JPH0282777A - Picture reproducing device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To improve interval reproducing efficiency by skipping a recording track on which a picture signal is not recorded, reading the picture signal from the next recording track, and continuously executing interval reproduction only for the recording picture. CONSTITUTION:Which track is idle out of the plural recording tracks in a magnetic recording medium 31 is checked beforehand, and detecting information is stored into a track idle information memory. The detection of the idle track is executed by checking the reproducing track number when the picture reproducing output cannot be obtained according to the output of a detecting circuit 24 in a system controller 27. When an interval reproducing mode is destinated, the reading/reproducing of the still picture is successively executed only for the recording track where the still picture is recorded according to the information stored into the track idle information memory while the idle track is being skipped. Thus, the interval reproducing efficiency can be improved.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial Field of Application] The present invention is directed to an image captured by, for example, an electronic still camera.
The present invention relates to an image reproducing apparatus for sequentially performing interval reproduction of a plurality of still images recorded on a VF (still video floppy) at predetermined time intervals.

[Prior Art] Floppy disks, which are flexible magnetic recording media, are widely used as recording media for recording and reproducing data in small computer equipment and for recording and reproducing still image information captured by electronic still cameras. In this magnetic recording medium, concentric recording tracks are formed by a recording/reproducing magnetic head whose movement is controlled in the radial direction by a head access mechanism, and one still image is recorded on each track, for example.

Furthermore, a floppy disk for an electronic still camera costs 50
It forms the recording track of a book and can record up to 50 still images. Generally, each time a still image is input, the still images are recorded in order, for example, from the first recording track at the outermost circumference.

By the way, a major feature of this type of electronic still camera is that when still images recorded on a floppy disk are sequentially played back, and if an unnecessary image is detected from the played back images, the number of the recording track where the still image is recorded is displayed. There is a function that allows you to specify and selectively erase the still image. According to an electronic still camera equipped with such an erasing function, it is possible to record another still image on the recording track (empty track) from which the image signal has been erased, thereby increasing the efficiency of floppy disk usage. can.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

By the way, there is an interval playback mode as a playback function that is used to monitor the playback of a plurality of still images recorded on a floppy disk and, for example, to efficiently check whether a recorded still image is necessary or unnecessary. In this interval playback, the recording tracks of the floppy disk are sequentially accessed at predetermined time intervals (for example, 3 seconds), the still images recorded on the recording tracks are sequentially read out, and the still images are stored for a predetermined time (for example, 3 seconds). It is played back one by one. According to such an interval playback mode, there is no need to specify a track number each time and play back still images recorded on that recording track on a monitor, so checking multiple still images can be done efficiently and efficiently. It becomes possible to perform the process at high speed.

However, during this interval playback, if there is a recording track (empty track) on which still images have already been erased, the still image will not be displayed at the timing of still image playback from that recording track, so the display screen will be This results in a so-called toothless condition. In other words, the display screen that is being played back at intervals suddenly becomes blank, or in some cases, intermittently. Such interruptions in the displayed image are very unsightly, and may lead to the misunderstanding that a failure has occurred in the reproduction system.

Conventionally, this type of apparatus monitors the level of a reproduction signal from a floppy disk during interval reproduction, thereby monitoring whether or not a still image is recorded on the recording track. When a signal is reproduced from a recording track on which no still image is recorded, for example, a monochromatic image signal such as blue is output to the monitor instead of the reproduced image signal.

However, even if such measures are taken, the monochrome screen display will only clearly indicate that no still images are recorded on that recording track, and it will not be possible to efficiently record multiple still images that are actually recorded. There was a problem with checking.

The present invention has been made in consideration of these circumstances, and its purpose is to reproduce multiple recorded images without wasting time reproducing image signals from recording tracks on which no image signals are recorded. An object of the present invention is to provide an image reproducing device that enables efficient checking of images.

[Means for Solving the Problems] The image reproducing device according to the present invention is integrated into, for example, an electronic still camera and reproduces a plurality of images (still images) recorded on its magnetic recording medium (floppy disk). The image information is reproduced at predetermined time intervals, and whether image information is recorded in each of a plurality of recording stands (a plurality of recording tracks formed concentrically) sequentially arranged on a recording medium. For example, means for detecting whether the recording area is selected prior to execution of the playback mode, and sequentially switching and selecting the recording areas at predetermined time intervals to sequentially reproduce the image information read from each recording area at the predetermined time intervals ( The present invention is characterized by comprising a control means for skipping the switching selection for reproduction for recording areas where no image information is recorded according to the detection result by the detection means during interval reproduction.

In other words, during interval playback, recording tracks on which no image signals are recorded are skipped and image signals are read from the next recording track, thereby allowing continuous interval playback only for recorded images. This is how it was done.

[Function] The present invention, which includes such a control means, provides the following effects.

That is, with respect to a plurality of recording tracks formed on a recording medium, it is checked in advance whether or not an image signal is recorded on the recording track, and interval playback is started to sequentially reproduce data from the plurality of recording tracks at predetermined time intervals. When reading the image signal and displaying the image for a predetermined period of time, a detection result indicating whether or not the image signal is recorded is checked, and according to this detection result, image signal playback from a recording track where no image signal is recorded is skip-controlled. Ru. As a result, image signals are read out from the recording medium by sequentially tracking only the recording tracks on which the image signals are recorded. It becomes possible to perform continuous interval playback in time increments.

[Embodiment] Hereinafter, an embodiment of an image reproducing apparatus according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of a still image reproduction system in an electronic still camera in which the apparatus of the embodiment is incorporated. Although only the still image reproduction system will be described here, this electronic still camera is also naturally equipped with a recording function for photographed still images and the like.

First, the reproduction system in this electronic still camera will be explained.

A still image recorded on a magnetic recording medium (floppy disk) 11 is transferred to a head access means 28 which operates in response to a reproduction track number from a system controller 27.
The signal is read out by the magnetic head lla which is tracked under control by the magnetic head lla, and is input to the reproduction system via the head amplifier 12. The video signal amplified by the head amplifier 12 is separated into a luminance signal Y and a chroma signal C by a Y/C separation circuit (not shown).

The luminance signal Y is then FM demodulated by the demodulator 13a,
After being converted into an 8-bit digital signal by the A/D converter 14a, it is subjected to predetermined signal waveform processing in the digital processing circuit 15a. Also, the chroma signal C is sent to the demodulator 13b and the A/D converter 14b in the same way as the luminance signal Y.
After being converted into a 6-bit digital signal via the digital processing circuit 15b, the signal is subjected to predetermined signal waveform processing.

The analog switches 21a and 21b receive the control signal Cont.
, l, and selectively extracts signals from the process circuits 15a and 15b and monochrome signals from the monochrome signal generating means lea and tab. Note that the control voltage Cont,l for selectively extracting a monochromatic signal instead of the image signal reproduced from the magnetic recording medium 11 is generated by detecting the output of the head amplifier 12 using the detection circuit 24 and converting the detected output to the control voltage Cont,l. It is generated by comparing it with a reference level by the comparator 25. And this generated signal (control voltage C
ont, 1) is applied to the analog switches 21a and 21b with timing adjustment by the delay line 2B.

With such analog switches 21a and 21b,
If a still image is not read from the magnetic recording medium 11, that is, if no still image is recorded on the access recording track, a monochromatic signal is selected instead of no signal, and a monochromatic image is obtained. ing.

Analog switches 22a and 22b are provided at the input and output stages of field memories 17a and 17b, respectively.

22c and 22d are provided with a signal from the system controller 2F that is always "L" level and "head access completed".
A control signal Cont, 2 which becomes H'' level is applied. This control signal Cont, 2 bypasses the field memories 17a and 17b, respectively, at the time of "end of head access".

The field memories 17a and 17b store image reproduction outputs from the process circuits 15a and 15b (or monochrome image signals from the monochrome signal generation means 18a and 18b), and repeatedly reproduce the image reproduction outputs on a TV monitor, etc. It is used for still image playback. in particular,
Image signals repeatedly read out from field memories 17a and 17b at predetermined timings are sent to D/A converters 18a and 1.
At step 8b, the signal is restored to an analog signal, and at encoder 19, a synchronization signal, a burst signal, etc. are added, and the signal is converted into an NTSC system composite color video signal and output as a video signal.

The field memories 17a and 17b are volatile memories capable of storing one frame or one field of image information.

By the way, the format for playing back still images is as follows:
There is a normal playback mode in which a still image that is selectively read out by specifying a recording track from the magnetic recording medium 11 is displayed on the monitor screen as it is, and a normal playback mode in which the monitor screen is divided into multiple small areas and each of these small areas has multiple A multi-screen display mode in which a plurality of still images are reduced and displayed simultaneously by picture-in-picture, or a plurality of still images recorded on the magnetic recording medium 11 are sequentially read out at predetermined time intervals and displayed at a predetermined time interval. There is an interval playback mode in which the display is output sequentially by time. These playback modes are selectively set by operation commands from the operation unit 29.

In the multi-screen display, the memory controller 31 controls the writing areas of the reproduced still images in the field memories 17a and 17b in correspondence with the small screen areas formed by partitioning the monitor screen. Memory 17a.

This is realized by dividing a plurality of still images into regions and storing them in 17b. Further, the above-mentioned still image reduction processing is realized by thinning out the reproduced still images according to the size of the multi-display screen and writing them into the field memories 17a and 17b.

In the interval reproduction described above, the magnetic head lla is moved so as to sequentially access a plurality of recording tracks at predetermined time intervals, and still images are sequentially read and reproduced from each recording track, and the still images are stored in the field memories 17a and 1.
This is done by writing to 7b. By sequentially updating the stored information in the field memories 17a and 17b with the still images sequentially read from the magnetic recording medium 11 at predetermined time intervals, the still images are reproduced on the monitor at predetermined time intervals.

Here, the feature of the image reproducing device (reproduction system) according to the present invention is that it is possible to determine which recording track of the plurality of recording tracks of the magnetic recording medium 11 the still image signal is recorded in advance, in other words, the still image signal The present invention is characterized in that the recording track (vacant track) on which no recording has been made is checked, and the detected information is stored in the track vacant information memory 30. This empty track detection is performed in the system controller 27 by checking the reproduction track number when no image reproduction output is obtained, according to the output of the detection circuit 24. When the interval playback mode is specified, the still images are sequentially read and played back only from the recording tracks where still images are recorded, while skipping the empty tracks according to the information stored in the track empty information memory 30. Let's do it.

The control (processing) of this interval playback will be explained in more detail.

Figure 2 shows the flow of the empty track detection process that is performed before the interval playback mode is activated. ), it is activated as one of the initial setting processes of the system controller 27.

When the floppy disk 11 is set, the number n of tracks is first set as a control parameter for detecting empty tracks (step a). For example, if the number of recording tracks formed in concentric circles on the floppy disk 11 is 50, the initial setting is performed so that the number of tracks is n (-50). and floppy disk
The recording tracks are sequentially accessed, for example, starting from the first recording track, and it is detected from the output of the above-mentioned detection circuit 24 whether or not a still image signal is recorded on the recording track (step b). If a still image signal is recorded on that recording track, a flag is set at the corresponding recording track position in the track free information memory 30 in which each recording track is associated with a 1-bit information area, as shown in FIG. Write "1" (step C). The flag "date" indicates that a still image signal is recorded on the recording track, and the flag "0" indicates that the recording track is an empty track on which no still image signal is recorded.

In this process of detecting recorded information on a recording track, each time the process for one recording track is completed, the number of tracks n, which is the control parameter, is decremented (step e) until the number n of tracks becomes "1". This is repeated until the information detection process for all recording tracks is completed (step d).

Through the above detection processing, flags indicating whether or not a still image signal is recorded on the recording track are stored in the track free information memory 30 having the data structure shown in FIG. 3, corresponding to each recording track. .

When interval reproduction is commanded, the recording track position of the magnetic head lla is first detected, as shown in the processing procedure in FIG. Set (n-
a) is performed (step A). Control of interval playback is then started by reading out still images from the recording track indicated by this track position (na).

In this control, first, the track free information memory 3G is searched to determine whether or not a still image is recorded on the recording track a (step B). If the flag "1" is set in the bit position corresponding to the recording track a, it is determined that a still image is being recorded, and the still image signal is read and reproduced from the recording track a. Step C).

After that, set the interval time T (for example, 3 seconds or time information corresponding to this time) (step D),
While sequentially subtracting the interval time T, it is determined whether the interval time T has reached 0°0@ (steps E and F). In other words, it is determined whether a predetermined interval time has elapsed.

Then, when the predetermined interval time T has elapsed,
Next, it is determined whether or not an instruction to stop interval reproduction has been given (step G), and if no stop instruction has been given, then it is determined whether the recorded track is the final track (step H).

Note that if it is determined in the determination process in step B that no still image is recorded on the recording track, that is, that the recording track is an empty track, the still image from the recording track described above is Skips playback processing and interval time control,
The process directly proceeds to a process of determining whether or not an instruction to stop interval playback has been given.

Note that when a stop instruction is given, the interval playback is stopped at that point and the mode is shifted to the normal playback mode.

However, in the determination process shown in step H above, if the reproduced recording track is not the final track, the reproduction control parameter n is incremented, and the process returns to step B described above to obtain a still image for the next recording track. The process starts from the process of determining whether or not is recorded. Furthermore, when the playback recording track is the last track, the playback control parameter n is set to "1".
In step J), the process returns to step B described above and executes the process of determining whether or not a still image is recorded on the first recording track.

According to such an interval playback control procedure, still image signals are sequentially read out and played back at predetermined time intervals from a plurality of recording tracks of the magnetic recording medium (Flo2bee disk) 11 according to the order of the recording tracks. At this time, the track empty information memory 3 indicates that no still image signal is recorded on the recording track.
If the stored information indicates 0, that recording track is skipped and playback control for the next recording track is performed.

As a result, a plurality of still images are played back at intervals while skipping the vacant tracks, without playing back still images from recording tracks where no still images are recorded. The reproduced image becomes an interval reproduced image in which still images are continuously changed in sequence at each interval time T. Since still images are not recorded on the playback recording track as in the past, over the time allotted for playback of still images from that recording track,
Still images will no longer be cut off. The time required for interval reproduction of all still images recorded on the floppy disk 11 can be shortened by skipping empty tracks and performing interval reproduction.

Further, as described above, since the skip control for interval playback is performed based on the detection information stored in the track free information memory 30, the control process for obtaining continuous interval playback images is extremely simple. can also be played. In particular, since it is detected in advance which recording track a still image is recorded on, or in other words, which recording track is an empty track, a still image is recorded on that recording track one after another after interval playback is started. It is possible to achieve effects such as being able to perform regeneration control much more efficiently than by checking whether or not the data is present.

Note that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above. For example, it is of course possible to perform interval playback not only in ascending order as shown in the embodiment, but also in descending order. Further, the interval time can also be set arbitrarily, and the time itself can also be set variably. In addition, the present invention can be implemented with various modifications without departing from the gist thereof.

[Effects of the Invention] As explained above, according to the present invention, image signals recorded in each of a plurality of information recording areas are recorded at predetermined time intervals while skipping information recording areas in which no image signals are recorded. Since interval playback is performed one after another in sequence, multiple images can be displayed continuously for a predetermined period of time without interruption, making the screen display easier to read, and eliminating wasteful image display time to improve interval playback efficiency. It has great practical effects, such as being able to.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Figure '1s1 is a schematic configuration diagram showing a playback system of an electronic still camera incorporating an image playback device according to an embodiment of the present invention, and Figure 2 is an empty track for interval playback control according to the embodiment. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the flow of the detection process, FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the data structure of the track free information memory in the apparatus of the embodiment, and FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the processing procedure of interval playback control. it...magnetic recording medium (floppy disk), 17
a, 17b...Field memory, 24...Detection circuit, 27...System controller, 28...Head access means, 29...Operation unit, 30...Track free information memory.

Claims (1)

[Claims] means for detecting whether or not image information is recorded in each of a plurality of recording areas sequentially arranged on a recording medium; control means for skipping the switching selection for reproduction for recording areas in which no image information is recorded, according to the detection result by the detection means, when the image information is sequentially reproduced at the predetermined time intervals. An image reproducing device characterized by: