KR100987772B1 - Controlling method of digital camera - Google Patents

Abstract

 The present invention relates to a control method of a digital camera capable of reducing power consumption by reducing the size of an image displayed on an organic EL display. A control method of a digital camera according to the present invention is a control method of a digital camera that receives image data from an external source and displays an image corresponding to display data on an effective screen of an organic EL display in accordance with a display mode. Receiving data; (b) determining a display mode; (c) determining, according to the display mode, the size and position of the effective screen, and converting the image data according to the size of the effective screen to generate display data; And (d) displaying an image according to the display data on the effective screen.

Description

Controlling method of digital camera

1 is a perspective view showing the front appearance of a conventional digital camera.

FIG. 2 is a rear view illustrating a rear shape of the digital camera of FIG. 1.

3 is a diagram illustrating an incident side structure of the digital camera of FIG. 1.

4 is a block diagram showing the overall configuration of the digital camera of FIG.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a photographing control algorithm of the microcontroller of FIG. 4.

6 is a rear perspective view showing an example of a conventional digital camera to which a liquid crystal display device for reducing power consumption is applied.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an example of a backlight device of the digital camera of FIG. 6.

8 is a flowchart schematically illustrating a method for controlling a digital camera according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

9 is a flowchart schematically illustrating a control method of a digital camera according to another exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

10A to 10C schematically illustrate an image displayed on a display apparatus by the method of controlling the digital camera of FIGS. 8 and 9.

FIG. 11 is a timing diagram illustrating horizontal axis timings of a normal mode and a power saving mode of an analog video signal displayed by the control method of the digital camera of FIGS. 8 and 9.

12 is a block diagram schematically illustrating a digital camera according to another exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 13 is a diagram schematically showing each pixel structure of an organic EL display as the display portion of FIG.

<Brief description of the major symbols in the drawings>

61: image capturing unit, 62: external storage medium,

63: user input unit, 64: OSD unit,

65 is an image processor, 66 is a display driver;

67: display, 68: external output interface,

69: external display device.

The present invention relates to a control method of a digital camera, and more particularly, to reduce power consumption by reducing the size of an image displayed on a display device of a digital camera using an organic electroluminescence (EL) display as a display device. The present invention relates to a control method of a digital camera.

1 is a perspective view showing the front appearance of a conventional digital camera.

Referring to the drawings, in front of a conventional digital camera 1, a microphone (MIC), a self-timer lamp 11, a flash 12, a shutter button 13, a mode dial 14, a function-selection button 15, the shooting-information display unit 16, the viewfinder 17a, the function-block button 18, the flash-light amount sensor 19, the lens unit 20, and the external interface unit 21.

In the self-timer mode, the self-timer lamp 11 operates for a set time from when the shutter button 13 is pressed to 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 view shooting mode, a moving picture 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.

FIG. 2 is a rear view illustrating a rear shape of the digital camera of FIG. 1.

Referring to the drawings, behind the conventional digital camera 1, a speaker SP, a power button 31, a monitor button 32, an auto-focus lamp 33, a viewfinder 17b, a flash standby lamp (34), color LCD panel 35, OK / Delete button 36, enter / playback button 37, menu button 38, wide angle-zoom button 39w, telephoto ( There is a telephoto-zoom button 39t, an up-move button 40up, a right-move button 40ri, a down-move button 40do, and a left-move button 40le.

The monitor button 32 is used by the user to control the operation of the color LCD 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 or for a function such as stopping or playing 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 40do, and the left-movement button 40le are also used in the process of setting each mode by the user.

3 is a diagram illustrating an incident side structure of the digital camera of FIG. 1. 4 is a block diagram showing the overall configuration of the digital camera of FIG.

Referring to the drawings, the optical system OPS including the lens unit 20 and the filter unit 41 optically processes light from a subject. The lens unit 20 of the optical system OPS includes a zoom lens ZL, a focus lens FL, and a compensation lens CL.

When the user presses the wide-zoom button (39w of FIG. 2) or the tele-zoom button (39t of FIG. 2) included in the user input unit INP, a corresponding signal is input to the microcontroller 512. Accordingly, as the microcontroller 512 controls the lens driver 510, the zoom motor M _Z is driven to move the zoom lens ZL. That is, when the wide-zoom button (39w in FIG. 2) is pressed, the focal length of the zoom lens ZL is shortened to widen the angle of view, and when the tele-zoom button 39t is pressed, the zoom lens ZL The focal length of is long, so the angle of view is narrowed. According to such a characteristic, the microcontroller 512 may obtain an angle of view for the position of the zoom lens ZL from the design data of the optical system OPS. Here, since the position of the focus lens FL is adjusted while the position of the zoom lens ZL is set, the angle of view is hardly influenced by the position of the focus lens FL.

On the other hand, when the focus is automatically or manually on the subject, the current position of the focus lens FL changes with respect to the subject distance. Here, since the position of the focus lens FL is adjusted while the position of the zoom lens ZL is set, the object distance is affected by the position of the zoom lens ZL. In the auto focusing mode, the focus motor M _F is driven by the microcontroller 512 controlling the lens driver 510. Accordingly, the focus lens FL is moved from the front to the rear, and in this process, the position of the focus lens FL having the highest high frequency content of the image signal, for example, the number of position steps of the focus motor M _F. Is set.

The compensation lens CL serves to compensate for the overall refractive index and is not driven separately.

Reference numeral M _A denotes a motor for driving an aperture (not shown). Here, the rotation angle of the diaphragm drive motor M _A varies depending on the case of the designated exposure mode and the case where it is not. The designated exposure mode refers to a mode for setting the exposure amount of the digital camera to the average brightness of the designated detection area when the desired area of the target area matches the designated detection area displayed on the display panel 35 of the digital camera. Say.

In the filter portion 41 of the optical system OPS, an optical low pass filter (OLPF) removes high frequency optical noise. Infra-Red cut filters (IRFs) block infrared components of incident light.

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 operation of the photoelectric converter OEC and the Correlation Double Sampler and Analog-to-Digital Converter (CDS-ADC) element 501. The CDS-ADC element 501 as an analog-to-digital converter processes the analog signal from the photoelectric converter (OEC), removes the high frequency noise, adjusts the amplitude, and converts the analog signal 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 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). 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. (32 in FIG. 2), OK / Delete button (36 in FIG. 2), enter / playback button (37 in FIG. 2), menu button (38 in FIG. 2), wide-zoom button (39w in FIG. 2), telephoto -Zoom button (39t in FIG. 2), up-move button (40up in FIG. 2), right-move button (40ri in FIG. 2), down-move button (40do in FIG. 4), and left-move button (FIG. 2, 40le).

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 a universal serial bus (USB) connection 21a or an RS232C interface 508 and its connection 21b, and a video filter ( 509 and the video output unit 21c can 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.

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.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a photographing control algorithm of the microcontroller of FIG. 4.

The photographing control algorithm of the microcontroller 512 of FIG. 4 will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 5 as follows. Here, the shutter button 13 included in the user input unit INP has a two-stage structure. That is, after the user operates the wide-zoom button 39w and the tele-zoom button 39t, the S1 signal from the shutter button 13 is turned on by pressing the shutter button 13 only one step, and 2 When the button is pressed all the way, the S2 signal from the shutter button 13 is turned on. Thus, the photographing algorithm of FIG. 5 starts when the user presses the shutter button 13 one step (step 101). Here, the current position of the zoom lens ZL is already set.

First, the remaining amount of the memory card is examined (step 102), and it is checked whether or not the capacity of the digital video signal can be recorded (step 103). If it is not a recordable capacity, it is indicated that the capacity of the memory card is insufficient (step 104). In the case of a recordable capacity, the following steps are performed.

First, an Automatic White Balance (AWB) mode is performed to set relevant parameters (step 105). Next, an automatic exposure (AE) mode is performed, whereby the exposure amount for incident luminance is calculated, and the aperture driving motor M _A is driven in accordance with the calculated exposure amount (step 106). Next, an automatic focusing (AF) mode is performed to set the current position of the focus lens FL (step 107).

Next, it is checked whether the S1 signal, which is the first-stage signal from the shutter button 13, is on (step 108). If the S1 signal is not On, the execution-program is terminated because there is no user's intention of shooting. If the S1 signal is On, the following steps are continued.

First, it is checked whether the S2 signal is on (step 109). If the S2 signal is not on, the user has not pressed the second stage of the shutter button 13 for shooting, so the execution-program is moved to step 106 above.

If the S2 signal is on, the user presses the second stage of the shutter button 13 for shooting, and thus the shooting operation is performed (step 110). That is, the digital signal processor 507 is operated by the microcontroller 512, and the photoelectric conversion unit OEC and the CDS-ADS 501 are operated by the timing circuit 502. Next, the image data is compressed (step 111) to generate a compressed image file (step 112). Then, after the generated image file is stored in the user's memory card from the digital signal processor 507 via the memory card interface 506 (step 113), execution of the algorithm is terminated.

Since portable imaging devices such as digital cameras, digital camcorders, and mobile phones generally use batteries, it is important to reduce power consumption. Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-232653, "Liquid Crystal Display Device", discloses a digital camera in which a liquid crystal display device installed in a digital camera or the like is applied to a liquid crystal display device that can reduce power consumption and prevent battery consumption. .                         

6 is a rear perspective view showing an example of a conventional digital camera to which a liquid crystal display device for reducing power consumption is applied. FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an example of a backlight device of the digital camera of FIG. 6.

Referring to the drawings, when a liquid crystal display panel (LCD) is used as a display device of a digital camera, the protective cover 3 and the protective cover 3 for protecting the liquid crystal display panel 2 are closed. The conversion switch 5 which is turned ON is installed in the main body 1A of the camera. When the protective cover 3 is closed and the conversion switch 5 is ON, an image is displayed only on a part 2a of the liquid crystal display panel 2, the protective cover 3 is opened, and the conversion switch 5 is opened. When it is turned off, an image is displayed on the whole 2b of the liquid crystal display panel 2.

In this case, as shown in FIG. 7, the first fluorescent lamp 7A and the second fluorescent lamp 2A and the second 2B may be separated and driven in the liquid crystal display panel 2. When the fluorescent lamp 7B is provided and the image is to be displayed on a part 2a of the liquid crystal display panel, only the first fluorescent lamp 7A is driven and the image is to be displayed on the whole 2b of the liquid crystal display panel. In this case, the first fluorescent lamp 7A and the second fluorescent lamp 7B are driven.

As described above, in each case of shooting or non-shooting in the digital camera, when the protective cover is closed, the image is displayed only in a part 2a of the liquid crystal display panel, thereby reducing power consumption.

However, in the case of the digital camera, there is a problem in that a separate backlight light source is required, and an additional device and a separate method for controlling the same require a separate backlight source. In addition, the position and size of the driving screen for reducing power consumption are fixed, and there is a problem in that it cannot be changed as desired according to a user's needs or preferences.

The present invention is to solve the above problems, to provide a control method of a digital camera that can reduce the power consumption by reducing the size of the image displayed on the display device of the digital camera using the organic EL display as a display device. It aims to do it.

In the control method of the digital camera according to the present invention for achieving the above object, the control of the digital camera that receives the image data from the outside, and displays the image according to the display data on the effective screen of the organic EL display according to the display mode A method, comprising: (a) receiving image data; (b) determining a display mode; (c) determining, according to the display mode, the size and position of the effective screen, and converting the image data according to the size of the effective screen to generate display data; And (d) displaying an image according to the display data on the effective screen.

It is preferable that the display mode is one of a normal mode in which the entire screen of the organic EL display is an effective screen, and a power saving mode in which a partial area of the organic EL display full screen is an effective screen.                     

In the step (c), when the display mode is the normal mode, determining the size and position of the effective screen as a full screen and converting the image data to be displayed on the valid screen to generate display data. And (c2) when the display mode is a power saving mode, determining the size and position of the effective screen as a partial region of the full screen, and converting the image data to be displayed on the valid screen to generate display data. It is desirable to.

In the step (c2), it is preferable to divide the entire screen into a plurality of regions, to make at least one of them an effective screen, and to reduce the image data to display the effective screen.

 A control method of a digital camera according to another aspect of the present invention is a control method of a digital camera that receives image data from the outside and displays an image corresponding to display data on an effective screen of an organic EL display in accordance with a display mode. a) receiving image data; (b) determining a display mode; (c) determining whether to output an OSD (On Screen Display) showing the information of the digital camera to the user from the display mode to the effective screen; (d) synthesizing the OSD with the image data to generate synthesized data; (e) determining, according to the display mode, the size and position of the effective screen, and converting the image data or the composite data according to the size of the effective screen to generate display data; And (f) displaying an image according to the display data on the effective screen.

The display mode includes a general mode in which the entire screen of the organic EL display is a valid screen and outputs an OSD, an OSD removal mode in which the OSD is not output in the normal mode, and an organic EL display in which the OSD is not output in the normal mode. It is preferable to be one of a power saving mode in which a part of the entire screen is an effective screen, and an off mode in which the organic EL display is turned off.

In the case where the display mode is the off mode, it is preferable to further include the step of turning off the organic EL display.

In the step (e), when the display mode is the normal mode or the OSD removal mode, the size and position of the effective screen are determined as the full screen, and the image data is converted to be displayed on the valid screen so that the display data can be displayed. And (e2) when the display mode is a power saving mode, determining the size and position of the effective screen as a partial region of the full screen, and converting the image data to display on the valid screen to generate display data. It is preferable to include the step of.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a digital camera comprising: a digital camera for receiving image data from an external device and displaying an image according to display data on a valid screen of an organic EL display according to a display mode; A mode determination unit; A display data generator; And an image display unit.

The image data input unit receives image data. The mode determination unit determines the display mode. The display data generation unit determines the size and position of the effective screen according to the display mode, and converts the image data according to the size of the effective screen to generate display data. The image display unit displays an image according to the display data on a valid screen.

The image data input unit preferably includes an image capturing unit receiving an external image through an image pickup device to generate image data, and storage means for storing the image data and image data input from the outside.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a digital camera comprising: a digital camera for receiving image data from an external device and displaying an image according to display data on a valid screen of an organic EL display according to a display mode; A mode determination unit; An OSD output determiner; A synthetic data generator; A display data generator; And an image display unit.

The image data input unit receives image data. The mode determination unit determines a display mode. The OSD output determination unit determines whether to output an OSD (On Screen Display) showing the information of the digital camera to the user from the display mode to the effective screen. The synthesized data generator generates synthesized data by synthesizing an OSD with the image data. The display data generation unit determines the size and position of the effective screen according to the display mode, and converts the image data or the synthesized data according to the size of the effective screen to generate the display data. The image display unit displays an image according to the display data on a valid screen.

The image data input unit preferably includes an image capturing unit receiving an external image through an image pickup device to generate image data, and storage means for storing the image data and image data input from the outside.                     

In addition, it is preferable to further include a user input unit for inputting a display mode, and an OSD unit for generating an OSD.

Preferably, the user input unit has a mode switch button for operating a display mode.

According to the operation of the mode switch button, it is preferable that the display mode is set to the normal mode, the OSD removal mode, the power saving mode, and the off mode in turn.

According to the present invention, power consumption is reduced by reducing the size of an image displayed on a display device of a digital camera, and user convenience is increased by extending a battery usage time of a portable electronic device.

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

8 is a flowchart schematically illustrating a method for controlling a digital camera according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to the drawing, the control method 200 of a digital camera receives image data from an external source and displays an image corresponding to display data on a valid screen of an organic EL display according to a display mode. Receiving an input (S201); (b) determining a display mode (S202); (c) determining, according to the display mode, the size and position of the effective screen, and converting the image data according to the size of the effective screen to generate display data (S203, S204); And (d) displaying the image according to the display data on the effective screen (S205, S206).                     

The control method 200 of the digital camera according to the present embodiment receives image data from the outside (S201) and displays an image on an image display unit such as an organic EL display (S205, S206). A valid screen of the organic EL display is set, image data is converted according to the effective screen size to generate display data (S203, S204), and an image according to the display data is displayed on the effective screen of the organic EL display (S205, S206). ). To this end, the control method 200 of the digital camera according to the present embodiment includes the steps (a), (b), (c), and (d).

In the step (a) (S201), image data is received from the outside, and the image data may be input and generated from an image capturing unit including an image pickup device, or may be input from a storage means in which image data is stored.

In this case, the image is displayed on the display device may include a preview mode and a playback mode according to the input method of the image data. In the preview mode, when an image applied through a lens is formed on an imaging device such as a CCD sensor or a CMOS sensor, the captured image is converted into an analog electric signal and converted into a digital signal to generate image data, which is then read by the image processing unit. To the display device. In the flyback mode, the image data stored in the storage means is output to the display device. The image data stored in a removable flash memory (CF, SD, MS card, etc.) or a magnetic tape is read by the image processor and output to the display device.                     

In the step (b) (S202), the display mode is determined. The display mode may be one of a normal mode and a power saving mode. In the normal mode, the entire screen of the organic EL display is a valid screen, and in the power saving mode, a partial area of the organic EL display full screen is a valid screen. Therefore, in the power saving mode, only a part of the entire screen of the organic EL display is displayed, thereby reducing power consumption consumed for displaying an image.

In particular, when an image is displayed on a display device such as an organic EL display in which power consumption consumed to display the image is proportional to the number of driving pixels of the display device, the effect of reducing power consumption according to the present invention is large. Since the organic EL display driven by the active matrix method applied to the display device in this embodiment drives each pixel as shown in Fig. 13, the power consumption of the display device is the resolution of the displayed pixel, that is, the number of pixels. Increases in proportion to

In step (c) (S203, S204), the size and position of the effective screen are determined according to the display mode, and the display data is generated by converting the image data according to the size of the valid screen. In this case, the steps (c) (S203 and S204) may include (c1) step (S1) when the display mode is a normal mode and step (c2) (S204) when the display mode is a power saving mode. desirable.

In the step (c1), the size and position of the valid screen are determined as the full screen, and the display data is generated by converting the image data to be displayed on the valid screen. In the step (c2) (S204), the size and position of the effective screen are determined as a partial region of the full screen, and the display data is generated by converting the image data to be displayed on the valid screen. At this time, in step (c2) (S204), it is preferable to divide the entire screen into a plurality of areas, make at least one of them a valid screen, and reduce the image data to display the effective screen.

In the step (d) (S205, S206), the image according to the display data is displayed on the effective screen. After converting the display data into the display driving signal (S205), the converted driving signal is displayed on the valid screen of the display device. The video signal is output (S206).

According to the present invention, when the display mode is a power saving mode, as shown in Figs. 10A to 10C, a partial area of the entire screen of a display device such as an organic EL display is set as a valid screen, and only a valid screen area of the full screen is displayed. The image is driven to be displayed, and the remaining area where the image is not output is displayed in black without driving. In this case, as shown in FIGS. 10A to 10C, the position of the effective screen on which the image is displayed may be any area of the entire screen.

Therefore, since only the effective screen area is driven out of the entire display area, power consumption can be reduced by that amount. In particular, the effect is greater when an organic EL display in which the power consumption consumed to display an image is proportional to the number of driving pixels of the display device is used as the display device.

9 is a flowchart schematically illustrating a control method of a digital camera according to another exemplary embodiment of the present invention. 10A to 10C schematically illustrate an image displayed on a display apparatus by the method of controlling the digital camera of FIGS. 8 and 9.

Referring to the drawing, the control method 300 of the digital camera receives image data from the outside and displays an image according to the display data according to the display mode on the effective screen of the organic EL display. The same components as the control method 200 of the camera use similar reference numerals, and except for the following description, the same functions will be omitted.

The control method 300 of the digital camera according to the present embodiment includes: (a) receiving image data (S301); (b) determining a display mode (S302); (c) determining whether to output an OSD (On Screen Display) showing the information of the digital camera to the user from the display mode to the effective screen (S307); (d) synthesizing the OSD with the image data to generate synthesized data (S308); (e) determining, according to the display mode, the size and position of the effective screen, and converting the image data or the composite data according to the size of the effective screen to generate display data (S303, S304); And (f) displaying the image according to the display data on the effective screen (S305, S306).

In the present embodiment, the display mode may be any one of a mode including a normal mode, an OSD removal mode, a power saving mode, and off modes. At this time, the OSD (On Screen Data) is to show the information of the digital camera to the user.

In the normal mode, the entire screen of the organic EL display is made a valid screen, and image data and OSD (On Screen Data) data displayed on the display device are synthesized and output.

In the OSD elimination mode, OSD (On Screen Data) is not output in the normal mode, and the entire screen of the organic EL display is made a valid screen, and only the image data is output without the OSD data being output.

In the power saving mode, the OSD is not output in the normal mode, and image data is output using a partial area of the entire organic EL display as a valid screen, so that the image is displayed only in a part of the full screen and the remaining area of the display device is not driven. No output is black.

In such a power saving mode, the effective screen displayed on the entire screen of the display device is reduced to 1/2 or 1/4, and the image data is reduced to be displayed on the effective screen to reduce power consumption. In this case, the position of the effective screen in the entire screen of the display device may be an arbitrary area. In this case, if necessary, another display mode in which an OSD is output may be added to the power saving mode.

In the off mode, the organic EL display is turned off, and the entire area of the display device is output in black. That is, in the off mode, an optical or electric viewfinder mounted to a digital camera is used as a mode for turning off the entire display device without driving the display device. To this end, the control method 300 of the digital camera according to the present embodiment preferably further comprises turning off the organic EL display when the display mode is the off mode.

To this end, the digital camera is provided with a user input unit, and the user input unit is preferably provided with a mode switch button for operating the display mode. In addition, it is preferable that the display mode is set to the normal mode, the OSD removal mode, the power saving mode, and the off mode in turn according to the operation of the mode switching button.

In the step (c) (S307) it is determined whether or not to output the OSD (On Screen Display) showing the information of the digital camera to the user on the effective screen from the preset display mode.

In step (d), when the display mode is a mode for outputting the OSD, the synthesized data is generated by synthesizing the OSD data with the image data, and in step (e) (S303, S304), the composite data is valid. The display data can be generated by converting it according to the size of.

In the step (e) (S303, S304), the size and position of the effective screen is determined according to the display mode, and the display data is generated by converting image data or composite data according to the size of the valid screen. In this case, in step (e) (S303, S304), the display data is generated by using (e1) step (S303) of generating the display data using the entire screen of the display apparatus as a valid screen and using a partial area of the display apparatus as the effective screen. It may comprise the step (e2) to generate (S304).

In the step (e1) (S303), when the display mode is the normal mode or the OSD removal mode, the size and position of the effective screen is determined as the full screen, and the display data is converted by converting the image data to be displayed on the valid screen. Create In the step (e2) (S304), when the display mode is the power saving mode, the size and position of the effective screen are determined as a partial region of the full screen, and the display data is generated by converting the image data to be displayed on the valid screen. do.

10A to 10C illustrate an example of generating display data by reducing image data according to the effective screen by using a partial area of the display apparatus as a valid screen in order to reduce power consumption according to the present invention.

10A illustrates a case where the display mode is a power saving mode, and a partial region of the center portion of the entire screen of the display device becomes a valid screen and no OSD is output. 10B illustrates a case where a partial region of the center portion of the display device becomes a valid screen and an OSD is output to each corner of the valid screen. FIG. 10C illustrates a case where the display mode is a power saving mode, in which a part of the upper left portion of the entire screen of the display device becomes a valid screen and no OSD is output.

FIG. 11 is a timing diagram illustrating horizontal axis timings of a normal mode and a power saving mode of an analog video signal displayed by the control method of the digital camera of FIGS. 8 and 9.

Referring to the drawings, when the input video signal is in the form of analog RGB, the timing of the output of the video signal in each of the normal mode and the power saving mode is shown. When the image processing unit reduces the effective screen on which the image is displayed, As shown, the shape of the image signal is maintained as it is and the output time is reduced.

That is, in each case where the display mode is a normal mode and a power saving mode, an image signal is output to the display device in one horizontal synchronizing signal 1H. In each case, an image signal of the same type is output. Therefore, the effective video output interval is reduced than that in the normal mode, thereby reducing the area driven. Thus, power consumption consumed to display the video signal is reduced.

In this case, the input video signal may be various video signals including an RGB signal as well as a YCbCr type video signal.

12 is a block diagram schematically illustrating a digital camera according to another exemplary embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 13 is a diagram schematically showing each pixel structure of an organic EL display as the display portion of FIG.

Referring to the drawings, the digital camera 60 according to another aspect of the present invention receives image data from the outside and displays the image corresponding to the display data on the effective screen of the organic EL display in accordance with the display mode. An input unit; A mode determination unit; An OSD output determiner; A synthetic data generator; A display data generator; And an image display unit. In this case, the digital camera 60 according to the present embodiment is a digital camera for implementing the control methods 200 and 300 of the digital cameras of FIGS. 8 and 9, and each component is a control method of the digital camera 200. Components other than those described above may be referred to the descriptions of FIGS. 8 and 9 and the detailed descriptions thereof will be omitted.

The digital camera 60 includes an image capturing unit 61, an external storage medium 62, a user input unit 63, an OSD unit 64, an image processing unit 65, and image output units 66 to 69. In this case, the image output units 66 to 69 include a display driver 66, a display unit 67, an external output interface 68, and an external display device 69. In addition, an LCD or an organic EL display may be used as the display unit 67. In this embodiment, it is preferable that an organic EL display of an active matrix driving method is used. In addition, a TV may be used as the external display device 69, and a video output terminal may be used as the external output interface 68.

The image data input unit according to the present exemplary embodiment includes the image capturing unit 61 and the external storage medium 62 shown in FIG. 12. In addition, the mode determiner, the OSD output determiner, the synthesized data generator, and the display data generator according to the present exemplary embodiment are implemented by the image processor 65 of FIG. 12. In addition, the image display unit according to the present embodiment is implemented by the image output units 66 to 69 of FIG.

The image data input unit receives image data. The mode determination unit determines a display mode. The OSD output determination unit determines whether to output an OSD (On Screen Display) showing the information of the digital camera to the user from the display mode to the effective screen. The synthesized data generator generates synthesized data by synthesizing an OSD with the image data. The display data generation unit determines the size and position of the effective screen according to the display mode, and converts the image data or the synthesized data according to the size of the effective screen to generate the display data. The image display unit displays an image according to the display data on a valid screen.

The image data input unit includes an image capturing unit 61 for receiving an external image through an image pickup device and generating image data, and an external storage medium 62 as storage means for storing image data and image data input from the outside. Is preferably provided.

In addition, it is preferable to further include a user input unit 63 for inputting a display mode, and an OSD unit 64 for generating an OSD. In this case, the user input unit 63 includes a mode switching button for operating a display mode, and the display mode is set in order of the normal mode, the OSD elimination mode, the power saving mode, and the off mode to be sequentially switched according to the operation of the mode switching button. It is preferable to be.

The user input unit 63 may be provided with a separate button or key for switching the display mode outside the digital camera, and the normal mode, the OSD removal mode, the power saving mode, and the off mode are sequentially cycled by the user's operation. Conversion can be set. In addition, the user input unit 63 may be provided with various input means for realizing the functions of the digital camera as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 as well as all the switching buttons.

Fig. 13 shows a pixel structure of the organic EL driving, wherein the unit pixel of the organic EL display includes an organic EL element OEL in which an anode is connected to a current source VDD, a cathode is grounded, and light is emitted when a constant current is applied; It is preferable to comprise the switching element Mo interposed between VDD and the organic EL element OEL. At this time, the switching element Mo is turned on or off by a data signal input from the organic EL driver as the display driver 66. Where Cs is a storage capacitor.

Since the active matrix drive type organic EL display drives each pixel with a constant current, the power consumption of the display device increases in proportion to the resolution of the pixels to be displayed, that is, the number of pixels to be displayed.

However, in the case of LCD displays, the amount of energy consumed by the backlight is higher than the energy consumed in the TFT panel. Therefore, in the case of the TFT LCD display, the effect of reducing the power consumption by only reducing the size of the output image is weak compared with the organic EL display.

That is, in the control method of the digital camera and the digital camera to which the present invention is applied, the power consumption is reduced when using a display device such as an organic EL display in which power consumption of the display device is proportional to the number of driving pixels. The effect is great.

The control method of the digital camera for reducing power consumption according to the present invention can be applied not only to a digital camera but to other similar image acquisition devices using an organic EL display as a display device. However, in the present specification, the present invention has been described with reference to a digital camera as a typical example to which the present invention may be applied.

In addition, the control method of the digital camera for reducing the power consumption according to the present invention has been described with a focus on the case of using the organic EL display as a display device, but also by controlling the display device of the digital camera in units of pixels, Other display devices that can be freely resized may be applicable.

According to the control method of the digital camera according to the present invention, power consumption can be reduced by reducing the size of the image displayed on the display device of the digital camera using the organic EL display as the display device.

In addition, by reducing the power consumption to extend the battery operating time of the portable electronic device, the user convenience is increased.

Although the present invention has been described with reference to one embodiment shown in the accompanying drawings, it is merely an example, and those skilled in the art may realize various modifications and equivalent other embodiments therefrom. I can understand. Accordingly, the true scope of protection of the invention should be defined only by the appended claims.

Claims (5)

In a control method of a digital camera that receives image data from the outside, and displays the image according to the display data on the effective screen of the organic EL display in accordance with the display mode, (a) receiving the image data; (b) determining the display mode; (c) determining the size and position of the valid screen according to the display mode, and converting the image data according to the size of the valid screen to generate the display data; And (d) displaying an image according to the display data on the valid screen, And the display mode is one of a normal mode in which a full screen of the organic EL display is a valid screen, and a power saving mode in which a partial area of the organic EL display is a valid screen. delete The method of claim 1, (e) determining whether to output an On Screen Display (OSD) showing information including photographing information of a function related to photographing the digital camera to the valid screen from the display mode; And (f) synthesizing OSD data corresponding to the data for the OSD with the image data to generate composite data. In step (c), the control of the digital camera determines the size and position of the effective screen according to the display mode, and converts the image data or the composite data according to the size of the effective screen to generate the display data. Way. A digital camera which receives image data from the outside and displays an image according to the display data on the effective screen of the organic EL display in accordance with the display mode. An image data input unit configured to receive the image data; A mode determination unit to determine the display mode; A display data generation unit for determining the size and position of the valid screen according to the display mode and converting the image data according to the size of the valid screen to generate the display data; And An image display unit which displays an image according to the display data on the effective screen, And the display mode is one of a normal mode in which the entire screen of the organic EL display is an effective screen, and a power saving mode in which a partial area of the organic EL display is the effective screen. The method of claim 4, wherein The image display section comprises an organic EL display, And a unit pixel of the organic EL display comprising an organic EL element whose anode is connected to a current source, whose cathode is grounded, and which emits light upon application of a constant current, and a switching element interposed between the current source and the organic EL element.

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