JP3259882B2 - Information handling equipment - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an information handling apparatus, and more particularly to an information handling apparatus capable of recording or reproducing information on an information recording medium having a main information area and a management information area. .

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art DOS (DISK OPERATION)
An IC memory card, which is an information recording medium applied to an image information recording / reproducing apparatus or the like which is an information handling apparatus to which (SYSTEM) is applied, has a memory area configuration as shown in FIG.

[0003] The memory card is composed of an attribute memory and a common memory. The common memory is composed of an attribute information area, a memory management area 100, and a data area 104 as a main information area. In the attribute information area, fixed data that is not changed for each device is written. The memory management area 100 includes a boot sector 101 which is a first management information area, a FAT information area 102 which is a second management information area, and a directory entry area 103 which is also a second management information area. Have been. Data such as an image is recorded in the data area 104.

In the boot sector 101, the logical sector length, the number of tracks, the number of sectors per track, and the like of the memory card are recorded. FIG. 9 is a diagram showing the contents of the format of the boot sector 101. Also,
In the FAT information area 102, memory area information of the data area 104 is recorded in a chain format, and in the directory entry area 103, how the data is recorded in the data area 104 or the attribute of the data file is described. Information and the like are written.

[0005] As an initialization process for putting an unused memory card or a used memory card on which data has been written into a state in which data can be recorded, one is to delete all data in the memory card. A memory check is performed, and further, an initialization format process in which a boot sector and the like are written, and another is a directory entry and F
There is an all-frame erasing process for erasing only the AT. And
The initialization format processing requires a long processing time, for example, about one minute, since data in the entire memory area is initialized. However, the all-frame erasing processing requires only rewriting of management information. Very short time, for example, about 1
Initialization is completed in 5 seconds.

In the above-mentioned initialization processing in an information recording / reproducing apparatus or the like, a method shown in a flowchart of FIG. In this process, first, the boot sector is read (step S10).
1) Check whether the boot sector information is suitable for the device (step S102). If the boot sector information is not suitable, the initialization format process is executed (step S105). If the boot sector information matches, the directory entry is deleted and the FAT is initialized (steps S103 and S104), and the initialization ends. In this way, in the initialization of the memory card whose boot sector information is suitable for the device, it is possible to eliminate a long wait due to formatting.

[0007]

Generally, when an object to be photographed is photographed by a camera, the photographing conditions optimal for the photographing environment, whether manual or automatic, are set each time.

However, conventionally, photographing information such as shutter speed, exposure information, WB (white balance) information, color adjustment information, focus step number information, and flash exposure information that determine photographing conditions is not recorded on a recording medium, but is already recorded. There is a problem that it is impossible to know under what photographing conditions the photographed image was photographed.

According to the present invention, in consideration of such problems at the time of conventional photographing, photographing information at that time can be recorded together with image information on a recording medium, and photographing conditions of an image recording / reproducing apparatus are set using the photographing information. It is an object of the present invention to provide an information handling device that can perform the information processing.

[0010]

According to the present invention, when an object to be photographed is photographed by an image recording / reproducing apparatus, the photographing information at the time of photographing previously and the image information recorded on a recording medium for recording the image information are referred to. Thus, the information handling apparatus includes a photographing information selecting unit that selects photographing information at that time, and a photographing condition setting unit that sets photographing conditions in the image recording / reproducing apparatus based on the selected photographing information.

[0011]

According to the present invention, when an object to be photographed is photographed by the image recording / reproducing apparatus, the photographing information selecting means selects the photographing information at that time by referring to the previous image information recorded on the recording medium. The condition setting means sets a photographing condition of the image recording / reproducing apparatus based on the selected photographing information.

[0012]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIGS. 1 to 3 are a block diagram and an external view of an electronic still camera of an information handling apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The electronic still camera according to the present embodiment has
The C memory card is applied as an information recording medium, and the configuration will be described along the flow of signals with reference to the block configuration diagram of FIG.

In the recording mode, the optical image of the subject incident through the optical system 1 is transmitted to the CC provided on the image forming plane.
The signal is converted into an analog electric signal by the imaging system 2 including D and the like. The imaging signal output from the imaging system 2 is converted into a digital signal by an analog / digital conversion circuit (hereinafter abbreviated as A / D conversion circuit) 4 after the DC level is kept constant by a clamp circuit 3. Then, the data is written to the frame memory 6 and temporarily stored.

When all the writing to the frame memory 6 is completed, the data is read from the frame memory 6 under the control of the memory controller 5, and is then outputted to a discrete cosine transform circuit (hereinafter referred to as DCT / IDCT) 7. Data conversion required for data compression is performed and output to the coder / decoder 8. In a coder section of the coder / decoder 8, an auxiliary memory 9 in which various data and tables necessary for performing a compression process are written.
, And compresses the video data. Then, the compressed data is written through a data bus 20 to an IC memory card 10 which is an information recording medium detachably attached to the electronic still camera.

In the recording mode, the imaging system 2
The gain of the output signal when adjusting the white balance of
Controlled via the system controller 19,
The aperture of the optical system 1 is also controlled via the system controller 19. The system controller 19 includes a management information determining unit, a management information initializing unit, a management information restoring unit, and the like, which will be described later.

Next, the description of the electronic still camera will be continued along the flow of signals when reproducing the video data recorded as described above.

The data read from the IC memory card 10 is input to the coder / decoder 8 through the data bus 20, and the decoder section of the coder / decoder 8 restores the compressed data to the original state. Processing is performed. The decompressed data is subjected to inverse DCT processing in the DCT / IDCT circuit 7 and written to the frame memory 6. When all the data has been decompressed, the data is read from the frame memory 6 under the control of the memory controller 5, and the output is converted by the digital process 11 into a video signal compliant with, for example, NTSC. Then, after being converted into an analog signal by a D / A (digital / analog) conversion circuit 12 and having an impedance matching of, for example, 75Ω by a buffer 13, an electronic viewfinder (hereinafter abbreviated as EVF) 14 gives a photographer The image is reproduced so that it can be observed. At the same time, the video signal is output to an external video output terminal 15.

The electronic still camera includes a character generator 16 for generating character information such as a date and a time and performing on-screen display on a screen, an LCD display unit 17 for displaying various operation modes and the like, and And an operation unit 18 for performing operations. The components described above are controlled by the system controller 19. The camera can perform various manual operations. The set value at that time is stored in the setting memory 21 and the same operation is reproduced by recalling the set value in a subsequent operation. be able to.

When recording on a recording medium such as the IC memory card 10, the data is converted into a format recognizable on a personal computer, for example, a DOS format, which will be described later, and then recorded.

Next, the arrangement of the operation unit 18 and the like will be described in detail.

FIGS. 2 and 3 are external views of the electronic still camera of this embodiment, showing the arrangement of the operation unit 18 and the like. 2 is a plan view of the camera, and FIG. 3 is a view taken in the direction of an arrow A in FIG. 2 as viewed from an eyepiece of the camera.

As shown in FIG. 2, the above-mentioned LCD display section 48 is disposed at the center of the upper surface of the camera body, and displays the operations and the like described later. On one side of the LCD display section 48, zoom switches (hereinafter referred to as ZOOM switches) T31 and W32 for selecting a tele / wide mode are provided.

The ZOOM switches T31, W3
2, an up switch (hereinafter, referred to as an UP switch) 33 and a down switch (hereinafter, DOWN) are provided below.
A switch 34) is provided. When the camera is in the recording mode, these switches 33 and 34 are used for mode adjustment, for example, fine adjustment of white balance, change of shutter speed, change of exposure correction value, focusing of power focus, and the like.
In the playback mode, it is used for frame advance and frame return.

Next, referring to FIG.
The function of the operation switch group constituting the operation unit 18 disposed below the operation unit 8 will be described.

In the figure, a white balance switch (hereinafter, referred to as a white balance switch)
The WB switch 35 is used to change the white balance mode in the recording mode.

Hereinafter, a view erase switch (hereinafter referred to as V
An IERASE switch or an ERASE switch) 36 reproduces an image recorded immediately before being pressed in the recording mode, and is used as a frame erase switch in the reproduction mode.

The +/- switch 37 is used to change the exposure mode in the recording mode. The focus switch (hereinafter referred to as a FOCUS switch) 38
Used in the recording mode to change the focus mode of the auto focus or the power focus.

A strobe switch (hereinafter, referred to as an ST switch) 39 is used to change the strobe mode in the recording mode. Picture switch (hereinafter PIC)
TURE switch) 40 is used in the recording mode,
Used for changing color depth and so on. In the reproduction mode, it is used for setting the image data of the memory card. A drive switch (hereinafter referred to as a DRIVE switch) 41
In the recording mode, it is used to change the recording speed mode, and in the reproduction mode, it is used to change the reproduction speed.

A mode switch (hereinafter, referred to as a MODE switch) 42 is used to change between a compression mode and a non-compression mode in the recording mode. In the reproduction mode, it is used for instructing an on-screen mode for superimposing a character display signal on a video signal output from an external terminal. Time switch (hereinafter referred to as TIME switch) 4
Reference numeral 3 is used for setting time and for turning on and off a buzzer. A power switch (hereinafter, referred to as a POWER switch) 44 is used for power on / off operation of the camera of the present embodiment. The trigger switch 45 is used to instruct a shooting operation.

A CAMERA / PLAY switch used for switching between a recording mode and a reproducing mode, or for switching between a transmission mode and a reception mode during image transmission, is provided below the operation switch group at the edge of the camera body. 46, an AUTO / MANUA for switching between the full auto shooting mode and the manual shooting mode in the recording mode, or setting the camera to the transmission mode.
An L changeover switch 47 is provided. The EVF 14 of the camera is provided on a front side surface of the camera body.
An eyepiece 49 is provided.

Next, various recording processes in the camera of this embodiment will be described.

As described above, one frame of image data file is provided with header information for recording the data format and the like of the image data. In the camera of the present embodiment, shooting information of the camera, for example, shutter speed, exposure information, WB (white balance) information, color adjustment information, focus step number information, strobe exposure information, and the like are recorded in this header. Therefore, even when shooting with full auto, it is possible to know the various shooting information by referring to the header information after shooting.

Further, the photographing can be performed by setting photographing conditions based on the photographing information recorded in the header. The photographing processing will be described with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS.

In the flowchart of FIG. 5, in step S11 as the photographing information selecting means, the changeover switch 46 is switched to the "PLAY" side to set the reproduction mode. Then, the UP / DOWN switches 33, 34
Is operated to display the reproduction frame of the image whose photographing condition is to be referred to, and the PICTURE switch 40 is used to display the frame number. Is specified. In step S12, a subroutine "set photographing mode" process is called and executed.

In the subroutine "set photographing mode", photographing information such as shutter speed and exposure information is read from the header information of the image file of the corresponding frame as shown in FIG. 6 (step S21 as photographing information selecting means). The photographing conditions are set based on the photographing information (step S22 as photographing condition setting means).

Thereafter, in step S13 of FIG.
The changeover switch 46 is switched to the “CAMERA” side to set the camera to the shooting mode. In step S14, shooting is performed under the shooting conditions that have already been set.

In this manner, the photographing conditions of the past photographing screen can be reproduced without complicated setting operations, and if there is a memory card which has been photographed by another photographer, the photographing conditions of the photographing screen are left as they are. It is also possible to apply. By the way, in the conventional initialization processing of FIG. 10, if the memory card is pulled out or the power of the device is turned off during the erasing operation, the boot sector is written in a normal state, and the directory entry is also written. The memory card may be removed in a state where the erasure has been completed but the erasure of the FAT has not been completed.

Normally, in a memory card, its free space is determined based on the size of a range in which each data of the FAT is "0". Therefore, if the FAT has not been erased as described above, it is determined that the FAT has a small capacity.

It should be noted that the file currently being searched for the FA
If the chain of T data is traced, a normal FAT and an abnormal FAT can be distinguished from each other, so that it is possible to correct the FAT. It is not appropriate to execute the process every time a memory card is inserted. Such a check process
Even in a personal computer or the like, this is a process that is performed only by a single check command and is not performed during a normal operation.

Therefore, in the present embodiment, it is possible to promptly initialize the information recording medium, and even if the normal initialization of the information recording medium is not executed, the above-described recording is performed thereafter. In this way, normal initialization can be performed without inconvenience in handling the medium.

The initialization processing of the memory card 10 in the camera of this embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart of the subroutine of FIG.

ERASE switch 36 and UP switch 3
3 to set the camera to the initialization mode, and when the trigger switch 45 is pressed, the memory card 10
Is started.

First, the boot sector of the first management information area is read (step S1), and the management information discriminating means reads the boot sector.
It is checked whether the boot sector information is suitable for the device (step S2). If the boot sector information is incorrect, the management area below the boot sector, that is, the first management area of the boot sector and the FA
T and a format process for initializing all data in the second management area of the directory entry and the data area which is the main information storage area is executed (step S).
7).

If the boot sector information is suitable for the device, the boot sector is temporarily changed by the management information initializing means so that the boot sector information is not appropriate (step S3), and the directory is changed. The entry is erased and the FAT is initialized (step S
4, S5). Thereafter, the boot sector is restored by the management information restoring unit, the boot sector is set to a suitable boot sector (step S6), and the initialization is completed.

As described above, in the case of the conventional initialization processing of the memory card shown in FIG. 10, if the card is pulled out during the erasing, the boot sector is normal, but the space between the directory entry and the FAT is incorrect. It will be in a matching state. When such a card is inserted into a camera, it is used in a state where a recordable data area is extremely narrowed, or recording is impossible.

However, in the camera of the present embodiment, by performing the above initialization processing, if the memory card 10 pulled out during the processing is not data whose boot sector is suitable for the corresponding device, The camera cannot be used even if it is inserted into the camera, and no trouble occurs in recording or the like. When the card is re-initialized, the boot sector is not proper, so that the format in step S7 in FIG. 4 is always performed.

In the camera of the present embodiment, it is also possible to forcibly execute the format of step S7 in addition to the initialization by the automatic determination. In this process, the forced initialization mode is set by pressing the ERASE switch 36 and the DOWN switch 34, and when the trigger switch 45 is pressed, the forcible management area and data area of the memory card 10 are forcibly set. Both formatting processes are started.

In the initialization process of the memory card 10, if it is found that the data recorded during the initialization process needs to be stored, conventionally, even if the initialization operation is interrupted, The data could not be reproduced. Even in such a case, if the directory entry and the FAT corresponding to the corresponding data have not been erased yet, a modified example that can be reproduced can be proposed.

In the initialization processing in this modification, FIG.
In the boot sector shown in (1), a check flag is written in an area not directly related to data processing, for example, an area of a manufacturer name and a version number. In that case, the other boot sector is not changed. Then, if the initialization is interrupted for the reasons described above, by removing the memory card and inserting it into a personal computer,
Data can be reproduced. That is, the flag is checked on the personal computer, the reproduction mode of the data being erased is set, and if the data is in the range of data that has not been erased, it can be restored.

As described above, in the present embodiment, when the information recording medium is initialized to the state where the main information is not recorded or is equivalent to the state where the main information is not recorded, the management information in the first management information area is determined. When the management information in the first management information area is compatible with the corresponding information handling device, the management information that does not fit in the first management information area is temporarily recorded, and the second management information area is initialized. After that, the original management information adapted to the first management information area is written. If the normal initialization processing of the information recording medium is not executed, the information recording medium becomes unusable, causing inconvenience. At the same time, normal initialization of the recording medium can be performed.

Next, a data erasing process in the camera of this embodiment will be described.

As data files recorded in a data area in a conventional image recording / reproducing apparatus such as a camera, three types of files as shown in the formats of FIGS. The data file of the format shown in FIG. 11 indicates an image data file of one frame,
It is composed of header information such as recording date and time, fields / frames, and image data which is compressed image data. FIG.
Indicates the format of an audio data file of one frame which is a file generated by a camera capable of audio recording, and is composed of header information and audio data which is compressed audio data. FIG. 13 shows the format of a relation data file indicating the relationship between combinations of image files and audio files corresponding to one directory entry, in which header information in which standard information is recorded and related information between the files are recorded. And relation information.

In the data erasing process according to the present embodiment, it is possible to erase one frame of the image file and one frame of the audio file. It is possible to collectively delete audio files corresponding to image files.

Of course, all frames of the image file can be erased,
It is also possible to delete all frames of the audio file.

In the camera of this embodiment, the key operation for erasing one frame at the time of reproduction is as follows.
The release switch 45 is operated while pressing the ERASE switch 36, which is also used as the W switch, to execute erasing.

On the other hand, there is a so-called rec review playback function for playing back the immediately preceding recorded image data after recording. This playback function is an ERAS that is also used as a view (VIEW) switch while the changeover switch 46 remains at the CAMERA side.
While the E switch 36 is pressed, the rec review playback function operates. Therefore, when erasing the image data of the rec review playback, the release switch 4
5 may be pressed.

As described above, in the camera of this embodiment, since the VIEW switch and the ERASE switch are used as described above, the one-frame erasing operation during the normal reproduction and the rec review reproduction data are not performed. The erasing operation can be performed by the same operation, and the user does not feel uncomfortable.

In the camera of this embodiment, as described above, files such as audio data, relation data, data for a personal computer, etc. are recorded in addition to the image data file as data to be recorded in the data area. At the time of normal reproduction, the data is reproduced as a black mute screen including the data of the files other than the image data file and the unrecorded data portion. Therefore, in this embodiment, in order to notify that data other than the image data file is being reproduced, the on-screen display and the frame No. corresponding to the LCD display unit 17 are performed. Flashes.

Further, audio data, relation data,
It is also possible to make the blinking speed different depending on the difference in data of the unrecorded portion and the like. Alternatively, the color of the mute screen can be made different depending on the difference in the data. For example, the user can identify at a glance by setting the unrecorded portion to black mute, the audio file to blue mute, and the personal computer file to red mute.

At the time of reproduction, it is also possible to skip other than image files such as unrecorded files and audio files and reproduce them. According to such reproduction, the user does not need to look at a mute screen of meaningless unrecorded frames, and can efficiently search.

That is, there are continuous reproduction for searching image data at a high speed and interval reproduction for transmitting a reproduced image at regular time intervals as reproduction processing at a predetermined interval. It is a function used at the time of demonstration and it is not necessary to reproduce other than image data. Therefore, when these functions are in operation, skipping the audio file, the unrecorded file, and the like and reproducing only the image file can greatly improve the usability.

Next, the interval photographing by the camera of this embodiment will be described.

The interval photographing by the conventional electronic still camera system is a known photographing method. In the interval photographing, the power is kept on during the photographing period. In systems where the power source is a battery,
Because of the large power consumption, it was difficult to perform interval shooting for a long time.

Since it is not always necessary to keep the ON state at all times during the interval photographing, in the camera of this embodiment, during the photographing waiting time, the power consumption is suppressed by setting the standby state close to the power off state. I made it.
Then, the power is turned on several tens of seconds before each shooting to prepare for shooting. Processing such as strobe charge and auto WB is performed during this photographing preparation time. In addition, zooming is prohibited during interval shooting to prevent a shift in focusing due to a change in the angle of view.

In many cases, the interval time is conventionally fixed. In this embodiment, a certain interval time is held as a preset value.
The value can be finely changed and rewritten by the UP / DOWN switches 33 and 34 and the like. The set value is stored in the setting memory 21 via the system controller 19. Then, when performing the same interval shooting, the value stored in the setting memory 21 can be read out without any troublesome operation, and the interval time can be easily set. This set value data is retained even in the power-off state.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart of a subroutine of the interval photographing.

In this photographing process, a photographing start instruction is confirmed in step S31, and photographing of the first frame is executed in step S32. Immediately thereafter, the camera shifts to the standby state, and at the same time, disables the zoom drive (step S33). In step S34, the process waits for the elapse of a predetermined time that is several tens of seconds shorter than the interval set time, and after the elapse of the time, the power is turned on in step S35.
Then, in step S36, the strobe charge and the auto W
The process B is performed, and the process proceeds to step S37 to wait for the elapse of the interval time, and starts photographing in step S38. In step S39, it is checked whether a predetermined number of frames have been shot or the shooting time has elapsed, and the process returns to step S33 until the shooting ends.

The processing of the interval photographing can be similarly applied to the interval reproduction. That is, the changeover switch 46 is switched to the reproduction mode. DRI
The VE switch 41 designates interval reproduction.
Further, the user operates the zoom switches 31 and 32 to set the interval time in seconds. The set time is stored in the setting memory 21, and the set value is held even when the power is turned off. Then, it is referred to when executing the interval reproduction again.

In the above-mentioned interval reproduction, the interval time itself, which is usually several seconds, is variable. However, in order to temporarily execute high-speed search frame advance,
If the configuration is such that the interval time can be shortened with one touch without changing the set interval time, a more convenient camera can be obtained. The one-touch operation is performed by, for example, UP / DOWN
When the switches 33 and 34 are pressed by operating the switches 33 and 34, temporary high-speed processing of the frame feed speed can be performed.

Next, WB (white balance) adjustment in the camera of this embodiment will be described.

Generally, it is necessary to perform WB adjustment in a video camera, but in a conventional camera, adjustment of auto WB, one-touch WB, and preset WB was possible.

The automatic WB adjustment is an adjustment for automatically setting the position of the WB correction center on the color vector plane shown in FIG. 14 so that an appropriate WB is obtained based on the input image signal. The drawback of this adjustment is that, when the color in the entire screen is shifted toward a certain color, the color is corrected so as to be white, so that it is not always recorded with a good color tone.

In the one-touch WB adjustment, an image signal of a pure white subject is fetched and the signal is adjusted so as to be recognized as white. In this adjustment, it is necessary to carry a pure white subject, which is inconvenient.

In the preset WB adjustment, a plurality of typical color temperature values are stored in the system as the WB correction center value data, and the color temperature values are adjusted according to the state of the subject such as fine or cloudy. Select For example, on the I axis indicating the locus of the black body on the color vector plane in FIG. 14, any one of the point P0 when it is sunny, the point P1 when it is cloudy, and the point P2 when it is sunset is WB corrected. Set to the center and adjust WB. However, this adjustment does not always allow for the fine WB adjustment desired by the user.

Conventionally, in order to solve the above problem, R (red) -Y (luminance) on the color vector plane shown in FIG.
A method has been adopted in which fine adjustment of the WB is manually performed by setting variables of two axes of the axis and the B (blue) -Y axis to determine the WB correction center. However, such a method was difficult to adjust because two values had to be set.

Therefore, in the camera of the present embodiment, the WB correction point can be set on one axis as the WB fine adjustment processing, thereby enabling easier manual WB fine adjustment processing. .

That is, this manual WB fine adjustment method is based on the I-axis, which is one inclined axis of the color vector plane of FIG. 14, and the components of (RY) and (BY) The value is set as the WB correction center. Note that the I axis is a line indicating a black body locus along a change in the color temperature of the black body. If the WB correction center is moved along the I axis, appropriate WB adjustment is performed. it can.

In the present embodiment, when performing the WB fine adjustment, the tilt data of the I axis is stored in the memory, and the correction adjustment point is first set to the point P in FIG.
Either 0, the point P1 when cloudy, or the point P2 when sunset is selected. Further, at each point, the UP / DOWN switches 33 and 34 are operated to move the WB correction center along the inclination of the I axis, and
Fine adjustment of B is performed.

As described above, the WB in the camera of this embodiment is
Fine adjustment can be performed by a simple operation, and by performing this adjustment, it is possible to perform shooting with a subtle hue desired by the user.

[0082]

As is apparent from the above description, the present invention refers to the image information recorded on the recording medium for recording the image information and the image information at the time of the previous image capturing, and the image information at that time is referred to. , And photographic condition setting means for setting photographic conditions in the image recording / reproducing apparatus based on the selected photographic information. And the photographing conditions of the image recording / reproducing apparatus can be set using the photographing information.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an electronic still camera according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view showing an appearance of the camera of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a view taken in the direction of arrow A in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of a “memory card initialization” process in the camera of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of “photographing processing based on stored data” in the camera of FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is a flowchart of a subroutine “set photographing data” processing called in the “photographing processing based on stored data” of FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a flowchart of an “interval shooting” process in the camera of FIG. 1;

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a configuration of a memory area of a memory card applied to a conventional information handling device.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a format of a boot sector of the memory card of FIG. 8;

FIG. 10 is a flowchart of a “memory card initialization” process in a conventional information handling apparatus.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a configuration of image data in a data area of a memory card applied to a conventional information handling apparatus.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing a configuration of audio data in a data area of a memory card applied to a conventional information handling apparatus.

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a configuration of relation data in a data area of a memory card applied to a conventional information handling apparatus.

FIG. 14 is a diagram showing an I-axis characteristic on a color vector plane applied to a conventional video camera WB adjustment process.

[Explanation of symbols]

19 System controller (management information discriminating means, management information initializing means, management information restoring means) 101 Boot sector (first management information area) 102 FAT area (second management information area) 103 directory area (second management information area) Management information area) 104 Data area (main information area) Step S2 Management information discriminating means Step S3, 4, 5 Management information initialization means Step S6 Management information restoring means

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] When an object to be imaged is photographed by an image recording / reproducing apparatus, the photographing information at the time of previous photographing and the image information recorded on a recording medium for recording the image information are referred to so that the photographing information at that time can be obtained. An information handling apparatus comprising: photographing information selecting means for selecting; and photographing condition setting means for setting photographing conditions in the image recording / reproducing apparatus based on the selected photographing information.