KR20070083026A - Apparatus and method for providing useful search for image on digital device - Google Patents

Abstract

A device and a method for providing convenient image search in a digital device are provided to reduce inconvenience of opening folders one by one and searching images by providing a dynamic thumbnail image of image data during image data search. A setting input part(301) receives user selection for generating the dynamic thumbnail image for a plurality of images. An image generator(302) generates the dynamic thumbnail images by the user selection. An interface(304) displays the dynamic thumbnail images to a screen in a slideshow mode. A display speed of the dynamic thumbnail image is changed in the interface.

Description

Apparatus and method for providing useful search for image on digital device}

1 is a diagram illustrating an image search method of MS Windows that provides a preview of image data.

2 is a diagram illustrating an example of an image retrieval method for showing a thumbnail image in a mobile digital device.

3 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of an apparatus for providing a convenient image search in a digital device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

4 is a flowchart illustrating a process of providing a convenient image search in a digital device through the apparatus illustrated in FIG. 3.

5 is a flowchart illustrating a process of providing a convenient image search in a digital device according to an embodiment of the present invention in detail.

6A to 6C are views illustrating images stored in folders of a digital device.

7 is a diagram illustrating a screen of a digital device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

8 is a diagram illustrating a screen for selecting a dynamic thumbnail image shown in the form of a slide show according to an embodiment of the present invention.

<Explanation of symbols on main parts of the drawings>

300: Device that provides convenient image search on digital devices

301: setting mouth

302: image generating unit

303: Image file storage

304: interface unit

The present invention relates to a device and a method for providing a convenient image search in a digital device, and more particularly, in a digital device that displays image data on a screen of a product, a dynamic preview of the image data when the image data is searched. The present invention relates to a device and a method for providing a convenient image retrieval in a digital device that enables a user to conveniently retrieve image data without opening a storage (folder) where image data is stored.

1 is a diagram illustrating an image search method of MS Windows that provides a preview of image data.

When the image data exists in an independent file format (101), a thumbnail image smaller than the original image is shown, and when a plurality of image data exist in a folder, the representative thumbnail image 102 is also shown.

2 is a diagram illustrating an example of an image retrieval method for showing a thumbnail image in a mobile digital device.

The digital device referred to in the present invention is a device having a digital circuit for processing digital data, which can display image data on a screen of a product, a printer, a digital TV, a digital camera, a digital copier, a personal digital assistant (PDA). , Mobile phones, mobile multimedia players (PMPs), MP3 players, digital video recorders, and the like.

In addition, the mobile digital device referred to in the present invention means a portable and mobile digital device that displays image data on a screen of a product, such as a mobile phone 201, a digital camera 202, an MP3 player 203, and the like.

Mobile digital devices such as the mobile phone 201, the digital camera 202, the MP3 player 203, and the like shown in FIG. 2 also display thumbnail images of a smaller size than the original image to facilitate image retrieval.

In the image retrieval method illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2, the larger the depth of the folder in which the image data is stored, the greater the number of maneuvers for the desired image retrieval. Can be found.

In addition, since there is a lower limit on the size of an image, when a mobile digital device having a relatively small screen size displays multiple thumbnail images at the same time, the size of the thumbnail image must be smaller, so that multiple thumbnails can be displayed at once. And the purpose of providing a readable thumbnail image is contradictory.

The present invention relates to a device and a method for providing a convenient image search in a digital device, and to reduce the inconvenience that a user has to open a folder and search for an image by providing a dynamic thumbnail image for the image data when the image data is retrieved. The purpose is.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a convenient thumbnail image for the image data when searching for image data to enable convenient image retrieval even in a mobile digital device that could not show a large number of thumbnail images at a time due to the limitation of readability.

Another object of the present invention is to store dynamic thumbnail images of image data in the form of files so that dynamic thumbnail images can be viewed on other digital devices.

The objects of the present invention are not limited to the above-mentioned objects, and other objects that are not mentioned will be clearly understood by those skilled in the art from the following description.

In order to achieve the above object, a device for providing a convenient image search in a digital device according to an embodiment of the present invention is a setting input unit for receiving a user's action for generating a dynamic thumbnail image for a plurality of image data, Image generation unit for generating dynamic thumbnail images by means of an operation, an interface unit for displaying dynamic thumbnail images generated in the image generation unit on the screen in the form of a slide show, and storing dynamic thumbnail images generated in the image generation unit as separate files. It includes an image file storage unit.

In order to achieve the above object, a method of providing a convenient image search in a digital device according to an embodiment of the present invention is a setting input step of receiving a user's action for generating a dynamic thumbnail image for a plurality of image data, the user's Image generation step of generating dynamic thumbnail images by the operation, an interface step of displaying the dynamic thumbnail image generated in the image generation step as a slide show, and storing the dynamic thumbnail image generated in the image generation step as a separate file type. Image storage step.

Specific details of other embodiments are included in the detailed description and the drawings.

Advantages and features of the present invention and methods for achieving them will be apparent with reference to the embodiments described below in detail with the accompanying drawings. However, the present invention is not limited to the embodiments disclosed below, but can be implemented in various different forms, and only the embodiments make the disclosure of the present invention complete, and the general knowledge in the art to which the present invention belongs. It is provided to fully inform the person having the scope of the invention, which is defined only by the scope of the claims. Like reference numerals refer to like elements throughout.

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

3 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of an apparatus for providing a convenient image search in a digital device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The device 300 for providing a convenient image search in a digital device includes a setting input unit 301 which receives a user's action for generating a dynamic thumbnail image for a plurality of image data, and generates a dynamic thumbnail image by the user's action. The image generator 302, the interface unit 304 showing the dynamic thumbnail image generated by the image generator 302 on the screen in a slide show form, and the dynamic thumbnail image generated by the image generator 302 in a separate file form. It consists of an image file storage unit 303 for storing.

4 is a flowchart illustrating a process of providing a convenient image search in a digital device through the apparatus illustrated in FIG. 3.

The user sets the generation of dynamic thumbnail images through the setting input unit 301 of the device 300 that provides convenient image search in the digital device of FIG. 3 (S401).

The setting input unit 301 is a means for receiving an action of a user for searching and confirming an image, and includes various input means such as a keypad, a touch pad, etc. existing on the corresponding digital device.

 After S401, the image generator 302 generates a dynamic thumbnail image (S402), and the dynamic thumbnail image generated by the image generator 302 is stored in a file format in the image file storage unit (S403).

The reason for storing the dynamic thumbnail image as a file like the S403 is that the dynamic thumbnail image file can be transferred to another digital device, and the dynamic thumbnail image file can be received from another digital device to retrieve the dynamic thumbnail image from various digital devices. To ensure that

The dynamic thumbnail image generated as a result of S402 is transferred to the interface unit 304 and output on the screen in a slide show format (S404).

In addition, when the dynamic thumbnail image file is transmitted to the image file storage unit 303 by another digital device, the interface unit 304 loads the dynamic thumbnail image file and outputs the dynamic thumbnail image file on the screen in a slide show format.

5 is a flowchart illustrating a process of providing a convenient image search in a digital device according to an embodiment of the present invention in detail.

The user sets dynamic thumbnail image generation in order to view the various thumbnail images in the folder as dynamic thumbnail images (S501).

The dynamic thumbnail image generation setting may be set by the user accessing the dynamic thumbnail image generation menu of the digital device through the setting input unit 301 of the device 300 illustrated in FIG. 3.

After S501, the user selects a folder in which the target images for generating the dynamic thumbnail image exist (S502).

The setting input unit 301 of the apparatus illustrated in FIG. 3 determines whether there is a plurality of image data in the folder selected in S502 (S503), and if there is a plurality of image data, all image data in the folder is generated as a dynamic thumbnail image generation target. In operation S504, the user may select only image data that the user wants to view as a dynamic thumbnail image.

If the result of S503 does not exist, the user repeats S502.

In operation S504, the dynamic image is generated in the image generator 302 of the apparatus 300 shown in FIG. 3 based on the image data selected by the user (S505).

The dynamic thumbnail image generated in S505 is stored in the image file storage unit 303 of the device 300 shown in FIG. 3 in the form of a file (S506), and the image file storage unit 303 exists inside the corresponding digital device. It may be a removable storage device such as a hard disk (HDD) or flash memory.

If the image file storage unit 303 is a hard disk (HDD), the dynamic thumbnail image file existing in the image file storage unit 303 may be transmitted to another digital device through an interface such as a USB port.

The dynamic thumbnail image file stored in S506 according to an embodiment of the present invention may be in the form of a compressed image file whose extension is ZIP, RAR, ALZ.

Therefore, if the digital device is installed with a program for viewing compressed image files such as ZIP, RAR, ALZ, the user can see the image selected by the user in step S504 by receiving the compressed file (S507).

The dynamic thumbnail image file stored in S506 according to another embodiment of the present invention may exist in the form of a separate file only for the dynamic thumbnail image.

In other words, in order to execute a dynamic thumbnail image file on a digital device, a special application for the dynamic thumbnail image file must be installed in the digital device.

 If the digital device installed with an application capable of executing the dynamic thumbnail image file is received, the user can see the image selected by the user in step S504 (S507).

After S506, the user may adjust the animation speed of the dynamic thumbnail image to be displayed on the screen (S508).

The animation speed control means an interval control for dynamically moving the thumbnail image every predetermined time when the dynamic thumbnail image is displayed on the screen of the digital device in the form of a slide show.

For example, in S508, if the user sets the animation speed to 3 seconds, one thumbnail image is displayed on the screen, and after 3 seconds, the next thumbnail image is displayed on the screen.

How to determine the animation speed, the screen that can automatically adjust the animation speed on the screen after the pop-up (Pop-up) and the user is a keypad, touch pad, which is the setting input unit 301 of the device 300 shown in FIG. You can adjust the animation speed through input means such as

After S508, the dynamic thumbnail image is displayed on the screen in a slide show format (S509).

6A to 6C are views illustrating images stored in folders of a digital device.

Folder names and creation dates 602a, 602b, and 602c are displayed in each of the folders 601a, 601b, and 601c, and images stored in the folders are sorted in order of the most recent creation date (603a, 603b, and 603c). ).

7 is a diagram illustrating a screen of a digital device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

6a to 6c, the user creates a folder in the digital device and stores the image in the folder, and then, through the process described with reference to FIG. 5, a dynamic thumbnail image of all images in each folder is generated.

In the representative thumbnail image of each folder shown in FIG. 7, an image having the most recent creation date among the images existing in each folder is set as default, and a user desired image may be set as the representative thumbnail image of the corresponding folder.

For example, one computer that can represent multiple images on average, such as when a user includes multiple general files in a folder and the user names the folder as a name that represents the nature of the group. Can be set by the user as a representative thumbnail image.

A method of setting the representative thumbnail image will be described later with reference to FIG. 8.

It can be seen from FIG. 7 that the image 603a, 603b, 603c having the most recent creation date among the images in the folders 601a, 601b, and 601c shown in FIGS. 6A to 6C is shown as a representative thumbnail image of each folder. .

A user may view a screen for searching the image of FIG. 7 by accessing a menu of a digital device or by using a shortcut key and using an input means such as a keypad or a touch pad, which is a setting input unit 301 of the device 300 shown in FIG. 3. To focus on the folder you want to search.

The focused folder dynamically shows the images in the folder in the order of creation date at intervals of the corresponding time (seconds) according to the animation speed set in S508 of FIG. 5.

In FIG. 7, the focus is on the folder 601b of FIG. 6B, and the image is moved from 603b to 604b according to the animation speed of the user.

8 is a diagram illustrating a screen for selecting a dynamic thumbnail image shown in the form of a slide show according to an embodiment of the present invention.

While viewing the dynamic thumbnail image in the form of a slide show, if the user wants to see an image or to view the images in the corresponding folder one by one, the user may input a keypad or touch pad, which is a setting input unit 301 of the device 300 shown in FIG. The focused folder is selected through the same input means.

After the selection, the image and the information of the image, such as the title of the image, the title of the folder, and the creation date can be viewed in full screen. In this case, the user can set the input unit 301 of the device 300 shown in FIG. Through the input means, the representative thumbnail image setting menu 801 may be accessed to set the image currently viewed in full screen as the representative thumbnail image (referred to in the description of FIG. 7) or to search for the next image.

Another method of setting the representative thumbnail image is to set the digital thumbnail device in which an application capable of executing the dynamic thumbnail image file mentioned in S507 of FIG. 5 is installed.

For example, if a PC with an application capable of executing a dynamic thumbnail image file is installed, the dynamic thumbnail image file is received from the image file storage unit 303 of the device 300 illustrated in FIG. 3, and the dynamic thumbnail image is retrieved from the corresponding PC. You can set the representative thumbnail image.

In addition, you can create and retrieve dynamic thumbnail images through an application that can store image data on the PC from the beginning and execute dynamic thumbnail image files. At this time, the representative thumbnail image is set and the corresponding dynamic thumbnail image file is shown in FIG. The image file storage unit 303 of the illustrated device 300 is transmitted.

The interface unit 304 of the device 300 shown in FIG. 3 without any procedure in the digital device receiving the dynamic thumbnail image file in which the representative thumbnail image is set to the image file storage unit 303 of the device 300 shown in FIG. ), You can search for dynamic thumbnail images directly.

In general, the storage capacity of mobile digital devices such as digital cameras are limited, so images are often transferred from digital cameras to MP3 players or other storage devices.

At this time, the images are automatically naming in the digital camera product itself with a meaningless folder name or simple time information, and there is an inconvenience in that a desired image cannot be easily found only by the corresponding name when searching for images later. Through an apparatus and a method for providing a convenient image search in a digital device according to an example, the user can easily find an image by searching the image conveniently.

Although embodiments of the present invention have been described above with reference to the accompanying drawings, those skilled in the art to which the present invention pertains may implement the present invention in other specific forms without changing the technical spirit or essential features thereof. I can understand that. Therefore, it should be understood that the embodiments described above are exemplary in all respects and not restrictive.

According to the apparatus and method for providing a convenient image search in the digital device of the present invention as described above has one or more of the following effects.

First, in digital devices that display image data on the screen of the product, there is an advantage of reducing the inconvenience of the user having to open a folder and search for images by providing a dynamic thumbnail image of the image data when searching for image data. .

Second, in digital devices that display image data on the screen of the product, especially mobile digital devices with relatively small screens, thumbnail images that could not be used due to limitations in readability by providing dynamic thumbnail images for image data when searching for image data It also has the advantage of enabling convenient search by supplementing the shortcomings.

Third, by storing the dynamic thumbnail image of the image data in the form of a file, the dynamic thumbnail image can also be seen in other digital devices.

Claims (5)

A setting input unit configured to receive a user's action for generating a dynamic thumbnail image with respect to the plurality of image data; An image generator which generates a dynamic thumbnail image by the user's action; And Device for providing a convenient image search in a digital device including an interface unit for showing a dynamic thumbnail image generated by the image generating unit on the screen in the form of a slide show. The method of claim 1 The interface unit provides a convenient image search in a digital device capable of adjusting the speed of the dynamic thumbnail image shown on the screen. A setting input step of receiving an action of a user for generating a dynamic thumbnail image with respect to the plurality of image data; An image generation step of generating a dynamic thumbnail image by the action of the user; And And an interface step of displaying a dynamic thumbnail image generated in the image generating step in a slide show form on a screen. The method of claim 3 The interface step comprises the step of adjusting the speed of the dynamic thumbnail image displayed on the screen. The method of claim 3 And a dynamic thumbnail image generated in the image generating step is stored in a separate file form.

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