KR100604311B1 - Managament method of the digital camera - Google Patents

Abstract

The digital camera management method of the present invention comprises the steps of: storing contact information of a user after inputting a password; And displaying the stored contact information when the password input is wrong. According to the present invention, the acquirer of the lost digital camera sees the information of the digital camera owner. Thus, a method is provided for finding a lost camera.

Description

Management method of the digital camera

1A is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of an exemplary digital camera to which the concept of the present invention can be applied.

FIG. 1B is a view illustrating a rear appearance of the digital camera of FIG. 1.

FIG. 1C is a block diagram illustrating the overall configuration of the digital camera of FIG. 1.

2 is a flowchart illustrating a digital camera management method according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart for explaining an embodiment of step S200 of FIG. 2.

4 is a flowchart for describing an exemplary embodiment of step S202 of FIG. 2.

5 illustrates an example of a password input screen of a digital camera.

6 shows an example of a screen for storing contact information.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to digital cameras, and more particularly, to digital cameras in which owner information is displayed when a digital camera is lost.

Korean Unexamined Patent Publication No. 1999-54526 discloses a digital still camera having a security function and a control method thereof. The digital still camera has a password input means for changing an operation state according to a user's operation so that a user can select and input a desired password, and the operation state is converted according to the user's operation and selected according to the operation of the password input means. Password storage means for inputting and storing a password, password setting mode means for outputting a control signal for changing the operation mode of the camera to a state in which a password can be set according to a user's operation; In response to the operation of the password input means and the password storage means, the input password state is judged, and if it does not match with the previously set startup password, the normal operation is blocked, and the operation state of the password setting mode means is To set the playback password when saving the recorded image data. Operation control means for judging whether or not reproduction is to be performed according to a password state input during reproduction, a memory means for storing a password set by a user, and a counting operation sequentially executed according to an operation state of the password input means; It comprises a counter means. According to the digital still camera, it is possible to reduce the occurrence of the failure of the digital still camera, and even if the digital still camera is lost, the digital still camera cannot be used without knowing the password, thereby preventing damage to the digital still camera, and Since the password input is required even when the image data is reproduced, the loss or damage of the stored image data can be prevented, and the effect of keeping the image data that is desired to be stored alone is important.

The conventional digital camera is for limiting the use of the digital camera according to whether or not a password matches. However, the prior art does not provide a way to recover a digital camera if it is lost.

An object of the present invention is to provide a digital camera management method for recovering a lost digital camera.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of managing a digital camera, the method including: (a) storing contact information of a user after inputting a password; And (b) displaying the stored contact information when the password input is incorrect.

delete

delete

The contact information may be voice information.

The contact information may be text information.

Step (a) may include determining whether to set a password; When determining that a password is to be set, entering a password; And storing the contact information. The step (a) may further include checking the stored contact information after storing the contact information. In step (a), after confirming the stored contact information, it is determined whether the storage of the contact information is completed, and if it is determined that the storage of the contact information is not completed, the step of proceeding to the step of storing the contact information further It can be provided.

Step (b) comprises the steps of: inputting a password; Determining whether the input password matches the activation password; If the input password and the activation password match, entering a camera operation mode; And when the input password and the activation password do not match, displaying the stored contact information.

Hereinafter, the configuration and operation of a method for managing a digital camera according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. Like reference numerals in the drawings denote components that perform the same function.

The basic concept of the present invention is to display the contact information of the owner on the digital camera when the digital camera is lost. The contact information may be displayed by various methods such as voice and text.

1A is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of an exemplary digital camera to which the concept of the present invention can be applied.

1A, in front of the digital camera 1 according to the present invention, a microphone (MIC), a self-timer lamp 11, a flash 12, a shutter button 13, a mode dial 14, a function -Selection button 15, shooting-information display section 16, view finder 17a, function-block button 18, flash-light sensor 19, lens section 20, and external interface section 21 There is.

In the self-timer mode, the self-timer lamp 11 operates for a set time from the time when the shutter button 13 is pressed to the time when the shutter is operated. The mode dial 14 is used to select and set various modes, for example, a still image shooting mode, a night scene shooting mode, a movie shooting mode, a playback mode, a computer connection mode, and a system setting mode. . The function-selection button 15 is used for the user to select one of the operation modes of the digital camera 1, for example, a still image shooting mode, a night view shooting mode, a moving picture shooting mode, and a playback mode. The shooting-information display section 16 displays information of each function related to shooting. The function-block button 18 is used for the user to select each function displayed on the shooting-information display unit 16.

Referring to FIG. 1B, the rear of the digital camera 1 according to the present invention includes a speaker SP, a power button 31, a monitor button 32, an auto-focus lamp 33, a view finder 17b, Flash standby lamp 34, display panel 35, confirm / delete button 36, enter / playback button 37, menu button 38, wide angle-zoom button 39w, There is a telephoto-zoom button 39t, an up-move button 40up, a right-move button 40ri, a down-move button 40lo, and a left-move button 40le.

The monitor button 32 is used by the user to control the operation of the display panel 35. For example, when the user presses the monitor button 32 first, an image of the subject and shooting information thereof are displayed on the display panel 35, and when the user presses the second button, only the image of the subject is displayed on the display panel 35. When pressed, the power applied to the display panel 35 is cut off. The auto-focus lamp 33 operates when the auto focusing operation is completed. The flash standby lamp 34 operates when the flash (12 in FIG. 1) is in standby for operation. The confirm / delete button 36 is used as a confirm button or a delete button in the process of setting each mode by the user. The enter / playback button 37 is used for inputting data from the user, for stopping or playing back in the playback mode. The menu button 38 is used to display the menu of the mode selected in the mode dial 14. The up-movement button 40up, the right-movement button 40ri, the down-movement button 40lo, and the left-movement button 40le are also used in the process of setting each mode by the user.

Referring to Figure 1c, the overall configuration of the digital camera will be described.

The optical system OPS including the lens unit and the filter unit optically processes light from a subject. The lens unit in the optical system OPS includes a zoom lens, a focus lens, and a compensation lens.

A photoelectric conversion unit (OEC) of a charge coupled device (CCD) or a complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) converts light from an optical system (OPS) into an electrical analog signal. Here, the digital signal processor 507 controls the timing circuit 502 to control the operations of the photoelectric converter OEC and the analog-digital converter 501. The CDS-ADC (Correlation Double Sampler and Analog-to-Digital Converter) element 501 as an analog-to-digital converter processes the analog signal from the photoelectric converter (OEC) to remove the low frequency noise and adjust the amplitude. After that, it is converted into a digital signal. The digital signal processor 507 processes the digital signal from the CDS-ADC element 501 to generate a digital image signal classified into luminance and chroma signals.

The digital video signal from the digital signal processor 507 is temporarily stored in the DRAM (Dynamic Random Access Memory) 504. The EEPROM (Electrically Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory) 505 stores algorithms and setting data necessary for the operation of the digital signal processor 507. The memory card of the user is attached to or detached from the memory card interface 506.

The digital image signal from the digital signal processor 507 is input to the LCD driver 514, whereby the image is displayed on the color LCD panel 35.

On the other hand, the digital video signal from the digital signal processor 507 can be transmitted by serial communication via the USB (Universal Serial Bus) connection 21a or the RS232C interface 508 and its connection 21b, and the video filter ( 509 and the video output unit 21c may be transmitted as a video signal.

The audio processor 513 outputs the audio signal from the microphone MIC to the digital signal processor 507 or the speaker SP, and outputs the audio signal from the digital signal processor 507 to the speaker SP.

The user input unit INP includes a shutter button (13 in FIG. 1), a mode dial (14 in FIG. 1), a function-selection button (15 in FIG. 1), a function-block button (18 in FIG. 1), a monitor button ( 1B 32), OK / Delete button (36 in FIG. 1B), Enter / Playback button (37 in FIG. 1B), Menu button (38 in FIG. 1B), Wide-Zoom button (39w in FIG. 1B), Tele- Zoom button (39t in FIG. 1B), up-move button (40up in FIG. 1B), right-move button (40ri in FIG. 1B), down-move button (40lo in FIG. 1B), and left-move button (FIG. 1B) 40le).

The microcontroller 512 controls the lens driver 510, so that the zoom motor M _Z , the focus motor M _F , and the aperture motor M _A are zoom lenses in the optical system OPS, The focus lens and the aperture are driven respectively. The light emitting portion LAMP driven by the microcontroller 512 includes a self-timer lamp 11, an auto-focus lamp (33 in FIG. 2) and a flash standby lamp (34 in FIG. 2). On the other hand, the microcontroller 512 drives the flash 12 by controlling the operation of the flash controller 511 according to the signal from the flash-light amount sensor 19.

The digital camera to which the present invention can be applied does not have to include only the components of FIGS. 1A to 1C or all of the above components, and those skilled in the art can delete some of the components according to the specification, or It will be appreciated that components may be added or some components may be modified.

2 is a flowchart for explaining a method for managing a digital camera according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, which includes storing the contact information of the user (S200) and displaying the stored contact information (S202). do.

The basic concept of the present invention is to display the contact information of the owner on the digital camera when the digital camera is lost. The contact information may be stored and displayed by various methods such as voice and text.

In storing the contact information in the digital camera, it can be stored only after the password input. This is to ensure that only certain users of digital cameras store contact information. The contact information may be a phone number or address of the owner of the digital camera.

In displaying contact information on a digital camera, it can be displayed when the digital camera has reached certain conditions. For example, it may be displayed when the password input is wrong. If using a digital camera, consider entering a password and enabling the digital camera only if the entered password matches the stored password. If a wrong password is entered, it can be determined that a person other than the specific user who stored the password of the digital camera is occupied, and the stored contact information can be displayed at this time.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart for explaining an embodiment of step S200 of FIG. 2 and is for storing contact information in a digital camera.

Referring to Figure 3, first, it is determined whether to set a password (S300). Whether or not to set a password may be determined according to a user's intention to store contact information in a digital camera. Here, whether the password is set may be related to the display of the contact information as well as the storage of the contact information. In other words, when a password is set at the time of storing the contact information, whether or not the contact information is displayed can be determined according to whether the input of the password is matched.

If it is determined that the password is not set, without performing step S302, the contact information is stored (step S304). The stored contact information may be voice information. In addition, the stored contact information may be text information.

After step S304, the stored contact information is checked (step S306). In addition, after confirming the stored contact information, it is determined whether the storage of the contact information is completed, and if it is determined that the storage of the contact information is not completed, may proceed to the step of storing the contact information (step S304).

FIG. 4 is a flowchart for explaining an embodiment of step S202 of FIG. 2 to display contact information on a digital camera.

4, first, a password is input (S400). After step S400, it is determined whether the input password and the stored activation password match (step S402). If it is determined that the input password matches the stored activation password, the operation proceeds to the normal camera operation mode (step S404). However, if it is determined that the input password and the stored activation password do not match, the user's contact information is displayed (step S406). Thus, a user who does not know a password, such as a learner of a lost digital camera, cannot use the digital camera, but only sees the information of the digital camera owner.

Here, the contact information of the user may be displayed as voice or text. In the contact information input step illustrated in FIG. 3, the type of contact information to be displayed is determined according to whether voice contact information or text contact information is stored.

Here, steps S400 and S402 are provided when a password is set for normal use of the digital camera. Therefore, in the use of the digital camera, when the input of the password is not set, step S406 is performed without going through steps S400 and S402. That is, when an operation for using the digital camera is not performed from the user such as the standby mode, the user's contact information such as a phone number may be displayed as text.

5 shows an example of a password input screen of a digital camera, which is an embodiment of step S302 of FIG. 3 and step S400 of FIG. 4.

Referring to the drawing, a password input button on which a password and a number and / or letters are displayed is displayed on the password input screen. Also on the password input screen, instructions for entering a password, such as "Please enter your password!" Etc. may be displayed.

The password input window may be set to input a predetermined number of four numbers or letters, for example. In the password input window, the cursor blinks to indicate the location of the password to be entered. The user may enter a number or letter to be input at the position of the corresponding password, for example, using the direction movement buttons 40up, 40lo, 40ri, and 40le shown in FIG. 1B.

FIG. 6 illustrates an example of a screen for storing contact information, and in the step S304 of FIG. 3, the contact information is stored as voice information.

The screen says "Record your voice!" Is displayed and "Recording ..." is displayed. At this time, the user may record a voice. When the recording is completed, the user may determine that the input is completed by an input confirmation button provided in the digital camera. When the input is completed, the screen may be restored to the state before the screen of FIG. 6 is displayed.

If the contact information is character information, a letter board is displayed on the screen, and the character information can be input by an operation of a direction key, an input confirmation button, or the like provided in the digital camera. In this case, the dial displayed on the screen may be implemented as a form in which the numeric keypad as shown in FIG. 5 is modified.

The method for managing a digital camera according to the present invention can be implemented in a recording medium. The recording medium includes any kind of recording device that stores a program or data that can be read by a computer system. Examples of the recording medium include ROM, RAM, CD-ROM, magnetic tape, hard disk, floppy disk, flash memory, optical data storage device, and the like. Here, the program stored in the recording medium refers to a series of instruction instructions used directly or indirectly in an apparatus having an information processing capability such as a computer to obtain a specific result. In addition, the term computer is used to mean all devices having information processing capability for performing a specific function by a program having a memory, an input / output device, and an arithmetic device despite the fact that the name is actually used. Accordingly, the computer includes a microprocessor included in the digital camera, and the recording medium includes a storage device such as a ROM connected to the microprocessor.

In particular, the method of managing a digital camera according to the present invention is an integrated circuit, for example, a field programmable gate array (FPGA), which is prepared by a schematic or ultra-high speed hardware description language (VHDL) on a computer and connected to a computer. Can be implemented by The recording medium includes such a programmable integrated circuit. The recording medium may also include an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) in which logic circuits for implementing the method of managing the digital camera are integrated.

The best embodiments have been disclosed in the drawings and specification above. Although specific terms have been used herein, they are used only for the purpose of describing the present invention and are not used to limit the scope of the present invention as defined in the meaning or claims. Therefore, those skilled in the art will understand that various modifications and equivalent other embodiments are possible from this. Therefore, the true technical protection scope of the present invention will be defined by the technical spirit of the appended claims.

As described above, according to the managing method of the digital camera of the present invention, the contact information of the user is stored, and the contact information is displayed when the digital camera is lost. The acquirer of the lost digital camera cannot use the digital camera, but only sees the information of the digital camera owner. According to the present invention, a method is provided for finding a lost camera.

The invention is not limited to the examples described above and represented in the drawings. Those skilled in the art taught by the above-described embodiments, many modifications to the above-described embodiments are possible by substitution, erasure, merging, etc. within the scope and object of the present invention described in the following claims.

Claims (10)

(a) storing the contact information of the user after inputting the password; And and (b) displaying the stored contact information when the password is input incorrectly. delete delete The method of claim 1, wherein the contact information, Digital camera management method characterized in that the voice information. The method of claim 1, wherein the contact information, Digital camera management method characterized in that the character information. According to claim 1, wherein the step (a), Determining whether to set a password; When determining that a password is to be set, entering a password; And And storing the contact information. According to claim 6, wherein step (a), And storing the contact information after the contact information has been stored. The method of claim 7, wherein the step (a), After confirming the stored contact information, it is determined whether the storage of the contact information is completed, and if it is determined that the storage of the contact information is not completed, the method further comprises the step of proceeding to the step of storing the contact information How to care for the camera. According to claim 1, wherein step (b), Entering a password; Determining whether the input password matches the activation password; If the input password and the activation password match, entering a camera operation mode; And And if the input password and the activation password do not match, displaying the stored contact information. A recording medium on which a program for executing the method of any one of claims 1 to 9 is recorded on a computer.

Images