JPH08237526A - Digital electronic still camera - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To enable connection based on various kinds of communication standards by converting a signal standard level by changing the function of a signal according to the set communication standard in the case of data communication. CONSTITUTION: Data can be exchanged by connecting a communication line through a conversion circuit 24 attachable and detachable to the main body of the digital electronic still camera and external communication equipment 25. When connecting the external communication equipment 25 of a certain communication standard, the conversion circuit 24 enabling conversion and inverse conversion to the signal standard level corresponding to that communication standard is selected. According to the set communication standard, the function of the signal to be outputted to the conversion circuit 24 is changed by a communication I/F 23 to which the conversion circuit 24 is connected. Thus, data communication is enabled and the external communication equipment 25 of various kinds of communication standards can be connected.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a digital electronic still camera capable of recording image data and audio data in a storage medium, and more specifically, it can communicate with an external device such as a personal computer or a mobile phone. The present invention relates to a digital electronic still camera that enables communication with a device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art At present, there is a demand for an apparatus capable of directly inputting images and sounds to information equipment. For example, a device for inputting image data and audio data via a storage medium (memory card, hard disk, MO, etc.) has been commercialized. However, there is a demand for a device that can continuously and continuously capture image data and the like in an information device. There are various situations in which image data or the like is input on the information equipment side. For example, it is possible to input at high speed by wire, or to wirelessly transmit or receive image data or the like from the outside with good portability. There is a digital electronic still camera as a device for outputting the image data and the like.

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 4-98 discloses a conventional technique relating to data processing and communication in a digital electronic still camera.
No. 0 discloses an interface card including a connector to which image data is applied to a digital electronic still camera, and image data output means for outputting the image data applied to the connector to an external image data processing means. It is shown to be installed. Further, in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 3-268583, by making a recording medium detachable from an interface unit, it is possible to externally rewrite the program data for controlling the functions of the digital electronic still camera included in the storage unit. It is shown that it is possible to perform the functional operation of. Further, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 5-167979 discloses that, in a digital electronic still camera, compressed image data is received by a built-in transmission / reception circuit, and data is decompressed by a compression / decompression means to enable transmission. Has been done.

[0004]

However, in the conventional digital electronic still camera having such a configuration, the communication standard for external communication to be connected for exchanging data with an external device is constant, and External communication equipment other than the communication standard could not be used.

Further, the signal standard and level conversion circuit for connecting to an external communication device consumes a large amount of power even when communication is not actually performed, so that the battery of the digital electronic still camera is short-lived. There was a problem that it could only be used.

The present invention solves the above-mentioned problems of the prior art. In data communication, the signal function can be changed according to the communication standard set from various communication standards, and the signal standard for external communication is also available. An object of the present invention is to provide a digital electronic still camera in which a conversion circuit for converting to a level is detachably provided and the conversion circuit can be controlled in a low power mode.

[0007]

To achieve this object, the present invention provides an image pickup means for picking up an image of a subject and outputting image data, an image data coding means for coding image data, and an encoding means. Means for recording the read image data as a predetermined image file in a storage medium, means for reading the coded image data from the storage medium, means for decoding the read image data, and an external device capable of communicating In a digital electronic still camera provided with a communication unit that enables communication with a digital conversion device, the conversion unit that converts the signal standard level for communication from an internal signal level to an external signal level or vice versa It is characterized by being detachably attached to the electronic still camera body.

The function of the signal output to the conversion means is
It is characterized in that it is provided with means for changing according to the set communication standard.

Further, it is configured so as to have means for setting the converting means to the low power mode during non-communication.

[0010]

According to the above construction, the signal standard level can be converted into the signal level suitable for the external communication device and the reverse conversion can be performed by the converting means which can be attached to and detached from the digital electronic still camera.

Further, the function of the signal output to the conversion means is
The function of the signal can be changed according to the set communication standard.

Further, the power consumption can be suppressed by setting the conversion means in the low power mode during non-communication.

[0013]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an embodiment of the present invention, in which 1 is a microphone, 2a and 2b are amplifiers / filters, 3 is voice data coding means for coding / decoding voice data, and An audio data compression / expansion circuit which is an audio data decoding means, 4 is an A / D (analog / digital) conversion circuit, and 5 is a D / A (digital / analog) conversion circuit.

Reference numeral 6 denotes a taking lens 7, a diaphragm 8, a CCD (or MOS type image pickup device) 9 as an image pickup device, and a CDS (correlation 2).
(Multiple sampling) A camera image pickup unit including a circuit 10 and the like, 11 a digital signal processing circuit for performing various kinds of image processing, and 12 an image data encoding means and an image data decoding means for encoding / decoding image data. Image data compression / expansion circuit, 13 is a FIFO circuit, 14 is a PC card which is a kind of storage medium having a general memory card function and a personal computer (PC) readable / writable function.
A card I / F circuit that takes an interface (I / F) with 16, and a card connector 17 to which the PC card 16 and the like are connected.

Reference numeral 18 denotes a drive unit of a mechanical system of the camera image pickup unit 6.
(Driver), 19 is a timing signal generator (SG) of the electric system of the camera image pickup unit 6, 20 is a strobe which is a lighting means, 21 is an operation unit for setting various modes, and 22 is a display of the set mode It is a mode display unit that does.

Reference numeral 23 is a communication I for changing from various communication standards of a device capable of communicating with the outside to a signal function of a communication standard set.
/ F (eg RS-232C serial interface
And RS-422), 24 are attachable / detachable to / from the digital electronic still camera main body, and convert CMOS level signals to signal standard levels of communication standards selected from various communication standards or vice versa. A conversion circuit, 25 is an external communication device such as a modem for sending and receiving data to and from a communication line, and 26 is a CP for controlling the above-mentioned respective parts.
U.

In FIG. 1, a subject image is input from the taking lens 7 to a CCD 9 which is an image pickup element and converted into an electric signal. The image sensor output signal is converted into a digital signal by the A / D conversion circuit 4 through the CDS circuit 10 at an optimum sampling frequency (for example, an integral multiple of the subcarrier frequency of the NTSC signal). The CDS output signal converted into a digital signal is subjected to normal camera signal processing such as gamma correction and color separation in the digital signal processing circuit 11, and Y
(Luminance), Cb, and Cr (color difference) signals are created. These signals are encoded by the image compression unit of the image data compression / expansion circuit 12, and are FIFO (or DRAM) circuits that are storage elements.
It is recorded once in 13. The compressed image data recorded in the FIFO circuit 13 is read out through the card I / F circuit 14 and is formed in the recording format as a PC card.
It is output to 16 and recorded as a predetermined image file.

On the other hand, the voice is converted into an electric signal by the microphone 1 which is a voice-electrical signal converting element, and further, an amplifier /
After being amplified by the filter 2a and passed through a filter that cuts off to a required band, the A / D conversion circuit 4 converts it into a digital signal at a sampling frequency that is at least twice the required band. This signal is encoded by the audio compression section of the audio data compression / expansion circuit 3 and recorded in the FIFO circuit 13.
The compressed audio data recorded in the FIFO circuit 13 is read out through the card I / F circuit 14, output to the PC card 16 and recorded as a predetermined audio file.

Next, the operation of decoding image / audio data will be described.

The compressed image data read from the PC card 16 passes through the card I / F circuit 14 and the FIFO circuit 13
Image FIFO. The image data written here is expanded in real time by the image expansion unit of the image data compression / expansion circuit 12, and the digital signal processing circuit 11
Is input to. The Y, Cb, and Cr signals input to the digital signal processing circuit 11 are digitally encoded into an NTSC signal, D / A converted, and output as a video signal.

On the other hand, the compressed audio data read from the PC card 16 is passed through the card I / F circuit 14 to the FIFO.
Written to the audio FIFO of circuit 13. The audio data written here is expanded in real time by the audio expansion unit of the audio data compression / expansion circuit 3, and the D / A conversion circuit 5
Is converted into an analog signal and output as an audio signal.

The CPU 26 controls all operations inside the digital electronic still camera in accordance with an instruction from the operation section 21 or an external operation instruction such as a remote controller (not shown). Further, the display of the digital electronic still camera internal state and the like is displayed on the mode display unit (for example, LCD, LED, EL, etc.) 22.

Next, the operation of data communication will be described.

In this embodiment, the PC card 16 can be used to exchange data with an external PC or the like, but the digital electronic still camera body is connected to the communication circuit via the conversion circuit 24 and the external communication device 25. It is also possible to exchange data with external devices by connecting.

Now, in the transmission mode, the CPU
26 reads out the image file to be transmitted recorded in the PC card 16 and sends it to the FIFO through the card I / F circuit 14.
Write to circuit 13. In the FIFO circuit 13, the written image file is the communication I / F 23, the conversion circuit 24, the external communication device.
It is sent to an external device via the communication line via 25. Also,
In the reception mode, the sent image file is transferred to the FIFO circuit 13 via the external communication device 25, the conversion circuit 24, and the communication I / F 23 to be written therein. FIFO
The image file written in the circuit 13 is subjected to digital signal processing as described above and recorded in the PC card 16.

When performing the above-described communication processing, for example, when connecting a communication line to an external communication device 25 having an RS-232C interface, the conversion circuit 24 sets the signal standard level to a level suitable for the RS-232C interface. Select the one that performs conversion to and reverse conversion, and attach it to the digital electronic still camera body. In addition, the communication I / F 23 of the digital electronic still camera body to which the conversion circuit 24 is connected
Changes the function of the signal output to the conversion circuit 24 according to the communication standard set in the main body of the digital electronic still camera. From the above, communication I /
Change the signal function to the communication standard set by F23,
The conversion circuit 24 converts to a signal standard level. This makes it possible to connect external communication devices 25 of various communication standards,
It is possible to perform data communication with many external devices.

Next, the standby control in the low power mode will be described. FIG. 2 is a timing chart showing the operation state of the conversion circuit in the low power mode.

The conversion circuit 24 is connected to the CPU 26 via the communication I / F 23.
And communication data and control signals are exchanged. When communication is performed, the conversion circuit 24 is connected to the digital electronic still camera body, but since it may be connected even when communication is not performed, power is consumed in the conversion circuit 24 that is not in communication. It will be. In order to solve this problem, the CPU 26 performs a standby control in which a low power mode is switched between an operable state during communication of the conversion circuit 24 and a standby state in which power consumption is suppressed as much as possible. As shown in FIG. 2, the power consumption can be reduced by the standby control in which the conversion circuit 24 is operable for a certain time before and after the state of communication. As a result, the battery consumption of the conversion circuit can be suppressed except during communication, and the battery of the digital electronic still camera body can be used for a long time.

In the exchange of data communication of this embodiment, image data is used for explanation, but data communication can be similarly performed not only for image data but also for voice data or combined data obtained by combining image and voice. Needless to say.

[0031]

As described above, according to the digital electronic still camera of the present invention,
Since the conversion means for converting the signal standard level for communication from the internal signal level to the external signal level or vice versa is detachably provided in the digital electronic still camera body, the digital electronic still camera can be installed more easily. It can be downsized and external communication devices of various communication standards can be used,
Data communication is possible with many external devices.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the function of the signal output to the converting means can be changed according to the set communication standard, so that external communication devices of various communication standards can be used and many It is possible to perform data communication with an external device.

According to the structure of claim 3, the conversion means can be set to the low power mode during non-communication.
By setting the low power mode during non-communication, it is possible to reduce power consumption and use the battery of the camera for a long time.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a digital electronic still device according to an embodiment of the present invention.
It is a block diagram which shows the structure of a camera.

FIG. 2 is a timing chart showing an operation state of the conversion circuit in the low power mode in the embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... Microphone, 3 ... Voice data compression / expansion circuit, 6 ...
Camera image pickup unit, 11 ... Digital signal processing circuit, 12 ... Image data compression / expansion circuit, 13 ... FIFO circuit, 14 ... Card I / F circuit, 16 ... PC card, 21 ... Operation unit,
23 ... Communication I / F, 24 ... Conversion circuit, 25 ... External communication device, 26 ... CPU.

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. An image pickup means for picking up an image of a subject and outputting image data, an image data coding means for coding the image data, and a means for recording the coded image data as a predetermined image file in a storage medium. And a digital electronic still including a unit for reading the encoded image data from the storage medium, a unit for decoding the read image data, and a communication unit for enabling communication with a communicable external device. In the camera, conversion means for converting the signal standard level for communication from the internal signal level to the external signal level or vice versa is detachably provided in the digital electronic still camera body. Digital electronic still camera. 2. The digital electronic still camera according to claim 1, further comprising means for changing the function of the signal output to the converting means according to a set communication standard. 3. The digital electronic still camera according to claim 1, further comprising means for setting the conversion means to a low power mode during non-communication.