting a subject image to generate electronic image data;
Image forming means for performing exposure based on the image data generated by the imaging means with an area wider than the image forming area of the paper as an exposure area, and forming an image of a range narrower than the captured image area on the paper;
Image display means for displaying a trimmed image that is trimmed to a range narrower than the range of the image formed on the paper by the image forming means when displaying the photographed image. Electronic camera.

Images