JPH10164410A - Digital electronic camera - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a digital camera having an image edit and communication functions that communicates image information, in which an image for communication not handled through a personal computer can be selected visually. SOLUTION: During image communication, arbitrary image information in an image memory 16 is written in an image memory 7. The image information is displayed on a liquid crystal display monitor 12. Furthermore, an OSD 10 generates character information. The character information is also displayed on the liquid crystal display monitor 12. On the other hand, the image information is outputted from the image memory 7, and the character information is outputted from the OSD 10 to a coding circuit 13. The coding circuit 13 and a communication circuit 14 convert the format of the information into a format suitable for communication with an external personal computer. A terminal 15 is connected to a telephone line. Thus, the image is communicated.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a digital electronic camera having an image editing function and a communication function.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Recently, a digital electronic camera for recording a photographed image in a semiconductor memory device has been receiving attention. The main purpose of digital electronic cameras is to take captured images into a personal computer and edit and process them as image file information.

[0003] Communication between personal computers using a telephone line is rapidly spreading. Conventionally, information communicated between personal computers is only character information. However, with the spread of digital cameras, communication of image information as well as character information has been simplified, and communication for visual information exchange is becoming mainstream.

Hereinafter, communication between personal computers using a conventional digital electronic camera will be described with reference to an example. FIG.
Is an external view showing a configuration of a conventional example. 101 is a digital camera, 2 is a removable card-shaped recording medium, 3 is a telephone line, 104 is a card throttle, 105 is a personal computer,
106 is a modem. When performing communication of image information, the user first records the image information on the card-shaped recording medium 2 by the digital camera 101 at a place where he or she is away. Next, the personal computer 1 is used at home or office via the card throttle 104.
At 05, image information is taken. Then, trimming processing and insertion of character information are performed by image editing software operating on a personal computer. Then, using the communication software, the modem 10
The communication of image information with an external personal computer is performed by the telephone line 3 through 6.

[0005]

As described above, digital cameras often employ a card recording medium as a detachable recording medium. However, the current situation of personal computers is that there are few desktop personal computers with card throttles.

Also, when image information is taken into a personal computer, images in a card recording medium are often managed by alphanumeric codes, and it often takes time to select a desired image.

Further, when editing an image and communicating with an external personal computer, dedicated image editing software, communication software and a modem operating on the personal computer are required. When image information is communicated between personal computers using a conventional digital camera, the above problems remain.

An object of the present invention is to provide an image editing function and a communication function in a digital camera on the premise of communication of image information between personal computers, wherein a desired image to be communicated can be visually selected without using a personal computer. And a digital camera having the same.

[0009]

In order to achieve the above object, an image pickup means for converting a subject image into an electric signal by a solid-state image pickup device, and a storage means for processing the electric signal and storing the same as image information in a storage medium. And a character creating means for creating character information, a display means for displaying the image information or the character information, and an editing means for editing the image information or the character information. A digital electronic camera comprising communication means for communicating image information and character information displayed on a display means via a telephone line.

According to the above configuration, it is possible to realize a digital camera capable of visually selecting a desired image, editing the image, and performing a communication function when communicating image information without using a personal computer.

[0011]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is an external configuration diagram of a digital camera of the present invention. 1 is a digital camera, 2 is a removable card recording medium, and 3 is a telephone line. still,
The liquid crystal display in the digital camera 1 shows an example when communicating image information.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the digital camera of the present invention. In the figure, 4 is a lens, 5 is an image pickup device such as a CCD, 6 is a signal processing device for creating image information, 7 is an image memory for storing at least one image information, 8 is a microcomputer for system management, 9
Is an operation switch operated by a user, 10 is an OSD for creating character information, 11 is a display circuit for displaying information on a liquid crystal monitor, 12 is a liquid crystal monitor for displaying image information and character information, and 13 is a code for encoding information. The encoding circuit 14 is a communication circuit for communicating with an external personal computer, and 15 is a terminal connected to a telephone line.

A specific operation of the digital camera having the above-described configuration during photographing and communication will be described with reference to FIGS. here,
The user operates with the operation switch 9.

At the time of photographing an image, a subject formed by the lens 4 is converted into an electric signal by an image pickup device 5 such as a CCD. The signal processing circuit 6 creates image information from the electric signal,
Write to the image memory 7. Here, in the shooting standby state, the image information is output to the display circuit 11. The display circuit 11 inputs image information and displays it on the liquid crystal monitor 12. The user takes a picture while checking the image on the LCD monitor 12. When photographing is performed, the image information recorded in the image memory 7 is written to the image memory 16 in the removable card recording medium 2. Image capturing is performed as described above.

At the time of image communication, image information that the user wants to communicate among the image information recorded in the image memory 16 is written in the image memory 7. The image information is displayed on the liquid crystal monitor 12 via the display circuit 11. Also O
The SD 10 creates character information according to a command of the microcomputer 8. Character information is also displayed on the liquid crystal monitor 12 via the display circuit 11. On the other hand, image information is output from the image memory 7 and character information is output from the OSD 10 to the encoding circuit 13. The encoding circuit 13 and the subsequent communication circuit 14 convert the information into a format for communicating with an external personal computer. Then, the terminal 15 is connected to a telephone line.

Here, the user can arbitrarily select the layout of the image information and the character as shown in FIG. Further, the type of character information can be arbitrarily selected as shown in FIG. Further, the communication partner can be arbitrarily selected as shown in FIG. Image communication is performed as described above.

[0017]

As described above, in the digital camera of the present invention, a digital camera having an image editing function and a communication function capable of selecting and confirming an image, a message and a communication partner to be communicated at a glance without using a personal computer. Has the effect of realizing

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an external configuration diagram of a digital camera of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a digital camera according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of selecting a layout of image information and characters.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of selecting a type of character information.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of selecting a communication partner.

FIG. 6 is an external configuration diagram showing an example of a conventional electronic camera.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Digital camera 2 Recording medium 3 Telephone line 4 Lens 5 CCD 6 Signal processing circuit 7 Image memory 8 Microcomputer 9 Operation switch 10 OSD 11 Display circuit 12 LCD monitor 13 Encoding circuit 14 Communication circuit 15 Terminal

Claims (1)

[Claims] An imaging unit for converting a subject image into an electric signal by a solid-state imaging device; a storage unit for processing the electric signal and storing the image as image information in a storage medium; A display unit that displays the image information or the character information; and an editing unit that edits the image information or the character information. The image information or the character information edited by the editing unit and displayed on the display unit is displayed. A digital electronic camera comprising communication means for communicating via a telephone line.