JP4333197B2 - Information recording device - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a technique for recording a still image on a recording medium. In particular, the present invention relates to a technique for starting the recording process of the next still image data before the writing process of the still image data to the disc is completed.
[0002]
[Prior art]
In recent years, digital still cameras have become widespread because they can be purchased at low cost and can be easily carried. In addition, as a tool for enjoying digital video more easily, mobile phones having a digital still camera function are also beginning to spread. In these still cameras, as a still image recording function, a single recording function for recording one image at a time, a continuous shooting function for continuously recording while pressing the shutter, and an interval for recording at a desired time interval It has a recording function and the like, and its technology is widely known.
[0003]
In addition, a recording medium used in an information recording apparatus for recording a digital image, represented by a digital still camera, is generally a recording medium using a semiconductor memory or the like because it is small, light and easy to carry. .
[0004]
On the other hand, an information recording apparatus having a digital still camera function using a disk such as a DVD-RAM (Digital Versatile Disc-Random Access Memory) as a recording medium has also been proposed. By using a disk as a recording medium, there is an advantage that a large amount of data can be recorded as compared with a recording medium using a semiconductor memory, but there is a disadvantage that a time required for data writing processing is long.
For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-151867 describes that “supplied image signal is provided for the purpose of providing a recording apparatus capable of recording an image signal and an audio signal before a recording start operation on the operation unit on a recording medium”. And a signal storage means 1 provided with a signal memory 13 in which an audio signal is readably stored, a recording means 2 for recording an image signal and an audio signal read from the signal memory 13 on a recording medium, and a power source When power is supplied, writing of the image signal and audio signal to the signal memory is started, and the image signal and audio signal are read from the signal memory 13 and recording on the recording medium is started by the recording means 2 The recording control means 3 for controlling the recording control means 3 and the operation unit 4 for supplying a control signal for starting the recording to the recording control means 3. .
[Patent Document 1]
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 8-125961 (see abstract)
[0005]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
In an information recording apparatus using a disk as a recording medium, since the time required for data writing processing is longer than that of a recording medium such as a semiconductor memory, it is difficult to realize the continuous shooting function and the interval recording function as described above. The next still image recording cannot be started until the generation of the still image data and the writing of the still image data to the disc are completed. That is, since the interval from the start of recording of the Nth still image to the start of recording of the (N + 1) th still image is long, there is a possibility that a valuable photo opportunity is missed.
[0006]
In view of the above points, the present invention provides an information recording technique capable of shortening a recording interval even when data is recorded using a recording medium such as a disk that takes a long time to write data. For the purpose.
[0007]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to achieve the above object, according to the present invention, the image generation processing and the writing processing to the disc, which were conventionally handled as a series of processing, can be executed in parallel by treating them as independent processing. Configure.
[0008]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. 1, 2, 3, and 4. FIG. As an example system, a video camera using a DVD-RAM as a recording medium will be described as an example.
[0009]
FIG. 1 is a block diagram for explaining a main part of the video camera of this embodiment.
The control unit 100 is composed of an electronic circuit such as a CPU, and controls the entire video camera. The input unit 101 receives an electrical signal from a CCD that converts an optical signal into an electrical signal and an analog signal from the outside of the video camera. An A / D converter that converts an analog signal into a digital signal is also included in the input unit 101.
[0010]
The user gives an instruction to record a still image or the like to the video camera by operating the operation unit 102. It is assumed that the operation unit 102 also includes a shutter used when recording a still image. The signal processing unit 103 converts the digital signal converted by the input unit 101 into a format that can be subjected to JPEG compression. The video compression unit 104 performs JPEG compression on the video signal converted by the signal processing unit 103. The memory 105 can store JPEG compressed image data. In this embodiment, the recording medium 106 is a DVD-RAM, but the recording medium is not limited to this.
[0011]
Note that the signal processing unit 103 and the video compression unit 104 may be configured by hardware such as a circuit, or may be configured by software such as a program and stored in the control unit 100.
[0012]
Hereinafter, the operation of the video camera of this embodiment will be described.
FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an operation procedure when still image recording is performed by the video camera of the present embodiment. In step S200, the user presses the shutter using the operation unit 102 and gives an instruction to start still image recording. When there is an instruction to start still image recording from the operation unit 102, the control unit 100 prompts each block to prepare to start still image recording. At this time, preparation for starting still image recording is urged when it is determined that still image recording is possible as a result of disc recognition performed in advance.
[0013]
In step S201, the input unit 101 receives a signal from a CCD or an external input terminal and digitizes the signal. In the case of a CCD, an optical signal is converted into an electrical signal, and then digital video data is generated through an A / D converter. On the other hand, in the case of an external input terminal, an analog video signal is converted into a digital video signal.
[0014]
In step S202, the video signal generated in step S201 is subjected to processing for image creation such as division into luminance and color difference signals and pixel number conversion in the signal processing unit 103. The signal processing unit 103 also performs format conversion for JPEG compression.
[0015]
In step S203, the video compression unit 104 JPEG compresses the video signal output from the signal processing unit 103, that is, the video signal that has undergone format conversion for JPEG compression.
[0016]
The JPEG-compressed still image data is temporarily stored in the memory 105 in step S204. Here, the stored still image data is written in the recording medium 107 by a disk driver (not shown) in step S205.
[0017]
After the writing is completed, a series of still image recording processing is ended in step S206. The larger the capacity of the memory 105 is, the better. However, it is preferable that the memory 105 has a capacity capable of storing at least two still image data compressed in JPEG in step S203. However, if the capacity is 1 <still image data <2, the still image recording interval can be shortened.
[0018]
Here, a series of processing from step S201 to step S204 in FIG. 2 is referred to as image generation processing (corresponding to step S401 in FIG. 4 described later). Also, the process in step S205 in FIG. 2 is referred to as a write process (corresponding to step S403 in FIG. 4 described later).
[0019]
When the image generation process and the writing process are executed in one processing procedure, as shown in FIG. 3, when the user presses the shutter in step S300, the image generation process is performed in step S301. In step S302, data writing processing is performed. In step S303, a series of still image recording processing ends. That is, once the still image recording process is started, the next still image recording process cannot be started until step S303 is reached. Here, the writing process includes, in addition to the time for writing data in the recording medium, the process for controlling which part of the recording medium is accessed, that is, the time for performing a so-called seek process.
[0020]
Therefore, in this embodiment, each of the image generation unit and the data write processing unit is treated as an independent process.
[0021]
FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the processing procedure of FIG. 2 in more detail. Here, steps S201 to S204 in FIG. 2 correspond to step S401, and step S205 in FIG. 2 corresponds to step S403 in FIG.
[0022]
When the user presses the shutter in step S400, image generation processing is performed. First, image generation processing is performed in step S401.
[0023]
Next, in step S402, the control unit 100 investigates the operation status of the data writing process.
[0024]
If the data write process is not operating as a result of the investigation in step S402, the data write process stored in the memory 105 is started in step S403.
[0025]
On the other hand, as a result of the investigation in step S402, when the data writing process of the still image data that has already been subjected to the image generation process is operating, the control unit 100 starts the writing process until the operation of the data writing process ends. Control not to. This is because two data writes cannot be executed simultaneously.
[0026]
In parallel with the operation of the data writing unit in step S403, an image generation process also operates under the control of the control unit 100, and the remaining capacity of the memory 105 is checked in step S406.
[0027]
As a result of the investigation in step S406, if there is a remaining capacity in the memory 105 that can record the next still image data, in step S407, the control unit 100 permits the shutter, that is, accepts the operation of the operation unit 102. The user can accept the shutter pressing.
[0028]
At this time, if the user presses the shutter, the image generation process operates even if the data writing process is in operation, and the process is executed sequentially from step S401.
[0029]
Also, as a result of the investigation in step S406, if there is no remaining capacity that can be recorded in the memory 105, the control unit 100 does not allow shutter permission, that is, does not allow operation of the operation unit 102, and the user shutter. Does not accept press. At this time, the data writing unit is writing data stored in the memory 105, but the control unit 100 sequentially checks the remaining capacity of the memory 105. That is, if the data writing progresses and the data stored in the memory 105 is written to the recording medium, the remaining capacity of the memory 105 increases accordingly, and the remaining still image data can be recorded. If the capacity is in the memory 105, the shutter is permitted in step S407, and the user's shutter press can be accepted.
[0030]
In addition, after the data writing process in step S403 is completed, the control unit 100 investigates whether there is data for which the writing process has not been completed in the memory 105 in step S404. As a result of the investigation, if there is write-waiting data, the write-waiting data writing process is subsequently executed. The processes in steps S403 and S404 are repeatedly executed until there is no write waiting data.
[0031]
As a result of the investigation in step S404, if there is no data in the memory 105 that has not been written, the still image recording process is terminated in step S405.
[0032]
In the above description, a video camera using a DVD-RAM as a recording medium has been described as an example. However, the recording medium is not limited to a DVD-RAM, and may be another disk.
[0033]
Further, even if it is not a disk, for example, it may be a recording medium that requires a longer time for data writing processing than a memory using a semiconductor, and is not limited thereto. Further, instead of a video camera, for example, a digital still camera may be used, and the present invention is not limited to this as long as it is an information recording apparatus that takes time to write still image data.
[0034]
As described above, according to the present embodiment, the image generation process and the data writing process, which were conventionally handled as a series of processes, can be executed in parallel by treating them as independent processes. become. As an effect, it is possible to start the still image recording and image generation processing for the (N + 1) th and subsequent sheets by using the writing time of the Nth still image data to the recording medium, and shorten the still image recording interval. be able to.
[0035]
In the present embodiment, recording of still image data has been described as an example, but the present invention can also be applied to recording of moving image data, audio data, file data, and the like.
[0036]
【The invention's effect】
According to the present invention, the recording interval can be shortened even in the case of data recording using a recording medium such as a disk that requires a long time to write data.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a main part of a video camera according to an embodiment.
FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an operation procedure when still image recording is performed by the video camera of the present embodiment.
FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a procedure when an image generation process and a data writing process are executed as a series of processes during still image recording.
FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the processing procedure of FIG. 2 in more detail.
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 ... Control part, 101 ... Input part, 102 ... Operation part, 103 ... Signal processing part, 104 ... Video compression part, 105 ... Memory, 106 ... Recording medium.

Claims (4)

Operating means for the user to give instructions in an information recording apparatus for recording information on a recording medium that is a disc;
Signal processing means for performing predetermined signal processing; compression means for compressing the output of the signal processing means;
Storage means for storing compressed digital signal data;
Writing means for performing writing processing for writing the digital signal data stored in the storage means to a recording medium;
When the next still image recording operation is performed while the writing means writes the digital signal data generated when the still image is recorded on the recording medium, the next still image is stored in the storage means. have a control means for the control to be stored,
The control unit is divided into a process performed by the signal processing unit, a process performed by the compression unit, and a write process performed by the writing unit, and controls each of the processes to be executed in parallel. An information recording apparatus characterized by sequentially monitoring an operation state . 2. The information recording apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein even if a writing process performed by the writing unit is being performed, if there is a remaining capacity in the storage unit that stores the compressed digital signal data, the operation unit An information recording apparatus characterized by receiving an operation. 2. The information recording apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein during the execution of the writing process performed by the writing means, if the storage means for storing the compressed digital signal data has no remaining capacity, the operation by the operating means is not accepted. An information recording apparatus characterized by that. 3. The information recording apparatus according to claim 2 , wherein the remaining capacity of the next digital signal data that can be recorded in the storage unit according to the progress of the writing process during execution of the writing process performed by the writing unit. An information recording apparatus characterized by accepting a user's shutter press if a problem occurs.

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