JP5149925B2 - Display control apparatus and control method thereof - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a display control device and a control method thereof.

  An image recording / reproducing apparatus such as a digital still camera generally has a function of displaying a screen called an index screen in order to present an image stored in a recording medium to a user. On the index screen, a plurality of thumbnail images are displayed in a list simultaneously. The index screen is sometimes called a multi-display screen. Generally, a digital camera displays about 6 to 12 thumbnail images on an index screen. However, a digital camera that displays a large number of about 100 thumbnail images is also known. Hereinafter, an index screen that displays a large number of thumbnail images is referred to as a micro index.

  When the micro index is used, the user can view a large number of thumbnail images at a time, so that the recorded images can be easily looked down on. However, when the micro index is displayed on the display of the digital camera, the size of each thumbnail image becomes considerably small, and it becomes difficult to distinguish each image.

  As a technique for facilitating the discrimination of thumbnail images, it is known that a thumbnail image selected on an index screen is enlarged and displayed in a pop-up display at a predetermined enlargement ratio (see Patent Document 1). It is also known that a user can select a plurality of thumbnail images on the index screen and the index screen is reproducible so that the selected thumbnail images fit on one screen (see Patent Document 2).

JP 2007-180638 A JP 2005-275034 A

  When enlarging a thumbnail image, the larger the enlargement ratio, the easier the user can distinguish between the individual thumbnail images, but other thumbnail images are hidden by the enlarged thumbnail image. The advantage of the index screen is lost. The enlargement ratio suitable for determining the thumbnail image differs depending on the content of the image. For example, when thumbnail images of a plurality of images taken in the continuous shooting mode are arranged, it is necessary to further increase the enlargement ratio in order to easily distinguish the individual images.

  However, with the technique of Patent Document 1, the user cannot change the enlargement ratio. In the technique of Patent Document 2, the selected thumbnail image is enlarged. However, since the enlargement ratio is determined according to the number of selected thumbnail images, it lacks flexibility. In addition, since the thumbnail image other than the selected thumbnail image is not displayed, the advantage of the index screen in terms of an overhead view of the image is impaired.

  The present invention has been made in view of such a situation, and provides a technique that enables a user to flexibly change the enlargement ratio of a thumbnail image selected by a user on an index screen that displays a plurality of thumbnail images. For the purpose.

In order to solve the above problems, a first aspect of the present invention, a display control unit for controlling to multi-display unit to display images of multiple, one of the plurality of images displayed Selection means for selecting , and first scaling means for controlling the image selected by the selection means to be scaled and displayed in a display size corresponding to the user's operation among the multistage display sizes; First instruction receiving means for receiving a first instruction to apply the display size of the selected image scaled by the first scaling means to another displayed image; and In response to receiving the first instruction by the instruction receiving unit, the other image is scaled to the same display size as the selected image scaled by the first scaling unit. It is characterized in that it comprises a second variable magnification means for controlling to display To provide a display control device.

  Other features of the present invention will become more apparent from the accompanying drawings and the following description of the preferred embodiments.

  With the above configuration, according to the present invention, it is possible to flexibly change the enlargement ratio of the thumbnail image selected by the user on the index screen that displays a plurality of thumbnail images.

1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a digital camera 100 according to a first embodiment. The figure which shows an example of the external appearance of the digital camera 100 Flowchart of display control processing in micro index display executed by digital camera 100 Diagram showing cursor movement in micro index display The figure which shows a mode that a micro index display is updated by movement of a cursor Diagram showing enlargement of selected thumbnail image Diagram showing reduction of selected thumbnail image Diagram showing how the selected thumbnail image is expanded to full screen display The figure which shows a mode that the display size of the thumbnail image being selected is applied to all thumbnail images

[First Embodiment]
An embodiment in which the display control apparatus of the present invention is applied to a digital camera will be described. FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a digital camera 100 according to the first embodiment. The digital camera 100 can shoot still image information and moving image information. For example, JPEG is used as a compression encoding format of still image information, and MPEG is used as a compression encoding format of moving image information. In addition, the digital camera 100 can display a micro index that is an index screen for displaying a large number (100 in this embodiment) of thumbnail images at a time. In the following description, displaying a micro index is referred to as “micro index display”.

  As shown in FIG. 1, a digital camera 100 includes a lens 101 that can change a focal length and a diaphragm state, and an image sensor 102 that converts light imaged by the lens 101 into an electric signal (for example, a charge coupled device (CCD)). )). The image processing unit 103 performs predetermined image processing such as white balance and γ correction on the input image signal, generates uncompressed image data, and temporarily stores it in the RAM 106. The display unit 104 has a function as an electronic viewfinder at the time of shooting. In addition, it has a function of displaying an operation screen for the user to operate the digital camera 100.

  The control unit 105 controls the entire digital camera 100. The control unit 105 controls the entire digital camera 100 in accordance with an instruction from the user via the operation key of the operation key 113. The control unit 105 implements various processes of the digital camera 100 by reading out a program stored in the ROM 114, developing the program in the RAM 106, and executing the program.

  The RAM 106 is used as a buffer for data such as uncompressed images, MPEG moving images, JPEG still images, and thumbnail images. The RAM 106 is also used as a work memory for the control unit 105 and is also used for storing a magnification (details will be described later) of the thumbnail image.

  The still image code decoding unit 107 encodes the uncompressed image data stored in the RAM 106 into JPEG, writes it back to the RAM 106, decodes the JPEG image data stored in the RAM 106 into uncompressed image data, and stores it in the RAM 106. And a write back function. The moving image encoding / decoding unit 108 has a function of compressing and encoding the uncompressed image data stored in the RAM 106 into MPEG in accordance with the bit rate instructed by the control unit 105 and writing back to the RAM 106. The moving image code decoding unit 108 also has a function of decoding MPEG image data stored in the RAM 106 into uncompressed image data and writing it back to the RAM 106.

  The recording medium control unit 109 controls reading and writing of data with respect to a computer-readable recording medium 110 (for example, an SD memory card). In the present embodiment, it is assumed that 100 or more pieces of image data are stored in the recording medium 110. The graphic processing unit 112 generates a thumbnail image and enlarges / reduces (resizes) the image. The operation key 113 is a user interface including a shutter button and a zoom lever for operating the digital camera 100.

  The data bus 111 is used from the control unit 105 to access each function block, and to transfer data between each function block via the RAM 106. The ROM 114 is a nonvolatile recording medium that stores information such as a program executed by the control unit 105.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of the appearance of the digital camera 100. The display 201 is included in the display unit 104 shown in FIG. In the example of FIG. 2, micro-index display is performed, and thumbnail images of the first to 100th images are displayed on the display unit 104.

  The cross key 202 is included in the operation keys 113. The cross key 202 is used to move a cursor for the user to select a desired thumbnail image during micro-index display. An enter button 203 is also included in the operation keys 113. The decision button 203 is used to confirm selection of the currently selected thumbnail image when displaying the micro index. The zoom lever 204 is also included in the operation keys 113. The zoom lever 204 is used for changing the magnification of the lens 101 (optical zoom) when recording an image, and is used for enlarging / reducing a selected thumbnail image (electronic zoom) when displaying a micro index.

  A shutter button 205 is also included in the operation keys 113. When recording an image, the shutter button 205 instructs the control unit 105 to determine the focus when the shutter button 205 is half-pressed, and instructs the control unit 105 to record an image when the shutter button 205 is fully pressed. When displaying the micro index, the shutter button 205 instructs the control unit 105 to store the magnification (display magnification) of the thumbnail image when the shutter button 205 is pressed halfway, and the control unit 105 when the shutter button 205 is fully pressed. Instructs to change the magnification of all thumbnail images.

  A mode switch 206 is also included in the operation keys 113. The mode switch 206 is used to switch the operation mode of the digital camera between a still image recording mode (PHOTO), a moving image recording mode (MOVIE), and an image playback mode (PB).

  Next, micro-index display processing will be described with reference to FIGS. As shown in FIG. 2, when the mode changeover switch 206 is set to “PB”, the digital camera 100 shifts to the image reproduction mode. Then, the control unit 105 instructs the recording medium control unit 109 to read image data from the recording medium 110, and stores the read image data in the RAM 106. When the image data is moving image data (MPEG data), the control unit 105 reads only the first GOP, not the entire MPEG data, and stores it in the RAM 106.

  Next, the still image code decoding unit 107 decodes JPEG data among the image data stored in the RAM 106. The moving image code decoding unit 108 decodes MPEG data among the image data stored in the RAM 106.

  Next, the graphic processing unit 112 generates thumbnail images for each of the decoded image data. The display unit 104 displays the plurality of generated thumbnail images on the display 201. Thereby, the micro index display is realized. The graphic processing unit 112 generates the cursor 207 and displays it on the thumbnail image to be selected.

  The size of the thumbnail image is a predetermined size for displaying a micro index. However, the size of the thumbnail image currently selected by the cursor 207 may be different from the sizes of other thumbnail images (details will be described later). In this case, the graphic processing unit 112 may generate thumbnail images having different sizes, or the display unit 104 may perform resizing when displaying the thumbnail images.

  Next, with reference to FIG. 3, a display control process in the micro index display executed by the digital camera 100 will be described. When the mode switch 206 is set to “PB”, the control unit 105 starts the display control process of this flowchart in S401.

  In step S302, the control unit 105 performs the above-described microindex display process. At this time, the control unit 105 selects the last thumbnail image displayed on one screen, and the graphic processing unit 112 superimposes the cursor image on the currently selected thumbnail image (hereinafter referred to as “selected thumbnail image”). Is displayed (see FIG. 2). Further, the control unit 105 stores the display size of the selected thumbnail image in the RAM 106 as an initial value of the size information of the selected thumbnail image. In the present embodiment, the initial value of the size information is assumed to be the same size as the display size of other thumbnail images displayed in the micro index display.

  In step S303, the control unit 105 determines whether or not the cross key 202 has been operated (that is, whether or not movement of the cursor has been instructed). If operated, the process proceeds to S304; otherwise, the process proceeds to S307. In step S <b> 304, the control unit 105 determines whether the position of the destination cursor is within the display range of the display 201. If it is within the display range, the process proceeds to S305; otherwise, the process proceeds to S306.

In S30 5, the control unit 105, by selecting a different thumbnail image, changing the thumbnail images currently selected. In addition, the graphic processing unit 112 displays a cursor superimposed on the newly selected thumbnail image. For example, as shown in FIG. 4, if the top of the cross key 202 is operated when the cursor is at the position 401, the cursor moves up. FIG. 4 illustrates the case where the top of the cross key 202 is operated three times. In this case, the cursor moves to the position 402. The display unit 104 also displays the newly selected thumbnail image at a magnification corresponding to the size information stored in the RAM 106. The size information may have been changed from the initial value by the process of S311 described later. In FIG. 4, all thumbnail images are displayed in the same size, but when the magnification corresponding to the size information is changed, the selected thumbnail image is displayed in a size different from the other thumbnail images.

  When the cursor moves out of the display range, in S306, the control unit 105 updates the micro index display with the next 100 images (see FIG. 5). Also in this case, when the magnification corresponding to the size information is changed, the selected thumbnail image is displayed in a different size from the other thumbnail images.

  In step S307, the control unit 105 determines whether or not the zoom lever 204 has been operated (that is, whether or not a resize instruction for the currently selected thumbnail image has been received). If operated, the process proceeds to S308, and if not, the process proceeds to S310. In step S308, the control unit 105 (first control unit) controls the display unit 104 to change and display the magnification of the currently selected thumbnail image in accordance with the resize instruction. Specifically, when the zoom lever 204 is operated rightward as shown in FIG. 6, the resize instruction instructs enlargement of the thumbnail image, and the zoom lever 204 is operated leftward as shown in FIG. In this case, the resize instruction instructs reduction of the thumbnail image. The control unit 105 calculates the scaled size after resizing, and notifies the graphics processing unit 112 of the scaled rate. The graphic processing unit 112 resizes the thumbnail image to the designated magnification (as described above, the display unit 104 may perform resizing). The magnification of the selected thumbnail image changes in multiple stages according to the operation duration time or the number of operations for the zoom lever 204. That is, the user can flexibly change the display size of the selected thumbnail image to an arbitrary size by operating the zoom lever 204.

  In step S309, the control unit 105 determines whether the selected thumbnail image has been enlarged to full screen display. If the display is enlarged to the full screen display (see FIG. 8), the micro index display ends in S317, and the process of this flowchart ends. The determination as to whether or not the display has been enlarged to the full screen is performed by determining whether or not the length of one side of the thumbnail image matches the length of the corresponding side of the display 201, for example.

  In step S310, the control unit 105 determines whether the shutter button 205 has been half-pressed. If half-pressed, the process proceeds to S311; otherwise, the process proceeds to S312. In step S311, the control unit 105 stores size information (magnification) of the currently selected thumbnail image in the RAM 106 in response to an instruction from the user that the shutter button 205 is half-pressed (updates the size information stored in step S302). . Thus, even when the selected thumbnail image is changed (switched) to another thumbnail image, the changed selected thumbnail image is displayed at the stored magnification by the processing of S305 or S306 described above. That is, the user can adjust the selected thumbnail image to an arbitrary size that is easy to see by operating the zoom lever 204. Then, even when the user switches the selected thumbnail image to another thumbnail image by half-pressing the shutter button 205 after adjustment, the selected thumbnail image is adjusted at the adjusted magnification without operating the zoom lever 204 again. Can see. Therefore, the selected thumbnail image can be displayed in a size (magnification) that is easy to see for each user. On the other hand, if the adjustment of the display size of the selected thumbnail image by the operation of the zoom lever 204 is a temporary purpose, the user may not press the shutter button 205 halfway. Then, the display size adjusted there is not reflected after switching the selected thumbnail image.

  In step S312, the control unit 105 determines whether the shutter button 205 has been fully pressed. If it has been fully pressed, the process proceeds to S313; otherwise, the process proceeds to S314. In step S313, the control unit 105 (second control unit) responds to an instruction from the user that the shutter button 205 is fully pressed, and sets a magnification corresponding to the size information stored in the RAM 106 to another thumbnail other than the selected thumbnail image. Also apply to images. When the display size of other thumbnail images is changed, the number of thumbnail images that can be displayed on one screen in the micro index display is changed accordingly. Therefore, when the shutter button 205 is fully pressed, the control unit 105 reads the size information stored in the RAM 106. Then, the control unit 105 calculates how many thumbnail images can be displayed on one screen when all thumbnail images displayed on one screen are displayed at the display size (magnification) indicated by the size information. Then, the control unit 105 controls the display unit 104 to display the calculated number of thumbnail images at a magnification corresponding to the size information stored in the RAM 106 so that the currently selected thumbnail image is included. . For example, when the shutter button 205 is half-pressed and further fully pressed in the enlarged state shown in FIG. 6, the microindex display is updated as shown in FIG. In this way, the user can fully reflect the display size (magnification) adjusted by the operation of the zoom lever 204 in all thumbnail images by fully pressing the shutter button 205. That is, it is possible to realize a microindex display in which the display size per thumbnail image is the display size after adjustment by the user.

  Note that in S313, the magnification of the selected thumbnail image temporarily adjusted may be used instead of the magnification corresponding to the size information stored in the RAM 106. In other words, half-pressing of the shutter button 205 (that is, storing the adjusted size information) is not essential for implementing the processing of S313.

  In step S314, the control unit 105 determines whether the determination button 203 has been pressed. If pressed, the process proceeds to S315; otherwise, the process proceeds to S316. In S315, the control unit 105 performs full-screen display of the selected thumbnail image, proceeds to S317, and ends the microindex display. When the image data corresponding to the selected thumbnail image is moving image data, the control unit 105 reproduces the moving image data.

  In step S316, the control unit 105 determines whether or not the mode switch 206 has been operated. When the mode in which the mode switch is operated is switched, the process of this flowchart proceeds to S317 and ends. Otherwise, the process returns to S303.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, when the zoom lever 204 is operated during the micro index display, the digital camera 100 changes and displays the magnification of the currently selected thumbnail image in stages. Thereby, it is possible to flexibly change the enlargement ratio (magnification) of the thumbnail image selected by the user on the index screen (multi-index) displaying a plurality of thumbnail images.

  Note that the processing in S311 and the processing in S313 are not performed by an instruction by a shutter button, but may be performed by an instruction by another operation member. In this way, it is possible to assign the shutter button as an instruction for instructing to end the micro index display and shift to the photographing mode.

  Note that the control of the control unit 105 may be performed by a single piece of hardware, or the entire digital camera 100 may be controlled by a plurality of pieces of hardware sharing the processing.

  Although the present invention has been described in detail based on the preferred embodiments thereof, the present invention is not limited to these specific embodiments, and various forms without departing from the gist of the present invention are also included in the present invention. included. Furthermore, each embodiment mentioned above shows only one embodiment of this invention, and it is also possible to combine each embodiment suitably.

  Further, in the above-described embodiment, the case where the present invention is applied to a digital camera has been described as an example, but this is not limited to this example. That is, the present invention displays a plurality of images simultaneously, such as a personal computer, a PDA, a mobile phone terminal, a portable image viewer, a display for selecting and confirming a print image provided in a printer device, and a digital photo frame. Any display control device that can be controlled is applicable.

[Other Embodiments]
The present invention can also be realized by executing the following processing. That is, software (program) that realizes the functions of the above-described embodiments is supplied to a system or apparatus via a network or various storage media, and a computer (or CPU, MPU, or the like) of the system or apparatus reads the program. It is a process to be executed.

Claims (9)

And a display control means for multi-displayed on the display means a plurality of images,
Selection means for selecting one of the plurality of images that are displayed,
A first scaling unit for controlling the image selected by the selection unit to be scaled and displayed in a display size corresponding to a user's operation among multi-stage display sizes;
First instruction receiving means for receiving a first instruction to apply the display size of the selected image scaled by the first scaling means to another displayed image;
In response to receiving the first instruction by the first instruction receiving means, the other image is changed to the same display size as the selected image scaled by the first scaling means. A display control apparatus comprising: a second scaling unit that performs control so that the image is doubled and displayed .   Second instruction accepting means for accepting a second instruction to apply the display size of the selected image scaled by the first scaling means when another image is selected;
  When the image selected by the selection unit is switched after the second instruction is received by the second instruction receiving unit, the image selected after the switching is also changed to the display size of the image selected before the switching. When the image selected by the selection unit is switched without receiving the second instruction by the second instruction receiving unit, the display size of the image selected after switching is selected. A third scaling means for controlling so as not to scale from the previous display size;
  The display control apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising:   The display control apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising a single operation member for performing the first instruction and the second instruction.   The second instruction receiving means receives the second instruction when the single operation member is pressed down to the first position,
  The first instruction receiving unit receives the first instruction when the single operation member is pressed down to a second position that is a position pressed deeper than the first position.
  The display control apparatus according to claim 3.   Further comprising an imaging means,
  In the shooting mode, the single operating member gives an instruction to determine the focus by pressing down to the first position, and takes an image with the imaging means by pressing down to the second position. It is a shutter operation member that gives instructions to record
  The display control apparatus according to claim 4.   Imaging means;
  A zoom operation member for instructing the magnification of the optical zoom related to photographing by the imaging means,
  The first scaling unit scales the display size of the image selected by the selection unit according to a user operation performed on the zoom operation member during the multi-display. Do
  The display control apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the display control apparatus is a display control apparatus. A control method for a display control device, comprising:
Display control means, and a display control step for controlling to multi-display unit to display images of multiple,
Selection means, a selection step of selecting one of the plurality of images that are displayed,
A first scaling unit that controls to display the image selected in the selection step by scaling the image selected in the selection step to a display size corresponding to the user's operation among the multi-stage display sizes. Process,
A first instruction receiving means for receiving a first instruction to apply the display size of the selected image scaled in the first scaling process to another displayed image; Reception process,
In response to the second scaling unit receiving the first instruction in the first instruction receiving step, the other image that has been scaled in the first scaling step is selected. And a second scaling step for controlling to display the image with the same display size as that of the existing image . The program for making a computer perform each process of the control method of Claim 7 . A computer-readable recording medium on which the program according to claim 8 is recorded.

Images