JPH1013785A - Recording and reproducing device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a recording and reproducing device for a television signal or the like in which dissatisfaction in terms of image quality of a still image or in terms of redundancy of the still image in the 'photographic mode' is improved. SOLUTION: In the frame structure of recording data, let a still image destination period be (a+b+c) frames, then conventional still image signals are recorded to first (a) frames in the still image recording period, image quality improving signals are recorded in middle b-frames and conventional still image signals are recorded in latter c-frames. Thus, the image quality improving signals are recorded while being sandwiched by the still image signals in this way, then in the case of the recording and reproducing device where recording of compressed image data is a standard, the high image quality still signals not compressed are recorded/reproduced and this method contributes to high image quality processing of the still images.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a recording / reproducing apparatus having a "still image mode" such as a digital video camera, and more particularly, to information effective for improving image quality between ordinary still image recording frames. The present invention relates to a recording / reproducing apparatus that realizes high-quality still images by sandwiching and recording.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, various electronic devices have been remarkably developed with the development of multimedia in broadcasting due to the development of telecommunication technology. In particular, in a video tape recorder, a digital video camera for digitizing and recording / reproducing an image pickup signal or a television signal has been developed, and has become widespread as giving great convenience to users.

This digital video camera has a so-called "photo mode" function of recording a recorded video as a still image. In a mode in which a still image is recorded by a digital video camera, information for one frame to be recorded is stored in a continuous frame (for a 5 second still image, N
It is performed by recording for 150 frames (TSC method).

However, since exactly the same information is recorded between these consecutive frames,
The information recorded is redundant. Further, in general, the image quality of a still image obtained in the “photo mode” is insufficient, and does not always satisfy the user.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and has as its object the redundancy of a still image in the "photo mode" of a conventional digital video camera or the like, and the image quality of the still image. An object of the present invention is to provide a recording / reproducing apparatus for a television signal or the like with improved dissatisfaction.

[0006]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems of the present invention, the following means have been taken. That is, as a basic configuration of the recording / reproducing apparatus of the present invention, in a recording / reproducing apparatus having a still image recording mode (photo mode) for recording one frame of a still image over several frames, A camera signal processing means for processing a video signal from the device and outputting a high quality video signal; a compression means for compressing a video signal from the camera device or an external input; and sequentially updating the video signal from the camera device or an external input. Storage means (a frame memory or the like) for storing. Also, at the time of recording a still image, a high-quality video signal output by the camera signal processing unit, a compressed video signal output by the compression unit, and an uncompressed video signal output by the storage unit are selected to generate an image quality improvement frame. A first control means for forming and controlling the image quality improvement frame so as to be inserted between still picture recording frames for recording a normal still picture video signal, and a first control means for reproducing a still picture. And a second control means for controlling reproduction including the recorded image quality improvement frame together with a normal still image video signal.

In the recording / reproducing apparatus of the present invention, the camera signal processing means outputs the basic performance inherent in the camera apparatus as it is to the first control means as a high-quality video signal.
The uncompressed video signal stored by the storage means is output to the first control means, the compressed video signal compressed by the compression means is output to the first control means, and the first control means selects each of these video signals. Then, an image quality improvement frame for improving the image quality of a still image (partial image or the like) is formed, and the image quality improvement frame is recorded by sandwiching it between still image recording frames for recording a normal still image video signal. Furthermore,
In the second control means, control is performed so as to be reproduced together with a normal still image video signal, including the image quality improvement frame. As a result, in a recording / reproducing apparatus that normally records and compresses image data, it is possible to record and reproduce uncompressed high-quality still images on the recording / reproducing apparatus. Can be realized.

[0008]

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

First, the configuration of a recording / reproducing apparatus according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 1 is a block circuit diagram showing an example of a signal processing system of the recording / reproducing apparatus of the present invention. As an example of the recording / reproducing apparatus of the present invention, a consumer-use digital video camera (Digital Video Camera: hereinafter, simply referred to as “DVC”), which is remarkably popularized, will be described as an example.

The recording system in the recording / reproducing apparatus of the present invention comprises a camera 1 for capturing an image of a subject, a camera signal processing circuit 2 for performing signal processing of the camera 1 and outputting a high-quality video signal, a video input terminal 3, and An external input signal processing circuit 4 for performing the processing, a switch 5 for selecting these,
A frame memory 6, a shuffling circuit 7, an image compression circuit 8 for outputting a compressed video signal, and a first control, which is a feature of the present invention, are used in a shuffling process to be described later and serve as storage means for outputting an uncompressed video signal. Circuit 9, digital modulation circuit 10, recording amplifier 11, and tape 1
3 is composed of a head 12 that records data.

Similarly, the reproduction system includes a head 14 for reproducing data on the tape 13, a reproduction amplifier 15, a digital demodulation circuit 16, an image decompression circuit 17, a second control circuit 18, which is a feature of the present invention, and a frame. It comprises a memory 19, a deshuffling circuit 20, an output signal processing circuit 21, a video output terminal 22, and a digital signal output terminal 23.

The operation of the recording / reproducing apparatus of the present invention having such a configuration will be described.

First, as an operation of a recording system, a video signal obtained from the camera 1 is converted into a camera signal processing circuit 2 for performing analog-to-digital conversion (hereinafter simply referred to as "A / D conversion"), gamma correction, and the like. And is converted by the camera signal processing circuit 2 into a video digital signal.

On the other hand, an external video signal inputted from the video input terminal 3 is supplied to an external input signal processing circuit 4 for performing A / D conversion and demodulation of a television signal of the NTSC system or the like. 4 is converted into a video digital signal.

The two digital video signals are selected by a switch 5 and temporarily stored in a frame memory 6. In a shuffling circuit 7 (shuffling: a circuit for rearranging the order of image generation and the order of recording (also referred to as interleaving)), data is collected from each part of the screen so that the compression efficiency in the image compression processing in the subsequent stage is improved. Perform rearrangement processing. Recording in a so-called “photo mode” for recording a still image over several frames is realized by not updating the image stored in the frame memory 6.

The signal subjected to the shuffling process by the shuffling circuit 7 is compressed in data amount by the image compression circuit 8 and supplied to the first control circuit 9. The first control circuit 9 selects to record the signal of the image compression circuit 8 during normal recording, but selects to record the uncompressed video signal sent from the frame memory 6 during still image recording. Or a high-quality video signal supplied from the camera signal processing circuit 2, that is, for example, when the camera 1 is a high-definition camera, a high-resolution video signal originally provided in the high-definition camera (the thinned color difference signal / An operation of selecting to record information between lines, etc.) is performed.

The video signal selected by the first control circuit 9 is
Digitally modulated by a digital modulation circuit 10,
It is amplified by the recording amplifier 11. Then, the head 12
Is recorded on the tape 13 as digital data.

Next, as an operation of the reproducing system, digital data reproduced from the tape 13 via the head 14 is amplified by a reproducing amplifier 15 and demodulated / error corrected by a digital demodulation circuit 16.

The image information of the digital signal is expanded by an image expansion circuit 17 during normal reproduction, and is supplied to a frame memory 19 via a second control circuit 18.
Then, the data is rearranged by the deshuffling (synthesizing) circuit 20 in the reverse order of the recording to obtain a digital video signal. This digital signal is supplied to an output signal processing circuit 21 for performing conversion into a television signal such as NTSC or digital-to-analog conversion.
Is output from the video output terminal 22 via

When reproducing a tape on which an uncompressed signal is recorded at the time of reproducing a still image, the signal obtained from the digital demodulation circuit 16 is transmitted to the frame through the second control circuit 18 without passing through the image decompression circuit 17. Send to memory 19. Thereafter, by the same operation, a high-quality still image video including an image quality improvement frame such as an uncompressed video signal can be obtained from the video output terminal 22.

Further, by connecting a device such as a computer to the digital signal output terminal 23, the above-mentioned uncompressed video signal and the recorded image quality improvement frame can be used. PA
It is also possible to obtain high-quality still images exceeding the limits of television systems such as L. In this case, the video output terminal 2
2 is to output the video signal stored in the frame memory 19 to prevent the image from breaking down. These circuits are controlled by a CPU including a microprocessor (not shown).

In the present invention, the frame memories 6, 1
9 is a necessary circuit, but the frame memory is already an essential circuit in the DVC because of the necessity of the above-described shuffling / deshuffling processing, and is not newly provided to realize the present invention. Also, the two sets of frame memories 6 and 19 can be combined into one set by sharing the recording / reproducing system. Furthermore, the present invention
Even in a television signal recording / reproducing apparatus other than C, in the case of an electronic device having a so-called "photo mode" for recording a still image over several frames, a frame memory is already provided and can be used. It is. In addition,
It goes without saying that the circuit configuration of the present invention is not limited to the above-described one, and another configuration having the same function may be used.

Next, an example of a frame structure of recording data in the recording / reproducing apparatus of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing a frame structure of recording data in the recording / reproducing apparatus of the present invention. In FIG. 2, reference numerals 30a to 30e and 32a to 32e denote recording frames on which ordinary still image signals are recorded, and 31a to 31e denote frames for improving image quality such as uncompressed data.

As shown in FIG. 2, the frame structure of the recording data in this embodiment has a still image recording period of (a + b).
+ C) If there is a frame, the first half a of the still image recording period
A normal still image signal is recorded in a frame, an image quality improvement signal is recorded in a middle b frame, and a normal still image signal is recorded in a second half c frame. In this manner, the image quality improvement signal is recorded so as to be sandwiched between the still image signals. That is, at the time of forward reproduction, the still image signal of the a-frame portion is
By storing the still image signal of the c-frame portion in the frame memory at the time of the reverse reproduction, the breakdown of the video signal during the period in which the image of the image quality improving signal portion cannot be reproduced is prevented. In consideration of variable-speed reproduction, it is desirable that the frame portions a and c in which a normal still image signal is recorded be recorded not only for one frame but for several frames.

Next, details of the processing operation of the recording / reproducing apparatus of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

First, an operation during a period in which a normal still image signal is recorded (corresponding to frames a and c in FIG. 2) will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 3 is a block circuit diagram showing an operation during a period for recording a normal still image signal in the present invention.

The signals stored in the frame memory 6 are recorded on the tape 13 via the respective circuits of the shuffling circuit 7 and the image compression circuit 8. Here, the original image 40 is a diagram schematically showing a video signal stored in the frame memory 6, and the reference numeral 41 is a diagram showing a recorded compressed image. D
In the VC, since the data amount of the original image 40 is compressed to about 1/5, the recorded compressed image 41 is shown smaller than the original image 40.

FIG. 4 is a block circuit diagram showing an operation during a period (corresponding to the b frame in FIG. 2) during which an image quality improvement signal (here, an uncompressed image signal) is recorded in the present invention. The operation during the period of recording the image quality improvement signal will be described with reference to FIG.

The signal stored in the frame memory 6 is sent to the digital modulation circuit 10 via the first control circuit 9 without passing through the shuffling circuit 7 / image compression circuit 8.
The digital modulation circuit 10 performs a predetermined modulation, and the signal is amplified by a recording amplifier 11 and recorded on a tape 13 via a head 12. Here, the recorded non-compressed image (part) 42 schematically shows an uncompressed image signal, and since only one-fifth frame of an image can be recorded per one frame area, the recorded non-compressed image (part) is recorded. An uncompressed image (part) 42 shows an image portion that is ５ of the original image 40.

Turning now to the operation of the reproduction system, FIG. 5 shows a period during which a normal still image signal is reproduced in the present invention (FIG. 2).
FIG. 5 is a block circuit diagram showing an operation corresponding to frames a and c of FIG. 5), and an operation during a period in which a normal still image signal is reproduced will be described with reference to FIG.

The data reproduced from the tape 13 is written into the frame memory 19 via the digital demodulation circuit 16, the image expansion circuit 17 and the deshuffling circuit 20, and the second control circuit 18. At this time,
The reproduced original image 43 indicates an image signal written in the frame memory 19, and the reproduced original image 43
Is an image signal that has been subjected to compression / decompression, and is therefore inferior in image quality to the original image 40 in FIGS. 3 and 4 described above.

FIG. 6 shows a period (FIG. 2) for reproducing an image quality improvement signal (here, an uncompressed image signal) according to the present invention.
FIG. 6 is a block circuit diagram showing the operation of the frame b), and the operation during the period of reproducing the image quality improvement signal will be described with reference to FIG.

The data reproduced from the tape 13 passes through a digital demodulation circuit 16 and a second control circuit 18,
The data is written to the frame memory 19 without passing through each of the image expansion circuit 17 and the deshuffling circuit 20. Here, the image 44 including the reproduced non-compressed image in FIG. 6 indicates a state in the middle of the image signal written in the frame memory 19, and in the case of the present embodiment, the image including the reproduced non-compressed image Since 1/5 of the 44 are uncompressed image signals,
The image quality is the same as that of the original image 40 in FIGS. 3 and 4 described above, but the remaining image portion is an image that has been subjected to compression / expansion and is inferior in image quality. Then, when the reproduction of the uncompressed image signal of the entire screen from the tape 13 is completed, the reproduced image 44 including the uncompressed image is converted to the original image 40 over the entire screen.
Will have the same image quality as.

As a result, for example, it is possible to improve the quality of a still image as described below. That is, 1. In a recording / reproducing apparatus that normally compresses and records image data, an uncompressed high-quality still image can be recorded / reproduced on the recording / reproducing apparatus. 2. By taking out the recorded still image data as it is and sending it to a computer or the like and reproducing it, it becomes possible to display, record and reproduce a high-quality still image that exceeds the limits of the television system such as the NTSC system or the PAL system. .

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various embodiments can be adopted. For example, in the above embodiment, the DVC is exemplified as an example of the recording / reproducing device. However, electronic devices having a mode for recording a still image other than the DVC, such as a TV-integrated VCR, a projector device, and a recording device to be developed in the future. Naturally, it can be applied to a DVD or the like. Needless to say, the present invention can be developed into various forms without being limited to the above-described embodiment.

[0036]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the recording / reproducing apparatus of the present invention, the first and second control circuits store the high-quality video signal originally stored in the camera device in the storage means. An uncompressed video signal and a compressed video signal compressed by the compression means are selected to form an image quality improvement frame for improving the image quality of a still image, and the image quality improvement frame is converted into a normal still image video signal. Since recording and playback are sandwiched between still image recording frames to be recorded, conventional recording / reproducing devices that normally compress and record image data record and record uncompressed high-quality still images and the like. Playback can now be performed, contributing to higher image quality of still images. Also, by taking out the recorded still image data as it is and sending it to a computer or the like to reproduce it, it becomes possible to record and reproduce a high-quality still image exceeding the limit of the television system such as the NTSC system or the PAL system. Useful.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block circuit diagram showing an example of a signal processing system of a recording / reproducing apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing a frame structure of recording data in the recording / reproducing apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a block circuit diagram showing an operation during a period for recording a normal still image signal according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a block circuit diagram showing an operation during a period for recording an image quality improvement signal according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a block circuit diagram showing an operation during a period in which a normal still image signal is reproduced in the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a block circuit diagram showing an operation during a period for reproducing an image quality improvement signal according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Camera, 2 ... Camera signal processing circuit, 3 ... Video input terminal, 4 ... External input signal processing circuit, 5 ... Switch, 6, 1
9 frame memory, 7 shuffling circuit, 8 image compression circuit, 9 first control circuit, 10 digital modulation circuit, 11 recording amplifier, 12, 14 head, 13 tape, 15 reproduction amplifier, 16 ... Digital demodulation circuit,
17 image decompression circuit, 18 second control circuit, 20 deshuffling circuit, 21 output signal processing circuit, 22 video output terminal, 23 digital signal output terminal, 40 original image, 41 compressed image recorded , 42: recorded uncompressed image (part), 43: reproduced original image, 44: image including reproduced uncompressed image

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A recording / reproducing device having a still image recording mode for recording a still image of one frame over several frames, comprising: a camera device for capturing an image of a subject; Camera signal processing means for outputting a signal; compression means for compressing a video signal from a camera device or an external input; storage means for sequentially updating and storing a video signal from a camera device or an external input; And selecting a high quality video signal output by the camera signal processing means, a compressed video signal output by the compression means, and an uncompressed video signal output by the storage means to form an image quality improvement frame. First control means for controlling the improved frame so as to be sandwiched and recorded between still image recording frames for recording a normal still image video signal, A recording / reproducing apparatus, comprising: a second control unit for controlling reproduction of a still image including an image quality improvement frame recorded by the first control unit when reproducing a still image. 2. The recording / reproducing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a digital signal output terminal to which a predetermined device can be connected to use the uncompressed video signal and the image quality improvement frame. Recording and playback device. 3. The recording / reproducing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the high-quality video signal is a color difference signal or a mutual information between lines, which is a thinned-out video signal originally provided in a camera device. .