JP4235052B2 - Moving image recording apparatus, image information processing apparatus and method - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a moving image recording apparatus that records captured moving image data on a recording medium, and more particularly to a moving image recording apparatus that uses smart media as a recording medium.

  Currently, smart media that is widely used as a recording medium for recording image data captured by a digital camera is not a dedicated recording medium for the camera, and is therefore widely used in other electronic devices such as personal computers (hereinafter referred to as PCs). ing. Therefore, the smart media can be formatted not only by a digital camera but also by other electronic devices such as a PC.

  Specifically, in order to read and write data efficiently, formatting is an operation to divide the disk into sections called clusters, but it differs depending on whether the smart media is formatted with a digital camera or a PC. Formatting is performed in cluster size. That is, in the digital camera, since the recording speed is more important than the total data capacity recorded on the smart media, the data is formatted with a large cluster size that is wasteful in terms of data capacity but has a high recording speed. On the other hand, in the PC, the format is performed with a general-purpose cluster size in which the total data capacity is more important than the recording speed.

  Therefore, when a smart media formatted on a PC is inserted into a digital camera and a moving image is shot, a sufficient writing speed to the smart media cannot be obtained, and the shooting stops midway. This phenomenon is particularly prominent when a moving image having a large data capacity recorded per unit time, such as a full movie moving image, is shot.

  Such a problem arises when, for example, a PC is used as an image information processing apparatus and a large amount of moving image data input by a user is recorded on a semiconductor memory such as smart media, or another recording medium such as a compact disk or DVD. Will also occur.

The present invention has been made in view of such problems, and even when a recording medium formatted in a different format is used, shooting and data recording processing can be performed without stopping halfway. It is an object of the present invention to provide a moving image recording apparatus , an image information processing apparatus, and a method thereof.

In achieving the above object, the moving image recording apparatus or image information processing apparatus of the present invention includes a format state detecting means for detecting a format state of a recording medium used for recording moving image data, and a detected format state of the recording medium. There determination means for determining whether a suitable recording of the moving image data, when it is determined that the format state of the recording medium is not suitable for recording the moving image data by the determining means is already recorded on a recording medium Existing data detecting means for detecting existing data, existing data saving means for temporarily storing the existing data in the memory, formatting means for formatting the recording medium into a format suitable for recording moving image data, and memory The existing data saved in the file is restored to the recording medium after formatting by formatting means. It is characterized in comprising the save data restoration means that.
Further, in the moving image recording apparatus or the image information processing apparatus, it is preferable that the format state detecting means starts the processing for detecting the format state of the recording medium after the shutter button is operated and photographing is started.
Further, in the image information processing apparatus, when the moving image data is read from the first recording medium and the moving image data is recorded on the second recording medium, the second recording medium is formatted into an optimal format by the formatting means. After that, it is preferable to record the saved data recorded on the second recording medium and the moving image data recorded on the first recording medium on the second recording medium.
The image information processing method of the present invention is an image information processing method for recording moving image data on a recording medium, and includes a format state detecting step for detecting a format state of the recording medium, and a recording medium detected by the format state detecting step. A determination step for determining whether the format state of the recording medium is optimum for recording moving image data, and if the determination step determines that the formatting state of the recording medium is unsuitable for recording moving image data, it is already recorded on the recording medium. An existing data detection step for detecting existing data, an existing data saving step for temporarily storing the existing data detected in the existing data detection step in a memory, and a recording medium in an optimal format for recording moving image data Format step to format and before saved in internal memory It is characterized in that including the saved data restoration step of restoring the existing data on the recording medium after the formatting by the formatting step.

  With the above configuration, even when a recording medium with a different format format formatted by a PC or the like is loaded into a digital camera, or when moving image data input via a PC is recorded on the recording medium, recording processing is performed in the middle. Can be smoothly recorded on the recording medium without being interrupted.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a digital camera 10 equipped with a moving image recording apparatus of the present invention. The digital camera 10 includes a CCD imager 12, and subject light passes through a color filter mounted on the front surface of the CCD imager 12 and is irradiated onto the CCD imager 12. When the digital camera 10 is set to the camera mode by the mode switch 14, a control signal 18 is issued from the system controller 16, and the timing generator (TG) 20 outputs a timing signal based on a signal output from the signal generator (SG) 22. Generate. This timing signal drives the CCD imager 12 by the progressive scan method, and causes the CCD imager 12 to output a camera signal for one frame every 1/15 second. The output camera signal is subjected to noise removal and level adjustment by the CDS / AGC circuit 24, and then converted to digital image data by the A / D converter 26. The signal processing circuit 28 performs YUV conversion on the image data output from the A / D converter 26 to generate YUV data. This YUV data is also generated for one frame every 1/15 second.

  The generated YUV data is sequentially given to the memory control circuit 32 via the data bus 30b, and the memory control circuit 32 writes the YUV data given via the data bus 30a to the internal memory 34. This is because the CCD imager 12 adopts the progressive scan method, while the monitor 36 adopts the interlaced scan method, and YUV data is temporarily stored in the internal memory 34 for conversion of the scan method. The stored YUV data is then read out by the memory control circuit 32 by the interlace scan method, and supplied to the video encoder 38 via the data bus 30b. The video encoder 38 generates a composite image signal in accordance with the NTSC format from the input YUV data and inputs the composite image signal to the monitor 36. As a result, a moving image consisting of 15 frames per second is displayed on the monitor 36 in real time.

  When the shutter button 40 is operated, a control signal 18 is issued from the system controller 16, and the CPU 42 sequentially writes moving image data composed of image data and audio data to the internal memory 34, and a moving image obtained by the shooting processing. A recording process for recording data or the like on the recording medium 44 is executed. The CPU 42 is equipped with a multitasking OS such as μiTRON, and these processes are performed in parallel. Examples of the photographing process and the recording process will be described in detail below.

  First, in the photographing process, the CPU 42 receives the control signal 18 and activates the microphone 46, the A / D converter 48, and the signal processing circuit 50. The signal processing circuit 50 performs predetermined processing on the audio data input through the microphone 46 and the A / D converter 48, and the processed audio data is given to the memory control circuit 32 via the data bus 30b. The memory control circuit 32 writes the audio data in the audio area 52 of the internal memory 34 shown in FIG. A plurality of audio blocks 54 capable of storing audio data for one second are formed in the audio area 52, and the audio data is written into the audio block 54 for one second.

  Further, the CPU 42 gives a compression command of YUV data to the JPEG compression / decompression circuit 56. The YUV data is generated as described above and written in the display image area 58 of the internal memory 34 shown in FIG. 2. However, since the display image area 58 has a capacity for only one frame, the YUV of each frame is generated. Data is updated every 1/15 second. The JPEG compression / decompression circuit 56 outputs a YUV data read request to the memory control circuit 32 at an interval of 1/15 seconds, and compresses the YUV data output in response to the request. The compressed image data is written into the compressed image area 60 of the internal memory 34 via the memory control circuit 32. In the compressed image area 60, a plurality of image blocks 62 capable of storing compressed image data for 15 frames are formed, and the compressed image data is written to each image block 62 by 15 frames.

  The CPU 42 also creates audio header data and image header data every time 1 second of audio data and 15 frames of compressed image data are written in the internal memory 34 as described above. These header data are written into the header block 66 of the header area 64 via the memory control circuit 32.

Next, an embodiment of the image information processing method will be described. FIG. 3 shows a processing flow of the recording process. In response to the control signal 18 generated when the shutter button 40 is pressed, the CPU 42 instructs the recording medium control circuit 68 to detect the format state of the recording medium 44. In response to this, the recording medium control circuit 68 detects the format state of the recording medium 44 in step S100 and provides the detected information to the CPU. In step S102, the CPU 42 determines whether the detected format is a general-purpose format executed by a PC or the like, or a format corresponding to a high-speed recording speed formatted by a digital camera.

  If the format is a general-purpose format, the CPU 42 gives an instruction to the recording medium control circuit 68 to detect existing data recorded on the recording medium 44. If the presence of existing data is detected in step S104, then in step S106, the CPU 42 saves all existing data recorded in the recording medium 44 to the memory control circuit 32 and the recording medium control circuit 68. Give instructions. In response to this, the recording medium control circuit 68 reads all data recorded on the recording medium 44 from the recording medium 44, and the memory control circuit 32 stores the read data in the save data area 70 of the internal memory 34. Write. When saving of all the existing data is completed, in step S108, the CPU 42 gives a format command for the recording medium 44 to the recording medium control circuit 68. Therefore, the recording medium 44 is formatted in a format corresponding to a high recording speed. With this format, all data recorded on the recording medium 44 is erased.

  When the formatting of the recording medium 44 is completed, the process proceeds to step S110, and an AVI file 74 having a header 72 is newly created on the recording medium 44. FIG. 4 shows the structure of the AVI file 74. Next, in step S112, the CPU 42 gives a read command for moving image data written in the internal memory 34 to the memory control circuit 32, and in step S114, a write command for moving image data to the recording medium 44 is given to the recording medium control circuit 68. give. In response to this request, the memory control circuit 32 reads out data for each block in the order of audio header data, audio data, image header data, and image data, and the read data is read by the recording medium control circuit 68 as an AVI file. The data is sequentially written after the header 72 of 74. As a result, as shown in FIG. 4, an audio chunk 76 consisting of audio data for 1 second and an image chunk 78 consisting of compressed image data for 15 frames are alternately formed. The audio header data is recorded at the head of each audio chunk 76, and the image header data is recorded at the head of each image chunk 78. In this embodiment, a moving image for one second is composed of 15 frames of image, and one audio chunk 76 and one image chunk 78 subsequent thereto correspond to each other.

  Here, when the shutter button 40 is turned off, the CPU 42 stops a series of photographing processes. However, the recording process continues to record all data in the audio area 52, the compressed image area 60, and the header area 64 of the internal memory 34 on the recording medium 44.

  When the recording of all data in the audio area 52, the compressed image area 60, and the header area 64 is completed, the saved data is restored in step S116. In response to a command from the CPU 42, the memory control circuit 32 reads the saved data from the saved data area 70 of the internal memory 34, and the recording medium control circuit 68 writes the read saved data to the recording medium 44. When the restoration of all the data is completed in this way, in step S118, the CPU 42 gives an instruction to the memory control circuit 32 to erase all the data in the saved data area 70, and the recording process is ended S120.

  If no existing data is detected on the recording medium 44 in step S104, the existing data is saved in step S106, the existing data is restored in steps S116 to S118, and the data is deleted from the saved data area 70. Since processing is unnecessary, it is omitted.

  If the format of the recording medium is not a general-purpose format but a format compatible with high-speed recording in step S102, the processes in steps S104 to S108 and S116 to S118 are omitted, and the conventional moving image recording is performed. A photographing process and a recording process similar to those of the apparatus are performed.

  In the present embodiment, detection and determination of the format type of the recording medium 44 performed in steps S100 to S108, detection and evacuation of existing data, and the format of the recording medium 44 are determined by pressing the shutter button 40 and starting moving image shooting. However, these steps may be performed before the shutter button 40 is pressed.

  As described above, in the moving image recording apparatus of the present invention, when it is determined that the format state of the recording medium is inappropriate for recording moving image data, the existing data already recorded on the recording medium is detected, After temporarily saving the existing data to the internal memory, the recording medium is formatted into a format that is optimal for recording moving image data. Further, the saved existing data is restored to the formatted recording medium. These series of flows are automatically performed before or during the recording of moving images, so the user can accidentally insert smart media that has been formatted on a PC or unformatted smart media into the digital camera. Even if movie shooting is started, the user can continue shooting smoothly.

  The example in which the present invention is applied to a digital camera capable of shooting a moving image has been described above, but the present invention can also be applied to an image information processing apparatus such as a printer or a PC. In this case, for example, a user prepares a primary recording medium such as a memory card, a PC card, or a magnetic disk on which moving image data obtained by shooting is recorded, sets the primary recording medium in the image information processing apparatus, reads out the image information from the primary recording medium It is effectively used when moving image data input to the processing device is recorded on a secondary recording medium such as a compact disc or DVD set separately.

1 is a block diagram of a digital camera equipped with a moving image recording apparatus of the present invention. It is an illustration figure which shows the internal memory mounted in a moving image recording device. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the recording process performed by a moving image recording device. It is an illustration figure which shows an AVI file.

Explanation of symbols

34 Internal memory 44 Recording medium

Claims (2)

In a moving image recording apparatus for recording captured video data on an external recording medium,
Shooting control instruction means for instructing start of shooting in response to pressing of the shutter button;
A format state detecting means for detecting a format state of the external recording medium in response to a control signal from the photographing control instruction means ;
A determining means for formatting the state of the external recording medium detected by said format state detecting means determines whether optimal high-speed recording corresponding format or unsuitable general format for recording the video data, the external recording by the previous SL determining means If it is determined that the format state of the medium is a general-purpose format unsuitable for recording the moving image data, existing data detection means for detecting existing data already recorded on the external recording medium;
Existing data saving means for temporarily saving the existing data in an internal recording medium ;
Formatting means for formatting the external recording medium into a format compatible with high-speed recording suitable for recording moving image data;
The existing data evacuated to the internal recording medium after completing the recording of the moving image data by the photographing instructed by the photographing control instruction means on the external recording medium after being formatted into the high-speed recording compatible format by the formatting means. moving image recording apparatus, wherein a and a save data restoring means to restore. In a moving image recording method for recording captured video data on an external recording medium,
A format state detecting step for detecting a format state of the external recording medium in response to a control signal from a shooting control instruction means for instructing start of shooting in response to pressing of the shutter button;
A determination step of determining whether the format state of the external recording medium detected by the format state detection step is a format compatible with high-speed recording suitable for recording the moving image data or an unsuitable general-purpose format; and the external recording medium by the determination step If it is determined that the format state is a general-purpose format unsuitable for recording the moving image data, an existing data detection step of detecting existing data already recorded on the external recording medium;
An existing data saving step for temporarily saving the existing data in an internal recording medium;
A formatting step for formatting the external recording medium into a high-speed recording compatible format suitable for recording moving image data;
The existing data evacuated to the internal recording medium after completing the recording of the moving image data by photographing instructed by the photographing control instruction means on the external recording medium after being formatted into the high-speed recording compatible format by the formatting step A moving image recording method comprising: a saved data restoring step for restoring the saved data.

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