KR20060046955A - Apparatus and method for displaying plurality of pictures simultaneously in portable wireless communication terminal - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention is to display images obtained by the plurality of cameras at the same time in a portable wireless terminal having a plurality of cameras, the selection unit for alternately selecting and outputting the image data from the plurality of cameras in a predetermined time period And an image processor for dividing the screen into a plurality of display regions, and scaling and outputting the image data from the selection unit to correspond to a predetermined display region, respectively, and the scaled image data from the image processing, respectively. And a display unit to display the display area. In the present invention, since only one back-end chip (image processing unit) is required to simultaneously display a plurality of images acquired from a plurality of cameras, economic effects can be expected and a plurality of images can be simultaneously displayed on the screen. The advantage is that you can edit in many ways.

Camera, Frame Sync Signal, Dual, Scaler, Display

Description

Apparatus and method for simultaneously displaying a plurality of images in a portable wireless terminal {APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR DISPLAYING PLURALITY OF PICTURES SIMULTANEOUSLY IN PORTABLE WIRELESS COMMUNICATION TERMINAL}             

1 is a view showing the configuration of a portable radio terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a detailed configuration of the image processor of FIG. 1. FIG.

3 is a diagram illustrating a procedure for simultaneously displaying images acquired by a plurality of camera modules on a screen in a portable wireless terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The present invention relates to an image display apparatus and method for a portable wireless terminal, and more particularly, to a device and method for simultaneously displaying images from a plurality of camera modules on a screen in a portable wireless terminal having a plurality of camera modules. .

Due to the development of various electronic and communication industries, portable wireless terminals have been widely used, and the functions of the terminals have been diversified in order to meet the needs of users.

In addition to the simple call function in software, various functions of downloading and listening to music files, receiving VOD (Video On Demand) files, watching videos, or shooting a predetermined subject and storing them as albums are being added. to be.

In addition, peripheral devices that are used by being attached or added to the terminal in hardware are also being developed. For example, a detachable or built-in digital camera device, a TV receiving means capable of listening to over-the-air broadcasts, an ear microphone device mounted on a terminal and capable of talking Can be classified. In particular, the camera phone, which is popular in Korea, was first introduced to the market in April 2002, and since 2003, its sales weight has continuously increased, exceeding half of the mobile phone market.

In general, in the case of a camera phone, one or two camera modules are provided. When two are provided, it is common that the lens of one camera module is provided outside the folder for photographing the other party, and the lens of the other camera module is provided inside the folder for photographing itself. For shooting, the user selects one camera module on the UI, and only one selected camera module operates to photograph the target. As such, even if two camera modules are provided, two images cannot be driven simultaneously to display two images at the same time, and only one image is displayed by operating only one of the two camera modules.

That is, although the high-definition camera phone has been popularized, its use is limited to simply photographing a single object, and a situation in which various methods of utilizing the camera phone are required. In particular, if a plurality of camera modules are mounted in various directions to display images from each camera module on the screen at the same time, they may be utilized in various fields (eg, image editing).

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus and method for simultaneously displaying images from a plurality of camera modules on a screen in a portable wireless terminal having a plurality of camera modules.

According to a first aspect of the present invention for achieving the above object, an apparatus for simultaneously displaying the images obtained by the plurality of cameras in a portable wireless terminal having a plurality of cameras, images from the plurality of cameras A selection unit for alternately selecting and outputting data at predetermined time intervals, an image processing unit for dividing a screen into a plurality of display areas, and scaling and outputting the image data from the selection unit to correspond to a predetermined display area, respectively; And a display unit for displaying the scaled image data from the image processing in a corresponding display area.                         

According to a second aspect of the present invention, a method for simultaneously displaying images acquired by the plurality of cameras in a portable wireless terminal having a plurality of cameras alternately alternates the image data from the plurality of cameras at a predetermined time period. And a step of scaling each of the alternately received image data to correspond to a predetermined display area, and displaying each of the scaled image data in a corresponding display area. .

According to a third aspect of the present invention, a method for simultaneously displaying images acquired by the two cameras in a portable wireless terminal having a first and a second camera, in the dual shooting mode, the first and second Driving both the cameras, alternately receiving image data from the first and second cameras at predetermined time intervals, and when the received image data is obtained from the first camera, Scaling to a first display area of the screen and outputting the image data to the second display area of the screen by scaling the image data to a predetermined size when the received image data is obtained from a second camera. It is characterized by including.

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In describing the present invention, if it is determined that the detailed description of the related known function or configuration may unnecessarily obscure the subject matter of the present invention, the detailed description thereof will be omitted.

In the following description, specific details such as an image compression method, an image data format, an image signal size, and the like are shown to help a more comprehensive understanding of the present invention. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that these inventions may be readily practiced without these specific details and by modifications thereof.

Hereinafter, a description will be given of a technique for simultaneously displaying a plurality of images from a plurality of camera modules on a screen in a portable wireless terminal having a plurality of camera modules.

1 illustrates a configuration of a portable radio terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 1, the controller 10 controls the overall operation of the portable wireless terminal. For example, it performs processing and control for voice call and data communication, and displays a plurality of images received from the plurality of camera modules 80-1 and 80-2 in accordance with the present invention in addition to the usual functions. Handles the function for displaying at the same time. In the following description, description of the processing and control of the conventional control unit 10 is omitted.

The memory 20 includes a program memory, a data memory, a nonvolatile memory, and the like. The program memory stores a program for controlling the overall operation of the portable radio terminal. The program memory may use a flash memory. The data memory temporarily stores data generated during the operation of the portable radio terminal. The data memory may use random access memory (RAM). The nonvolatile memory stores system parameters and other storage data (telephone number, SMS message, image data, etc.). The nonvolatile memory may use an EEPROM.

Key pad 70 is a number buttons of 0-9, menu button (menu), cancel button (clear), confirmation button, call button (TALK), end button (END), Internet access button, navigation A plurality of function keys such as buttons are provided, and key input data corresponding to a key pressed by the user is provided to the controller 10.

The display unit 60 displays state information generated during operation of the portable wireless terminal, limited number of characters, moving pictures, still pictures, and the like. The display unit 60 may use a color liquid crystal display (LCD). In this case, the display unit 60 includes an LCD controller, a memory capable of storing display data, and an LCD display device. can do.

An audio codec (Coder-Decoder) 50 connected to the controller 10 and a speaker and a microphone connected to the codec 50 are voice input / output blocks used for a voice call. The codec 50 converts the PCM data provided from the controller 10 into an analog voice signal and transmits the same through the speaker, and converts the voice signal received through the microphone into PCM data to the controller 10. to provide.

Radio frequency module (RF) 30 converts a radio frequency (RF) signal received through an antenna into a baseband signal to provide to the modem unit 40, and the baseband signal from the modem unit 40 to a high frequency The signal is converted and transmitted through the antenna. The modem unit 40 processes baseband signals transmitted and received between the RF unit 105 and the control unit 100. For example, in case of transmission, channel coding and baseband modulation are performed on data to be transmitted, and in case of reception, baseband demodulation and channel decoding of a received signal are performed. Do this.

Each of the plurality of camera units 80-1 and 80-2 may include a sensor for photographing a subject and a signal processor for converting an analog electrical signal from the sensor into digital data. The sensor may be a complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) sensor or a charge coupled device (CCD) sensor. The plurality of camera units 80-1 and 80-2 photographs a subject and outputs a digital image signal and a synchronization signal to the selector 90. The synchronization signal may be a horizontal synchronization signal (Hsync), a vertical synchronization signal (Vsync), a pixel clock (PCLK), or the like. Hereinafter, it will be assumed that two camera units. In this case, the camera unit 80-1 is referred to as a first camera unit, and the camera unit 80-2 is referred to as a second camera unit.

The selector 90 outputs a signal (image signal and synchronization signal) from the camera unit currently being driven to the image processor 100. According to the present invention, if both of the first and second camera units 80-1 and 80-2 are driven, the selector 90 is configured to operate the first and second camera units 80-1 and 80-2. Are alternately selected using the vertical synchronization signal Vsync and output to the image processing unit 100. The vertical synchronization signal Vsync is a frame synchronization signal. When receiving one image data and outputting the vertical synchronous signal of another camera portion immediately when switching to another camera, since the vertical synchronous signal is not sure that the start of the vertical synchronous signal in timing, the selector 90 switches the After the vertical synchronization signal is toggled, the signal of the camera unit is output to the image processing unit 100.

The image processing unit 100 performs a function of interfacing an image signal between the camera units 80-1 and 80-2 and the display unit 60. In addition, the YUV data from the camera units 80-1 and 80-2 are processed by a JPEG (Joint Picture Expert Group) to be transmitted to the controller 10, and the JPEG file from the controller 10 is decompressed. Do this. The image processor 100 may include a JPEG codec or an MPEG codec. According to the present invention, if the two camera units 80-1 and 80-2 are both driven, the video signal from the first camera unit 80-1 is of a predetermined size (for example, 1/2 of the screen). Scale and output to the first display area of the screen (for example, the top of the screen), and scale the video signal from the second camera unit 80-2 to a predetermined size to the second display area of the screen (for example, the bottom of the screen). Output

2 shows a detailed configuration of the image processing unit 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

As shown, the image processor 100 includes a camera interface 211, a color converter 213, a scaler 215, an LCD interface 217, a selector 219, a control interface 212, and the like. Image codec 250 is configured to include.

Referring to FIG. 2, the camera interface 211 performs a function of interfacing image data output from the selector 90. Here, it is assumed that the image data output from the camera units 80-1 and 80-2 are image data in YUV format, and the display unit 60 displays image data in RGB format.

The color converter 213 converts YUV data output from the camera interface 211 into RGB data and outputs the converted RGB data. In this case, when the camera units 80-1 and 80-2 generate image data in the RGB format or the display unit 60 can display the image data in YUV format, the color conversion unit 213 is configured. Can be omitted.

The scaler 215 scales the image signals from the camera units 80-1 and 80-2 on the display unit 60 according to the control signal output from the controller 10. For example, the number of pixels of the video signal generated by the camera units 80-1 and 80-2 is a GIF size (352X288), and the number of pixels of the video signal that can be displayed on the display unit 60 is 128X112 or 128X96. to be. Accordingly, the scaler 215 reduces and crops the pixels of the image signals output from the camera units 80-1 and 80-2 to the number of pixels of the image signal that can be displayed on the display unit 60. According to the present invention, when the image signals output from the camera units 80-1 and 80-2 are simultaneously displayed on the screen, the scaler 215 is the first camera unit output from the color conversion unit 213 ( 80-1) scales the video signal to be displayed on the predetermined first display area of the screen, and scales the video signal of the second camera unit 80-2 to be displayed on the predetermined second display area of the screen. Output

The LCD interface unit 217 interfaces with the image data output to the display unit 60.

The image codec 250 performs a function of image coding or restoring the coded image data under the control of the controller 10. As mentioned above, the image codec 250 may be a JPEG codec or an MPEG codec. For example, the image codec 250 JPEG-codes an image signal displayed by the camera unit outputted from the color converter 213 or an image signal displayed by the display unit 60 under the control of the controller 10, and also JPEG-coded. The decoded video signal is decoded and output to the scaler 215 or the LCD interface 217.

The control interface unit 221 performs an interface function between the image processor 100 and the controller 10, and also performs an interface function between the display unit 60 and the controller 10.

The selector 219 selects the data output from the image processing unit 100 or the data output from the control unit 10 based on the path control signal output from the control unit 10 and outputs the data to the display unit 60. To perform. Here, the first path control signal means a signal for activating a bus between the image processing unit 100 and the display unit 60, and the second path control signal activates a path between the control unit 10 and the display unit 60. This is a signal.

Next, an operation of transmitting image signals acquired by the camera units 80-1 and 80-2 to the display unit 60 will be described based on the configuration of FIGS. 1 and 2. Hereinafter, a case in which both camera units 80-1 and 80-2 operate according to the present invention will be described.

First, each of the two camera units 80-1.80-2 photographs a subject and outputs image data (eg, YUV data) to the selector 90. The selector 90 alternately selects image data from the two camera units 80-1 and 80-2 in frame units under the control of the controller 10 and outputs the image data to the image processor 100. Then, the color converter 213 converts the YUV data from the selector 90 to the scaler 215 by converting the RGB data. Thereafter, the scaler 215 scales the RGB data from the color converter 213 to a predetermined size (for example, 1/2 of the screen) under the control of the controller 10 and outputs the RGB data to the display unit 60. For example, when the image acquired by the first camera unit 80-1 is input, the scaler 215 scales and outputs the input image data so as to be displayed on the top of the screen. In this case, an empty pixel may be inserted and output at a portion corresponding to the bottom of the screen. Meanwhile, when the image acquired by the second camera unit 80-2 is input, the scaler 215 scales and outputs the input image data so as to be displayed at the bottom of the screen. In this case, an empty pixel may be inserted and output at a portion corresponding to the top of the screen. As such, two images acquired by the two camera units 80-1 and 80-2 are simultaneously displayed on the screen.

In the state in which the two images are displayed on the display unit 60 as a video, the user may capture and store the displayed image as a still image. That is, the user may store the displayed image as a picture by using the take picture function key of the keypad 70. At this time, when a picture taking command is generated, the control unit 10 stops the operation of the image processing unit 50 to play back the video displayed on the display unit 60 as a still image and drive the image codec 250. Then, the image codec 250 inputs the image data of the still image being displayed on the display unit 60, codes the input image data in the JPEG format to the controller 10 through the control interface unit 221. Output The controller 10 stores the coded image data received from the image processor 100 in the memory 20 as a photo.

The image processor 100 according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention has a configuration of processing an image signal under the control of the controller 10. However, the image processing unit 100 may further include an image processing controller and an image memory. In this case, the image processing unit 100 may process an image processing function exclusively under the control of the controller 10.

3 illustrates a procedure for simultaneously displaying images acquired from a plurality of camera modules on a screen in a portable wireless terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention. Hereinafter, it will be assumed that the two camera modules 80-1.80-2 operate.

Referring to FIG. 3, when a dual photographing mode in which both camera modules 80-1 and 80-2 are driven by a user's selection is executed, the image processing unit 100 performs the first and second operations in step 303. Image data is alternately received in units of frames from the second camera modules 80-1 and 80-2. Here, the key for selecting the dual shooting mode may be implemented as one of the navigation keys of the keypad 70, or may be implemented as one of menu items.

As such, when image data is alternately received from the two camera modules 80-1 and 80-2, the image processor 100 displays the image data (YUV data) input in step 305. Data). In operation 307, the image processor 100 determines whether the display data is acquired by the first camera module 80-1.

If the image is obtained by the first camera module 80-1, the image processing unit 100 proceeds to step 309 and scales the display data to correspond to the first display area of the screen. The displayed display data to the first display area. If it is acquired by the second camera module 80-2, the image processing unit 100 proceeds to step 313 to scale the display data to correspond to the second display area of the screen. The displayed display data to the second display area.

Meanwhile, in the detailed description of the present invention, specific embodiments have been described, but various modifications are possible without departing from the scope of the present invention. Therefore, the scope of the present invention should not be limited to the described embodiments, but should be determined not only by the scope of the following claims, but also by those equivalent to the scope of the claims.

 As described above, the present invention has the advantage of simultaneously displaying images acquired from a plurality of cameras on a screen by using one back-end chip (image processing unit). That is, since only one backend chip is required, economic effects can be expected, and since a plurality of images can be displayed on the screen at the same time, the images can be edited in various ways.

Claims (12)

An apparatus for simultaneously displaying images obtained by the plurality of cameras in a portable wireless terminal having a plurality of cameras, A selection unit for alternately selecting and outputting image data from the plurality of cameras at predetermined time periods; An image processing unit for dividing a screen into a plurality of display areas and scaling and outputting the image data from the selection unit to correspond to a predetermined display area, respectively; And a display unit for displaying the scaled image data from the image processing in a corresponding display area. The method of claim 1, And the selector alternately outputs the image data in units of frames by using frame synchronization signals from the plurality of cameras. The method of claim 1, wherein the image processing unit, A color conversion unit which converts the image data of the first format from the selection unit into the image data of the second format; And a scaler for scaling the image data from the color conversion unit to correspond to a predetermined display area and outputting the image data to the display unit. The method of claim 3, And the image data of the first format is data of YUV format, and the image data of the second format is data of RGB format. Claims [1] A method for simultaneously displaying images acquired by a plurality of cameras in a portable wireless terminal having a plurality of cameras. Alternately receiving image data from the plurality of cameras at predetermined time intervals; Scaling each of the alternately received image data to correspond to a predetermined display area; And displaying each of the scaled image data in a corresponding display area. The method of claim 5, And alternately receiving the image data in units of frames by using frame synchronization signals from the plurality of cameras. The method of claim 5, And converting the alternately received image data of the first format into image data of the second format. The method of claim 7, wherein And the image data of the first format is data of YUV format, and the data of the second format is data of RGB format. Claims [1] A method for simultaneously displaying images acquired by two cameras in a portable wireless terminal having first and second cameras. Driving both the first and second cameras in the dual shooting mode; Alternately receiving image data from the first and second cameras at predetermined time intervals; If the received image data is obtained from a first camera, scaling the image data to a predetermined size and outputting the image data to a first display area of a screen; And if the received image data is acquired by a second camera, scaling the image data to a predetermined size and outputting the image data to a second display area of the screen. The method of claim 9, And alternately receiving the image data in units of frames by using frame synchronization signals from the plurality of cameras. The method of claim 9, And converting the alternately received image data of the first format into image data of the second format. The method of claim 11, And the data of the first format is data of YUV format, and the data of the second format is data of RGB format.

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