JPH11220648A - Electronic still camera - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To select a moment which a user really wants to photograph after the release of a shutter by preliminarily storing plural images before the release of the shutter in a memory. SOLUTION: Image data fetched from an input part 1 are displayed through an IPP(image pre-processor) 2 on a monitor 3. A changeover switch 12 is switched to the IPP 2 side at the time of fetching an image, and switched to a memory 4 side at the time of viewing the fetched image. When a release button 9 is pushed, one data picture at the moment when the release button 9 is pushed are written in a buffer memory 6 in the last place. At this time, plural compressed image data until the moment when the release button 9 is pushed and one compressed image data after that moment are stored in the memory 6. The compressed image data are transmitted from the buffer memory 6 to a compressing/decompressing part 5 in the order of the old picture data for displaying the fetched images, and the expanded image data are transmitted to the memory 4 for one image, and displayed on the monitor 3.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an electronic still camera, and more particularly, to a digital electronic still camera.
For example, the present invention can be applied to an image input device using an image sensor.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram showing an essential part of an example of a general digital electronic still camera. As shown, an image signal obtained through an image sensor 22 through a lens 21 is shown. Analog signal processing is performed by the analog unit 23,
It is converted into a digital image signal by the A / D converter 24,
After that, various signal processing is performed in the digital signal processing unit 25, and the image data is stored in the memory 26. The monitor 27 displays an image obtained from an input unit such as a liquid crystal, and an image stored in the memory 26 is captured by a release button 28.

[0003]

As described above, in a conventional general still camera or electronic still camera, when a user encounters a scene to be photographed, it takes a certain amount of time to recognize the scene and press the shutter. Requires
It was very difficult to capture the moment I wanted to shoot. That is, as shown in FIG. 7, it takes a time Δt from when the user makes a decision to “take a picture” to when the user presses the release button 28 which is a means for releasing the shutter. For this reason, a scene that is Δt later than the scene that one really wants to shoot is taken.

[0004] In particular, in the case of a moving object, the shutter must be released so as to be able to predict the movement and capture a scene desired to be taken, which places a burden on the user. In addition, we had no choice but to expect chance by chance.

[0005] It is possible to search slowly later if a video camera, such as a video camera, continuously shoots and records it on a magnetic tape, but unfortunately the current video camera has a low resolution, so that it cannot be used as a still image. I'm still dissatisfied with the clarity, and the amount of data is so large that it's hard to find.

According to the present invention, in order to solve the conventional problems as described above, a plurality of images before the shutter is released are stored in a memory in advance, and the user really wants to take a picture after the shutter is released. It is intended to be able to choose a moment.

[0007]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an optical lens for forming an image of reflected light from a subject, and an image pickup device for converting a subject image formed by the optical lens into an analog image signal. Digital electronic still comprising an imaging means, an analog signal processing means for processing an analog image signal, an analog / digital conversion means for converting an analog image signal into a digital image signal, and a digital signal processing means for processing a digital image signal In the camera, when the shutter is released, a plurality of images before the shutter is released are stored in a memory in advance, so that when the shutter is released, the plurality of images before the shutter is released are stored in advance. By storing it in memory, it is possible to obtain the image of the moment the user really wants That.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, the user can freely set a plurality of sheets before the shutter is released, so that the user can set a plurality of sheets before the shutter is released. Can be set freely, so that it is possible to obtain the image of the moment you really want with the shutter timing that suits you.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, a user can freely set a time for capturing a plurality of images before the shutter is released, and thus a plurality of images before the shutter is released can be set. By allowing the user to freely set the time for capturing the image, it is possible to obtain the image of the moment that he or she really wants with the shutter timing that suits him.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the second or third aspect, when setting the number of images or the time, the compression rate of the image is changed according to the number of images or the time. Is set, the compression rate of the image can be changed according to the number of images or the time, so that it is possible to obtain an image at the moment of the moment you really want without increasing the buffer memory.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, a plurality of images at a time slightly before the moment when the shutter is released can be confirmed on the monitor on the spot, and the image desired by the user can be freely selected. The feature is that, by being able to check multiple images on the monitor a little before the moment when the shutter is released (several seconds to zero commas), you can select the image on the spot, An image can be obtained.

[0012]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS According to the present invention, in order to obtain image data before a shutter is released, compressed image data is sequentially stored in a buffer memory until a release button is pressed.
After the release button is pressed, the image data in the buffer memory is sequentially searched, and necessary image data can be stored in the memory.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram for explaining an embodiment of an electronic still camera according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the present invention. As shown in FIG. The captured image data (S12) is internally digitized and is IPP (Image Preprocessor)
2 so that it can be easily processed by
From GB to YUV). The converted image data is subjected to data compression by the compression / decompression unit 5 capable of performing data processing sufficiently quickly (S13). The compressed image data is sequentially written into the buffer memory 6 (S1).
4). Here, the buffer memory 6 is managed by the CPU 8 and, when it is determined that the compressed image data of the memory capacity has been stored, the buffer memory 6 is rewritten to the new compressed image data in order from the old compressed image data. This operation is repeated until the release button 9 is pressed.

On the other hand, the image data taken in from the input unit 1 is always displayed on the monitor 3 through the IPP 2.
Reference numeral 12 denotes a changeover switch, which is used when capturing an image.
When viewing the captured image on the PP2 side, the memory 4 is switched. When the release button 9 is pressed (S1
5) From the moment when the release button 9 is pressed, one image data is finally written in the buffer memory 6, and the writing is completed. At this time, a plurality of compressed image data up to the moment when the release button 9 is pressed and one compressed image data after the moment when the release button 9 is pressed are stored in the buffer memory 6 (S16). .

Next, in order to display the captured image,
The compressed image data is sent from the buffer memory 6 to the compression / decompression unit 5 in chronological order. The image data (S18) expanded from the compression / expansion unit 5 is sent to the memory 4 for one image and then displayed on the monitor 3 (S19). At this time, the buffer memory 6, the compression / expansion unit 5, and the memory 4
The switch 12 is controlled by the memory 4
Side, and one image is displayed on the monitor 3. The user can sequentially view the images stored in the buffer memory 6 through the monitor 3 by the image sequential display means (not shown) (S20). Then, one image to be retained is selected. The selected image information (S21) goes from the CPU 8 to the buffer memory 6, and
Only the selected image compressed data is sent to the memory 7 (S22) and stored. Thereafter, the buffer memory 6 is released (S23).

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the state of the compressed image data stored in the buffer memory 6 when the time is taken on the horizontal axis. The hatched portion indicates the time during which the compressed image data is written to the buffer memory 6. Represents. When the power is turned on, the compressed image data is sequentially written into the buffer memory 6, and when the buffer memory 6 becomes full, old data is sequentially rewritten with new data. Now, _assuming that the time when the release button 9 is turned on is t ₀ , the image compressed data up to −t _n and the image compressed data up to t after the release button 9 is turned on are stored in the buffer memory 6. It will be accumulated. For example, the current time When the time -t ₁ before being release button ON, so that the buffer memory 6 are accumulated image compression data up -t n _{+ 1.}

In the present invention, the number setting means 10
The number of images stored in the buffer memory 6 until the release button 9 is pressed can be set ((S1 in FIG. 2).
1)) Alternatively, the time that is stored in the buffer memory 6 before the release button 9 is pressed can be set by the time setting means 11.

For example, FIG. 4A shows a standard number of sheets (or time), and the number of sheets is n (or time is t). At this time, the number of sheets taken into the buffer memory 6 is n (or the number of sheets taken at time t + 1). When the user sets the number of image data to be captured before the release button 9 is pressed to 2n (or the time is 2t), the result is as shown in FIG. At this time, the number of sheets taken into the buffer memory 6 is 2n (or time 2t).
+1). However, since the buffer memory 6 has a finite fixed size, when the set number (or set time) is changed, it is dealt with by changing the compression ratio of the image data.

At this time, the area for taking in each compressed image data in the buffer memory is changed according to the setting conditions as shown in FIG. For ease of explanation, FIG.
As shown in (A), the number of sheets of the standard setting is three. Assuming that the user sets the number to six, as shown in FIG. 5B, the compression ratio of each image changes, and six images can be captured in the same buffer memory.

In the embodiment, the number of sheets after the release button is pressed is one. However, the number of sheets may be plural or none. Further, the number of sheets that can be selected from the buffer memory 6 is one, but a plurality of sheets may be used. Then power on
However, it is needless to say that a mode in which an image is taken after pressing the release button 9 and a mode of the present invention can be provided so that the user can freely select the mode.

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to obtain an image at the moment the user really wants, which cannot be realized by the conventional still camera.

[0022]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an optical lens which forms an image of reflected light from a subject, and an image pickup means having an image pickup device which converts a subject image formed by the optical lens into an analog image signal. A digital electronic still camera including analog signal processing means for processing an analog image signal, analog / digital conversion means for converting an analog image signal to a digital image signal, and digital signal processing means for processing a digital image signal; When the shutter is released, a plurality of images before the shutter is released are stored in the memory in advance, so that it is possible to obtain an image at the moment the user really wants.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, the user can freely set a plurality of sheets before the shutter is released, so that an image at a moment that the user really wants can be obtained with a shutter timing that suits the user. It becomes possible.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, the user can freely set the time for capturing a plurality of images before the shutter is released. Images can be obtained.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the second or third aspect of the present invention, when setting the number of images or time, the compression rate of the image can be changed according to the number of images or time. Instead, it is possible to obtain the image of the moment you really want.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, a plurality of images at a time (several seconds to zero comma several seconds) slightly before the moment when the shutter is released can be confirmed on the monitor by the monitor display, and Since you can freely select the image you want, you can select the image on the spot and get the image you really want.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a main part configuration diagram for explaining an embodiment of an electronic still camera according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the electronic still camera shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a state of compressed image data stored in a buffer memory.

FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining the relationship between the standard number of sheets (or time) and the number of sheets (or time) taken into a buffer.

FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining the relationship between the standard number of sheets (three sheets) and the number of sheets set by the user (six sheets).

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of a general digital electronic still camera.

FIG. 7 is a diagram for explaining an imaging operation of a conventional digital electronic still camera.

[Brief description of reference numerals]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Input part, 2 ... IPP, 3 ... Monitor, 4, 7 ... Memory, 5 ... Compression / expansion part, 6 ... Buffer memory, 8 ... CP
U, 9 ... Release button, 10 ... Number setting means, 11 ...
Time setting means, 12: changeover switch.

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. An image pickup device comprising: an optical lens that forms an image of reflected light from a subject; and an image pickup device that converts a subject image formed by the optical lens into an analog image signal.
Analog signal processing means for processing an analog image signal;
In a digital electronic still camera provided with analog / digital conversion means for converting an analog image signal into a digital image signal and digital signal processing means for processing a digital image signal, when a shutter is released, a plurality of sheets before the shutter is released A digital electronic still camera, wherein an image is stored in a memory in advance. 2. The digital electronic still camera according to claim 1, wherein a user can freely set a plurality of sheets before the shutter is released. 3. The digital electronic still camera according to claim 1, wherein a user can freely set a time for capturing a plurality of images before the shutter is released. 4. The digital electronic still camera according to claim 2, wherein a compression ratio of an image is changed according to the number of sheets or the time when setting the number of sheets or the time. 5. The digital electronic still camera according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of images at a time slightly before the moment when the shutter is released can be confirmed on the spot by a monitor display, and an image desired by the user can be freely selected. .