JP4452440B2 - Digital camera and image recording control method thereof - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a digital camera having an image erasing function and an image recording control method thereof.
[0002]
[Prior art]
In recent years, the number of recording pixels of digital cameras has been improved and image quality has been improved. Along with this, the size of image files stored on recording media has also increased. On the other hand, since the flash memory element used for the recording medium is highly integrated and a large-capacity recording medium is provided, the number of shootable recording media is comparable to that of an optical camera. However, when photographing, a large image size with a large amount of information is often set so as to be advantageous for later image processing, and capacity management of the recording medium in the digital camera is indispensable.
[0003]
The image recording system of a digital camera has an advantage that an unnecessary recorded image can be erased and a recording medium can be used repeatedly. Besides transferring all image files recorded on the recording medium to a storage device such as a personal computer and then erasing the image files on the recording medium all at once, unnecessary recording is possible by operating the digital camera. Images can be individually selected and erased to free up space on the recording medium.
[0004]
When erasing an individual recorded image by operating a digital camera, the camera user decides that the recorded image is unnecessary and deletes it. Sometimes, you may want an erased image later.
[0005]
As a general method for enabling restoration of an erased image file in an electronic device that stores images in a memory, there is a “trash box” method used in a personal computer. When a file is erased, it is moved to the recycle bin without actually being erased, and the file can be restored with a simple operation.
[0006]
However, since image files are large in size and have limited memory in electronic devices, the image files are moved to the recycle bin in consideration of the fact that it is generally unlikely that files will need to be restored. At this time, a method of reducing the size of the image file and re-recording it using an appropriate algorithm is employed.
[0007]
As a prior art in which such a method is applied to an electronic file system, there is one described in Patent Document 1. In the electronic file system, a compressed image is generated by removing the redundancy of the original image and a recorded image file is generated. Here, the bit data of the original image is restored from the image file to be erased, and a certain reduction algorithm is applied thereto. Is applied to create a reduced image and the original image file is deleted, and then the reduced image is compressed and encoded to generate and record a recorded image file. In this way, the data amount of the re-recorded image file is reduced and the size thereof is reduced.
[0008]
Further, there is a technique described in Patent Document 2 as a conventional technique applied to a printer that stores and prints an image in a memory. Here, if there is not enough free space in the memory, select an image that can be erased and compressed from the images already stored in the memory, delete or compress the image, and still have insufficient free space in the memory. If so, the image is compressed by converting it to another data format with a higher compression rate.
[0009]
[Patent Document 1]
JP-A-5-37746 [Patent Document 2]
JP 2000-165634 A
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
In the above prior art, when erasing an image file, a reduced image of the original image is created and re-saved, or converted to another data format to increase the compression rate, thereby freeing up memory. Increase capacity.
[0011]
However, when considering applying these technologies to digital cameras, a method of creating and saving a reduced image of the original image is effective, but the compression rate of the image is constant and erased images are stored. As time goes on, the recycle bin will eventually become full, and when the capacity of the recycle bin is changed, the free space of the recording medium will eventually be squeezed.
[0012]
Also, a method for converting an image into another data format with a higher compression ratio is an effective method when an image can be compressed by selecting from a plurality of data formats, such as an image stored in a printer memory. However, this is not applicable when recording a standard format image on a recording medium like a digital camera.
[0013]
The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances. When erasure of an image recorded on a recording medium is designated, the image is selectively erased and digitally recorded in a specific area (trash box) of the recording medium. It is an object of the present invention to provide a digital camera and an image recording control method thereof that do not press a specific area or a free space of a recording medium in the camera.
[0014]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
The digital camera of claim 1 is a digital camera having an image erasing function for selectively erasing an image recorded on a recording medium and recording the selected image in a specific area of the recording medium. Image data amount reduction means for reducing the data amount, and when the selected image is recorded in the specific area, all the images already recorded in the specific area have a data amount that is 1/2 or less of the original capacity And image recording control means for reducing the image data amount by the image data amount reduction means and re-recording in the specific area .
[0015]
The image recording method of a digital camera according to claim 7 is an image of a digital camera having an image erasing function for selectively erasing an image recorded on a recording medium and recording the selected image in a specific area of the recording medium. In a recording control method, when a selected image is recorded in the specific area, all the images already recorded in the specific area are sized so that the data amount is ½ or less of the original capacity. A recording step of re-recording in the specific area after reduction and / or data compression .
[0016]
According to the first and seventh aspects of the invention, when erasure of an image recorded on a recording medium is designated, the data amount of the image recorded in the specific area before that is reduced and re-recorded. Since the data reduction rate of an image whose erasing time is old can be increased, it does not impose pressure on a specific area or a free space of a recording medium as compared with the conventional method in which a certain reduction process is performed at the time of erasing. More specifically, when erasing an image, all the images that have already been recorded are re-recorded in the specific area with a data amount that does not exceed 1/2 of the original capacity. It is possible to accumulate in a number sequence having a ratio of 1/2 in the erasing order, and the total of the image data in the specific area can be suppressed to 1/2 or less of the specific area. For this reason, a ½ free space can always be secured in the specific area, so that there is no shortage of free space in the specific area.
[0017]
The digital camera according to claim 2 is the digital camera according to claim 1, wherein the image data amount reduction means reduces the size of the image, and the image recording control means reduces the image size and performs re-recording. To do.
[0018]
According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the digital camera according to the first or second aspect, the image data amount reducing unit compresses image data, and the image recording control unit determines a compression rate of the image data. To re-record.
[0019]
According to the above configuration, the amount of image data can be effectively reduced by applying image size reduction or image data compression.
[0020]
The digital camera according to claim 4 is the digital camera according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the image recording control unit is configured to select the selected image with a data amount determined according to a capacity of the specific area. It is recorded in a specific area.
[0021]
The image recording control method for a digital camera according to claim 8 is the image recording control method for a digital camera according to claim 7 , wherein the image recording step includes determining the amount of data determined according to the capacity of the specific area. And a step of recording in the specific area.
[0022]
According to the inventions according to claims 4 and 8 , since the data amount of the image to be recorded in the specific area can be determined in association with the capacity of the specific area, the image is accumulated in the specific area by erasing by making an appropriate determination. It is also possible to prevent the free space in the specific area from being pressed.
[0023]
The digital camera according to claim 5 is the digital camera according to claim 4, wherein the image recording control unit is configured to select the selected area with a data amount that does not exceed a half of the capacity of the specific area. To record.
[0025]
The image recording control method for a digital camera according to claim 9 is the image recording control method for a digital camera according to claim 8 , wherein the image recording step does not exceed a half of the capacity of the specific area. The method includes a step of recording in the specific area with a data amount of size .
[0027]
According to the inventions according to claims 5 and 9 , when erasing an image, the selected image is recorded in the specific area with a data amount that does not exceed 1/2 of the capacity of the specific area. There is no shortage of free space in the area.
[0028]
The digital camera according to claim 6 is the digital camera according to any one of claims 1 to 5 , wherein the image recording control means records the selected image on the recording medium with the original data amount. The data is recorded in a specific area set to at least twice the capacity of the data amount image.
[0029]
The digital camera image recording control method according to claim 10 is the digital camera image recording control method according to any one of claims 7 to 9 , wherein the recording step retains the selected image with the original data amount. The method includes a step of recording in a specific area set to a capacity at least twice that of an image having the maximum data amount recorded on the recording medium.
[0030]
According to the inventions according to claims 6 and 10 , by recording in the specific area with the original data amount without reducing the data amount of the image erased most recently, for example, even when the image is erased by mistake, An erased image can be restored without degrading the image quality. In this case, by setting the capacity of the specific area to at least twice the capacity of the maximum data amount image recorded on the recording medium, the capacity of the specific area is insufficient even if the image is recorded with the original data amount. Will not occur.
[0031]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a digital camera according to an embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1, 100 is a main LSI for controlling a digital camera, 110 is an image input system for converting a captured image of a subject into digital image data, 111 is a recording medium for recording an image, 112 is a control program and image data An SRAM 113 is a flash ROM for storing a loaded processing program.
[0032]
In the main LSI 100, 101 is a CPU that executes a processing program, 102 is an LSI built-in RAM, 103 is a signal processing circuit that processes digital image data, 104 is a JPEG circuit that performs image compression, and 105 is an image that outputs a monitor image. A display circuit 106 is a recording medium control circuit that controls access to the recording medium.
[0033]
Digital image data input from the image input system 110 via the signal processing circuit 103 is subjected to image processing such as compression by the JPEG circuit 104 using the LSI built-in RAM 102 or SRAM 112 as a buffer, and is recorded on the recording medium 111 as a recorded image. To be recorded. A display image to be output to a monitor display LCD or a television connected to the outside is sent to the image display circuit 105, where a signal for driving the LCD or television is generated.
Images recorded on the recording medium 111 can be selectively erased by designating individual images by the operation of the camera user. A so-called trash box specific area is provided in the recording medium, and an image designated to be erased is re-recorded by moving it to the trash bin before erasing the image.
[0035]
The image re-recorded in the recycle bin is operated by the camera user specifying the image file in the recycle bin, and the processing program executed by the CPU 101 reads this image file and restores the image. If the image has been erased, the original image can be retrieved immediately.
[0036]
Here, in order to effectively use the recycle bin with a limited capacity, an image that is designated to be selectively deleted and re-recorded in the recycle bin has a file size that is 1/2 of the recycle bin capacity at the maximum. As described above, the image size is reduced and / or the image data is compressed.
[0037]
In addition, before re-recording image data designated to be deleted in the recycle bin, the file size of all image files re-recorded in the recycle bin before this time becomes 1/2 of the previous file size. Process as follows.
[0038]
This is because all the image files re-recorded in the recycle bin are read in order, and each image is restored, and then the image size is reduced or the image size is reduced so that each file capacity becomes 1/2 of the previous file capacity. This can be done by compressing the data, or both, and overwriting each file in the recycle bin.
[0039]
By doing so, the capacity reduction ratio of the image file with the oldest erasing point becomes higher geometrically, so that the free space in the trash can is remarkably increased as compared with the conventional method that performs a certain reduction process at the time of erasing. be able to. Also, by reducing the image file capacity reduction ratio to ½, the trash can always have a half of its capacity, so images that are designated for deletion are always re-recorded in the trash. And there will never be a shortage of recycle bin capacity.
[0040]
Here, the order in which image files are read out does not matter logically, but in practice, from the most recently re-recorded image file with the largest file size in the recycle bin so that file area management of the recording medium can be performed efficiently. A method such as sequential processing is conceivable.
[0041]
In addition, if the capacity of the recycle bin is set to at least twice the maximum data amount of images recorded on the recording medium, not only will the capacity of the recycle bin be insufficient, but the size of the image to be re-recorded in the recycle bin will be reduced. Since it is not necessary to perform compression, it is possible to restore an image having the same image quality as that before erasure when the image is restored.
[0042]
Images rerecorded in the Recycle Bin before the end are inferior in image quality to the extent that the image size was reduced or the image data was compressed when the image was restored, but the need to restore older images is more rapid Therefore, a new image can have a better image quality, which can provide practical convenience.
[0043]
2 and 3 are flowcharts showing an image recording control method of the digital camera according to the above embodiment. In FIG. 2, step S201 is a state in which the power source of the digital camera is turned on, and various menu selections can be made in addition to normal shooting.
[0044]
In the menu selection, if the initial setting is selected in step S202, the process proceeds to step S203, and in addition to various initial settings, initial setting of conditions for erasing the image recorded on the recording medium and re-recording in the trash box is performed. be able to. For example, the presence / absence of a trash can, whether the image size can be reduced, the reduction ratio of the image size, and whether the storage method in the trash can is the N-sheet equal storage mode or the final erased image priority storage mode.
[0045]
Here, the N-sheet equal storage mode is a conventional method in which an image is stored by performing a certain reduction process at the time of erasure, and the final erased image priority storage mode is the latest method as described above. This is a method for ensuring that the image re-recorded in the recycle bin has the best image quality.
[0046]
In step S204, it is detected that erasure of the image recorded on the recording medium is designated. If the image is not erased, the process proceeds to step S205, and shooting and other processing are performed in accordance with another menu selection. In the case of erasing the image, the process proceeds to step S206, and the presence / absence of the trash can is checked. If there is no recycle bin, the process immediately proceeds to step S218 to delete the designated image file and return to the menu selection.
[0047]
If there is a trash box, it is checked in step S207 if the storage method setting in the trash box is the N-sheet equal storage mode or the final erased image priority storage mode. If the erasure mode is the final erased image priority storage mode according to the present invention, the file capacity is set to 1 for all image files re-recorded in the trash before this by the processing from step S208 to S213. The process of setting to / 2 is performed.
[0048]
That is, in step S208, the last image file re-recorded in the trash box is selected, and in step S209, this is read and the image is restored. In step S210, the image size is reduced and / or the image data is compressed, the file capacity is reduced to half of the original size, and this file is overwritten on the original file in the trash box in step S211.
[0049]
The flowchart shown in FIG. 3 illustrates the method of step S210, that is, a method of reducing the image size and / or compressing the image data so that the file capacity is ½ or less of the original size. It is a flowchart to do.
[0050]
In FIG. 3, in steps S301 and S302, it is checked whether the initial setting specifies to reduce the image size or to compress the image data. Each process is performed in steps S303 to S305, and finally the file The capacity should be ½ or less of the original size.
[0051]
In step S212, it is checked whether or not the above process has been completed for all image files re-recorded in the trash. If not, the next image file in the trash box is selected in step S213, and the processes after step S209 are performed. repeat.
[0052]
When the processing for reducing the file capacity to ½ for all the image files re-recorded in the trash is completed, the process proceeds to step S214, and the file capacity of the image designated to be deleted this time is ½ of the capacity of the trash. It is checked whether or not:
[0053]
When the file capacity of the image to be erased exceeds 1/2 of the recycle bin capacity, the process proceeds to step S215, and the image size is reduced or the image data is compressed so that the file capacity is 1/2 or less of the recycle bin capacity. Both are implemented. Here, as described above, when the capacity of the recycle bin is set to at least twice the maximum data amount of the image recorded on the recording medium, such a process does not need to be performed, and the process of step S215 becomes unnecessary. Become.
[0054]
In this way, the image file determined to be ½ or less of the capacity of the trash can is written in the trash can in step S217. In step S218, the image file in the original recording medium designated to be erased is erased, and the menu selection is returned to after completing a series of processes.
[0055]
If it is determined in step S207 that the erase mode is the N-sheet equal storage mode, the process proceeds to step S216. In this mode, the capacity of all image files re-recorded in the recycle bin is 1 / N of the capacity of the recycle bin. Therefore, the image size is reduced or the image data is reduced so that the file capacity is 1 / N of the capacity of the recycle bin. Compression or both are performed.
[0056]
In this way, the image file reduced to 1 / N of the capacity of the recycle bin is written in the recycle bin in step S217. In step S218, the image file in the original recording medium designated to be erased is erased, and the menu selection is returned to after completing a series of processes. In this method, the number of image files that can be stored in the recycle bin is limited to N. If the number of image files exceeds that, old image files are also deleted from the recycle bin.
[0057]
As described above, according to the present embodiment, not only the capacity of the recycle bin will never be insufficient, but the image data re-recorded in the recycle bin at the end will be the same image quality as before the image was deleted when the image was restored. It becomes possible to restore, and it is possible to realize a trash can method that can obtain better image quality when an image is restored as the image is re-recorded in the trash can.
[0058]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the present invention, when erasure of an image recorded on a recording medium is designated, the data amount of an image previously recorded in a specific area is reduced and re-recorded. Since the data reduction rate of an image whose erasing time is old can be increased, it does not impose pressure on a specific area or a free space of a recording medium as compared with the conventional method in which a certain reduction process is performed at the time of erasing.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a digital camera according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing an image recording control method for a digital camera according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a flowchart for explaining a processing method for reducing the file capacity to ½ of the original size;
[Explanation of symbols]
100 Main LSI
101 CPU
102 LSI built-in RAM
103 signal processing circuit 104 JPEG circuit 105 image display circuit 106 recording medium control circuit 110 image input system 111 recording medium 112 SRAM
113 Flash ROM

Claims (11)

A digital camera having an image erasing function for selectively erasing an image recorded on a recording medium and recording the selected image in a specific area of the recording medium,
Image data amount reduction means for reducing the amount of image data;
When the selected image is recorded in the specific area, all the images already recorded in the specific area are reduced by the image data amount reducing means so that the data amount is 1/2 or less of the original capacity. digital camera and an image recording control means for re-recorded in the specific area to.   The digital camera according to claim 1, wherein the image data amount reducing means reduces the size of an image, and the image recording control means reduces the image size and re-records.   The digital camera according to claim 1, wherein the image data amount reduction unit compresses image data, and the image recording control unit rerecords the image data by increasing a compression rate thereof.   The digital camera according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the image recording control unit records the selected image in the specific area with a data amount determined according to a capacity of the specific area.   5. The digital camera according to claim 4, wherein the image recording control means records the selected image in the specific area with a data amount not exceeding 1/2 of the capacity of the specific area.   6. The image recording control unit according to claim 1, wherein the image recording control unit records the selected image in a specific area set to a capacity at least twice that of an image having a maximum data amount recorded on the recording medium with the original data amount. The digital camera according to any one of the above. An image recording control method for a digital camera having an image erasing function for selectively erasing an image recorded on a recording medium and recording the selected image in a specific area of the recording medium,
When the selected image is recorded in the specific area, all the images already recorded in the specific area are reduced in size and / or compressed so that the data amount is 1/2 or less of the original capacity. An image recording control method for a digital camera, comprising a recording step of reducing and re-recording in the specific area.   8. The image recording control method for a digital camera according to claim 7, wherein the image recording step includes a step of recording the selected image in the specific area with a data amount determined according to the capacity of the specific area.   9. The image recording control method for a digital camera according to claim 8, wherein the image recording step includes a step of recording the selected image in the specific area with a data amount not exceeding 1/2 of the capacity of the specific area. .   8. The image recording step includes a step of recording the selected image in a specific area set to a capacity at least twice that of an image having a maximum data amount recorded on the recording medium with the original data amount. The image recording control method for a digital camera according to claim 9.   An image recording control program for a digital camera having an image erasing function for selectively erasing an image recorded on a recording medium and recording the selected image in a specific area of the recording medium, wherein the computer is selected When the recorded image is recorded in the specific area, the size of all the images already recorded in the specific area is reduced according to the capacity of the specific area so that the data amount is 1/2 or less of the original capacity. And / or an image recording control program for a digital camera that functions as means for re-recording in the specific area after being reduced by data compression.

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