JP2005117114A - Electronic camera and motion image data processing system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an electronic camera capable of recording only the specific frame at a high resolution during photographing a motion image without changing a mode. <P>SOLUTION: An instruction of changing an image to be recorded to a high resolution is given to an image resolution conversion means with a high resolution mode button while the motion image data are being recorded at a normal resolution using an image pickup means. By doing this, the image resolution converting means records the motion image having a resolution higher than that of a normal motion image into a memory card. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to an electronic camera and a moving image data processing system, and more particularly, an electronic camera such as a digital camera or a video camera capable of capturing a moving image, and moving image data generated by the electronic camera or the like to be easily handled. The present invention relates to a moving image data processing system.

  There is a great demand for taking a still picture with the same machine while taking a video with a digital camera or a video camera. However, since moving images usually have a lower resolution per frame than still images, displaying one frame of a moving image as a still image on an LCD or printing will yield an image that can withstand viewing due to the lower resolution. Often not.

  In order to increase the resolution of still images when shooting with the same machine, the following Patent Document 1 proposes an invention that includes moving images and still images in a series of shooting, whereas moving images are shot with interlaced scanning, We try to improve the still image quality by taking all pixels and shooting still images, but this is to distinguish between the movie mode and still image mode when shooting, and in addition, the movie mode and still image mode are taken. There is no mention of the operation of the operator when changing the mode.

More recently, there is a growing need to save a part of a movie as a still image during movie shooting, and many users do not want to change the movie mode to the still image mode each time. . That is, there is a demand for a function for recording only a specific frame with high definition during moving image shooting without changing the mode.
JP-A-8-289239

  The present invention has been made in consideration of the above-described facts, and an object thereof is to provide an electronic camera capable of recording a specific frame with high definition during moving image shooting without changing the mode.

The present invention of claim 1 is an electronic camera that obtains moving image data using an imaging unit and records the moving image data in a recording unit,
Image definition conversion means for recording a higher definition image than a normal moving image when recording moving image data;
The electronic camera comprises an image definition conversion instructing means for giving an instruction to make the image to be recorded high definition to the image definition converting means.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, when the moving image data is recorded on the recording unit with the normal definition using the imaging unit, the image to be recorded is made high definition by the image definition conversion instruction unit. When an instruction is given to the image definition conversion means, the image definition conversion means records an image with higher definition than the normal moving image on the recording means. Thereby, a high-definition still image can be obtained during moving image shooting.

  As a method for increasing the resolution of an image to be recorded, there is a method for increasing the resolution of the image.

The present invention of claim 5 is a moving image data processing system for processing moving image data in which a moving image recorded at a normal resolution and a moving image recorded at a higher resolution than the normal resolution are mixed.
High-resolution image extraction means for decomposing and extracting a moving image recorded at a high resolution from moving image data;
A moving image data processing system comprising: image resolution equalization means for converting extracted high-resolution still image into a still image having the same resolution as other moving images and generating moving image data having a uniform resolution; Consists of.

  According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, in moving image data in which a moving image recorded at a normal resolution and a moving image recorded at a higher resolution than the normal resolution are mixed, the high-resolution image extracting means is the high The moving image recorded at the resolution is decomposed into a still image and extracted, and the image resolution equalization means converts the extracted high-resolution still image into a still image having the same resolution as the other moving images to obtain a uniform resolution. Is generated. As a result, moving image data in which a moving image recorded at a normal resolution and a moving image recorded at a higher resolution than the normal resolution are mixed becomes a moving image data having a uniform resolution. It becomes easier to see when you do.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, an image that is desired to be recorded as a still image can be taken even during moving image shooting, and can be obtained with a high-definition value that is worth viewing when a desired still image is printed.

  According to the present invention of claim 5, as a result of moving image data having a uniform resolution, it becomes easy to appreciate when a moving image is reproduced.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a rear perspective view of a digital camera 2 according to the present embodiment.

  The camera 2 is a digital camera capable of recording / reproducing still images / moving images and capable of wireless communication. The front surface of the camera 2 is provided with a photographic lens composed of a retractable zoom lens, an optical viewfinder, and a strobe unit (all not shown). A CCD image sensor (not shown in FIG. 1, shown by 36 in FIG. 3, hereinafter referred to as “CCD”) as an image sensor is disposed behind the photographing lens.

  On the upper surface of the camera 2, an antenna 4 for wireless communication, a release button 12, and a mode setting dial 14 are provided. The release button 12 is a means for instructing the acquisition of the in-focus location and instructing the start of image recording. The release button 12 is an operation member that turns on the switch S1 (preparation for photographing such as focusing) when half-pressed and turns on the switch S2 (release) when fully pressed. As shown in FIG. 2, the mode setting dial 14 selects a still image shooting mode (Cam), a moving image shooting (movie) mode (Mov), a setup mode (Setup), a playback mode (Play), and a wireless communication mode (Wireless). It is a dial for selection. With the configuration of the mode setting dial 14, still image shooting, moving image shooting, and wireless communication are independent as modes. That is, only one of still image shooting, moving image shooting, and wireless communication can be selected.

  A memory card slot 92 is provided on one side of the camera 2. The memory card slot 92 is an insertion slot formed in a slit shape, and is used for inserting a memory card 94 (recording medium) into the camera 2.

  On the back surface of the camera 2, an optical viewfinder 8, a power switch 6, a monitor display unit 10, an up / down / left / right key 18, a menu button 20, an execution button 22, a cancel button 24, and a high resolution mode button 100 are provided.

  The power switch 6 is a power ON / OFF means.

  The up / down / left / right key 18 is used to move an option up / down / left / right by pressing it when selecting a menu.

  When the shooting mode is selected, the menu button 20 can be pressed to display various menus such as a portrait (portrait) menu, a landscape menu, a night view menu, and a monochrome menu.

  The execution button 22 is a button for selecting and executing the displayed menu.

  The cancel button 24 is a button for canceling the selection.

  The high-resolution mode button 100 can shoot a moving image consisting of a high-resolution still image while the button is pressed when it is desired to shoot a still image having a higher resolution than that of the moving image.

  The monitor display unit 10 is a color liquid crystal display, and displays an image captured via the CCD 36 and a reproduced image read from the memory card 94, mode information, battery remaining warning, shooting date and time, and the number of standard shots that can be taken. Various information such as the playback frame number and the high image quality mode is also displayed. Various menu displays, menu selection, setting of various setting items in each menu, and the like are also performed using the display screen of the monitor display unit 10.

  FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the digital camera 2 of the present embodiment.

  In FIG. 3, a signal processing unit 44, timing generator 42, A / D conversion unit 46, strobe charging / control unit 40, compression / expansion unit 48, calendar / clock unit 50, frame memory 52, on-screen display 60, motor driver 62, CPU 76, system memory 78, nonvolatile memory 80, timer 82, wireless communication module 84, I / O interface 86, and card interface 90 are connected via the bus 27.

  The photographing unit 26 is provided with a zoom lens 29, a shutter 31, an iris diaphragm 33, a focus lens 35, and a CCD 36. Furthermore, a zoom motor 28 that drives the zoom lens 29, a shutter motor 30 that drives the shutter 31, and an iris. An iris motor 32 for driving the diaphragm 33 and a focus motor 34 for driving the focus lens 35 are provided. The motor driver 62 that drives each of the motors 28, 30, 32, 34 is controlled by a control signal from the CPU 76. A CCD 36 is disposed behind the optical units 29, 31, 33 and 35.

  The light that has passed through the zoom lens 29 and the shutter 31 is adjusted in light quantity by the iris diaphragm 33, then passes through the focus lens 35 and enters the CCD 36. Photosensors are arranged in a plane on the light receiving surface of the CCD 36, and a subject image formed on the light receiving surface of the CCD 36 is converted into signal charges of an amount corresponding to the amount of incident light by each photosensor. The signal charges accumulated in this way are sequentially read out as voltage signals corresponding to the signal charges by the pulses supplied from the timing generator 42.

  The CCD 36 has a so-called electronic shutter function in which the charge accumulation time (shutter speed) of each photosensor is controlled by a shutter gate pulse. Exposure control is performed by a combination of an iris diaphragm 33 and an electronic shutter of the CCD 36, and an image signal output from the CCD 36 is subjected to signal processing in a signal processing unit 44.

  The signal processing unit 44 includes processing circuits such as color separation, gain switching, and γ (gamma) processing. After the signal processing, the image signal is A / D converted by the A / D converter 46. Signal processing and A / D conversion are operated by pulses supplied from the timing generator 42. The CPU 76 detects the level of the input image signal from the A / D converted image signal, obtains luminance information of the subject, and detects the in-focus state of the subject.

  Thereafter, the CPU 76 generates the luminance / color difference signal, sharpness correction (contour correction), white balance correction, and gamma correction, and converts the image signal into a luminance signal (Y signal) and a color difference signal (Cr, Cb signal). Store in the memory 78.

  The image data stored in the system memory 78 is read in accordance with a command from the CPU 76, stored in the frame memory 52, and a predetermined display signal (for example, NTSC color) in the LCD (liquid crystal display) control unit 54. Composite video signal). The LCD control unit 54 integrates character information from the OSD (on-screen display) 60. Thereafter, a display signal is output to the LCD 58, and the backlight 56 is turned on and displayed on the LCD 58.

  At the time of moving image shooting, data in the system memory 78 is periodically rewritten by an image signal output from the CCD 36, and a video signal generated from the image data is supplied to the LCD 58, whereby an image captured by the CCD 36 is real-time. However, it is displayed on the LCD 58 as a moving image or as a substantially continuous image although not in real time.

  At the time of photographing, a recording start instruction signal is issued by the depressing operation of the release button 12, which is a part of the switch / LED 88, etc., and the instruction signal is received by the I / O interface 86, and in response to the instruction signal. Then, capturing of image data for recording is started. The image signal taken into the system memory 78 by the shooting operation in response to the depression of the release button 12 is compressed in accordance with a command from the CPU 76 in the compression / expansion unit 48. The compressed image signal is recorded from the card interface 90 to the memory card 94. The memory card 94 is inserted into the memory card slot 92 and positioned at a predetermined location.

  In the playback mode, the image data read from the memory card 94 is decompressed by the compression / decompression unit 48 and output to the LCD 58.

  The form of the recording medium is not limited to a memory card, and may be a PC card, a compact flash, a magnetic disk, an optical disk, a magneto-optical disk, a memory stick, etc., and a system based on electronic, magnetic, optical, or a combination thereof Accordingly, various media that can be read and written can be used. A signal processing means and an interface corresponding to the medium to be used are applied. A configuration may be adopted in which a plurality of media can be mounted on the camera 2 regardless of different types or the same type of recording media. The means for storing the image data is not limited to the removable medium separable from the camera body, but may be a recording medium (internal memory) built in the camera 2, that is, the system memory 78 in this embodiment.

  The high resolution mode button 100 is connected to the controller 102, and the controller 102 is connected to the resolution conversion unit 104. The resolution conversion unit 104 is connected to the compression / decompression unit 48. When the user presses the high resolution mode button 100, the controller 102 controls the resolution conversion unit 104, and the resolution conversion unit 104 compresses and adjusts the data stored in the compression / decompression unit 48 so that it can be output at high resolution. That is, when data is output at a high resolution, data thinning during compression is reduced.

  The camera 2 is provided with a wireless communication module 84 for wirelessly transferring image / character data to a personal computer or other external device, and an antenna 4 connected to the wireless communication module 84. When transmitting image / character data wirelessly to an external device, the mode setting dial 14 is set to Wireless to read and transmit image (character) data to be transmitted from the system memory 78 or the memory card 94. The wireless communication module 84 can send and receive data from the CPU 76, and can sleep by a command from the CPU 76 via the bus 27. In the sleep state, the current consumed by the motors 28, 30, 32, and 34 is reduced. On the other hand, the current value is negligible.

  The CPU 76 is a control unit that performs overall control of each circuit of the camera system. The system memory 78 includes ROM and RAM storage means. The ROM stores programs processed by the CPU 76 and various data necessary for control. The RAM is a work area when the CPU 76 performs various arithmetic processes. Used. The CPU 76 controls the operation of the corresponding circuit based on the input signals received from the switch / LED etc. 88 and the high resolution mode button 100, and also performs display control of the LCD 58, AF (auto focus) control, AE (auto exposure: automatic). (Exposure) control, compression / decompression processing, etc.

  The CPU 76 performs various calculations such as an AF evaluation value calculation and an AE calculation, and controls the motor driver 62 based on the calculation results to move the focus motor 34 to the in-focus position, and also controls the iris motor 32. An appropriate aperture is set and the charge accumulation time of the CCD 36 is controlled.

  A switch / LED 88 is a block including instruction input means such as a release button 12, a mode setting dial 14, and an up / down / left / right key 18. The means for designating the number of pixels at the time of image recording and ON / OFF of an electronic zoom function are provided. Means for switching, means for operating the enlargement ratio of the electronic zoom, and the like.

  A strobe charging / control unit 40 is connected to the bus 27, and a strobe 38 is connected to the strobe charging / control unit 40. When the strobe 38 is used, the strobe charging / control unit 40 controls the operation of the strobe 38.

  To the bus 27, a calendar / clock 50, a nonvolatile memory 80, and a timer 82 are connected. The calendar / clock 50 records the date / time, the device information of the camera 2 is stored in the non-volatile memory 80, and the timer 82 is for timer shooting.

  The power supply will be described. The power is supplied from the battery 64, but the power from the battery 64 is stabilized by the switching regulator. There are five switching regulators, and there are a first switching regulator 66, a second switching regulator 68, a third switching regulator 70, a fourth switching regulator 72, and a fifth switching regulator 74.

  The switching regulator is divided into two systems, and the first switching regulator 66 which is one system is for a large current and supplies power to the motor driver 62 and the wireless communication module 84. The current capacity of the first switching regulator 66 is set according to the larger one of the electric power required for the motor driver 62 and the wireless communication module 84. The other system is a regulator for supplying power to other electronic circuits, and includes a second switching regulator 68, a third switching regulator 70, a fourth switching regulator 72, and a fifth switching regulator 74, and these four regulators. Are all for small power. The second switching regulator 68 supplies power to the LCD driver. The third switching regulator 70 supplies power to the LCD backlight 56. The fourth switching regulator 72 supplies power to the analog circuit. The fifth switching regulator 74 supplies power to circuits other than those described above. If necessary, the power source for the CCD analog circuit may be a separate system.

  The CPU 76 sends control signals for controlling the first to fifth switching regulators 66, 68, 70, 72, 74 to the regulators 66 to 74. The CPU 76 controls the wireless communication module 84 to sleep in the still image shooting mode (Cam) and the moving image shooting (movie) mode (Mov). The current consumption during sleep of the wireless communication module 84 is negligibly small compared to the current consumption of each motor 28, 30, 32, 34, and thus exceeds the power supply capability of the first switching regulator 66 for large current. There is no. Therefore, when the wireless communication module 84 is in the sleep mode, the motors 28, 30, 32, and 34 of the photographing system can be driven.

  With the mode setting dial 14, the wireless communication mode (Wireless) and the shooting system mode (still image shooting mode, moving image shooting mode) cannot be selected at the same time, and only one of them can be selected. There is no action. Therefore, in the wireless communication mode, the motors 28, 30, 32, and 34 of the photographing system are not driven and no current is consumed. Therefore, driving the wireless communication module 84 does not exceed the power supply capability of the first switching regulator 66 for large current.

  Note that the charging circuit of the strobe 38 is directly charged from the battery 64 and is not involved in the capacity of the switching regulator.

  The operation when the high resolution mode button 100 is pressed during moving image shooting will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 4 is a diagram schematically showing a moving image data string recorded when the high resolution mode button 100 is pressed during moving image shooting.

  Normally, during moving image shooting, a moving image is formed in the Motion JPEG format in which each frame constituting the moving image is compression-encoded in the JPEG format. When recording a moving image, the compression / decompression unit 48 usually realizes a data rate necessary for TV playback of the moving image, for example, each frame 640 × 480 pixels (VGA size) at 30 fields / second and outputs it as video data. (Normal video recording mode). When the user presses the high resolution mode button 100, the resolution conversion unit 104 controls the compression / decompression unit 48 to output a moving image at a high resolution image data rate, for example, each frame 1600 × 1200 pixels at 30 frames / second. (High-resolution recording mode) That is, the still image size of each frame is increased and the frame rate is shortened, and recorded in the memory card 94 in this state. Conditions such as gamma correction before data compression are the same as those for normal movie shooting.

  When the user releases the high resolution mode button 100, the normal movie recording mode is restored. The high resolution recording mode can be output from one frame.

  Note that when a normal moving image is output in the MPEG format and the user presses the high resolution mode button 100, the resolution conversion unit 104 controls the compression / decompression unit 48 to output in the MPEG format. You may make it change into a compression format in a state.

  According to the above embodiment, an image that is desired to be recorded as a still image can be taken even during moving image shooting, and can be obtained with a high resolution that is worth viewing when a desired still image is printed.

  Next, a moving image data processing system for reproducing moving image data recorded on a recording medium in a mixture of a normal moving image recording mode and a high resolution recording mode will be described with reference to FIGS.

  FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing a hardware configuration of the personal computer 200. As shown in FIG. 6, a personal computer 200 mainly includes a central processing unit (CPU) 210 that controls the operation of each component, a main memory 212 that stores a control program for the device, and serves as a work area when the program is executed. , An operating system (OS) of the personal computer 200, various application software including device drivers of peripheral devices connected to the personal computer 200, a hard disk device 214 storing user images, a CD-ROM drive 216, and a display As a display memory 218 for temporarily storing data, a monitor device 220 such as a CRT monitor or a liquid crystal monitor for displaying an image or a character by image data, character data, etc. from the display memory 218, a keyboard 222, and a position input device The mouse 224 and the state of the mouse 224 A mouse controller 226 that outputs signals such as the position of the mouse pointer on the Nita device 220 and the state of the mouse 224 to the CPU 210, and a USB (Universal Serial Bus) cable 206 that can be connected to the digital camera 2 and can input image data and the like. An interface 227 for connecting to the Internet, a communication interface 208 for connecting to the Internet, and a bus 228 for connecting the above components.

  In the personal computer 200 having the above-described configuration, each component is well-known, and a detailed description of each component is omitted.

  The operation of the moving image data processing system on the personal computer 200 when reproducing the moving image data recorded on the recording medium in which the normal moving image recording mode and the high resolution recording mode are mixed will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 5 is a diagram schematically showing a moving image data string of the operation of the moving image data processing system.

  In the personal computer 200, the moving image data recorded on the recording medium in which the normal moving image recording mode and the high resolution recording mode are mixed cannot be reproduced as it is. Therefore, when storing the image data from the memory card 94 of the camera 2 to the hard disk device 214 of the personal computer 200, as shown in FIG. 5, among the moving images configured in the Motion JPEG format, The image portion is extracted, and the extracted still image portion is converted in resolution from a high-resolution image to a normal TV reproduction image to generate a moving image data sequence for TV reproduction having a uniform data rate over the entire moving image data. Such a conversion program is stored in the main memory 212. Thereby, the personal computer 200 can reproduce moving image data in which the normal moving image recording mode and the high resolution recording mode are mixed.

  In the above example, the still image portion recorded at high resolution is an image output at 30 frames / second with each frame 1600 × 1200 pixels in the high resolution recording mode. As described above, the normal TV playback image is an image in which each frame 640 × 480 pixels (VGA size) is realized at 30 fields / second.

  The moving image data processing can be performed from moving image data having one high-resolution frame.

The rear perspective view of a digital camera. The enlarged view of a mode setting dial. The block diagram which shows the structure of a digital camera. The figure which showed typically the moving image data row | line | column recorded when the high resolution mode button was pushed during moving image photography. The figure which showed typically the moving image data sequence of operation | movement of a moving image data processing system. The block diagram which showed the hardware constitutions of the personal computer.

Explanation of symbols

2 ... Digital camera, 14 ... Mode setting dial, 48 ... Compression / decompression unit, 76 ... CPU, 78 ... System memory, 94 ... Memory card, 100 ... High resolution Mode button, 102 ... Controller, 104 ... Resolution conversion unit, 200 ... Personal computer, 210 ... CPU, 212 ... Main memory, 214 ... Hard disk device

Claims (5)

An electronic camera that obtains moving image data using an imaging unit and records the moving image data in a recording unit,
Image definition conversion means for recording a higher definition image than a normal moving image when recording moving image data;
An electronic camera comprising: an image definition conversion instructing unit that gives an instruction to make the image to be recorded high definition to the image definition converting unit. The image definition conversion instruction means gives an instruction to increase the resolution of an image to be recorded to the image definition conversion means, and upon receiving an instruction from the image definition conversion instruction means, the image definition conversion means The electronic camera according to claim 1, wherein the image is recorded at a resolution higher than the resolution of the image. The image definition conversion instructing unit gives an instruction to change the compression mode at the time of recording of the image being captured to the image definition converting unit, and receives the instruction from the image definition conversion instructing unit, the image definition conversion The electronic camera according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the means records the image while changing a compression mode at the time of recording the image being picked up. The image definition conversion instructing unit gives an instruction to change the compression mode at the time of recording of the image being captured from MPEG to motion JPEG, and receives an instruction from the image definition conversion instructing unit. The electronic camera according to claim 3, wherein the image definition converting unit records an image by changing a compression form at the time of recording of the image being picked up from MPEG to motion JPEG. A moving image data processing system for processing moving image data in which a moving image recorded at a normal resolution and a moving image recorded at a higher resolution than the normal resolution are mixed,
High-resolution image extraction means for decomposing and extracting a moving image recorded at a high resolution from moving image data;
A moving image data processing system comprising: an image resolution uniformizing unit that converts a extracted high-resolution still image into a still image having the same resolution as another moving image and generates moving image data having a uniform resolution.

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