KR20070004242A - Mode setting method and digital image processing device executing the same - Google Patents

Abstract

A method for operating the setting of mode and a digital image processing apparatus for performing the method are provided to make it possible to change a photographing mode without a mode dial, thereby reducing the weight of a product. It is successively determined whether a menu button is pressed(S100). If the menu button is pressed, it is determined whether the menu button is pressed during one or more seconds(S102). If the menu button is lengthily pressed for one or more seconds, a mode changing state starts(S104). If the menu button is shortly pressed for one or more seconds, a settable subordinate menu changing state starts from the current mode(S110).

Description

Mode setting method and digital image processing device executing the same}

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

2 is a view showing an example of the back side of a conventional digital camera equipped with a mode dial.

3 illustrates an example of an LCD monitor screen on which an OSD is displayed according to the setting of the mode dial of FIG. 2.

4 illustrates a mode that can be set in the digital camera of the present invention and an OSD icon thereof.

5 is a flowchart illustrating a mode setting operation method of a digital image processing apparatus according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

6 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a digital image processing apparatus according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

7 to 9 are diagrams illustrating the back side of the digital camera according to the preferred embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a display screen illustrating a recording mode change state of a digital image processing apparatus according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. FIG.

11 to 13 are display screens illustrating setting states of menus displayed by the OSD in FIG. 10.

The present invention relates to a digital image processing apparatus such as a digital camera, and more particularly to a digital image processing apparatus having various shooting modes and function setting menus.

Conventional digital cameras are provided with a mode dial for setting a shooting mode and a menu button for setting a menu, respectively. The user sets the desired shooting mode by rotating the mode dial, and sets a menu in each shooting mode by operating the menu button and direction buttons.

The mode dial provided in the conventional digital camera has problems such as an arbitrary change of the shooting mode due to an external impact, an additional configuration of the mode dial mechanism, and the like. In particular, in the current trend in which products are becoming thin and thin, a simpler configuration of the shooting mode changing means is required.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in an effort to provide a mode setting operation method capable of changing a shooting mode without a mode dial, and a digital image processing apparatus for performing the same.

Mode setting operation method according to the present invention for achieving the above technical problem is characterized by recognizing the mode change state and the lower menu change state according to the input period of one menu button.

The method for operating a mode setting includes continuously determining whether a menu button is input; Determining whether the menu button has been input for a predetermined period or more when the menu button is input; If it is determined that the menu button has been input for a predetermined time or longer, entering a mode change state; And if it is determined that the menu button is shortly shorter than a predetermined period, entering a menu change state settable in the current mode.

Digital image processing apparatus according to the present invention for achieving the above technical problem is a menu / mode button; Menu / mode shift operation buttons; Recognizing that the menu / mode button enters the shooting mode setting / menu setting as long / short period of time / less than a predetermined period of time, and changes the shooting mode / submenu as the menu / mode moving operation button is input. A control unit for setting; And a display unit which shows the menu / mode setting state.

The menu / mode shift operation button may be implemented by a direction shift button.

In addition, the menu / mode shift operation button may be implemented by a jog dial.

Hereinafter, the configuration and operation 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.

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

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 DSP 7 controls the timing circuit 2 to control the operations of the photoelectric converter OEC and the analog-digital converter 1. The CDS-ADC (Correlation Double Sampler and Analog-to-Digital Converter) element 1 as an analog-to-digital converter processes the analog signal from the photoelectric converter (OEC), removes the high frequency noise, and adjusts the amplitude. (auto gain control, AGC) and then convert to a digital signal. The DSP 7 processes the digital signal from the CDS-ADC element 1 to generate a digital image signal classified into luminance and chroma signals.

The DRAM (Dynamic Random Access Memory) 4 temporarily stores digital image signals and other temporary processing data from the DSP 7.

The EEPROM (Electrically Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory) 5 stores algorithms and setting data necessary for the operation of the DSP 7. The memory card of the user is attached to and detached from the memory card interface 6.

The digital image signal from the DSP (Digital Signal Processor) 7 is converted into the display signal of the LCD panel by the LCD driver 14 so that the image is displayed on the color LCD panel 17.

On the other hand, the digital image signal from the DSP 7 can be transmitted by serial communication via the USB (Universal Serial Bus) connection 18 or the RS232C interface 8 and its connection 19, and the video filter 9 And a video signal through the video output unit 20.

The audio processor 13 outputs the audio signal from the microphone MIC to the DSP 7 or the speaker SP, and outputs the audio signal from the DSP 7 to the speaker SP.

The user input unit INP may include a shutter button, a mode selection button, a function selection button, a zoom button, a direction movement button, and the like. The user input unit INP is operated by the user to generate a command for performing each function according to the user's instruction.

The microcontroller 12 controls the lens driver 10, whereby 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 unit LAMP driven by the microcontroller 12 may include a self-timer lamp, an auto-focus lamp, a flash standby lamp, and the like. On the other hand, the microcontroller 12 drives the flash 15 by controlling the operation of the flash controller 11 in accordance with the signal from the flash-light amount sensor 16.

The function of the microcontroller 12 may be implemented in one chip with the DSP 7.

The digital camera to which the present invention can be applied does not have to include all the components of FIG. 1, and those skilled in the art may delete some of the components, add another component, or modify some components according to the specification. It will be appreciated that the functionality of the various components may be implemented in combination.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a rear surface of a conventional digital camera equipped with a mode dial, and an inside thereof may have a configuration of the digital camera of FIG. 1.

Behind the digital camera of Figure 2, the viewfinder 100, autofocus lamp 101, flash status lamp 102, mode dial 103, shutter button 104, LCD button 105, wide-angle zoom button 106, telephoto zoom button 107, menu / confirmation button 108, direction / function button 109, DC power input terminal 110, external output terminal 111, playback mode button 112, LCD A monitor 113, a manual focus button 114, an autoexposure lock button 115, a photographing quality adjustment button 116, and the like are provided.

The LCD monitor 113 displays an on-screen display (OSD) indicating the current shooting mode and status of the digital camera.

The five-function button 106 has a menu entry / OK button and up, down, left, and right buttons at the center. When the menu is displayed on the monitor, the up, down, left, and right directional buttons can function as special function buttons instead of directional movement.

The various function buttons shown in FIG. 2 may be provided to perform two or more complex functions in addition to the functions appearing in the names according to the specifications of the digital camera.

3 illustrates an example of a screen of the LCD monitor 113 displaying an OSD according to the setting of the mode dial 103 of FIG. 2.

The shooting mode is set to the AUTO shooting mode by the mode dial 103, and the remaining battery level, the zoom display, the number of available shots, etc. are displayed on the LCD screen 113. FIG.

As the mode dial 103 is rotated, the OSD displayed on the screen displayed on the LCD screen 113 may be changed for each shooting mode that is changed.

The mode dial 103 provided in such a conventional digital camera has problems such as an arbitrary change of the shooting mode due to an external impact, an additional configuration of the mode dial mechanism, and the like.

4 illustrates a mode that can be set in the digital camera of the present invention and an OSD icon thereof. The photographing mode of the digital image processing apparatus of the present invention is not defined or limited thereto, and the photographing modes described below are merely for understanding.

Auto shooting mode is a shooting mode that can easily shoot with a minimum of user settings. Program shooting mode is a mode that can set and save various functions. Aperture-priority shooting mode is a shooting mode in which the camera automatically determines the shutter speed according to the set aperture value. In shutter-priority shooting mode, the camera automatically determines the aperture value according to the set shutter speed. In the manual shooting mode, the user sets the shutter speed and the aperture value. MySET shooting mode allows you to set and save frequently used shooting conditions for later recall. Scene shooting mode (SCENE) is a shooting mode that can easily set the camera according to various shooting conditions, such as night scene, portrait, landscape, close-up, character recognition. There are voice recording and video recording modes.

5 is a flowchart illustrating a mode setting operation method of a digital image processing apparatus according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

First, it is continuously determined whether the menu button is input (S100). When the menu button is input, an interrupt occurs and the flow proceeds to step S102.

In step S102, it is determined whether the menu button is input for a predetermined period or more, for example, 1 second or more (S102).

If it is determined that the menu button is input for more than 1 second, the controller recognizes the shooting mode change (S104). If it is determined that the menu button is input for less than 1 second, the controller recognizes the menu setting (S110).

In each case, the photographing mode is selected (S108) or the lower menu is selected (S114) by the direction button operations (S106, S112).

6 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a digital image processing apparatus according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

The menu / mode button 200 generates a key signal 201 instructing entry into a menu setting or shooting mode change state by a user's manipulation. The menu / mode button 200 may be implemented as one menu button 108 illustrated in FIG. 5.

The menu / mode shift operation button 202 generates a key signal for instructing the shift of the menu or the shift of the shooting mode by a user's operation.

The controller 204 recognizes that the menu / mode button 200 enters the shooting mode change state when the menu / mode button 200 is input for a predetermined period of time, for example, longer than 1 second, and enters the menu change state when the menu / mode button 200 is input for less than 1 second. . The controller 204 changes and sets the shooting mode / submenu as the menu / mode shift operation button 202 is input.

The display unit 206 shows a menu / mode setting state. An example of the display unit 206 showing the menu / mode setting state will be described below with reference to FIG. 8.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a rear surface of a digital camera according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. The difference from the conventional digital camera is that the mode dial 103 in FIG. 2 is removed. The menu / mode button 200 and the menu / mode shift operation button 202 of FIG. 6 are implemented by the menu button 108 and the direction button 109 in the digital camera illustrated in FIG. The setting is made.

8 is a view showing the back of a digital camera according to another preferred embodiment of the present invention. The difference from the conventional digital camera is that the mode dial 103 is removed and the menu / mode button 131 is removed. This is an added point. In the digital camera illustrated in FIG. 8, the menu / mode button 200 and the menu / mode shift operation button 202 of FIG. 6 are implemented by the menu / mode button 131 and the direction button 109, respectively, to change the shooting mode. And menu settings are made.

9 is a view showing the back of the digital camera according to another preferred embodiment of the present invention, the jog dial 150 is added to the outer periphery of the direction button 140. In the digital camera illustrated in FIG. 9, the menu / mode button 200 and the menu / mode shift operation button 202 of FIG. 6 are implemented by the menu / mode button 131 and the jog dial 150 to change the shooting mode. And menu settings are made. The middle direction button 140 may be used to select a playback image, menu selection, etc., in addition to changing a shooting mode. When the shooting mode is changed by the jog dial 150, the shooting mode can be quickly changed. In order to change the shooting mode in the digital image processing apparatus configured as shown in FIG. 9, after pressing the menu / mode button 131 for a long time, the jog dial 150 is rotated in the shooting mode changing state to change the shooting mode. Therefore, the problem that the shooting mode is arbitrarily changed by external shock due to the mechanical limitation of the conventional mode dial is solved.

By removing the mode dial as shown in FIGS. 7 to 9, a multifunctional digital image processing apparatus having a simple configuration suitable for the current trend of thin and small products is realized, and the mechanical problems of the conventional mode dial are also solved. .

10 is a display screen showing a shooting mode change state of the digital image processing apparatus according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

When the menu / mode button 131 is input for a predetermined period of time, for example, 1 second or longer, in the program (P) photographing mode of FIG. 8 or 9, the screen enters the photographing mode change state and is displayed as shown in the upper screen of FIG. 10. In the center of the display screen, settable shooting modes appear, and the currently set program shooting mode 300, resolution 301, image quality 302, metering method 303, auto flash state 304, etc. are displayed on the outside of the screen. Is displayed. In the center of the screen, a program (P) mode icon 305, which is a current shooting mode, is enlarged and displayed.

When the user inputs the left button 109 of FIG. 8 or rotates the dial 150 of FIG. 9 clockwise in the upper screen state of FIG. 10, the shooting mode is changed to the automatic shooting mode and the automatic shooting mode icon 308 ) Is enlarged and displayed on the outside of the screen, the menus that can be set in the automatic shooting mode, such as the resolution 301, the image quality 302, the red-eye flash mode 207, and the like, are displayed as OSDs.

10 to 12 are display screens illustrating setting states of menus displayed by the OSD in FIG. 9.

The user enters the menu setting mode by briefly entering the menu / mode button, and then using the left and right arrow buttons, the resolution menu 301 of FIG. 10, the image quality menu 302 of FIG. 11, and the photometric method menu 303 of FIG. 12. And, using the up and down arrow buttons, select 3072 × 2304 resolution, high quality, multi-meter metering, etc. as a submenu.

The above embodiments have been described with reference to a digital camera as an example of a digital image processing apparatus to which the present invention can be applied, but are not limited thereto. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the present invention can be applied to a mobile phone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a portable multimedia player (PMP), or the like, capable of capturing an image in which a plurality of shooting modes and submenus are configured. PMP is a portable multimedia player with complex functions such as music playback, broadcasting reception, games, electronic dictionary, video playback, digital camera such as MP3.

In addition to the digital image processing apparatus, the mode setting operation method disclosed in the present invention may be set in several modes, and may be applied for mode and menu setting in an electronic device in which several menus are set for each mode. For example, the mode setting operation method of the present invention can be applied to a remote control for setting the state of an image device such as a TV or a DVD.

In the present invention, when the menu button is input for a long time is entered into the mode change state, when the menu button is shortly entered as a menu change state that can be set in the current mode, but if the skilled person in the case of long input It will be understood that the case of entering the mode change state in a case of entering the menu change state in a short time is included in the equivalent range of the present invention.

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 present invention, since the shooting mode can be changed without the mode dial provided in the conventional digital camera, it is suitable to reduce the weight of the product. In addition, the problem that the shooting mode is arbitrarily changed by external shock due to the mechanical limitation of the mode dial is also solved.

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 (5)

And a mode change state and a submenu change state according to an input period of one menu button. The method of claim 1, Continuously determining whether a menu button has been input; Determining whether the menu button has been input for a predetermined period or more when the menu button is input; If it is determined that the menu button has been input for a predetermined time or longer, entering a mode change state; And And if it is determined that the menu button is shortly shorter than a predetermined period of time, entering a lower menu change state that can be set in the current mode. Menu / mode button; Menu / mode shift operation buttons; Recognizing that the menu / mode button enters the shooting mode setting / menu setting as long / short period of time / less than a predetermined period of time, and changes the shooting mode / submenu as the menu / mode moving operation button is input. A control unit for setting; And And a display unit for displaying the menu / mode setting state. The method of claim 3, And the menu / mode shift operation button is implemented by a direction shift button. The method of claim 3, And the menu / mode shift operation button is implemented by a jog dial.

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