TW200421864A - Browsing system - Google Patents

Abstract

This invention relates to a browsing system when a server is operated from a client, for example, the client is used as a digital camera and the printer is a server and the server can be operated but without a large scale of the client. By connecting a digital camera 1 with a printer 2, the image data obtained from the digital camera are directly printed by printer 2. The operation of the screen image from the operation of the printer 2 is transmitted to the digital camera 1.

Description

200421864 (1) Description of the invention: [Technical field to which the invention belongs] The present invention relates to a browsing system, in which a server browses the content of an operation screen of an operation server to a client, and browses and displays the operation screen at the client. And through the operation screen displayed to operate the server. [Prior technology] In the past, a so-called direct printing system (direct printing system) has been proposed in which a printer and a digital camera are directly connected without a personal computer, and the printer is operated by the digital camera. print system). In this direct printing system, the printer can understand the instructions of the digital camera, and the digital camera can understand the instructions of the printer, so as to select the image data to be printed or print out. However, for all printers on the market, in order for digital cameras to understand the size of paper available to the printer, the types of paper available (glossy paper, plain paper, etc.), and the number of images that can be printed on one sheet of paper In addition, CD-R printing and other commands used to respond to the special functions of the printer require a large amount of memory, which will increase the cost of digital cameras. Conversely, for all digital cameras on the market, the printer side also needs a large-capacity memory to understand the instructions for performing various functions of the digital camera, which will increase the cost of the printer. Therefore, the current situation is that a direct printing system can be constructed only between a specific printer and a specific digital camera, or even if a direct printing system can be constructed, only basic functions possessed by the printer or digital camera can be utilized. Therefore, it is proposed to make the digital camera function as a web browser-5-200421864 (Web browser), to use the digital camera as a client, and to use a printer as a server. The printer provides the operation screen to the digital camera as the content displayed on the digital camera. The web browser is used as the digital camera's user interface (UliUser Interface) for use, even on the digital camera and the printer. A system capable of controlling both sides when the two parties do not understand each command (see Patent Documents 1 to 3). In addition, a system using a browser such as a mobile phone as a UI to control a home appliance or the like is also known. It is also proposed to connect a controlled device (controlled device) such as an AV device with a control device such as a television to control the controlled device, and the controlled device sends operation information for operating the controlled device. (Used to display the image information of the operation day and the sound information to indicate the operation, etc.) to the control device, display the operation information in the control device, and accept the input of the operation via the operation screen in the control device to operate the controlled device System (for example, refer to Patent Documents 4 to 7). If these systems are applied to a direct printing system, the printer can be operated even if the digital camera does not understand the printer's instructions. [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Publication No. 0-224676 [Patent Document 2] Japanese Patent Publication No. 2000-196799 [Patent Document 3] Japanese Patent Publication No. 200 1 -2223 1 [Patent Document 4] ~ 6-200421864 Japanese Patent Publication No. 9-149325 [Patent Document 5] Japanese Patent Publication No. 1 1 -249709 [Patent Document 6] Japanese Patent Publication No. 1 1 -3 2808 [Patent Document 7] Japanese Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2001-136588 [Summary of the Invention] However, in the systems described in the aforementioned Patent Documents 1 to 3, since the digital camera functions as a web page wine viewer, it is important for content provided in a printer. When a character is included as a character code, it is necessary to memorize and display the font used for the character code. However, since digital cameras are created for the purpose of capturing or displaying images, in order to provide instructions for shooting or displaying images, in most cases, only the minimum required fonts are memorized. Therefore, in order to display all characters provided by the printer to the digital camera in order to display the operation screen, the digital camera needs to memorize all the fonts that can be used by the operation screen with all the character codes, so the digital camera's The larger the scale, the higher the cost of digital cameras. Furthermore, in the systems described in the aforementioned Patent Documents 4 to 7, when operation information is transmitted as an image to a digital camera, it is necessary to dispose the components constituting the operation screen such as buttons for operation on the operation screen. However, in the case where the component parts are arranged on the operation screen in this way, since the positions and sizes of the component parts need to be changed in the digital camera, the operation burden of the digital camera is large. -7- 200421864 Furthermore, in the case where the systems of Patent Documents 1 to 7 described above are applied to a direct printing system, the operation screen is provided to the digital camera by the printer and displayed on the digital camera, and the printed image is stored in the digital camera. Therefore, in order to display the operation screen for the image selected for printing on the digital camera, the printer needs to obtain the image data stored in the digital camera, a list of image data, or a thumbnail image of the image data in advance. Use the acquired image data, list, or thumbnail image to generate an operation screen for selecting the image to be printed and provide it to the digital camera. Furthermore, in order for the printer to obtain image data from a digital camera, the printer needs to understand the recording structure from the image data in the digital camera. Therefore, it takes a long time to send and receive image data, display images, or thumbnail images, and the processing load on both the digital camera and the printer becomes large. The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and its first object is to use, for example, a digital camera as a client and, for example, a printer as a server. When the server operates by the client, the configuration on the client can be It is not large enough to operate the server. A second object is to reduce the burden on the user when the operation screen is displayed. In addition, the third object is to perform scheduling without the burden on both the digital camera and the printer, especially when the digital camera is used as a client and the printer is used as a server. Selection of printed images. The first browsing system according to the present invention is composed of a client and a server, and the server provides operation screens including operations to operate the server to constitute zero-8-200421864 pieces as viewed content. The client is provided with a browsing means for browsing the content, a display screen for displaying the operation screen of the browsed content, and an operation means for receiving an operation on the server via the operation screen. It is characterized in that: the server provides an operation screen composed of only an image including the operation component parts to the user terminal as the content. The so-called “operation component” refers to a button for selecting an operation instruction included in the operation screen, characters used to constitute the operation instruction, a logo image displayed on the operation screen, and a touch-sensitive type. The touch panel is used to display the image of the active area. The so-called [operation means] refers to a key for selecting an operation instruction on an operation screen. However, it is not only a button, but also a so-called touch panel which can select an operation instruction by touching the operation screen. The so-called “image including operation component parts” means that the operation component parts are included in a portrait, and the image that does not include the background of the operation screen and the operation component parts are made of different bodies. In addition, in the first browsing system according to the present invention, the client may also be provided with a hundred million means for storing the image data, which is used for displaying the image data on the display screen and performing the image data. Select the control method for processing. In this case, if the operation means receives the selection start instruction of the image-9-200421864 data via the operation screen for receiving the selection start instruction of the image data, the control means is activated to execute the image data Selection processing. Furthermore, in the first browsing system according to the present invention, the operation screen is an image size having an imaginary display screen that is supposed to be displayed on a predetermined size, and the arrangement of the operation constituent parts on the operation screen is based on the image size. If the absolute coordinates are specified, the user terminal may also expand or reduce the operation screen to fit the size of the display screen to be displayed on the display screen.

Furthermore, in the first browsing system according to the present invention, the operation screen is composed of image data in JPEG format, and a boundary of the operation component is an integer of the number of pixels of a compressed block in the image data in JPEG format. The operation component may be arranged on the operation screen at a multiple position.

A second browsing system according to the present invention is composed of a digital camera and a printer, and the printer provides an operation screen including operation constituent parts for operating the printer as viewed content. The digital camera includes: a browsing means for browsing the content, a display screen for displaying the operation screen of the browsed content, and an operation means for accepting operation of the printer via the operation screen, and The image capturing means for obtaining image data through photography, the memory means for storing the image data, and the control means for displaying the image data on the display screen and selecting and processing the image data are characterized by: When the operation means accepts the selection start instruction of the image data via the operation screen for accepting the selection start instruction of the image-1 0 _ 200421864 data, the control means is activated to execute the selection processing of the image data. [Embodiment] An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. Fig. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of a direct printing system to which a browsing system according to an embodiment of the present invention is applied. As shown in FIG. 1 (a), the direct printing system according to the present embodiment makes the digital camera 1 and the printer 2 wirelessly connected to the client and the server, respectively, and the digital camera 1 operates the printing Machine 2 'to print out the image data acquired by digital camera 1. In addition, as shown in FIG. 1 (b), a digital cable 1 and a printer 2 may be connected to the digital camera 1 and the printer 2 by a cable 3 such as IEEE 1 3 94, USB, and Ethernet (registered trademark). , The printer 2 is operated by the digital camera 1 to print and output the image data obtained by the digital camera 1. In addition, the printer 2 is not only directly connected to the digital camera 1, but also on the Internet. Figure 2 is a perspective view of the appearance of the digital camera. As shown in FIG. 2, the digital camera 1 is provided with a photographing lens 12 for imaging a subject image on an imaging section, a liquid crystal display (LCD) 14 for displaying various information such as image data and frame numbers, and an input. A power switch 16 for starting and stopping the digital camera 1 and a release button 18 for the user of the digital camera 1 to instruct shooting, and switching between a shooting mode, a reproduction mode, and a direct print mode included in the digital camera 1 The mode switch knob (dial) 20 is set for various modes such as 2004, and the desired item is deleted from the item displayed on the LCD 14, 200421864 or processing is stopped, or the cancel button 22 is pressed when the selected processing is cancelled, and An execution button 24 pressed when an item selected on the LCD 14 is selected, and an option button 26 pressed when a menu having various modes included in the digital camera 1 is displayed, and an option button 26 pressed when the LCD 14 is displayed. The up, down, left, and right keys 28 operated by the increment, decrement, and option selection of the frame number, and an antenna 3 for wireless communication with the printer 2 0, a communication connector 32 for performing wired communication with the printer 2. FIG. 3 is a plan view of the mode switching knob 20. As shown in FIG. 3, the mode switching knob 20 is configured to be switchable. The setting mode (set up) of the digital camera 1 is set, the direct print mode (print) is connected to the personal computer to transfer image data. PC mode (PC) of a personal computer, movie mode (Mov) for shooting movies, camera mode (Cam) for shooting still pictures, and playback mode (Play) for displaying captured images on the LCD 14. In addition, the state in which the mode switching knob 20 is switched to the direct print mode is shown in FIG. 3. FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a signal processing system of the digital camera 1. FIG. The digital camera 1 is provided with an imaging unit 40 that forms a subject image on a light-receiving surface and performs photoelectric conversion, and outputs image data, and controls the entire digital camera 1 and performs sampling timing of the image data. ) Control, control of image data recording control, communication control, display control, and control of the operation screen browsing, etc. CPU42, and change the image size, sharpness correction, gamma correction, contrast correction and white Signal processing unit 44 for processing such as whiteba 1 ance correction, and A / D converter 46 which converts image data of analog information into digital image data,-1 2-200421864 and flash (str〇b〇 ) 48, and the flash control unit 50 that controls the operation of the flash 48, and is used when the user inputs information such as the release button 18, mode switching knob 20, cancel button 22, execute button 24, option button 26, up, down, left, and right keys 28, etc. 1/054 of the interface between the input unit 52 and the setting information of the input unit 52. In addition, the digital camera 1 is provided with a compression and thawing unit 56 that compresses image data by a method represented by JEPG or Motion JPEG, or decompresses the compressed image data, and installs it in a detachable installation place. A card interface 62 that records or reads image data in a memory card 60 of the memory card slot 58 and converts the image data. The memory card 60 is a detachably mounted recording medium represented by semiconductors, magnetic recording, and optical recording. Furthermore, the digital camera 1 is provided with an operation program of the CPU 42 including a program for selecting a web browser and a program for selecting an image for a video, and an operation program of the CPU 42 or a ROM in which each constant is stored and the program is executed. The system memory 64 ', which is composed of RAM in the working area, is a rewritable nonvolatile memory 66 that can continue to store various setting constants of the digital camera 1 even after the power is turned off, and a timer (timer ) Timer 6 8 driven at the time of shooting, and calendar clock 70 for measuring the current time, wireless interface 72 used when wirelessly using image data or various information for sending and receiving with printer 2, and borrowing Wired interface 73 with USB, IEEE 1 3 94, Ethernet (registered trademark) and other specifications for the use of image data or various information for wireless communication with the printer 2 and the display of image data on the LCD 14 LCD control unit 74 such as D / A, and 200421864 VRAM (Video Random Access Memory: Video RAM), etc., which temporarily stores image data for display commanded by CPU42. Frame memory 76, converts code information instructed by CPU42 into displayed characters or message data, OSD78 with onscreen display together with the image, and various inputs for LCD14 A touch panel 80 and a touch panel control section 82 that controls the touch panel 80. In addition, a battery 84 is provided to supply power to each unit. The CPU 42 reads the program of the web browser from the system memory 64 and executes the program, so that the CPU 42 functions as a browsing means. The non-volatile memory 66 stores the MAC address of the printer 2 necessary for communication in the direct printing mode described later. In the case of a plurality of types of printers 2 and direct printing, the MAC addresses of the plurality of printers that are supposed to communicate are stored in the non-volatile memory 66. In this embodiment, input from both the touch panel 80 and the input unit 52 is possible. The antenna 30 is connected to the wireless interface 72, and the communication connector 32 is connected to the wired interface 73. The communication interface 32 can be used to send and receive other communication devices such as the printer 2 and various kinds of information including video data. The wireless interface 72 is an interface using light such as radio waves, ultrasonic waves, or infrared rays. In the case where radio waves are used, it may be based on a wireless communication standard such as a wireless LAN (Local Area Network). FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a recording structure of video data on the memory card 60. As shown in FIG. 5, a directory having a three-digit number and a name ([OOlVacation] and 200421864 [〇〇2Birthday]) is formed below the root directory (root), and is stored in each directory. There is image data consisting of a file name with a 4-digit number such as DSCF000 1.JPG. In addition, in the case of a missing file name such as DSCF0002.JPG of the 002Birthday directory, the image data of the file name does not exist. The three-digit number of the directory becomes the directory number, and the four-digit number of the video material becomes the frame number. According to this, for example, DSCF0001.JPG of the OOlVacation directory can be expressed by directory number and frame number from 001-0001. In addition, when displaying image data on LCD14, the directory number and frame number are displayed as 001-0001. Figure 6 is a perspective view of the appearance of printer 2. As shown in FIG. 2, the printer 2 is provided with a card slot 90 into which a memory card 60 is inserted, and a mode switch 92 ′ including a mode setting switch 92 ′ for setting a mode for reading image data to the printer 2. An operation switch group 94 for operating various inputs for the printer 2, an antenna 96 for wireless communication with the digital camera 1, a communication connector 98 for wired communication with the digital camera 1, and receiving print output The printed output tray 100 and the display group 102 are constituted by LEDs and the like for displaying the operation status of the printer 2. FIG. 7 is a plan view of the mode switching switch 92. As shown in FIG. 7, the mode switching switch 92 is switchably constituted of a card mode (Card) for reading image data from the memory card 60 and a wireless personal computer mode (PC for reading image data from a personal computer wirelessly). (Wireless)), a wireless camera mode (Cam (WireleSS)) for reading image data from the digital camera 1 wirelessly, and a wired personal computer mode (PC) for reading image data from a personal computer connected by wire, -1-200421864 Wired camera mode (Cam) for reading out image data with digital camera 1 connected by wire. In addition, the mode switch 92 in FIG. 7 shows the state of switching to the wireless camera mode. In this embodiment, the printer 2 is supposed to be used by being connected to the digital camera 1 or a personal computer. However, when the printer 2 is connected to a personal computer, the user displays an operation screen on the personal computer to perform the operation of the printer 2. When the digital camera 1 is connected for direct printing, the user displays an operation screen on the LCD 1 4 of the digital camera 1 to perform the operation of the printer 2. Therefore, the printer 2 does not have an integrated display for operation. FIG. 8 is a block diagram of a signal processing system of the printer 2. The printer 2 is provided with a CPU 1 10 which controls the entire printer 2 and performs image data readout control, print control, communication control, and display control, and an input operation switch group 94 and a display group. 1/0112 of the setting information interface 102, the card interface 1 1 4 for converting data for recording or reading image data on the memory card 60 installed in the card slot 90, and the operation of storing the CPU 1 10 A system memory 1 1 6 which is a ROM of programs or constants and a RAM which is a means for storing the working area when the program is executed. The power of the printer 2 can continue to store the various set constants of the printer 2 even after the power is turned off. Non-volatile memory 1 1 8 and a print engine 120 composed of a print head for printing, a light source, a paper feeding mechanism, and the like, and use of image data by wireless communication Or wireless information 1 22 used when transmitting and receiving various information to and from the digital camera 1, and USB, IEEE used when transmitting and receiving image data or various information to and from the digital camera 1 through wired communication. 1 3 94, Ethernet (registered trademark) and other standard wired interfaces 1 24, and D / A and other display controls for connecting to display image data on the external monitor 1 26-200421864 to printer 2 The part 1 2 8 and a frame memory 130 constituted by a VRAM or the like that temporarily stores image data for display by the CPU 1 10 command. In addition, as will be described later, UI image data and UI description files indicating that an operation screen is displayed on a user interface (UI) image of the digital camera 1 when performing direct printing are stored in a nonvolatile memory device UI 8. An antenna 96 is connected to the wireless interface 122, and a communication connector 98 is connected to the wired interface 124. This enables transmission and reception of various communication devices such as the digital camera 1 and various kinds of information including image data. The wireless interface 122 is an interface using light such as radio waves, ultrasonic waves, or infrared rays. When radio waves are used, it may be based on wireless communication standards such as a wireless LAN (Local Area Network). Figure 9 shows an example of a UI image. In FIG. 9, when direct printing is performed, a UI image showing an initial operation screen displayed on the digital camera 1 at first is displayed. As shown in FIG. 9, the UI image 140 is formed on the background image 140A by the three active regions 140B, 140C, and 140D in which the operation component parts are drawn, and the logo image 140E. The active areas 140B, 140C, and 140D are areas that can be operated by the touch panel 80. By displaying the UI image 140 on the LCD 14, the active areas 140B, 140C, and 140D are touched, so that the corresponding active areas 140B, 140B, The instructions of 140C and 140D are sent from the digital camera 1 to the printer 2. In addition to the touch panel 80, the active area 140B, 140C, 140D desired by the user is selected by the up, down, left, and right keys 28, and the execution button 24 is pressed, so that the instructions corresponding to the active area 140B, 140C, and 140D are provided by the digital camera 1 Send a 17-200421864 to printer 2 as well. In addition, in the UI image 140 shown in FIG. 9, the active areas 140B, 140C, and 140D indicate StandardPrint for printing one image of one sheet of paper, Index Print for printing a plurality of thumbnail images on one sheet of paper, and Multi Print printing option for printing multiple images on one sheet of paper. Moreover, the user can select a printing option by selecting any of the active areas 1 40 B, 1 40 C, and 1 40 D. Among them, the UI image 1 40 is an image size of a virtual display screen that is supposed to be displayed on the digital camera 1 as standard. In this embodiment, the number of pixels of the virtual display screen is 320x240 pixels. Further, the origin is set at the upper left corner of the UI image 140, the X axis is set at the horizontal direction of the paper surface, and the y axis is set at the vertical direction of the paper surface, and the xy coordinate in the lower right corner is (3 1 9, 2 39). The printer 2 sends the UI image data representing the UI image 140 to the digital camera 1 as it is. In addition, let the file name of the UI image data showing the UI image 140 for displaying the initial operation day and time be 〇〇〇i.jpg. When the digital camera 1 receives the UI image data, the digital camera 1 expands and reduces the processed UI image 140 to fit the size of the LCD 14, and the processed UI image 140 is displayed on the LCD 14 as the initial operation day and time. For example, when the size of the LCD 14 is 240 × 1 80 pixels, the UI image 140 is reduced by 0.75 times, and the reduced UI image 140 is displayed on the LCD 14. The signal processing unit 44 of the enlargement / reduction processing is performed. In addition, for the case where the size of the LCD 14 is 3 20 × 240 pixels, the υι image 140 can be displayed on the LCD 14 without any enlargement or reduction processing.

In addition, in order to reduce the capacity of UI image data, compression is performed using compression methods such as JPEG format, TIFF-18-200421864 format, and GIF format. Digital camera 1 performs expansion and reduction after defrosting compressed UI image data by compression and defrost unit 56. Processed and displayed on LCD14. Among them, JPEG format image data is divided into a plurality of compressed blocks, and each compression block is subjected to compression processing. Therefore, the image displayed in fPEG format image data is subject to block distortion at the boundary of the compressed block. Therefore, in the present embodiment, when the UI image data is composed of JPEG format video data, the active area 140B, 140C, and 140D are drawn in the background image 140A so that the boundaries of the active areas 140B, 140C, and 140D become pixels of compressed blocks ( 8x8 pixels). For example, the left X coordinate of the active area 140B is 32 which is an integer multiple of 8 pixels, and the right X coordinate is 144 which is an integer multiple of 8 pixels. The upper y-coordinate is 32, which is an integer multiple of 8 pixels, and the lower y-coordinate is 104. Moreover, the left X coordinate of the active area 140C is 176, the right X coordinate is 288, the upper y coordinate is 32, and the lower y coordinate is 104. Moreover, the left X coordinate of the active region 140D is 32, the right X coordinate is 144, the upper y coordinate is 136, and the lower y coordinate is 208. Therefore, the block distortion is not significant when the UI image 140 is displayed on the LCD 14, and accordingly, the image quality of the UI image 140 can be improved. FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a description example of a UI description file. In addition, FIG. 10 is a UI description file for displaying the UI image 140 shown in FIG. 9 as an operation screen. As shown in Figure 10, the file name of this UI description file is [startup.xml]. According to the description in the fourth line, the image of the operation screen is specified with a width w of 320 pixels and a height h of 240 pixels. The file name is 0001.jpg 200421864 UI image data. The descriptions of the fifth to seventh lines define the positions, sizes, and hypertext references (href: hypertext reference) of the active areas 140B, 140C, and 140D. Specifically, the positions and sizes of the active areas 140B, 140C, and 140D are determined by the coordinates, width w, and height h of the upper left corner of each active area 140B, 140C, and 140D. When the active areas 140B, 140C, and 140D are selected, then The file name of the requested UI description file is described in href. In addition, if the digital camera 1 is connected to the printer 2, it functions as a browser, and requests the printer 2 for startup.xml. Here, since the file name of startup.xml is fixed, the initial operation screen can be displayed on the LCD 14 of the digital camera 1 regardless of the type of the printer 2. If the digital camera 1 sends a UI description file with the file name startup.xml from the printer 2, the description of the file is interpreted, and the necessary UI image data is requested on the printer 2, or it is displayed on the LCD I4. The position specified by the UI description file on the operation screen sets an active area for operating the touch panel 80. Then, the processing performed in this embodiment will be described. 11 and 12 are flowcharts showing the processing performed between the digital camera 1 and the printer 2 in this embodiment. In addition, in this embodiment, the mode switching knob 20 for switching the digital camera 1 is set to the direct printing mode, and the mode switching switch 92 of the printer 2 is set to the wireless camera mode. The digital camera 1 and the printer 2 are wirelessly switched. The process of communicating with each other, and printing and outputting image data acquired by the digital camera 1 on the printer 2 will be described. Furthermore, in the processing of the digital camera 1 in the flowcharts shown in FIGS. 11 and 12, if the user presses the cancel button 22 at any step, the processing is suspended -20-200421864 and the process returns to step s 1 . First, if the user of the digital camera 1 switches the mode switching knob 20 to the direct printing mode, the digital camera 1 displays the selection screen of the printer 2 for direct printing on the LCD 14, where the direct printing according to the user is accepted Selection of the printed printer 2 (step S1). FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a selection screen of the printer 2. As shown in FIG. 13, in this embodiment, the model names of the three printers 2 of [FUJIFILM NC-100], [FUJIFILM NC-5 0], and [xxxxx IJ-3 0] are displayed on the LCD 14. In addition, by touching the up arrow or down arrow displayed on the LCD 14 by the user, or by moving the up, down, left, and right keys 28 up and down, it is possible to further display the model name of the printer 2 that is supposed to be directly printed. Each model name is assigned a MAC address. In this embodiment, [FUJIFILM NC-100] is selected by the user, and it will be described below. If the user selects the printer 2, the selected printer name is reversely displayed. Furthermore, the digital camera 1 sends a connection request to the printer 2 via the wireless interface 72 and the antenna 30 (step s 2). The printer 2 completes the connection in accordance with the connection requirements, and notifies its purpose to the digital camera (step S3). Digital camera 1 performs a UI description file request for printer 2 with the file name startup xml (Get (startup.xml), step S4). Printer 2 accepts this request and sends startup.xml to digital camera 1 (step To). The digital camera 1 parses startup.xml (step S6). In order to display the initial operation screen, the printer 2 requests a UI image file with a file name of 000 1 .jpg (Get (000 1 .jpg), step S7). The printer 2 accepts this request, and sends 000 丨 .jpg to the digital camera i (step S8). -2 1-200421864 The digital camera 1 performs display processing of the initial operation screen as 000l.jpg (step S9). FIG. 14 is a flowchart of a display process of an operation screen. First, the UI image data with a file name of 000 1.jpg is thawed (step S51), and the defrosted UI image data is enlarged and reduced to fit the size of the LCD 14 (step S52). Furthermore, the UI image 140 indicated by the enlarged and reduced UI image data is set as an operation screen and displayed on the LCD 14 (step S53) to complete the processing.

If the initial operation screen is displayed on the LCD 14, the user of the digital camera 1 selects a print option and accepts this command. The digital camera 1 selects a print option (step S 10).

Figure 15 shows the sequence of printing options selection process. First, it is assumed that the UI image data is enlarged and reduced, and the digital camera 1 recalculates the positions and sizes of the active areas 140B, 140C, and 140D in accordance with the magnification during the enlargement and reduction (step S61). According to this, the positions and sizes of the active areas 140B, 140C, and 140D displayed on the initial operation screen of the LCD 14 are made to correspond to the positions and sizes of the active areas 140B, 140C, and 140D before the enlargement and reduction. The user touches the touch panel 80 or monitors whether there is some input (step S62). If the step S62 is affirmative, it is determined whether the cancel button 22 is pressed by the user (step S63). If step S63 is affirmative, the communication with the printer 2 being connected is cut off, and the process returns to step S1 (step S64). If step S63 is negative, it is determined whether or not the area of the touch panel 80 is selected. That is, the input that is touched on the touch panel 80 is from the active area (step S65). If step S65 is negative, the process returns to step S62. The right step * Step S65 is affirmed, then the color of the selected active area is reversed (step S 6 6) ′ The operation screen for inverting the color of the selected active area is displayed on the LCD 14 (step S67), and the process is completed. Among them, for example, if the user selects Multipoint, the color of the active area 140D corresponding to MultiPrint is not reversed as shown in FIG. Based on this, the user can easily recognize which active area is selected. In addition, instead of inverting the color ', the brightness of the active area can be increased, a monochrome display, and a border can be made, so that it can recognize which active area is selected by the user. In addition, here, the user will select MultiPrint for subsequent explanation. Returning to FIG. 11, if the user selects MultiPrint, the digital camera 1 obtains the href corresponding to the active area of Multi Print (step SI 1), and describes the printer 2 in the MultiPrint's href file named multi.xml UI. Describes the file acquisition request (Get (multi.xml), step S12). The printer 2 accepts this request and sends a multi, xml to the digital camera 1 (step S 13). Figure 17 is a diagram showing the description of multi.xml. As shown in Figure 17, multi.xml uses the description on the fourth line. The image of the operation screen is UI image data with a specified width w of 3 20 pixels, a height h of 240 pixels, and a file name of 0010.jpg. Fig. 18 is a diagram showing a UI image represented by a UI image file with a file name of 0010.jpg. As shown in FIG. 18, the UI image 142 is composed of an image of the active regions 142B, 142C, and 142D on the background image 142A, and a logo image 142E. -23-200421864 In addition, in the UI image 142 shown in Figure 18, the active areas 142B, 142C, and 142D indicate 2-up for printing two images on one sheet of paper and four images for printing on one sheet of paper. 4-up, 9-up printing options for printing nine images on one sheet of paper. Moreover, the user can select a printing option by selecting any one of the active areas 142B, 142C, and 142D. In addition, the UI image 142 and the UI image 140 are a sample image size (320x240 pixels) of a virtual display screen that is supposed to be displayed on the digital camera 1 as a standard. On the other hand, descriptions on lines 5 to 7 of multi.xml specify the positions, sizes, and hrefs of active areas 142B, 142C, and 142D. Specifically, the positions and sizes of the active regions 142B, 142C, and 142D are specified by the coordinates, width w, and height h of the upper left corner of each active region 142B, 142C, and 142D. When the active regions 142B, 142C, and 142D are selected, then The name of the file to be sent is described in href. Then, href is described as image — select. However, when image_select is selected in the corresponding active area M2B, 142C, and 142D, the image selection routine (image selection routine) executed by digital camera 1 is started and specified. The number of frames selected by the image selection routine. The digital camera 1 parses the multi .xml (step S14), and in order to display the operation screen of the MultiPrint, perform a request for the UI image data of the printer 2 with the file name 00 10.jpg (Get (001 0.jpg), step S15). Printer 2 accepts this request and sends 0010.jpg to the digital camera (step S16). The digital camera 1 performs display processing as an operation screen of 0010.jpg (step S1 7). Since this display process is the same process as the display process of step S9 -24-200421864, detailed description is omitted here. If the operation screen is displayed on L C D 1 4 ′, the user of the digital camera 1 selects a print option, and accepts this command, and the digital camera 1 performs a print option selection process (step s 1 8). Since the selection process of the print option is the same process as the process of step S10, detailed description is omitted here. In addition, the user selects 2-up in UI image M2. Accordingly, the active area 142B in the UI image 142 is displayed in reverse. If the user selects 2-up, the digital camera 1 obtains the href of the active area corresponding to the 2-up (step S19), and performs a UI description for the printer 2 described in the 2-up href with a file name of multi2.xml File request (Get (mixlti2.xml, step S20). Printer 2 accepts this request and sends multi2.xml to digital camera 1 (step S2 1). Furthermore, printer 2 prints MultiPrint 2- Preparation for up, and (step S22) preparation for receiving two images (step S23). On the other hand, the digital camera 1 starts an image selection routine according to the instruction of image_Select corresponding to the 2-up active area (step S22). S24). As shown in FIG. 5, the image selection routine performs processing of two image data for 2-up printing selected from a plurality of image data stored in the memory card 60. FIGS. 19 and 20 show A flowchart of image selection processing performed in the image selection routine. First, the digital camera 1 sets the selected remaining number η (step S71), and displays the remaining number on the LCD 14 (step S72). The number of frames η is described in the corresponding user in the UI image 1 42 The number N of image_select of the selected active area (here, two). Then 'digital camera 1 sets the current frame number of the image display to the latest-25- 200421864, which is the frame number of the most recently captured image data (step S73) The image of the current frame number is displayed on the LCD 14 (step S74). Accordingly, the image selection screen is displayed on the LCD 14. Fig. 21 is a diagram showing the image selection screen in the image selection routine. As shown in Fig. 21, The image selection screen 1 44 displays the current frame number image 144A, the remaining frame number 144B, the frame number 144C, the shooting date and time 144D, and the left and right arrow keys 144E and 144F. Next, the user starts to touch the touch panel 80 or whether there is monitoring with some input (step S75), if step S76 is affirmed, it is determined whether the cancel button 22 is pressed by the user (step S76). If step S77 is affirmed, the connection is being disconnected The communication of the printer 2 returns to step S1 (step S77). If step S76 is negative, it is determined whether the right button of the up, down, left, and right keys 28 is pressed by the user (step S78). If step S78 is affirmative, The current frame number is incremented (step S79), and the process returns to step S74. If the step S78 is negative, it is determined whether the left key of the up, down, left, and right keys 28 is pressed by the user (step S80), and if the step S80 is affirmative, The current frame number is decremented (step S81), and the process returns to step S74. On the other hand, if step S80 is negative, it is determined whether the area of the right arrow key 144F of the image selection screen 144 is touched by the user (step S82) ), If step S82 is affirmed, the current frame number is incremented (step S83), and the process returns to step S74. If step S 82 is negative, it is determined whether the area of the left arrow key ι44E of the image selection screen 144 has been pressed by the user (step S84), and the right step S 8 4 is affirmative, and the current frame number is incremented (step s 8 5), return to step S74. -26-200421864 If step S 84 is negative, it is determined whether the execution button 24 is pressed by the user (step S86). If step S86 is negative, the process returns to step S75. If step S 8 6 is affirmed, the image data of the current frame number is regarded as the image data to be printed and stored in the system memory 6 4 (step S 8 7), and the remaining number is reduced by 1 (step S8 8). The reduced number of remaining frames is displayed (step S 89). Furthermore, it is determined whether the number of remaining frames is 0 (step S90), and if step S90 is negative, the process returns to step S74. If it is affirmed in step S90, the process is completed by all those who have finished selecting and printing.

Returning to FIG. 12 and step S24, the digital camera 1 sends the image data selected in the image selection routine to the printer 2 (Put (the first of the selected images, step S2 5)). When the printer 2 receives the image data, the printer 2 notifies the digital camera 1 (OK, step S26) of the completion of the reception. In this embodiment, the print option 2-up is selected. Since two pieces of image data are selected in the digital camera 1, the digital camera 1 then sends a second piece of image data to the printer 2 (step S27). The printer 2 notifies the digital camera 1 of the completion of the reception (step S28). When the printer 2 receives two pieces of image data, it performs printing (step S29). Figure 22 is a diagram showing the description of multi2.xml. As shown in Figure 22, multi2.xml uses the description in the fourth line. The image of the operation screen is UI image data with a specified width w of 320 pixels, a height h of 240 pixels, and a file name of 〇03 1 .jpg. In addition, the UI image indicated by the UI image data is an operation screen for notifying the user of the purpose of completion of printing. Fig. 23 is a diagram showing a UI image represented by a UI image file with a file name of 003 1.jpg -27-200421864. As shown in FIG. 23, the UI image 146 displays an active area 146B, a logo image 146C, and a character of [MultiPrint 2-up Executed] completed on the multi-image 2-up on the background image 1 46A. Image (character image) 146D. In the UI image 146 shown in FIG. 23, the active area 146C is an area for a continuous for printing. In addition, the user touches the active area 146B to continue printing. Moreover, the UI image 146 and the UI image 140 are sample images (3 20x240 pixels) having a virtual display screen size that is supposed to be displayed on the digital camera 1 as standard. On the other hand, the description in the fifth line of the multi 2.xml specifies the position of the active area 146C. Specifically, the position and size of the active area 146C are specified by the coordinates, width w, and height h of the upper left corner of the active area 146C. When the active area 146C is selected, the file name to be sent is described in href. The digital camera 1 parses the multi2.xml (step S30), and in order to display the operation screen after printing, the UI image data file with the file name of 0031.jpg (Get (0031.jpg)) is required. S31). The printer 2 accepts this request, and sends 003 1.jpg to the digital camera 1 (step S32). The digital camera 1 performs display processing as an operation screen of 003 1.jpg (step S3 3). Since this display process is the same process as the display process of step S9, a detailed description is omitted here. If the operation screen is displayed on the LCD 14 and the user of the digital camera 1 touches -28- 200421864 continue, the digital camera 1 selects continue (step S34) and accepts this command 'digital camera 1 obtains the href of the active area corresponding to the continuous ( Step S35) 'Make a request for the UI description file (startup.xnU, step S3 6) of the printer 2 to be described in the href of the continue (Get (startup.xnU, step S3 6)). The printer 2 accepts this request and sends a startup Χηα1 is given to the digital camera 1 (step S37), and the process returns to step S6.

In this way, in this embodiment, the printer 2 uses the operation screen as the uj image data to provide to the digital camera 1, and the digital camera 1 uses the UI image data as the operation screen to display on the LCD 14. Therefore, the digital camera 1 only needs to browse the UI image data provided by the printer 2 and display it on the LCD 14 to display the operation screen on the LCD 14. Therefore, it is not necessary to prepare a font for displaying characters on the digital camera 1. Accordingly, the digital camera 1 is configured to be large-scale and the digital camera 1 can operate the printer 2.

Furthermore, if the UI image 1 42 for performing the operation associated with the selection of the printed image is displayed on the digital camera 1, and the user instructs the selection of the image data, the image selection routine of the digital camera 1 is activated to execute the image. Data selection and processing, so the printer 2 does not need to understand the data recording structure of the digital camera 1 by itself, accesses the digital camera 1, and selects image data. Furthermore, it is not necessary for the digital camera 1 to send image data, a list of image data, or a simplified image to the printer 2 or use the image data to generate an operation screen for selecting an image in the printer 2. Therefore, the burden on the digital camera 1 and the printer 2 during image selection can be reduced. In particular, the digital camera 1 has an image selection function when displaying an image on the LCD 1 4 ′ or when determining a line of image. Therefore, the digital camera 1 can select an image without imposing any burden on the digital camera 1. -29- 200421864 In addition, let the image representing the operation screen have an image size that is supposed to be displayed on the virtual display screen. The absolute coordinates on the image size of the virtual display screen are used to determine the arrangement on the operation screen of the active area. Digital cameras 1 Regardless of the configuration of any active area, only the image is enlarged and reduced to fit the size of the LCD 14, and the operation screen for operating the printer 2 can be displayed on the LCD 14. Therefore, the burden on the digital camera 1 when the operation screen is displayed can be reduced. In addition, in the above embodiment, although the digital camera 1 and the printer 2 are connected for direct printing, the present invention can also be applied to a case where a print receiving device and a digital camera 1 installed at a shop front are connected to print order. invention. In this case, the print receiving device functions as a server, and the same operation screen as the printer 2 in the above embodiment is displayed on the digital camera 1, and the digital camera 1 receives the image data selected by the user. Sent to a printer connected to a print receiving device for print output. In this case, the print receiving device may display the printing amount and the time until the printing is completed, and notify the user of the printing amount and the time until the printing is completed. Furthermore, the present invention can also be applied to an image server that is storing and managing image data and is accessed by the digital camera 1 via a network, and the image data is transmitted to the image server by the digital camera 1. This situation is the same as that of the printer 2 of the above embodiment, and the image server provides the digital camera 1 with an operation screen for transmitting image data. Accordingly, the user of the 'digital camera 1 can send the image data obtained by the digital camera 1 to the image server by operating the operation screen. In addition, for the case where the image server is connected to the print server, 200421864 can also make print orders at the same time. In this case, the image server provides the operation screen for print order to the digital camera 1. Furthermore, in this case, it is also possible to further select the print accepting store or select a different service option for each print order destination, but by using the operation screen for selection as described above as image data Provided, print orders can be made without burdening the digital camera 1. Moreover, in the above embodiment, although the digital camera 1 and the printer 2 are connected for direct printing, the present invention can also be applied to a client and a server, and the client can browse all the operation screens of the server. Browsing system. For example, when a portable terminal device such as a mobile phone or a PDA (Personal Digital Assistants) is used as a client and an image server storing and managing image data is used as a server to configure a browsing system, the portable terminal device It is easier to display characters than a digital camera, but if the operation screen of the image server is provided to the portable terminal device as an image containing the components of the operation screen, the characters are displayed by the character code or the operation screen is not determined. The arrangement of parts can also be processed, so the operation screen can be displayed at high speed. [Effects of the Invention] According to the present invention, the server provides the user terminal with an operation screen composed of only an image including operation-constituting parts as content. The client browses the content and displays the operation screen on the display screen. Among them, since the operation screen is only composed of an image, the user terminal can display the operation screen on the display screen only by performing a process of browsing and displaying the content provided by the server. Therefore, even if the operation screen provided by the server does not contain characters, since it is an image instead of -3, 200421864 is represented by a character code, there is no need to prepare a font for displaying characters in the client. Therefore, the configuration without a client is large-scale, and the server can be operated on the client. In particular, by making the client a digital camera and the server a printer, a digital camera can be constructed as a large-scale printer and a direct printing system can be constructed.

Furthermore, if the operation means of the client terminal accepts the selection start instruction of the image data through the operation screen that accepts the selection start instruction of the image data, the control means is activated to execute the selection processing of the image data, and the server does not need to understand the memory means of the client end. Data record structure, access to the client, select image data. Moreover, it is not necessary for the client to send the image data, the display of the image data, or the simplified image to the server, or use the image data to generate an operation screen for selecting an image in the server. Therefore, it is possible to reduce the burden on the client and server when selecting images. Especially in the case where the client is a digital camera, because the digital camera displays an image on a display screen, or has a function of selecting an image to be displayed on the display screen as a standard, the image can be selected without imposing any burden on the client.

Furthermore, by making the operation screen an image size of an imaginary display screen that is supposed to be displayed at a predetermined size, the absolute coordinates on the predetermined image size are used to specify the arrangement on the operation screen of the operation screen constituent parts, and the user terminal expands and reduces the operation screen. With the size of the display screen suitable for itself, the display screen is used for display. The client does not consider the configuration of any parts of the operation screen. Only by expanding and reducing the size of the operation screen to fit the size of the display screen, it can be displayed to operate the servo. The operation screen of the controller is on the display screen. Therefore, it is possible to reduce the load on the user side when the operation screen is displayed. -3 2- 200421864 Among them, the image data in the JPEG format is divided into a plurality of blocks (compressed blocks), and each block is compressed. Therefore, the image displayed when the image data in the JPEG format is thawed, Block distortion occurs at the boundary of the block. Therefore, in a case where the operation screen is composed of JPEG format video data, the operation component parts are arranged so that the boundary of the operation component parts becomes an integer multiple of the pixels of the compressed block located in the JPEG image data. , So that the block distortion is not significant, and accordingly, the picture quality of the operation screen can be improved.

[Brief Description of the Drawings] Fig. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a direct printing system to which a browsing system according to an embodiment of the present invention is applied. Fig. 2 is a perspective view showing the appearance of a digital camera. FIG. 3 is a plan view of a mode switching knob. Fig. 4 is a block diagram of a signal processing system of a digital camera. Fig. 5 is a diagram showing a recording structure of video data. Figure 6 is a perspective view of the appearance of the printer.

Fig. 7 is a plan view of a mode switch. Figure 8 is a block diagram of the printer's signal processing system. FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of a UI image. FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a description example of the UI description file. Fig. Π is a flowchart (part 1) showing the processing performed between the digital camera and the printer in the present embodiment. Fig. 12 is a flowchart (part 2) showing the processing performed between the digital camera and the printer in this embodiment. -33- 200421864 Figure 13 shows the selection screen of the printer. 14 is a flowchart of a display process of an operation screen. Figure 15 is a flowchart of the print option selection process. FIG. 16 is a diagram showing a state after the selected active area is reversed. Fig. 17 is a description diagram showing multi.xml. Fig. 18 is a UI image diagram shown by a UI image file with a file name of 001.jpg.

Fig. 19 is a flowchart (part 1) showing image selection processing performed in the image selection routine. Fig. 20 is a flowchart (part 2) showing image selection processing performed in the image selection routine. Fig. 21 is a diagram showing a picture selection screen in a picture selection routine. Fig. 22 is a diagram showing a description of multi2.xml. Fig. 23 is a UI image diagram shown by UI image data with a file name of 003 1 · "· Pδ.

[Symbol description] 1: Digital camera 2: Printer 3: Cable 12: Photography lens 14: LCD 1 6: Power switch 18: Release button 20: Mode switch knob-34-200421864 22: Cancel button 24: Execute button 26: Option button 2 8: Up, down, left and right keys 3 0 " 96: Antenna 32, 98: Communication connector 40: Camera section 42, 1 10: CPU 44: Signal processing section 46: A / D converter 48: Flash 50. Flash control unit 52: input units 54, 112: I / O 5 6: compression and thawing unit 5 8: memory card slot 6 0: memory card 62: card interface 64, 116: system memory 66, 118: non-volatile Memory 6 8: Timer 7 〇: Calendar clock 72, 122: Wireless interface 73, 124: Wired interface-35- 200421864 74: LCD control unit 76, 130: Frame memory

78: OSD 80: Touch panel 82: Touch panel control unit 8 4: Battery 90: Card slot 92: Mode switch 94: Operation switch group 100: Tray 1 02: Display group 1 1 4: Card interface 116: System memory 118: Non-volatile memory 120: Print engine 122: Wireless interface 124: Wired interface 1 2 6: External monitor 128: Display control unit 140 > 142 > 144: Operation Screen 1 4 0 A: Background image 146B: Active areas 140B, 140C, 140D, 142B, 142C, 142D, 142 ·. UI image 146: Image selection screen -36-

Claims (1)

200421864 Scope of patent application: 1 A browsing system consisting of a client and a server. The server provides the client with the operating screen containing the operating components used to operate the server as the content to be browsed. The client terminal is provided with: a browsing means to browse the content; a display screen to display the operation screen of the browsed content; and an operation means to accept the server via the operation screen. Operation: It is characterized in that: the server provides an operation screen composed only of an image containing the operation component parts as the content to the client. 2. If the browsing system of item 1 of the patent application scope, wherein the client terminal has a memory means for storing the image data; and a control means for displaying the display screen on the image data and selecting and processing the image data . 3. The browsing system of item 2 in the scope of patent application, wherein the control means is activated when the operation means accepts the selection start instruction of the image data via the operation screen to implement the selection process of the image data, in which the operation screen It is used to accept the selection start instruction of the image data. 4. The browsing system of any one of items 1 to 3 of the patent application, wherein the operation screen is an image size having an imaginary display screen supposedly displayed on a predetermined size, and the operation constitutes the operation screen of the part The configuration of -37-200421864 is specified by the absolute coordinates on the image size. The client system expands and shrinks the operation screen to fit the size of the display screen for display on the display day. 5. If the browsing system of item 4 of the patent application range, wherein the operation screen is composed of JPEG format image data, the boundary of the operation component parts becomes the number of pixels of the compressed block that will be positioned in the JPEG image data. Positions that are integral multiples of each other are made by disposing the operation constituent parts on the operation screen. 6 · A browsing system composed of a digital camera and a printer, the printer is provided to the digital camera with the operation screen including the operation component parts for operating the printer as viewed content, The digital camera is provided with: a browsing means for browsing the content; a display screen for displaying the operation screen of the browsed content; an operation means for accepting the operation of the printer via the operation screen; video recording Means' is obtained by photographing image data; a memory means for memorizing the image data; and a control means for displaying the image data on the display screen and performing a selection process of the image data, and is characterized by: When the means receives the selection start instruction of the image data via the operation screen, the control means is activated to implement the selection process of the image data, wherein the operation screen is used to receive the selection start instruction of the image data. -38-