JPH11331742A - Image recorder - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image recorder which enables a user having no knowledge of a personal computer(PC) or inexperienced in the use of the PC to easily store image data and output images. SOLUTION: Image information, photographed by a digital camera 200 and stored in a PC card, is read out via a PC card reader 9 and temporarily stored in a hard disk device 5 built in an image recorder body. Then image processing or the like is executed, in accordance with a displayed operation procedure, while observing the display of a CRT display device, processed image data are transferred to a CD (CD-ROM) 10, and images are made to be stored in the CD (CD-ROM) 10.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention relates to an image recording apparatus for recording an image photographed by a digital camera from a memory provided in the digital camera to another medium such as an optical disk.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, so-called digital photographs, in which images are recorded electronically in addition to silver halide photographs, have become popular. When photographing this digital photograph, a camera having a CCD called a digital camera is used, and the photographed data is often configured to be stored in a dedicated recording medium such as a memory card. Connect the digital camera to the dedicated printer using an interface cable, or insert a memory card into the card slot of the dedicated printer to capture the image data and print it out. 2 when data is taken in and printed out by a printer connected to a personal computer
It is roughly divided into two. For those who can use a personal computer, the desired processing can be performed on the captured image data.Therefore, the image data can be processed by a personal computer without using a dedicated printer, and image editing can be performed. Most of them are used as output.

However, in such a usage form, the image data is stored using a hard disk device in a personal computer. Therefore, as the image data is stored, the capacity of the storable image data is reduced. It sometimes becomes impossible to save. Also, if the storage capacity is reduced or data cannot be stored,
Problems arise not only in the storage of image data, but also in other uses of personal computers.

Further, in such a state, it is not possible to meet a demand for semi-permanent storage of image data, and when the hard disk is destroyed, the stored data cannot be used, and the data cannot be used. The situation is the same as what was lost. For this reason, it is necessary to store the image data on another medium such as an optical disk.

On the other hand, a person who cannot use a personal computer or a person who does not have a personal computer can use only the memory provided in the digital camera, so that the memory immediately overflows. Therefore, in order to save image data, a memory card must be purchased and exchanged.
However, since memory cards are expensive, purchasing a plurality of memory cards merely for storing image data is not a practical solution from an economic viewpoint.

[0006] On the other hand, purchasing a personal computer and its peripheral devices instead of purchasing a memory card is one of the options. However, it is more economical than purchasing a plurality of memory cards. A person who has not used a personal computer until then cannot use the personal computer until he can immediately perform image processing on the digital camera.

[0007]

That is, in the current digital camera, when the image data is transferred to a personal computer to perform image processing and write to another recording medium such as an optical disk, the maker of the digital camera specifies the data. Transfer kit and optical disk writer (CD
Writer), and software for image correction is also required. Further, even if there is software, the user must perform an image correction operation on each image using a personal computer using the software.

[0008] In order to realize and operate such an environment with a personal computer, proficiency and knowledge of the personal computer are required. Therefore, it cannot be said that a general user who recognizes a digital camera as a substitute for a camera for silver halide photography or as an equivalent to a silver halide camera cannot perform the above-described operations and operations. Good.

In the current photographic environment, silver halide photography is, for example, 50
The user can view the images printed simultaneously in about 30 minutes or even about 30 minutes, and even if a user who has such an environment purchases a digital camera, he can obtain the convenience of the current silver halide photography. The question remains whether or not. Therefore, an apparatus that allows such a user to store an image with peace of mind and print out when necessary is desired.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of such a background, and has as its object to easily store image data even if a user who has no knowledge of a personal computer and is not used to a personal computer. It is an object of the present invention to provide an image recording apparatus capable of easily outputting an image to a television or a television.

[0011]

In order to achieve the above object, a first means is a reading means for reading image information from a storage medium storing image information, and a means for reading the image information read by the reading means. A first control unit for transferring and storing the image information in a storage unit in the apparatus, and a second control unit for writing the image information written in the storage unit to an optical storage medium, wherein the second control unit includes: The writing condition is displayed on the operation display device, and writing to the optical storage medium is performed according to the writing condition input from the operation display device.

The second means is the first means, wherein the storage medium storing the image information is a card-shaped storage medium storing image information photographed by a digital camera, and a digital medium storing image information in advance. -It is one of a video disk and a video tape.

[0013] A third means is the first means, wherein the writing condition is written into the storage means, image processing according to a reproduced image, image processing according to the type of digital camera, image size correction processing, and the storage means. And a condition for performing at least one of a process of storing the image information as it is in the optical storage medium and a process of editing the image information written in the storage unit and storing the edited image information in the optical storage medium.

[0014] A fourth means is the first means, wherein the storage medium storing the image information is a digital video disk or a video tape storing a moving image, and the moving image is transferred from any of these storage media. Further comprising an operation reproducing means for reproducing on the operation display device, and a means for obtaining a still image by selecting a timing of a desired moving image,
The first control means stores the obtained still image in the storage means.

A fifth means is that, in the first means, the second control means simultaneously writes function software for automatically displaying a recorded image on the optical storage medium.

The sixth means is the first means, wherein the optical storage medium selling apparatus for selling the optical storage medium and the image recording apparatus automatically when the optical storage medium is purchased by the optical storage medium selling means. And a third control unit for activating the apparatus.

In each of these means, the first to third control means correspond to the CPU 1 provided in the apparatus main body in the embodiment described later, and the CPU 1 executes the function of each control means. .

[0018]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an overall mechanical configuration of an image recording apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram showing an electrical configuration.

In FIG. 2, the image recording apparatus includes a central control unit (hereinafter, referred to as a "CPU") 1 as a control unit that controls the entire apparatus and controls each unit, and the CPU.
1, a DVD (Digital Video Disc) recording device 2, a CRT display device 3, a video capture 4, a hard disk device (HD) 5, and a bar code reader 6, and a video camera 7 and a video connected to the video capture 4. It basically comprises a reproducing device 8, a PC card reader 9 connected to the hard disk device 5, and a CD-ROM 10, and the CD-ROM 10 is a first CD-ROM.
10a and a second CD-ROM 10b.

As a mechanical configuration, as shown in FIG. 1, the image recording apparatus comprises an image recording apparatus main body 100 and a CD vending machine 110. A CRT display device 3 is provided on an upper portion of the image recording apparatus main body 100, and a display screen
a is disposed on the upper front surface of the apparatus main body 100. A video camera 7 is provided at an upper end of the apparatus main body 100, and can capture an operator facing the display screen 3a and capture it in an image. At the bottom of the display screen 3a,
A coin insertion unit 101, an explanation display unit 102, and a barcode display unit 103 are provided, respectively. Further, below these, an installation unit 104 of the barcode reader 6, a PC card insertion hole 105, a CD (DVD) disk insertion port 106, And a video disc set tray 107 are provided.

The CD vending machine 110 is provided with a CD take-out slot 111 on the front side and a coin slot 112 on the side face of the take-out slot 111.
The CD vending machine 110 has a C
A CD storage unit 113 storing D is provided.

The CD stored in the CD storage unit 113 is a commercially available optical disk on which image information can be written and read. The image recording apparatus according to the present embodiment captures an image of the optical disc with the digital camera 200,
The image stored in the digital camera 200 can be easily written on the optical disk (CD-ROM).

That is, when a CD is purchased from the CD vending machine 110, the image recording apparatus main body 100 is automatically activated. Further, since the image recording apparatus 100 can additionally record on a CD already written, if the image recording apparatus 100 is not purchased from the CD vending machine 110, the CD slot 106
When a CD is inserted into the slot and the CD is set, an additional writing fee is charged.
When a coin is inserted from Step 2, the image recording apparatus 100 is activated. In this state, an operation is displayed on the CRT display screen 3a, so that the barcode reader 104 is operated in accordance with the instruction to perform a desired operation. In this embodiment, an operation using a barcode is illustrated. However, it is needless to say that the input operation can be performed using an input device such as a touch panel.

The information input by the user includes the type of camera used, the selection of the image to be recorded, the recording size, the type of format, the presence or absence of image compression, and the like. These selections are input according to the guide displayed on the CRT display screen 3a. This selection screen is specifically as shown in FIGS. When the operation is completed according to such a selection screen, a CD having an image display function is provided.
(DVD) is completed.

When the completed CD is set in a personal computer at home or in a CD-ROM playback environment, the software written on the CD simultaneously starts up, image reproduction starts, and images are automatically displayed. The software is written simultaneously when the image is written by the image recording device 100. One CD in this way
Function as a single photo book, in other words, a photo album.

The electronic photographic book created by the image recording apparatus 100 is not merely an image recording apparatus, but also has a function for automatically displaying self-reproduced and automatically displaying recorded images. It is possible to automatically display the data without operating the personal computer by itself. The image recording apparatus according to the present invention is different from the apparatus which records only an image only on an optical disc or another recording medium by this function.

Hereinafter, a more detailed description will be given with reference to the flowchart of FIG. FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a processing procedure of the image recording apparatus 100 according to the present embodiment for recording image information captured by a digital camera on a CD.

In this flowchart, when the operator inserts a coin while the image recording apparatus is in a standby state, the image recording apparatus is activated (steps 300 and 301). Note that even if a CD is purchased from the CD vending machine 110 as described above, the image recording apparatus 100 is activated as described above. Next, the user removes the PC card from his / her own digital camera 200 and inserts it into the PC card insertion slot 105 of the image recording apparatus main body 100 (step 302), and the CD slot 106.
A CD to which an image is to be written is mounted on the image recording apparatus main body 100 (step 303).

When the input side and the writing side are mounted on the image recording apparatus main body 100 in this manner, the image of the PC card is
The operation of writing to D is started (step 304). When the operation is started, the input medium selected in step 302 is determined, and if the input medium is a PC card, first,
The selection screen shown in FIG. 4 is displayed on the CRT display screen 3a,
The user inputs a type 401 of the digital camera 200 from this selection screen. This input is performed by reading the barcode 411 displayed on the CRT display screen 3a with the barcode reader 6 (step 305). The initial settings and selections are made using the barcode 10 provided on the front of the device.
3 may be read and set, and all of these operations are performed based on the display on the CRT display screen 3a. Next, an image is displayed in step 306. This image displays a series of contents in the PC card in a small image as shown in FIG. An image to be recorded or an image not to be recorded (both are switchable) is selected from these by designating a bar code below the image on the display screen (step 307). . If no image is selected (when “1. Copy all” is selected by the bar code), whether or not to perform image processing is selected in step 308. When an image is selected (when "2. image selection copy" is selected by a barcode), the selected image is extracted (step 312), and brightness and saturation correction processing is performed (step 313).

If image processing is to be performed in step 308, the flow advances to step 313 to execute brightness and saturation correction processing (step 313). On the other hand, if image processing is not to be performed, it is checked in step 309 whether to compress the image. If image compression is to be performed (when “4.
In step 315, a compression format is designated, and in step 315, a compression process is performed. If there is a print image (step 316), a print image is added. If an operator's portrait photographing is designated, a portrait is added ( (Step 318) Recording on the CD (Step 319), and the process ends. If an image is extracted in step 312 and brightness and saturation correction processing is performed in step 313, a compression format is specified in step 314, and compression processing is performed in accordance with the specification, and step 315,
The processing of steps 316, 318, and 319 is executed, and the entire processing ends.

On the other hand, if image processing is not to be performed, it is checked in step 309 whether or not to perform image compression. If image compression is to be performed, the processing of steps 314 to 319 is executed as described above, and the entire processing ends. If the compression process is not performed, the remaining memory of the CD is checked (step 310). If the memory is insufficient, steps 315 to 319 are performed.
Is executed, and the entire process is completed. If the remaining memory is sufficient to store the image, it is further checked in step 311 whether a print image is to be created. If a print image is to be created, the print image is checked in step 316. If it is not added and created, step 318 is performed.
Then, the processing of step 319 is executed, and the entire processing is completed.

If the input medium in the processing of step 302 is not a PC card, the photographing of the video camera 7 is selected in step 304 or
Check whether a video disc is selected instead of the C card. If the shooting of the video camera 7 is selected in this check, the operator standing in front of the display screen 3a is shot in step 317 (step 31).
7) Recording on a CD (step 319), and the process ends.

On the other hand, if a video disk is selected instead of a PC card in the input medium selection process in step 302 (in other words, if a video disk is set in the video disk set tray 13), the camera Does not matter, the process directly proceeds to step 306, and the above-described image display processing (step 30) is performed.
6) Execute the subsequent processing.

The selection screen in step 307 is a display screen as shown in FIGS. 4 to 7, and includes a digital camera type 401, an image selection 402, and a recording medium selection 5.
01, a selection 502 of the type of the recorded image, a selection 601 of the recording quality of the image, a thumbnail display 701 of the image, and the like. A bar code is selected from such displays using the bar code reader 6. .

In the image processing selection process of step 308, each correction of brightness, saturation, and sharpness is processed according to the type of each digital camera. This stores in advance a correction coefficient for optimization corresponding to the type of digital camera (or corresponding to the characteristics set by the manufacturer), and the camera input in step 305 based on the stored correction coefficient value. Is selected according to the type. Although the processing of the image portion is not particularly described here, various kinds of processing such as gradation processing, gamma correction processing, and edge enhancement processing can also be designated.

FIGS. 8A to 8C show correction amounts of image data of an image taken by a digital camera. In these figures, when the correction amount of the original image is 1,
Each coefficient indicates a contrast coefficient multiple of an edge portion in terms of sharpness, a contrast indicates a multiple of a coefficient in a solid portion, and saturation and lightness indicate a multiple of a coefficient multiplied by position coordinates of an original image in a LAB color space. Other image decoration, gradation correction, color correction, image file format conversion, and image size correction conditions can be selected from image processing selection items. In this embodiment, the selection is made by a barcode.

Step 309 is a step of selecting whether or not to compress the image-processed image data. Here, the image compression is selected. Can be decompressed and reproduced by the software written in.

When the image data written on the CD as described above by the image recording apparatus 100 is set in a personal computer and read out, the software automatically written in the image display mode and the photo book editing mode are used. Two modes can be selected. In the case of the automatic display mode, the images are reproduced and displayed in the order in which the images are written. In the case of the edit mode, unlike the order of the written images, the order of the images can be rearranged and displayed according to the instruction of the operator. When the order is rearranged, the file information is stored in the hard disk device 5 in the image recording apparatus main body 100. Therefore, for example, when "new photo book" is selected on the personal computer, the user goes to refer to the photo book file on his own hard disk. If the photo book file does not exist on the hard disk, a message "Create new photo book" is displayed and the editing mode is entered. If an existing photo book file exists, this photo book file is called and the display mode is entered. The processing procedure at this time is shown in the flowchart of FIG.

That is, when a CD is set in a personal computer (step 901), a photo book is displayed (step 902), and the automatic display mode is selected from the edit mode (step 903). If the automatic display mode is selected, the photo book is automatically displayed (step 904), and the displayed image is stored on the hard disk 5 as an information file (step 905). on the other hand,
If the editing mode is selected in step 903, the existing photo book file stored in the hard disk 5 is searched (step 906). Then, the editing work is executed to replace or delete the pictures (step 907).
When the editing is completed, an information file of the photo book is created (step 908). Display the photo book (step 904)
The information file is stored (Step 905).

As described above, the CD created by the image recording apparatus 100 according to the present embodiment can be stored as a photo book CD-ROM. When the storage capacity of the CD-ROM becomes full, it is sufficient to record the data on the next CD, and thus, a photo book collection of the CD-ROM is obtained. Since a CD to be used can store hundreds of images if compressed, it can replace a conventional photo book as long as a digital camera is used. Although not shown here, if a portable display is used, it can be viewed anywhere, and an environment in which reproduction is performed using a device such as a DVD connected to a television or the like can be easily realized. Further, if a printer is connected in such an environment, printout from the printer can be easily performed.

In this embodiment, an example has been described in which an image of a digital camera taken by a user is recorded. However, the present invention can be used for recording a document. That is, if a digital storage medium is used instead of the conventional microfilm, a large amount of data can be easily stored by writing data from the storage medium to a CD, and it can be easily extracted. Further, the data can be easily arranged, and the operation of re-sorting the stored data into a desired classification and extracting only the necessary image data can be easily performed.

Further, since the image recording apparatus main body 100 is provided with the video capture 4, it is possible to capture an image from a video disk as graphic data and record it as a time-series still image filing device. For this time-series still image, an image from a video disk, video tape, or the like stored in advance as a video image is reproduced, and a record button is provided so that an operator can capture the image at a desired timing. An image at a desired timing is transferred from the CPU 1 to the hard disk 7.
If the images are transferred to the digital camera and sequentially stored, and the stored images are stored on a CD in the same manner as in the case of the above-described digital camera, a photo book on a CD-ROM can be created. In FIG. 2, the first and second CD-ROMs 10
a and 10b are CD-ROMs for creating a photo book
The image data is transferred from the hard disk 5 via the CPU 1.

Further, since the video camera 7 is provided as described above, it is also possible to take a picture of a person on the spot, and at the end of the created photo book, as an author or a photographer, A portrait image can also be inserted. This step is as described in steps 304 and 317.

[0045]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention, the second control means for controlling the writing displays the writing condition on the operation display device, and writes the writing condition inputted from the operation display device. Since the writing to the optical storage medium is performed according to the condition, the image information can be automatically read from the storage medium storing the image information and written to the optical storage medium according to the writing condition input by the operator. As a result, writing to an optical storage medium can be easily performed without a personal computer or even if the user is not familiar with the operation of a personal computer, and a digital photo book can be easily created.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the storage medium storing the image information is a card-shaped storage medium storing image information captured by a digital camera, and a digital video storage storing image information in advance. Since it is either a disk or a video tape, it can be reliably captured from digital image information shipped on the market.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, the writing conditions include image processing according to a reproduced image, image processing according to the type of digital camera, image size correction processing, image information written in the storage means. In the optical storage medium as it is, and at least one of the processing of editing the image information written in the storage means and storing the edited image information in the optical storage medium. Appropriate image processing can be performed.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, a still image acquired by capturing a moving image at a desired timing is stored in the storage means, so that a photo book of a still image can be easily created from the moving image.

According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, since the functional software for automatically displaying the recorded image is simultaneously written on the optical storage medium, the optical storage medium can be used for a personal computer, a television, a portable display device, or the like. By simply loading the data on a playback device having the above-mentioned monitor means, an image can be automatically displayed, and the image can be viewed on the monitor even if the user is not familiar with the operation of a personal computer or the like.

According to the sixth aspect of the present invention, an optical storage medium selling apparatus for selling an optical storage medium, and the image recording apparatus is automatically installed when the optical storage medium is purchased by the optical storage medium selling means. Since the apparatus further includes the third control unit for starting, the image can be stored on the optical storage medium on the spot and the operation can be continuously performed without having the optical storage medium. This makes it possible to provide a device having excellent usability.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating an overall configuration of an image recording apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an electrical configuration of the image recording apparatus of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure of writing an image on a CD in the image recording apparatus of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of a selection screen of a CRT display device of the image recording device of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing another example of a selection screen of the CRT display device of the image recording device of FIG. 1;

6 is a diagram showing still another example of the selection screen of the CRT display device of the image recording device of FIG.

7 is a diagram showing still another example of the selection screen of the CRT display device of the image recording device of FIG.

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an example of a correction coefficient when correcting an image captured by a digital camera.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating an example when image information written on a CD by the image recording apparatus of FIG. 1 is processed by a personal computer.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 CPU 2 DVD recording device 3 CRT display device 4 Video capture 5 Hard disk device 6 Barcode reader 7 Video camera 8 Video reproduction device 9 PC card reader 10 CD-ROM 100 Image recording device main body 110 CD vending machine

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A reading means for reading image information from a storage medium storing image information, a first control means for transferring and storing the image information read by the reading means to a storage means in the apparatus, A second control unit for writing image information written in the storage unit to an optical storage medium, wherein the second control unit displays a writing condition on an operation display device and inputs the condition from the operation display device. An image recording apparatus for performing writing on the optical storage medium according to the set writing condition. 2. A storage medium storing the image information,
2. The image recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the recording medium is one of a card-shaped storage medium storing image information captured by a digital camera, a digital video disk storing image information in advance, and a video tape. apparatus. 3. The writing conditions include image processing according to a reproduced image, image processing according to the type of digital camera, image size correction processing, and image information written to the storage means stored in an optical storage medium as it is. 2. The image recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image recording apparatus is a condition for performing at least one of a process of causing the image information written in the storage unit to be edited and storing the edited image information in an optical storage medium. 4. A storage medium storing the image information is a digital video disk or a video tape storing a moving image, and operation reproducing means for reproducing a moving image from any of these storage media to the operation display device. And means for acquiring a still image by selecting a timing of a desired moving image, wherein the first control means stores the acquired still image in the storage means. The image recording apparatus as described in the above. 5. An image recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said second control means simultaneously writes function software for automatically displaying a recorded image on said optical storage medium. 6. An optical storage medium selling apparatus for selling an optical storage medium, and third control means for automatically activating the image recording apparatus when the optical storage medium is purchased by the optical storage medium selling means. The image recording apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: