JPH05145875A - Image data recording system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To print the index image of image data recorded on a recording medium while recording the image data on the recording medium and to indicate the contents of the recording medium by appending the index image to the recording medium. CONSTITUTION:An image processor 10 transfers plural image data and image data showing the index image of those image data to a CD writer 20 through a bus 50. The CD writer writes the transferred image data on a photo-CD. A 2nd bus which branches in parallel is connected to the bus 50. This 2nd bus is equipped with a communication controller 30 which reads out the image data of the index image among the image data transferred from the image processor 10. This controller 30 transfers the image data showing the read index image to an index printer 40. The index printer 40 prints the index image by using the data transferred from the controller 30.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image data recording system for recording image data on a recording medium, and more particularly to an image data recording system used in a photo lab (development room) handling photo CDs and the like.

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, image data obtained from a silver salt photographic film brought in by a user is recorded on a recording medium called a write-once CD, so-called photo CD, and is displayed on various displays, particularly high-resolution displays. The development of an image data recording system that provides the user with reproducible data is in progress. In this system, high-resolution image data obtained from silver halide photographic film, for example, 2048 × 3072 pixel data is read by a scanner,
Input to an image processing device such as a personal computer.
In this processing device, a plurality of resolutions, for example, 1024 × 1536, 512 × 768, 256 × 384, from 2048 × 3072 pixel image data are used.
Generates image data such as 128 × 192 pixels. The plurality of image data are accumulated for each film, for example, as an image file for a maximum of 100 frames, and these image data are sequentially transferred to a CD writer which writes the data in a photo CD. The CD writer and the image processing apparatus are connected by, for example, a SCSI (Small Computer System Interface) standard bus, and the image data is transferred to the CD writer at a predetermined transfer speed by this interface. The CD writer records each image data in each Photo CD at the maximum of 100 frames. When the recording of the image data on the photo CD is completed, the recorded photo CD is reproduced on a display or the like by a CD reader or the like, collated with the corresponding film, and packed together with the film and returned to the user. The user loads the photo CD in which the image data is recorded into the reproducing device and reproduces the image on the display having the desired resolution.

However, in the image data recording system as described above, in order to confirm which film image data is recorded on the Photo CD, the image recorded on the Photo CD is recorded. It was troublesome because it had to be played back by a CD reader or the like. For example, when handling many user's films in a photo lab, collating the film with the recorded Photo CD is a difficult task, and if a mistake is made, many Photo CDs are played to find the Photo CD. There was a problem that it wasted time because it had to be redone. The present invention solves such a problem of the prior art, and it is possible to immediately confirm which image data of which film is recorded on the Photo CD, and therefore, the collation work and the recording work can be speeded up. It is an object of the present invention to provide an image data recording system that can be used.

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention provides an image processing means for performing a predetermined process on a plurality of image data and storing the image data as an image file, and the image processing means. In an image data recording system in which a recording means for recording image data transferred from a recording medium is connected via a communication path having a predetermined transfer speed, the image processing means includes a plurality of image data transferred to the recording means. Image data representing the index image of, and transferring the image data of this index image to the recording means via the communication path together with the plurality of image data,
A second communication path that branches in parallel from this communication path is connected to the communication path, and the second communication path is connected to the image processing means of the image data transferred from the image processing means to the recording means. Communication control means for reading the image data of the index image generated by the communication is provided, and the communication control means transfers the image data representing the read index image to the printing means, and the printing means receives the data via the communication control means. An index image of a plurality of image data recorded on a recording medium based on the image data is printed. In this case, the image processing apparatus attaches at least the image data representing the index image with an identifier indicating that the image data is the image data representing the index image, and outputs the image data to the communication path. It is preferable that the image data representing the index image is read by detecting and the image data is transferred to the printing unit.

According to the image data recording system of the present invention, the image data read from the image file of the image processing means is sequentially sent out to the communication path connected to the recording means. These image data are transferred to the recording means via this communication path and also to the communication control means via the second communication path branched in parallel from this communication path. The recording means records the sequentially transferred image data on a recording medium. The communication control means reads the image data representing the index image among the transferred image data and transfers it to the printing means. As a result, the printing unit prints the index image indicating the content of the image data recorded on the recording medium by the recording unit based on the image data received from the communication control unit. The printed index image is attached to a recording medium on which each image data is recorded, and serves as an index indicating which image data is recorded on the recording medium.

Embodiments of the image data recording system according to the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 shows a block diagram when an embodiment of an image data recording system according to the present invention is applied as a photo CD system. The image data recording system in this embodiment creates image data for recording from high-resolution image data read from a silver halide photographic film for each frame, and a photo CD for each image data of up to 100 frames in sequence. It is a recording system for recording on (compact disc). As shown in FIG. 1, this image data recording system includes an image processing device 10, a CD writer 20, a communication control device 30, and an index printer 40. The image processing apparatus 10 and the CD writer 20 are SCSI (Small Computer).
System Interface) Connected by standard bus 50.
A second bus 60, which branches from the bus 50 in parallel, is connected to the SCSI bus 50. The index printer 40 is connected to the second bus 60 via the communication control device 30. The image processing apparatus 10 is a personal computer having a data management system that creates image files by generating image data of a plurality of resolutions by thinning out image data read from a silver halide photographic film by a scanner (not shown). It is configured. Specifically, the image data read from the film by the scanner is high-resolution image data of 2048 × 3072 pixels, and 1024 × 1536,5 pixels are thinned from this pixel data.
Generates multiple image data such as 12 × 768, 256 × 384, 128 × 192 pixels. Advantageously, the difference data in each thinning process and only the minimum thinned image data are generated as the respective image data so that the reproducing side can reproduce the image data of these plural resolutions, and the image file is generated. May be created, and these may be recorded on a Photo CD later. When used for business such as a photo lab, these personal computers 10 are connected to a host computer to form a workstation. In this embodiment, the image processing device 10 of FIG. 1 may be a host computer,
In this case, the image data processed by each terminal is accumulated to create an image file, and the data is sent to the CD writer 20.
In particular, in this embodiment, the image processing device 10 is a CD writer.
A processing device that generates image data representing the index images from the image data of a plurality of frames to be transferred to 20, and transfers the image data together with other image data.
For example, when one film has 24 shots, as shown in FIG. 2, together with the image data of each frame 1 to 24, image data I representing an index image which is each reduced to form one image frame is generated. And other image data 1
Forward with ~ 24. In this case, the image processing apparatus 10 adds the header H indicating that the image data is the index image before the image data representing the index image and transfers the image data. The CD writer 20 satisfies the compact disc standard from the image data received from the image processing device 10,
For example, it is a recording apparatus that forms EFM-modulated digital data, modulates a light beam by this modulation method, and writes image data on the recording surface of a predetermined photo CD. Advantageously, a patent application by the same applicant as the applicant of the present application
The “high-speed recording device using a write-once optical disc” by 3-153817 is used. This recording device is a device capable of performing high-speed recording as compared with a conventional recording device,
In this case, as the photo CD to be used, for example, a write-once type photo CD using the material described in Japanese Patent Application No. 2-191257 is advantageously used. These combinations enable high-speed recording / reproduction with little jitter. The photo CD recorded by this CD writer 20 can be played on a home photo CD player, a CDI player, or a personal computer equipped with a driver compatible with the XA (extended architecture) standard. The image can be reproduced on the television receiver of, in particular, a high-resolution display device. SCSI bus 50
For example, the image processing device 10 is formed by an 8-bit bus.
Is a synchronous transfer mode interface for detecting and transferring the transfer request signal from the CD writer and the pulse of the transfer response signal from the CD writer 20. In the case of this embodiment, since the CD writer 20 can record two to three times as much as a normal recording device, the interface 50 also has a transfer speed that follows the recording speed. The second bus 60 connected to the bus 50 is formed by an 8-bit bus similar to the SCSI bus 50, and is realized by providing a connector that connects one end to the middle of the SCSI bus 50 by wire. There is. When the bus distance is long, a branching circuit may be provided at the branch point. The second bus 60 is connected from the image processing device 10.
The image data transferred to the CD writer 20 is guided in parallel at that speed. The communication control device 30 is provided with a FIFO (first-in-first-out) buffer, monitors the image data transferred via the second bus, and detects a header indicating an index image in the monitored image data. A monitoring device that reads image data and outputs it to the printer 40.
The communication control device 30 includes a data input circuit 100, a buffer 110, and a header detection circuit as shown in FIG.
It is provided with 120 and a data output circuit 130. The data input circuit 100 is a circuit that writes data to be input in 8-bit parallel to the buffer 110. The buffer 110 is, for example, a 64-bit FIFO buffer memory, and is a storage circuit that sequentially rewrites and stores data input via the data input circuit 100. The header detection circuit 120 is a monitoring circuit that monitors the data input to the buffer 120 from the input circuit 100 and sends an output command to the data output circuit 130 when the header H of the index image is detected. The data output circuit 130 is a circuit for reading the image data written in the buffer 120 and outputting it to the printer 40 when receiving the output command of the header detection circuit 120. A color printer such as a thermal printer is advantageously used as the index printer 40, and is a printer that prints an index image on a sheet of paper, such as a 12 cm square printing sheet, that is placed in a photo CD case. For example, in the case of data from a film of 24 sheets, the index image is printed on a printing paper in a grid pattern of 4 horizontal frames and 6 vertical frames. The operation of the image data recording system according to the present embodiment having the above configuration will be described below. A photographed film is provided by a user, the film is developed by an existing developing machine, and is formed as a negative by an optical printer. This negative is read by the film scanner and input to the image processing apparatus 10 as image data. In this case, it is read as image data of 2048 × 3072 pixels, for example. The image processing apparatus 10 performs thinning-out or the like to generate image data of a plurality of resolutions such as 1024 × 1536, 512 × 768, 256 × 384, 128 × 192. This is processed for each frame of the film, and the image processing apparatus 10
An image file is formed at. When processing of one film is completed, the image processing apparatus 10 then reduces each image data to generate image data representing an index image of a plurality of images recorded on the film. For example, in the case of taking 24 images, reduced image data of 1/24 is formed so that 24 pieces of image data can be accommodated in one image frame and is stored in the image memory area of one image frame. As a result, index image data that forms one index image is formed. After that, the image processing apparatus 10 loads the image file and the index image data.
Send via SCSI bus 50. This transfer speed follows the writing speed of the CD writer 20, and the CD writer 20 uses the EFM to transfer the image data transferred at this speed.
Write to Photo CD by modulation method. Meanwhile, SCSI bus
The image data transferred via 50 is also transferred in parallel to the second bus 60 branched from this. The image data transferred via the second bus 60 is transferred to the communication control device 30.
To enter. In the communication control device 30, each data is sequentially accumulated in the FIFO buffer 110 via the data input circuit 100. At this time, the header detection circuit 120 monitors the data written in the buffer 110, and sends a rewrite signal to the data input circuit 100 until the header H of the index image is written, and sequentially outputs the next data to the buffer 110. Entered in. In the buffer 110, the data that is sequentially input is overwritten with the previous data and the data is updated. And the header H of the index image
Is written, the header detection circuit 120 sends an output signal to the data output circuit 130 to cause the buffer 120 to read the image data representing the index image to be written subsequently to the header H. As a result, the data output circuit 130 sequentially reads the index image data sequentially written in the buffer memory 120 by first-in by 8 bits by first-out. Then, when the header detection circuit 120 detects the end of file (EOF) of the index image, the data output circuit 130 finishes reading the image data representing the index image. The image data read via the data output circuit 130 of the communication control device 30 is transferred to the index printer 40. The index printer 40 prints an image on printing paper based on the image data. As a result, the index image is output from the index printer 40.
After this printing is finished, the writing of the image data is just finished in the CD writer 20, and the photo CD is taken out and a new CD is loaded. A sheet on which the index image printed by the index printer 40 is printed is attached as a cover sheet to the photo CD for which the recording of the image data is completed, and the sheet is transferred to the next packing step. In the packing process, the cover sheet attached to the Photo CD is checked to see which film it is, and the Photo CD is packed together with the film.
As a result, the photo CD on which the film negative and its image data are recorded is definitely returned to the user who provided the film. Although the image data recording system of the present invention is applied to the photo CD system in the above embodiment, the present invention is not limited to this, and when recording a plurality of image data on a recording medium, those index images are displayed. In the case of printing, it may be applied to another recording medium or a recording system that performs other image processing. Further, in the above embodiment, the communication control device 30 and the printer 40 are described as separate bodies, but the communication control device 30 may be provided in the printer 40.

As described above, according to the image data recording system of the present invention, the second communication path branching in parallel from this is connected to the communication path connecting the image processing means and the recording means. Since the second communication path is provided with the communication control means for reading the image data representing the index image, the image data representing the index image read by the communication control means can be transferred to the printing means. As a result, the printing unit can print the index image of the image data recorded on the recording medium by the recording unit at the same time as recording the image data on the recording medium. Therefore, the printed index image is
Attached to the recording medium on which each image data is recorded, by indicating which image data is to be recorded on the recording medium, the verification of the recording medium and the film on which the image is read is recorded. The medium can be accurately reproduced without being reproduced, and the collation work in a photo lab or the like can be speeded up.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of an image data recording system according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a file format transferred from the image processing apparatus 10 in this embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing an example of a communication control device in this embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10 Image processing device 20 CD writer 30 Communication control device 40 Index printer 100 Data input circuit 110 Buffer 120 Header detection circuit 130 Data output circuit

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. An image processing means for performing a predetermined process on a plurality of image data to store the image data as an image file, and a recording means for recording the image data transferred from the image processing means on a recording medium. In an image data recording system connected via a communication path having a predetermined transfer rate, the image processing means generates image data representing an index image of a plurality of image data transferred to the recording means, and the index data is generated. The image data of the image is transferred to the recording means via the communication path together with the plurality of image data, and the communication path is connected to a second communication path branching in parallel from the communication path, In the second communication path, the image data of the index image generated by the image processing means out of the image data transferred from the image processing means to the recording means. A communication control means for reading the data, the communication control means transfers image data representing the read index image to a printing means, and the printing means is based on the image data received via the communication control means. An image data recording system, wherein an index image of a plurality of image data recorded on the recording medium is printed. 2. The image data recording system according to claim 1, wherein the image processing device includes at least image data representing the index image, an identifier indicating that the image data is image data representing the index image. An image data recording system, wherein the communication control device reads the image data representing the index image by detecting the identifier and transfers the image data to the printing means.