JPH0622258A - Electronic still camera capable of sound recording and its reproduction system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide an electronic still camera capable of recording a sound in complete matching with a picture and recording the sound for a long time with respect to each pickup picture suitable for data collection or the like and to provide the reproduction system capable of instantaneously reproducing the sound in matching with a picture when the picture of the recording system is reproduced. CONSTITUTION:An image of an object 15 is formed to an image pickup device 2, its electric signal is converted into a digital signal by an A/D converter 3 and recorded on a video recording medium 6 under the control of a memory controller 5 via a signal processing circuit 4. The sound is inputted from a microphone 9 accordingly and recorded on a recording medium 13 being a draw type magneto-optical disk via an A/D converter circuit 10, a signal processing circuit 11 and an interface circuit 12. Then a signal taking a timewise correspondence between the picture and the sound is recorded onto the recording medium 13 corresponding to a point of time of picture recording. The sound corresponding to the selected picture is instantaneously reproduced at the time of reproduction.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an electronic still camera, more specifically, an electronic still camera capable of recording audio and enabling quick reproduction and editing of a desired image by associating the image with the audio. Regarding the system.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Movie cameras are widely used as a system for simultaneously recording images and sounds. However, since the recording medium is a video tape, it takes time to find the desired scene. Also, the image quality is not generally as high as that of a still camera. So, for example,
When interviewing a magazine reporter during interviews, a still camera capable of recording with high image quality and a tape recorder for recording voice must be prepared, which is a drawback. In addition, when checking the recorded voice and the captured image to write an article after the interview, it was inconvenient because it was necessary to make a correspondence by relying on the memory.

Various proposals have been made to solve the above problems (Japanese Patent Laid-Open Nos. 50-78304 and 50-80801,
Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 50-80802 is named "Video / Audio Synchronous Recording Device". These record a specific frame feed signal on the audio recording medium in synchronization with the shooting operation of the still camera, and control the slide projector to send an image in synchronization with the frame feed signal in the audio recording medium during playback. The corresponding image can be reproduced. However, in this method, since the correspondence between the image and the sound is performed only by the frame feed signal, for example, when the order of slides is changed at the time of editing, or the sound is reproduced from the middle, the sound and the image do not correspond to each other. was there.

As a solution to this problem, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 60-213
183 An "electronic still camera" has been proposed. This is an analog electronic camera that uses a magnetic disk as a recording medium, and by writing track address information of a video signal at the time of shooting in an area in the audio recording medium, any portion of the audio recording medium can be reproduced. It is a system that can reproduce images corresponding to it. According to this method, it is possible to make a perfect correspondence between the sound and the image,
Since it is assumed that the audio recording medium is a tape that can only record and reproduce serially, if you select an arbitrary image and play the audio corresponding to that image, the image can be played quickly but the audio cannot be played. Since it takes a long time to find the beginning, it was complicated to edit.

An electronic still camera capable of voice recording has been proposed as a device capable of recording images and voices in a completely compatible manner and rapidly reproducing them (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 3-2016).
88). This is for recording sound on the same recording medium as the image. In the case of the analog electronic still camera, the sound is recorded on the recording track of the floppy disk. FIG. 6 is a circuit block diagram showing an example of an electronic still camera capable of recording this voice, which is a case of a digital recording system. The subject 54 is imaged on the image pickup device of the image pickup device 42 by the lens system 41. The signal from which the noise component has been removed is converted into a digital video signal by the A / D converter 43. After being converted into a predetermined signal in the signal processing circuit 45, it is temporarily recorded in the frame buffer 47.

On the other hand, the sound of the subject 54 and other sounds is transmitted to the microphone 4.
After being converted into an electric signal by 4, the signal is amplified and converted into a digital audio signal by the A / D converter 46. The digital audio signal is temporarily recorded in the audio buffer 48. The video signals and audio signals recorded in the respective buffers 47 and 48 are data-compressed by the compressors 49 and 50, and then recorded on the recording medium 52 via the interface circuit 51. The operation of each circuit above is performed by the CPU 30
Under the control of. The same sequence is performed in the case of the analog electronic still camera.

[0007]

In the conventional electronic still camera capable of voice recording, since the image and the voice are recorded in such a form that they correspond completely to each other, the editing work can be performed quickly. However, there is a drawback that the recording time of voice is short. The time is at most several seconds to several tens of seconds. Therefore, the conventional electronic still camera can use the voice recording function only for a voice memo. An object of the present invention is to provide an electronic still camera suitable for news gathering and the like, which can record sound in perfect correspondence with an image and can record each captured image for a long time. Another object of the present invention is to provide a reproducing system for an electronic still camera which can quickly reproduce a sound corresponding to an image and a sound recorded by the electronic still camera.

[0008]

In order to achieve the above object, a voice-recordable electronic still camera according to the present invention electronically captures an image of a subject, converts it into a predetermined signal, and then records it on a recording medium. In the electronic still camera, a signal is generated at the time when an image is recorded on the recording medium, and the signal is recorded together with the sound in a second recording medium different from the recording medium with a temporal correspondence. It is configured. Further, in order to achieve the above-mentioned other object, a reproducing system of an electronic still camera capable of recording audio according to the present invention is a reproducing system for reproducing an image recorded by the electronic still camera having the above-mentioned structure, from the second recording medium. Transfer means for transferring data to a third recording medium, image data of the recording medium recording the image, and the second or third
And a reproducing means for reproducing the audio data of the recording medium on the basis of the temporally associated signal.

[0009]

According to the above construction, since the signal is recorded on the second recording medium in a timely correspondence with the image recording, a long-time recording is performed on each image in a state where the image and the sound are completely associated with each other. You can In addition, when a tape-shaped recording medium is used instead of a rotating recording medium such as a write-once magneto-optical disk as the second recording medium in consideration of impact, a use environment, etc., the sound is once recorded on the write-once magneto-optical disk. By transferring the information and then reproducing the image in correspondence with the voice, it is possible to construct a system that is resistant to shocks during shooting and allows quick cuing of the voice for the selected image during reproduction.

[0010]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described in more detail below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a circuit block diagram showing an embodiment of an electronic still camera capable of recording audio according to the present invention. In this figure, only parts directly related to the present invention are described, and other parts are omitted. The optical image of the subject 15 is the lens system 1
An image is formed on the image pickup device of the image pickup device 2 by the. The imaging device 2 converts the optical image into an electrical signal, removes noise, and the like, and then sends the video signal to the A / D converter 3. After the video signal is converted into a digital video signal by the A / D converter 3,
The signal processing circuit 4 converts the image data into predetermined image data.

When a command for a photographing signal is given by operating the release 8, the CPU 7 controls the memory controller 5 to record the image data of the signal processing circuit 4 in a predetermined area of the recording medium 6 such as an IC card. The recorded data is
In addition to the image data, it is the code unique to the recording medium and the number of the captured image. When an instruction to select voice recording is given by a key not shown, the CPU 7
Records the voice in the voice recording medium 13. The voice is converted into a voice signal by the microphone 9, amplified, and then converted into a digital voice signal by the A / D converter 10. The digital audio signal is converted into predetermined audio data by the signal processing circuit 11.

As long as voice recording is instructed, the CPU 7 sequentially records voice data on the recording medium 13 which is a write-once magneto-optical disk through the interface 12. The recorded data includes, in addition to the audio data, the unique code of the recording medium of the image data mounted at that time, the number of the image captured immediately before, and the elapsed time from the time when the image was captured immediately before. In this embodiment, a write-once type magneto-optical disk is used as the audio recording medium. However, if the medium can be read according to the same standard as the compact disk, it is desirable that the recording is performed in accordance with the standard of the compact disk. .

FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining the timing of image capturing and the timing of recording data on the audio recording medium. 1
Reference numeral 6 is audio data, which is recorded, for example, from the time when the first image is photographed (recorded). Reference numeral 19 is a code of the image recording medium, and the code 19 of the image recording medium mounted on the camera body is recorded when voice is recorded. By reading this data at the time of reproduction, it is possible to easily know whether the image being reproduced corresponds to the recording medium of the sound. It is convenient if the code of this image recording medium is automatically written in a specific area of the image recording medium when all the data is erased by this camera system. When each image is recorded, its image number 17 is also recorded. At the time of reproduction, it is possible to easily know which image in the image recording medium the sound being reproduced corresponds to by reading this image number. The elapsed time (absolute time) 18 is recorded from the recording start point of the audio data of each image, and the elapsed time is recorded until the audio data of the image ends.

FIG. 3 is a circuit block diagram showing an embodiment of a reproducing system for an electronic still camera according to the present invention. This figure reproduces the above-mentioned image recording medium such as an IC card and the write-once type magneto-optical disk, and parts which are not directly related to the present invention are omitted. Recording medium 21 such as an IC card
The image recorded in is read by the memory controller 22 and converted into a predetermined signal by the signal processing circuit 23. The signal converted by the signal processing circuit 23 is D /
The analog image signal is converted by the A converter 24 and displayed on the monitor 25 via the encoder. On the other hand, the sound recorded on the write-once magneto-optical disk 28 is read out through the interface circuit 29 and converted into a predetermined signal by the signal processing circuit 30. The signal converted by the signal processing circuit 30 is converted into an analog audio signal by the D / A converter 31, amplified by the amplifier 32 to an appropriate level, and then output from the speaker 33. The above-mentioned image and sound reproduction operation is performed under the control of the CPU 26 based on an instruction from the input means 27.

Next, the reproducing operation will be described according to the procedure. When the recording medium 21 such as an IC card and the write-once magneto-optical disk 28 are mounted on the reproducing device, the CPU 26 reads the medium codes from both of them and determines whether the medium codes match. If they do not match, the mode shifts to a mode in which audio and video are separately selected and played. If they match each other, the mode in which the video and the audio are associated with each other to be reproduced is entered. When the image of the recording medium such as an IC card is selected by the input means 27, the CPU 26 searches for the image number 17 of the write-once magneto-optical disk 28,
Play the audio for that image. It should be noted that it is convenient to reproduce the sound before and after the image recording time by reproducing the sound from a time point before the image recording time by a certain time. It is possible to go back by a certain amount of time by searching the absolute time 18. Further, as shown in FIG. 4, it is also possible to display the absolute time of the sound being reproduced with respect to the time when the reproduction image is captured by the character generator. Voice-2.0 is displayed on the upper right of the display screen, indicating that the voice 2 seconds before the captured image is being reproduced.

FIG. 5 is a circuit block diagram showing another embodiment of the reproducing system of the electronic still camera according to the present invention.
The embodiment of FIG. 3 is a case of a disk-shaped recording medium such as a write-once magneto-optical disk as an audio recording medium, but this kind of medium generally requires a very precise mechanism for tracking and medium rotation control. Is. Also, it is vulnerable to shocks and changes in the usage environment, so there is a problem in incorporating it in a camera.
Further, when it is used for news gathering or the like, since recording is generally performed using a tape-shaped recording medium, it is advantageous to use these tape-shaped recording media from the viewpoint of compatibility. However, when a tape-shaped medium is used, it is not possible to quickly locate the head, so that it cannot be used as it is.

In this embodiment, a tape-shaped recording medium is used during recording, and a disk-shaped recording medium is used during reproduction, so that it is resistant to shock and the like at the time of shooting, and the corresponding voice can be reproduced quickly at the time of reproduction. It was made possible. In FIG. 5, the circuit parts having the same functions as those in FIG. 3 are designated by the same reference numerals. CPU2 before playing images
Reference numeral 6 reads the voice of the tape-shaped recording medium 37 recorded corresponding to the recording via the interface circuit 29 and records it on the write-once magneto-optical disk 36. In reproducing an image, first, the medium code is read from the image recording medium 21 and the write-once magneto-optical disk 36, and it is determined whether the two codes match. If they do not match, the mode shifts to a mode in which audio and video are selected separately. If they match, the mode is set to play by associating video and audio.
When the image to be reproduced is selected by the input means 27 in this state, the CPU 26 reproduces the sound corresponding to the image by searching the image number of the write-once magneto-optical disk 36. Similar to the embodiment of FIG. 3, the sound can be reproduced from a certain time before the image capturing time, or the absolute time of reproducing the sound before and after the image capturing time can be displayed.

[0018]

As described above, according to the present invention, after the image of the subject is electronically captured and converted into a predetermined signal,
In an electronic still camera for recording on a recording medium, a signal is generated at the time when an image is recorded on the image recording medium, and the second recording medium different from the image recording medium is temporally associated with the signal together with the sound. It is configured to record. Further, the reproducing system includes transfer means for transferring data from the second recording medium recorded as described above to the third recording medium, image data of the recording medium recording the image, and the second or third recording medium. The audio data of the medium is reproduced based on the time-corresponding signal. Therefore, it is possible to record the image and the sound in a completely corresponding manner, and further to record the captured image for a sufficient time, and at the time of reproduction, it is possible to instantly find the recorded sound corresponding to the selected image. A still camera and its reproduction system can be realized.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a circuit diagram showing an embodiment of a recording block of an electronic still camera system capable of recording audio according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining a recording timing of audio recording data and a data format thereof.

FIG. 3 is a circuit diagram showing an embodiment of a reproduction block of an electronic still camera system capable of recording audio according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a display screen during reproduction.

FIG. 5 is a circuit diagram showing another embodiment of a reproduction block of the electronic still camera system capable of recording audio according to the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a circuit diagram showing an example of a recording block of a conventional electronic still camera.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Lens system 2 Imaging part 3,10 A / D converter 4,11,23,30 Signal processing circuit 5,22 Memory controller 6,21 Recording medium 7,26 CPU 8 Release 9 Microphone 12,29 Interface circuit 15 Subject 24 , 31 D / A converter 25 Monitor device 27 Input means 13, 28, 36 Write-once magneto-optical disk 32 Amplifier 33 Speaker 37 Tape-shaped recording medium

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. An electronic still camera that electronically captures an image of a subject, converts the image into a predetermined signal, and then records the image on a recording medium, wherein a signal is generated when the image is recorded on the recording medium. An electronic still camera capable of audio recording, characterized in that the signal is recorded together with audio in a second recording medium different from the medium in a timely manner. 2. A reproducing system for reproducing an image recorded by the electronic still camera according to claim 1, wherein transfer means for transferring data from the second recording medium to the third recording medium, and the image are recorded. A reproducing system for an electronic still camera, comprising: reproducing means for reproducing image data of a recording medium and audio data of the second or third recording medium based on the signal temporally associated with each other. .