JP3420992B2 - Electronic camera - Google Patents

Description

Description: BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image recording / reproducing apparatus, and more particularly to an electronic camera with improved operability. 2. Description of the Related Art Digital still cameras (DS) for recording image data, audio data and control data as files on recording media such as memory cards, magnetic media (hard disks and floppy (registered trademark) disks) and magneto-optical media.
C): Electronic cameras have been put to practical use. In such a digital still camera, when data is recorded in a file format on a recording medium, it is desirable that memory management be performed in a standard DOS format by a personal computer or the like in terms of data compatibility. D on camera
The memory is managed by the OS format. The same applies to other image recording / reproducing devices. Further, recording control information for controlling the operation on a recording medium as a control file is being studied. [0003] However, in the conventional electronic camera, the reproduction operation cannot be arbitrarily set by a program. An object of the present invention is to provide an electronic camera capable of arbitrarily setting a reproducing operation by a program and performing a desired reproducing operation. [0005] In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, an electronic camera according to the present invention comprises a photographing lens, an image pickup means for photoelectrically converting a subject image via the photographing lens, and Display means for displaying an image based on the image data obtained by the imaging lens; and image data obtained by the imaging lens as an image file or control data defining a program reproducing operation in the display means. Recording means for recording on a recording medium, setting means for setting a program of the control file, reading the control file from the recording medium, and performing a reproducing operation in the display means based on the control control file. Control means for controlling;
Prepare. According to the present invention, a program for a reproducing operation is set and recorded on a recording medium as a control file, so that the program can be reproduced easily. Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an image recording / reproducing method related to the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a digital still camera (electronic camera) which is an example of a playback device. The camera housing 100 includes a lens 1
01, a trigger switch 102 for giving a shooting instruction, a display panel 103 composed of an LCD or the like, an operation switch 104 for giving an operation, an insertion slot 105 into which a memory card 106 is inserted and mounted, and a video for outputting a shot video signal A signal output terminal 107 and an external interface (I / F) 108 for exchanging data with an external device are provided. As shown in a plan view of FIG. 2, the operation switch 104 has a power switch 104A for controlling ON / OFF of a camera power supply, a recording / reproduction switch 104B for switching a recording / reproduction mode, and selecting a reproduction frame. UP
A switch 104C, a DOWN switch 104D, and a control switch 104E for operating a control file are provided. As shown in FIG. 3, for example, the display panel 103 has a “CONTROL” 103 representing a control file.
A, "PROG PLAY" 10 representing program reproduction
It has a numeric display section 103C of 3B and 7-segment 2-digit display. Lighting of “PROG PLAY” indicates reproduction, and light-off of “PROG PLAY” indicates recording. FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a digital still camera. The subject is input via a lens 1 to an imaging circuit 2 having an imaging device such as a CCD as a photoelectric conversion unit and having a circuit for performing a predetermined imaging process on the converted electric signal. The video signal from the imaging circuit 2 is A / D
The data is converted into digital data by the converter 3 and written into the frame memory 4. The video data read from the frame memory 4 is converted into an analog signal by a D / A converter 5, encoded by a video encoder 6, and then supplied to an external terminal 7 and a viewfinder 8.
At the time of data recording, video data read from the frame memory 4 is subjected to compression processing by a compression / decompression circuit 9 according to a compression method conforming to the JPEG method or the like, and is transferred to a memory card 17 via a card interface (I / F) 16. Will be recorded. During playback, the video data read from the memory card 17 via the card interface 16 is compressed /
The data is expanded by the expansion circuit 9 and written into the frame memory 4. The video data read from the frame memory 4 is
The data is output to the external terminal 7 and the view finder 8 through the processing of the D / A converter 5 and the video encoder 6. The system control circuit 10 controls the entire operation of the camera. For example, display of the display unit 12 (corresponding to 103 in FIG. 1) is controlled via the display / switch control circuit 11, and camera operation is performed based on operation information from the operation switch 13 (corresponding to 104 in FIG. 1). Control.
The system control circuit 10 also superimposes character information on the video signal via the character generator
It controls communication with the outside via the S interface (I / F) 15. The power supply 18 supplies power to a card interface 16 which will be described later, and starts a power supply operation when the interrupt terminal INT of the system control circuit 10 receives a mounting detection signal of the memory card 17 from the card interface 16. It is controlled to make it happen. When audio data is recorded on the memory card 17, the audio data read via the card interface 16 is subjected to audio processing by an audio circuit 19,
Output from the speaker 20. Recording of audio data on the memory card 17 is performed via the microphone 21, the audio circuit 19, and the card interface 16. FIG. 5 shows an example of data arrangement in a memory card. Parameter data of management information is recorded in the boot sector, which is the head area, a table indicating the memory usage is recorded in the FAT, and subsequently, image files, control files, audio files (not shown), and the like are recorded. Data recording areas are arranged. The image file and the audio file are composed of a header and an image data area. This image data is data in a format conforming to JPEG. Now, an example of using a control file of a file recorded on a recording medium will be described. Files are distinguished by the file name extension. In the DOS system, a file name is composed of an eight-character main file name and a three-character extension, and the extensions “J6I” represent an image file, “J6S” represents an audio file, and “J6C” represents a control file. Represent. The control file is described in ASCII code, and has the following keywords (TABLE, PROGRAM,
MODEM, CONDITION, PROCESS, etc.)
Defines the control information. ## Table management of frame number (NO.) ## PROGRAM program playback ## MODEM modem control ## CONDITION imaging condition setting ## PROCESS calculation processing In the frame number management state based on the entry position,
The control file is displayed when the directory in which the control file is registered is specified at the time of frame advance. FIG.
Shows an example of files sequentially registered in the directory entry. In this example, the frame number indicates position information, and an image file and a control file are registered for each position. FIG. 7 shows an example of the control file in FIG.
File CTL000 registered as frame number 3 of
03. An example of information specified by J6C is shown.
FIG. 7 shows a program reproduction instruction,
1. J6I image file to be reproduced (projected) for 10 seconds, DSC00004. After an instruction to reproduce the J6I image file for 15 seconds, it is defined that the program is terminated by #END. For setting the program, a personal computer can be used, or a control file can be projected on a monitor and set. Referring to the monitor display example of FIG. 8, FIG. 8A shows the reproduction state of the image file of the second frame.
When the frame number is incremented by operating the UP switch, the frame number “03” is displayed and “PROG PLAY” blinks as shown in FIG. At this time, a mute screen is displayed on the monitor.
Here, when the trigger switch is operated, a program reproducing operation is started. When the control file shown in FIG. 7 is executed, “PROG PLAY” is lit and displayed as shown in FIG. The file is played for 10 seconds. Subsequently, as shown in (D), the image file of the fourth frame is played for 15 seconds, the program playback ends at #END, and the display state returns to the display state of (E) similar to that of (B). . UP switch and DOWN for frame number designation
The processing procedure for the switch will be described with reference to FIG. In the UP switch process, first, it is determined whether or not the playback mode is set (step S1). If the mode is not the playback mode, the process ends. If the mode is the playback mode, the frame number is incremented by 1 (incremented) (step S2). ), The frame number is displayed (step S3), and the directory specified by the frame number is read (step S4). Next, it is determined whether or not recording has been performed (step S5). If not recorded, mute reproduction processing is executed (step S6). If recorded, extension is checked (step S7). It is determined whether or not (step S8). Here, if it is a video file, a video playback process is executed (step S
9) If it is not a video file, it is determined whether or not it is a control file (step S10). If not a control file,
The mute reproduction process is executed (step S11). If the file is a control file, the mute reproduction process is executed (step S12), and then the segment of “PROG PLAY” is blinked on the monitor (step S13), and the processing procedure is performed. To end. In the DOWN switch processing, it is similarly determined whether or not the reproduction mode is set (step S14). If the reproduction mode is not set, the processing ends. If the reproduction mode is set, the frame number is decremented by 1 (decremented). )
(Step S15), the process proceeds to step S3. A processing procedure for responding to a trigger switch operation when executing program reproduction will be described with reference to FIG. First, it is determined whether or not the reproduction mode is set (step S2).
1) If not in the playback mode, a recording mode trigger process is executed (step S22).
It is determined whether or not "OG PLAY" is blinking (step S23). If not, the date data is displayed on the EVF and the monitor (step S24). If it is blinking, "PROG PLAY" is displayed. The segment is lit (Step S25), the control file name is read (Step S26), and the reproduction time (for example, 10 seconds or 15 seconds in FIG. 7) is read (Step S2).
7), it is determined whether or not there is a file in the directory (step S28). If there is no file, the process proceeds to step S34. If there is, a frame number is displayed (step S29), and the reproduction process is executed (step S30). It waits for the designated reproduction time to elapse (step S31). When the reproduction time has elapsed, the next control file name is read (step S32), and it is determined whether or not the processing is terminated by #END (step S33).
Returning to the processing of step S27, if the processing has been completed, mute reproduction processing is executed (step S34), and "PROGPL
AY "is blinked (step S35), and the processing procedure is terminated. In the above example, the frame number uses the position information of the entry in the directory, but the frame number may be managed by the control file. The file name in the directory is checked, and if there is no file with the extension J6C (control file), the position information of the entry is used as the frame number. If there is
The flag in the file is checked, and when the frame number management by the control file is designated, the frame number management by the control file is performed. The contents of the control file for frame number management include, for example, the control file CTL1. An example of J6C is shown in FIG. 11, where the management of the frame number is designated by ## TABLE, and as shown in FIG. 12, the control file is first recorded in the directory as shown in FIG. Referring to FIG. 13, the switching process of the frame number management will be described. After the card mounting process is performed, it is determined whether the format of the memory card is OK or not (step S41). If the format cannot be handled, a warning is issued. If OK, the control file ("J6C") is searched (step S42), and then the presence or absence of the control file is determined (step S43). If there is a control file, the presence / absence of a flag for managing a frame number in the control file is checked by searching for a character string of "## TABLE" (steps S44 and S45). (Step S46) If not, a frame number is generated from the directory entry position (Step S47), and this processing procedure ends. If it is determined in step S43 that there is no control file, the process proceeds to step S47. Next, an example of sequentially displaying the control file and the contents of the control file will be described. FIG. 14 shows the registration status of the files in the directory of the memory card, and the files are selected and displayed by the control switch. FIG. 15 shows the control file: CTL1. The contents of J6C are displayed. FIG.
Is MODE as a keyword represented by ## MODEM
The control file of the M control is shown, and comment information is described next to the keyword. TEL NO indicates the telephone number of the transmission destination, and the file name of the frame to be transmitted is F
This block is designated as iLE, and the processing of this block ends at #END. Subsequently, the next destination telephone number and transmission file name are designated in the same manner. FIG. 16 shows the keyword “PRO” in FIG.
CESS "control file CTL2.J6C is displayed. This control file defines contour enhancement, blurring processing, visual screen processing, and the like.
-1, FiLTER-2 processing and the like are defined. As this processing, the processing program itself can be described. FIG. 17 shows a control file CTL3.COM of the keyword "CONDITION" which specifies the operation conditions of the camera shown in FIG. The contents of J6C are displayed. In this example, the strobe (STROBO) and the white balance (W
Although the use state of B) is defined, it can be arbitrarily set as a program diagram of the aperture, shutter speed, etc.
Optimal conditions can be set according to shooting conditions and conditions, such as sports and portraits. FIG. 18 shows an example of searching and displaying a file of a desired block by the control switch. In this state, "CONTROL" blinks on the screen, the frame number is displayed in the upper right part, and the keyword and the comment are displayed in the center part. 14A shows the control file of the frame number 2 in FIG. 14 (shown in FIG. 15), and the control file of the frame number 2 is displayed by operating the control switch as shown in FIG. Will be displayed. By further operation of the control switch, as shown in FIG.
The contents of the file of the frame (FIG. 16) are displayed. When the control switch is operated to select the frame number 5, the contents of the file shown in FIG. 17 are displayed as (E) and (F). By doing so, it is possible to quickly search and display only the control file from the many blocks existing in the directory using the control switch. The above processing procedure will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. 19. When the control switch processing is performed, it is determined whether or not the control file is currently being displayed (step S51). Search for files with the extension J6C from the top of the directory (step S
52), the presence or absence of the J6C extension is determined (step S5).
3) If there are keywords and comments in the control file, enter E
VF is displayed on the monitor (step S55), and the control segment is blinked (step S5).
6), end this processing procedure. If it is determined in step S53 that there is no error, an error display is displayed, for example, as shown in FIG.
(Step S54). In step S51, if the control file is being displayed, the next keyword in the file is searched (step S57), and the presence or absence of the keyword is determined (step S58).
If it is determined that the file does not exist, a file with the extension J6C is searched from the directory entry (step S59). Next, the presence / absence of the file is determined (step S60).
When it is determined that the processing is not performed, the end display is displayed in FIG.
Perform as shown in Next, as an embodiment of the present invention, an image recording / reproducing apparatus capable of reproducing an image file and an audio file recorded on a memory card in combination will be described. For example, for a recorded file as shown in FIG. 22, the main file name or a part of the main file name is the same and the extension is different at the time of reproduction (as is well known, J6
I indicates an image file, and J6S indicates an audio file). By doing so, the file can be handled as a single file, so that the handling is simplified, and special information indicating the association is not required, and the memory management is facilitated. The processing procedure of this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. 23. First, a file designated by a frame number is searched (step S71), and it is determined whether or not the file is a video file (step S72). If not, the mute reproduction process is executed (step S77), and if it is a video file, the video file is reproduced (step S73). next,
Extension J with the same main file name (part of the main file name)
The 6S file is searched (step S74), the presence or absence of the extension is determined (step S75), and if it is determined that the file is present, the audio file is reproduced (step S76), and the processing procedure is terminated. The process ends as it is. In the above processing, if the user wants to repeatedly play back the audio file, the trigger switch may be operated again. If the apparatus cannot play back the audio file (data), the effect that the audio file is present can be obtained. A display may be made to notify the operator. The control file is described and created in ASCII code, but it can also be created by a direct operation. To create a control file for program playback with the camera, press the control button to enter the creation mode, select the playback frame with the UP / DOWN switch,
Press the trigger switch and press the trigger switch at the specified playback time. After the necessary files are created by repeating the processing after the selection of the playback frame, the control button is pressed to end the file creation. Note that the time scale can be accelerated while the designated reproduction time is being set by pressing the trigger switch, or the designated reproduction time can be set using the UP / DOWN switch by digital display. Next, a description will be given of an example in which a recording medium such as an IC memory card is mounted on or detached from an image recording / reproducing apparatus such as a camera, and a stable operation when the recording medium is removed is described. Here, "mounting" refers to a state in which electrical contact of the power supply conductor segment is obtained, and "separation" refers to a state in which electrical contact of the power supply conductor segment is released. In the recording / reproducing apparatus as described above, the access operation is assured only after a reliable electrical connection of the memory card to the apparatus is made. For example, if the card is removed during access (during electrical connection), erroneous writing to the card occurs, and if the access is performed in an unstable state where the card is not sufficiently mounted, a malfunction may occur. . Therefore, conventionally, a predetermined pin length of the card pins is set shorter than other pins, and access is permitted when a connection completion detection signal of both pins is received. Sometimes the detection is uncertain. In addition, such a configuration complicates the card mounting section, causes an increase in cost, and has a problem in operability. Therefore, in the present embodiment, the operation time of the means for recognizing the insertion / removal of a card is changed to prevent data destruction of a medium and to ensure stable insertion. That is, when the card is removed, the power supply from the power supply 18 to the card interface 16 is turned off at high speed by the interrupt processing to the system control circuit 10 in FIG.
Prohibit erroneous writing to the card. When the card is inserted, it is confirmed that the card is stably inserted for a certain period of time (0.5 seconds in this example). Since the camera has confirmed the mounting stability of the memory card for a certain period of time or more, the operator will continue the mounting operation for a certain period of time, so that a sufficiently stable mounting of the memory card is guaranteed. Referring to FIG. 24, the card mounting interrupt processing of the above embodiment will be described.
When D is received from the card interface 16, the timer is initialized (step S81). Thereafter, it is determined whether or not the card is still mounted (step S82). If it is in the mounted state, it is determined whether 0.5 second has elapsed (step S83). If 0.5 seconds have not elapsed, the process returns to step S82. In step S83, 0.5
If it is determined that the second has elapsed, the card presence flag is set (step S84), the power supply to the card interface 16 is turned on (step S85), and the card mounting process is executed (step S86). This processing procedure ends. Next, the card removal interruption processing will be described with reference to FIG. When the card mounting signal CD disappears from the card interface 16 and is removed,
Immediately, the power supply to the card interface 16 is turned off (step S91), the card presence flag is cleared (step S92), and a card removal process is executed (step S93). As described above, according to the present invention,
The reproduction operation by the program can be set arbitrarily, and a desired reproduction operation can be performed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an example of application to a digital still camera (electronic camera) as an example of an image recording / reproducing apparatus related to the present invention. FIG. 2 is a plan view showing a configuration of an operation switch 104 of FIG. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a display example of a display panel 103 in FIG. 1; FIG. 4 is a configuration block diagram of a digital still camera. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of data arrangement in a memory card. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of files sequentially registered in a directory entry. FIG. 7 shows a file CTL00003. It is a figure showing an example of information prescribed by J6C. FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a monitor display example in the above-described example. FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating a processing procedure regarding an UP switch and a DOWN switch for specifying a frame number. FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure in response to a trigger switch operation when executing program reproduction. FIG. 11 shows the contents of a control file for frame number management, for example, a control file CTL1. It is a figure showing an example about J6C. FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating an example of recording in a directory in which frame number management is designated by ## TABLE in the example of FIG. 11; FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing a procedure for switching frame number management in this example. FIG. 14 is a diagram showing a registration status of a file in a directory of a memory card. FIG. 15 shows a control file: CTL1. It is a figure which shows the content of J6C. FIG. 16 shows a control file CTL2. It is a figure which shows the content of J6C. FIG. 17 shows a control file CTL3.3 of a keyword “CONDITION” that specifies the operation conditions of the camera in FIG.
It is a figure which shows the content of J6C. FIG. 18 is a diagram showing an example of searching and displaying a file of a desired block by a control switch. FIG. 19 is a flowchart illustrating a processing procedure of the example illustrated in FIG. 18; FIG. 20 is a diagram showing an example of an error display in FIG. 19; FIG. 21 is a diagram showing an example of an end display in FIG. 19; FIG. 22 illustrates an example in which an image recording / reproducing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention selects (searches for) a file having the same main file name or a part of the main file name but a different extension, and reads out and reproduces the selected file. FIG. 23 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure of the embodiment shown in FIG. FIG. 24 is a diagram showing an example of preventing data destruction of a card when the card is mounted in another example related to the present invention and guaranteeing stable mounting. FIG. 25 is a diagram showing an example of preventing data destruction of a card at the time of removal of the card and assuring stable mounting in still another example related to the present invention. [Description of Signs] 1 lens 2 imaging circuit 3 A / D converter 4 frame memory 5 D / A converter 6 video encoder 7 external terminal 8 viewfinder 9 compression / decompression circuit 10 system control circuit 11 display / switch control circuit 12 display circuit 13 operation switch 14 character generator 15 RS interface 16 card interface 17, 106 memory card 18 power supply 19 audio circuit 20 speaker 21 microphone 100 camera housing 101 lens 102 trigger switch 103 display panel 104 operation switch 105 slot 107 video signal output terminal 108 external interface

Claims (1)

(57) [Claim 1] An imaging lens, an imaging means for photoelectrically converting a subject image via the imaging lens, and an image based on image data obtained by the imaging lens is displayed. Display means for recording, and image data obtained by the imaging lens as an image file, or recording means for recording control data defining a program reproducing operation in the display means as a control file on a recording medium, Setting means for setting a program of a control file; and control means for reading the control file from the recording medium and controlling a reproduction operation in the display means based on the control control file. And electronic camera.