JPH09130719A - Electronic still camera - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide the electronic still camera easily connecting to a computer. SOLUTION: A light through a lens 2 is converted into an electric signal by a CCD element 3. A signal processing circuit 5 generates image data from data A/D-converted by an A/D converter circuit 4. A CPU 7 reads compressed image data from an image compression circuit 6 and writes the data to a storage device 9. Then a camera is inserted to a PC card slot of a computer. The computer accesses the storage device 9 via an internal PC card interface to read the image data. A PC card interface circuit 10 attain the communication between the storage device 9 and the PC card interface. The image data obtained by the camera are used by the computer.

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 for storing a still image captured by an image sensor in a storage device such as a flash memory.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there is an electronic still camera that stores a still image captured by an image pickup device in a storage medium such as a flexible disk or a memory card. In such an electronic still camera, a storage medium that has been photographed is taken out of the camera and inserted into a computer slot, or an RS-2 is provided between the electronic still camera and the computer.
For example, the image data written in the storage medium is taken into an external device such as a computer by connecting with a communication interface such as 32C.

[0003]

As described above, in the conventional electronic still camera, the storage medium must be removed from the camera and reinserted in the computer, or the camera and the computer must be connected by a communication cable. However, there is a problem that the connection with the computer is complicated. In particular, when connecting with a communication cable, there is a problem that dedicated driver software for receiving data is required on the computer side. The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and an object thereof is to provide an electronic still camera that can be easily connected to a computer.

[0004]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an image pickup device, an A / D conversion circuit for converting an output signal of the image pickup device into digital data, and digital data into image data. A signal processing circuit for conversion, a storage device for storing image data, a PC card connector for connecting to a connector of a PC card slot of an external device, a communication between the PC card interface of the external device and the storage device. And interface means for doing so. When this electronic still camera is inserted into a PC card slot of a computer or an external device such as a PC card drive device connected to the computer, communication with the PC card interface of the external device becomes possible and the data is written in the storage device. Image data can be read from an external device.

Further, as described in claim 2, there is provided a control device for switching control so that the external device and the signal processing circuit cannot simultaneously access the storage device. Also,
As described in claim 3, the control device includes a detection unit that detects a connection state with an external device, and performs switching control according to a detection output of the detection unit. Further, as described in claim 4, the detection unit of the control device detects a power supply state from the external device.

[0006]

1 is a block diagram of an electronic still camera showing a first embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is an external view of this electronic still camera. 1 and 2
a, 1b are electronic still cameras, 2 is an image pickup lens, 3 is a CCD element which serves as an image pickup element for converting the light passing through the image pickup lens 2 into an electric signal, and 4 is an A which converts the output signal of the CCD element 3 into digital data. A / D conversion circuit, 5 is a signal processing circuit for converting the digital data from the A / D conversion circuit 4 into image data, and 6 is an image compression circuit for compressing the image data output from the signal processing circuit 5.

Further, 7 is the electronic still camera 1a, 1
CPU for controlling b, 8 for shutter button, 9 for flash memory for storing image data and static RA
It is a storage device including an M (SRAM) or the like. Reference numeral 10 denotes a PC card interface circuit which serves as an interface means, and is a PCMCIA (Personal Computer Memory Card).
International Association) / JEIDA (Japan El
ectronic Industry Development Association) standard IC memory card interface or I / O card interface (hereinafter referred to as PC card interface) and the protocol conversion process between the storage device 9.

Reference numeral 11 designates a PC card connector for connecting to a PC card slot of an external device, which will be described later, defined by the PCMCIA / JEIDA standard, 12 a bus, and 13 powers the electronic still cameras 1a, 1b. It is a battery to supply. This electronic still camera is shown in FIG.
It has an appearance like 1a in (a) or 1b in FIG. 2 (b), and all of the above-mentioned components are housed in this card-shaped case.

Then, the connection portion 14 that fits into the PC card slot of the external device so that it can be inserted into this slot.
The external dimensions of the PCMCIA / JEIDA standard IC memory card or I / O card (hereinafter referred to as a PC card) satisfy any one of type I, II, III, and IV stipulations. 1
1 is also a 68-pin connector defined by the PC card standard. As a result, the electronic still camera 1
It is possible to directly insert a and 1b into the PC card slot of the external device.

Next, such an electronic still camera 1a,
The operation of 1b will be described. The light from the image pickup object that has passed through the image pickup lens 2 is filtered by a complementary color filter (not shown) of the CCD element 3 to a Ye (yellow) color light component, a Cy (cyan) color light component, a Mg (magenta) color light component, and a G (green) color light component. It is separated into colored light components. Then, it is converted into an electric signal by the pixels of the CCD element 3 corresponding to the Ye, Cy, Mg, and G color filters. Thus, the color signals Ye, C from the CCD element 3
y, Mg, and G are output.

The A / D conversion circuit 4 receives these color signals Y
Each of e, Cy, Mg, and G is converted into digital data. Then, for example, DSP (Digital Signal Processo)
The signal processing circuit 5 composed of r) generates image data from these digital data. The image data in this embodiment is obtained from a luminance signal Y generated by color conversion, which is one of the processes of the DSP, a red signal R minus the luminance signal Y (color difference signal) RY, and a blue signal B. The luminance signal Y is subtracted (color difference signal) BY.

In addition to color conversion, the signal processing circuit 5 also performs pixel interpolation, horizontal / vertical contour enhancement, γ (gamma) correction, and the like. Therefore, the signal processing circuit 5 outputs the image data to the image compression circuit 6 after performing these processes. Then, the image compression circuit 6 includes the signal processing circuit 5
After temporarily storing the image data output from the internal memory (not shown), JPEG (Join
tPhotographic Experts Group) format compression processing.

In this embodiment, the complementary color type is used for the color filter of the CCD element 3, but R (red), G
It goes without saying that the three primary color filters of (green) and B (blue) may be used. In this case, the image data may be generated by the signal processing circuit from the R, G, and B primary color signals obtained by the CCD element.

Although the operation of the shutter button 8 has not been described in the above description, the shutter button 8 is not operated.
The following operations are performed in accordance with the operation of. First, when the shutter button 8 is lightly pressed, the CPU 7
The D element 3, the A / D conversion circuit 4, the signal processing circuit 5, and the image compression circuit 6 are controlled to cause the memory of the image compression circuit 6 to take in the image data to perform the above-described operation. Then, based on the brightness level of the image data before compression,
The signal storage time of the CCD element 3 is adjusted so that the image has the optimum brightness.

When the shutter button 8 is pushed deeper, the CPU 7 causes the memory of the image compression circuit 6 to capture the image data according to the adjusted signal storage time. This data is regular data that is taken in with the operation of the shutter button 8. In this way, in the electronic shutter operation of the CCD element 3 for reading out only the signal charges within the signal storage time, by adjusting the signal storage time, image data of optimum brightness can be obtained.

Subsequently, the CPU 7 reads out the image data compressed in the JPEG format from the image compression circuit 6 so that the data can be used in a computer equipped with MS-DOS which is a kind of OS (Operating System). , DOS FAT (Disk Operating System File All
The data is written in a predetermined area of the storage device 9 in the form of an ocation table. Thus, each time the shutter button 8 is pressed, the compressed image data is repeatedly written in each area of the storage device 9, and a plurality of pieces of image data are recorded.

Next, the electronic still camera 1 for which photographing has been completed
Insert a or 1b into the PC card slot of the computer. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a state in which the camera 1a is inserted into a PC card slot of a computer, where 20 is a computer and 21 is a PC card slot. By inserting as shown in FIG. 3, the connecting portion 14 of the camera 1a fits in the PC card slot 21, and the PC card connector 1
1 and a connector (not shown) of the slot 21 are connected.

Although the camera 1b can be handled in the same manner, the camera 1b has a card-like connecting portion 14 as a whole.
Therefore, the entire camera 1b is P
It may be a form that can be accommodated in the C card slot 21.

The computer 20 has an internal P (not shown).
The storage device 9 in the electronic still cameras 1a and 1b is accessed through the C card interface (PC card controller) to read the image data stored in the storage device 9. At this time, the PC card interface circuit 10
Protocol conversion processing between the storage device 9 and the PC card interface in the computer 20 is performed, and the storage device 9
Communication with the computer 20.

The protocol conversion process differs depending on the specifications of the PC card interface between the PC card interface circuit 10 and the computer 20. For example, when the storage device 9 is a flash memory, the above specifications are ATA.
If it is (AT Attachment) specification, it becomes ATA-flash memory conversion, and the above specification is AIMS (Auto Index in).
g Mass Storage) specification, AIMS-flash memory conversion.

In this way, the electronic still camera 1a,
The image data obtained in 1b can be used in the computer 20. In the present embodiment, the image data is compressed by the image compression circuit 6. However, when the number of image data to be written in the storage device 9 is small, the image data before compression is written in the storage device 9 as it is. But it's okay.
Further, although the computer 20 is taken as an example of the external device for reading the image data, a PC card drive device having a PC card slot may be used, and in this case, the data read by the PC card drive device is transferred to the computer. .

Further, in this embodiment, the circuit on the camera side including the signal processing circuit 5, the image compression circuit 6 and the CPU 7 and the circuit on the PC card interface side including the PC card interface circuit 10 are connected by the bus 12 to the storage device 9. However, such a configuration causes a problem in practical use such that the camera side and the interface side simultaneously access the storage device 9.

Therefore, as another embodiment of the present invention,
A block diagram of an electronic still camera that solves such a problem is shown in FIG. In the configuration of FIG. 4, bus buffers 15a and 1 are provided at points A and B on the bus 12 in the configuration of FIG.
5b is provided. The control input terminal of the bus buffer 15a is P
Connected to the power pin 11a of the C card connector 11,
The control input terminal of the bus buffer 15b is connected to the power supply pin 11a via the inverter 16.

The cameras 1a and 1b are connected to the PC card slot 2
1 is not inserted, the power supply voltage is not supplied to the power supply pin 11a.
5a is in a closed state (conductive state), and the bus buffer 15b is in an open state (cutoff state). As a result, the camera side and the storage device 9 are connected, and the storage device 9 and the interface circuit 10 are connected.
Will be separated from.

Then, by inserting the cameras 1a and 1b into the PC card slot 21, the computer 20
When the power supply voltage is supplied from the power supply pin 11a of the PC card connector 11 to the bus buffer 15a, the bus buffer 15a is opened and the bus buffer 15b is closed. As a result, the camera side and the storage device 9 are disconnected, and the storage device 9 and the interface circuit 10 are connected. In this way, the above problem can be solved with a simpler configuration than providing a bus control controller on the bus 12.

Further, in the embodiment of FIG. 1, a PC is used as an interface means for communicating with an external device.
Although the card interface circuit 10 is used, the CPU 7 may be used as the interface means in another embodiment of the present invention. In this case, the PC card interface circuit 10 functions as a bidirectional input / output buffer. That is, when accessing from the computer 20 side, the connection from the camera side to the computer 20 side is disconnected, and conversely, when accessing from the camera side, the connection from the computer 20 side to the camera side is disconnected.

Then, the CPU 7 receives the command from the computer 20, the CPU 7 reads the image data from the storage device 9 in accordance with the command, and the computer 2
Send image data to 0. In this way, the CPU 7 can also perform the protocol conversion process.

[0028]

According to the present invention, by providing the PC card connector and the PC card interface circuit, the electronic still camera can be used as it is in the PC card slot of the computer or the external device such as the PC card drive device connected to the computer. Since it is possible to insert the storage device, there is no need to remove the storage device from the camera and insert it again into the slot of the external device as in the conventional case, and the connection with the external device using the captured image data becomes easy. Further, since the driver software of the PC card usually attached to the computer can be used, the dedicated driver software for connecting the camera and the external device with the communication cable is unnecessary. As a result, the external device can read data from the electronic still camera in the same manner as a flexible disk or a magnetic disk.

Further, by providing a control device for switching control so that the external device and the signal processing circuit cannot simultaneously access the storage device, the signal processing circuit and the external device simultaneously access the storage device in practical use. The problem can be solved. Further, by providing the control device with the detection unit that detects the connection state with the external device, the switching control between the external device and the signal processing circuit can be easily performed. Further, the detection unit detects the power supply state from the external device, so that the connection state with the external device can be easily detected.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an electronic still camera showing a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an external view of the electronic still camera shown in FIG.

3 is a block diagram of a computer of the electronic still camera shown in FIG.
It is a figure which shows a mode that it inserts in a C card slot.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of an electronic still camera showing another embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

1a, 1b ... Electronic still camera, 2 ... Imaging lens, 3 ...
CCD element, 4 ... A / D conversion circuit, 5 ... Signal processing circuit,
6 ... Image compression circuit, 7 ... CPU, 8 ... Shutter button, 9 ... Storage device, 10 ... PC card interface circuit, 11 ... PC card connector, 12 ... Bus, 13 ...
Battery, 15a, 15b ... Bus buffer, 20 ... Computer, 21 ... PC card slot.

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁶ Identification code Agency reference number FI Technical display location H04N 5/91

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. An image sensor for converting optical information from an object to be imaged into an electric signal, and A for converting an output signal of the image sensor into digital data.
/ D conversion circuit, a signal processing circuit for converting digital data from the A / D conversion circuit into image data, a storage device for storing the image data output from the signal processing circuit, and a PC card slot of an external device And a PC card connector for connecting to the connector, and an interface means connected to both the PC card connector and the storage device for communicating between the PC card interface of the external device and the storage device. An electronic still camera characterized by having. 2. The electronic still camera according to claim 1, further comprising a control device that performs switching control so that the external device and the signal processing circuit cannot simultaneously access the storage device. 3. The electronic still camera according to claim 2, wherein the control device includes a detection unit that detects a connection state with the external device, and performs switching control according to a detection output of the detection unit. An electronic still camera characterized in that 4. The electronic still camera according to claim 3, wherein the detection unit of the control device detects a power supply state from the external device.