JPH0879686A - Method for recording information of electronic still camera and device therefor - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To reduce a storage capacity necessary for the file control of RAM in an electronic still camera. CONSTITUTION: A hard disk is provided with a control data area for storing file control information and a picture data area for storing picture data. At the time of the recording operation of picture data, the number of a prescribed cruster in the picture data area is written in a temporary area R16 in the picture data area and picture data is recorded in the cruster. Then, when the recording of picture data is completed, an FAT table showing the cruster in which picture data is recorded is generated in an FAT area R12 in a control data area based on the cruster number recorded in the temporary area R16.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for recording information such as image data on a recording medium such as a hard disk attached to an electronic still camera.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there is known an electronic still camera capable of recording image data in a digital signal format by using a memory card, a hard disk or the like as a recording medium (for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 6-90423). Such image data can be image processed by a computer, and its application range is wide.

[0003]

However, during the recording operation of the image data, the information indicating the area where the image data is recorded is stored in the RAM of the computer in the electronic still camera, and this information is recorded on the recording medium after the recording operation. It is necessary to record the data in the file and manage the file, and the RAM needs a predetermined storage capacity.

In view of the above problems, it is an object of the present invention to reduce the storage capacity required for file management of RAM in an electronic still camera.

[0005]

An information recording apparatus for an electronic still camera according to the present invention includes a recording medium having a management data area for storing file management information and an image data area for storing image data. , A predetermined cluster number in the image data area is written in the temporary area in the image data area, and image data recording means for recording the image data in the cluster, and management based on the cluster number recorded in the temporary area The FAT area in the data area is provided with management information generating means for generating a FAT table indicating a cluster in which image data is recorded.

An information recording method for an electronic still camera according to the present invention is a method for recording information on a recording medium having a management data area for storing file management information and an image data area for storing image data. Therefore, the number of a predetermined cluster in the image data area is written in the temporary area in the image data area, the image data is recorded in the cluster, and the cluster number in the management data area is recorded based on the cluster number recorded in the temporary area. In the FAT area, the FAT table indicating the cluster in which the image data is recorded is generated.

[0007]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described below with reference to illustrated embodiments. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of an information recording apparatus for an electronic still camera which is an embodiment of the present invention.

The system control circuit 11 is a microcomputer, which controls the entire electronic still camera and has a memory (RAM) 12. By the control of the system control circuit 11, the image data is converted into a digital signal,
It is recorded in a hard disk attached to a hard disk device (HDD) 13. The hard disk device 13 is detachably attached to the electronic still camera, and can also be attached to a computer (not shown). Note that control such as writing and reading of image data to the hard disk is performed by operating system MS-D of the computer.
It is performed in conformity with the OS (trade name of Microfusoto Co.).

A light beam incident through an optical system (not shown) is imaged on the light receiving surface of the solid-state image sensor (CCD) 14,
As a result, an image signal corresponding to the subject image is generated in the CCD 14. This image signal is subjected to processing such as gamma correction in the process circuit 15 and converted into a digital signal in the A / D converter 16. The CCD 14, the process circuit 15, and the A / D converter 16 operate according to the clock signal output from the clock generation circuit 17, and this clock signal is generated under the control of the system control circuit 11.

The digital image data is stored in the memory 19 under the control of the memory control circuit 18. The memory control circuit 18 operates according to the clock signal generated by the clock generation circuit 17, and controls the address of the memory 19 based on the command signal output from the system control circuit 11.

The operation unit 21 has a power switch, a shutter release switch, a hard disk operation switch, and the like. According to the operation of the operation unit 21, the photographing operation, the recording of image data on the hard disk, and the like are controlled.

FIG. 2 is a schematic view of the file system of the MS-DOS, that is, the recording area on the hard disk.
The recording area includes a management data area for storing file management information and an image data area for storing image data.

A file area R constituting the image data area
15 is composed of a large number of sectors, and for example, one cluster is composed of four sectors. In this embodiment, one image data is recorded in 100 clusters. A temporary area R16 is formed in the cluster provided at the last part in the image data area. The number of clusters forming the temporary area R16 is determined by the size of image data and the like.
It is 5.

The management data area comprises a boot sector R11, a first FAT area R12, a second FAT area R13 and a root directory area R14. The boot sector R11 is provided at the head of the recording area of the hard disk and includes a BPB and the like in which information about the hard disk is recorded. The first FAT area R12 is FA
The T table is stored and the FAT table is provided to indicate in which cluster one image data is recorded in which cluster in the file area R15 and in what order. The second FAT area R13 stores the same FAT table as that of the first FAT area. The root directory area R14 has a large number of directory entries, and each directory entry stores a file name and the like as described below.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing the structure of a directory entry. The directory entry has a data length of 32 bytes and is composed of 7 fields.
The contents of each field are the file name, that is, the name of the image data, the attribute of the directory entry, the time when the image data was recorded, the date when the image data was recorded, the address of the first cluster (that is, the start cluster) in which the image data is recorded, The file size (the number of bytes) of one image data is the same.

FIG. 4 shows the F stored in the FAT area R12.
An example of the correspondence between the AT table and the cluster of the file area R15 is shown.

Each sector forming the file area R15 has a data length of 512 bytes, for example. In this embodiment, one cluster is composed of 4 sectors and has a data length of 2048 bytes, and one image data is recorded in 100 clusters.

In the FAT area R12, an address is defined for each word (16 bits). FAT area R1
Address 0 of 2 indicates a media descriptor code, and information "FFF8" indicating that the recording medium is a hard disk is stored therein. A fixed code “FFFF” is stored in the address 1. Addresses 2-101 correspond to each cluster in the file area R15. That is, the addresses 2, 3, ... 101 are cluster 2, cluster 3, ... Of the file area R15.
Each corresponds to the cluster 101. Further, at address 2, cluster 3 following cluster 2 has address 3
“0003” indicating that the address corresponds to is stored, and in the same manner, “0065” (10
The decimal number 101) is stored. Information “FFFF” indicating that this is the end of one image data is stored in the address 101.

The second image data is recorded continuously with the first image data. That is, in the second image data, the start cluster number is 102, and this image data is recorded up to the cluster 201. That is, in this embodiment, one image data is defined to be recorded in 100 clusters, and this data length is fixed. Note that this data length is an example, and is set to an appropriate size according to the purpose.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the operation of writing image data in the hard disk. Step 10
In 1, the contents stored at the predetermined address of the FAT area R12 are read. When the image data is recorded in the cluster of the file area corresponding to this address, the storage content is data (for example, “0003”) indicating the address corresponding to the next cluster as shown in FIG. When no data is recorded, the stored content is "0000" data. In step 102, based on the data read in step 101,
It is determined whether image data is recorded in the cluster corresponding to the address. If the image data has already been recorded, step 101 is executed again.

In this way, steps 101 and 102 are repeatedly executed, and when a cluster in which image data is not recorded is searched, step 103 is executed. In step 103, the cluster number retrieved in step 102 is recorded as a start address number in the relative address 0 in the temporary area R16 of the hard disk as shown in FIG. The start address of the temporary area R16 is searched by referring to the boot sector R11.

In step 104, it is determined whether or not shutter release has been performed. When the shutter release is performed, in step 105, the CCD 14 is exposed for a predetermined shutter time. In step 106, the image signal is read from the CCD 14. This image signal is converted into a digital signal in step 107 and written in the memory 19 in step 108.

In step 109, the image data is read from the memory 19 and the image data for one cluster is transferred to the hard disk and written in a predetermined cluster in the file area R15. This cluster is a cluster in which image data is not recorded before the execution of this routine is started, and is the cluster stored in the temporary area R16 in step 103 when step 109 is executed for the first time.

At step 110, it is judged whether the transfer of the image data for one screen is completed. When this transfer operation is not completed, step 111 is executed and the contents stored at the predetermined address of the FAT area R12 are read out, as in step 101. Then, in step 112, based on the data read in step 111, it is determined whether or not the image data is recorded in the cluster corresponding to the address. If the image data is recorded in the cluster, step 111 is executed again, and if a cluster in which the image data is not recorded is searched, in step 113,
The cluster number is recorded at a predetermined address in the temporary area R16 of the hard disk.

Then, step 109 is executed again.
That is, one cluster of image data is transferred from the memory 19 to the hard disk and written in the cluster selected in step 113.

When it is determined in step 110 that the transfer of the image data for one screen (that is, 100 clusters in this embodiment) is completed, the recording operation in the temporary area R16 is thereby completed. That is, as shown in FIG. 6, cluster numbers are recorded at addresses 0 to 99 of the temporary area R16, and data of "0000" is stored at addresses 100 and thereafter. As described above, the number of addresses in which the cluster number of the temporary area R16 is recorded changes according to the number of clusters used for recording one image data.

In step 114, the temporary area R1
FAT area R based on the cluster number recorded in 6
A FAT table is created in 12. Then step 1
In 15, the directory entry (see FIG. 3)
File name, time and date are written, step 1
At 16, the contents of the temporary area R16 are cleared, and this routine ends.

FIG. 7 is a flow chart showing the operation of generating the FAT table in the FAT area R12 based on the cluster number recorded in the temporary area R16. This routine is executed in step 114 of the image data writing routine shown in FIG. 5 as described above.

In step 201, the counter N is set to zero. This counter N indicates the address of the temporary area R16. In step 202, the contents of the address N + 1 of the temporary area R16 are read and it is judged whether the data recorded at this address is 0 or not. When the content of the address N + 1 is not 0, that is, when the cluster number is recorded, in step 203, the content of the address N + 1 of the temporary area R16 is added to the address of the FAT area corresponding to the cluster number recorded in the address N. Written. For example, when N = 0, since the cluster number 2 is stored in the address 0 of the temporary area R16, the content of the address 1 of the temporary area R16, that is, the cluster number, is stored in the address 2 of the FAT area corresponding to the cluster number 2. 3 is written.

After the value of the counter N is incremented by 1 in step 204, step 202 is executed again and the content of the address N + 1 is judged. When the content is 0, step 205 is executed. For example, in the example of FIG. 6, when the counter N is 99, the data recorded in the address 100 is 0 in step 202.
Therefore, in step 205, the file end code “FFFF” is written in the address 101 of the FAT area corresponding to the cluster number 101 recorded in the address 99. As a result, this routine ends.

As described above, in this embodiment, at the time of the image data recording operation, the cluster number of the file area in which the image data is recorded is not stored in the RAM in the electronic still camera, but is stored in the temporary area R16 of the hard disk. I am recording. Therefore, the RAM in the electronic still camera
The storage capacity of can be reduced by the number of clusters, and the RAM can be used for other purposes.

In one image data, the number of pixels is 10
24 × 768, each of the RGB three primary colors is 8 bi
When represented by t, the data amount of the image data is 1024 × 768 × 3 = 2359296 (bytes). The recording capacity of 1 sector is 512 bytes, and 1
If the cluster is composed of 4 sectors, the number of bytes per cluster is 512 × 4 = 2048 (bytes). Therefore, the number of clusters required for one image data (= the recording capacity of the temporary area) is 2359296 ÷ 2048 = 1152 (clusters). Here, the length of each data in the FAT table is 16
Since it is a bit, the number of bytes required for the temporary area is 1152 × 2 = 2304 (bytes). That is, the storage capacity of the temporary area is 5 sectors.

As another example, considering that the number of pixels in one image data is 640 × 480 and each of the three primary colors of RGB is represented by 8 bits, the data amount of the image data is 640 × 480 × 3. = 921600 (bytes). The recording capacity of 1 sector is 512 bytes, and 1
If the cluster is composed of 8 sectors, the number of bytes per cluster is 512 × 8 = 4096 (bytes), so the number of clusters required for one image data is 921600 ÷ 4096 = 225 (cluster). is there. Therefore, the number of bytes required for the temporary area is 225 × 2 = 450 (bytes), and the storage capacity of the temporary area is 1 sector.

Therefore, the storage capacity of the RAM 12 is 1 to
It can be reduced by 5 sectors or can be used for other purposes.

The recording medium is not limited to the hard disk, but may be an IC memory card.

[0036]

As described above, according to the present invention, the storage capacity required for file management of the RAM in the electronic still camera can be reduced, and the RAM can be used for temporary storage of image data, for example. Can be used for.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of an information recording apparatus for an electronic still camera that is an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing a recording area on a hard disk.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing the structure of a directory entry.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a correspondence relationship between a FAT table stored in a FAT area and a cluster in a file area.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an operation of writing image data to a hard disk.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a table of cluster numbers recorded in a temporary area.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing an operation of generating a FAT table in a FAT area based on a cluster number recorded in a temporary area.

[Explanation of symbols]

 R12 FAT area R16 Temporary area

Continuation of front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁶ Identification number Office reference number FI technical display location H04N 5/781 5/91 9463-5D G11B 27/00 D

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A recording medium having a management data area for storing file management information and an image data area for storing image data, and a number of a predetermined cluster in the image data area in the image data area. Of the image data is recorded in the FAT area in the management data area based on the cluster number recorded in the temporary area and the image data recording means for writing the image data in the cluster while writing the image data in the temporary area. An information recording apparatus for an electronic still camera, comprising: a management information generating unit that generates a FAT table indicating a cluster. 2. The information recording apparatus for an electronic still camera according to claim 1, wherein the predetermined cluster is a cluster in which image data is not recorded. 3. The information recording apparatus for an electronic still camera according to claim 1, wherein the temporary area is formed in a cluster provided at a last portion in the image data area. 4. The electronic device according to claim 1, wherein the image data recording means writes the number of the cluster in a temporary area in the image data area every time the image data for one cluster is recorded. Information recording device for still cameras. 5. A method of recording information on a recording medium having a management data area for storing file management information and an image data area for storing image data, the method comprising: The cluster number is written in the temporary area in the image data area, the image data is recorded in the cluster, and the image data is recorded in the FAT area in the management data area based on the cluster number recorded in the temporary area. An information recording method for an electronic still camera, characterized in that an FAT table indicating a cluster in which is recorded is generated.