JP4760386B2 - Imaging display device, imaging display method, and program - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an imaging display device, an imaging display method, and a program suitable for application to a digital still camera capable of recording a captured still image or moving image file on a recording medium and displaying the image, for example.

  Conventionally, when a still image or the like is recorded using a digital still camera, information is written on a removable external recording medium. When recording captured image data on an external recording medium loaded in a digital still camera, recording is performed on the recording medium with a directory structure based on a specific standard. Based on the DCF (Design Rule for Camera File system) standard that defines the handling of directory structures, files, etc., for example, to enable recording and playback on external recording media even when using digital still cameras from different manufacturers. Files related to files and images are managed.

  In the DCF standard, a “DCIM directory” called a “DCF image root directory” is created immediately below a “ROOT directory” of a recording medium. Then, a directory according to a naming rule of “three-digit directory number + five free characters (for example, 101MSDCF)” called “DCF directory” is formed in a lower directory of “DCIM directory”, and the recorded image file is saved. Is done. As long as the DCF directory has a non-overlapping directory number from 100 to 999, classification at the time of saving a captured image is possible using a plurality of DCF directories. Further, in one DCF directory, a file according to a naming rule of “4-character free character + 4-digit file number + extension (for example, ABCD0001.jpg)” called “DCF file” as an image or sound file is stored. It is formed. A group of files having the same file number as the DCF file name is referred to as a “DCF object”, and up to 9999 DCF objects can be recorded in one DCF directory. In addition, when a new DCF directory is newly created, it is recommended that the directory number be incremented by a sequential number of the maximum number + 1 of the existing directory number.

  When shooting using a digital still camera, the image numbers incremented in the shooting order are recorded on the recording medium as file names. And the display at the time of the image browsing using a digital still camera was performed in the order of the file name (image number) provided to the imaging | photography order. That is, at the time of browsing the images, the captured images are displayed in the order of the numbers based on the image numbers of the file names. Therefore, the user can browse the images in the order of shooting without being aware of it.

  In addition, recent digital still cameras have not only a function of capturing still images but also a function of capturing moving images. Therefore, when shooting and recording a shooting target as a still image or a moving image, the user can freely select a shooting type according to the usage situation and enjoy shooting. In addition, since the digital still camera is equipped with a liquid crystal display, you can check the shot images on the spot or display multiple thumbnails as thumbnails to select images that are necessary or unnecessary for the user. Can now be done easily. In addition, it is possible to easily display images taken on a liquid crystal display in order and browse them.

Patent Document 1 describes a file system for recording and managing data.
JP-A-7-262059 (FIG. 3)

Incidentally, in recent years, with the increase in recording capacity of recording media, it has become possible to store several hundred image files on one external recording medium. However, using a device that stores and displays images, such as a digital still camera, a browsing operation that searches for a target image while sending images one by one in sequence is very time-consuming and inefficient. It was an operation.
In addition, when the recording capacity of the external recording medium increases as described above, there has been a demand for integrating file groups by moving an image file taken with another digital still camera to the recording medium. For this reason, after an image file shot using another digital still camera is stored in an external recording medium, an operation is performed in which the external recording medium is transferred to another digital still camera and the image file is captured.

  Normally, when an image file import operation is performed, the captured image file is not particularly processed, and the image numbers assigned to the file names are not uniform. Currently used file management techniques manage files in the order of file names regardless of the shooting date. As a result, there is a possibility that images cannot be displayed in the shooting order. For this reason, the shooting order stored by the user and the display order by the browsing operation are different, making it difficult to find the target image. Further, as the number of files stored in the recording medium increases, it becomes difficult to know at which point the image was taken, which hinders the user's browsing operation.

  If the image number of the file name is duplicated, the file name (image number) must be changed because duplication of the image number is not allowed in the same folder. However, when the file name is changed, the display order of the file also changes. However, there has been a demand for displaying the image file in the order of shooting.

  The present invention has been made in view of such a situation, and an object thereof is to classify and browse image files along a time axis taken.

The present invention captures a still image or a moving image, records the captured still image or moving image with an imaging date and time as an internal image file, and records the captured still image or moving image as an external image. Management information that captures as a file, records an external image file, and associates an internal and external image file with an event that stores at least one internal or external image file, the internal and external image file and a route to the event Information and property data holding first time zone information as a time difference with respect to universal time, a thumbnail image created as a reduced image of the image, and metadata holding additional information of the image are associated with each other in the recording unit. Using the recorded management information, set the date and time measured by the clock unit according to the first time zone information. The internal and external image files and events are arranged along the time axis in the shooting order based on the shooting date and time of the internal and external image files in the first time zone information, and the second time zone information is set in the management information of the external image file If it is, the second time zone information is shifted to the first time zone information, the captured external image file is classified as an already generated event, and the event is performed at the date and time corresponding to the imaging date and time of the external image file. If there is no event, an event for storing the external image file is generated, the external image file is classified, the second time zone information is not set in the management information of the external image file, and the imaging date / time is set in the external image file. If attached, by setting the first time zone information to an external image file, already generating an external image file If there is no event at the date and time corresponding to the imaging date and time of the external image file, generate an event to store the external image file, classify the external image file, and include the internal and external events included in the event. Of the image files, one of the selected image files is used as a delimiter, the event is divided into first and second events, and an image file captured before the imaging date and time of the selected image file is the first one. Store in the event, store the selected image file and the image file captured after the imaging date and time of the selected image file in the second event, and shift the second time zone information to the first time zone information If the event crosses dates, control is performed so that the event is not divided into different dates. One of the index screen format that is a reduced image group, the single screen format that displays the entire image for each image, and the event list screen format that displays a list of predetermined images stored in the event in the order of the shooting date and time. Still images or moving images recorded in internal and external image files are displayed in one screen format.

  This makes it possible to classify the captured still image or moving image internal image file and the external image file captured from the outside into events and display them for each event in the order of imaging.

  According to the present invention, in order to classify an internal image file of a captured still image or moving image and an external image file captured from the outside into events, at the time of image search, the images are displayed and browsed for each event in the order of imaging, and stored in the event. There is an effect that it is possible to quickly browse the image that has been made.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. The present embodiment is an example applied to a digital still camera that takes a still image and a moving image and can browse and display the image and performs directory management in accordance with the DCF standard.

  First, an internal configuration example of the digital camera of this example will be described. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of the internal configuration of the digital camera 100 of this example. A digital still camera 100 includes a camera unit 1 having a still image and moving image imaging function, a DSP (Digital Signal Processor) 2 that performs predetermined processing on the captured image, and an SDRAM (Synchronous Dynamic) that is a rewritable recording medium. Random Access Memory) 3, a medium interface (I / F) 4 serving as an interface unit for reading and writing to an external recording medium, a control unit 5 for controlling processing of each block, operation keys, etc. are provided for operation. An operation unit 6 to perform, an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) controller 7 to perform liquid crystal drive processing, an LCD 8 to display captured images, menus, and the like, and an external interface (I / F) 9 that can communicate with an external device (not shown). Is provided. Here, the external interface 9 is provided as a wired interface such as an IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) 1394 system or a USB (Universal Serial Bus) terminal. Then, writing and reading of an image file accompanying the imaging display operation can be performed with respect to the removable recording medium 10 or the hard disk drive 17 which is a large-capacity recording medium. In the digital still camera of this example, a so-called memory card using, for example, a semiconductor memory is used as the recording medium 10.

  At the time of photographing an image, an optical block driver 14 that controls driving of the optical block 11 including a lens, a focus mechanism, a shutter mechanism, an aperture (iris) mechanism, and the like controls the optical block 11 according to control from the control unit 5. A drive signal to be operated is formed. Then, this drive signal is supplied to the optical block 11 to operate the optical block 11. The optical block 11 is controlled by a focus mechanism, a shutter mechanism, and a diaphragm mechanism in accordance with a drive signal from the optical block driver 14 to capture an image of a subject and generate an imaging signal. 12 supplies the image. Here, the CCD driver 15 that controls the drive of the CCD image pickup device 12 forms a drive signal based on the timing signal supplied from the timing generation circuit 16 that generates the timing signal supplied to the CCD image pickup device 12 and the CCD driver 15. Then, the CCD image pickup device 12 is driven.

  The image light incident through the optical block 11 is imaged on the imaging surface of the CCD image sensor 12 that photoelectrically converts the received imaging signal. Then, the CCD image pickup device 12 photoelectrically converts the image output signal corresponding to the subject image formed on the image pickup surface from the image from the optical block 11 and outputs it. Further, the CCD image pickup device 12 performs, based on the timing signal generated from the timing generation circuit 16 controlled by the control unit 5, an image of the captured subject (image information) as an electrical signal before performing predetermined preprocessing. This is supplied to the processing circuit 13. The pre-processing circuit 13 performs CDS (Correlated Double Sampling) processing on the supplied electrical signal image information to maintain a good S / N ratio, and performs AGC (Automatic Gain Control) processing. The gain is controlled, and A / D (Analog / Digital) conversion is performed to form image data converted into a digital signal. In the digital still camera 100 of this example, the blocks 11 to 16 that process the imaging output signal in this way are referred to as the camera unit 1.

  The image data converted into a digital signal is supplied from the preprocessing circuit 13 to the DSP 2. The DSP 2 performs camera signal processing such as AF (Auto Focus), AE (Auto Exposure), and AWB (Auto White Balance) on the supplied image data. The image data subjected to various adjustments in this way is compressed by a predetermined compression method, and is attached to the removable recording medium 10 or hard disk drive loaded in the digital still camera 100 through the system bus 55 and the medium interface 4. 17 is recorded as an image file conforming to the DCF standard, for example.

  On the other hand, when displaying an image, the image data recorded on the recording medium 10 is transferred to the medium in accordance with an operation input from the user received through the operation unit 6 constituted by a touch panel, a control key, or the like. It is read from the recording medium 10 through the interface 4 and supplied to the DSP 2. Alternatively, data recorded in the hard disk drive 17 is read and supplied to the DSP 2. With respect to the compressed image data supplied to the DSP 2, the DSP 2 performs decompression processing (decompression processing) and supplies the decompressed image data to the LCD controller 7 through the system bus 55. The LCD controller 7 forms an image signal from the supplied image data, and supplies the image signal to the LCD 8 that can display an image. As a result, an image corresponding to the image data recorded on the recording medium 10 or the hard disk drive 17 is displayed on the display screen of the LCD 8. Here, the display form of the image follows the display processing program recorded in the flash ROM 53. This display processing program is a program for executing and controlling how a file system (to be described later) is recorded and how an image is reproduced.

  The control unit 5 provides a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 51 that performs processing calculation and control, a rewritable RAM (Random Access Memory) 52, a flash ROM (Read Only Memory) 53, and the time in the digital still camera 100. The clock circuit 54 is a microcomputer configured by connecting a predetermined signal to a system bus 55 capable of communicating with each other, and controls each block. Here, the RAM 52 is mainly used as a work area, such as temporarily storing intermediate results of processing. The clock circuit 54 can provide the current date, the current day of the week, the current time, and the time zone, and also has a function of adding date and time information such as a shooting date and time to the shot image file. The flash ROM 53 stores various programs executed by the CPU 51 and data necessary for processing. In addition, the CPU 51 executes processing such as event division, combination processing, time zone setting for a captured image, and time zone shift for an image captured from the outside, which will be described later.

  The digital still camera 100 of this example is provided with an external interface 9. Through this external interface 9, for example, an external computer device (not shown) can be connected to receive image data from the computer device, and the image data can be recorded on the recording medium 10 or the hard disk drive 17 loaded in the own device. Further, the image data recorded in the recording medium 10 or the hard disk drive 17 loaded in the own apparatus can be supplied to an external computer device or the like.

  As described above, the user can take an image of a subject by using the digital still camera 100 of the present example, and can record the image on the recording medium 10 or the hard disk drive 17 loaded. The image data recorded in the drive 17 can be read out, displayed, and viewed and edited arbitrarily.

  Next, the concept of classification along the shooting order will be described with reference to FIG. In the digital still camera 100 of this example, all the images are arranged along the time axis in the order of shooting based on the shooting date and time, and the time unit based on social conventions such as date, week, month, season, year, etc. A set is formed with a break that can be set to. In this example, such a set is referred to as an “event”. Also, based on the idea that people remember at least the events that took the images and the order in which they happened, we ensure that the images can be searched in the order they were taken, and have a mechanism that uses the unit of the event as a clue to search. provide. In this example, the basic unit of the event is described as a date. However, for example, one day can be divided into an morning event, an afternoon event, a night event, and the like. In addition, it is possible to make a single event spanning the date from the departure of the two-night three-day trip to the return home, and the user can arbitrarily set the event unit.

  In FIG. 2, still image files P1 to P11 and moving image files M1 and M2 are arranged on the time axis in the order of shooting times. For example, if the event names are event A, event B, and event C, it can be seen that an image group of a still image file or a moving image file belongs to each event. However, only one file may belong to one event. In this example, in the image group E1 belonging to the event A, still image files P1, P2 and a moving image file M1 are arranged. Similarly, still image files P3 to P6 and a moving image file M2 are arranged in the image group E2 belonging to the event B, and still image files P7 to P11 are arranged in the image group E3 belonging to the event C. In the following description, still image files and moving image files are also referred to as image files.

  In the digital still camera 100 and related devices, for example, an Exif (Exchangeable Image File Format) image file rule is applied to an image file recorded on the removable recording medium 10 or the built-in hard disk drive 17. Acquisition of the shooting date and time of each image uses information stored in Exif for a still image file, and information stored in the file for a moving image file. If such information does not exist, the file time set in the file system may be used, but more accurate shooting date / time information is used.

  Next, an example of automatic classification at the time of shooting will be described with reference to FIG. In this example, “divide by date” is applied to the automatic classification rule for image files at the time of shooting. In this case, a file that has been shot according to the shooting time is automatically distributed to events that are created for each date. The photographing time is counted by the clock circuit 54, and the time information is shown on the time axis. In the event E2, for example, still image files P3 to P6 and a moving image file M2 captured in a time zone from 00:00 to 24:00 on February 21 are stored. Similarly, it can be seen that the event E3 stores, for example, a still image file P7 photographed in the time zone from 2:00 to 24:00 on February 22.

  Here, it is assumed that, at the time of image shooting, the still image file P3 is shot for the first time on February 21 in a state where the event E2 is not created. In this case, an event E2 on February 21 is newly created, and the still image file P3 is stored in the event E2. On the other hand, if the event E2 on February 21 has already been created, an image is added to the event E2 (in this example, still image files P4 to P6 and a moving image file M2). Similarly, if the still image file P7 is captured for the first time on February 22 in a state where the event E3 has not been created, an event E3 on February 22 is newly created, and the still image file P7 is created in the event E3. Stored. If the event E3 on February 22 has already been created, an image is added to the event E3. The shooting date and time when a moving image is shot indicates the shooting start time. Here, in FIG. 3, the shooting of the moving image file M2 straddles the dates of February 21-22. However, since the shooting start time is within the event E2, the moving image file M2 is stored in the event E2. The shooting time is determined by a time zone, which will be described later, set for each shooting region. Generally, the time zone is set in the digital still camera 100. In addition, when a new shooting is performed by changing the time zone, a new event is created.

  Next, an example of manual setting of event division will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 4 shows an example of manual setting of an event when the file E is stored by dividing the event E2 on February 21 into two events. FIG. 4A shows an example in which a gap time zone is provided between the events before and after the division. On the other hand, FIG. 4B is an example in which no gap time zone is provided between the divided events. Event E2 surrounded by a dotted line in both FIG. 4 (a) and FIG. 4 (b) stores still image files P3 to P6 and moving image file M1 taken in the time zone from 02:00 to 24:00 on February 21. is there. Similarly, the event E3 stores a still image file P7 photographed in the time zone from 2:00 to 24:00 on February 22.

  In this example, the still image file P5 is designated as a partition for dividing the event E2. In this case, the event E2 is divided into events e1 and e2. For example, if the event E2 is divided immediately after the still image file P5 is shot, the shot images after the shooting time of the still image file P5 (after 18:00 on February 21) change until the date changes (until 2:00 on February 22). ) Added to the divided event e2. In FIG. 4 (a), the event e1 is February 21st 0:00 to 13:00 (time when the still image file P4 was photographed), and the event e2 is February 21st 18:00 (still image file P5 was photographed). (Time) to 24 hours. In this way, by dividing the event by providing a gap time zone, when an external file to be described later is taken in, the classification for each image file group is easily maintained.

  On the other hand, when the event E2 is divided, the time zone of the event e1 can be extended to just before the time when the still image file 5 was shot so that no gap time zone is provided between the events. When the event E2 is divided on the basis of the still image file P5, the still image file P5 is included in the divided event e2 ′. In FIG. 4B, the event e1 ′ is set to February 1st 0:00 to 18:00 (until just before the time when the still image file P5 was shot), and the event e2 ′ is set to February 1st 18:00 (still image). The time zone from when the file P5 was taken) to 24:00. As described above, when an external file (to be described later) is captured by dividing the event without providing a gap time zone, the file is surely classified into existing events, so that the event of the classification destination can be easily predicted.

  In this way, shooting files can be stored by arbitrarily dividing events from a certain time. However, the division of the event is a date break, and a new event starts from the new break until 24:00 on that day.

  Next, an example of event combination operation will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 5 shows an example of a combining operation that combines two events into one event. FIG. 5A shows an example of events divided every day. On the other hand, FIG. 5B shows an example in which two events are combined. The event E2 in FIG. 5A stores still image files P3 to P6 and a moving image file M1 taken in the time zone from 00:00 to 24:00 on February 21. The event E3 stores a still image file P7 photographed in the time zone from 2:00 to 24:00 on February 22.

  In the digital still camera 100 of this example, if the events are adjacent, it is possible to perform a combining operation that combines two events into one event. In this example, the divided events E2 and E3 in FIG. 5A are combined into an event E4 in FIG. 5B. As a result, the event E4 includes still image files P3 to P7 and a moving image file M1 that are captured in the time period from 00:00 on February 21 to 24:00 on February 22. It should be noted that the combined events can be divided again according to the user's arbitrary settings.

  Next, an example of automatic classification when an image file is imported from outside will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 6 shows a case where a recording medium 10 on which an image file taken by a digital still camera different from the digital still camera 100 is recorded is loaded into the digital still camera 100 of this example, and the image file read from the recording medium 10 is read. In the case of recording in the hard disk drive 17 built in the camera, the process of automatically classifying the event according to the shooting time of the image file is described. Since the still image files P11 to P13 read from the external recording medium 10 are image files photographed on February 21, they are captured in the event E2 on February 21. Similarly, since the still image file P14 is an image file taken on February 22, it is captured in the event E3 on February 22. Thus, the image file captured from the outside is captured in the corresponding event. Note that the processing at the time of capturing an image file is performed based on time zone settings (to be described later) of the digital still camera 100 based on time information given to the image file. The image file captured in FIG. 6 is taken in the same time zone as the digital still camera 100.

  Next, an example of automatic classification in a case where an image file imported from the outside is associated with an event having a gap time zone at the time of division will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 7A shows an example of an event divided by providing a gap time zone. FIG. 7B is an example of capturing an image file into the divided event of FIG. The still image files P11 to P13 captured from the outside are images taken on a camera different from the digital still camera 100 of this example on February 21. As shown in FIG. 7A, the still image file P11 is taken in the time zone of the event e1 (February 21, 01:00 to 13:00) composed of existing images. However, there is no event composed of existing images including the shooting times of the still image files P12 and P13. For this reason, as shown in FIG. 7B, the still image file P11 is inserted into the event e1, but the still image files P12 and P13 create a new event e3 and a process for taking in the event is performed. . Here, if the shooting time of the still image file P12 is 21:00 on February 21, and the shooting time of the still image file P13 is 17:00 on February 21, the time zone of the created event e3 is (February 21 Day 14: 00-17: 00). Also in this example, the image to be captured is an image taken in the same time zone as the digital still camera 100.

  Here, when an image file is imported from the outside to an event in which a gap time zone is not provided at the time of event division, there is no gap time zone. Therefore, no new event is created to store the external image file. However, if the digital still camera 100 does not have an event corresponding to the shooting time of the external image file, a new event is created and the external image file is captured.

  Next, an image file index management function in the digital still camera 100 of this example will be described with reference to FIG. In the digital still camera 100, recording is performed in specific areas of the recording medium 10 and the hard disk drive 17, and image files, events, and the like are managed using an index system having an index function. FIG. 8 shows an example of an index system folder structure and entries created for centrally managing and referencing images in the digital still camera 100.

  The digital still camera 100 has an index system 200 having a database function for managing entries, thumbnail images, and metadata of various files in order to quickly obtain target information for management target files such as still image files and moving image files. This improves the processing performance during search and reference. In addition, the index system 200 does not only enter real files and real folders having real data on the recording medium 10 and the hard disk drive 17 but also entries for virtual files and virtual folders by the file management system of the recording medium 10 and the hard disk drive 17. Information can be registered. As described above, the index system 200 is used to manage files in a folder structure having a hierarchical structure.

  The index system 200 is configured for each recording medium (in this example, the recording medium 10 and the hard disk drive 17). Then, by loading the recording medium 10 into the digital still camera 100, the index system 200 created on the recording medium 10 is read, and the read index system 200 information is read to the index system 200 in the digital still camera 100. Can be captured. The index system 200 manages the recorded image file entry, file name, file length, and other information. When browsing an image, the data stored in the recording medium 10 or the hard disk drive 17 can be quickly accessed by referring to the entry of the index system 200.

  FIG. 8A shows an example of the folder structure of the index system 200. Immediately below the index root folder a1 which is the highest folder, an original root folder a2 in which entry information for image files is recorded and a favorite folder a3 in which entry information for favorite files are recorded are tree-type folders. Stored in structure. Here, for the sake of explanation, an entry index to be referred to when accessing by the index system 200 is assigned to all folders and files in the form of “# numbers”.

  Immediately under the original root folder a2, folder creation dates are assigned to a plurality of original folders, such as an original folder a20 dated April 1, 2005, an original folder a23 dated April 5, 2005,. And stored. In this example, an original folder is created for each generated event, an image file for the image file group belonging to the event, a thumbnail image representing the event (for example, the image file taken first in the event), a meta file, Store the data. The image file, thumbnail image, and metadata stored in the original folder are unique, and the same image file, thumbnail image, and metadata are not stored in a plurality of original folders.

  Similarly, favorite folders a4, a5,... Are stored immediately below the favorite root folder a3. The favorite folder represents a link group in which link information for an arbitrary file is recorded. In this example, an arrow indicates that link information to the file a24 is recorded in the favorite folder a4. Since information such as actual thumbnail images is not stored in the favorite folder, link information to the same file stored in the original folder may be recorded in a plurality of favorite folders.

  FIG. 8B shows a file configuration example of the index system 200. In the index system 200, when the management target file is a file related to video content, property data including an entry index is created from the attributes of each management target file, and the property file F1 is configured by a series of property data. A property file header which is information of the property file F1 itself is created in the header portion of the property file F1. Then, the property data to which the folder and file entry indexes are assigned is sequentially stored from the entry index # 1 of the index root folder a1. Also, each thumbnail image is created from each management target file, and a thumbnail image file F2 is created by a series of entries based on the thumbnail images. When meta information such as a file name is given to the file, a metadata file F3 is created by a series of entries based on the meta information.

  The property data stored in the property file F1 of this example records various basic information such as file image information, file name, shooting date / time, editing date / time, browsing date / time, presence / absence of continuous shooting, and time zone. . Here, when the time zone of the digital still camera 100 is set to JST (Japan standard time), the time zone information stored in the property data is from UTC (Coordinated Universal Time). Is stored as “+9 hours”. When the time zone is changed from JST to PST (Pacific Standard Time), the time zone information is changed to “−8 hours”.

  In the property data related to the image file, access information indicating the corresponding thumbnail image entry is recorded. In this example, the access information is represented by dotted arrows to the thumbnail image file F2 and the metadata file F3. In this example, thumbnail images a21 ′, a22 ′, and a24 ′ (images A, B, and C) are thumbnails corresponding to the image files of entry indexes # 21, # 22, and # 24 of the files a21, a22, and a24, respectively. The image file F2 is created in advance. In addition, entry indexes # 21 and # 22 of the files a21 and a22 store entry information for the metadata file F3 storing additional information such as image titles and comments. By reading the thumbnail images recorded in the thumbnail image file F2 at the time of image browsing or the like, a large number of image files recorded on the recording medium 10 can be quickly displayed as thumbnails. Further, based on the recording of the property file F1, it is possible to access the original image file from the thumbnail image selected by the user and display the image.

  Since the property data to which the entry index is assigned is stored in the property file F1 in this way, even when many image files are stored in the recording medium 10 or the hard disk drive 17, the digital still camera 100 browses the image. In this case, it is possible to quickly search without accessing the original file and improve processing performance such as image display. Further, since the images are created in advance as thumbnail images, they can be displayed promptly when performing thumbnail display. Also in the event division / join operation of this example, the processing load can be reduced by using the index system 200.

  Next, event management of an image file based on the time zone used in this example will be described with reference to FIG. The time zone represents a time zone used in common by a certain country or region, and the standard time for each region can be calculated from an increase / decrease value from UTC. In the digital still camera 100 of this example, the user can obtain a standard time suitable for the shooting region by setting a time zone according to the region in advance, and the date and time information according to the standard time of the region is added to the image file at the time of shooting. In addition, the date and time of event distribution is determined. Here, in the description of FIG. 9, description of the image file constituting the event recorded in the digital still camera 100 is omitted.

  In the digital still camera 100 of this example, the time zone is initially set to JST (UTC + 9 hours). An example of the event configuration at this time will be described with reference to FIG. In FIG. 9A, JST date / time information is assigned to a captured image file. In this example, the event e0 occupies a time zone from February 6 to 6 o'clock and stores image files P1 to P4. Similarly, the event e3 on February 22 occupies a time zone from 12:00 to 22:00 and stores image files P5 and P6.

  Next, an example in which an image P3 photographed at 18:00 on February 21 and selecting an event will be described with reference to FIG. 9B. At this time, the event e0 is divided into events e1 and e2, and the divided event e1 occupies a time zone from 6:00 to 13:00, and the event e2 occupies a time zone from 18:00 to 22:00.

  Next, the shooting date and time of an image file shot by another digital still camera whose time zone is set to PST will be described with reference to FIG. At this time, the time zone of the image file is PST (UTC-8 hours), still image file P11 photographed at 14:00 on February 20, still image file P12 photographed at 21:00, still image file P13 photographed at 23:00. It can be seen that there are still image files P14 photographed at 13:00 on February 21 and still image files P15 photographed at 21:00. In this way, the time in PST (local time) is set as the update time of Exif or the image file.

  Time zone information can be set for each digital still camera 100. For this reason, when two digital still cameras are used to capture images at the same moment in Japan and the United States, the date and time information given to the image file does not have the same value. That is, even if the image was taken at 0:00 on February 22 in Japan, the date and time information taken at 7:00 on February 21 is added to the image file due to the time difference in the United States. In this example, when an image file taken with another camera with another time zone is imported to the digital still camera 100, the time information added to the imported image file is left as it is, Allocate image files to events in a form suitable for the time zone.

  Next, an event configuration example when the time zone is shifted from JST to PST will be described with reference to FIG. Here, for the event described in FIG. 9B, the time zone of the digital still camera 100 is shifted from JST to PST. Due to the time zone shift, the time zone of the event e1 is changed from 6 o'clock to 13 o'clock (JST) on February 21 to 13 o'clock to 20 o'clock (PST) on February 20. Similarly, the time zone of the event e2 is changed from 18:00 to 22:00 (JST) on February 21 to 1:00 to 5:00 (PST) on February 21. The time zone of the event e3 is changed from 12:00 to 22:00 (JST) on February 22 to 15:00 on February 21 to 5:00 (PST) on February 21. Note that once an event has been created, it will not be automatically divided even if it crosses dates due to a time zone shift. For convenience, the start / end time of the event is represented by PST, but this is not the case when the event is displayed on the digital still camera 100. Basically, the description is performed along the time zone of the image file.

  Next, an example of an event configuration after fetching an external file having PST time zone information will be described with reference to FIG. When an image file taken with the time zone shown in FIG. 9C as the PST is taken into the digital still camera 100 of this example, the image file P11 is stored in the event e1. The image file P15 is stored in the event e4. Here, an event for storing the image files P12 and P13 is not created in the digital still camera 100. Therefore, an event corresponding to the captured image file is newly created. In this example, an event e4 is created, and the event e4 occupies a time zone from 21:00 to 23:00 on February 20, and stores image files P12 and P13. Further, an event for storing the image file P14 is not created in the digital still camera 100. Therefore, an event e5 corresponding to the captured image file is newly created. Note that only the image file P14 is stored in the event e5.

Here, when the time zone information is given to the external image files P11 to P15 itself,
1) Regardless of the time zone setting of the digital still camera 100, the image file is inserted at the correct position on the time axis. The event is also configured according to a predetermined rule.
On the other hand, when the time zone information is not given to the external image files P11 to P15 itself,
2) By capturing an image after setting the time zone setting of the digital still camera 100 as PST, the image file is inserted at a correct position on the time axis.

  Next, an event configuration example when an external file having no time zone information is taken in with an incorrect time zone setting will be described with reference to FIG. Here, it is assumed that an image file captured with the time zone as PST does not have time zone information because image management by the index system is not performed. For this reason, when an erroneous operation is performed in which the time zone setting of the digital still camera 100 is set to JST and the image file is imported (usually, the time of the digital still camera 100 matches the time zone of the external file to be imported). The zone must be set to PST and captured), and the shooting dates and times of the image files P11 to P15 shot with the PST are interpreted based on the JST. That is, the digital still camera 100 captures the shooting date and time assigned to the external file as it is based on its own time zone setting and registers the event. For this reason, when the date information of the image file photographed by the PST shown in FIG. 9C is taken into the digital still camera 100 and there is no image file (event) on February 20, originally, the image files P11 to P13. Is created in the time zone from 14:00 to 23:00 on February 20. The image file P14 is stored in the existing event e1. Similarly, the image file P15 is stored in the existing event e2. The stored external image files P11 to P15 are managed by the index system 200 of the digital still camera 100.

  Next, an example of an event configuration when the time zone of FIG. 9E is shifted from PST to JST will be described with reference to FIG. In this case, since the time zone is only shifted, the event configuration does not change. Event e4 is a time zone from 14:00 to 16:00 on February 21, and event e5 is a time of 6 o'clock on February 22.

  Next, an example of an event structure after capturing an external file shot in the JST time zone will be described with reference to FIG. Assume that the image file P16 was taken at 8 o'clock on February 22 with another digital still camera with the time zone set to JST. When capturing the image file P16 into the digital still camera 100, there is no event including the shooting time of the image file P16. Since only the event e3 exists on February 22, the time zone from 12:00 to 22:00 on February 22 in the event e3 becomes the event e3 ′ extended from 8:00 to 22:00, and this event e3 ′ Is stored with the image file P16.

  In this way, an external image file can be captured along an appropriate time axis in accordance with the set time zone shift.

  Here, an example of processing for registering an image file in an event at the time of shooting and at the time of taking in an external image file will be described with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS. 10 and 11. FIG. 10 shows an example of processing for registering an image file in an event, and event registration is performed taking into account the time zone setting. Whether or not there is an event on the shooting date of the image file is determined according to the time zone. FIGS. 10 and 11 describe the process of registering image file entry information in an event using the index system, and the process of actually copying and storing the image file in the DCF directory. Not performed.

  First, a still image file or a moving image file is input from the external recording medium 10 (step S1), and it is determined whether or not an event (A) including the shooting date and time of the input image file exists in the digital still camera 100 ( Step S2). If the event (A) exists, the image file input to the event (A) is registered (step S3). At this time, the path and thumbnail image of the image file input to the index system 200 of the digital still camera 100 are created. On the other hand, if there is no event that can be registered, path information necessary for the input image file is temporarily stored in the RAM 52 or the hard disk drive 17 (step S4).

  Then, after step S3 or step S4, it is determined whether an input image file that has not been processed remains in the recording medium 10 or the hard disk drive 17 (step S5). If an unprocessed input image file remains, the process returns to step S1, and the processes between steps S1 to S5 are repeated until all the input image files are processed. On the other hand, when all the input image files have been processed, the input image file for which there is no event that can be registered (in this example, event (A)) is read from the RAM 52 or the hard disk drive 17 temporarily stored and input in the order of shooting date and time ( Step S6). Processing of the input image file temporarily stored in step S4 is performed in and after step S6.

  It is determined whether only the event (B) including the shooting date and time of the input image file among the input image files input in order of shooting date and time exists on the shooting date of the input image file (step S7). If only the event (B) exists on the shooting date of the input image file, it is determined whether the time zone of the event (B) is the same as the time zone at the time of shooting the input image file (step S8). If the time zone of the event (B) is the same as that of the input image file, it is determined whether the event (B) does not cross the day (step S9). When the event (B) does not cross the day, the input image file is registered in the event (B) (step S10).

  On the other hand, if there is an event other than the event (B) on the shooting date of the input image file in step S7, it is determined whether or not there is an event (D) on the same day ahead of the shooting date (step S11). When the event (D) on the same day exists ahead of the shooting date and time of the input image file, it is determined whether the time zone of the event (D) is the same as the time zone at the time of shooting the input image file (step S12). When the time zone of the event (D) is the same as that of the input image file, it is determined whether the event (D) is a newly created event in this series of processes (processes after step S6) (step S13). . If the event (D) is an event newly created by this series of processing, the input image file is registered in the event (D) (step S14).

  Here, when the time zone of the event (B) in step S8 is different from the time zone at the time of shooting the input image file, or when the event (B) in step S9 straddles the day, or behind the shooting date and time of step S11. If there is an event on the same day, or if the time zone of event (D) in step S12 is different from the time zone at the time of shooting the input image file, or event (D) is an event newly created by this series of processing If it is not, the event (C) is newly generated (step S15), and the input image file is registered in the event (C) (step S16).

  Then, it is determined whether or not an input image file not registered in the event remains in the RAM 52 or the hard disk drive 17 (step S17). If an input image file with no event registered remains, the process returns to step S6, and the event registration process is repeated. On the other hand, when all the input image files are registered in the event, the process ends.

  Next, an example of processing for registering an image in an event (simplified version) will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. The process of this example is a process that allows event registration to be performed easily when there is a restriction on the program ROM, work area, or the like and it is difficult to perform the process described with reference to FIG.

  First, the time zone setting is acquired from the index system of the input image file to be imported from outside (step S21). Next, input image files are input in order of shooting date and time (step S22). Then, it is determined whether an event exists on the shooting date of the input image file. (Step S23). If no event exists, an event (A) corresponding to the shooting date is generated (step S24), and an input image file is registered in the event (A) (step S25).

  On the other hand, if an event exists on the shooting date of the input image file in step S23, it is determined whether the event existing on the shooting date is only event (B) (step S26). If only the event (B) exists, the input image file is registered in the event (B) (step S27).

  On the other hand, if there is an event other than the event (B) on the shooting date in step S26, it is determined whether or not there is an event (C) that includes the shooting time of the input image file (step S28). If the event (C) exists, the input image file is registered in the event (C) (step S29).

  On the other hand, if there is no event (C) that includes the shooting time of the input image file in step S28, a temporary event (X) corresponding to the time zone between the events ahead and behind the shooting time is generated (step S28). S30). Then, the input image file is registered in the generated temporary event (X) (step S31). Here, the provisional event (X) is an event that is created temporarily because the event time zone is not determined in the middle of processing. When the input image file import processing is completed, the event time zone is determined and Registered as an event.

  Finally, it is determined whether or not an input image file that has not been processed remains (step S32). If there is an input image file that has not yet been registered, the process returns to step S22, and the event registration process is repeated. On the other hand, when all the input image files are registered in the event, the process ends.

  Next, a display example of the event list screen format will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 12 shows a layout example of the operation unit 6 and the display unit 8 provided in the digital still camera 100.

  The user displays the first image or group of images belonging to the selected event by operating the enter key 63 capable of selecting and determining various menus. By the operation of the four-way key 62 that can be moved up, down, left, or right, or the operation of a shuttle device 61 that changes the moving speed of the cursor according to the amount of operation (bidirectional rebound type multi-stage operation device) 61, the cursor follows the preceding and following events, As information for identifying the event at the cursor position according to the cursor position, for example, the shooting date and time of the first image belonging to the event, the number of images belonging to the event, and the like are displayed. Also, information on events that are not selected may be displayed as information such as the shooting date and time at the top of each head image. In this example, among the images stored in the event, images 84a to 84g to be described later are displayed for each event with the first image taken first as the representative image. May be used as a representative image.

  The display unit 8 is composed of an LCD panel and can display various menus, images, and the like. In this example, a thumbnail image of an image file first taken in the event is displayed as a representative image for each event. Now, an event created in 2004 is placed in the middle, and representative images for other events created in 2004 are arranged side by side. The event representative image 84d is displayed slightly larger than the first images 84a to 84c and 84e to 84g of other events in the center of the display unit 8, and emphasizes that the event has been selected. However, the cursor frame 84 is fixed at the center of the display unit 8, and the peripheral thumbnail image is slid in the horizontal direction by the operation of the operation unit 6, and an event is selected by setting in the cursor frame 84. In this example, a message “2004 10 23 SAT 10:00 AM” is displayed as the shooting (start) date and time 83 of the representative image of the selected event, and this representative image is displayed on the morning of Saturday, October 23, 2004. It can be seen that the picture was taken at 10:00. Here, the date information displayed on the display unit 8 is based on the time zone set for each event (image). Note that the date / time information converted into the time zone set in the digital still camera 100 may be displayed. You can also see that this event starts from this time zone. When the representative image is a moving image, the head still image or the image can be displayed if a predetermined cue point is shaken.

  And the event group of the same month can be recognized by the emphasis line 85 which shows the range of an event for every month. In this example, it can be seen that the events belonging to the same month as the selected event are four events 84c to 84f including image files taken in October 2004 from the highlight line 8e. Then, with respect to the event set in the cursor frame 84, an event with a new creation date is arranged in the right direction, and an event with an old creation date is arranged in the left direction. As information on events to be selected in this example, the number of still images, the number of moving image cuts, and the total time (seconds or minutes) of moving images are displayed as internal information 86 together with icons characterizing the respective information. It can be seen that the event selected in this example is 32 still images, 12 cuts of moving images, and a total time of 12 minutes of moving images. The event name can also be displayed by providing the index system 200 with the event name as a title.

  Then, the previous year 81 of the selected event is displayed at the upper part of the display unit 8, and the next year 82 of the selected event is displayed at the lower part of the display unit 8. In this example, with respect to “2004”, “2003” is displayed in the previous year 81 and “2005” is displayed in the next year 82. In the previous year 81, when there is no image in the previous year, the year with the image is displayed retroactively. Similarly, if there is no image in the next year, the next year 82 displays the year when the image is down. The user selects an event having the same date and time in the previous year that is closest to the selected event by operating the upper key of the four-way key 62. On the contrary, an event with the same date and time in the next year closest to the selected event is selected by the down key operation of the four-way key. The past event closest to the selected event is selected by the left key operation of the four-way key 62. Conversely, a future event closest to the selected event is selected by the right key operation of the four-way key. The previous year and next year event selection operations are performed in accordance with selection criteria described later.

  By performing such image display for each event, it is possible to easily trace, for example, last year's New Year's event, last year's New Year's event, and the like based on a certain year. Alternatively, an event can be traced by performing the same operation on the basis of a certain day.

  Next, a screen transition example (index screen) in the process of event division will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 13 shows an example of screen transition in a case where an arbitrary thumbnail image is selected and event division is performed in a state where a plurality of thumbnail images belonging to a certain event are displayed as a list on the display unit 8 as an “index screen”. In this example, the start time of the rear event after the division is the shooting date and time of the image specified as the division point.

  FIG. 13A shows an example in which ten thumbnail images registered in a certain event are arranged and displayed on the display unit 8 in an index screen format. The index screen of this example can display thumbnail images for each event. Now, the cursor frame 8a for selecting a thumbnail image selects and highlights the last image. By operating the operation unit 6 such as a shuttle device 61 (not shown), the four-direction key 62, and the like, the cursor frame 8a on the index screen can be moved in the vertical and horizontal directions with the thumbnail image. Other images (not shown) belonging to the same event as the thumbnail image can be displayed by moving the cursor frame 8a upward. The images included in the entire event can be confirmed by scrolling the scroll bar 8b up and down. In order to perform event division, the screen transitions to FIG.

  FIG. 13B is an example of a screen when performing an event division menu. “Event division” is displayed in the menu 8 c as a menu item of the display unit 8. When the user selects the “event division” menu, the screen transitions to FIG. FIG. 13C shows an example of a screen when a new top image after event division is designated from the index screen in the event division menu. The user moves the cursor frame 8a and selects the image 8d as a new top image after event division. In this case, a new event is composed of the image 8d and subsequent images. The operation guide 8e displays “select” and “kette”. The “select” operation guide presses an icon that prompts the cursor to move, and the “kette” operation guide presses the enter key 63 to prompt the decision operation. An icon is displayed. When the determination operation is performed, the screen transitions to FIG.

  FIG. 13D shows a screen example when the user designates a new top image after event division from the index screen and confirms execution of event division in the event division menu. When the user determines the top image of the new event as the image 8d, a message 8f is displayed at the center of the screen. In this example, the message 8f displays “Make a new event from this image”. In addition, a menu 8g for prompting execution of the event division process is displayed at the bottom of the screen. The menu 8g displays “event division”, and “end” or “execution” can be selected. When the user selects “END”, the screen returns to the index screen of FIG. 13B, and the process for determining an image for event division is performed again. When the user selects “execute”, the screen transitions to FIG.

  FIG. 13E is an example of a screen that displays that event division is being executed. During event division, a message 8h indicating the processing state is displayed at the center of the screen. In this example, “Accessing” is displayed in the message 8h. After the execution of the event division process is completed, the screen transitions to FIG. FIG. 13F shows an example of the index screen after completion of event division. As a result of the event division, the images after the image 8d are displayed on the index screen as an image group included in the newly divided event.

  Next, a screen transition example (single screen format) in the process of event division will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 14 shows an example of screen transition when event division is performed in a state where an image is displayed on the display unit 8 in a “single screen” format on a full screen. In this example, the start time of the rear event after the division is the shooting date and time of the image specified as the division point.

  FIG. 14A shows a display example of a playback single screen. When performing event division, the user selects and displays an image to be used as the first image of a new event. Then, in order to perform event division, the screen is changed to FIG. FIG. 14B shows an example in which an event division menu is displayed on the playback single screen. In this example, the menu 8j is displayed at the bottom of the display unit 8, and “event division” is displayed in the menu 8j. When the user selects the “event division” menu, the screen transitions to FIG.

  FIG. 14C shows a screen example when the user confirms execution of event division from a single screen in the event division menu. When the user determines the first image of the newly divided event, a message 8k is displayed at the center of the screen. In this example, the message 8k is displayed as “Make a new event from this image”. In addition, a menu 81 that prompts execution of the event division process is displayed at the bottom of the screen. In the menu 81, “cancel” or “execution” can be selected. When the user selects “Cancel”, the screen returns to the single screen of FIG. 14B, and the process of determining an image for event division is performed again. When the user selects “execute”, the screen transitions to FIG.

  FIG. 14D shows an example of a screen that displays that event division is being executed. During event division, a message 8m is displayed at the center of the screen. The message 8m displays “Accessing”. After the event division process is completed, the screen transitions to FIG. FIG. 14E shows an example of a single screen after completion of event division. As a result of the event division, the first image of the event after the division is displayed on the single screen.

  Next, a screen transition example (event list screen) in the process of performing event combination will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 15 is an example of screen transition when event combination is performed in a state where the event list screen is displayed on the display unit 8. However, events can be combined only between adjacent events. Here, the event list screen example of FIG. 15 is the same as the event list screen example described with reference to FIG.

  In FIG. 15A, the event list screen is displayed on the display unit 8. Then, to perform event combination, the screen transitions to FIG. FIG. 15B shows an example in which a menu is displayed on the event list screen. Menu 8o is displayed on the event list screen. In this example, “event combination” is displayed in the menu 8o. When the “event combination” menu is selected, the screen transitions to FIG.

  FIG. 15C shows an example of a screen when the user confirms execution of event combination from the event list screen in the event combination menu. When the user determines an event to be combined, a message 8p is displayed at the center of the screen. In this example, “Combine with previous event” is displayed in message 8p. In addition, a menu 8q for prompting execution of the event combination process is displayed at the bottom of the screen. In the menu 8q, “cancel” or “execution” can be selected. When the user selects “Cancel”, the process returns to the event list screen shown in FIG. 15B, and the process of determining an image for event combination is performed again. When the user selects “execute”, the screen transitions to FIG.

  FIG. 15D is an example of a screen that displays that event combination is being executed. While the event combination is being executed, a message 8r is displayed at the center of the screen. The message 8r displays “Accessing”. After the event combination process is completed, the screen transitions to FIG. FIG. 15E shows an example of an event list screen after completion of event combination execution. As a result of event combination, the first image 84c of the combined event is displayed in the center of the screen. In this example, a message “2004 10 22 FRI 9:00 AM” is displayed as the shooting (start) date and time 83 of the representative image of the selected event. This representative image is displayed on Friday, October 22, 2004. ) You can see that it was taken at 9am. You can also see that this event starts from this time zone. The combined event internal information 86 changes to 40 still images, 14 moving images, and a total moving image time of 16 minutes.

  Next, an example of annual event processing on the event list screen described in FIG. 12 will be described with reference to FIG. In this example, while viewing the event displayed on the display unit 8, the image is moved based on a certain rule when selecting the previous year or next year image of the event. FIG. 16 shows an example in which events are set on the time chart from 1998 to 2005, respectively.

In the processing example of the event annual advancement, the selection of the event of the nearest year before and after is performed according to the following rules, for example. At this time, the annual feeding process is performed on a virtual reference line. The reference line information is held in the RAM 52. Here, if there is a corresponding event before or after the yearly feeding operation, basically, the subsequent event is selected with priority.
(Rule 1) Select an event to which the same start time on the same day belongs.
(Rule 2) If the corresponding event does not exist, the event immediately after that day is selected.
(Rule 3) If the corresponding event does not exist, the event immediately before the same day is selected.
(Rule 4) If there is no event on the same day, the event immediately after the year is selected.
(Rule 5) If there is no event immediately after the year, the event immediately before the year is selected.
(Rule 6) If there is no event within the year (that is, there is no image), that year is skipped.
(Rule 7) As long as the annual feed / return operation is continued, the operations of Rules 1 to 7 are performed based on the first selected event.
(Rule 8) When a function such as moving to the previous or next event, transition to a single screen or index screen, or other functions is executed, the event is operated as a new annual feed / return reference.

  First, in FIG. 16, the user has selected an event from 18:00 to 20:00 on April 19, 2005, and the event is returned to 2004 as the previous year. In this case, rule 1 is applied, and the event of April 19, 2004 is selected as the event to which the same start time belongs. Next, the event will be returned in 2003 as the previous year. In 2003, there were two events on April 19th (from 8:00 to 14:00, from 21:00 to 24:00), but rule 2 was applied and the event immediately after that day (April 19) The event from 21:00 to 24:00 on April 19, 2003 is selected.

  Next, the event is returned in 2002 as the previous year. In 2002, there was an event on April 19th (from 8:00 to 12:00), rule 3 was applied, and the event immediately before the same day (April 19th) The event from hour to twelve o'clock is selected. Next, the event is returned in 2001 as the previous year. In 2001, there is no event on April 19, but there are three events on April 18, 21, and 22. In this case, rule 4 is applied, and the event of April 21, 2001 is selected as the event immediately after the year (2001).

  Next, return the event in 2000 as the previous year. In 2000, there was no event on April 19th, but there were two events on April 14th and 15th. In this case, rule 5 is applied, and the event of April 15, 2000 is selected as the event immediately before the year (2000).

  Next, the event is returned in 1999 as the previous year. However, there is no event in 1999 because there is no image file. In this case, rule 6 is applied, and further skips to 1998 as the previous year. Since there is an event on April 17 in 1998, this event is selected. Only when the year-feeding and year-returning operations are performed subsequently, the operations of rules 1 to 7 are performed on the basis of the first selected event (for example, the event that started at 18:00 on April 19, 2005).

  Then, an event from 10:00 to 14:00 on April 19, 2005 is selected from an event from 18:00 to 20:00 on April 19, 2005. In this case, rule 8 is applied and the event operates as a new annual advance / return basis. Rule 8 is applied when a function such as movement to previous or next event, transition to a single screen or index screen, or other deletion is executed. In this example, when a year-return operation is performed, in 2004, an event from 8:00 to 24:00 on April 19, 2004 is selected as an event on the same day. April 19th, 8:00 to 14:00 events will be selected.

  In this way, images are displayed in the order in which they were taken, and images that were taken consecutively are classified by event as a predetermined unit, so that the images can be efficiently displayed based on the time sensation experienced by the user himself / herself. It became possible to search.

  According to the embodiment of the present invention, since a plurality of images are stored in the event, it is determined to some extent what kind of event is stored for the user and what image is stored if the representative image of the event is viewed. Since it is possible to know, there is an effect that an image can be quickly searched.

  Even if an event is set once, it is possible to easily divide the event at any timing of the user. At the time of the division, if a gap time zone is provided between the divided events, the classification for each image group stored in the event is easily maintained. In this case, for example, when dividing an event of the day into morning and evening and acquiring an image taken at noon as an external file, a new day event is created and the event is different from morning, noon, and evening. Each image can be stored. In addition, when a gap time zone is not provided between the divided events, a newly captured image can be surely classified as an existing event. For this reason, it is possible to predict the event of the classification destination of the captured image, and it is easy for the user to search for the captured image.

  Further, by combining a plurality of events, even a large image group can be stored in one event. For example, since images can be classified in relatively large units such as months, seasons, years, etc., this is effective when an event is enlarged to some extent and it is desired to enlarge an image group stored in the event.

  In addition, since event splitting and combining operations can be performed on the event list screen, index screen, and single screen displayed on the display unit 8, it is easy for the user to grasp the necessary images, and operation mistakes can be made. There is an effect of reducing.

  Further, the time zone set in the digital still camera 100 can be arbitrarily set. For this reason, even if the image is captured by an imaging device that cannot handle the time zone, the image can be captured in an appropriate time series by setting the time zone when capturing the image. However, if time zone information is added to the image, the information of the image itself is given priority regardless of the time zone setting of the camera 100.

  In addition, when the captured image and event are managed by the index system 200, when the thumbnail image is displayed, the thumbnail image created in advance may be read out, so that the display can be quickly performed. . In addition, since it is only necessary to change the route information in the index system 200 for dividing and combining events, there is an effect that the processing load is reduced. Furthermore, as the number of images to be managed increases, the search performance can be expected to be improved, and the images can be quickly searched and displayed, and there is an effect that the user does not feel the stress of operation.

  If there are no events that can be registered when capturing images from the outside, a new event is automatically created taking into account the shooting date and time zone, time zone, etc. attached to the image, and the image is stored in that event. Therefore, there is an effect that it is not necessary for the user to set and store an event each time.

  In addition, when searching for an image when displaying a list of events, it is possible to directly move at regular intervals, so it is easy to find a regular event. As shown in FIG. 16, the annual feeding operation makes it easy to search and display annual events such as the New Year and summer holidays, and images of the same season, time, and day by year. There is.

  In the above-described embodiment, the example of the event division and the combination operation has been described together with the example of the screen transition, but various other operation processes are assumed. Here, with reference to FIGS. 17 to 20, other operation processing examples of event division and combination operations will be described.

  First, an example of screen transition when event division is performed by specifying a gap to be divided on the index screen will be described with reference to FIG. Here, in FIG. 17, the same reference numerals are given to the portions corresponding to FIG. 13 already described. FIG. 17A shows an example of an index screen, in which a plurality of thumbnail images of image files stored in a certain event are displayed. Then, the screen transitions to FIG. FIG. 17B shows an example of the index screen menu, in which an “event division” menu 8c is displayed. When event division is selected, the screen transitions to FIG. FIG. 17C is a screen display example for designating a gap to be divided. By specifying the event division time with the operation unit 6 (not shown), the position confirmation bar 8s for confirming the division position can be set as the division gap. Then, the event is divided into two at the set gap. And if it decides with the decision key 63, a screen transition will be carried out to FIG.17 (d). In FIG. 17D, a menu 8g for confirming execution is displayed. When event division is executed from the menu 8g, the screen transitions to FIG. FIG. 17E shows an example of an index screen after completion of event division execution. In FIG. 17E, an image of the divided event is displayed. At this time, the cursor frame 8a moves to the top image. As described above, if the first image after division is designated using the position confirmation bar 8s at the time of event division, there is an effect that the event separation position can be easily designated.

  An example of screen transition when event division is performed by specifying a time to be divided on the index screen will be described with reference to FIG. Here, in FIG. 18, the same reference numerals are given to the portions corresponding to FIG. 13 already described. FIG. 18A shows an example of an index screen, in which a plurality of thumbnail images of image files stored in a certain event are displayed. Then, the screen transitions to FIG. 18B by performing a menu operation. FIG. 18B shows an example of the index screen menu, and the “event division” menu 8c is displayed. When event division is selected, the screen transitions to FIG. FIG. 18C is a screen display example of a division time designation message. By designating the event division time with the operation unit 6 (not shown), the event is divided into two at the boundary after the division time. In the message 8t of this example, the event division time is designated as “2004/11/24 10:15:36”. When “execute” is selected, the screen transitions to FIG. In FIG. 18D, a position confirmation bar 8s for confirming the division position is displayed, and the event is divided with the bar 8s as a boundary. When event division is executed, the screen transitions to FIG. FIG. 18E shows an example of an index screen after completion of event division execution. In FIG. 18E, an image of the divided event is displayed. At this time, the cursor frame 8a moves to the top image. When the time to be divided at the time of event division is specified in this way, there is an effect that the event delimiter position can be accurately specified. In addition, event division by time designation can also be executed on the event list screen of FIG. 12 and the single screen of FIG.

  In addition, the designation of the event division position on the index screen can be displayed in various ways to indicate the boundary of event division. Here, in FIG. 19, the same reference numerals are given to the portions corresponding to FIG. 13 already described. FIG. 19 is an example of a variation for designating an event to be divided on the index screen. FIG. 19A is a display example of event separation of thumbnail images. When dividing a thumbnail image belonging to an event, the event included in the event before and after the division can be reliably recognized by using the event delimiter bar 8u for dividing the thumbnail image as in this example. Also, FIG. 19B is a display example of event delimitation of thumbnail images as in FIG. 19A. In FIG. 19B, an event delimiter bar 8u is positioned at the upper end of the displayed thumbnail image. To do. FIG. 19C shows an example in which the final image of the previous event is displayed at the top. In this example, the last image of the previous event is displayed on the top image of the index screen, and the top image is separated by the event separator bar 8u. On the other hand, FIG. 19D shows an example in which the top image of the next event is displayed at the end. In this example, the first image of the next event is displayed on the last image on the index screen, and the last image is separated by the event separation bar 8u. FIG. 19E shows an example in which the background of the range included in the new event is filled. In this example, the divided range of the event can be indicated by the filled area 8v representing the new event. In this way, the user can easily grasp the front and rear event division positions and event division positions, and the event division image is used even though the image is not necessary for event division. This has the effect of reducing erroneous operations.

  Further, in the event combining operation, the event is combined with the previous event in the above-described embodiment, but may be combined with the subsequent event. Here, in the screen example of FIG. 20, parts corresponding to those already described with reference to FIG. FIG. 20 is an example of screen transition for combining events on the event list screen. In FIG. 20A, the event list screen is displayed on the display unit 8. Now, an operation of combining the event on November 15, 2001 with another event (for example, the event on November 30, 2001) is performed. Then, the screen transitions to FIG. In FIG. 20B, “event combination” is displayed in the menu 8o. When the “event combination” menu is selected, the screen transitions to FIG. FIG. 20C shows an example of a screen when the user confirms execution of event combination from the event list screen in the event combination menu. The event combination is confirmed by enlarging the cursor frame 84 between adjacent events. Then, a menu 8q prompting execution of the event combination process is displayed at the bottom of the screen. When the user selects “execute”, the screen transitions to FIG. FIG. 20D shows an example of an event list screen after completion of event combination execution. As a result of event combination, the first image (event of November 15, 2001) of the combined event is displayed. Then, after the combined event, the first image of the event on December 10, 2001 that is next to the event on November 30, 2001 is displayed.

  Further, in the above-described embodiment, the event classification is applied as “divide by date”. In addition to this, it is possible to manage events more freely by applying event classification in various variations such as “divide by season”, “divide by month”, “divide by trip”, and the like. By doing so, there is an effect that it becomes easy for the user to search for the target image at the time of image search or the like.

  In the above-described embodiment, the event is formed based on the time zone of the image. However, the event time zone may be set according to the time zone set in the digital still camera 100, or the event itself may be separately set. May have time zone information. Alternatively, the time zone of the representative image selected for the top image or list display may be substituted. When there is no time zone information in the image captured from the outside, the user may be able to select it individually, or the time zone set in the apparatus may be regarded as the time zone of the image to be captured uniformly.

  Moreover, you may make it give an event name for every event with an index system. By displaying the event name on the event list screen, the single screen, and the index screen, there is an effect that the type of the image group in which the event is stored can be surely grasped. In addition, when an index system that is set with an external image together with an image is captured from the outside, the event name can also be captured to prevent confusion with the event set for the digital still camera 100. .

  In the above-described embodiment, adjacent events are combined at the time of event combination. However, three or more consecutive events may be combined simultaneously. By doing so, there is an effect that an event can be easily created in units of months, years, seasons, and events, for example.

  In the above-described embodiment, the total time of the still image, the moving image, and the moving image is displayed as the event internal information 86 on the event list screen. However, the time zone information of the event, the event name, and the like are also displayed. You may do it. Further, the shooting date of the representative image displayed may be displayed even for an event that has not been selected. Such time zone information, event names, and the like can be managed by the index system 200. Further, the current time zone and the remaining battery level set by the digital still camera 100 may be displayed on the display unit 8. This has the effect of making it easier for the user to recognize the system settings.

  In the above-described embodiment, the method of searching for the year after searching within the date is shown as an example of the processing of the year advance of the previous and next years at the time of image search on the event list screen. Or you may use together. Moreover, you may preferentially search ahead in the same day. Or you may make it search and display the event close | similar to a reference line preferentially instead of the context of time.

  In the above-described embodiment, a memory card is used as the recording medium 10 and the hard disk drive 17 is used as a large-capacity recording medium. However, a recordable DVD (Digital Versatile Disc), CD (Compact Disc), or the like is used. Various recording media such as an optical recording disk, a magnetic disk, and a semiconductor memory may be used.

  Moreover, although the external interface 9 of the above-described embodiment is provided as a wired interface, it may be provided as a wireless interface using light, radio waves, or the like. That is, the external interface 9 may be a wired or wireless interface.

  Further, a communication module (not shown) can be connected to the external interface 9 of the above-described embodiment. By doing so, it is possible to connect to a network such as the Internet, acquire various image data and other information through the network, and record them on the recording medium 10 or the hard disk drive 17 loaded in the digital still camera 100. is there. It is also possible to transmit the data recorded in the loaded recording medium 10 or hard disk drive 17 to the other party through the network.

  In the above-described embodiment, the description has been given as an example applied to the digital still camera 100. However, the present invention is not limited to the digital still camera, and a digital video camera, DVD recorder, HDD recorder can be used as long as still images or moving images can be captured. Even when an electronic device such as a mobile phone terminal is used, the same effects as those of the above-described embodiment can be obtained. Further, event classification management may be performed using a computer device or the like.

  Further, in the above-described embodiment, an image of a subject can be taken and recorded on the recording medium 10 loaded in the digital still camera, and the image data recorded on the recording medium 10 is read and this is read out. Can be played and used. In addition, image data can be provided through an external personal computer or a communication line such as the Internet, and can be recorded on a recording medium loaded in the apparatus, or read and reproduced.

It is the block diagram which showed the internal structural example of the digital still camera in one embodiment of this invention. It is explanatory drawing which showed the example of the imaging | photography order and event in one embodiment of this invention. It is explanatory drawing which showed the example of the automatic classification | category at the time of imaging | photography in one embodiment of this invention. It is explanatory drawing which showed the example of the manual setting of the event in one embodiment of this invention. It is explanatory drawing which showed the example of operation | movement coupling | bonding of the event in one embodiment of this invention. It is explanatory drawing which showed the example of the image capture from the outside in one embodiment of this invention. It is explanatory drawing which showed the example of taking in the image file to the divided | segmented event in one embodiment of this invention. It is explanatory drawing which showed the folder structure and the example of an entry in one embodiment of this invention. It is explanatory drawing which showed the structural example of the event using the time zone in one embodiment of this invention. It is the flowchart which showed the example of the process which registers the image in the event in one embodiment of this invention. It is the flowchart which showed the example of the process (simple version) which registers the image in the event in one embodiment of this invention. It is explanatory drawing which showed the example of the event list screen in one embodiment of this invention. It is explanatory drawing which showed the example of the screen transition (index screen) of the event division | segmentation in one embodiment of this invention. It is explanatory drawing which showed the example of the screen transition (single screen) of the event division | segmentation in one embodiment of this invention. It is explanatory drawing which showed the example of the screen transition (event list screen) of the event coupling | bonding in one embodiment of this invention. It is explanatory drawing which showed the example of the rule which moves to the event before and behind in one embodiment of this invention. It is explanatory drawing which showed the example of the screen transition (designating the clearance gap divided | segmented on an index screen) of the event division | segmentation in other embodiment of this invention. It is explanatory drawing which showed the example of the screen transition of event division | segmentation (division time is designated on an index screen) in other embodiment of this invention. It is explanatory drawing which showed the example of the variation of the event division | segmentation designation | designated in other embodiment of this invention. It is explanatory drawing which showed the example of the event coupling | bonding in other embodiment of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Camera part, 2 ... DSP, 3 ... SDRAM, 4 ... Medium interface, 5 ... Control part, 6 ... Operation part, 7 ... LCD controller, 8 ... LCD, 9 ... External interface, 10 ... Recording medium, 11 ... Optical Block, 12 ... CCD, 13 ... Pre-processing circuit, 14 ... Optical driver, 15 ... CCD driver, 16 ... Timing generation circuit, 17 ... Hard disk drive, 51 ... CPU, 52 ... RAM, 53 ... Flash ROM, 54 ... Clock circuit 55 ... System bus 100 ... Digital still camera 200 ... Index system

Claims (8)

An imaging unit that captures image light imaged through the optical system as a still image or a moving image;
A clock unit that measures the date and time,
A recording unit that records information as an internal image file by adding information on a shooting date and time acquired from the clock unit to a still image or a moving image captured by the imaging unit;
An image acquisition unit that captures an externally captured still image or moving image as an external image file together with shooting date and time information, and records the external image file in the recording unit;
Management information associating the internal and external image files with an event storing at least one of the internal and external image files, the internal and external image files, route information to the events, and a time difference with respect to universal time The management data recorded in the recording unit in association with the property data holding the first time zone information, the thumbnail image created as a reduced image of the image, and the metadata holding the additional information of the image Information is used to set the date and time measured by the clock unit according to the first time zone information, and the internal and external image files and the event are the internal and external image files in the first time zone information. Arranged along the time axis in the shooting order based on the shooting date and time of the external image file. When the second time zone information is set in the information, the second time zone information is shifted to the first time zone information, and the captured external image file is classified as the already generated event. If there is no event at the date and time corresponding to the imaging date and time of the external image file, an event for storing the external image file is generated, the external image file is classified, and the management information of the external image file When the second time zone information is not set and the imaging date / time is attached to the external image file, the first time zone information is set in the external image file, and the external image file is already set. If the event is not classified at the date and time corresponding to the shooting date and time of the external image file Generating an event for storing an image file, classifying the external image file, and delimiting one of the selected image files among the internal and external image files included in the event, An image file captured before the imaging date and time of the selected image file is stored in the first event, divided into first and second events, and the selected image file and the selected image file are stored. When the image file captured after the imaging date and time is stored in the second event, and the event crosses the date by shifting the second time zone information to the first time zone information, A control unit for performing control without dividing the event into different dates;
For each event, an index screen format that is an image group obtained by reducing the images, a single screen format that displays the entire image for each image, and a list of predetermined images stored in the event as a representative image are displayed in order of imaging date and time. The still image or the moving image recorded in the internal and external image files is displayed by switching the event according to the date on which the event was created in any one of the event list screen formats. An imaging display device comprising: a display unit for performing the display. The imaging display device according to claim 1,
The control unit generates a third event that combines at least two events with adjacent imaging dates and times, and stores the internal and external image files included in the two events in the third event. apparatus. The imaging display device according to claim 2,
Whether the unit for classifying the internal and external image files into the event is set to one of a day, a week, a month, and a year with respect to the imaging date and time assigned to the internal and external image files An imaging display device that is a unit that is arbitrarily set by combining or dividing events. In the imaging display device according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
The display unit displays the assigned imaging date and time with reference to the first time zone information. In the imaging display device according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
The event list screen format is an imaging display device that displays a representative image of the event by moving between the events in the shooting order. In the imaging display device according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
The event list screen format displays at least one of the number of still images, the number of moving image cuts, and the moving image recording time stored in the event. Capture as a still or moving image,
Record the date and time of imaging as an internal image file by assigning it to the captured still image or moving image,
Capture an externally captured still image or moving image as an external image file, record the external image file,
Management information associating the internal and external image files with an event storing at least one of the internal and external image files, the internal and external image files, route information to the events, and a time difference with respect to universal time The management data recorded in the recording unit in association with the property data holding the first time zone information, the thumbnail image created as a reduced image of the image, and the metadata holding the additional information of the image Information is used to set the date and time measured by the clock unit according to the first time zone information, and the internal and external image files and the event are the internal and external image files in the first time zone information. Arranged along the time axis in the shooting order based on the shooting date and time of the external image file. When the second time zone information is set in the information, the second time zone information is shifted to the first time zone information, and the captured external image file is classified as the already generated event. If there is no event at the date and time corresponding to the imaging date and time of the external image file, an event for storing the external image file is generated, the external image file is classified, and the management information of the external image file When the second time zone information is not set and the imaging date / time is attached to the external image file, the first time zone information is set in the external image file, and the external image file is already set. If the event is not classified at the date and time corresponding to the shooting date and time of the external image file Generating an event for storing an image file, classifying the external image file, and delimiting one of the selected image files among the internal and external image files included in the event, An image file captured before the imaging date and time of the selected image file is stored in the first event, divided into first and second events, and the selected image file and the selected image file are stored. When the image file captured after the imaging date and time is stored in the second event, and the event crosses the date by shifting the second time zone information to the first time zone information, Perform control not to divide the event into different dates,
For each event, an index screen format that is an image group obtained by reducing the images, a single screen format that displays the entire image for each image, and a list of predetermined images stored in the event as a representative image are displayed in order of imaging date and time. An imaging display method for displaying still images or moving images recorded in the internal and external image files in any one of the event list screen formats. A procedure for recording the image date and time as an internal image file by adding it to a captured still image or moving image,
A procedure for capturing an externally captured still image or moving image as an external image file and recording the external image file,
Management information associating the internal and external image files with an event storing at least one of the internal and external image files, the internal and external image files, route information to the events, and a time difference with respect to universal time The management data recorded in the recording unit in association with the property data holding the first time zone information, the thumbnail image created as a reduced image of the image, and the metadata holding the additional information of the image Information is used to set the date and time measured by the clock unit according to the first time zone information, and the internal and external image files and the event are the internal and external image files in the first time zone information. Arranged along the time axis in the shooting order based on the shooting date and time of the external image file. When the second time zone information is set in the information, the second time zone information is shifted to the first time zone information, and the captured external image file is classified as the already generated event. If there is no event at the date and time corresponding to the imaging date and time of the external image file, an event for storing the external image file is generated, the external image file is classified, and the management information of the external image file When the second time zone information is not set and the imaging date / time is attached to the external image file, the first time zone information is set in the external image file, and the external image file is already set. If the event is not classified at the date and time corresponding to the shooting date and time of the external image file Generating an event for storing an image file, classifying the external image file, and delimiting one of the selected image files among the internal and external image files included in the event, An image file captured before the imaging date and time of the selected image file is stored in the first event, divided into first and second events, and the selected image file and the selected image file are stored. When the image file captured after the imaging date and time is stored in the second event, and the event crosses the date by shifting the second time zone information to the first time zone information, A procedure for performing control without dividing the event into different dates;
For each event, an index screen format that is an image group obtained by reducing the images, a single screen format that displays the entire image for each image, and a list of predetermined images stored in the event as a representative image are displayed in order of imaging date and time. A program for causing a computer to execute a process of displaying a still image or a moving image recorded in the internal and external image files in any one of the event list screen formats .

Images