JPH10336492A - Digital camera - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide the digital cemera that makes a status display by which the operating state of the camera is indicated clearly for the user. SOLUTION: When a slide switch 171 is slided in a direction opposite to the arrow 175, power is interrupted and an optical path to a view finder 111 is shut. Furthermore, a view finder 112 is provided with a view port 113 to view an object and an LED 114 that informs the operating state of the digital camera in the image pickup state to the user by a lighted color. Thus, when the user peeping the view finder 112 cannot see through a front side, the user easily recognizes it that the main power supply is interrupted and since the lighted color of the LED 114 and the operating state at image pickup state are cross-referenced with each other, the user easily recognizes the operating state of the camera at the image pickup state without diverting its eye from the view finder 112.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention relates to a digital camera, and more particularly, to a digital camera that specifies the operation state of the camera to a user.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, digital cameras (electronic still cameras) have been developed and sold and are becoming popular.

A digital camera is configured to photoelectrically convert image pickup light to obtain image data, record the image data on a recording medium, and output the image data to an external image processing device such as a personal computer (hereinafter, a personal computer). Performs print image data creation processing, outputs the created print image data to a printer, and prints / reproduces a captured image on paper.

Many digital cameras are provided with a liquid crystal display for displaying an object to be imaged and displaying a reproduced image from image data recorded on a recording medium. The image data obtained by photoelectric conversion is subjected to compression processing. Recorded on a recording medium. The compression processing is usually performed according to the JPEG standard (hereinafter, JPEG compression).

[0005]

A digital camera operates on an electronic circuit, and image data is also stored on a recording medium. The difference between a conventional camera and a digital camera in apparent operation is that in the conventional camera, the time until the incident light from the subject is exposed to the film and recorded as a torture image is only a moment, The camera takes several seconds to record an image on a recording medium as JPEG image data through signal conversion, data compression, etc., and shutter sound and film winding because there is no mechanical operation unlike a conventional camera. Since there is no mechanical sound such as noise, the user cannot grasp the current operating state of the digital camera at the time of imaging, and may have anxiety or may get lost in operation, leading to operational mistakes There was a problem that there is.

In addition, since a digital camera does not require a shutter, there is a problem that it is not immediately possible to distinguish between switch-on and switch-off when the viewfinder is open.

In the conventional camera, the operation status of the camera can be grasped by mechanical sound such as shutter sound at the time of image capturing. Therefore, it is sufficient to display the status by flashing a green LED to indicate that flash photography is possible. However, in order to solve the above-described problems, in addition to the power on / off state display, an auto focus display, an exposure lock state (a state in which the shutter button of the camera is half-pressed), and a processing in progress ( It is desirable to configure the camera so that the user can easily grasp the photographable state of the camera in addition to the state display of “impossible to photograph”.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and has as its object to provide a digital camera which displays a state in which the operation state of the camera is clearly displayed to a user.

[0009]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, a digital camera according to the present invention is provided with an image pickup system mechanism in close proximity to a viewfinder provided at the back of the digital camera to secure a subject in a field of view. A light-emitting display device for displaying the operation state of the device in association with the display color.

A main power switch is provided on the front of the digital camera. When the main power switch is off, a viewfinder provided on the back of the digital camera is provided to secure a subject in a field of view. The subject gaze optical path is interrupted by a part of the main power switch.

[0011]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an internal circuit and an external mechanism of a digital camera according to the present invention.

The digital camera 100 has an internal circuit 110
(See FIG. 4 for details) and external mechanisms 120 to 170. An external mechanism is an imaging system mechanism 120 including an optical lens, a viewfinder, a shutter button, and the like,
A set value display / input mechanism 130 for displaying or inputting a set value or the like at the time of image capturing; displaying an image at the time of image capture and a reproduced image or menu of recorded image data; selecting an image display method and menu; And a signal input / output mechanism 150 including input / output terminals for signals with external devices, and a media mechanism 160 including an input / output mechanism for an extended medium such as a memory card. Power supply system 170 comprising a battery, a battery and a switch mechanism
It is composed of

FIGS. 2A and 2B are external configuration diagrams of the digital camera. FIG. 2A shows the configuration of the front side, and FIG. 2B shows the configuration of the back side.

An optical lens 11 is located on the right side of the front surface.
1 and an aperture 182 as an incident optical path of the optical lens 111.
And an opening 17 for the viewfinder 112
3 is provided.

A slide switch 171 is a main power switch, and has an external mechanism and an internal circuit 1 excluding an image display input system.
10 is supplied with power from a battery.

When the slide switch 171 is slid in the direction of the arrow 175, the power is turned on. When the slide switch 171 is slid in the opposite direction, the power is turned off, and at the same time, the optical path to the optical lens 111 and the viewfinder 112 is cut off.

A viewfinder 112 is provided on the upper left portion of the rear surface (when viewed from the front, the upper right portion (position where the optical path of the gaze opening 113 coincides with the position of the opening 173)). An opening 113 and an LED 114 for notifying the user of the operation state of the digital camera at the time of imaging by a luminescent color are provided.

In the viewfinder 112, when the main power switch is off, the optical path of the gaze opening 113 is blocked by the slide switch 171. Therefore, if the user looks into the viewfinder 112 and cannot look forward, the main power is turned off. Can be easily known.

Further, since the color of the LED 114 can be associated with the operation state at the time of imaging as described later, the user can easily recognize the operation state at the time of imaging without looking away from the viewfinder 112. (See Fig. 5 for details).

A power switch 172 for image display / input is provided on the upper right side of the rear surface. The power switch 172 is provided separately from the main power switch 171 to avoid consumption of the battery because the power consumption of the liquid crystal display 141 for image display is large, and the user switches on when image display / input is required. It is configured as follows. Further, in order to avoid forgetting to turn off the power switch, the power switch 172 is also turned off when the main power switch 171 is turned off.

Further, a liquid crystal display 141 for displaying an image being picked up or a reproduced image and a menu is provided on the right side of the rear surface, and a zoom button 142 for the displayed image is provided on the left side thereof. Alternatively, buttons 143 to 143 for performing menu selection and display operation
146 are provided.

FIGS. 3A and 3B are external configuration views of the digital camera 100. FIG. 3A shows the top surface, FIG. 3B shows the bottom portion, FIG. 3C shows the right side surface, and FIG.

A shutter button 115 is provided on the upper surface. Further, a small liquid crystal display 131 for displaying set values for imaging is provided near the center of the upper surface, and set buttons 132 to 135 for display are provided on the right side thereof.

A battery storage port 175 is provided on the bottom right side, and a memory card insertion port 162 as an extended recording medium is provided on the right side thereof.

On the left side, a digital data input / output terminal 1
51 and video output terminals 152 and 153 are provided.

On the right side, PCMC as an extended recording medium
An IA memory card insertion slot 161 is provided.

FIG. 4 shows the internal circuit 1 of the digital camera 100.
FIG. 10 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of the tenth embodiment.

In FIG. 4, the digital camera 100 converts the image pickup light from the image pickup system 120 into an electric signal, processes the electric signal, and outputs it to the frame memory 6 as multi-valued (R, G, B) raster data (image data). And a control unit 4 that controls the operation of the set value display input system 130 and the image display / input system 140, the signal processing unit 7 and the recording medium control unit 8, and the execution of image processing and image compression processing. A frame memory 6, 6 ', a recording medium control unit 8 for controlling writing of image data to a recording medium or an extended recording medium and reading control of recorded image data, and an external device of a personal computer or a printer. A serial interface 12 for transmitting and receiving data.

The control unit 4 includes a CPU, a RAM and an R
It is composed of an MPU having an OM.

The frame memory 6 is normally used as an image display memory of the liquid crystal display 141, and the image data is developed as a bitmap image.
Further, the frame memory 6 'is provided with a liquid crystal display 141.
Is used as a menu display memory. At the time of display on the liquid crystal display 141, the contents of the frame memories 6 and 6 'are superimposed and displayed.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of the circuit configuration of the LED 114 provided in the viewfinder 112.
The ED 114 is a light emitting diode R that emits light when energized.
(Red), G (green), B (blue) and translucent spheres containing them (eg, glass or plastic spheres)
114 ', the light emitting diodes R, G, B are connected to the conductors r, g, b, respectively, and the conductors r, g, b are used alone or individually by the light emitting diode conducting switches (not shown). B can be energized to any two of them.

Thus, the LED 114 is connected to the diode R
The LED emits light in such a manner as red when energized, green when energized G, blue when energized B, orange when energized R and G, and purple when energized R and B. Here, when the light (white light) of the small lamp 141 ″ is applied from the direction of the arrow 102,
14 looks bright (lights up), and when no light is applied, it looks dark (light off) because it is only the amount of light emitted by the diode.

Here, for example, when the LED 114 is lit in green, the power is on. When the LED 114 is turned off, the power is off.
The state at the time of shooting can be associated with each color, such as when it is lit in red, such as during recording processing or data transmission processing.

Note that, instead of the above-described method of clearly indicating the operation state of the camera at the time of shooting using the LED, an audio playback device,
An audio memory and an infrared sensing device are provided in the digital camera. When the user's face approaches the viewfinder, the approach is detected by the infrared sensing device, and audio data corresponding to the operation state of the camera at that time is read from the audio memory. It is also possible to adopt a configuration in which the user is notified of the removal and playback by the audio playback device to notify the user.

[0035]

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing an operation example of the control unit 4 and the LED 114 of the digital camera of the present invention.

When the main power supply is turned on, the control unit 4 controls the light emitting diode energizing switch to control the light emitting diode energizing switch so that only the conducting wire g is energized, thereby causing the light emitting diode G to emit light and turning on the lamp 114 ″. Lights up,
The LED 114 is turned on in green, and when the main power is off, the lamp 114 "is turned off (S1).

Next, the control unit 4 detects a state signal from the focusing mechanism inside the image pickup mechanism, and when the auto focus or the exposure lock is set, the light emitting diode is turned on so as to turn on the conductors r and g. By controlling the switches to cause the light emitting diodes R and G to emit light and the lamp 114 "
Is turned on, the LED 112 is turned on in orange, and the process returns to step S1. If it is not the auto focus or the exposure lock, the process proceeds to step S3 (S2).

The control section 4 checks the status signal and, when detecting that the digital camera is processing, such as recording of image data, controls the light emitting diode energizing switch so as to energize only the conducting wire r and controls the light emitting diode R Is emitted, the lamp 114 ″ is turned on, the LED 112 is turned on in red, and the process returns to step S1. If the process is not being performed, the process also returns to step S1.

In the above-described embodiment, the operation state of the camera at the time of image pickup is described in two states, that is, autofocus or exposure lock, and whether the camera is in the process of other processing. In the same manner as described above, the operation state of the camera at the time of image capturing can be displayed in correspondence with the emission color (display color).

Although the embodiment of the present invention has been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and it goes without saying that various modifications can be made.

[0041]

As described above, according to the present invention, an L image display device capable of displaying a plurality of colors in the immediate vicinity of the viewfinder.
Since the ED is provided and the color of the LED can be associated with the operation state at the time of imaging, the user can easily recognize the operation state at the time of imaging without looking away from the viewfinder.

When the main power switch of the viewfinder is turned off, the optical path of the gaze port is cut off. Therefore, the user looks into the viewfinder and knows that the main power is off if he cannot gaze ahead. be able to.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an internal circuit and an external mechanism of a digital camera according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an external configuration diagram (front and rear views) of the digital camera.

FIG. 3 is an external configuration diagram (a top view, a bottom view, and a side view) of the digital camera.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of an internal circuit of the digital camera.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of a circuit configuration of an LED provided in a viewfinder.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an operation example of a control unit and an LED of the digital camera.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 100 digital camera 112 viewfinder 113 gaze opening (subject gaze opening) 114 LED (light-emitting display device) 171 slide switch (main power switch)

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A digital camera that photoelectrically converts image pickup light and then records it as image data on a recording medium. The image pickup is performed in the vicinity of a viewfinder provided on the back of the digital camera to secure a subject in a field of view. A digital camera comprising a light-emitting display device for displaying an operation state of a system mechanism in association with a display color. 2. A digital camera for recording image data on a recording medium after photoelectrically converting imaging light, comprising: a main power switch provided on a front surface of the digital camera;
When the main power switch is in an off state, a subject gaze optical path of a viewfinder provided on the back of the digital camera for securing the subject in the field of view is blocked by a part of the main power switch. Digital camera.