KR20040063625A - Method for controlling digital camera wherein adaptive re-compression is performed - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: A method for controlling a digital camera which performs adaptive recompression is provided to compress image files at a compression rate according to the selection of a user and store the compressed image files in a memory card. CONSTITUTION: If the capacity of a memory card is insufficient, a micro-controller confirms whether image files, compressed at the first compression rate which is a low compression rate or the second compression rate which is an intermediate compression rate, exist. If the image files compressed at the first compression rate exist, the micro-controller compresses one of the image files compressed at the first compression rate at the second compression rate according to the permission of a user and stores the compressed image file(811-814). If the image file compressed at the first compression rate does not exist and the image files compressed at the second compression rate exist, the micro-controller compresses one of the image files compressed at the second compression rate at the third compression rate which is a high compression rate according to the permission of a user and stores the compressed image file(821-824,831).

Description

Method for controlling digital camera where adaptive re-compression is performed}

The present invention relates to a control method of a digital camera, and more particularly, to a control method of a digital camera in which image files are compressed at a compression rate according to a user's selection and stored in a memory card.

A typical digital camera, for example, a digital camera of model name "Digimax 350SE" manufactured by Samsung Techwin Co., Ltd. compresses image files obtained by a user's shooting operation and stores them in a memory card. Here, most users select a high quality compression rate, that is, a low compression rate. However, due to the limitation of the capacity of the memory card, the user can take only a limited number of pictures. Therefore, when the user takes a picture outdoors and the remaining capacity of the memory card is insufficient, the user has a difficulty in selecting and deleting image files that have already been stored in the memory card.

An object of the present invention is to provide a control method of a digital camera in which the user does not need to select and delete image files already stored in the memory card when the user takes a picture outdoors and the remaining capacity of the memory card is insufficient.

1 is a perspective view showing a front appearance of a digital camera according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a rear view illustrating a rear shape of the digital camera of FIG. 1.

3 is a block diagram showing the overall configuration of the digital camera of FIG.

4 is a flow chart showing the overall control algorithm of the microcontroller of FIG.

5 is a flowchart illustrating a detailed algorithm of the photographing control step of FIG. 4.

6 is a flow chart showing the detailed algorithm of the recompression routine of FIG.

FIG. 7A is a diagram illustrating an example of a first guide message displayed on a color LCD panel according to performing step 723 of FIG. 5.

FIG. 7B is a diagram illustrating an example of a second guide message displayed on a color LCD panel in accordance with performing step 821 of FIG. 6.

FIG. 7C is a diagram illustrating an example of a third guide message displayed on the color LCD panel in accordance with step 811 of FIG. 6.

<Explanation of symbols for the main parts of the drawings>

1 ... digital camera, 11 ... self-timer lamp,

12 ... flash, 13 ... shutter button,

14 ... mode dial, 15 ... function-selection button,

16 ... shooting-information display, 17a, 17b ... viewfinder,

18 ... function-block button, 19 ... flash-light sensor,

21 ... external interface, 35 ... color LCD panel,

MIC ... microphone, SP ... speaker,

31 ... power button, 32 ... monitor button,

33 ... auto-focus lamp, 34 ... flash standby lamp,

36 ... OK / Delete button, 37 ... Enter / Playback button,

38 ... menu button, 39w ... wide-zoom button,

39t ... tele-zoom button, 40up ... up-move button,

40ri ... right-go button, 40lo ... down-go button,

40le ... left-shift button, OPS ... optical system,

OEC ... photoelectric converter, M _Z ... zoom motor,

M _F ... focus motor, M _A ... aperture motor,

501 analog-to-digital converter, 502 timing circuit,

503 clock clock, 504 DRAM,

505 ... EEPROM, 506 ... memory card interface,

507 ... digital signal processor, 508 ... RS232C interface,

509 ... video filter, 21a ... USB connection,

21b ... RS232C connection, 21c ... video output,

510 ... lens drive, 511 ... flash controller,

512 ... microcontroller, INP ... user input,

LAMP ... light emitting unit, 513 ... audio processor,

514 LCD drive.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a control method of a digital camera in which image files are compressed to at least a first to third compression ratio according to a user's selection and stored in a memory card. Include them.

In the checking step, when the capacity of the memory card is insufficient, it is checked whether there is an image file compressed with a first compression rate which is a low compression rate or a second compression rate that is an intermediate compression rate. In the first recompression step, if an image file compressed at the first compression ratio exists, one image file among the image files compressed at the first compression ratio is compressed at the second compression ratio according to a user's permission. And stored. In the second recompression step, if there is no image file compressed at the first compression ratio and there is an image file compressed at the second compression ratio, the second compression ratio is compressed according to the user's permission. Among the image files, one image file is compressed and stored at the third compression rate which is a high compression rate.

According to the control method of the digital camera of the present invention, either one of the first and second recompression steps is adaptively performed. Accordingly, since the remaining capacity of the memory card is adaptively enlarged according to the user's request, when the user takes a picture outdoors and the remaining capacity of the memory card is insufficient, the user needs to select and delete image files already stored in the memory card. There is no. Here, the compression ratios set by the user for each image file may be maintained as much as possible.

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments according to the present invention will be described in detail.

1, in front of the digital camera 1 according to the present invention, a microphone (MIC), a self-timer lamp 11, a flash 12, a shutter button 13, a mode dial 14, functions -Selection button 15, shooting-information display section 16, view finder 17a, function-block button 18, flash-light sensor 19, lens section 20, and external interface section 21 There is.

In the self-timer mode, the self-timer lamp 11 operates for a set time from the time when the shutter button 13 is pressed to the time when the shutter is operated. The mode dial 14 is used to select and set various modes, for example, a still image shooting mode, a night view shooting mode, a moving picture shooting mode, a playback mode, a computer connection mode, and a system setting mode. The function-selection button 15 is used for the user to select one of the operation modes of the digital camera 1, for example, a still image shooting mode, a night view shooting mode, a moving picture shooting mode, and a playback mode. The shooting-information display section 16 displays information of each function related to shooting. The function-block button 18 is used for the user to select each function displayed on the shooting-information display unit 16.

2, the rear of the digital camera 1 according to the present invention, the speaker (SP), the power button 31, the monitor button 32, the auto-focus lamp 33, the viewfinder 17b, Flash standby lamp 34, display panel 35, confirm / delete button 36, enter / playback button 37, menu button 38, wide angle-zoom button 39w, There is a telephoto-zoom button 39t, an up-move button 40up, a right-move button 40ri, a down-move button 40lo, and a left-move button 40le.

The monitor button 32 is used by the user to control the operation of the display panel 35. For example, when the user presses the monitor button 32 first, an image of the subject and shooting information thereof are displayed on the display panel 35, and when the user presses the second button, only the image of the subject is displayed on the display panel 35. When pressed, the power applied to the display panel 35 is cut off. The auto-focus lamp 33 operates when the auto focusing operation is completed. The flash standby lamp 34 operates when the flash (12 in FIG. 1) is in standby for operation. The confirm / delete button 36 is used as a confirm button or a delete button in the process of setting each mode by the user. The enter / playback button 37 is used for inputting data from the user or for a function such as stopping or playing in the playback mode. The menu button 38 is used to display the menu of the mode selected in the mode dial 14. The up-movement button 40up, the right-movement button 40ri, the down-movement button 40lo, and the left-movement button 40le are also used in the process of setting each mode by the user.

Referring to FIG. 3, the overall configuration of the digital camera 1 of FIG. 1 will be described.

The optical system OPS including the lens unit and the filter unit optically processes light from a subject. The lens unit in the optical system OPS includes a zoom lens, a focus lens, and a compensation lens.

A photoelectric conversion unit (OEC) of a charge coupled device (CCD) or a complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) converts light from an optical system (OPS) into an electrical analog signal. Here, the digital signal processor 507 controls the timing circuit 502 to control the operations of the photoelectric converter OEC and the analog-digital converter 501. The CDS-ADC (Correlation Double Sampler and Analog-to-Digital Converter) element 501 as an analog-to-digital converter processes the analog signal from the photoelectric converter (OEC), removes the high frequency noise, and adjusts the amplitude. After that, it is converted into a digital signal. The digital signal processor 507 processes the digital signal from the CDS-ADC element 501 to generate a digital image signal classified into luminance and chroma signals.

The digital video signal from the digital signal processor 507 is temporarily stored in the DRAM (Dynamic Random Access Memory) 504. The EEPROM (Electrically Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory) 505 stores algorithms and setting data necessary for the operation of the digital signal processor 507. The memory card of the user is attached to or detached from the memory card interface 506.

The digital image signal from the digital signal processor 507 is input to the LCD driver 514, whereby the image is displayed on the color LCD panel 35.

On the other hand, the digital video signal from the digital signal processor 507 can be transmitted by serial communication via the USB (Universal Serial Bus) connection 21a or the RS232C interface 508 and its connection 21b, and the video filter ( 509 and the video output unit 21c may be transmitted as a video signal.

The audio processor 513 outputs the audio signal from the microphone MIC to the digital signal processor 507 or the speaker SP, and outputs the audio signal from the digital signal processor 507 to the speaker SP.

The user input unit INP includes a shutter button (13 in FIG. 1), a mode dial (14 in FIG. 1), a function-selection button (15 in FIG. 1), a function-block button (18 in FIG. 1), a monitor button ( 32 in FIG. 2, OK / Delete button (36 in FIG. 2), Enter / Playback button (37 in FIG. 2), Menu button (38 in FIG. 2), Wide-Zoom button (39w in FIG. 2), Tele- Zoom button (39t in FIG. 2), up-move button (40up in FIG. 2), right-move button (40ri in FIG. 2), down-move button (40lo in FIG. 2), and left-move button (FIG. 2) 40le).

The microcontroller 512 controls the lens driver 510, so that the zoom motor M _Z , the focus motor M _F , and the aperture motor M _A are zoom lenses in the optical system OPS, The focus lens and the aperture are driven respectively. The light emitting portion LAMP driven by the microcontroller 512 includes a self-timer lamp 11, an auto-focus lamp (33 in FIG. 4) and a flash standby lamp (34 in FIG. 4). In addition, the microcontroller 512 drives the flash 12 by controlling the operation of the flash controller 511 according to the signal from the flash-light amount sensor 19.

4 shows the overall control algorithm of the microcontroller 512 of FIG. Referring to FIG. 4, when the photographing mode is set by the user's manipulation, the microcontroller 512 of FIG. 3 performs the photographing control according to the user's manipulation (steps S1 and S2), and the menu by the user's manipulation. When the mode is set, a setting control step of setting operating conditions of the camera according to the user's operation is performed (steps S3 and S4). The above steps are repeatedly performed until an external end signal is input (step S5).

5 shows a detailed algorithm of the photographing control step S2 of FIG. 4. Here, the shutter button 13 included in the user input unit INP has a two-stage structure. That is, after the user operates the wide-zoom button 39w and the tele-zoom button 39t, the S1 signal from the shutter button 13 is turned on by pressing the shutter button 13 only one step, and 2 When the button is pressed all the way, the S2 signal from the shutter button 13 is turned on. Thus, the shooting control algorithm of FIG. 5 starts when the user presses the shutter button 13 one step (step 701).

Referring to Figs. 3 and 5, the algorithm of the shooting control (step S6) of Fig. 5 is described in detail. First, when the S1 signal is turned on (step S5), the remaining amount of the memory card is checked (step 702), and the digital image. It is checked whether it is a capacity capable of recording signals (step 703).

In the case of the recordable capacity in the step 703, first, an automatic white balance (AWB) mode is performed to set relevant parameters (step 705). An automatic exposure (AE) mode is next performed, whereby the exposure amount for incident luminance is calculated, and the aperture driving motor M _A is driven in accordance with the calculated exposure amount (step 706). Next, an automatic focusing (AF) mode is performed to set the current position of the focus lens FL (step 707). Next, it is checked whether the S1 signal, which is the first-stage signal from the shutter button 13, is on (step 708). If the S1 signal is not On, it ends because there is no user intention. If the S1 signal is on, it is checked whether the S2 signal is on (step 709). If the S2 signal is not turned on, the user does not press the second stage of the shutter button 13 for capturing. Therefore, the process moves to the step 706. If the S2 signal is On, the user presses the second stage of the shutter button 13 for shooting, and thus the shooting operation is performed (step 710). That is, the digital signal processor 507 is operated by the microcontroller 512, and the photoelectric converter OEC and the analog-to-digital converter 501 are operated by the timing circuit 502. In addition, the image data is converted and compressed by the digital signal processor 507, and the compressed image file is stored in the memory card through the memory card interface 506. In the present embodiment, any one of a low compression rate, that is, a first compression rate that is a high quality compression rate, an intermediate compression rate, that is, a second compression rate that is an intermediate compression quality, and a high compression rate, that is, a third compression rate that is a compression rate of memo image quality. Is selected by the user and applied.

Accordingly, if it is not the recordable capacity in the step 703, it is checked whether there is an image file stored at the first or second compression ratio (step 721). Here, if there is no image file stored at the first or second compression rate, all image files of the memory card are stored at the third compression rate, which is a high compression rate. Accordingly, as shown in FIG. 7A, after the first guidance message “No more remaining memory card can be expanded” is displayed on the display panel 35 (step 723), the process ends. On the other hand, if there is an image file stored as the first or second compression rate, the adaptive recompression routine is executed as shown in FIG. 6 (step 722).

Referring to Fig. 6, first, it is checked whether an image file stored at the first compression rate, which is a low compression rate, exists in a memory card (step 801). Here, if there is an image file compressed with the first compression rate, which is the low compression rate, the first recompression process (steps 811 to 814, and step 831) is performed. Further, if there is no image file compressed at the first compression rate, which is a low compression rate, and there is an image file compressed at the second compression rate, which is an intermediate compression rate, a second recompression process (steps 821 to 824, and step 831). This is going on.

In the first recompression process (steps 811 to 814, and step 831), first, as shown in FIG. 7C, when one of the images photographed on the display panel 35 is changed to an intermediate image quality, Shooting is possible. Are you sure? ", A third guidance message is displayed (step 811). Where the user "NO?" Press button (M4) to exit, "YES?" Pressing button M3 performs the following steps (step 812). That is, after the image file to be recompressed is reconstructed from compression (step 813), the reconstructed image file is recompressed with the second compression rate which is the intermediate compression rate (step 814). The recompressed image file is then stored in the memory card (step 831).

On the other hand, in the second recompression process (steps 821 to 824, and step 831), first, as shown in FIG. 7B, one of the images photographed on the display panel 35 is converted into memo quality. When the picture is taken, it is possible to shoot. Do you want to execute it? "Is displayed (step 821). Where the user "NO?" Press button (M2) to exit, "YES?" Pressing button M1 performs the following steps (step 822). That is, after the image file to be recompressed is reconstructed from compression (step 823), the reconstructed image file is recompressed with the third compression rate which is a high compression rate (step 824). The recompressed image file is then stored in the memory card (step 831).

As described above, according to the control method of the digital camera according to the present invention, either one of the first and second recompression steps is adaptively performed. Accordingly, since the remaining capacity of the memory card is adaptively enlarged according to the user's request, when the user takes a picture outdoors and the remaining capacity of the memory card becomes insufficient, the user needs to select and delete image files already stored in the memory card. none. Here, the compression ratios set by the user for each image file may be maintained as much as possible.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, but may be modified and improved by those skilled in the art within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the claims.

Claims (3)

A control method of a digital camera in which image files are compressed and stored in a memory card using at least first to third compression rates according to a user's selection. A checking step of confirming whether there is an image file compressed with a first compression rate which is a low compression rate or a second compression rate that is an intermediate compression rate when the capacity of the memory card is insufficient; A first recompression step of compressing and storing one image file among the image files compressed at the first compression ratio as the second compression ratio, if the image file compressed at the first compression ratio exists. ; And If there is no video file compressed at the first compression rate and there is an image file compressed at the second compression rate, one image file from among the video files compressed at the second compression rate is allowed by the user. And a second recompression step of compressing and storing at the third compression rate, which is a high compression rate. The method of claim 1, wherein the first recompression step, Restoring an image file from compression among the image files compressed with the first compression ratio; And And compressing and restoring the restored image file at the second compression ratio. The method of claim 1, wherein the second recompression step, Restoring an image file from compression among the image files compressed with the second compression ratio; And And compressing and restoring the restored image file at the third compression rate.