JPS62173863A - Image pickup device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To satisfactorily record an image-picked-up picture information with high quality by provisionally storing picture information in a semiconductor memory means, then reproducing it and repeatedly recording it until normal recording is executed on a magnetic disk, etc. CONSTITUTION:A picture signal image-picked-up in an image pickup part 10 is converted into a digital signal by an A/D converter 16, and provisionally stored in a frame memory 20. After it is read out of the frame memory 20, it is converted into an analog signal by a D/A converter 22, and outputted to an analog switch 18, to which picture information from the image pickup part 10 is inputted. The analog switch 18 is connected to a recorder 26 such as a magnetic disk through a signal processing circuit 24. Then a detector 40 detects whether recording is normally executed or not, and according to the detection result a control circuit 28 records picture information accumulated in the frame memory 20 in the recorder 26 until normal recording is executed.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Technical Field of the Invention] The present invention relates to image transport, and particularly to improvements in electronic cameras that electronically capture and record still images.

Magnetic disks are generally used as recording media for electronic cameras. When recording still images on this magnetic disk, the magnetic disk is mechanically rotated.

However, under shooting conditions where the camera body is subjected to external disturbances such as vibrations or shocks for some reason,
There is a problem in that the rotation of the magnetic disk is affected by such disturbances, and the constant speed rotation of the magnetic disk, which is a prerequisite for recording high-quality images, may not be guaranteed.

To improve this inconvenience, the patent application No. 57-6
There is one disclosed in No. 9499. This detects the deviation of the magnetic disk from constant rotation due to disturbance and gives a warning to the photographer.

However, this method does not fundamentally solve the problem and leaves the problem that the images stored in the image sensor are wasted.

[Object of the Invention] The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and it is an object of the present invention to improve the quality of captured image information on a recording medium such as a magnetic disk, which is an inexpensive and large-capacity recording medium that is vulnerable to external disturbances. [Summary of the Invention] The present invention aims to provide an imaging device IT that can record data well and in good condition.
It is possible to store data in a semiconductor memory means that is not affected by disturbances, and then reproduce it and repeatedly record it until normal recording is performed on a recording device such as a magnetic disk which is susceptible to disturbances. are the technical points.

If there is an influence of disturbance when writing image information from the semiconductor memory means to the recording device, the writing is repeated a plurality of times until it is possible to record without being affected by the disturbance.

〔Example〕

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of the invention. In this figure, a driving circuit 12 is connected to an imaging section 10 comprising an imaging device such as a CCD, and the imaging section 10 is driven by this.

For example, the drive circuit 12 includes a crystal resonator,
Based on this stable frequency signal, the imaging unit 10 is driven in a standard television signal format such as the NTSC system.

Next, the input side of an A/D converter 160 and one input side 18A of a two-man powered analog switch 18 are connected to the output side of the imaging unit 10 via an amplifier 14 that amplifies the signal to a predetermined level. has been done. And A/D converter 1
The input side of the frame memory 20 is connected to the output side of the frame memory 6 . This frame memory 20 has a storage capacity for at least one still image.

The output side of the frame memory 20 is connected to the other input ↓ side 18 of the analog switch 18 via a D/A converter 22. That is, the image information output from the imaging unit 10 is read out by the A/D converter 16, and then converted into an analog signal by the D/A converter 22.
This reproduced image information is output to the analog switch 18. Image information output from the imaging section 10 is also input to this analog switch 18, and one of them is selected and output.

Second, the output side of the analog switch 18 is connected to a recording device 26 via a signal processing circuit 24 . Among these, the signal processing circuit 24 performs color signal processing and r correction of the input SO information, and is connected to an electronic viewfinder (E, V, F, ) as necessary. In this case, during shooting, the analog switch 18'
A luminance signal or a composite color signal obtained by processing the output signal of the imaging unit 10 is inputted to the electronic viewfinder via Y, so that the photographed image can be visually recognized.

In addition, when the imaging unit 10 is a single-plate color imaging element,
Color separation processing is performed in the signal processing circuit 24 to obtain a luminance signal and a color signal, and a composite color signal can be easily obtained.

Next, the recording device [26 is composed of a large-capacity, inexpensive, but vulnerable to external disturbances, such as a magnetic disk.

A control circuit 28 is connected to the drive circuit 12, analog switch 18, frame memory 20, signal processing circuit 24, and recording device 26 described above.This control circuit 28 includes a release switch 30, continuous shooting/single shooting switching, etc. switch 32
, and an image confirmation switch 34 are connected to each other, and according to the ON/OFF states of these switches, necessary timing signals are output to each part based on the clock signal and synchronization signal input from the drive circuit 12, and the operation is performed. control is now in place. The recording device 26 includes a disk drive device, and F from the disk drive device.
Pulse train signal with intervals according to the rotation of the G-multiple signal disk]
is input to the detection device 40&C.

Next, the overall operation of the above embodiment will be explained. First, the case of single shooting mode will be explained.

First, when the power switch (not shown) is turned ON, the input side 18A of the analog switch 18 is connected to the output side as shown in FIG. The image is outputted to the electronic viewfinder as indicated by the arrow FA, and the image being photographed by the imaging unit 10 is displayed on the electronic viewfinder.

Next, when the composition is determined and the release switch 30 is pressed at a photo opportunity and turns "ON," the image signal which is the output of the imaging unit 10 is outputted by the control circuit 28 as shown in FIG. is A/D f converter 1
6 and stored in the frame memory 20. Immediately after the storage, the input side 13B of the analog switch 180 is connected to the output side, and the image based on the image information stored in the frame memory 20 is reproduced as a still image on the electronic viewfinder. At the same time, the reproduced image information is also output to the recording device 26VC, and recording thereof is started.

If a disturbance occurs during such recording operation and the FG double signal pulse interval is disturbed to the extent that it adversely affects recording, the detection bag f1
40 detects this and outputs a recording failure signal to the control circuit 28, and the image information is recorded on the same track again under the control of the control circuit 28. Before re-recording, the previous recording is usually erased. This recording is repeated multiple times within a certain period of time, and if recording is not possible during this time without being affected by disturbances, a warning means (not shown) may be used to warn the photographer. It is possible to know that efforts should be made to realize a state in which the entire apparatus has fewer disturbances.

Normally, image information is almost completely written into the recording bag fit26, and after the recording is completed, the image information is written in the recording bag fit26 as shown in Fig. 2 (AJ
The state shown in K is reached.

In addition, when the image confirmation switch 64 is operated to "ON" in the state shown in FIG. 2 (A1), the input side 18B of the analog switch 18 is turned ON as shown in FIG. This totohoko is connected to the output side, and the image in the frame memory 20 taken earlier is outputted and displayed on the electronic viewfinder as indicated by the arrow FC only while the image confirmation switch 34 is "ON". Since the recording to the recording bag fit26 has already been completed, it is not performed.

Furthermore, in such a case, if the recording bag [26] has a playback function, the image confirmation switch 4 should be turned on after recording is completed.
'A record bag for Akane! The image in 26 is shown in Figure 2 fD.
By reproducing and displaying the information on the electronic viewfinder as shown by the + arrow FD, it is possible to check whether or not recording has been performed satisfactorily, and the detection device 40 can have a different configuration from that described above. That is, immediately after the recording to the recording device 26 is completed, the detection device 4 reproduces the signal and checks the quality of the reproduced signal.
It can be configured to detect and judge at 0.

In this case, if recording is not successful no matter how many times the recording is performed, there may be a defect in the disk, so it is better to provide a means to shift the recording head after a certain number of times.

Next, the case of continuous shooting mode will be explained. In this case, the continuous shooting single shooting changeover switch 32 is operated to rONJ,
When the release switch 30 is pressed, quick-shot photography is started. That is, while the release switch 30 is "ON", photographing and recording are performed at regular time intervals.

After this, imaging is performed at the initial timing at regular time intervals, and image information is stored in the frame memory 20, and at subsequent timings, the recording device 2
The recording operation for 6 is performed.

Or analog switch 18'? Connect to 18A
The output of the image section 10 is directly sent to a recording device 26 for recording.

Next, another embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. In the embodiment described above, when performing continuous shooting,
Even if the frame memory 20 is not used effectively and the recording operation for one of the images is incomplete, the next image must be recorded. According to this embodiment, there is no such inconvenience, and image information can be recorded satisfactorily even in the case of continuous shooting.

In this embodiment, the storage capacity of the frame memory 50 is configured to be equal to the storage capacity of the recording device 26.

Next, to explain the operation of this embodiment, regardless of single shooting or continuous shooting, the arrows FE1, FE2°FE
3. As shown in .

The image information stored in the frame memory 50 is
It is played back at an appropriate break in the photographing operation, for example, at the end of the snapshot, and is recorded in the recording device 26 as shown by the arrow FF in Bl in the same figure.

In this embodiment, although the frame memory 50 is expensive, it can be considered to have the same effect as the recording bag fIt26, and when the frame memory 50 is full of image information, the recording device 26, for example, a magnetic disk may be set in the main body of the apparatus to perform recording. At this time, the images in the frame memory 50 may be checked using the child viewfinder, and only necessary images may be recorded in the recording bag @26.

Of course, the storage capacity of the frame memory 50 is not necessarily limited to the recording capacity f! It is not equal to the storage capacity of t26, and may be slightly smaller.

Note that the detection circuit 40 is not limited to the above-mentioned one, but may be configured to use a momentum detection device, for example, and to automatically output a recording failure signal when the output thereof exceeds a certain value during recording. Also good.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As explained above, according to the present invention, even if the image information recording means is affected by disturbance or is stuck, the obtained image information can be recorded on the recording means without waste. be.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a circuit block diagram showing one embodiment of the present invention, and FIG.
The figure is an explanatory diagram for explaining the operation of the embodiment, and FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing another embodiment. Explanation of symbols of main parts 10... Imaging unit, 12... Drive circuit, 18... Analog switch, 20... Frame memory, 24...
- Signal processing circuit, 26... Recording device, 28... Control circuit, 40... Detection circuit.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] An imaging device that captures a still image using an imaging device and records the image information in a recording device that may be affected by external disturbances, comprising: a semiconductor that temporarily stores the image information; a memory means; a data writing means for reproducing image information stored in the semiconductor memory means and storing it in the recording means; and a detection means for detecting whether data writing by the data writing means has been normally performed. An imaging device comprising: