JPH1118043A - Electronic still camera - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Problem] To improve efficiency by eliminating loss of image reproduction in an electronic still camera. An image position information table is created in advance before starting reproduction when sequentially reproducing a series of designated images, comprising: means for photographing a subject and recording image data; and means for displaying images. Then, the image is reproduced based on the image position information table.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an electronic still camera capable of recording image data of a photographed subject image on a recording medium and reproducing the image data.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a conventional electronic still camera, when a plurality of image data specified in advance is reproduced, position information of the image is searched for at the time of reproducing the corresponding image, the image data is reproduced and displayed. .

It is also possible to add comment information corresponding to an image in order to characterize the image, and manage it as one comment information file.
When a predetermined image is reproduced, the comment information file is read at the same time, the comment information of the corresponding image is searched, and the image is displayed together with the image.

[0004]

However, in recent years, the storage medium of the electronic still camera device has been increasing in capacity, and in particular, an MD (mini-disc, hereinafter referred to as MD) has been used as the storage medium.

[0005] The MD has the merit that the unit price of the medium is low and the capacity is high as compared with the conventional recording medium such as a flash card, but has the disadvantage that the access speed is slow.

For this reason, when a plurality of predetermined images recorded on the MD are reproduced at regular time intervals, each time one image is reproduced, if the MD is accessed to obtain image position information, a predetermined time period is required. A problem that one image cannot be reproduced within the camera.

When displaying comment information corresponding to an image in accordance with a predetermined image, a comment information file in which the comment information is recorded every time one image is reproduced is stored in an M file.
When accessing and reading D, the same problem as described above occurs. At this time, the comment information file can be stored in a temporary storage device such as a DRAM (dynamic random access memory, hereinafter referred to as DRAM) or an SRAM (static random access memory, hereinafter referred to as SRAM). However, the comment information of the image which is not stored is also stored, and the temporary storage device cannot be used efficiently especially when the number of recorded images is large.

An object of the present invention is to provide an electronic still camera capable of reproducing a plurality of predetermined images together with comment information thereof at regular intervals without interruption.

[0009]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an electronic still camera comprising: means for photographing a subject and recording image data; and means for displaying the image, and sequentially reproducing a series of designated images. The electronic still camera is characterized in that an image position information table is created before starting the reproduction, and an image is reproduced based on the image position information table.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided the electronic still camera according to the first aspect, wherein the image position information table includes image size information.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided the electronic still camera according to the first aspect, wherein the image position information table includes link record information of an image.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided the electronic still camera according to the first aspect, wherein the image position information table includes comment information indicating characteristics of an image.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided the electronic still camera according to the first aspect, wherein the image position information tables are arranged in the order of reproduction.

[0014]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Hereinafter, one embodiment of the present invention will be described.
This will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a digital electronic still camera according to an embodiment of the present invention. A subject image is formed on a CCD 2 serving as an image pickup means by an image pickup lens 1, and is picked up by the CCD 2. The image data is output by photoelectric conversion based on the image.

The output image data is gain-controlled by the process processing circuit 3 and converted into digital image data by the A / D converter 4. The digital image data is subjected to gamma correction and aperture correction by a digital signal processing circuit 5 and then sent to an image data encoding means and an image data compression / decompression circuit 6 which is an image encoding means, encoded and buffered in a DRAM or the like. Stored in the memory 7.

The encoded image data is an MD I / F
(Interface) 8 through a known data writing / reading means (not shown)
D9 is sequentially recorded. Here, for the recorded image, the position information, size information and link information are recorded in the FAT together with the file name indicating the image number.

The above components are controlled by the CPU 11. An example of this FAT registration will be described later.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 15 denotes a lens driver for controlling the aperture of the imaging lens 1 and the amount of extension thereof, 10 denotes the CCD 2, and the processing unit 3
, A signal generator for sending a timing signal to the camera, 12 a strobe as object illuminating means, 13 a display for setting various modes and displaying reproduced images, and 14 an operation unit for making various inputs and settings. .

When reproducing the data recorded on the MD9, an image file corresponding to the image number designated by the user is searched in the FAT information, and the position information,
The image data is read from the MD 9 based on the size information, the link information, and the name information, and is transferred to the buffer memory 7 through the MD I / F 8.

The image data is expanded (decoded) by the image data compression / expansion circuit 6 and displayed on the display unit 13 through the digital signal processing circuit 5.

Here, a case where a comment is added to an image will be described. When adding a comment to an image, the comment is inserted into the image specified by the operation unit 14. The inserted comment is stored in the MD 9 in a prescribed format in a comment information file described later.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing the recorded contents of the FAT recorded on the MD 9. One file is composed of 19 bytes of information, and the name information (12
Byte), address position information 1 (2 bytes), size information 1 (1 byte), address position information 2 (2 bytes),
Size information 2 (1 byte) and link information (1 byte) are stored.

In the example of FIG. 2, the file name IMG0001
0. In this state, a file called IMG is stored from address 0050h in size 2 allocation block size (1 allocation block size = 64 Kbytes) without link.

Further, the file name IMG00020. I
MG file is address 0100h and address 0
This is a state in which data is divided and stored with a link with a size 1 allocation block size from 150h.

Here, the image file name IMGXXXX
X. It is assumed that XXXXXX of the IMG indicates an image number in a decimal number. For example, the above IMG00010. If the file name is IMG, its image number is 10. Further, in the following description, the description is continued assuming that the image size is fixed at 128 Kbytes, that is, 2 allocation sizes.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing the recorded contents of the comment information file.

In the comment information file, a commented image number (2 bytes) and comment contents (8 bytes) are recorded.

In the example of FIG. 3, a comment “FLOWER” is added to the image data of the image number Ah.
No comment is added to the 14h-th image data.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing the recorded contents of the image position information table.

The image position information table includes an image number (2 bytes), an image link presence / absence flag (1 byte), image position address information 1 (2 bytes), image allocation size information 1 (1 byte), and image position address information. 2 (2
Byte), image allocation size information 2 (1 byte), and image comment information (8 bytes).
That is, an image is registered in the order of reproduction using a 17-byte area for one image for registration.

In the example of FIG. 4, the first registration is image number 1
This is the registration of the image No. 0, which is recorded from the address 0050h without being divided by the image allocation size 2, and "FLOWER" is added as a comment.

The second registration is the registration of the image with the image number 20. The image is divided from the address 0100h and the address 0150h by the image allocation size 1, and is recorded without any comment.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure for sequentially reproducing a plurality of designated images.

At S1, the user determines an image number to be a reproduction candidate, and substitutes the candidate with the array variable KOUHO.
Stored in [i].

In S2, a target image file is searched from the FAT based on the image number stored in KOUHO [i], and the image number of the image file, the link presence / absence flag of the image, and image position address information Then, the image allocation size information is registered in the image position information table.

At S3, the comment information file is stored in MD9
, And the comment of the image number corresponding to KOUHO [i] is registered in the corresponding comment field of the image position information table.

Here, S2 and S3 are KOUHO at S1.
This is repeated for the number of images of the reproduction candidates registered in [i].

At S4, based on the image position information table created at S2 and S3, the image data is transferred to MD9.
The image data is read out to the buffer memory 6, the image is expanded by the image data compression / expansion means 6, and the display is displayed on the display unit 1.
Repeat for 2. At this time, when a comment exists in the comment section of the image position information table, this comment is displayed on the display section 1.
2 is displayed.

Here, S4 is repeated for the number of reproduction candidate images registered in S1.

[0041]

According to the electronic still camera of the first aspect, an image position information table is created in advance before the reproduction is started, and the image is reproduced based on the image position information table. Can be reproduced without accessing the MD, so that the image can be reproduced at regular intervals without interruption.

In the electronic still camera according to the second aspect, the image position information table includes the position information and the size information of the image, so that after the reproduction of the image is started, the FAT of the image (file allocation table; F
There is no need to store information (referred to as AT) in a temporary storage device, and the temporary storage device can be used efficiently.

According to the electronic still camera of the third aspect, in addition to the effect of the second aspect, the address information of the divided and stored image can also be registered in the image position information table. This space can be used efficiently, and at the time of reproduction, even image data divided and stored can be reproduced without restriction.

[0044] In the electronic still camera according to the fourth aspect, the image position information table includes comment information indicating the characteristics of the image, and the comment information is created by retrieving from a predetermined comment information file. , It is not necessary to read out the comment information file from the MD every time the image is reproduced, the reproduction speed can be improved, and only the comment information of the image to be reproduced is only stored in the temporary storage device. And the temporary storage device can be used efficiently.

In the electronic still camera according to the fifth aspect, by arranging the image position information tables in the order of reproduction, the address position information, size information, link information and comment information at the time of image reproduction can be stored. It is only necessary to sequentially take out the information according to the reproduction order, and the process of taking out each information can be simplified.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block circuit diagram schematically showing an overall configuration of an electronic still camera according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of a FAT.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of a comment information file.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of an image position information table.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart in the case of sequentially reproducing a plurality of images.

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A system comprising: means for photographing a subject and recording image data; and means for displaying an image. When sequentially reproducing a series of designated images, an image position information table is stored in advance before starting reproduction. An electronic still camera which creates and reproduces an image based on the image position information table. 2. The electronic still camera according to claim 1, wherein the image position information table includes image size information. 3. The electronic still camera according to claim 1, wherein the image position information table includes link record information of an image. 4. The electronic still camera according to claim 1, wherein the image position information table includes comment information indicating characteristics of the image. 5. The electronic still camera according to claim 1, wherein the image position information tables are arranged in the order of reproduction.