JP2001238111A - Electronic camera - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an electronic camera which is speedily started to be shifted to the operation that a user desires speedily from the turning on of a power source. SOLUTION: This camera has a communication interface 52 which communicates with another equipment other than the camera in addition to basic configuration for electronically photographing the image of an object and displaying the photographed image, and also has the configuration capable of connecting telephone sets different in type such as a digital portable telephone set 62 and PHS 64 to the communication interface. It is detected whether or not a specified operation is performed in a prescribed period from time when power is supplied, when the specified operation is detected, a connection detection processing for a communication line, which includes the detection of the presence or absence of the connection of the telephone sets 62 and 64 and the detection of a telephone type, is skipped.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an electronic camera capable of communicating with a destination device by connecting a portable telephone to a communication line, for example.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, in addition to the basic flow of improving the quality of a photographed image, for example, increasing the number of pixels to obtain a finer image, the functions of an electronic camera have been actively expanded to provide another added value. It is becoming. For example, a portable telephone is connected to an electronic camera, and an image captured by the camera is transmitted to another electronic camera or a destination device such as an Internet server by communication via a communication line. An image communication function, such as receiving an image by communication from the Internet, has been considered.

In the case where a communication function is newly added to an electronic camera which has been assumed to be used alone, a basic function (operation) of the electronic camera, that is, photographing a subject, or taking a photographed image on the spot. Considering the fact that it is displayed and confirmed, some operational inconveniences that may affect the usability appear.

[0004] For example, a case is considered in which a telephone is connected to a communication I / F terminal provided on the electronic camera body via a cable or the like, and the telephone is connected to a communication line.

Immediately after turning on the power of the electronic camera main body, if the presence or absence of a telephone connection and the type detection of the connected telephone are performed unconditionally as part of the initial processing, during this time, the inside of the electronic camera main body becomes relatively unreliable. It is occupied by time-consuming processing, and cannot perform image shooting operation and display operation. Therefore, even if the user immediately turns on the power of the electronic camera in a desired situation and tries to perform a shooting operation, the user has to wait until the above-described processing ("start-up" in a broad sense) is completed. In the worst case, you miss a photo opportunity,
The usability becomes worse.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and provides an electronic camera which is quickly activated in response to a user's request so that the operation can be promptly shifted from power-on. The purpose is to do.

[0007]

In order to solve the above problems and achieve the object, an electronic camera according to the present invention is configured as follows.

(1) An electronic camera according to the present invention is an electronic camera connectable to a communication line, wherein a switch means for instructing to turn on the power of the electronic camera body, and the communication line is turned on by the switch means Processing means for performing a connection detection process to the switch, detection means for detecting whether or not a specific operation has been performed within a predetermined period from the time when power is turned on by the switch means, and detection of a specific operation by the detection means Processing control means for skipping at least a part of the connection detection processing by the processing means if performed,
It is characterized by having.

(2) The electronic camera according to the present invention is characterized in that (1)
Wherein the switch means includes a lens cover for instructing to turn on the power in response to an opening operation.

(3) The electronic camera according to the present invention is characterized in that (1)
Wherein the switch means includes a button for instructing a monitor display or a reproduction display.

[0011]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of an electronic camera having a communication function according to an embodiment of the present invention. The optical lens 10 is movable along the optical axis direction under the control of the lens from the controller 8, and forms a subject image having a degree of focus according to the lens position on an electronic image pickup device (CCD) 12. . The lens drive circuit (not shown) is composed of a pulse-driven stepping motor. A lens barrier (lens cover; not shown) for protecting the optical lens 10 is provided on the outer surface of the electronic camera body 1. The lens barrier can be opened and closed by, for example, sliding by an operator, and also has a role as a switch for turning on / off the power of the electronic camera body in accordance with the opening and closing operation.

The CCD 12 captures a subject image and outputs an image signal. The CCD 12 is driven by a CCD driver (not shown). The image signal output from the CCD 12 is AM
The signal is input to the P / CDS circuit 14 and subjected to required signal processing such as signal amplification, sample hold, and double correlation sampling. The image signal that has been subjected to the signal processing by the AMP / CDS circuit 14 is input to the A / D converter 16 and is converted into a digital image signal. This image signal is sent to the bus 22
Is temporarily stored in the RAM 6 as image data, and is also supplied to the display liquid crystal monitor 30 via the interface 28 and displayed (monitor display).

The sensor 18 is composed of an element for detecting light, for example, a photo sensor or the like, similar to the CCD 12, and outputs a light detection signal to an AF / AE circuit (auto focus circuit / auto exposure circuit) 2.
Output to 0. The AF / AE circuit 20 calculates a contrast value, an integral value of light amount, and the like based on the light detection signal, and performs automatic focus control / automatic exposure control. Techniques relating to automatic focus control / automatic exposure control are known, and a detailed description thereof will be omitted here. As another configuration example of the automatic focusing circuit, a configuration in which automatic focusing control is performed based on an image signal from the CCD 12 instead of a detection signal from the sensor 18 is also known.

The controller 8 controls the lens driving circuit based on the image signal output from the A / D converter 16 and the control signal output from the AF / AE circuit 20 to control the position of the optical lens 10 and the like. .

The RISC-CPU 2 is a processor that mainly performs control for realizing basic operations of the electronic camera, such as a photographing operation and image signal processing, and requires a high-speed, highly reliable and stable operation. Also, R through a bus bridge
CISC-CPU 24 connected to ISC-CPU 2
Unlike the RISC-CPU 2, is a processor that is responsible for higher and broader and more flexible processing such as a user interface via the operation buttons / display LCD 26. RO
M4 is RISC-CPU2 and CISC-CPU22
, Static information such as various programs respectively executed is statically stored.

An image processing unit (not shown) reads out the image data stored in the RAM 6 via the bus 22 and
Perform image processing such as conversion and color processing. Then, for example, J
The compression / expansion processing of the still image data based on the PEG method is performed. The captured image data thus obtained is displayed on the display liquid crystal monitor 30 via the interface 28, and is written on the memory card 46 via the interface 44. The memory card 46 is a small recording medium and is detachable from the electronic camera body 1. The monitor display image and the captured image can be converted into analog signals by the D / A conversion circuit 40 and output from the video output terminal 42.

The operation button / display LCD 26 includes a shutter button (also called a release button), an arrow button, and a monitor / playback button. The shutter button is a button for instructing photographing, the arrow buttons are buttons for instructing different directions (for example, four directions), and the monitor / playback button is a monitor image or a recorded image by the display liquid crystal monitor 30. Is a button for instructing playback of. The display LCD is a small liquid crystal display device for mainly displaying information relating to a shooting operation and the like, such as shooting conditions and the number of images that can be recorded, and is disposed, for example, on the upper surface of an electronic camera body.

The display liquid crystal monitor 30 is a large-sized display device arranged, for example, on the back of the electronic camera body. The display liquid crystal monitor 30 is connected to the bus 22 via the interface 28, and displays a monitor image, a captured image, and various menu screens related to the operation of the electronic camera body.

The electronic camera according to the present embodiment has a UART 32, a switch 34, a voltage conversion circuit (± 12 V converter) 36, a serial terminal (RS232C) 38, a communication I / F 52, and a telephone interface as a configuration relating to image communication with the outside. A terminal 60 is provided.

A UART (Uniart: Universal Asynchronous Receiver Transmitter) 32 is an asynchronous data transfer circuit having a serial-parallel and parallel-serial conversion function. This is a circuit for converting data into serial format so that bits are sequentially transmitted on the communication line, and is connected to the bus 22.

The switch 34 is connected to the U
Operates in accordance with the ART switching signal, and when there is a UART3
2 is connected to the communication I / F 52 or to the serial terminal (RS232C) 38 via the voltage conversion circuit (± 12V converter) 36.

The communication I / F 52 includes the electronic camera body 1 and
For example, a digital cellular phone (PDC) connected to a 16-pin telephone interface terminal 60 via a cable
An interface part for communicating with a personal handyphone system (PHS) 62 or a PHS (Personal Handyphone System) 64 is constructed. The type of telephone to be connected is electrically determined by a pull-up resistor based on the difference between ground pins as indicated by reference numerals 66 and 68. Although not shown, PH
A hybrid digital mobile phone having the S function is also known. In this case, first, it is determined that the mobile phone is a digital mobile phone, and then it is determined by required processing.

For example, in this embodiment, the high-speed synchronous serial RX (reception) 54 and the high-speed synchronous serial TX (transmission) 5
6, and the control signal (transmit / receive) 58, the PDC 62
A dedicated processing circuit is provided for each of the PHS64 and the PHS64, and a communication function corresponding to the determined type of telephone is realized.

The electronic camera body 1 of this embodiment has a serial terminal (RS232C) without the communication I / F 52.
It is also configured so that communication with a personal computer (not shown) can be performed via the interface 38.

Each component in the electronic camera body 1 of the present embodiment is supplied with main power from a battery 48 that can be detached and replaced. Alternatively, external power can be supplied via a DC power input terminal (DC in terminal) and the DC / DC circuit 50.

Here, the configuration according to the features of the present invention will be described in detail.

The electronic camera according to the present invention has the following configuration so as to be quickly activated in response to a user's desire so that the operation can be promptly shifted from power-on to the electronic camera body. That is, it is detected whether or not a specific operation is performed within a predetermined period from when the power is turned on, and when the specific operation is detected, at least a part of the process of detecting connection to a communication line (for example, In this embodiment, all steps are skipped.

In this embodiment, it is assumed that the power supply to the electronic camera body 1 is turned on by opening the lens barrier or by pressing the monitor / playback button. Immediately after the power is turned on, the electronic camera body 1 executes a process of detecting connection to a communication line. During the execution period of the connection detecting process, the detecting process of the specific operation is performed in parallel. Here, the specific operation is a half-press operation of the shutter button or a double-click operation of the monitor / play button. What is a double-click operation?
This means that the button is continuously pressed, for example, about twice per second. Note that the setting for double-click detection (such as the pressing interval) is arbitrary.

In the electronic camera according to the present embodiment, the specific operation (half-pressing the shutter button, double-clicking the monitor / playback button) promptly shifts to a normal shooting operation or a normal playback operation without using the communication function. It means an instruction from the user to make the transition. When such an instruction is issued, in the present embodiment, the execution of the process of detecting the connection to the communication line, which includes a series of processes from the process of detecting the connection of the telephones 62 and 64 to the process of shifting to the operation corresponding to the detected telephone, is skipped. Is done. If the user does not give the above instruction, in principle, immediately after power-on, a series of processing for detecting the connection to the communication line is executed as part of the initial processing. Also,
The processing related to the canceled communication is executed again after the fact based on the execution instruction of the communication function on the menu screen.

As a modification of this embodiment, the execution of all the processes relating to the communication may not be canceled, but only those which require a relatively long processing time if possible.

FIGS. 2 to 4 are flowcharts showing the operation of the electronic camera according to the present embodiment at the time of startup.

FIG. 2 shows a case where the power is turned on by opening the lens barrier. The power of the electronic camera body 1 is turned on by the opening operation of the lens barrier (step S1), and after the necessary hardware initializing process is performed, the execution of the telephone connection detecting process S2 is started. In parallel with this,
Pressing (half pressing) detection of the shutter button is started. The press of the button is detected, for example, by periodically checking the key input buffer (step S10).

Steps S2 to S8 show a series of processes related to detection of connection to a communication line. The processing includes telephone connection detection processing (step S2), telephone type detection processing (step S3), PDC connection detection processing (step S4), PHS connection detection processing (step S5), and hybrid type mobile telephone connection detection processing (step S6). )including.

In the telephone connection detecting process (step S2), electrical connection to the telephone is made regardless of the type based on the state of the connection signal of the predetermined two pins of the telephone interface terminal 60 shown in FIG. Is detected. In the telephone type detection process (step S3),
As described above, it is determined based on the difference between the ground pins whether the terminal is a digital mobile phone (PDC) or a PHS. At this point, hybrid mobile phones with PHS are not distinguished from PDC.

For example, when the first pin is connected and the second pin is
If the pin is ground, it is determined to be PDC62, while if the first pin is ground and the second pin is connected, it is determined to be PHS64. If both the first pin and the second pin have no signal, it is determined that there is no telephone connection, and if both are not ground, it is determined that there is an error in the connected device.

Next, in steps S4 to S6, an internal connection is detected according to the type of the telephone, for example, by the communication I / F 52 transmitting and receiving a communication command with the telephone. Here, the hybrid mobile phone provided with the PHS is distinguished from a mere PDC.

As a result of the above series of processing, it is determined whether or not a specific telephone connection has been made (step S7). If it is determined that a telephone connection has been made, an operation shift processing according to the detected telephone is performed (step S7). S8). On the other hand, when it is determined that there is no connection, the mode shifts to the normal shooting mode shown in FIG.

The processing from step S2 to step S8 requires, for example, about 5 seconds in total because there is a command response waiting time from the telephone. Here, in the electronic camera of the present embodiment, when the half-press of the shutter button is detected in step S10, the electronic camera immediately shifts to the normal photographing mode shown in FIG. 3 irrespective of the state of the processing from step S2 to step S8. I do. In other words, the user can perform an immediate shooting operation by half-pressing the shutter button.

Next, the case where the power is turned on by the monitor / reproduction button will be described.

As shown in FIG. 3, the power of the electronic camera body 1 is turned on by a pressing operation of the monitor / playback button (step S11), necessary hardware initial processing is performed, and then the electronic camera body 1 is provided. The timer that has been set starts measuring the time elapsed since the button was pressed (step S12).

Here, the monitor / playback button is pressed again until the timer measures one second, that is, one second elapses after the monitor / playback button is pressed, ie, double-click. It is determined whether an operation has been performed (step S14). As shown in step S13, when the timer finishes measuring one second (timeout occurs) without performing the double-click operation, the process proceeds to step S15.

The processing from step S15 to step S21 is a series of processing relating to the detection of connection to a communication line similar to the processing from step S2 to step S8 described above.
Phone connection detection process (step S15), phone type detection process (step S16), PDC connection detection process (step S17), PHS connection detection process (step S18), hybrid mobile phone connection detection process (step S19)
including. As a result of the series of processes, it is determined whether or not a specific telephone connection is made (step S20). If it is determined that there is a connection, an operation shift process according to the detected telephone is performed (step S21). . On the other hand, if it is determined that there is no connection, the process shifts to the normal playback mode here.

As described above, the processing from step S15 to step S21 requires, for example, about 5 seconds in total because of the waiting time for a command response from the telephone. In this operation flow, when a double click operation of the monitor / play button is detected in step S14,
1 from the first click of monitor / play button (power on)
The process from step S15 to step S21 scheduled after the second is not performed, and the process immediately shifts to the normal reproduction mode. That is, the user can immediately perform the reproduction operation by the double-click operation.

Here, the processing after the operation shift processing (step S8 or step S21) according to the detected telephone, that is, the processing after the detection of the connection to the communication line will be described.

As shown in FIG. 4, first, the open / closed state of the lens barrier is determined (step S22). When the lens barrier is closed, a selection operation is performed on the communication mode menu screen. This menu screen is displayed, for example, on the display liquid crystal monitor 30 and includes arrow buttons (operation buttons) 2.
By the operation of 6, one of the items “send image” and “receive image” is selected. The selection item is determined by "menu / OK" (step S2).
3). Then, the process proceeds to a more detailed communication mode selection process (step S24).

On the other hand, if it is detected in step S22 that the lens barrier is open, a menu screen for remote control is displayed on the display liquid crystal monitor 30. In other words, power is turned on by opening the lens barrier,
Further, when the process of detecting the connection to the communication line is completed, an initial screen of the remote control mode mainly involving a shooting operation is displayed. As is apparent from the flow, the power is turned on by pressing the monitor / playback button only once while the lens barrier is closed, and the remote control is similarly performed when the connection detection processing to the communication line is completed. The initial mode screen is displayed. Here, when the lens barrier is closed, a normal communication mode in which remote control is not performed (step S
23). On the other hand, when the confirmation operation is performed by “menu / OK” while the lens barrier is in the open state, the process proceeds to a specific remote control process (step S26).

The electronic camera of this embodiment described above
By a specific operation (here, the shutter button is half-pressed, the monitor / playback button is double-clicked) immediately after the startup, the process immediately shifts to a normal shooting operation or a normal playback operation without using the communication function. From a user's point of view, the electronic camera starts up at a high speed and becomes operable. Therefore, the user can immediately perform a shooting operation or a reproducing operation from the start, and the operability is extremely improved. You won't miss a photo opportunity.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, but can be implemented with various modifications. For example, in the above-described embodiment, the execution of the process related to communication is canceled by the specific operation immediately after the power is turned on.
The processing related to communication may be canceled at an appropriate timing according to the user's operation orientation. The details of the process to be canceled are not limited to only the presence / absence of connection of the telephone immediately after the power is turned on, the type detection, and the like, and other processes having a low priority and a high processing load may be canceled. In addition, the present invention can be appropriately implemented for components having a configuration other than a portable telephone or the like as components related to communication.

[0049]

As described above, according to the present invention,
It is possible to provide an electronic camera which is quickly activated in response to the user's request so that the operation can be shifted to the operation desired by the user immediately after the power is turned on.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of an electronic camera according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of the electronic camera at the time of startup, and illustrates a case where power is turned on by opening a lens barrier.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of the electronic camera when the electronic camera is started, and illustrates a case where the power is turned on by pressing a monitor / play button.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the operation of the electronic camera at the time of startup, and is a diagram showing the flow of processing for determining whether or not a telephone is connected;

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Electronic camera 2 ... RISC-CPU 4 ... ROM 6 ... RAM 8 ... Controller 10 ... Optical lens 12 ... Electronic imaging element (CCD) 14 ... AMP / CDS circuit 16 ... A / D conversion circuit (A / D) 18 ... Sensor 20 ... Auto focus circuit / Auto exposure circuit (AF / AE) 22 ... Bus 24 ... CISC-CPU 26 ... Operation button / display LCD 28 ... Interface (I / F) 30 ... Display liquid crystal monitor 32 ... Universal asynchronous type Receiver transmitter (UART) 34 Switch 36 Voltage conversion circuit (± 12 V converter) 38 Serial terminal (RS232C) 40 D / A conversion circuit (D / A) 42 Video output terminal 44 Interface (I / F) 46: memory card 48: battery 50: DC conversion circuit (DC / DC) 52: communication interface Interface 54 High-speed synchronous serial receiving circuit 56 High-speed synchronous serial transmitting circuit 58 Control signal 60 Telephone interface terminal 62 Digital mobile phone (PDC) 64 Personal handy phone system (PHS)

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification symbol FI Theme coat ゛ (Reference) H04N 5/907 H04N 101: 00 5K067 5/91 H04B 7/26 M // H04N 7/14 109M H04N 101: 00 H04N 5/91 J (72) Inventor Takashi Shoji 2-43-2 Hatagaya, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo Inside Olympus Optical Industrial Co., Ltd. (72) Tomoshima Shimamura 2-43-2 Hatagaya, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo Within Olympus Optical Co., Ltd. AC73 AC75 AC80 5C052 AA17 CC11 DD02 DD08 EE02 EE08 GA02 GA03 GA06 GA08 GA09 GB06 GD03 GD09 GD10 GE08 5C053 FA08 FA27 HA30 KA08 LA01 LA06 LA14 LA20 5C062 AA01 AB20 AB25 AB51 5C064 AA01 AA04 AB03 AC04 AC12 AD08 BA04 BB05 BB10 BC10 BC11 BC23 BD16 5K067 AA34 BB04 BB21 DD23 DD52 EE02 HH21 KK00

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. An electronic camera connectable to a communication line, comprising: switch means for instructing power-on of an electronic camera body; and processing for detecting connection to the communication line in response to power-on by the switch means. Means, detecting means for detecting whether or not a specific operation has been performed within a predetermined period from when the power is turned on by the switch means, and when the specific operation is detected by the detecting means, the processing means An electronic camera, comprising: processing control means for skipping at least a part of connection detection processing. 2. The electronic camera according to claim 1, wherein the switch unit includes a lens cover for instructing the power supply to be turned on in response to an opening operation. 3. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said switch means includes a button for instructing monitor display or reproduction display.
An electronic camera according to claim 1.