JP6346438B2 - Electronic device, control method therefor, program, and storage medium - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an electronic device driven by a battery and a control method thereof.

  In recent years, problems and failures of electronic devices caused by the use of counterfeit batteries have been reported. The counterfeit battery here means an illegal battery that is fake as if it is a genuine part of a manufacturer, and does not include so-called third party batteries. If the counterfeit battery is a genuine part, there may be a case where a protective device or a safety part that satisfies a certain quality standard incorporated therein is not incorporated. For this reason, abnormal heat generation or the like may cause problems or failures. However, since such counterfeit batteries are sold on the market as if they were genuine parts, when a user purchases a battery, the manufacturer's genuine part battery and the counterfeit battery can be accurately identified. That is not easy. Therefore, there are many cases where a user who intends to purchase a battery of genuine parts accidentally purchases a counterfeit battery, and there are cases where the user uses it without realizing that it is a counterfeit battery. Therefore, it is desired to take measures to prevent problems and breakdowns of electronic devices due to imitation batteries.

  For example, Patent Literature 1 uses an authentication function for determining whether or not a battery mounted on a portable electronic device is a genuine product, and displays a warning when the battery is not a genuine product or a counterfeit product. A method for restricting the use of a battery is disclosed.

JP 2007-282471 A

  In Patent Document 1, a predetermined process is executed according to the result of battery authentication, and this method makes it possible to prevent problems and failures due to the use of a counterfeit battery.

  However, in the case where the portable electronic device is a camera, if the photographing operation is prohibited until the battery authentication process is completed, an immediate photographing opportunity may be missed. That is, it is inconvenient if the processing that must be performed immediately cannot be performed until the battery authentication processing is completed.

  On the other hand, there are some inconvenient processes if they can be executed before the battery authentication process is completed. For example, if connection processing with an external device is executed before battery authentication is completed, it may be necessary to disconnect the connection if the authentication result is unsuccessful, which is unnecessary for the connected device. Will affect the connection.

  Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide an electronic device and a control method thereof that prevent unnecessary processing from being performed while preventing processing that must be performed quickly by battery authentication from being disabled. .

In order to solve the above-described problems and achieve the object, an electronic device according to the present invention includes an authentication unit that performs an authentication process for authenticating a mounted battery, and a first before the completion of the authentication process by the authentication unit. When a process execution instruction is issued, the first process is not executed before the authentication process is completed, and when a second process execution instruction is issued before the authentication process is completed by the authentication unit. Control means for controlling to execute the second process even before completion of the authentication process, the control means before the completion of the authentication process by the authentication means When a process execution instruction is issued , the authentication process is completed, and the authentication is successful, the first process is performed based on the execution instruction of the first process performed before the completion of the authentication process. Control to run.

  According to the present invention, according to the present invention, it is possible to prevent unnecessary processing from being performed while preventing processing that must be performed quickly by battery authentication from being disabled.

1 is an external view of an electronic apparatus according to an embodiment. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of an electronic apparatus according to an embodiment. The figure which shows the example of a screen display at the time of each mode of this embodiment. The flowchart which shows the process after the camera starting of this embodiment. The flowchart which shows the battery authentication failure process of FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing processing in the still image shooting mode of FIG. 4. The flowchart which shows the process at the time of the moving image recording mode of FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing processing in the reproduction mode of FIG. The flowchart which shows the process at the time of the external apparatus connection mode of FIG. The flowchart which shows the process at the time of the menu mode of FIG. The figure which shows the example of a screen display at the time of each mode of FIG.

  EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION Below, the form for implementing this invention is demonstrated in detail with reference to an accompanying drawing.

  <Apparatus Configuration> With reference to FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, the function and appearance of an electronic apparatus according to an embodiment to which the present invention is applied (in this embodiment, a digital camera is taken as an example) will be described.

  In FIG. 1 showing the rear appearance of the digital camera 100 of the present embodiment, the display unit 101 includes a liquid crystal display panel (LCD) for displaying images and various information. The power button 102 is a operation unit that switches power on and off. The shutter button 103 is an operation unit for issuing a shooting instruction. The mode switching button 104 is an operation unit for switching various modes. The moving image recording button 105 is an operation unit for instructing to start moving image recording. The menu button 106 is an operation unit that displays a menu screen for performing various settings of the digital camera 100. The user can make various settings intuitively using the menu screen displayed on the display unit 101 and the four-way button 107, the SET button 108, and the controller wheel 109 which are integrally formed. The controller wheel 109 is an operation member that can be rotated.

  The recording medium 110 is a recording medium such as a memory card and is stored in a recording medium slot (not shown). The battery 111 is a primary battery such as an alkaline battery or a lithium battery, or a secondary battery such as a NiCd battery, a NiMH battery, or a lithium ion battery, and is stored in a battery box (not shown). The recording medium 110 stored in the recording medium slot can communicate with the digital camera 100. The lid 112 is a lid for the recording medium slot and the battery box.

  The connector 113 is an interface for connecting the connection cable 114 and the digital camera 100.

  In FIG. 2 showing the internal configuration of the digital camera 100 of the present embodiment, a photographing lens 203 is a lens group including a zoom lens and a focus lens. The shutter 204 has an aperture function. The image pickup unit 205 is an image pickup element configured by a CCD, a CMOS, or the like that converts an optical image of a subject into an electric signal. The A / D converter 206 converts an analog signal into a digital signal. The A / D converter 206 is used to convert an analog signal output from the imaging unit 205 into a digital signal. The barrier 202 covers the imaging system including the imaging lens 203 of the digital camera 100, thereby preventing the imaging system including the imaging lens 203, the shutter 204, and the imaging unit 205 from becoming dirty or damaged.

  The image processing unit 207 performs resizing processing and color conversion processing such as predetermined pixel interpolation and reduction on the data from the A / D converter 206 or the data from the memory control unit 209. The image processing unit 207 performs predetermined calculation processing using the captured image data, and the system control unit 201 performs exposure control and distance measurement control based on the obtained calculation result. Thereby, AF (autofocus) processing, AE (automatic exposure) processing, and EF (flash pre-emission) processing of the TTL (through-the-lens) method are performed. The image processing unit 207 further performs predetermined arithmetic processing using the captured image data, and also performs TTL AWB (auto white balance) processing based on the obtained arithmetic result.

  Output data from the A / D converter 206 is directly written into the memory 210 via the image processing unit 207 and the memory control unit 209 or via the memory control unit 209. The memory 210 stores image data obtained by the imaging unit 205 and converted into digital data by the A / D converter 206 and image data to be displayed on the display unit 101. The memory 210 has a storage capacity sufficient to store a predetermined number of still images and a predetermined time of moving images and audio.

  The memory 210 also serves as an image display memory (video memory). The D / A converter 208 converts the image display data stored in the memory 210 into an analog signal and supplies the analog signal to the display unit 101. Thus, the display image data written in the memory 210 is displayed on the display unit 101 via the D / A converter 208. The display unit 101 performs display according to an analog signal from the D / A converter 208 on a display such as an LCD. A digital signal that has been A / D converted by the A / D converter 206 and accumulated in the memory 210 is converted into an analog signal by the D / A converter 208, and sequentially transferred to the display unit 101 for display, thereby displaying an electronic viewfinder. It can function as a through image display. In other words, the live view image is assumed to be a parallax image, and the live view is assumed to be a paraphrase of the live view display.

  The nonvolatile memory 213 is an electrically erasable / recordable memory, and for example, an EEPROM or the like is used. The nonvolatile memory 213 stores constants, programs, and the like for operating the system control unit 201. Here, the program is a program for executing various flowcharts described later in the present embodiment.

  The system control unit 201 controls the entire digital camera 100. By executing the program recorded in the non-volatile memory 213 described above, each process of the present embodiment to be described later is realized. A system memory 212 uses a RAM. In the system memory 212, constants and variables for operation of the system control unit 201, programs read from the nonvolatile memory 213, and the like are expanded. The system control unit 201 also performs display control by controlling the memory 210, the D / A converter 208, the display unit 101, and the like.

  The system timer 211 is a time measuring unit that measures the time used for various controls and the time of a built-in clock.

  The power button 102, the shutter button 103, the mode switching button 104, and other operation units 105 to 109 are operation units for inputting various operation instructions to the system control unit 201.

  The mode switching button 104 switches the operation mode of the system control unit 201 to, for example, one of a still image shooting mode, a moving image recording mode, a playback mode, an external device connection mode, a menu mode, and other modes. Modes included in the still image shooting mode include an auto shooting mode, an auto scene determination mode, a manual mode, various scene modes for shooting settings for each shooting scene, a program AE mode, a custom mode, and the like. The mode switching button 104 can be directly switched to any one of these modes included in the still image shooting mode. Alternatively, after switching to the still image shooting mode once with the mode switching button 104, the mode may be switched to one of these modes included in the still image shooting mode using another operation member. Similarly, the moving image recording mode may include a plurality of modes.

  The first shutter switch 103a is turned on when the shutter button 103 is being operated halfway (so-called shooting preparation instruction), and generates a first shutter switch signal SW1. In response to the first shutter switch signal SW1, operations such as AF processing, AE processing, AWB processing, and EF processing are started.

  The second shutter switch 103b is turned on when the operation of the shutter button 103 is completed, so-called full depression (shooting instruction), and generates a second shutter switch signal SW2. In response to the second shutter switch signal SW2, the system control unit 201 starts a series of imaging processing (imaging / recording sequence) operations from reading a signal from the imaging unit 205 to writing image data into the recording medium 110.

  The operation unit includes a touch panel capable of detecting contact with the display unit 101 in addition to the operation units 105 to 109 described above. The touch panel and the display unit 101 can be configured integrally. For example, the touch panel is configured so that the light transmittance does not hinder the display of the display unit 101, and is attached to the upper layer of the display surface of the display unit 101. Then, the input coordinates on the touch panel are associated with the display coordinates on the display unit 101. Thereby, it is possible to configure a GUI as if the user can directly operate the screen displayed on the display unit 101.

  The touch panel is appropriately assigned a function for each scene by selecting and operating various function icons displayed on the display unit 101, and functions as various function buttons. Examples of the function buttons include an end button, a return button, an image advance button, a jump button, a narrowing button, and an attribute change button. For example, when the menu button 106 is pressed, various setting menu screens are displayed on the display unit 101. The user can make various settings intuitively using the menu screen displayed on the display unit 101, the up / down / left / right four-way buttons 107, the SET button 108, and the controller wheel 109.

  The controller wheel 109 is used when a selection item is designated together with the four-way button 107. When the controller wheel 109 is rotated, an electrical pulse signal is generated according to the operation amount, and the system control unit 201 controls each unit of the digital camera 100 based on the pulse signal. Based on this pulse signal, it is possible to determine the angle at which the controller wheel 109 is rotated, how many rotations, and the like. The controller wheel 109 may be any operation member that can detect a rotation operation. For example, a dial operation member that generates a pulse signal by rotating the controller wheel 109 itself according to a user's rotation operation may be used. Further, an operation member made of a touch sensor may be used to detect a rotation operation of a user's finger on the controller wheel 109 without rotating the controller wheel 109 itself (so-called touch wheel).

  The power supply control unit 214 includes a battery detection circuit, a DC-DC converter, a switch circuit that switches a block to be energized, and the like, and detects whether or not the battery 111 is attached, the type of battery, and the remaining battery level. Further, the power supply control unit 214 controls the DC-DC converter based on the detection result and an instruction from the system control unit 201, and supplies a necessary voltage to each unit including the recording medium 110 for a necessary period.

  The power supply unit 215 includes a primary battery such as an alkaline battery or a lithium battery as the battery 111, a secondary battery such as a NiCd battery, a NiMH battery, or a lithium ion battery, an AC adapter, or the like. The recording medium I / F 216 is an interface with the recording medium 110 such as a memory card. The recording medium 110 is a recording medium such as a memory card for recording a captured image, and includes a semiconductor memory, a magnetic disk, or the like.

The external I / F 217 is communicably connected to the external device 300 via a wireless antenna or a wired cable, and transmits and receives video and audio. The external I / F 217 can be connected to a wireless LAN (Local Area Network) or the Internet. External I / F 217 can transmit and image data captured by the imaging unit 205 (including the through-image), an image file recorded on the recording medium 110 to the external apparatus 300, also, Ya image data from the external device 300 Various other information can be received.

  The battery authentication unit 218 communicates with the battery 111 attached to a battery box (not shown) to determine whether or not the battery is a genuine product.

  The digital camera 100 according to the present embodiment can shoot using an autofocus technique such as central one-point AF or face AF. Central one-point AF is to perform AF on one central position in the shooting screen. The face AF is to perform AF on the face (main face) in the shooting screen detected by the face detection function.

  Here, the face detection function will be described.

  The system control unit 201 reads image data (including a through image) held in the memory 210, applies a band pass filter in the horizontal direction and the vertical direction, and detects an edge component. Next, the system control unit 201 performs pattern matching of the detected edge components, and extracts a candidate group of eyes, nose, mouth, and ears. Further, the system control unit 201 determines a pair of eyes that satisfies a preset condition (for example, distance between two eyes, inclination, and the like) from the eye candidate group extracted by pattern matching, Narrow down only those with eye pairs as eye candidates. Then, the system control unit 201 associates the narrowed-down eye candidate group with other parts (nose, mouth, ears) that form the corresponding face, and passes a preset non-face condition filter. Then, the face is detected and face feature information is generated according to the detection result and stored in the system memory 212. In order to notify the user of the detected face, for example, a face frame or the like can be displayed on the display unit 101 so as to overlap with the image according to the position coordinates or size of the face.

  As described above, it is possible to extract the feature information of the subject in the image by analyzing the image data displayed or reproduced and displayed in live view. In this embodiment, face information is taken as an example of subject characteristic information, but there are various other information such as red-eye determination, eye detection, eye-brow detection, and smile detection.

  Note that the face AE, the face FE, and the face WB can be performed simultaneously with the face AF. The face AE is to optimize the exposure of the entire screen according to the brightness of the detected face. The face FE is to perform flash dimming around the detected face. The face WB is to optimize the white balance of the entire screen according to the detected face color.

  The personal authentication unit 219 has a function of authenticating a specific person from the face detected as described above by referring to a database in which facial feature information is registered. Note that the system control unit 201 may have this personal authentication function.

  The hardware configuration is not limited to that shown in FIG. 2. For example, one piece of hardware may perform display control, communication control, recording control, image processing control, and the like and function as each unit of the digital camera 100. good. A plurality of hardware may function as one means in cooperation.

  <Screen Display Example> Next, with reference to FIG. 3, a screen display example in each mode process of the present embodiment will be described.

  Hereinafter, transition of the display screen during still image shooting and moving image recording from when the digital camera 100 is activated (powered on) until the battery authentication process is completed will be described.

  FIG. 3A shows a display state of a through image in the moving image recording mode.

  FIG. 3B shows a state when a moving image recording start instruction is received during the display of the through image of FIG. Regardless of whether or not the battery authentication is completed, when a moving image recording start instruction is received, the moving image recording process is started.

  FIG. 3C shows a state in which the battery authentication has failed during the moving image recording of FIG. 3B and the moving image recording has been stopped. By interrupting the moving image recording when the battery authentication fails in the moving image recording mode, it is possible to prevent abnormal heat generation when the counterfeit battery is used. If the battery authentication is successful, the video recording is continued. Further, when the moving image recording time is determined in advance and the recording time is short, the heat generation due to the use of the counterfeit battery is considered to be small, so the recording may be continued.

  FIG. 3D shows a through image display state in the still image shooting mode.

  FIG. 3E shows a state when an AE / AF operation is performed in response to an imaging preparation instruction (SW1 ON) during the through image display of FIG.

  FIG. 3F shows a state when a still image shooting / recording operation is performed in response to a shooting instruction (SW2 ON) during the AE / AF operation of FIG. In still image shooting mode, if you receive a shooting instruction before battery authentication fails and you start recording a still image, it will not be interrupted until recording is complete, but if you receive a shooting instruction after battery authentication fails, Suppresses the recording operation. As described above, at the time of still image shooting, it is possible to prevent a shooting opportunity from being missed by receiving a shooting instruction before the battery authentication fails and performing a recording operation.

  In addition, during still image continuous shooting, it is determined whether or not battery authentication is completed before starting the recording operation. If authentication fails, shooting is interrupted. Also, during self-timer shooting, shooting is interrupted if the recording operation has not started even during countdown.

  <Operation after Starting Camera> Next, with reference to FIGS. 4 to 11, the operation after starting the camera including the battery authentication failure process of this embodiment will be described.

  4 to 10 is realized by the system control unit 201 developing and executing a program stored in the nonvolatile memory 213 in the system memory 212 and controlling each unit. 4 starts when the power button 102 is pressed and the power is turned on with the battery 111 attached.

  In step S <b> 401, the system control unit 201 starts battery authentication processing by the battery authentication unit 218.

  In step S402, the system control unit 201 determines whether or not the battery authenticated flag is on. The battery authentication completed flag is a variable that is set to ON and stored in the system memory 212 when the battery authentication process is completed. As a result of the determination, if the battery authentication is completed, the process proceeds to step S406, and if not completed, the process proceeds to step S403.

  In step S403, the system control unit determines whether or not a battery authentication completion notification is received from the battery authentication unit 218. As a result of the determination, if a battery authentication completion notification is received, the process proceeds to step S404, and if not received, the process proceeds to step S406.

  In step S404, the system control unit 201 determines whether the battery authentication unit 218 has succeeded in battery authentication. As a result of the determination, if it succeeds (that is, if it is determined that it is a genuine battery), the process proceeds to step S405, and if it fails (that is, if it is determined that it is not a genuine battery), the process proceeds to step S413.

  In step S405, the system control unit 201 turns on the battery authenticated flag and stores it in the system memory 212.

  In steps S414 and S415, the system control unit 201 executes battery authentication failure processing, turns on the battery authenticated flag, stores the flag in the system memory 212, and proceeds to step S413.

  In step S406, the system control unit 201 determines the operation mode of the camera from the position of the mode switching button 104. If it is determined in step S406 that the still image shooting mode is selected, step S407 is performed. If the moving image recording mode is selected, step S408 is performed. If the playback mode is selected, step S409 is performed. If the external device connection mode is selected, step S410 is performed. In step S411, in other modes, the process proceeds to step S412. Details of each mode process will be described later. The other mode includes a plurality of processes, but a detailed description thereof is omitted because the relevance to the present invention is low.

  When the above-described mode processing ends, the process proceeds to step S413, and the system control unit 201 determines whether or not a power-off request has been made due to the pressing of the power button 102 or the passage of the automatic power-off time. If there is no power-off request, the process returns to step S402. If there is a power-off request, the power is turned off and the process is terminated.

  <Battery Authentication Failure Processing> Next, the battery authentication failure processing in step S414 in FIG. 4 will be described with reference to FIG.

  In step S501, the system control unit 201 displays a confirmation screen for inquiring about the battery type as shown in FIG. 11A on the display unit 101, and determines whether or not the used battery is considered to be a genuine product. Ask the user. The user can select whether he / she thinks it is a genuine battery by selecting one of the options displayed on the confirmation screen of FIG.

  In step S502, the system control unit 201 recognizes that the user thinks that the battery is a genuine battery from the options shown in FIG. 11 (a) ("Yes" in FIG. 11 (a) is selected) or not. (No is selected in FIG. 11A) is determined. If “No” (recognizes that it is not a genuine battery) is selected as a result of the determination, the process proceeds to step S503. If “Yes” (which is considered to be a genuine battery) is selected, step S505 is performed. Proceed to

  In step S503, the system control unit 201 displays a confirmation screen asking whether or not to continue using the non-genuine battery as shown in FIG. 11B on the display unit 101, and determines whether or not to continue the use. Ask the user.

  In step S504, the system control unit 201 determines whether or not the user has an intention to continue using the options shown in FIG. As a result of the determination, if there is an intention to continue use (“Yes” in FIG. 11B is selected), this process is terminated, and if there is no intention to continue use (“No” in FIG. 11B is selected). ) Proceeds to step S506.

  In step S505, the system control unit 201 displays on the display unit 101 a screen for notifying that the power is turned off because a battery other than a genuine battery as shown in FIG. Notify the user that it will be turned off. In this case, it can be estimated that the user misidentifies that the battery used is not a genuine product but is a genuine product.

  In step S506, the system control unit 201 makes a power-off request, turns off the power by the power control unit 214, and ends this processing.

  <Still Image Shooting Mode Processing> Next, the still image shooting mode processing in step S407 in FIG. 4 will be described with reference to FIG.

  In step S <b> 601, the system control unit 201 displays a through image (live view image) on the display unit 101.

  In step S602, the system control unit 201 determines whether or not the battery authenticated flag is on, that is, whether or not battery authentication is complete. As a result of the determination, if the battery authentication is completed, the process proceeds to step S606, and if not completed, the process proceeds to step S603.

  In step S <b> 603, the system control unit 201 determines whether a battery authentication completion notification has been received from the battery authentication unit 218.

  If a battery authentication completion notification has been received, the process proceeds to step S604. If not received, the process proceeds to step S606.

  In step S604, the system control unit 201 determines whether the battery authentication unit 218 has succeeded in battery authentication. As a result of the determination, if the battery authentication is successful, the process proceeds to step S605, and if unsuccessful, the process proceeds to step S613.

  In step S605, the system control unit 201 turns on the battery authenticated flag and stores it in the system memory 212.

  In step S606, the system control unit 201 determines whether an imaging preparation instruction (SW1 ON) has been performed. As a result of the determination, if SW1 is on, the process proceeds to step S611, and if it is off, the process proceeds to step S607.

  In step S607, the system control unit 201 performs an AE / AF operation.

  In step S608, the system control unit 201 determines whether a shooting instruction (SW2 ON) has been performed. As a result of the determination, if SW2 is on, the process proceeds to step S609, and if it is off, the process proceeds to step S610.

  In step S609, the system control unit 201 determines whether or not the SW1 on state is released (off). As a result of the determination, if SW1 is off, the process proceeds to step S611, and if it is on, the process returns to step S608.

  In step S610, the system control unit 201 performs shooting / recording sequence processing. That is, a series of image capturing processes such as signal reading from the image capturing unit 205, image processing for converting the read signal into an image file (including RAW data development processing), and image file writing processing on the recording medium 110 are performed.

In step S611, the system control unit 201 determines whether there is a power-off request. Result of the determination, if there is no power-off request proceeds to step S612, if there is power-off request and the process ends.

  In step S612, the system control unit 201 determines whether or not there has been a mode change instruction using the mode switching button 104. If there is no mode change instruction, the process returns to step S602, and if there is a mode change instruction, the process ends. To do.

  In steps S613 and S614, the system control unit 201 executes battery authentication failure processing, turns on the battery authenticated flag, stores it in the system memory 212, and proceeds to step S611.

  Thus, after the shooting preparation instruction (SW1 ON) is performed in the still image shooting mode, the SW1 ON state is canceled (YES in step S609), or the shooting / recording sequence is completed (step S610). Until then, the process according to the battery authentication completion notification (YES in step S603) is not executed. Therefore, a shooting instruction is issued before the battery authentication is completed, battery authentication is completed during the still image shooting / recording sequence, and still image shooting is interrupted even if authentication fails (determined as not a genuine battery) It will never be done. That is, in the still image shooting mode, the still image shooting can be performed immediately after the power is turned on, and the image can be shot without missing a quick shooting opportunity. On the other hand, when a battery authentication completion notification is received in a scene where no still image is to be taken (in a state where SW1 is off) and authentication fails, the power may be turned off by battery authentication failure processing (S613). In this way, it is possible to prevent problems caused when a user uses a non-genuine battery unintentionally without hindering still image shooting at a quick shooting opportunity. When the battery authentication is completed during the still image shooting and the authentication fails, the still image recording process during the shooting is performed to the end, and the battery authentication failure process is performed after the still image shooting process is completed.

  <Movie Recording Mode Processing> Next, the movie recording mode processing in step S408 in FIG. 4 will be described with reference to FIG.

  Note that steps S701 to S705 and S717 to S720 in FIG. 7 are the same processes as steps S601 to S605 and S611 to S614 in FIG. 6, respectively. Therefore, in the following, the description will be focused on differences from FIG.

  In step S706, the system control unit 201 determines whether or not the moving image recording start instruction is performed by pressing the moving image recording button 105. If it is determined that a moving image recording start instruction has been issued, the process proceeds to step S707; otherwise, the process proceeds to step S717.

  In step S707, the system control unit 201 starts moving image recording processing. That is, the moving image data recorded after the start of processing is written into the recording medium 110. As described above, since the recording of the moving image can be started even before the battery authentication is completed (NO in step S703), the user can start the recording of the moving image without missing a quick photographing opportunity. If you are using a genuine battery, you can continue to record video even after battery authentication is complete, as described later. Can be prevented.

  In step S708, the system control unit 201 determines whether a moving image recording stop instruction has been issued. As a result of the determination, if a moving image recording stop instruction is issued, the process proceeds to step S714. If not, the process proceeds to step S709.

  In step S709, the system control unit 201 determines whether a battery authentication completion notification has been received from the battery authentication unit 218. As a result of the determination, if the battery authentication completion notification is received, the process proceeds to step S710, and if not received, the process returns to step S708.

  In step S710, the system control unit 201 determines whether the battery authentication unit 218 has succeeded in battery authentication. As a result of the determination, if successful, the process proceeds to step S711, and if unsuccessful, the process proceeds to step S715.

  In step S711, the system control unit 201 waits until a moving image recording stop instruction is issued again. If a moving image recording stop instruction is issued, the process proceeds to step S712.

  In steps S712 and S713, the system control unit 201 stops the moving image recording process, turns on the battery authenticated flag, stores the flag in the system memory 212, and proceeds to step S717.

  In step S714, the system control unit 201 stops the moving image recording process and proceeds to step S717.

  In step S715, the system control unit 201 stops the moving image recording process and proceeds to step S716. That is, in the moving image recording process, the recording of the moving image can be started before the battery authentication is completed, but if the authentication fails as a result of the battery authentication, the recording of the moving image is immediately stopped. By doing this, it prevents the digital camera from failing due to continuing the long processing time and high processing load of moving image recording processing using non-genuine batteries. Can do. In this case, a short video from the time the power is turned on until the battery authentication is completed will be recorded, but this short video is likely to be unnecessary, so this video (video file) will be deleted later You may make it do.

  In step S716, the system control unit 201 executes a battery authentication failure process. In this battery authentication failure process, the power may be turned off as described with reference to FIG.

  In this embodiment, an example has been described in which processing is interrupted (stopped) in the case of authentication failure in the video recording mode. However, if recording is performed for a short time such as several seconds, the processing is interrupted even in the case of authentication failure. You can go without. This is because there is a low possibility of inconveniences and adverse effects due to the use of a non-genuine battery even if processing is completed for a short time of about several seconds.

  <Playback Mode Processing> Next, the playback mode processing in step S409 in FIG. 4 will be described with reference to FIG.

  Note that steps S801 to S804 and S815 to S818 in FIG. 8 are the same processes as steps S602 to S605 and S611 to S614 in FIG. 6, respectively. Therefore, in the following, the description will be focused on differences from FIG.

  In step S805, the system control unit 201 reproduces the image file (still image or moving image) recorded on the recording medium 110. The image file to be reproduced is one selected by the user from the file list screen or automatically reproduced in the order of the file name.

  In step S806, the system control unit 201 determines whether a reproduction stop instruction has been issued. As a result of the determination, if a reproduction stop instruction is issued, the process proceeds to step S812, and if not, the process proceeds to step S807.

  In step S807, the system control unit 201 determines whether or not a battery authentication completion notification has been received from the battery authentication unit 218. As a result of the determination, if the battery authentication completion notification is received, the process proceeds to step S808, and if not received, the process returns to step S806.

  In step S808, the system control unit 201 determines whether the battery authentication unit 218 has succeeded in battery authentication. As a result of the determination, if successful, the process proceeds to step S809, and if unsuccessful, the process proceeds to step S813.

  In step S809, the system control unit 201 waits until a reproduction stop instruction is issued again. If a reproduction stop instruction is issued, the process proceeds to step S811.

  In steps S813 and S814, the system control unit 201 stops image reproduction, turns on the battery authenticated flag, stores the flag in the system memory 212, and proceeds to step S815. In this way, image playback, for example, video playback itself, can be started before battery authentication is completed, but in the case of authentication failure (determined that it is not a genuine battery), the video that was played when battery authentication was completed Stop playback.

  As described above, in the reproduction mode, the reproduction of the image can be started before the battery authentication is completed, but the reproduction is immediately stopped in the case of the authentication failure (determined that the battery is not a genuine battery). In this way, the image can be quickly reproduced regardless of whether or not the battery authentication is completed, so that the image can be viewed without waiting for the user. On the other hand, in the case of authentication failure, to prevent the digital camera from failing by continuing the video playback process with a long processing time and high processing load using a non-genuine battery. Can do.

  <External Device Connection Mode Processing> Next, with reference to FIG. 9, an example of performing wireless connection with an external device in the external device connection mode processing in step S410 of FIG. 4 will be described.

  Note that steps S902 to S905, S916 (S919), and S917 (S920) in FIG. 9 are the same processes as steps S602 to S605, S613, and S614 in FIG. 6, respectively. Therefore, in the following, the description will be focused on differences from FIG.

  In step S <b> 901, the system control unit 201 displays a wireless connection menu screen as illustrated in FIG. 11D on the display unit 101.

In step S906, the system control unit 201 determines whether or not a wireless connection start instruction has been issued by a user operation. If it is determined that a wireless connection start instruction has been issued , the process proceeds to step S907. If not, the process returns to step S902. The user operation related to the wireless connection start instruction includes selection of a connection method (whether a camera is used as an access point or connection through another access point, etc.), and a connection partner device selection operation (connection such as SSID). ID input may be included), and an instruction to start execution of connection to the selected connection partner device is included.

  In step S907, the system control unit 201 displays a connection standby screen that notifies the display unit 101 that the wireless connection process is in progress as shown in FIG.

  In step S908, the system control unit 201 determines whether or not the battery authenticated flag is on, that is, whether or not the battery authentication is complete. As a result of the determination, if the battery authentication is completed, the process proceeds to step S912, and if not completed, the process proceeds to step S909.

  In step S909, the system control unit 201 waits until a battery authentication completion notification is received from the battery authentication unit 218. If a battery authentication completion notification is received, the system control unit 201 proceeds to step S910. That is, even before battery authentication is completed, an operation for wireless connection and an instruction to start wireless connection are accepted, but actual connection processing is not performed until battery authentication is completed. This is because at the time before the battery authentication is completed, the authentication may still fail and the power may be turned off, and even if the connection is established, the connection may be disconnected immediately. If the connection is disconnected immediately after the connection is established, the power consumption and processing load of the connected external device will be wasted. Thus, in order to prevent a situation where the connection is immediately disconnected due to the battery authentication after the connection is established, the connection is not established until the battery authentication is completed. However, the operation up to the wireless connection start instruction is accepted even before the battery authentication is completed so as not to impair the user's operational feeling.

  In step S910, the system control unit 201 determines whether or not the battery authentication unit 218 has succeeded in battery authentication. As a result of the determination, if successful, the process proceeds to step S911, and if unsuccessful, the process proceeds to step S919.

  In step S911, the system control unit 201 turns on the battery authenticated flag and stores it in the system memory 212, and proceeds to step S912.

  In step S912, the system control unit 201 starts wireless connection processing and makes a transition to a wireless connection state.

  In step S913, the system control unit 201 determines whether there is a power-off request. As a result of the determination, if there is no power off request, the process proceeds to step S914, and if there is a power off request, this process ends.

  In step S914, the system control unit 201 determines whether the wireless connection has been released. As a result of the determination, if the wireless connection has not been released, the process proceeds to step S915, and if released, the process ends.

  In step S915, it is determined whether or not there has been a mode change instruction using the mode switching button 104. If there is no mode change instruction, the process returns to step S813, and if there is a mode change instruction, this process ends.

In step S918 (S921), the system control unit 201 proceeds to step S906 (S912) when there is no power-off request, and ends this processing when there is a power-off request.

  As a method for performing wireless connection with an external device as in the present embodiment, for example, there are WiFi, BlueTooth (registered trademark), infrared communication, and the like. The present embodiment can also be applied to a case where a USB (Universal Serial Bus) is connected to an external device such as a PC or a printer. Especially when connecting to a printer, it is conceivable that the printer side performs a print preparation process that consumes ink and toner as the connection is established. However, this print preparation process is wasted and ink and toner are wasted. The possibility of being lost can also be reduced.

  As described above, in the external device connection mode, by waiting for the start of the connection with the external device until the battery authentication is completed, the connection interruption processing is not performed in the case of authentication failure, so The influence of can be reduced. In addition, since the connection operation by the user is permitted without starting the connection with the external device, it is possible to reduce the feeling that the user waits during the process. Furthermore, in the case of successful authentication, it is possible to prevent the user from being aware of the battery authentication process.

  <Menu Mode Process> Next, the menu mode process in step S411 in FIG. 4 will be described with reference to FIG.

  Note that steps S1004 to S1006 and S1009 to S1012 in FIG. 10 are the same processes as steps S603 to S605 and S611 to 614 in FIG. 6, respectively. Therefore, in the following, the description will be focused on differences from FIG.

  In step S1001, the system control unit 201 determines whether or not the battery authentication completed flag is on, that is, whether or not battery authentication is complete. If the battery authentication is complete, the system control unit 201 proceeds to step S1008. If not completed, the process proceeds to step S1002.

  In step S1002, the system control unit 201 generates screen display data so as to gray out the “personal authentication setting” option on the menu screen as shown in FIG.

  In step S1003, the system control unit 201 displays a menu screen as shown in FIG. 11F on the display unit 101, and accepts various operations from the user for the displayed menu screen. In the menu screen shown in FIG. 11 (f), the item of “personal authentication setting” in the bottom row of the screen is grayed out (changed from the display mode during normal display). Of the items displayed on the menu screen, the user cannot select the personal authentication setting item and cannot perform the setting processing operation related to personal authentication. Other items can be selected.

  In step S1007, the system control unit 201 cancels the gray-out option of “personal authentication setting” on the menu screen as illustrated in FIG.

  In step S1008, the system control unit 201 displays a menu screen as shown in FIG. 11G on the display unit 101, and accepts various operations from the user for the displayed menu screen. When the process proceeds from step S1007 to step S1008, the menu screen is not newly displayed, but the display form of the item “personal authentication setting” is changed for the displayed menu screen. The menu screen shown in FIG. 11 (g) is different from FIG. 11 (f), and the personal authentication setting items are not grayed out. When the user selects an item for personal authentication setting, for example, the following operations (1) to (4) are possible in the lower hierarchy.

  (1) Setting whether the personal authentication is “ON” or “OFF”. When “ON” is set, if it is determined that the face detected from the through image at the time of shooting is a registered person, the name of the registered person is displayed superimposed on the through image. Also, face AF is performed to focus on a registered person with priority.

  (2) New person information registration operation. A user's face to be registered is photographed by the user, face feature data is extracted from the photographed image, and registered in dictionary data stored in the nonvolatile memory 213.

  (3) Edit profile information such as registered person's name and birthday.

(4) Deletion of Registered Person Information Returning to FIG. 10, in steps S1009 and S1010, the system control unit 201 ends this processing when a power-off request is made, and mode change instruction when there is no power-off request. Steps S1009 and S1010 are repeated until there is.

  In step S1013, the system control unit 201 ends the process when there is a power-off request, and proceeds to step S1007 when there is no power-off request.

  As described above, in the menu mode process, before the battery authentication is completed, among the items on the menu screen, the functions relating to the personal authentication setting are grayed out and can be selected and prohibited from being executed.

  Note that, as a function for prohibiting execution before the battery authentication is completed, editing-related functions such as editing of a recorded moving image or creation of a new moving image by joining still images may be prohibited. Editing a moving image has a particularly high processing load, and it takes time from completion of an editing execution instruction to completion of internal processing. Therefore, when the moving image editing process is started before the battery authentication is completed, the battery authentication may be completed before the editing process is completed, that is, in the middle of the editing process. If authentication fails, the power may be turned off without completing the editing process. In order to prevent this situation, the moving image editing process is not started until the battery authentication is completed. If the design is such that the editing process of the moving image can be started before the battery authentication is completed, it is preferable to interrupt the editing process if the authentication is unsuccessful, as in the case of moving image shooting. This is because moving image editing has a high processing load and takes time, and if it is executed with a low-quality imitation battery, the possibility of causing a malfunction increases.

  Note that the control of the system control unit 201 may be performed by a single piece of hardware, or the entire apparatus 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.

  In the above-described embodiment, the case where the present invention is applied to an electronic device such as a digital camera has been described as an example. However, the present invention is not limited to this example, and for example, a battery authentication function, a person authentication function, or the like. It is applicable to any device having That is, the present invention can be applied to a personal computer, a PDA, a mobile phone terminal, a portable image viewer, a printer device including a display, a digital photo frame, a music player, a game machine, an electronic book reader, and the like.

  [Other Embodiments] The present invention is also 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, etc.) of the system or apparatus reads and executes the program code. It is processing to do. In this case, the program and the storage medium storing the program constitute the present invention.

Claims (21)

An authentication means for performing an authentication process for authenticating the attached battery;
If the execution instruction of the first process is given before the authentication process by the authentication unit is completed, the first process is not executed before the authentication process is completed, and before the authentication process by the authentication unit is completed. Control means for controlling to execute the second process even when the authentication process is completed, when an instruction to execute the second process is given,
It said control means, said execution instruction of said first process prior to completion of the authentication process by the authentication means is such, the authenticating process is completed, if the authentication is successful, made prior to completion of the authentication process Further , the electronic apparatus is controlled to execute the first process based on the execution instruction of the first process. Imaging means;
An authentication means for performing an authentication process for authenticating the attached battery;
If the execution instruction of the first process is given before the authentication process by the authentication unit is completed, the first process is not executed before the authentication process is completed, and before the authentication process by the authentication unit is completed. Control means for controlling to execute the second process even when the authentication process is not completed when an instruction to execute the second process including imaging by the imaging unit is made. Electronic equipment characterized by An authentication means for performing an authentication process for authenticating the attached battery;
If the execution instruction of the first process is given before the authentication process by the authentication unit is completed, the first process is not executed before the authentication process is completed, and before the authentication process by the authentication unit is completed. Control means for performing control so that the second process is executed even when the authentication process is not completed when an instruction to execute the second process including the image reproduction process is made. Features electronic equipment. It said control means, said execution instruction of said first process prior to completion of the authentication process by the authentication means is such, the authenticating process is completed, if the authentication is successful, made prior to completion of the authentication process 4. The electronic apparatus according to claim 2, wherein control is performed so that the first process is executed based on the execution instruction of the first process. 5. It further has an imaging means,
The electronic apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the second processing includes processing including imaging by the imaging unit.   The electronic apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the second process includes a still image shooting process by an imaging unit.   The electronic apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the second process includes a moving image recording process performed by an imaging unit.   The electronic apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the second process includes an image reproduction process. 9. The display control unit according to claim 1, further comprising a display control unit that controls to display a confirmation screen related to the battery when the authentication process by the authentication unit is completed and the authentication is not successful. The electronic device of Claim 1. The display control unit displays the confirmation screen when an instruction to execute the first process is given before the authentication process by the authentication unit is completed and the authentication process is not successful after the authentication process is completed. The electronic device according to claim 9, wherein the electronic device is controlled as follows.   11. The electronic device according to claim 9, further comprising a power control unit configured to turn off the power of the electronic device in response to a user's selection operation for a specific option among the options displayed on the confirmation screen. machine.   The electronic device according to claim 1, wherein the first processing includes connection processing with an external device.   13. The electronic apparatus according to claim 12, wherein the control unit receives an instruction to select a connected external device and execute a connection process with the selected external device even before the authentication process is completed. .   If the control means is instructed to execute the connection process before completion of the authentication process by the authentication means, the control means does not execute the connection process before the completion of the authentication process, and displays a connection standby screen. The electronic device according to claim 13, wherein the electronic device is controlled.   The electronic device according to claim 1, wherein the first process includes a setting process related to personal authentication for detecting a person's face registered from an image.   14. The electronic apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the first process includes a moving image editing process. An authentication step for performing an authentication process for authenticating the attached battery;
When the execution instruction of the first process is given before the completion of the authentication process by the authentication step, the first process is not executed before the completion of the authentication process, and before the authentication process by the authentication step is completed. A control step for performing control so as to execute the second process even before the completion of the authentication process when an instruction to execute the second process is given,
In the control step, an instruction to execute the first process is given before the completion of the authentication process in the authentication step . When the authentication process is completed and the authentication is successful, the control process is performed before the authentication process is completed. And controlling the electronic device to execute the first processing based on the execution instruction of the first processing. A method for controlling an electronic device having an imaging means,
An authentication step for performing an authentication process for authenticating the attached battery;
When the execution instruction of the first process is given before the completion of the authentication process by the authentication step, the first process is not executed before the completion of the authentication process, and before the authentication process by the authentication step is completed. And a control step for performing control so that the second process is executed even before the completion of the authentication process when an instruction to execute the second process including imaging by the imaging unit is made. A method for controlling an electronic device. An authentication step for performing an authentication process for authenticating the attached battery;
When the execution instruction of the first process is given before the completion of the authentication process by the authentication step, the first process is not executed before the completion of the authentication process, and before the authentication process by the authentication step is completed. And a control step for performing control so that the second process is executed even when the authentication process is not completed when an instruction to execute the second process including the image reproduction process is given. A method for controlling an electronic device.   The program for functioning a computer as each means of the electronic device as described in any one of Claims 1 thru | or 16.   A computer-readable storage medium storing a program for causing a computer to function as each unit of the electronic device according to any one of claims 1 to 16.

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