JPH10145721A - Image reproducing device and image recorder - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image reproducing device capable of sure reproduction from a desired position on an image file and an image recorder capable of specifying a reproducing starting position when the image file is written, with respect to the image reproducer for reading the image file from a recording medium directly accessed and the image recorder for writing the picture file to the directly accessed recording medium. SOLUTION: An image reproducing means 10 for directly accessing to an image file on the recording medium A and for reading and reproducing the image file, and a position obtaining means 12 for obtaining position information showing a reproducing position of the image file from a storing position determined based on the file form of the image file, are provided. Then, if the position information is obtained by the position acquiring means 12, the image reproducing means 10 starts reproducing the image file from the reproducing position shown by the position information.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image reproducing apparatus for reading an image file from a directly accessed storage medium, and an image recording apparatus for writing an image file to a directly accessed storage medium.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a video tape recorder for reading image information written on a magnetic tape, access is performed sequentially and reproduction is performed. Therefore, when performing reproduction from a position desired by the operator, it is necessary to skip image information to that position. In recent years, image reproducing apparatuses and image recording apparatuses using a direct access memory such as a magnetic disk as a recording medium instead of such a sequential access memory such as a magnetic tape have been put to practical use.

In such an image reproducing apparatus, an image file selected by an operator among a plurality of image files including image information of a moving image is directly accessed and reproduced. Also, with image editing software that reads an image file and performs image processing, it is possible to play back from a position designated by the operator.

[0004]

However, in the above-described image reproducing apparatus, reading is always started from the head position of the image file. Therefore, even if the image file has already been reproduced to an intermediate position, the image file is read from that position. There was a problem that reading of data could not be performed. Further, in the above-described image editing software, the position specified by the preceding reading is not recorded, so that when the same image file is read again, the operator must specify the reproducing position every time. There was a problem.

[0005] Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide an image reproducing apparatus which can surely reproduce an image file from a desired position on an image file. It is an object of the present invention to provide an image recording apparatus capable of designating a position to start reproduction when writing an image file. In particular, it is an object of the present invention to provide an image reproducing apparatus capable of reliably resuming reproduction from an interrupted position when reproduction of an image file is interrupted.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an image reproducing apparatus capable of quickly and reliably selecting a reproducing position. Still another object of the present invention is to provide an image recording apparatus which can quickly and reliably select a reproduction position performed by the image reproduction apparatus.

[0007]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the principle of the first aspect of the present invention.

An image reproducing apparatus according to a first aspect of the present invention includes an image reproducing means for directly accessing an image file on a recording medium A and reading and reproducing the image file;
A position acquisition unit 12 for acquiring position information indicating a reproduction position of the image file from a storage location determined based on a file format of the image file. When the information is obtained, the reproduction of the image file is started from the reproduction position indicated by the position information.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the principle of the second aspect of the present invention. The image reproducing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the image file is reproduced by an externally designated operation in the process of reproducing the image file by the image reproducing means 10 in the image reproducing apparatus according to claim 1. And a position recording unit 16 for storing the reproduction position designated via the position designation unit 14 as the position information in the storage location.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the principle of the third aspect of the present invention. An image reproducing apparatus according to a third aspect is the image reproducing apparatus according to the first aspect, wherein
The image playback means 10 interrupts the playback of the image file at the timing of an interruption operation given from the outside,
The position storage means 18 stores the position of the image file whose reproduction has been interrupted by the image reproduction means as the position information in the storage location.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing the principle of the present invention. According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the image reproducing apparatus of the first aspect, when the position information is acquired by the position acquiring unit, a thumbnail image is reproduced from the reproduced image at the reproduction position indicated by the position information. Thumbnail means 2 for generating and displaying the thumbnail image as a thumbnail
0, and a position selection unit 22 for specifying a reproduction position in association with a thumbnail image selected by an external selection operation.
The reproduction of the image file is started from the reproduction position specified by (2).

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing the principle of the present invention. According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the image reproducing apparatus according to the second aspect, a thumbnail image is generated from a reproduced image at a reproduction position designated through the position designation means, and the thumbnail image is generated. A thumbnail recording unit 24 that stores the thumbnail image in association with the playback position in the image file, a thumbnail acquisition unit 26 that acquires the thumbnail image from the image file, and displays the thumbnail image as a thumbnail, and a thumbnail acquisition unit 26 that acquires the thumbnail image. And a position selection unit 28 for specifying a reproduction position corresponding to a thumbnail image selected by an external selection operation from among the reproduction positions thus specified, and the image reproduction unit 10 is specified by the position selection unit 28. The reproduction of the image file is started from a reproduction position.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing the principle of the present invention. The image recording apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the image writing unit 30 writes image information given from the outside as an image file to the recording medium A directly accessed, and the image file is written by the image writing unit 30. In the process, the position of the image file is designated at the timing of a designation operation given from the outside, and the position information indicating the position designated through the position designation And a position recording means 34 for storing the data in a storage location determined based on the file format.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing the principle of the present invention. An image recording apparatus according to a seventh aspect is the image recording apparatus according to the sixth aspect, wherein a thumbnail image is generated from an image written at a position designated via the position designation means 32, and the thumbnail image is generated. It is characterized in that a thumbnail recording means 36 for storing the image file in the image file in association with the position is provided.

(Operation) In the image reproducing apparatus according to the first aspect of the present invention, the position obtaining means 12 obtains the position information from the storage location on the image file in which the position information indicating the reproduction position of the image file is stored. To get. The image reproduction means 10 directly accesses the reproduction position indicated by the position information acquired by the position acquisition means 12, and starts reproducing the image file from the reproduction position.

That is, since the position information is stored in the image file, even when the same image file is reproduced again, the reproduction is started from a predetermined position. In the image reproducing apparatus according to the second aspect of the present invention, the position specifying means receives an external specifying operation while the image reproducing means reproduces the image file. Further, the position specifying means 14 specifies the position where the image file is being reproduced at the time when the specifying operation is received.

The position recording means 16 stores position information indicating the position specified by the position specifying means 14 in a storage location determined based on the file format of the image file. That is, when the same image file is reproduced again, the start position of the subsequent reproduction is specified by the operator during the preceding reproduction.

Therefore, if the position is designated by the operator, reproduction is started from any position of the image file. In the image reproducing device according to the third aspect of the present invention, the image reproducing means 10 interrupts the reproduction of the image file when an interruption operation is given from outside. The position storage unit 18 stores, in a storage location determined based on the file format of the image file, position information indicating a position on the image file at which the reproduction by the image reproduction unit 10 has been interrupted.

That is, when an image file whose reproduction has been interrupted is read again, reproduction is started from the position where the reproduction was interrupted without performing duplicate reproduction. In the image reproducing apparatus according to the fourth aspect, when the position information is acquired by the position acquiring unit 12, the thumbnail unit 20 reads out the image information arranged at the position indicated by the position information, and reads out the single or the single image information. Generate a plurality of thumbnail images. The thumbnail unit 20 displays all thumbnail images on a screen provided inside or outside the image reproducing apparatus.

The position selecting means 22 includes a thumbnail means 20
When the thumbnail image is displayed as a thumbnail, an external selection operation on the thumbnail image is accepted. The position selection means 22 specifies a reproduction position corresponding to the thumbnail image selected by an external selection operation. The image reproducing means 10 includes a position obtaining means 12
The reproduction of the image file is started from the reproduction position specified by the position selection means 22 among the reproduction positions given by the user.

That is, when the reproduction position of the image file is specified, the image of the reproduction position is confirmed in advance by the thumbnail image, so that the reproduction position can be specified quickly and reliably by the operator. In the image reproducing apparatus according to the fifth aspect of the present invention, when the reproduction position is designated via the position designation means during the reproduction by the image reproduction means, the thumbnail recording means 24 causes A thumbnail image is generated from the reproduced image at the reproduction position. Also,
The thumbnail recording unit 24 stores the thumbnail image thus generated in the image file in association with the reproduction position.

When the position information is obtained by the position obtaining unit 12, the thumbnail obtaining unit 26 obtains all the thumbnail images from the image files and displays the thumbnail images. When the thumbnail image is displayed as a thumbnail by the thumbnail acquisition unit 26, the position selection unit 28 receives an external selection operation for the thumbnail image.
Further, the position selection means 28 specifies a reproduction position corresponding to the thumbnail image selected by an external selection operation.

The image reproducing means 10 starts reproducing the image file from the reproducing position specified by the position selecting means 28 among the reproducing positions given by the position obtaining means 12. That is, since a thumbnail image is generated when a reproduction position is specified via the position specification means 14, it is not necessary to generate a thumbnail image unless the reproduction position is changed, and the number of times of generating a thumbnail image is reduced. At the same time, the time required for thumbnail display is reduced.

In the image reproducing apparatus according to the sixth aspect of the present invention, the image writing means 30 writes the externally applied image information as an image file on the recording medium A directly accessed. The position designation unit 32 receives an external designation operation while the image file is being written by the image writing unit 30. Also,
The position specifying means 32 specifies the position where the image file is written at the time when the specifying operation is received.

The position recording means 34 stores position information indicating the position specified by the position specifying means 32 in a storage location determined based on the file format of the image file. Therefore, the position specified at the time of writing the image file can be used as the position at which reproduction is started by the image reproduction device. In the image reproducing apparatus according to the seventh aspect of the present invention, when a position is designated via the position designation means 32 in the process of writing the image file by the image writing means 30, the thumbnail recording means 36 , A thumbnail image is generated from the image written at that position. Further, the thumbnail recording unit 36 stores the thumbnail image generated in this manner in the image file.

Therefore, the thumbnail image generated at the time of writing the image file can be used when selecting the reproduction position by the image reproduction device.

[0027]

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

FIG. 8 is a functional block diagram of an embodiment according to the first, second and fourth aspects of the present invention. In the figure, a control unit 40 includes a disk drive 44, a thumbnail processing unit 46, a display processing unit 48,
The monitor 50, the touch panel 52, and the memory 53 are connected. The disk drive 44 includes a magnetic disk 45.
Is loaded.

The magnetic disk 45 is pre-written with a plurality of image files and an index including a file name and a start address of each image file. As for the correspondence between the principle block diagrams shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and 4 and the present embodiment, the image reproducing means 10 includes a disk drive 44, a display processing unit 48 and a monitor 5.
0, and the position acquisition means 12
, The position specifying means 14 corresponds to the touch panel 52, the position recording means 16 corresponds to the disk drive 44 and the memory 53, the thumbnail means 20 corresponds to the thumbnail processing section 46, the display processing section 48 and the monitor 50,
The position selecting means 22 corresponds to the touch panel 52, and the recording medium A corresponds to the magnetic disk 45.

FIG. 9 is an operation flowchart of an embodiment according to the first, second and fourth aspects of the present invention. Hereinafter, the operation of the embodiment according to the second aspect of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. When presenting to the operator that the image file can be reproduced, the control unit 40 generates and displays the menu screen for selecting the image file by using the disk drive 44 and the display processing unit 4.
8 and the monitor 50.

When the disk drive 44 is requested in this way, it reads the above-mentioned index from the magnetic disk 45 and gives it to the display processing section 48.
When the index is given, the display processing unit 48 obtains the file names of all the image files from the index, and determines the file names in a predetermined format (here, for simplicity, the format shown in FIG. ) Is generated as image information corresponding to the menu screen. The image information generated in this way is given to the monitor 50 and displayed.

The control unit 40 constantly monitors the external operation on the touch panel 52, and when the menu screen is displayed, any one of the image files is selected and the "play button"
It is determined whether an external operation has been performed. As shown in FIG. 12, the image file includes a header area including additional information such as a shooting date and time and a total number of frames, and an image area including image information. The header area is provided with n “reproduction pointers” that are candidates for a start position when image information is read. In the present embodiment, it is assumed that “n = 4” for simplicity, and a value that is a candidate for the read start position is set in advance for each “reproduction pointer”.

When the control unit 40 recognizes that the reproduction of the image file has been requested by the above-described determination, it requests the disk drive 44 to read the "reproduction pointer". When the reading of the “reproduction pointer” is requested, the disk drive 44 obtains the start address of the image file to be reproduced by referring to the above-described index, and based on the start address, obtains all the “reproduction pointers”. Perform reading.

When the control unit 40 recognizes that all the “reproduction pointers” have been read out by the disk drive 44, the control unit 40 generates a thumbnail image corresponding to each “reproduction pointer” and displays the thumbnail display on the disk drive 44. , The thumbnail processing unit 46, the display processing unit 48, and the monitor 50 (S1 in FIG. 9). When requested in this manner, the disk drive 44 sequentially reads out image information corresponding to one frame from each position indicated by the plurality of “reproduction pointers” and provides the image information to the thumbnail processing unit 46.

When the image information is provided by the disk drive 44, the thumbnail processing unit 46 performs pixel density conversion, sequentially generates image information corresponding to a thumbnail image, and supplies the image information to the display processing unit 48. When the image information of the thumbnail image is given by the thumbnail processing unit 46, the display processing unit 48 sequentially stores the image information of each thumbnail image in a predetermined arrangement in a built-in frame memory (not shown). When the display processing unit 48 stores the image information of all the thumbnail images in the frame memory, the image information corresponding to the “play button”, the “stop button”, and the “bookmark button” as shown in FIG. And the image information on the frame memory is subjected to an overlay process, and given to the monitor 50.

When the image information subjected to the overlay processing is given to the monitor 50, a thumbnail display as shown in FIG. 10B is performed. When thumbnail display is being performed, the control unit 40 determines via the touch panel 52 whether or not any thumbnail image has been selected (S2 in FIG. 9). When the control unit 40 recognizes that any one of the thumbnail images has been selected by such a determination, the control unit 40 gives the value of the “playback pointer” corresponding to the thumbnail image to the disk drive 44 and reads the image information. Then, a request is made to the disk drive 44, the display processor 48 and the monitor 50 for reproduction (S3 in FIG. 9).

When requested in this manner, the disk drive 44 reads out image information from the position indicated by the given "reproduction pointer" while managing the position in the image file on a frame basis. The disk drive 44
Includes a counter (hereinafter, referred to as a “read counter” for simplicity) that stores a position where image information is read in units of frames, and the “read counter”.
Are sequentially updated to manage the position on the image file.

The image information read in this way is
It is provided to the display processing unit 48, decompressed, and stored in the frame memory. In the display processing unit 48, the image information stored in the frame memory is subjected to overlay processing with image information corresponding to “play button”, “stop button”, and “bookmark button”, and is provided to the monitor 50. On the monitor 50, the given image information is reproduced as shown in FIG.

The controller 40 monitors the completion of the reproduction performed in this manner (S4 in FIG. 9). If the reproduction is continuously performed (NO in FIG. 9S4), the touch panel 5
It is determined whether or not an external operation on the “bookmark button” has been received via the button 2 (S5 in FIG. 9). The control unit 40
Each time it is recognized that the "bookmark button" has been externally operated by such a determination, the value of the above-mentioned "read counter" is sequentially stored in the memory 53 (S6 in FIG. 9). In the following, the position of the image information read out at the time when the “bookmark button” is externally operated (corresponding to the value stored in the memory 53 here) is referred to as the “bookmark position”. .

When recognizing that the reproduction of the image file has been completed (YES in S4 of FIG. 9), the control unit 40 determines whether or not the “bookmark position” is stored (FIG. 9S).
7) If the “bookmark position” is stored, the disk drive 44 is requested to rewrite the contents of the “play pointer” to the “bookmark position” (FIG. 9S).
8). The disk drive 44 selects the "playback pointer" from the plurality of "playback pointers" based on a predetermined rewriting priority and writes the "bookmark position" sequentially.

That is, the position of the image information read out when the "bookmark button" is externally operated is written as the "bookmark position" in the "playback pointer".
When the reading of the same image file is requested by the operator, the thumbnail image is displayed in association with the “bookmark position”. Therefore, when the read start position on the image file is designated, the candidate position of the start position can be presented to the operator as a thumbnail image, so that the operability is reliably improved.

FIG. 13 is a functional block diagram of an embodiment corresponding to the first, second and fifth aspects of the present invention. In the figure, components having the same functions as those of the embodiment corresponding to the invention described in claims 1, 2 and 4 shown in FIG. 8 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and description thereof is omitted here. I do.

The difference between the configuration of the present embodiment and the embodiments corresponding to the first, second and fourth aspects is that the control unit 40 and the thumbnail processing unit 46 shown in FIG. The control unit 54 and the thumbnail generation unit 56 are provided.

As for the correspondence between the principle block diagrams shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and 5 and this embodiment, the image reproducing means 10 corresponds to the disk drive 44, the display processing section 48 and the monitor 50, and the position obtaining means. 12 corresponds to the disk drive 44, and the position designation means 14 is the touch panel 5
2, the position recording means 16 is a disk drive 44
The thumbnail recording unit 24 corresponds to the disk drive 44, the thumbnail generation unit 56 and the memory 53, the thumbnail acquisition unit 26 corresponds to the disk drive 44, the display processing unit 48 and the monitor 50, and the position selection unit. 28 corresponds to the touch panel 52, and the recording medium A corresponds to the magnetic disk 45.

FIG. 14 is an operation flowchart of the embodiment according to the first, second and fifth aspects of the present invention.
The operation of the embodiment according to the first, second, and fifth aspects of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. As for the image file, in addition to the header area and the image area, as shown in FIG. 15, a thumbnail area including image information of a thumbnail image corresponding to each reproduction pointer is provided. In the present embodiment, for simplicity, it is assumed that image information of a thumbnail image corresponding to each “play pointer” is stored in the thumbnail area in advance.

When recognizing that the reproduction of the image file has been requested in the same manner as in the first, second and fourth embodiments of the present invention, the control unit 54 reads out the "reproduction pointer" from the disk drive 44. Request to. When the “playback pointer” is read, the control unit 54 reads the image information of the thumbnail image corresponding to each “playback pointer” and displays the thumbnail display to the disk drive 44, the display processing unit 48, and the monitor 50. Request (S1 in FIG. 14).

When requested in this manner, the disk drive 44 reads out the image information of the thumbnail image corresponding to each "reproduction pointer" from the thumbnail area. The image information of the thumbnail image thus read out is stored in the frame memory by the display processing unit 48 in the same manner as in the embodiment according to the first, second and fourth aspects of the present invention.
An overlay process is performed with image information corresponding to a “play button” or the like. Also, thumbnails are displayed on the monitor 50 as shown in FIG.

When thumbnail display is being performed, the control unit 54 determines whether or not a thumbnail image has been selected, as in the embodiments corresponding to the first, second and fourth aspects of the present invention. (S2 in FIG. 14). The control unit 54
When recognizing that a thumbnail image has been selected, a value of a “playback pointer” corresponding to the thumbnail image is given to the disk drive 44, and reading and reproduction of image information are performed by the disk drive 44 and the display processing unit 48.
And a request to the monitor 50 (S3 in FIG. 14).

When the disk drive 44 is requested as described above, the disk drive 44 updates the "read counter" and updates the given "read counter" in the same manner as in the embodiments according to the first, second and fourth aspects of the present invention. The image information is read from the position indicated by the “reproduction pointer”. The image information read in this way is provided to the display processing unit 48 and also to the thumbnail generation unit 56. In the display processing unit 48,
Similarly to the first and second embodiments, the given image information is decompressed and stored in the frame memory, and the image information corresponding to a "play button" or the like is overlaid. To the monitor 50. Monitor 5
At 0, the given image information is reproduced as shown in FIG.

The control unit 40 monitors the completion of the reproduction performed in this way (S4 in FIG. 14). If the reproduction is continued (NO in FIG. 14S4), the control unit 40 performs the operation via the touch panel 52. It is determined whether an external operation on the “bookmark button” has been received (S5 in FIG. 14). In addition, the control unit 54 determines that the “bookmark button”
Every time it recognizes that has been operated externally, it sequentially stores the value of the “read counter” as the “bookmark position” in the memory 53 (S6 in FIG. 14) and requests the thumbnail generation unit 56 to generate a thumbnail image.

When requested in this manner, the thumbnail generating section 56 expands the image information provided by the disk drive 44, performs pixel density conversion on image information corresponding to one frame, and corresponds to a thumbnail image. Generate image information. The thumbnail image information thus generated is stored in the memory 53 by the control unit 54 in association with the “bookmark position” (S7 in FIG. 14).

When recognizing that the reproduction of the image file has been completed (YES side of S4 in FIG. 14), the control unit 54 sets the "bookmark position" in the same manner as in the first, second, and fourth embodiments of the present invention. Is stored (S8 in FIG. 14). When recognizing that the “bookmark position” is stored by such a determination, the control unit 54 requests the disk drive 44 to rewrite the contents of the “playback pointer” to the “bookmark position” (S9 in FIG. 14). ), And request rewriting of “image information of thumbnail image” (S10 in FIG. 14).

The disk drive 44 rewrites the "reproduction pointer" in the same manner as in the embodiment according to the first, second and fourth aspects of the present invention, and displays the thumbnail image corresponding to the rewritten "reproduction pointer". The information is acquired from the memory 53, and is written in the "image information of the thumbnail image" in the thumbnail area. That is, the "play pointer"
Are generated when the "playback pointer" is updated and recorded on the magnetic disk 45,
When a reproduction position is selected, the reproduction position is read from the magnetic disk 45 and displayed as a thumbnail.

Therefore, the frequency of generating thumbnail images is reduced, thereby improving the processing efficiency. In addition, since the thumbnail images are generated in advance, the time from when the thumbnail display is requested to when the thumbnail display is actually performed is performed. Be shortened. In each of the embodiments described above,
Although the details of the initial value of the “play pointer” are not described, for example, the head position of the image information is set in “play pointer 1”, and the “bookmark position” is not specified in the other “play pointer”. May be set.

Further, in each of the above-described embodiments, details of the priority of rewriting the “reproduction pointer” are not described. For example, the “reproduction pointer” in which the “bookmark position” is not set has the highest priority. If "bookmark position" is set for all "play pointers", the priority order may be set in ascending order of the numbers of the "play pointers".
FIG. 16 is a functional block diagram of an embodiment corresponding to the first and third aspects of the present invention.

In the figure, the functions are shown in FIG.
Components that are the same as the functional blocks of the embodiments corresponding to the inventions described in 2 and 4 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and description thereof is omitted here. Note that the difference between the configuration of the present embodiment and the configuration corresponding to the first, second, and fourth aspects of the present invention is that a control unit 58 is provided instead of the control unit 52 shown in FIG. 8 in that the thumbnail processing unit 46 and the memory 53 shown in FIG.

As for the correspondence between the principle block diagram shown in FIG. 3 and the present embodiment, the image reproducing means 10 corresponds to the disk drive 44, the display processing section 48 and the monitor 50, and the position obtaining means 12 corresponds to the disk drive. 44, the position storage means 18 corresponds to the disk drive 44, and the recording medium A corresponds to the magnetic disk 45. FIG.
Is an operation flowchart of the embodiment according to the first and third aspects of the present invention.

The operation of the embodiment according to the first and third aspects of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. When recognizing that the reproduction of the image file has been requested, the control unit 54 requests the disk drive 44 to read the "reproduction pointer", similarly to the embodiments according to the first, second and fourth aspects of the present invention. .

In this embodiment, a single “playback pointer” is placed in the header area of the image file shown in FIG.
(Corresponding to “n = 1”), and the read start position is set in advance. The control unit 58
The value of the “reproduction pointer” thus read is given to the disk drive 44, and reading and reproduction of image information are performed by the disk drive 44 and the display processing unit 48.
And a request to the monitor 50 (S1 in FIG. 17).

When requested in this manner, the disk drive 44 updates the "read counter" and updates the "read counter" in the same manner as in the embodiment corresponding to the first, second and fourth aspects of the present invention. The image information is read from the position indicated by the “reproduction pointer”. The image information read out in this manner is expanded by the display processing unit 48 and stored in the frame memory, and the "play button" is displayed in the same manner as in the first, second, and fourth embodiments of the present invention. And the like, and are reproduced on the monitor 50 after being subjected to overlay processing.

The control unit 58 monitors the completion of the reproduction performed in this manner (reading of “EOF”) (S 17 in FIG. 17).
2) In the case where the reproduction is continuously performed (FIG. 17S
(NO side of No. 2), it is determined whether or not an external operation to the “stop button” is received via the touch panel 52 (S3 in FIG. 17). When the control unit 58 recognizes that reading stop has been requested by such a determination (FIG. 1).
7S3 (YES side), the disk drive 44 is requested to interrupt reading of the image file (S4 in FIG. 17) and to update the "playback pointer" (S5 in FIG. 17).

When requested in this manner, the disk drive 44 suspends reading of the image file,
The value of the “read counter” is written to the image file as the “reproduction pointer”. That is, when the reproduction is requested by the operator, the reproduction of the image file whose reproduction is interrupted is started from the interrupted position by referring to the “reproduction pointer”.

Although no thumbnail image is displayed in the present embodiment, "playback" is performed in the same manner as in the embodiment corresponding to the first, second, and fourth or first, second, and fifth aspects of the present invention. 1 located at the position indicated by the "pointer"
Image information corresponding to a frame may be displayed as a thumbnail image. In each of the above-described embodiments, the menu screen displayed on the monitor 50 is externally operated through the touch panel 52 to select an image file. However, the image file to be read is determined by the control unit 40 (5).
4, 58), the image file may be selected in any way provided that it is reliably recognized.

Further, in each of the above-described embodiments, an index in which the head address of an image file is written is provided, and the image file is accessed by referring to the index. , Not limited to such an index organization
Any device can be used as long as the image file is directly accessed.

In each of the above embodiments, the initialization of the “reproduction pointer” is not shown at all.
For example, by newly providing a “reset button” as a man-machine interface, the “reproduction pointer” may be initialized in response to an operator request. As described above, the operability is further improved by performing the initialization of the “playback pointer” under the initiative of the operator.

Further, in each of the above-described embodiments, the image file in which the image information is directly written in the image area is used. However, if the image information to be reproduced is obtained without fail, other image files are used. An image file that acquires image information by referring to the image information on the file may be used. Further, in each of the above-described embodiments, the position at which the reading of the image file is started and the position at which the reproduction is started match, but if the reproduction is reliably started from the position indicated by the “reproduction pointer”, For example, the position where the reading is started may be a position preceding the position where the reproduction should be started.

Further, in each of the above-described embodiments, only the "reproduction pointer" is read from the header area by the disk drive 44. However, when the reproduction is requested by the operator, all the additional information in the header area is deleted. The control unit 40 (54, 5
The “playback pointer” may be obtained by 8). FIG. 18 is a functional block diagram of an embodiment according to the sixth and seventh aspects of the present invention.

In the figure, components having the same functions as those of the embodiment according to the first, second and fifth aspects of the present invention shown in FIG. Description is omitted. The difference between the configuration of the present embodiment and the configuration according to the first, second, and fifth aspects of the present invention is that a control unit 60 is provided instead of the control unit 54 shown in FIG. The point is that an imaging unit 62 and a compression processing unit 64 connected to the control unit 54 via the bus 42 are provided.

As for the correspondence between the principle block diagrams shown in FIGS. 6 and 7 and this embodiment, the image writing means 30 corresponds to the imaging section 62, the compression processing section 64 and the disk drive 44, and the position designation means 32 Corresponds to the touch panel 52, the display processing unit 48, and the monitor 50, and the position recording unit 34 includes the disk drive 44 and the memory 53.
, The thumbnail recording means 36 corresponds to the disk drive 44, the thumbnail generating section 56 and the memory 53, and the recording medium A corresponds to the magnetic disk 45.

FIG. 19 is an operation flowchart of the embodiment according to the sixth and seventh aspects of the present invention. Hereinafter, the operation of the embodiment according to the sixth and seventh aspects of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

When presenting to the operator that recording is possible, the control unit 60 requests the imaging unit 62, the display processing unit 48, and the monitor 50 to generate and display an operation screen including a finder. When requested in this way, the imaging unit 62 captures an image of a subject to generate image information, and provides the image information to the display processing unit 48.

The display processing section 48 stores the image information given by the image pickup section 62 as image information for a finder at a predetermined position in the frame memory, and FIG.
And overlay processing with image information corresponding to the “record button”, “stop button” and “bookmark button” shown in FIG. When the monitor 50 receives the image information subjected to the overlay processing, the monitor 50 shown in FIG.
The display as shown in (d) is performed.

The control unit 60 determines whether or not an external operation on the “record button” via the touch panel 52 has been accepted. When the control unit 60 recognizes that the recording is requested by such a determination, the control unit 60 requests the imaging unit 62, the compression processing unit 64, and the disk drive 44 to generate an image file and write image information (FIG. 19
S1).

When requested in this manner, the disk drive 44 secures a fixed-length area corresponding to the header area and the thumbnail area shown in FIG. 15 on the magnetic disk 45, and initializes the "playback pointer" in the header area. Perform the conversion. In the disk drive 44, an image area is sequentially secured as the image information is written. The imaging unit 62 gives the generated image information to the compression processing unit 64, and the compression processing unit 64 compresses the given image information into a format that can be written on the magnetic disk 45 and gives it to the disk drive 44. In the present embodiment, the image information generated by the imaging unit 62 is also provided to the thumbnail generation unit 56.

The disk drive 44 includes a compression processing unit 64
When the image information is given, the image information is written in the above-described image area while managing the position in the image file in frame units. The disk drive 44
Is provided with a counter (hereinafter referred to as "write counter" for simplicity) for storing the position where image information is being written in frame units, and the "write counter"
Are sequentially updated to manage the position on the image file.

When the writing of the image information is performed in this manner, the control unit 60 determines whether or not an external operation to the “stop button” has been received via the touch panel 52 ( In FIG. 19S2), the completion of the writing is monitored. Further, when the writing is continuously performed (NO side in FIG. 19S2), the control unit 60 controls the touch panel 52 similarly to the embodiment corresponding to the invention described in claims 1, 2 and 4. It is determined whether or not an external operation on the “bookmark button” has been received via the display unit (FIG. 19S)
3).

Further, every time the control unit 60 recognizes that the "bookmark button" has been externally operated by such a determination, the control unit 60 sequentially stores the value of the "write counter" as the "bookmark position" in the memory 53 ( Together with FIG. 19S4)
The thumbnail generation unit 56 is requested to generate a thumbnail image (S5 in FIG. 19). When requested in such a manner, the thumbnail generation unit 56 converts the image information provided from the imaging unit 62 into a pixel density in units corresponding to one frame, and generates image information corresponding to a thumbnail image.

The image information of the thumbnail image generated in this manner is stored in the memory 53 by the control unit 60 in association with the “bookmark position”. When the control unit 60 recognizes that an external operation to the “stop button” has been received via the touch panel 52 (YES in FIG. 19 S2).
Side), requests the disk drive 44 to stop writing image information, writes a “playback pointer” (S7 in FIG. 19), and “image information of thumbnail image”.
(S8 in FIG. 19).

When requested in this manner, the disk drive 44 writes “EOF” at the end position of the image area, and acquires the additional information such as the shooting date and time and the total number of frames given based on a predetermined procedure. Writes information to the header area. The disk drive 44 sequentially acquires “bookmark positions” from the memory 53 and writes the “bookmark positions” in ascending order from “reproduction pointer 1” in the header area. Further, the disk drive 44 acquires from the memory 53 the image information of the thumbnail image individually corresponding to the “playback pointer” written in this way, and writes the image information in the thumbnail area as “image information of the thumbnail image”.

That is, the “bookmark position” set at the time of recording is written as a “reproduction pointer” on the magnetic disk, and can be used as a candidate for a reproduction start position. In addition, since the thumbnail image corresponding to the “bookmark position” is also written on the magnetic disk, it is possible to present a position that is a candidate of the reproduction start position to the operator as a thumbnail image.

In the present embodiment, the image pickup section 62 is provided to generate image information. However, image information to be written to the magnetic disk 45 may be given from outside. In each of the embodiments except the embodiments corresponding to the first and third aspects of the present invention, the “bookmark position” is stored in the memory 53 until the end of reading or writing of the image file. The control unit 40 (54, 60) notifies the disk drive 44 that the "button" has been externally operated.
The “bookmark position” may be held in the block 4.

Further, in each of the above-described embodiments, the magnetic disk 45 is used as a recording medium, but any type of recording medium such as an optical disk may be used as long as the recording medium can be directly accessed.

In each of the above embodiments, the monitor 5
When the “play button”, “record button”, “stop button”, and “bookmark button” displayed through “0” are externally operated through the touch panel 52, a request for playback, recording, and stop, and Is performed, but these buttons may be provided as hardware.

Further, in each of the above-described embodiments, the image reproducing apparatus provided with the monitor in a part of the housing is shown.
The image reproducing apparatus and the image recording apparatus to which the present invention is applied are not limited to such a configuration, and may be configured to provide image information to an external monitor via an image terminal or the like. Further, in each of the above-described embodiments, the format when the position on the image file is written to the “reproduction pointer” is not shown at all, but for example, the magnetic disk 45
Any format may be used as long as the start position of the reproduction, such as the physical address or the logical address, is reliably indicated.

[0085]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention, even when the same image file is reproduced again, reproduction is started from a predetermined position. Also,
According to the second aspect of the present invention, the reproduction is started from any position of the image file as long as the position is designated by the operator.

Further, according to the third aspect of the present invention, when an image file whose reproduction has been interrupted is read again, reproduction is started from the interrupted position without performing duplicate reproduction. . According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, when the reproduction position of the image file is specified, the image of the reproduction position is confirmed in advance by the thumbnail image, so that the desired reproduction position can be specified quickly and reliably.

Further, in the invention according to the fifth aspect, since a thumbnail image is generated when a reproduction position is designated via the position designation means, there is no need to generate a thumbnail image unless the reproduction position is changed. In addition, the number of times of generating thumbnail images is reduced, and the time required for displaying thumbnails is reduced. Therefore, in the image reproducing apparatus to which these inventions are applied, reproduction can be reliably performed from any position on the image file.

According to the invention described in claim 6, the position designated at the time of writing the image file can be used as the position at which reproduction is started by the image reproducing device. Further, in the invention according to claim 7,
The thumbnail image generated at the time of writing the image file can be used by the image reproducing device when selecting a reproduction position. Therefore, in the image recording apparatus to which these inventions are applied, the starting position of the reproduction performed by the image reproducing apparatus can be designated at the time of writing the image file.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a principle block diagram of the invention according to claim 1;

FIG. 2 is a principle block diagram of the invention according to claim 2;

FIG. 3 is a principle block diagram of the invention according to claim 3;

FIG. 4 is a principle block diagram of the invention according to claim 4;

FIG. 5 is a principle block diagram of the invention according to claim 5;

FIG. 6 is a principle block diagram of the invention according to claim 6;

FIG. 7 is a principle block diagram of the invention according to claim 7;

FIG. 8 is a functional block diagram of an embodiment corresponding to the first, second and fourth aspects of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is an operation flowchart of an embodiment according to the first, second and fourth aspects of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a display example of a monitor.

FIG. 11 is a diagram (continued) showing a display example of a monitor.

FIG. 12 is a diagram (1) illustrating a configuration example of an image file.

FIG. 13 is a functional block diagram of an embodiment corresponding to the first, second and fifth aspects of the present invention;

FIG. 14 is an operation flowchart of the embodiment according to the first, second, and fifth aspects of the present invention.

FIG. 15 is a diagram (2) illustrating a configuration example of an image file;

FIG. 16 is a functional block diagram of an embodiment corresponding to the first and third aspects of the present invention.

FIG. 17 is an operation flowchart of the embodiment according to the first and third aspects of the present invention.

FIG. 18 is a functional block diagram of an embodiment corresponding to the inventions according to claims 6 and 7;

FIG. 19 is an operation flowchart of an embodiment corresponding to the inventions according to claims 6 and 7;

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Image reproduction means 12 Position acquisition means 14, 32 Position designation means 16, 34 Position recording means 18 Position storage means 20 Thumbnail means 22, 28 Position selection means 24, 36 Thumbnail recording means 26 Thumbnail acquisition means 30 Image writing means 40, 54 , 58, 60 control unit 42 control bus 44 disk drive 45 magnetic disk 46 thumbnail processing unit 48 display processing unit 50 monitor 52 touch panel 53 memory 56 thumbnail generation unit 62 imaging unit 64 compression processing unit A recording medium

Claims (7)

[Claims] An image reproducing means for directly accessing an image file on a recording medium to read and reproduce the image file, and reproduces the image file from a storage location determined based on a file format of the image file. A position acquisition unit for acquiring position information indicating a position, wherein the image reproduction unit starts reproduction of the image file from a reproduction position indicated by the position information when the position information is acquired by the position acquisition unit. An image reproducing apparatus characterized by the above-mentioned. 2. The image reproducing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a reproduction position of the image file is designated at a timing of a designation operation given from the outside while the image file is being reproduced by the image reproducing means. An image reproducing apparatus comprising: a position specifying unit; and a position recording unit configured to store a reproduction position specified through the position specifying unit as the position information in the storage location. 3. The image reproducing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: a position storage unit, wherein the image reproduction unit interrupts reproduction of the image file at an externally given interruption operation timing, and the position storage unit An image reproducing apparatus, wherein the position of an image file whose reproduction is interrupted by the image reproducing means is stored in the storage location as the position information. 4. The image reproducing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein when the position information is acquired by the position acquiring unit, a thumbnail image is generated from a reproduced image at a reproduction position indicated by the position information, and the thumbnail image is generated. Thumbnail display means for displaying a thumbnail, and position selection means for specifying a reproduction position in association with a thumbnail image selected by an external selection operation, wherein the image reproduction means reproduces the reproduction specified by the position selection means. An image reproducing apparatus, wherein reproduction of the image file is started from a position. 5. The image reproducing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein a thumbnail image is generated from a reproduced image at a reproduction position designated via said position designation means, and said thumbnail image is associated with said reproduction position. Thumbnail recording means for storing the thumbnail image in the image file, acquiring the thumbnail image from the image file,
A thumbnail acquisition unit that displays the thumbnail image as a thumbnail; and a position selection unit that identifies a reproduction position corresponding to the thumbnail image selected by an external selection operation from among the reproduction positions acquired by the position acquisition unit. The image reproducing apparatus, wherein the image reproducing means starts reproducing the image file from a reproduction position specified by the position selecting means. 6. An image writing means for writing image information given from outside as an image file to a recording medium to be directly accessed, and a designation given from outside in the process of writing the image file by said image writing means. Position specifying means for specifying a position on the image file at an operation timing; and a storage location determined based on a file format of the image file with respect to position information indicating the position specified via the position specifying means. An image recording apparatus comprising: 7. The image recording apparatus according to claim 6, wherein a thumbnail image is generated from an image written at a position designated via said position designation means, and said thumbnail image is associated with said position. An image recording apparatus, comprising: a thumbnail recording unit that stores a thumbnail in a file.