JPH02222384A - Picture recording and reproducing system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To attain picture display to enough present the effect of photographing by consecutive photographing function by automatically discriminating a video signal by the consecutive photographing out of the photographed video signals and successively reading the video signal from a recording medium at a prescribed speed automatically at the time of reproducing. CONSTITUTION:When a consecutive photographing mode is set, a CPU 18 controls respective parts so that image pickup operation can be repeated in a fixed cycle while a shutter is continuously pushed. Then, data showing the consecutive photographing mode are recorded to the picture header area of a memory card 17. When picture data are reproduced by a reproducing device, the picture data are successively read in a low-speed or high-speed cycle automatically from the memory card 17 based on the data showing the consecutive photographing mode and a picture to be displayed by a display is successively switched automatically. Thus, the picture display can be executed to enough present the effect of the photographing by the consecutive photo-graphing function.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Object of the Invention] (Industrial Application Field) This invention converts a photographed optical image into an electrical video signal and records it on a recording medium, and also converts a photographed optical image into an electrical video signal and records the video signal from the recording medium. This invention relates to an improvement of an image recording and reproducing system for reading out and displaying images.

(Prior Art) As is well known, in general cameras, the captured optical image is formed on a silver halide film, so unless the film is chemically treated and developed, the captured image cannot be viewed. It is impossible.

In response, in recent years, electronic photographic systems have been developed that eliminate the need for complicated chemical processing by converting the captured optical image into an electrical video signal and displaying the image on a television receiver. , is becoming popular in the market. An example of such an electronic photographic system is a still image recording system.

In this still image recording system, a tape, disk, drum, or the like made of magnetic material is attached to a camera body as a recording medium in the form of a cassette or cartridge. After taking a picture and recording the video signal on a recording medium, the recording medium is removed from the camera body and attached to a playback device, and the still image is displayed on a television receiver connected to the playback device. be.

However, in this type of still image recording system, since the recording medium is made of a magnetic material, a magnetic head and a drive mechanism for the recording medium are required to perform recording and reproduction.
Problems have arisen in that the configuration becomes more complex and larger, and power consumption also increases.

Therefore, in recent years, it has been considered to use a semiconductor memory as a recording medium to eliminate the need for a magnetic head, drive mechanism, etc., thereby reducing the size, weight, and power consumption. In particular, in recent years, with the advancement of semiconductor element mounting technology,
2. Description of the Related Art Memory cards incorporating semiconductor memories have come into practical use, and development for using these memory cards as recording media is actively underway.

By the way, as mentioned above, electronic still camera devices that use magnetic materials, semiconductor memory, etc. as recording media are equipped with a so-called continuous shooting function that allows you to take a number of consecutive photos in a short period of time by, for example, holding down the shutter. It is being

However, in the playback device, each video signal corresponding to a plurality of optical images shot using this continuous shooting function is displayed on the display screen by the user in the same way as when playing back a video signal that is normally shot one by one without continuous shooting. Since the screen can only be played back in such a way that the next screen is displayed by switching the screen, a problem arises in that it is not possible to fully enjoy the effects of shooting using the continuous shooting function.

In other words, when multiple photos are taken continuously in a short period of time, as in continuous shooting, the moving parts of each optical image are often limited to a very small range, and each image Most of the images are highly correlated with each other, that is, there are no changes. Therefore, when playing back each video signal shot using the continuous shooting function, it is better to display the screen so that it automatically switches sequentially at a relatively fast speed so that the movement of the moving part can always be compared to the previous screen. You will be able to clearly understand the results while comparing them, and you will be able to fully enjoy the effects of shooting using the continuous shooting function.

In this regard, conventional playback devices have a display function that automatically switches screens one after another at a constant speed.
In addition, some devices have a variable switching speed, but this conventional function allows all video signals to be displayed on the screen at a constant speed, whether it is a video signal shot with continuous shooting or a video signal shot normally without continuous shooting. The display is automatically switched sequentially.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) As described above, in the image recording and reproducing system consisting of the conventional electronic still camera device and its reproducing device, although it is equipped with a continuous shooting function, the continuous shooting function is not used during playback. There is a problem in that it is not possible to reproduce the image to fully appreciate the effects of the image taken.

Therefore, the present invention has been made in consideration of the above circumstances, and it automatically determines whether video signals taken by an electronic still camera device are those of continuous shooting, and automatically automatically disables the recording medium in sequence at a predetermined speed during playback. It is an object of the present invention to provide an extremely good image recording and reproducing system that can display images to fully enjoy the effects of shooting using the continuous shooting function without performing any extra operations. purpose.

[Structure of the Invention] (Means for Solving the Problems) The image recording and reproducing system according to the present invention is an electronic image recording and reproducing system that has a continuous shooting function and converts a photographed optical image into an electrical video signal and records it on a recording medium. The target device is a still camera device and a playback device that reads a video signal from a recording medium and displays the image. Then, information indicating that the continuous shooting mode is selected is recorded on the recording medium in association with each video signal corresponding to a plurality of optical images taken by the continuous shooting function, and information indicating that the continuous shooting mode is selected is recorded on the recording medium. It is configured to automatically read out each video signal sequentially from a recording medium at a predetermined period.

(Function) According to the above configuration, information indicating that the continuous shooting mode is used is recorded on the recording medium during recording, and video signals are automatically sequentially transmitted from the recording medium at a predetermined period based on this information during playback. Since the image data is read out, it is possible to display images that fully enjoy the effects of shooting using the continuous shooting function without performing any extra operations.

(Example) Hereinafter, an example of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 2 shows the internal configuration of the electronic still camera device. That is, when a shutter (not shown) is operated, an optical image of a subject is projected onto a solid-state image sensor 12 such as a COD via a lens 11. The solid-state image sensor 12 generates an analog electric signal (video signal) depending on the brightness of the image projected through the lens 11.

The video signal output from the solid-state image sensor 12 is subjected to processing such as Y/C (brightness/color) separation by an image processing circuit 13, and digitalized by an A/D (analog/digital) conversion circuit 14. and converted into image data. Thereafter, the image data output from the A/D conversion circuit 14 is band-compressed by the band compression circuit 15, and then written to a semiconductor memory (not shown) built in the memory card 17 via the memory interface circuit IB. recorded.

Here, all such imaging and recording operations are performed under the control of the CPU 18. And this CPU18 is
When set to continuous shooting mode, the above-mentioned image capture and recording operation will be repeated at a fixed cycle while the shutter is held down.
It controls each part.

Further, the CPU 18 not only controls the image capturing and recording operation, but also generates various information data related to the image data to be recorded on the memory card 17, and records the data on the memory card 17 in correspondence with the image data. , to manage the semiconductor memory of the memory card 17 and to promote image data processing in a playback device, which will be described later.

FIG. 3 shows a memory map for explaining the memory area constituted by the semiconductor memory of the memory card 17. That is, this memory area includes a card header area 19 where data unique to the memory card 17 itself is recorded, and a directory where the start address and end address of each image data in the area where each image data is recorded is stored. It is roughly divided into three areas: an area 20 and a data area 21 where each image data is actually recorded.

Of these, the card header area 19 includes a card area 19a where a card information is recorded, a residual memory capacity area 19b where the remaining amount data of the area where data can be written in the data area 21 is recorded, and a photographed image of the memory card I7. A shooting screen number area 19c where data on the number of images is recorded, and an image data final address area 19d where data on the final use address of image data is recorded in the data area 21.
etc.

Further, the data area 21 includes a plurality of one-screen data areas 21a, 21a, each of which is divided into sections for each screen.

. . . One screen data area 21a further includes an image header area 21b and an image data area 21c in which actual image data is recorded.

The image header area 21b is the one-screen data area 2.
An information classification area 21d indicates what type of data (for example, images, audio, etc.) is recorded in the image data area 2fc of 1a, and what type of data processing system (for example, NTSC, CCIR, etc.) is recorded in the image data area 21c. ), a screen number area 2N' in which screen number data is recorded, and image quality mode data set by the compression ratio of the band compression circuit 15, for example, are recorded. Image quality mode area 21g,
a time area 21h in which data of the time at which the photograph was taken is recorded;
It has a title area 211 and the like in which data of the title of the recorded image is recorded.

Here, in the image header area 21b, as shown in FIG.
As shown, the information classification area 21d mentioned above.

System area 21e, screen number area 21f, image quality mode area 21g, time area 21h, and title area 211
In addition to this, a continuous shooting mode area 22 is provided in which information data indicating that the camera is in continuous shooting mode is recorded.

The information data indicating that the continuous shooting mode is recorded in the continuous shooting mode area 22 is generated by the CPU III each time a photo is taken one by one by continuous shooting. When each piece of image data obtained is written to the memory card 17, it is written to the image header area 21b in correspondence with each piece of image data.

That is, when the CPU 18 is set to the continuous shooting mode and image data corresponding to the first optical image taken by continuous shooting is recorded in the image data area 21c of the memory card 17, the CPU 1g performs continuous shooting from that image data. It generates continuous shooting start data indicating that shooting has started and writes it in the continuous shooting mode area 22, and also generates continuous shooting number data indicating which image data the image data is in the continuous shooting. to write and record in the continuous shooting mode area 22.

Furthermore, each time the image data corresponding to the second and subsequent optical images are sequentially recorded in the image data area 21c of the memory card F, as shown in FIG. 1(b), The CPU 18 generates continuous shooting number data indicating which sequential shooting image data corresponds to each image data corresponding to the second and subsequent optical images, and displays the continuous shooting mode area 22. Write and record.

Then, the image data corresponding to the optical image last taken by continuous shooting is stored in the image data area 2 of the memory card 17.
1c, as shown in Figure 1(c), the CP
018 generates continuous shooting end data indicating that continuous shooting is ended with the image data and writes it in the continuous shooting mode area 22, and also indicates which image data of the continuous shooting the image data is. The continuous shooting number data shown is generated and written and recorded in the continuous shooting mode area 22.

Next, FIG. 4 shows the internal configuration of a reproducing device that reproduces the image data recorded on the memory card 17 and displays the image. That is, when the memory card 17 is inserted and a desired screen number is specified, the CP in the playback device
U2g via the memory interface circuit 24,
The image data corresponding to the designated screen number is read out from the memory card 17.

This image data reading is performed by the CPU 23 reading the start address and end address of the designated screen number from the directory area 20 of the memory card 17. At this time, the CPU 23 also reads various data recorded in the image header area corresponding to the image data area in which the read image data was recorded, and makes it available for later reproduction processing.

The image data read out to the memory interface circuit 24 in this way is controlled by the band control circuit 25 to restore the band compression during recording, and the D/A (
After being converted into an analog video signal by the digital/analog conversion circuit 26, the color encoder 27. The image is displayed on a display 30 such as a color television receiver via a signal processing circuit 28 and a display driver 29.

Here, when playing back image data that was taken normally without continuous shooting, the playback is performed in the normal format, where the user performs an operation to specify the next screen to be played, and then switches to a new screen. It is done.

Then, if continuous shooting start data is recorded in the continuous shooting mode area of the image header area corresponding to the image data area where the image data read out for image display has been recorded, the CPU 23 starts the continuous shooting playback mode. The image data is automatically and sequentially read out from the memory card 17 at a constant cycle until the next continuous shooting end data is read, and the image displayed on the display 30 is switched.

FIG. 5 shows a flowchart summarizing the operations of such a reproducing apparatus. First, when it starts (step SL), in step S2, the image data of the screen number specified by the user and the various types recorded in the image header area corresponding to the image data area where this image data was recorded. Read the data. Then, in step S3,
It is determined whether or not there is continuous shooting start data in the image header area, and if there is not (NO), playback is performed in the normal format described above in step S4, and then ends (step S
5) To be done.

Also, there is continuous shooting start data in step S3 (YES)
If it is determined that this is the case, the automatic switching speed of images displayed by the display 30 is checked in step S6.

This automatic switching speed is set by operating a speed switching operator (not shown) provided on the playback device.

Then, in step S7, it is determined whether or not high-speed playback is requested, and if high-speed playback is not requested (No.
), in step S8, the reproduction device displays the image data read in step S2 as an image, and after a predetermined first time has elapsed, automatically reads the image data in the next image data area and displays the image. Perform continuous playback.

If high-speed playback is requested (YES), in step S9 the playback device displays the image data read in step S2, and after a second time period shorter than the first time has elapsed, the playback device displays Executes high-speed continuous playback that automatically reads the image data in the image data area and displays the image.

After the operation in step S8 or S9 is completed, in step SlO, data in the image header area corresponding to the image data in the image data area next to the image data read in step S2 is read, and in step Stt, the data in the image header area is read. It is determined whether or not there is continuous shooting end data, and if there is (YES), the process returns to step S4, and if there is not (N
o) In step SL2, the process returns to step S6 and the above operations are repeated.

Therefore, according to the configuration of the above embodiment, when the electronic still camera device records image data, data indicating that it is in continuous shooting mode is recorded in the image header area of the memory card 17, and when played back by the playback device. , memory card 1 based on data indicating that it is in continuous shooting mode.
7, the image data is automatically read out sequentially at a low or high speed cycle, and the display screen on the display 30 is automatically switched sequentially, so that the image display can fully enjoy the effects of shooting using the continuous shooting function. This can be executed without any extra operations.

Also, based on data indicating that it is in continuous shooting mode,
If there are, for example, nine pieces of image data that have been successively read from the memory card 17, they may be displayed separately on the display 30 as shown in FIG. In other words, depending on the content of the subject that has been shot continuously, it is possible to display the images in a sequential manner or in separate displays, and in this respect, the continuous shooting function allows images to be displayed to fully enjoy the effects of shooting. It can be said that it can be done.

It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiments, and can be implemented with various modifications without departing from the gist thereof.

[Effects of the Invention] As detailed above, according to the present invention, it is possible to automatically determine whether video signals taken by an electronic still camera device are those caused by continuous shooting, and automatically record them sequentially at a predetermined speed during playback. It is an object of the present invention to provide an extremely good image recording and reproducing system that can easily display images that fully enjoy the effects of shooting using a continuous shooting function by reading them from a medium without performing any extra operations. can.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining one embodiment of an image recording and reproducing system according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the internal configuration of an electronic still camera device of the same embodiment, and FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an embodiment of the same embodiment. FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing the internal configuration of the playback device of the example; FIG. 5 is a flowchart explaining the operation of the playback device; FIG. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of an image display format in the same embodiment. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11... Lens, 12... Solid-state sensor R element, 13... Image processing circuit, I4... A/D conversion circuit, 15... Band compression circuit, 16... Memory interface circuit,
17...Memory card, 18...CPU519...
・Card header area, 20...Directory area, 2
1...Data area, 22...Continuous shooting mode area, 23
...CPU, 24...Memory interface circuit, 25...Bandwidth control circuit, 2T...D/A conversion circuit,
27... Color encoder, 28... Signal processing circuit, 29... Display driver, 30... Display.

Claims (1)

[Claims] An image comprising an electronic still camera device that has a continuous shooting function and converts a captured optical image into an electrical video signal and records it on a recording medium, and a playback device that reads the video signal from the recording medium and displays the image. In the recording and reproducing system, a recording means records information indicating that the continuous shooting mode is in the recording medium in correspondence with each video signal corresponding to a plurality of optical images taken by the continuous shooting function; It is characterized by comprising a reproduction means for automatically sequentially reading each video signal from the recording medium at a predetermined period based on information indicating that the continuous shooting mode is recorded on the recording medium by the recording means. Image recording and playback system.