JP2001238120A - Electronic camera - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Problem] To provide an electronic camera capable of appropriately responding to a power supply failure during remote control mode operation without imposing a burden on an operator and contributing to improved reliability. The electronic camera body 1 can set a remote control mode regardless of whether or not the power is turned on. This is realized by the lens barrier of the main body 1 and constitutes a switch that keeps on or off in accordance with a slide opening / closing operation by an operator. In addition, a timer is provided that starts counting time from power-on and detects that a certain time has elapsed. It is suitable for remote control mode operation, so if it receives power from the outside, it recovers after a power failure, and if power is turned on again, if the above-mentioned fixed time elapses and the timer times out, remote control The operation automatically shifts to the operation related to the mode.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an electronic camera connected to a communication line from, for example, a portable telephone to communicate with a partner device and receiving remote control from the partner device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, in addition to the basic flow of research and development tending to improve image quality such as increasing the number of pixels in order to obtain a finer image, the functions of electronic cameras that provide new added value have been actively expanded. It has become to. For example, connecting a portable telephone to an electronic camera, transmitting images taken by the camera itself to an Internet server by communication via a communication line, or to a destination device such as another electronic camera also connected to the telephone, Conversely, a communication function of receiving an image from a destination device through communication has been considered.

An electronic camera which can be connected to a communication line by a telephone, and a control source device connected via the communication line, specifically, a personal computer (abbreviated as a PC) having a modem. Electronic camera remote control systems are also known.

[0004] Software for remote control operates on the PC of the control source device, and transmits a remote control command by making a telephone call to an electronic camera to be remotely controlled. A series of remote control commands constitute various imaging control sequences such as interval (intermittent) imaging. The electronic camera operates according to a remote control command sent from a PC via a communication line. The image obtained by the electronic camera performing the photographing operation in accordance with the remote control command is sent to the PC of the control source device via the communication line, and is provided for display or the like.

[0005] When a communication function is added to an electronic camera supposed to be used alone and a configuration capable of realizing such remote control is adopted, a meaningful new addition such as improvement in convenience of the camera and expansion of applications is provided. While value is gained,
There are new technical challenges that have so far had little to consider. One of the problems is a power supply on / off problem peculiar to remote control.

When an electronic camera that is to be remotely controlled opens the lens barrier with the telephone connected and power is turned on, an initial menu screen indicating a remote control mode start selection is displayed on the display liquid crystal monitor. Here, the mode shifts to the remote control mode only after the operator presses the “menu / OK” button. That is, since the remote control mode has a different usage environment from the other communication modes, the operator is prompted to confirm the mode transition by operating intervention.

[0007] Consider a case where the power supplied to the electronic camera body is interrupted due to some failure in the remote control mode operation state. For example, this is a case where power is supplied from the outside via a DC power supply input terminal, and a failure such as a power failure occurs in the external power supply system.

[0008] Here, in the conventional electronic camera, when the power is turned on again after the restoration of the power failure, the initial menu screen showing the selection of the start of the remote control mode is displayed as described above,
Confirmation of mode transition is required. At this time, if the operation of the remote control mode has already been started and the operator is absent, the operation of the remote control mode is stagnated in a state of waiting for operation intervention (confirmation) by the operator.

This is because of the operational characteristics of remote control,
There is a problem that this has a serious adverse effect and lowers the reliability. In the event of a power outage or the like, it is not necessary to perform a recovery operation by, for example, stepping on a foot from a remote place, so that the burden on the operator is increased.

[0010]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in consideration of the above circumstances, and is suitable for a power supply without a burden on an operator even when a failure in power supply occurs during a remote control mode operation. It is an object of the present invention to provide an electronic camera which can cope with the above and contribute to improvement of reliability.

[0011]

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 includes: a setting unit capable of setting a remote control mode regardless of whether or not the power of the electronic camera body is turned on; a timer unit for detecting that a predetermined time has elapsed since the power was turned on; When the remote control mode is set by the setting means, and when the elapse of a predetermined time is detected by the timer means, the mode shift means shifts to an operation related to the remote control mode. .

(2) The electronic camera according to the present invention is characterized in that (1)
The electronic camera according to the above, wherein the mode transition means,
It is characterized in that operation intervention is detected before the lapse of the predetermined time, and the mode shifts to another mode different from the remote control mode.

[0013]

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, like the CCD 12, and outputs a light detection signal to an AF / AE circuit (automatic focus circuit / automatic 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 performs control mainly for realizing basic operations of the electronic camera, such as photographing operation and image signal processing, and requires 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 image data of the captured image thus obtained is displayed on the display liquid crystal monitor 30 via the interface 28, while the memory card 4 is displayed via the interface 44.
6 is written. The memory card 46 is a small recording medium and is detachable from the electronic camera body 1. The image for monitor display and the photographed image are converted by the D / A conversion circuit 40.
Is converted into an analog signal by the video output terminal 4
2 can also be output.

The operation button / display LCD 26 comprises 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, for example, a large display device disposed 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.

The 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 the present embodiment has a communication I
Serial terminal (RS232C) 38 without using / F52
It is also configured to be able to communicate with a personal computer (not shown) via the.

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. Or DC power input terminal (DC in
Terminal) and a DC / DC circuit 50 to supply power from the outside.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of a remote control system for an electronic camera according to the present embodiment. In this system, a telephone (digital mobile phone (PDC) 62 or PHS 64) is connected to the electronic camera body 1, and an electronic camera set capable of receiving remote control is connected to a modem 70 here. Phone 6 above
2 or 64, and a personal computer (PC) 72 which can be connected to the same public communication telephone line and has remote control software compatible with the electronic camera body 1. This remote control software uses the modem 7
The electronic camera body 1 has a function of performing communication by making a call to the telephone 62 or 64 by controlling the remote controller 0 and an operation screen function relating to various remote controls of the electronic camera body 1 connected to the telephone. For example, when the operator instructs to press the through image display button 76 using a mouse or the like on the operation screen, a through image transmitted from the electronic camera 1 via the communication line and the modem 70 is displayed in the through image display area 74. . When the operator instructs the photographing instruction button 78 to be pressed, a remote control command to that effect is sent to the electronic camera body 1.
Send to In response, the electronic camera 1 performs a shooting operation. The remote control software receives the captured image obtained by the electronic camera body 1 via the communication line and the modem 70 and displays the captured image on the captured image display area 80.

Here, the remote control automatic mode transition processing according to the feature of the present invention will be described. The electronic camera main body 1 of the present embodiment can set the remote control mode regardless of whether or not the power of the main body 1 is turned on. This is the same body 1
Is realized by the lens barrier of FIG. As described above, the lens barrier of the present embodiment constitutes a switch that keeps the on or off state regardless of whether or not the power is turned on according to the slide opening and closing operation by the operator.

Further, a timer is provided for detecting that a certain period of time has elapsed from the start of time measurement after the power is turned on. In the present embodiment, the time to be measured is, for example, 60 seconds. here,
Regarding power-on, the present embodiment assumes the following situation.

That is, since it is suitable for the remote mode operation, the DC power supply input terminal (DC in terminal) and the DC /
In the case where power is supplied from the outside via the DC circuit 50, after the power is first turned on, some trouble occurs in the external power supply system and a power failure occurs. It is assumed that the power is turned on again. During the power outage and after the power outage is restored, the lens barrier remains open and the remote control mode continues to be set.

Here, the electronic camera body 1 of the present embodiment is
When the fixed time (60 seconds) elapses and the timer times out, the operation automatically shifts to the operation related to the remote control mode. As a result, when the remote control mode operation is interrupted due to an unexpected power failure or the like, and then restored and the power is turned on again, the operation does not stagnate in a state of waiting for operation intervention by the operator. In view of the operational characteristics of the remote control, the reliability of operation (failure resistance) can be improved.

Further, in the event of a power failure or the like, it is not necessary to perform a recovery operation by stepping on the foot from a remote place, so that the burden on the operator can be reduced.

The automatic mode transition operation of the remote control according to the present embodiment will be described in detail with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS.

FIGS. 3 to 5 are flowcharts showing the operation of the electronic camera according to the present embodiment at the time of startup.

FIG. 3 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 relating 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 detection process (step S2), an electrical connection with 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, if the first pin is in the connected state and the second
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 in accordance with the type of the telephone, for example, by the communication I / F 52 transmitting / receiving a communication command to / from 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 connection has been made, an operation transition 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.

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

As shown in FIG. 4, after the power of the electronic camera main body 1 is turned on by pressing the monitor / playback button (step S11) and necessary hardware initializing processing is performed, the electronic camera main body 1 is provided on the electronic camera main body 1. The timer that has been set starts measuring the time elapsed since the button was pressed (step S12).

Here, the monitor / play button is pressed again until the timer counts one second, that is, one second elapses after the monitor / play button is pressed, that is, 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 of steps S15 to S21 is a series of processing relating to the detection of connection to a communication line similar to the processing of steps S2 to 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.

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. 5, 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).
4). Then, the process proceeds to a more detailed communication mode selection process (step S25).

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. That is, when the power is turned on and the process of detecting the connection to the communication line is completed, the initial screen of the remote control mode mainly including the photographing operation is displayed, and the timer of the electronic camera body 1 starts counting time (step). S26). Here, when the lens barrier is closed (step S27), it is possible to shift to a normal communication mode (step S23) in which remote control is not performed.

Next, it is determined by the timer of the electronic camera body 1 whether 60 seconds have elapsed. Until 60 seconds have elapsed, the processing of steps S26 to S28 is repeated. In other words, until 60 seconds elapse, it is possible to instruct the operator to intervene in the operation, that is, to shift to the normal communication mode by the barrier closing operation. Incidentally, the forced shift to the remote control mode can be performed without waiting for the elapse of 60 seconds (step S29).

If it is detected in step S28 that 60 seconds have elapsed, the flow shifts to step S30, where specific remote control processing is performed.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, but can be implemented with various modifications. For example, it is preferable to add a control device (more specifically, a power control device provided with a pager) for independently controlling on / off of the power of the electronic camera body 1 from a remote place. If the electronic camera main unit 1 experiences some systematic operation failure, the control device turns off the power supply of the main unit 1 once and then turns it on again, whereby a favorable remote control mode operation can be obtained.

[0052]

As described above, according to the present invention,
An electronic camera having a communication function capable of preventing unauthorized remote control by a third party beforehand and a remote control system for the electronic camera can be provided.

[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 diagram showing a schematic configuration of a remote control system of the electronic camera.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of the electronic camera when the electronic camera is activated, in a case where power is turned on by opening a lens barrier.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an operation at the time of activation of the electronic camera, showing a case where the power of the electronic camera body is turned on by pressing a monitor / play button.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an operation at the time of transition to a remote control mode according to the present invention;

[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)

 ────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Makoto Sakamoto 2-10-1 Toranomon, Minato-ku, Tokyo NTT Mobile Communications Network Co., Ltd. F-term (reference) 5C022 AA13 AB65 AB67 AC31 AC42 AC69 AC73 5K048 AA06 BA10 CA08 DA01 DB01 DC01 EA11 EB02 EB15 FB08 FB10 FC01 GA09 HA01 HA02 HA05 HA07 HA21 HA37 5K067 AA26 AA34 BB04 BB21 BB28 DD52 EE02 HH21 HH22 KK00 5K101 KK11 LL03 LL05 NN12 NN12 NN05 NN12 NN05 NN12 NN12 NN05

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A setting means capable of setting a remote control mode irrespective of whether or not a power supply of an electronic camera is turned on, a timer means for detecting that a predetermined time has passed since the power supply was turned on, and a remote control by the setting means. Mode is set,
An electronic camera comprising: a mode transition unit that shifts to an operation related to the remote control mode when a predetermined time has elapsed by the timer unit. 2. The electronic camera according to claim 1, wherein the mode transition unit detects an operation intervention before the predetermined time elapses, and transitions to another mode different from the remote control mode. .