JPS63303583A - Digital electronic still camera - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To display a picture in a correct direction by detecting the direction of a camera at the time and storing data to show the said direction into a memory in the reproducing device. CONSTITUTION:An image pickup part 12 is provided with elements necessitated for photographing a still picture, such as an image pickup lens 16, a diaphragm 18, a shutter 20, an image pickup device 22, a photometric.distance measuring mechanism, a view finder and a drive mechanism for those, and a video signal output from it is stored in the memory 90 through an A/D converter 36. A length width sensor 40 detects the direction of the camera 10 at the time of photographing and a code data related to the direction of the camera 10 is stored in the prescribed address of the memory 90. The picture of the correct direction can be reproduced in the reproducing device by using this code data.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to an electronic still camera, and more particularly to a digital electronic still camera that stores video signals representing still images in a storage device in the form of digital data.

Background Art For example, an electronic still camera described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 183592/1983 has a memory removably connected to a camera body having an imaging optical system and a solid-state imaging device, and a video signal representing a still image captured by the imaging device. is stored in this memory in the form of a digital signal. The memory storing the video signal is removed from the electronic still camera and loaded into a playback device, and the video signal read from the memory by the playback device is played back as a visible image on the screen of a video monitor.

In normal photography, an electronic still camera is held horizontally and photographs are taken with a horizontally elongated screen, and this image is stored in memory. Therefore, the e! of the playback device that plays back this image! The monitor is also said to have a horizontal screen. Therefore, if you hold an electronic still camera vertically and shoot with a vertical screen, the image stored in memory will be an image with the horizontal and vertical orientation reversed, so when playing back, the image on the video monitor of the playback device will have the vertical and horizontal orientation reversed. There was a problem in that the images were displayed and were difficult to view.

An object of the present invention is to provide a digital electronic still camera that can display an image in the correct orientation on a playback device even when the camera is held in either a vertical or horizontal orientation.

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION According to the present invention, a digital electronic still camera to which a semiconductor memory module to which a video signal representing a still image is stored in the form of digital data is removably connected is provided with a circuit that allows the semiconductor memory module to be removably connected. a connecting means for connecting, an imaging means having a solid-state imaging device, for imaging a field with the solid-state imaging device and outputting a video signal representing the field; The signal converting means converts the signal into a signal and outputs it to the connecting means, controls the imaging means and the signal converting means to cause the imaging means to take an image, causes the signal converting means to convert into a digital signal, and causes the connecting means to take an image. It has a control means for supplying a control signal for writing to the semiconductor storage module, and a camera attitude detection means for detecting the orientation of the camera with respect to the field of view, and the control means is configured to detect the direction of the camera detected by the camera attitude detection means. the control means supplies information representing the direction of the camera with respect to the field from the camera posture information generation means to the connection means together with a control signal; It is something.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS Next, embodiments of a digital micro still camera according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

First, the present invention will be explained in detail with reference to FIG. Figure (a)
As shown in FIG. 3, a horizontally long image 300 taken with the digital electronic still camera IO according to the present invention held horizontally is displayed as it is on the horizontally long monitor 134 of the playback device, and as shown in FIG. Vertical images taken with the still camera 10 held vertically are displayed on the monitor 1 of the playback equipment.
34, the image is displayed with the vertical and horizontal directions reversed.

Conventionally, a still camera 100 as shown in FIG.
The image 310 taken while holding the camera horizontally is displayed as it is on the monitor 144 of the playback device, but as shown in FIG. 4(b)
As shown in FIG. 3, an image 312 taken with the camera 100 held vertically is displayed horizontally on the monitor 144 of the playback device. The image is displayed in its natural orientation on the playback device, regardless of the orientation of the camera.

Referring to FIG. 1, an embodiment of a digital electronic still camera according to the present invention is shown, which includes a camera 10 having an imaging section 12, and a memory 80 detachably connected to the camera 10 via a connector 14. and has. In the figure, the elements on the left side of the connector 14 are mounted in a single housing as a digital electronic still camera.

The memory 80 is a rewritable digital storage device that includes, for example, SRAM semiconductor memory in the form of a "module" such as an integrated circuit (IC) card or cartridge, and has data input/output lines 32 as well as address and read/write enable. , chip select, strobe, clock, etc., are connected to the camera 10 via the connector 14 . Note that the connector 14 is
The memory 80 may have a power supply line for the memory θ0. For example, if one frame of image is represented by IM or 1.5M bits of data, an SRAM with a memory capacity of 1 chip and 18% bits will require 2 chips. A 24-frame storage device will be realized.

The imaging unit 12 includes an imaging lens 16 and an aperture 18 as shown in the figure.
, shutter 20, imaging device 22, photometry/distance measurement mechanism,
It has elements necessary for photographing still images such as a viewfinder (not shown) and its drive mechanism, and the focusing of the imaging lens 16, control of the aperture 18, opening and closing of the shutter 20, etc. are controlled by the control circuit 24. ! Controlled via 2B. The imaging device 22 is, for example, a CCD or a MOS.
Solid-state imaging devices such as the following are advantageously applied. A color filter is attached to the imaging cell array 28 of the solid-state imaging device 22, and color-modulated video signals are sent point (pixel) sequentially to the output 34 in response to the clock received from the synchronization signal generation circuit 30 through the drive line 32. Output. For the imaging device 22, an arrangement of photosensitive cells of the imaging cell array 28, that is, an appropriate number of pixels in the photosensitive area is used, and the color segment arrangement of the color filter can be any method.Video signal output of the imaging device 22 34 is an analog-to-digital converter (ADO) connected to the 3G input, and the converter 36 converts the analog-format video signal of the human power 34 into
For example, it is a signal conversion circuit that converts into 8-bit corresponding digital data and outputs it to its output 42. Output 4
2 is connected to the connector 14 via a switch circuit 192 as shown, and finally to the data input/output line 82 of the memory 90.

The control circuit 24 is a control function section that controls the overall operation of the R2 in response to an instruction signal from the operation display section 44 via a signal line 52, and the control signal is sent to the synchronization generation circuit via a control line 48. 30, to the imaging section 12 via a control line 28, and to a vertical and horizontal code generation circuit 184 via a control line 180. The control circuit 24 also monitors the status of each part of the equipment via these control lines 46 and 26.

The control circuit 24 also has a function that mainly controls writing of the memory SO, and controls and controls the write address, write enable, chip select, clock, etc.
154 is a connector! Connected to 4.

The control circuit 24 is advantageously implemented in a processing system, to which is connected by a bus 188 a memory 186 for storing, for example, various data and programs.

The vertical and horizontal sensor 40 is a sensor that detects the orientation of the camera 1O during photographing. For example, as shown in FIG. 5, the vertical and horizontal sensor 40 has three arc-shaped contacts 402,
404 and 408 are arranged on the same circumference, and a contact piece 408 that contacts these contact points 402 , 404 , and 408 is rotatably supported by a shaft 410 . F of contact piece 408
A weight 412 is fixed to the end, and gravity acts on this weight 412 to move the contact piece 408 in a direction perpendicular to the ground, so that the contact point of the contact piece 408 is switched depending on the orientation of the camera 10. . Therefore, for example, camera 10
When the camera 10 is held horizontally, the contact piece 408 contacts the contact 404, and when the camera 10 is held vertically, the contact piece 408 contacts the contact 404, depending on whether the left or right side of the camera 10 is held as a hill.
Contact 06.

The vertical and horizontal sensor 40 detects the camera 1 in this way.
A signal representing the direction of 0 is sent to the control circuit 24 by a control line 188.
Send to.

In addition, the vertical and horizontal sensor 40 is manufactured by the Japanese Patent Publication No. 81-58028.
As shown in this issue, three contacts are placed separately on the outside of a U-shaped tube that is closed at both ends, a conductor contact is placed opposite the contacts on the inside, and the wire is inserted into the U-shaped tube. The conductive fluid such as mercury moves by gravity depending on the direction of the camera,
Any one of the three contacts on the outer side may be connected to a conductor contact on the inner side.

The vertical and horizontal code generation circuit 184 has its control input 180
is an encoding circuit connected to control circuit 24 and producing at its output 190 a signal representing a vertical or horizontal code corresponding to instructions from control input 180. Control input 180
, a signal representing the direction of camera lO is sent to Mjg# circuit 2.
Transferred from 4. An output 190 of the vertical and horizontal needle generation circuit 184 is connected to a switch circuit 192 as shown. The switch circuit 192 is a selection circuit that selectively assumes the illustrated connection position and the opposite connection position under the control of the control circuit 24, as conceptually indicated by a dotted line 194.

The synchronization signal generation circuit 30 is connected to the control line 46 from the control circuit 24.
and outputs a drive signal such as a lock or address to the output 32 necessary to drive the imaging device 22 to output a video signal from its output 34, and also drives the analog-to-digital converter 36. This is a synchronization signal generation circuit that outputs a drive signal to an output 48.

The operation display section 44 includes a shirt release button and eyes! g
/Equipped with various manual operation buttons such as manual setting, exposure setting, white balance adjustment, etc. to input operator instructions into this device,
゛This is given to the control circuit 24 through the signal line 52.
ffl, and has a display function for receiving a signal indicating the status of the device from the control circuit 24 from the signal line 52 and displaying it to the operator.

Explain the operation. Attach the memory 90 to the camera lO via the connector 14 and display the operation! The shutter 20 is released by operating the shirt release button, and the one-frame subject image captured by the imaging device 22 is sent from the synchronizing signal generating circuit 30 through the clock line 32. The video signal is outputted from the imaging device 22 to the output 34 in the form of a dot-sequential video signal in accordance with the clock. Regardless of the orientation of the camera 10 at the time of shooting, this output signal is output from the upper left corner of the horizontally long screen in the case of an image shot vertically as well as the output of a normal image shot horizontally. The data is sequentially scanned and read out. The control circuit 24 then connects the switch circuit 1 via the control line 194.
92 in the connected state shown in the figure.

The control circuit 24 energizes the analog-to-digital converter 36 in accordance with the synchronization signal generated by the synchronization signal generation circuit 30. The dot-sequential video signal is then converted into corresponding digital data by the analog-to-digital converter 38 and output from its output 42 to the connector 14 through the switch circuit 192.

The control circuit 24 also outputs control signals such as a write address, write enable, chip select, and clock to the memory 90 through the control line 54. In synchronization with this, each address of the memory 90 has a data line 92.
The video signals that are input to are written one after another. In this way, the video signal data of one frame of image is recorded in the memory 90! i
accumulated in the area.

When storing the video signal in the memory 90, the control circuit 24
The user can use the free time to switch the switch 192 to the opposite connection state as shown in the figure, and determine whether the recorded image was taken with the camera held horizontally or vertically. If the image is obtained by holding the camera vertically, information indicating whether the left or right side is on top is sent from the vertical and horizontal code generation circuit 184 to the control line 1.
The data is stored at a predetermined address in the memory 90 via the memory 90.

This free time may be used, for example, when a video signal of 1 frame or 1 field is read from the imaging device 22, a portion of the video signal that is not reproduced as an image, that is, a scanning period that is not included in the effective scanning period, or , a horizontal retrace interval or a vertical retrace interval may be used.Furthermore, since the address space of the memory SO is usually allocated in a binary manner, the number of l horizontal scan lines relative to the binary address space is Information on the orientation of the camera 10 may be stored in a storage position in the address space corresponding to the difference in the number of pixels.

The control circuit 24 controls the switch circuit 192 at the timing of such an idle time of the video signal to switch the connection state to the state opposite to the illustrated connection state. The control circuit 24 then provides an instruction regarding the orientation of the camera IO to the control output 180 at an appropriate timing. Vertical and horizontal code generation circuit 184
generates at its output 190 a code signal representing the orientation of the camera corresponding to these instructions, and this code signal is output to the connector 14 through a switch circuit 192.

The control circuit 24 also outputs to the output 54 a signal indicating an address for storing data regarding the orientation of the camera 10 and a control signal similar to that described above, so that the code data regarding the orientation of the camera 10 is stored in a predetermined location in the memory 90. stored in the address.

In this embodiment, each time an image of one frame is photographed by the imaging device 22, data regarding the orientation of the camera 10 is stored in the memory 90 corresponding to each frame. By doing this, for each frame image stored in the memory 90, the camera 10
Using the data regarding the orientation, it is possible to reproduce an image in the correct orientation in the recycling bag 2.

The video signal stored in the memory 90 in the configuration d of this embodiment is transmitted to the playback device 1 having the configuration as illustrated in FIG. 2, for example.
It will be played at 20. The playback device 120 has a connector 122 to which the memory 90 is removably connected, and its read data line 96 is connected to the input 202 of the signal processing circuit 200. In addition, the control line 88 is connected to the connector 1
22 to the control circuit 128.

The signal processing circuit 200 color-separates the digital video signal input 202, and performs, for example, self-balance adjustment and gradation (
γ) Perform necessary video signal processing such as correction on the digital video signal, and if the digital video signal at the input 202 was taken with the camera 10 facing vertically, change the orientation of this image and convert it into a video image. The above image is processed by processing the video signal to reduce the image in order to display it on the monitor, and generating a gray mask to project a uniform gray pattern in the blank areas created on the left and right sides of the video monitor due to image reduction. Data for appropriately performing signal processing, such as color separation information and vertical and horizontal pixel number information and color separation information of the imaging device 22 for performing video signal processing according to color separation and vertical and horizontal orientations, are as follows:
The signal is set from the control circuit 128 to the signal processing circuit 200 via the control line 206, and the circuit 200 performs video signal processing based on this.

The output 204 of the signal processing circuit 200 is connected to a digital-to-analog converter (DAC) 124.

The digital to analog converter 124 includes the signal processing circuit 2
This is a signal conversion circuit that converts the video signal of the output 204 of 00 into a corresponding analog signal and outputs it to the output 128.

The output 126 of the digital to analog converter 124 is connected to an NTSC processing circuit 130 via a switch.

The NTSC processing circuit 130 converts the analog signal output from the digital-to-analog converter 124 into a luminance signal and a color difference signal, converts this into an NTSC composite video signal together with a synchronization signal from the control circuit 128, and outputs the device output 13.
2 and an encoder. A video monitor 134 is connected to the device output 132, thereby outputting the composite video signal of the output 132 as a visible image.

Each element of the playback device 120 is controlled by a control circuit 128. The control circuit 128 includes an operation display section 13 as shown in the figure.
6 and data file 208 are connected and advantageously configured in the processing system. The operation display unit 136 has various manual operation buttons such as a playback button, a frame designation button, white balance adjustment, and gradation adjustment, and inputs the operator's instructions to the device and controls this through the signal line 21G. circuit 12
8, and also has a display function of receiving a signal indicating the status of the apparatus from the control circuit 128 from the signal line 210 and displaying it to the operator.

The data file 208 is a storage device that holds various data necessary for the operation of the control circuit 128, and is composed of, for example, a ROM. The data held in the data file 208 includes, for example, information on the number of pixels of the imaging device 22 regarding the video signal stored in the memory 90, and information on the number of pixels of the imaging device 22 when the video signal is obtained with the camera oriented vertically. This information, including pixel count information and color separation information for downscaling, preferably includes pixel count data that specifies the number of pixels in their imaging cell array for all or most types of imaging devices available. and color separation data specifying the arrangement of color filter segments.

The control circuit 128 controls the memory 9 according to a predetermined frequency in response to an operator's instruction inputted from the operation display section 13G.
A control signal for reading is supplied to the control line 84 of 0.

As a result, from the memory 90, a data code representing the orientation of the camera at the time of photographing the designated frame is first read out to the signal processing circuit 200, and then the video signal data of that frame, the pixel number information of the imaging device 22, and the color A code indicating separation information is read out by the signal processing circuit 200.

A data code representing the orientation of the camera, a code representing pixel number information, and a code representing color separation information are taken from the signal processing circuit 200 to the control circuit 128 through the control line 20B.

The control circuit 128 first determines the orientation of the camera at the time of photographing based on a data code representing the orientation of the camera.

If the camera is oriented horizontally during shooting, the control circuit 1
28 sequentially sends readout addresses to the control edge 38 in the normal order so that subsequent reading of the video signal from the memory 90 is performed in the normal order from the top left of the screen.

When the camera is oriented vertically during shooting, the control circuit 1
28 sequentially sends readout addresses to the cap 18 so that the image signals are subsequently read out from the memory 80 so that the vertical and horizontal directions of the screen are reversed. As a result, the video signal is read out from the memory 90 in such a manner that the photographed screen is rotated 80 degrees with the vertical and horizontal directions reversed. In this way, when the camera is oriented vertically when taking a picture, the control circuit 12B determines from the data code whether the picture was taken with the right end of the camera facing up or the left end of the camera facing up, and stores data in the memory according to the orientation. ! The read addresses from 30 are sequentially supplied to the control line 38.

In addition, when the camera is oriented vertically at the time of shooting, the control circuit 12B searches the data file 208 for information on the number of pixels for reduction in order to reduce the image displayed by the video signal read from the memory 90, and determines the number of pixels. The number of pixels of the video signal stored in the memory 90 is reduced by supplying read addresses to the memory 90, for example, every other address in accordance with the data, and the video signal of the reduced image is sent to the signal processing circuit 200. read out.

Furthermore, the control circuit 12B sends an instruction signal to the signal processing circuit 200 to add a gray pattern to the video signal representing the image thus reduced.

The control circuit 128 also searches the data file 208 using a code indicating pixel number information and color separation information, and retrieves the corresponding one of the pixel number data and color separation data. Control circuit 128 determines the rate of control signals such as clocks to be supplied to signal processing circuit 200 and digital-to-analog converter 124 in accordance with the retrieved data. Also, according to this, the signal processing circuit 2
00 contains data for appropriately performing video signal processing,
For example, pixel number information and color separation information of the imaging device 22 for performing color separation are set through the control line 206.

As described above, the control circuit 128 supplies the readout address from the control line 98 to the memory 80 according to the orientation of the camera, reads out the video signal of the specified frame from the memory 90, and inputs this to the signal processing circuit 200. be done. As mentioned above, the video signal input to the signal processing circuit 200 is the same as the video signal stored in the memory 90 when the camera is oriented horizontally at the time of shooting, and is the same as the video signal stored in the memory 90 when the camera is oriented vertically. is a video signal in which the vertical and horizontal addresses of the video signal stored in the memory 90 are reversed, and the number of pixels is reduced.

The signal processing circuit 200 converts the point-sequential video signal obtained at an input 202 into respective color signals, such as red (R), green (G), and blue CB, with a pixel clock received from the control circuit 128 through a control line 206. ). This color separation is performed according to the pixel number information and color separation information set in the signal processing circuit 200, that is, according to the number of pixels of the imaging cell array 28 of the imaging device 22 used in the camera 10 and the segment arrangement of the color filter. . Therefore, the playback device 120 can handle any type of pixel arrangement or color filter segment arrangement.

The signal processing circuit 200 also corrects deviations in white balance due to the color temperature of the light source when an image is captured by the imaging device 22, and corrects deviations in gradation due to nonlinear characteristics of the imaging device 22.

As shown in FIG. 3(b), when the camera is oriented vertically at the time of shooting, the image based on the video signal is reduced so that the image can be displayed on the video monitor 134, so the reduced image is displayed on the video monitor 134. In order to display a gray pattern in the blank spaces on the left and right sides of the image displayed on the monitor 134, the signal processing circuit 200 further generates a gray pattern video signal and superimposes it on the video signal representing the reduced image.

The video signal data output from the signal processing circuit 200 is
It is converted into an analog signal by the Digimol Analog Converter 124, a luminance signal and a color difference signal are obtained by the HTSC processing circuit 130, and outputted to the device output 132 in the form of an NTSC composite P2 image signal, and reproduced as a visible image on the video monitor 134. be done. As shown in FIG. 3 (aOb), the image displayed on the video monitor 134 is the image stored in the memory 90 when the camera is oriented horizontally at the time of shooting; When the camera is oriented vertically, the vertical and horizontal directions of the image stored in the memory 30 are reversed, a reduced image is displayed, and gray patterns are displayed on the left and right sides of the reduced image.

As described above, according to this embodiment, the orientation of the camera at the time of photographing is detected by the vertical and horizontal sensor 40, and data indicating the orientation of the camera is stored at a predetermined address in the memory 90. Therefore, in the playback device, the orientation of the image is determined based on this data, and when the camera is held vertically, the video signal is read out from the memory 90 with the vertical and horizontal addresses reversed so that the image is reversed. Even when the camera is held vertically to take a picture, the image in the correct orientation can be displayed without displaying the image in reverse orientation on the video monitor 134. Furthermore, when reading the video signal from the memory 90 to the processing unit 200, the number of pixels is reduced to reduce the size of the image. Even when displayed, the image does not extend vertically.

Note that in the above embodiment, the processing circuit 130 processes the NTSC signal, but of course the processing circuit 13
0 may be configured to process not only NTSC but also other standard television signal systems such as PAL and SECAM.

According to the present invention, when photographing a subject with a digital electronic still camera and storing video signals in memory,
Detects the direction of the camera when shooting.

Since data representing this orientation is also stored in the memory, the playback device can display images in the correct orientation regardless of the orientation of the camera at the time of shooting. Therefore, it is possible to enjoy a natural reproduced image that is not affected by the orientation of the camera at the time of photography.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

7fSI diagram is a functional block diagram showing an embodiment of the digital electronic still camera according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram showing an example of the configuration of a playback device that plays back the video signal stored in the memory according to the embodiment shown in FIG. Block diagram: Figure 3 is a diagram showing the relationship between the orientation of the electronic still camera when photographing according to the present invention and the reproduced image; Figure 4 is a diagram showing the relationship between the orientation of the electronic still camera when photographing with the conventional device and the reproduced image. FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing an example of the vertical and horizontal sensor shown in FIG. 1. Part of the code 12, Imaging unit 22, Solid-state imaging device 24, 128, Control circuit 28, Imaging cell array 30, Synchronizing signal generation circuit 3B, Analog-to-digital converter 90 ,,,
Memory 120, Playback device 184, Vertical and horizontal code generation circuit 192, Switch circuit 200, Signal processing circuit 208, Data file Patent applicant Fuji Photo Film Co., Ltd. Agent Takao Kitori Volcano Takao East 30 Tail 4 concave tail 512I

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A digital electronic still camera to which a semiconductor storage module is removably connected, in which video signals representing still images are stored in the form of digital data, the camera having: the semiconductor storage module removably connected to the camera. a connection means for connecting in a circuit to the imaging means; an imaging means having a solid-state imaging device, imaging a field with the solid-state imaging device and outputting a video signal representing the field; and a video signal outputted from the imaging means. a signal converting means for converting a corresponding video signal into a corresponding digital signal and outputting it to the connecting means; controlling the imaging means and the signal converting means to cause the imaging means to take an image; a control means for converting into a signal and supplying a control signal for writing to the semiconductor storage module to the connection means; and a camera attitude detection means for detecting the orientation of the camera with respect to the object field. The control means includes a camera attitude information generation means for generating information representing the orientation of the camera with respect to the object scene detected by the camera attitude detection means; A digital electronic still camera characterized in that information indicating the orientation of the camera with respect to the object field is supplied from the means to the connecting means together with the control signal. 2. In the camera according to claim 1, the control means transmits information representing the orientation of the camera with respect to the object scene from the camera attitude information generation means to the connection means together with a predetermined address signal. A digital electronic still camera, characterized in that the information is stored in a predetermined address of the semiconductor storage module. 3. In the camera according to claim 2, when the control means reads out the video signal from the imaging means and supplies it to the connection means, the control means reads out the field of view of the camera from the camera attitude information generation means. A digital electronic still camera characterized in that information indicating a direction relative to the camera is supplied to the connecting means together with the address. 4. A digital electronic still camera according to claim 1, wherein the camera attitude information generating means supplies a code signal representing the information to the connecting means. 5. In the camera according to claim 4, the camera orientation information generating means generates a code for selecting either horizontal orientation or two types of portrait orientation as the orientation of the camera with respect to the object scene. A digital electronic still camera featuring: 6. In the camera according to claim 3, when the camera attitude information generation means reads out the video signal from the imaging means and supplies it to the connection means, the camera posture information generation means reads out the video signal from the imaging means and, when supplying it to the connection means, calculates the effective image area of the still image represented by the video signal. A digital electronic still camera, characterized in that the information is generated at a timing corresponding to an area other than the area.