JP2001223920A - Imaging device and display device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an imaging device and a display device by which a time when a reproduced image is displayed on a monitor screen can be reduced even when a picked-up image has a large size and the algorithm for reduction processing at reproduction can comparatively be simplified. SOLUTION: Data of a reduced image representing a reduced image with a prescribed reduction rate in cross-reference with original image data are generated and whether or not a size of the original image is larger than the size of a display device at reproduction is discriminated (step 102). When the size of the original image is the same as that of the display device or smaller, the original image is displayed (step 114), and when the size of the original image is larger than that of the display device, whether or not the size of the reduced image is larger than the size of the display device (step 106) is discriminated, and when the size of the reduced image is smaller than that of the display device, the reduced image is displayed (step 114), and when the size of the reduced image is larger that that of the display device, the reduced image is reduced so that the size of the reduced image is the same as that of the display device or smaller (step 108) and displayer on the display device (step 110).

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image pickup apparatus and a display apparatus, and more particularly to an image pickup apparatus such as a digital camera having a display section for displaying a photographed image and a display apparatus used for electric equipment such as a personal computer. .

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, the performance of imaging devices (hereinafter referred to as digital cameras) has been improved with the development of memory technology and the increase in the number of pixels of CCDs. It is becoming possible to record at a resolution. In addition, since recording an image at a high resolution requires a large amount of memory, a digital camera has a function of selecting a high-resolution mode for recording an image at a high resolution and a low-resolution mode for recording an image at a low resolution. If you want to record images at high resolution even if you need a lot of memory capacity,
The function can be selected according to the needs of the user, such as when a large number of images are recorded even if the image is slightly coarse.

Further, from the viewpoint of ease of use, in order to make it easy to check the recorded image, it is common to provide a digital camera with a monitor screen composed of an LCD or the like, and reproduce the recorded image on the monitor screen. It is becoming.

[0004] In recent years, the development of portable devices such as mobile personal computers has been remarkable, and as a result, the use of display devices with reduced screen sizes has increased.

[0005]

The monitor screen of the digital camera is prepared for checking an image. If the monitor screen is too large in view of the operability of the digital camera, the digital camera itself becomes large. The display capability of the monitor screen is limited to some extent because it is inconvenient to carry.

However, since the photographed image itself can be photographed at a high resolution, when reproducing the photographed image on a monitor screen and checking it, the size of the photographed image is reduced so that the photographed image fits in the size of the monitor screen. Need to be processed.

This reduction processing is performed after a photographed image is selected and a display instruction is issued. Therefore, the larger the photographed image is at a higher resolution, the longer the data amount is, and hence the longer the time is, the longer the reproduced image is displayed on the monitor screen. There is a disadvantage that the time until the display is delayed.

In order to shorten the time until the reproduced image is displayed on the monitor screen, fixed-size reduced image data which is reduced for display on the monitor screen based on the data of the photographed image at the time of photographing is created in advance. A configuration in which the data is stored in association with the data of the photographed image and the reduced image data is called and reproduced at the time of reproduction is also conceivable. There is also a problem. The above is also a problem for all devices having a monitor screen such as a mobile personal computer.

In view of the above, an object of the present invention is to provide an image pickup apparatus and a display apparatus capable of shortening the time until a reproduced image is displayed on a monitor screen even for a photographed image of a large size. And It is another object of the present invention to provide an imaging device and a display device in which an algorithm of a reduction process at the time of reproduction is relatively simple.

[0010]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an image pickup apparatus, wherein an image formed by a lens group is read by an image reading element and stored as original image data. A reduced image creating means for creating reduced image data for display based on the original image data and storing the reduced image data in association with the original image data; a display means for displaying an image based on the image data; And display control means for selecting, from the reduced image data, image data representing an image having a size smaller than or equal to the screen size of the display means and being close to the screen size of the display means, and displaying the selected image data on the display means. ing.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the image pickup apparatus focuses on the fact that an image whose size is smaller than the screen size of the display means can be quickly displayed on the display means without the need for reduction processing. Among the data and the reduced image data created by the reduced image creation means at the time of shooting, image data representing an image having a size smaller than the screen size of the display means and close to the screen size of the display means is selected and displayed on the display means. Display control means for causing the display to be turned on.

That is, when the size of the original image is smaller than the screen size of the display means, the display control means selects the original image data and displays it on the display means, and the size of the original image is smaller than the screen size of the display means. If the size of the reduced image is smaller than the screen size of the display means, control is performed such that reduced image data is selected and displayed on the display means.

According to this, when the size of the original image is smaller than the screen size of the display means, and when the size of the original image is larger than the screen size of the display means, and the size of the reduced image is smaller than the screen size of the display means If it is smaller than this, there is no need to perform a reduction process at the time of reproduction, and the image can be immediately displayed on the display means.

If the size of the reduced image is larger than the screen size of the display means, the display control means determines that the image size of the image represented by the reduced image data is equal to the display size. When the screen size is larger than the screen size of the means, an image reduced based on the reduced image data is displayed on the display means.

That is, when the size of the reduced image is larger than the screen size of the display means, the reduced image data is reduced so as to be smaller than the screen size of the display means. Compared with this, the processing amount is small, and the reduction processing can be performed in a short time. Therefore, the time from when an image is selected and a reproduction instruction is given to when the image is displayed on the display means is shortened.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the imaging apparatus according to the first or second aspect, the reduced image creating means reduces the original image at a predetermined fixed reduction rate based on the original image data. Reduced image data representing a reduced image is created.

That is, by setting the image data of the reduced image created at the time of photographing to a fixed reduction ratio regardless of the size of the original image, the algorithm of the reduction process by the reduced image creation means can be simplified. Speed can be increased. In addition, since the algorithm of the reduction process can be simplified, there is an advantage that the design is convenient.

In the case of displaying a list in which a plurality of images are simultaneously displayed on the screen of the display means, the reduced image data generated by the reduced image generating means according to any one of claims 1 to 3 is used for displaying the list. Although image data may be created, preferably, as described in claim 4, the reduced image creating means sets the original image smaller than the screen size of the display means based on the original image data. It is preferable to further create list display image data representing a list display image reduced to have a predetermined fixed image size. Thereby, at the time of list display, a list can be immediately displayed without creating reduced image data for list display from individual original image data or reduced image data, which is preferable.

Further, according to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a display device, wherein reduced image creation means for creating reduced image data for display based on original image data, and reduced image data created by the reduced image creation means. Reduced image storage means for storing the image data in association with the original image data; display means for displaying an image based on the image data; and the image size of the original image data and the reduced image data being smaller than the screen size of the display means. And display control means for selecting image data representing an image close to the screen size of the display means and displaying the image data on the display means.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, the display control means selects the original image data and displays it on the display means when the size of the original image is smaller than the screen size of the display means, and displays the size of the original image. If the size of the reduced image is larger than the screen size of the display means and the size of the reduced image is smaller than the screen size of the display means, control is performed so that reduced image data is selected and displayed on the display means.

Thus, when the size of the original image is smaller than the screen size of the display means, and when the size of the original image is larger than the screen size of the display means, and the size of the reduced image is smaller than the screen size of the display means. If it is smaller than this, there is no need to perform a reduction process at the time of reproduction, and the image can be immediately displayed on the display means.

The display control means, when the size of the reduced image is larger than the screen size of the display means, when the image size of the image represented by the reduced image data is larger than the screen size of the display means, It is preferable that an image reduced based on the reduced image data is displayed on the display unit. Thereby, the reduction processing can be performed in a short time. Therefore, the time from when an image is selected and a reproduction instruction is given to when the image is displayed on the display means is shortened.

Preferably, the reduced image creating means is
Based on the original image data, reduced image data representing a reduced image obtained by reducing the original image at a predetermined fixed reduction ratio may be created. Thereby, the algorithm of the reduction process by the reduced image creation unit can be simplified, and the processing speed can be increased. In addition, since the algorithm of the reduction process can be simplified, there is an advantage that the design is convenient.

Further, when displaying a list in which a plurality of images are simultaneously displayed on the screen of the display means, image data for list display may be created using the reduced image data created by the reduced image creation means. Preferably, the reduced image creating unit reduces the original image to a predetermined fixed image size smaller than the screen size of the display unit based on the original image data, and preferably displays a list display image. It is preferable to further create display image data. This allows
At the time of list display, a list can be displayed immediately without creating reduced image data for list display from individual original image data or reduced image data, which is preferable.

[0025]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. In a digital camera 10 to which the present invention is applied, as shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B, a main body 11 has a substantially box shape, and on the left side when viewed from the front,
Protrusions (grip portions) for facilitating grip of the main body 11 are formed.

As shown in FIG. 1A, on the front side of the main body 11, a zoom lens 14, a finder 15 for visually confirming a photographing range and the like, and an auxiliary light for photographing with low illuminance. A strobe 16 for firing is attached.

A slot 23 in which a memory card 18 as an information storage medium such as a smart media can be inserted is provided on the right side of the main body 11 when viewed from the front. The mode dial 47 and the power switch 21 are provided on the left side when viewed from above, and the central part of the mode dial 47 is the shutter button 12.

The mode dial 47 is a dial for selecting an operation mode of the digital camera. Examples of the mode dial 47 include an auto shooting mode, a manual shooting mode, a self-timer shooting mode, a playback mode, a PC mode for connecting a personal computer to output an image, and Select one of the setup item setting modes for setting the initial conditions of various functions.

Further, as shown in FIG.
A reflective LCD or a transmissive front LCD
A color display 46 composed of a monochrome liquid crystal display panel 13, a strobe button 17, a cross button 19,
And various selection buttons such as a menu execution button 25 are provided.

The display 46 has a screen size of 640.
A 480-pixel liquid crystal display panel. When an image display instruction is given, an image is displayed on the entire screen based on image data stored in the memory 42 and image data read from the memory card 18, which will be described later. Or display a plurality of reduced images side by side (hereinafter, referred to as thumbnail display) and display various function selection screens. The liquid crystal display panel 13 displays current settings of the digital camera, such as an operation mode, image quality, battery amount, strobe light emission / non-emission, and the number of shootable images.

The cross button 19 is a button for selecting a button displayed on the display 46 or moving a cursor when the display 46 is a various item selection screen. The strobe button 17 is a button for issuing a compulsory flashing instruction when forcibly firing the strobe or for issuing a flashing prohibition instruction when prohibiting the strobe flashing. The menu execution button 25 is displayed on the display 46 with a cross button. This is a button for issuing an instruction to execute the item selected at 19.

FIG. 2 shows the configuration of the electric system of the digital camera 10. More specifically, the zoom lens 14 is a zoom lens (variable focal length lens) having a mechanism (autofocus (AF) mechanism) capable of changing a focal position by a driving force of a driving source such as a stepping motor. The AF mechanism and the zoom mechanism are driven by a drive circuit (not shown). Note that instead of a zoom lens, AF
A fixed focal length lens having only a mechanism may be used.
Note that the zoom lens 14 corresponds to the lens group of the present invention.

At a position corresponding to the focal position of the zoom lens 14 inside the main body 11, an image pickup device 30 composed of an area CCD and provided with an electronic shutter mechanism is arranged. The formed light is focused on the light receiving surface of the imaging device 30.

The imaging device 30 includes a driving circuit 24a
The drive circuit 24a drives the imaging device 30 at a timing synchronized with the timing signal generated by the timing signal generation circuit 27, and outputs an image signal (a number of photoelectric elements arranged in a matrix on the light receiving surface). (A signal representing the amount of light received in each of the conversion cells). Note that the imaging device 30 corresponds to the image reading element of the present invention.

The timing signal generation circuit 27 is controlled by the control unit 22 constituted by a microcomputer, and generates various timing signals (clock signals) for operating the imaging device 30, the A / D conversion unit 38 and the like.

The signal output terminal of the imaging device 30 is connected to an A / D converter 38 via an amplifier (not shown), and a signal output from the imaging device 30 is amplified by the amplifier and converted to an A / D converter. At 38, it is converted to digital data.

The output terminal of the A / D converter 38 is connected to a digital signal processor 40 via a correlated double sampling circuit (CDS circuit) 29 and an internal interface (I / F) circuit (not shown) in this order. The CDS circuit 29 samples the feedthrough data indicating the level of the feedthrough signal and the pixel data indicating the level of the pixel signal, and subtracts the feedthrough data from the pixel data for each pixel. Then, the calculation result (pixel data accurately corresponding to the accumulated charge amount in each CCD cell) is sequentially output to the digital signal processing unit 40 as scan image data via the I / F circuit.

The digital signal processing section 40 performs predetermined digital signal processing (for example, shading correction processing) on the input digital signal, and outputs it to the memory 42 via the data bus 88 as original image data. At this time,
With respect to the size of the image represented by the original image data, for example, image data of a reduced image having a predetermined reduction ratio such as 1/4 in the line direction and thumbnail images of a fixed size for thumbnail display are created. Then, it is stored in the memory 42 in association with the original image data.

Note that the reduced image having the predetermined reduction ratio is
For example, in the case of reduction to 1/4 in the line direction, a process of thinning out pixels of the original image in the line direction so as to have a predetermined reduction ratio, such as extracting one pixel for every four pixels, is performed. Or an original image is divided into areas in units of pixels of the number of pixels determined according to the reduction ratio, and can be created by various methods such as a thinning process of selecting one pixel for each area. .

When a thumbnail display instruction is issued, a plurality of thumbnail images stored in association with each of the plurality of image data stored in the memory 42 are displayed on the display 4 at a time.
6 is displayed. A process for displaying the image data, which is stored in the memory 42 and for which the display instruction is issued, on the entire display 46 will be described later. The digital signal processing unit 40 is connected to a video output terminal 49 by an external device (not shown).
If it is connected to a video signal, it outputs a video signal.

The memory 42 stores the image data output from the digital signal processor 40 via the data bus. At this time, if a write instruction is given to the memory card 18, the stored image data is compressed by the compression / decompression unit 44 and written via the external interface (external I / F) 43. Note that it is also possible to set so that the data is written without compression by the compression / expansion unit 44. The external I / F 43 has a digital I / F.
An O port 31 is provided so that image data can be output to another device connected to the digital IO port 31.

When an instruction to reproduce (display) an image based on the image data stored in the memory card loaded in the slot 23 is issued, the image data is read from the memory card. If the read image data has been compressed and stored, the compressed image data is stored in the compression / decompression unit 4.
After being decompressed (decompressed) in step 4, it is stored in the memory 42.
Then, the digital signal processing unit 40 transfers the image data stored in the memory 42 to the liquid crystal drive circuit 24b and causes the display 46 to display (reproduce) the image.

Here, the image display processing by the digital signal processing unit 40 when the image represented by the image data stored in the memory 42 is reproduced on the display 46 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. When one of the image data stored in the memory 42 is selected and a reproduction request is made, in step 100, the size of the original image represented by the selected original image data is confirmed.

In the next step 102, the size of the confirmed original image is compared with the size of the display 46 to determine whether or not the size of the original image is larger than the size of the display 46. For example, in the present embodiment, the display 4
6 is 640 × 480 pixels, it is determined whether the size of the original image is larger than 640 × 480 pixels.

If it is determined that the size of the original image is larger than the size of the display 46 (for example, 640 × 480 pixels), the process proceeds to step 104. If the size of the original image is smaller than the size of the display 46,
In step 114, the original image data is transferred to the liquid crystal drive circuit 24b to display the original image on the display 46, and then the process proceeds to step 112.

In step 104, the size of the reduced image represented by the reduced image data created in association with the original image data at the time of recording the original image is confirmed, and the routine proceeds to step 106. In step 106, the size of the confirmed reduced image is compared with the size of the display 46 to determine whether the size of the reduced image is larger than the size of the display 46.

If it is determined that the size of the reduced image is larger than the size of the display 46, the process proceeds to step 108. If the size of the reduced image is equal to or smaller than the size of the display 46, the process proceeds to step 116, where the reduced image data is transferred to the liquid crystal drive circuit 24b to display the reduced image on the display 46, and then proceeds to step 112.

In step 108, reduced image data for display is created by reducing the size of the reduced image according to the size of the display 46. In this case, the reduced image data for display is 640, which is the same as the size of the display 46.
It is created so as to have a size of 480 pixels. Of course, any size may be used as long as it is equal to or smaller than the size of the display 46.

In the next step 110, step 108
The display reduced image data created in step 2
And the image is displayed on the display 46, and the process proceeds to step 112. In step 112, it is determined whether there is a request to reproduce another image data. If so, the process returns to step 100 and repeats the above processing. If there is no request to reproduce another image data, this routine ends.

As described above, in the digital camera according to the present embodiment, when recording a captured image, reduced image data having a predetermined reduction ratio is created and stored in association with original image data. In this case, the size of the original image represented by the original image data is compared with the size of the reduced image represented by the reduced image data, and if the size of the original image is equal to or smaller than the size of the display 46, the original image is displayed on the display 46;
If the size of the original image is larger than the size of the display 46 and the size of the reduced image is equal to or smaller than the size of the display 46, the reduced image is displayed on the display 46;
Both the size of the original image and the size of the reduced image are displayed on the display 46.
If the size is larger than the size, the reduced image is further reduced to create display reduced image data for display and use this for display.

That is, reduction processing is performed only when the reduced image data created at the time of photographing is larger than the size of the display 46, and the rest is displayed on the display 46 using the original image data or reduced image data. The time until the reproduced image is displayed can be shortened.

Further, even if the original image has a large size and the reduced image data stored in association with the original image is larger than the size of the display 46, the reduction processing is performed using the reduced image data reduced in advance. Therefore, the reduction processing can be completed in a shorter time as compared with the case where the reduction processing is performed from the original image data, and the display 46 is accordingly faster.
Can be displayed. Also, the reduction processing at the time of shooting may be a relatively simple algorithm, since the reduction processing may be performed so that the size of the original image is reduced at a fixed reduction ratio regardless of the size of the original image.

In the present embodiment, for the size of the image represented by the original image data, image data of a reduced image having a predetermined reduction rate and thumbnail images of a fixed size for thumbnail display are created. Is stored in the memory 42 in association with the original image data, but only the image data of the reduced image having the predetermined reduction ratio is stored in the memory 42 in association with the original image data, and a fixed-size thumbnail for thumbnail display is displayed. An image may be configured to be created by reducing the image data of the reduced image.

[0054]

As described above, according to the first and second aspects of the present invention, the time from when an image is selected and a reproduction instruction is given to when the image is displayed on the display means is shortened. can get.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, the algorithm of the reduction process can be simplified, so that the effect of increasing the processing speed can be obtained. In addition, since the algorithm of the reduction process can be simplified, there is an advantage that the design is convenient.

Further, according to the fourth aspect of the present invention, it is possible to obtain an effect that the list can be displayed immediately when the list is displayed.

Further, according to the fifth aspect of the present invention, an effect is obtained that the display device has a short time from when an image is selected and a reproduction instruction is given to when the image is displayed on the display means.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1A is a perspective view showing an appearance of a front side of a digital camera according to a first embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2B is a perspective view showing the appearance of the back side of the digital camera shown in FIG.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the digital camera according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a control routine of an image display process of a digital signal processing unit in FIG. 2;

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Digital camera 11 Main body 12 Shutter button 13 Liquid crystal display panel 14 Zoom lens 15 Viewfinder 16 Strobe 17 Strobe button 18 Memory card 19 Cross button 21 Power switch 22 Control part 23 Slot 24a Drive circuit 24b Liquid crystal drive circuit 25 Menu execution button 27 Timing signal Generation circuit 29 CDS circuit 30 Imaging device 31 Digital I / O port 38 A / D conversion unit 40 Digital signal processing unit 42 Memory 43 External I / F 44 Compression / expansion unit 46 Display 47 Mode dial 49 Video output terminal 88 Data bus

Continued on the front page F term (reference) 5B069 CA06 DD11 5C022 AA13 AC03 5C052 AA17 DD02 EE03 EE08 GA02 GA03 GB01 GC05 GE04 GE08 5C059 LB05 PP01 SS15 UA02 UA05 UA36

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A storage unit for storing original image data formed by a lens group and read by an image reading element, and a reduced image creation for creating reduced image data for display based on the original image data. Means, reduced image storage means for storing reduced image data created by the reduced image creation means in association with original image data, display means for displaying an image based on image data, the original image data and Display control means for selecting image data representing an image having an image size equal to or less than the screen size of the display means and being close to the screen size of the display means from among the reduced image data, and displaying the selected image data on the display means. Imaging device. 2. The display control means displays an image reduced based on the reduced image data on the display means when an image size of an image represented by the reduced image data is larger than a screen size of the display means. The imaging device according to claim 1, wherein: 3. The reduced image creating unit according to claim 1, wherein the reduced image creating unit creates reduced image data representing a reduced image obtained by reducing the original image at a predetermined fixed reduction rate based on the original image data. Imaging device. 4. A list representing a list display image obtained by reducing the original image to a predetermined fixed image size smaller than the screen size of the display unit based on the original image data. The imaging device according to claim 1, further comprising creating display image data. 5. A reduced image creating means for creating reduced image data for display based on original image data, and a reduced image storing the reduced image data created by the reduced image creating means in association with the original image data. Storage means, display means for displaying an image based on the image data, and, among the original image data and the reduced image data, an image size is equal to or less than the screen size of the display means and close to the screen size of the display means A display control means for selecting image data representing an image and causing the display means to display the selected image data.