JPH01321784A - Liquid crystal camera - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To confirm the photographed picture immediately by storing picture information subject to photoelectric conversion into a memory freely removable and capable of storing the information one by one picture in the unit of pages and displaying the picture information read from the memory onto a liquid crystal display. CONSTITUTION:A page memory pack 24 stores the picture for 5 pages and the pack itself is removed freely from a card main body 11. A liquid crystal controller 25 is connected to a CPU bus 23 to apply drive control when the picture information read from the page memory pack 24 is displayed on the liquid crystal display device 18. A microprocessor 27 reads the page of the photographed picture most recently timewise from the page memory pack 24. Then the picture information is transferred to the liquid crystal controller 25. Thus, the picture is not only able to be displayed immediately after the photography but also a message is displayed on the display device.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a liquid crystal camera that reads an image using an image sensor and displays the image.

[Conventional technology]

Conventional cameras using photosensitive film do not allow immediate confirmation of images taken. In other words, it was necessary to wait until a single film had been shot, and then to take the film to a camera store or photo lab and wait until development and printing were completed. For this reason,
Not only is it not possible to view the photograph immediately, but there are also cases in which it is impossible to take the photograph again if it is later discovered that the photograph has failed.

In order to overcome these drawbacks, some instant cameras have come into use, in which the film itself has developing and fixing functions. With this camera, you can view your photos within minutes of taking them. However, because the film requires a complex structure and is expensive, it has not become widely used.Also, since it uses film like the normal camera mentioned above, images recorded on it can be directly transferred. There was also the problem that it could not be stored electronically or processed by a computer or the like.

Therefore, cameras called electronic cameras have come onto the scene. Conventionally proposed or manufactured electronic cameras are of a type in which captured images are written on a magnetic medium or photosensitive material mounted on the camera body. The written images are played back using a dedicated playback device and displayed on a television screen.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] In other words, if you try to play back images with a conventional electronic camera, you will need a dedicated playback device, and you will have to take the electronic camera to a place where the playback device is installed. I couldn't see the image. For this reason, there is a problem in that if a reproduction device is not at hand, the image cannot be immediately f;(i i, ?2).

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide an electronic camera that can immediately convert captured images to Vfi KB without requiring a dedicated reproduction device.

[Means for Solving the Problems] In the present invention, image information photoelectrically converted by an image sensor is stored in a removable memory that can store each image page by page. Then, image information is read out page by page from this memory, and the read image information is displayed on the liquid crystal display.

That is, in the present invention, images are displayed on a liquid crystal display built into the camera body, so that captured images can be immediately captured.

〔Example〕

The present invention will be described in detail below with reference to Examples.

FIGS. 2 and 3 show the front and back sides of a liquid crystal camera according to an embodiment of the present invention, respectively.

That is, as shown in FIG. 2, the liquid crystal camera of this embodiment has an optical lens 12 disposed on the front surface of a camera body 11, like a normal camera.

At the top of the camera body 11, there are the following four switches 13 to 13.
16 are arranged.

(1) Shutter switch 13: This is a switch that functions as a shutter for setting the timing for photographing.

(11) Mode switch 14: This is a switch for setting the mode of the LCD camera.

This LCD camera is set to shooting mode when shooting.
When displaying an image, the display mode is set.

(River) LCD power switch I5: As shown in FIG. 3, a rectangular liquid crystal display 18 of a predetermined size is arranged on the back side of the camera body 11. The liquid crystal display 18 is composed of a color liquid crystal panel that displays colors with a number of pixels of 600×640. The LCD power switch 15 is a switch for setting the liquid crystal display 18 to a driving state.

(1v) Frame advance switch 16: This is a switch used to advance the frames of photographs one by one when displaying images. Depending on the device, the frame of the photograph may be advanced by pressing the frame advance switch 16 when photographing the image. In this case, special techniques such as double copying of photographs can be utilized by not advancing the frames. However, this LCD camera stores images page by page in a memory called a memory pack, which will be explained next. Therefore, when advancing frames, the film surface is not mechanically moved using a drive mechanism as in the case of long films, but the storage areas are switched one by one using the frame advancing switch 16.

FIG. 1 shows the main parts of the configuration of this liquid crystal camera.

This LCD camera uses a CCD as a two-dimensional image sensor.
(Charge Coupled Devices)
21 is built into the camera body. CCD21
photoelectrically converts the image taken by the optical lens 12 shown in FIG. 2, and creates image information of 600×640 dots, which corresponds to an image of one page. This image information is transferred to the CP after the CCD controller 22 performs readout control for each line.
(It is sent out on the J path 23 and stored in the page memory pack 24.

This page memory pack 24 can store images for 5 pages, and is itself part of the card body 1.
1 (Fig. 2), it has a structure that can be attached and detached at will. In other words, the user of this LCD camera can use Page Memory Pack 2.
4, the number of pages in which images are stored can be sufficiently increased.

A liquid crystal controller 25 is connected to the CPU bus 23, and controls driving when image information read from the page memory pack 24 is displayed on the liquid crystal display 18.

The switch module 26 connected to the same <CPU bus 23 is a module of the four switches 13-16 shown in FIGS. 2 and 3.

In addition to this, the CPLI bus 23 also includes a microprocessor (
MPU) 27 and program read only memo! J
(ROM) 28 is connected, and by executing a program stored in the program read-only memory 28, control regarding photographing and image display is performed.

FIG. 4 shows an overview of control when displaying images with this liquid crystal camera. That is, the microprocessor 27 monitors whether or not the display mode is selected by the mode switch 14, and when the display mode is selected (step ■: Y), the page of the most recently photographed image is displayed. is read from the page memory pack 24 (step ■). This image information is then transferred to the liquid crystal controller 25 (step 2). Thereafter, the microprocessor 27 monitors whether the frame advance switch 16 is pressed (step (2)), and each time it is pressed (Y), the page from which images are read and transferred is advanced one by one (step (2)). On the other hand, if the mode switch 14 is pressed again instead of the frame advance switch 16 (step ■; Y), the display mode is canceled (step ■) and the display work is finished. Kiseru (end).

As described above, in the display mode state, the image information of a predetermined page is sent to the liquid crystal controller 25, but when the user presses the LCD power switch 15 in this state, the time period that the user presses the LCD power switch 15 is LCD display 18
is driven, and a predetermined photographed image is displayed in color.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As described above, since the present invention is equipped with a liquid crystal display, it is not only possible to display images immediately after taking them, but also to display various statuses of the camera and messages for instructions to the user on this display. You can also.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

The drawings are for explaining one embodiment of the present invention. Among them, Fig. 1 is a configuration diagram centered on the circuit of the liquid crystal camera, Fig. 2 is an external view of the liquid crystal camera as seen almost from the front, and Fig. 3
The figure is an external view of this liquid crystal camera as seen almost from the back side, and FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing control in display mode. 12...Optical lens, 16...Frame advance switch, 18...Liquid crystal display, 21...
C.C.D. 24...Page memory pack, 27...
・Microprocessor, 28...Program・
Read-only memory. Applicant NEC Co., Ltd. Agent Patent Attorney Umeo Yamauchi Figure 1 Kon 2 also 3 times

Claims (1)

[Claims] An optical lens; an image sensor that photoelectrically converts an image formed by the optical lens; a removable memory that stores image information output by the image sensor in page units; 1. A liquid crystal camera comprising: reading means for reading image information on a page-by-page basis; and a liquid crystal display displaying image information on a page-by-page basis read by the reading means.