JP4080634B2 - Digital camera - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a digital camera, and more particularly, to a digital camera that sequentially displays an operation sequence on a display unit according to operation contents.
[0002]
[Prior art]
Recently, digital cameras have become more sophisticated, and models equipped with an OS have been commercialized, and some have functions for processing captured images and communicating. With this increase in functionality, the number of operation keys and the number of key operations on the liquid crystal panel increase, and the user may be dissatisfied with the difficulty of operation or may not use the specially prepared functions.
[0003]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
The present invention has been made in view of the above, and an object thereof is to provide a digital camera with improved operability.
[0004]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to solve the above-described problems, the invention of claim 1 controls an operation means for an operator to give an operation instruction and a display content of a display unit in a digital camera that captures an image of a subject and acquires image data. Control means for displaying, in accordance with the operation content of the operation means, sequentially corresponding symbols on the display unit, and storing the order of the operation content.
[0005]
According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the invention, the control means executes operations in the order of the stored operation contents in accordance with an instruction from the operator.
[0006]
The invention according to claim 3 is the invention according to claim 2, wherein the control means specifies the start when the operator specifies a start symbol among the symbols displayed on the display unit. The operations after the operation corresponding to the selected symbol are executed in order.
[0007]
According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the second aspect of the present invention, when the operator designates an end symbol among symbols displayed on the display unit, the control means specifies the end. The operations up to the operation corresponding to the selected symbol are executed in order.
[0008]
According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the second aspect of the present invention, when the operator designates start and end symbols among symbols displayed on the display unit, the control means starts the start. And the operations corresponding to the symbols for which the end is designated are executed in order.
[0009]
The invention of claim 6 is the invention of claim 2, wherein the order of the recorded operation contents can be changed.
[0010]
According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in the second aspect of the present invention, the control means generates a special symbol in which a group of symbols displayed on the display unit is collected by a series of operations in accordance with an instruction from the operator. In addition, when the special symbol is designated by the operator, the operations corresponding to the symbol group are collectively executed.
[0011]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.
[0012]
FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a digital camera according to the present embodiment. In the figure, reference numeral 100 denotes a digital camera. The digital camera 100 includes a mechanical mechanism 101 including a lens, an AF / aperture / filter mechanism, a CCD 102, a CDS circuit 103, an A / D converter 104, an IPP 105, a DCT 106, The coder 107, MCC 108, memory card 109, LCD 110, controller 111, operation unit 112, liquid crystal display unit 113, remote controller 114, microphone 115, ADPCM 116, Audio-out 117, Video S-out 118, battery 119, and the like.
[0013]
A CCD (charge coupled device) 102 converts the subject image input via the mechanical mechanism 101 into an electrical signal (analog image data). A CDS (correlated double sampling) circuit 103 is a circuit for reducing the noise of the CCD type image pickup device.
[0014]
The A / D converter 104 converts analog image data from the CCD 102 input via the CDS circuit 103 into digital image data. That is, the output signal of the CCD 102 is converted into a digital signal through the CDS circuit 103 and by the A / D converter 104 at an optimum sampling frequency (for example, an integer multiple of the subcarrier frequency of the NTSC signal).
[0015]
An IPP (Image Pre-Processor) 105, which is a digital signal processing unit, performs various processes and corrections on the digital image data input from the A / D converter 104 for each color difference (Cb, Cr) and luminance (Y). And data processing for image compression / decompression. A DCT (Discrete Cosine Transform) 106 and a coder (Huffman Encoder / Decoder) 107 perform, for example, JPEG-compliant image compression / decompression.
[0016]
Further, an MCC (Memory Card Controller) 108 temporarily stores the compressed image and records it on the memory card 109 or reads it from the memory card 109.
[0017]
The controller 111 includes a CPU, a ROM, a RAM, and the like. The CPU uses the RAM as a work area according to a program stored in the ROM, and performs the above operation according to an instruction from the operation unit 112 or an external operation instruction such as the remote controller 113. Control all operations inside the digital camera.
[0018]
The controller 111 also includes an icon table used when displaying an icon (symbol) corresponding to the operation content of the operation unit 112 on the liquid crystal display unit 113. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of an icon table. Such an icon table stores icons corresponding to each operation content. When the operation unit 112 is operated, the controller 111 reads the icon corresponding to the operation content and displays it on the liquid crystal display unit 113 with reference to the icon table.
[0019]
The controller 111 also includes an operation procedure register R for recording the operation order of the operation unit 112. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of the operation procedure register R. In the operation procedure register R, the operation contents are sequentially stored in the operation order of the operation unit 112. This figure shows an example of data storage when an operation of playback → image processing → recording → frame advance is performed on the operation unit 112. The controller 111 refers to the contents of the operation procedure register R and executes the operations in the order of operations specified by the icons on the liquid crystal display unit 113.
[0020]
The operation unit 112 is for giving an operation instruction to the controller 111, and includes various operation keys such as a release key and a mode selection key. For example, as shown in FIG. 4, the liquid crystal display unit 113 displays icons according to the operation content of the operation unit 112, and various selection keys (a repeat key 201, a start specification key 202, an end specification key 203, one A copy key 204, a change key 205, a registration key 206, and a special icon generation key 207) are provided, and an operation instruction can be given to the controller 111 by selecting a selection key.
[0021]
Camera power is supplied to the inside of the digital camera from a battery 119, for example, NiCd, nickel metal hydride, lithium battery or the like. The display unit 110 is implemented by an LCD, LED, EL, or the like, and displays captured image data and decompressed recorded image data.
[0022]
On the other hand, the voice is converted into an electric signal by a voice-electric signal conversion element such as the microphone 115 to become voice data, and is compressed and encoded by the ADPCM 116. The digital camera 100 described above includes a monitoring mode in which image data obtained by imaging a subject is directly displayed on the display unit 110, a recording mode in which image data obtained by imaging the subject is recorded in a memory card 109, and a memory card A playback mode for displaying an image recorded on the memory card 109, a PC mode for transferring an image recorded on the memory card 109 to a PC (personal computer), and the like.
[0023]
Next, the icon display operation of the digital camera will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 5 is a flowchart for explaining the icon display operation of the digital camera. 4 and 6 show icon display examples on the screen of the liquid crystal display unit 113. FIG.
[0024]
In FIG. 5, first, when there is an operation of the operation unit 112 by the user (step S100), the controller 111 reads an icon corresponding to the operation content from the icon table (see FIG. 2) (step S101). An icon corresponding to the content is displayed on the display screen of the liquid crystal display unit 113 (step S102). Here, the operation content is displayed on the screen in the order of operation. Then, the controller 112 stores the operation content in the operation procedure register R (see FIG. 3) (step S103). Here, the operation contents are sequentially stored in the operation procedure register R according to the operation order.
[0025]
For example, FIG. 4 shows playback mode (corresponding to icon (1)) → image processing (corresponding to icon (2)) → <mode selection> → recording (corresponding to icon (3)) → frame advance (icon) FIG. 3 shows an example of a screen displayed when the operation (4) is performed. FIG. 3 shows the operation procedure register R when the operation of playback → image processing → <mode selection> → recording → frame advance is performed. An example of stored data is shown.
[0026]
Then, the controller 111 determines whether or not the repeat key 201 (see FIG. 4) of the liquid crystal display unit 113 has been selected (step S104). If the repeat key 201 has not been selected, the process proceeds to step S106. On the other hand, when the repeat key 201 is selected, the controller 111 repeatedly executes corresponding operations in the order of the icons displayed on the liquid crystal display unit 113 (step S105). For example, in the example shown in FIG. 4, when the repeat key 201 is selected, playback (icon 1) → image processing (icon 2) → <mode selection> → recording (icon 3) → frame advance The operation of (icon (4)) is performed.
[0027]
In step S106, the controller 111 determines whether or not the start designation key 202 (see FIG. 4) of the liquid crystal display unit 113 is selected. If the start designation key 202 is not selected, the controller 111 proceeds to step S109. On the other hand, when the start designation key 202 is selected and an icon to be started is designated (step S107), the controller 111 repeatedly performs an operation corresponding to the last icon from the icon designated to start (step S108). For example, in the example shown in FIG. 4, when the start designation key 202 is selected and the icon (2) is designated, image processing (icon (2)) → <mode selection> → record (icon (3)) ) → frame advance (icon (4)).
[0028]
In step S109, the controller 111 determines whether or not the end designation key 203 of the liquid crystal display unit 113 is selected. If the end designation key 203 is not selected, the controller 111 proceeds to step S112 while the end designation key 203 is selected. When 203 is selected and an end icon is designated, the controller 111 repeatedly performs an operation corresponding to the designated icon from the first displayed icon (step S108). For example, in the example shown in FIG. 4, when the end designation key 203 is selected and the icon (3) is designated, playback (icon (1)) → image processing (icon (2)) → <mode selection > → Recording (icon {circle around (3)}) is performed.
[0029]
In step S112, the controller 111 determines whether or not the partial repeat key 204 of the liquid crystal display unit 113 has been selected. If the partial repeat key 204 has not been selected, the controller 111 proceeds to step S115. When the part repeat key 204 is selected and a start icon and an end icon are designated (step S113), the controller 111 repeatedly performs an operation between operations corresponding to the start icon and the end icon (step S114). . For example, in the example shown in FIG. 4, the partial repeat key 204 is selected. When (2) is specified as the start icon and (3) is specified as the end icon, the image processing (icon (2)) → <mode selection> → recording (icon (3)) operation is performed. Done.
[0030]
In step S115, the controller 111 determines whether or not the change key 205 of the liquid crystal display unit 113 has been selected. If the change key 205 has not been selected, the process proceeds to step S118 while the change key 205 is selected. When the icon rearrangement order is designated (step S116), the display of the icons on the screen is changed in the designated rearrangement order, and the contents of the operation procedure register R (see FIG. 3) are changed in the designated rearrangement order. To do. As a result, it is possible to repeat the operation in the changed order (steps S104 and S105), or to partially repeat (steps S112 to S114).
[0031]
In step S118, the controller 111 determines whether or not the registration key 206 of the liquid crystal display unit 113 has been selected. When the registration key 206 is not selected, the process proceeds to step S120, whereas when the registration key 206 is selected. The operation procedure stored in the operation procedure register R is registered in a nonvolatile memory or the like (step S119). The registered operation procedure can be read later according to a user instruction. Thereby, it becomes possible to use the operation procedure used last time next time.
[0032]
In step S120, it is determined whether or not the special icon generation key 207 of the controller 111 and the liquid crystal display unit 113 is selected. If the special icon generation key 207 is not selected, the process proceeds to step S122, while the special icon is generated. When the generation key 207 is selected, a special icon in which icons displayed on the liquid crystal display unit 113 are collected is generated and displayed, and the special icon is stored in an icon table (see FIG. 2). By designating this special icon, it becomes possible to collectively execute the operations of the icon group previously displayed on the screen. For example, in FIG. 4, when the special icon generation key 207 is selected, a special icon (5) as shown in FIG. 6 is generated and displayed. By selecting this special icon (5), playback (icon (1)) → image processing (icon (2)) → <mode selection> → recording (icon (3)) → frame advance (icon (4)) The operation ▼) is performed. Further, this special icon can be read later according to a user instruction. As a result, the special icon created last time can be used next time.
[0033]
In step S121, the controller 111 determines whether or not the mode clear key of the operation unit 112 has been pressed. When the mode clear key is pressed, the flow ends, while the mode clear key is not pressed. In that case, the process returns to step S100 and the processes of steps S100 to S121 are repeated.
[0034]
As described above, in the above-described embodiment, the corresponding icons are sequentially displayed on the screen according to the operation content, and the order of the operation content is registered (stored). It can be recognized and the operability of the operator can be improved.
[0035]
In the above-described embodiment, the operation contents are executed in the registered order in response to the operator's instruction (repeated key 201), so that the recorded operations are repeatedly executed in that order. And the operability of the operator can be further improved.
[0036]
In the above-described embodiment, by selecting the start designation key 202 and designating the start icon, the operation can be executed from the middle, and the operability for the operator can be further improved. It becomes.
[0037]
Further, in the above-described embodiment, by selecting the end designation key 203 and designating the end icon, the operation can be executed halfway, and the operability for the operator can be further improved. It becomes.
[0038]
In the above-described embodiment, by selecting the partially repeated key 204 and designating the start and end icons, the corresponding operation can be executed between the start and end icons. It becomes possible to improve the user's operability.
[0039]
In the above-described embodiment, by selecting the change key 205 and designating the icon rearrangement order, the operation order can be changed, and the operability for the operator can be further improved.
[0040]
In the above-described embodiment, the special icon generation key 207 is selected to generate and display a special icon that is a collection of icons displayed on the screen by a series of operations, and designate the special icon. As a result, operations corresponding to the icon group previously displayed on the screen can be collectively executed, and the operability of the operator can be further improved.
[0041]
Note that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and can be appropriately modified and executed without changing the gist of the invention.
[0042]
【The invention's effect】
According to the first aspect of the present invention, the corresponding symbols are sequentially displayed on the display unit according to the operation content of the operation means, and the order of the operation content is stored, so that the operator can recognize the progress of the operation. Therefore, the operability for the operator can be improved.
[0043]
According to the invention of claim 2, in the invention of claim 1, the operations are executed in the order of the stored operation contents in accordance with the instruction of the operator, so the recorded operations are repeatedly executed in that order. It is possible to improve the operability of the operator.
[0044]
According to the invention of claim 3, in the invention of claim 2, when the operator designates a start symbol among the symbols displayed on the display unit, the start corresponds to the designated symbol. Since the following operations are sequentially executed, the operations can be executed from the middle, and the operability for the operator can be further improved.
[0045]
According to the invention of claim 4, in the invention of claim 2, when the operator designates an end symbol among the symbols displayed on the display unit, the end corresponds to the designated symbol. Since the operations up to the operation are executed in order, the operations can be executed halfway and the operability of the operator can be further improved.
[0046]
According to the invention of claim 5, in the invention of claim 2, when the start and end symbols are specified by the operator among the symbols displayed on the display unit, the start and end are specified. Since the operations corresponding to the symbols are sequentially executed, the operations corresponding to the start and end symbols can be executed, and the operability for the operator can be further improved.
[0047]
According to the invention of claim 6, in the invention of claim 2, since the order of the recorded operation contents can be changed, the operation order can be changed and the operability of the operator is further improved. It becomes possible to make it.
[0048]
According to the invention of claim 7, in the invention of claim 2, according to an instruction from the operator, a special symbol in which a symbol group displayed on the display unit is collected and displayed by a series of operations is displayed. When the operator designates the special symbol, the operation corresponding to the symbol group is collectively executed, so the operation corresponding to the icon group previously displayed on the screen is collectively executed. It is possible to improve the operability of the operator.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of a digital camera according to the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of an icon table.
FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of an operation procedure register.
FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a display example of a liquid crystal display unit.
FIG. 5 is a flowchart for explaining an icon display operation of the digital camera.
FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a display example of a liquid crystal display unit.
[Explanation of symbols]
100 Digital Camera 101 Mechanical Mechanism 102 CCD
103 CDS circuit 104 A / D converter 105 IPP
106 DCT
107 Coder 108 MCC
109 Memory card 110 LCD
111 Controller 112 Operation unit 113 Liquid crystal display unit 114 Remote control 115 Microphone 116 ADPCM
117 Audio-out
118 VideoS-out
119 battery

Claims (7)

In a digital camera that captures image data by capturing a subject,
An operation means for an operator to give an operation instruction;
Control means for controlling the display content of the display unit,
The digital camera according to claim 1, wherein the control unit sequentially displays corresponding symbols on the display unit in accordance with the operation content of the operation unit, and stores the order of the operation content. The digital camera according to claim 1, wherein
The digital camera according to claim 1, wherein the control unit executes operations in the order of the stored operation contents in accordance with an instruction from an operator. The digital camera according to claim 2,
When the operator designates a start symbol among the symbols displayed on the display unit, the control means sequentially performs operations subsequent to the operation corresponding to the symbol designated by the start. A digital camera characterized by The digital camera according to claim 2,
When the operator designates an end symbol among the symbols displayed on the display unit, the control means sequentially performs operations up to an operation corresponding to the end symbol designated. A digital camera characterized by The digital camera according to claim 2,
When the operator designates a start and end symbol among the symbols displayed on the display unit, the control means sequentially executes operations corresponding to the symbols for which the start and end are designated. A digital camera characterized by The digital camera according to claim 2,
A digital camera characterized in that the order of the recorded operation contents can be changed. The digital camera according to claim 2,
The control unit generates and displays a special symbol in which a group of symbols displayed on the display unit is collected by a series of operations according to an instruction from the operator, and the special symbol is designated by the operator. A digital camera that collectively executes operations corresponding to the symbol group.

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