JP2008182555A - Recording / playback device - Google Patents

Abstract

Provided is a recording / reproducing apparatus capable of performing a recording / reproducing operation at a sufficient volume despite a failure during recording / reproducing.
If there is a response to the first touch panel 12 during shooting in the moving image shooting mode, the degree of shielding of the shielding portion of the microphone hole 11 is identified from the contact area. The gain of the electronic volume is increased according to the degree of shielding, and audio data is taken from the microphone and recorded on the memory card 10. If the entire periphery of the microphone hole 11 is shielded, a warning message is displayed on the LCD, and no audio data is recorded.
[Selection] Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to a recording / reproducing apparatus having means for recording and reproducing at a sufficient volume.

  In recent years, electronic devices have been downsized along with technological advances. Miniaturization is an important factor for consumers to improve their willingness to purchase, but it also has a negative aspect when operating equipment. For example, in the case of a camera, the operator's fingers are likely to come into contact with a part such as a flash device or a lens, and shooting may fail due to shooting in that state.

On the other hand, in Patent Document 1, a touch panel is provided on the front protector of the flash unit of the camera to detect that a finger has been applied to the flash unit, and the protector is vibrated to warn the operator to prevent unsuccessful shooting. A camera has been proposed. Also, in Patent Document 2, the cover member of the microphone of the video camera is configured with a touch switch, and it is detected that a hand or the like has touched the cover member during shooting, and a warning is displayed on the finder to prevent unsuccessful shooting. Video cameras have been proposed.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2004-294819 JP 2000-206602 A

  However, although any of the above documents has a function to give a warning to the operator, it is possible to prevent most of the failure shooting or the failure recording. However, if the operator is not aware of the warning, the failure shooting or the failure recording will eventually occur. turn into. Such unsuccessful shooting not only misses the chance of shooting at the corner, but in extreme cases, the operator may lose interest in the device itself. In particular, the disappointment of the operator in the case of failure recording (failed recording) due to a long-time recording operation in a video camera as in Patent Document 2 is immeasurable.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a recording / reproducing apparatus capable of performing a recording / reproducing operation at a sufficient volume in spite of a failure during recording / reproducing.

  In order to solve the above-described problem, the recording / reproducing apparatus according to the present invention includes a microphone that collects sound through a microphone hole provided in the exterior and outputs it as a sound signal, and a recording unit that records the sound signal. Contact area detection means for exposing the surface of the exterior so as to surround the microphone hole so as to surround the periphery of the microphone hole, and detecting the contact area by the finger of the operator, and the audio signal based on the set gain An electronic volume for adjusting the size of the microphone hole, and a degree of shielding of the microphone hole by an operator's finger based on the contact area detected by the contact area detecting means is identified, and the electronic volume is determined according to the degree of shielding. And an electronic volume control means for amplifying the audio signal by setting the gain. In addition, when the contact area detected by the contact area detection means is the entire periphery of the microphone hole, a warning notification means for warning the operator may be provided.

  In addition, in a recording / playback apparatus including a speaker that outputs sound through a speaker hole provided in the exterior based on an audio signal reproduced from the recording means, the surface of the exterior is surrounded by the vicinity of the speaker hole. A contact area detection means for detecting a contact area by an operator's finger, an electronic volume for adjusting the magnitude of the audio signal based on a set gain, and the contact area detection An electronic volume for amplifying the audio signal by identifying a degree of shielding of the speaker hole by an operator's finger based on the contact area detected by the means and setting a gain of the electronic volume according to the degree of shielding Control means. In addition, when the contact area detected by the contact area detection means is the entire periphery of the speaker hole, a warning notification means for warning the operator may be provided.

  In any of the above recording / playback apparatuses, as the area detection means, a touch panel for detecting contact or a photosensor for detecting reflected light can be used.

  With such a recording / reproducing apparatus, a recording operation or a reproducing operation can be normally performed even when an operator's finger is placed on a part of the microphone hole or the speaker hole. When the operator's finger completely covers the microphone hole or the speaker hole, the operator can be alerted by giving a warning.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a digital camera 1 as an example of a recording / playback apparatus according to the present invention is provided with a photographing lens 3 and a flash device 2 for photographing a subject, and a power supply on the top surface. A power switch 4 for turning on / off, a release switch 5 to be pressed at the time of photographing, and a mode changeover switch 6 for sliding the knob and selectively switching the operation mode according to the position are provided. When the release switch 5 is half-pressed, automatic focus adjustment (AF) and automatic exposure adjustment (AE) are performed, and shooting is performed when the release switch 5 is fully pressed. In addition, the operator can select a still image shooting mode for shooting a still image, a moving image shooting mode for shooting a movie, and playback for displaying any shot still image or movie on the LCD 8 on the back by using the mode switch 6. One of the operation modes can be selected from the modes.

  Further, a substantially elliptical microphone hole 11 is provided on the exterior of the upper surface of the digital camera 1, and sound can be collected from a microphone provided inside through the microphone hole 11 when shooting a moving image. . In the vicinity of the microphone hole 11, a rectangular first touch panel 12 that is exposed on the exterior surface is disposed so as to surround the periphery of the microphone hole 11. When the operator's finger touches the microphone hole 11, the contact is made. The area can be detected. As will be described later, an audio signal output from the microphone can be amplified in accordance with the contact area.

  An LCD 8 is arranged on the back of the digital camera 1 to display a through image in the still image or movie shooting mode, a still image and a movie selected in the playback mode, and a menu for setting. can do. Further, as will be described later, the LCD 8 displays a warning notification means for displaying a warning to the operator when finger contact is detected in the entire area around the microphone hole 11 or around the speaker hole 13 during moving image shooting or moving image reproduction. Also works. Next to the LCD 8, an operation key 7 composed of four push buttons is arranged, and various operations such as menu selection, camera zoom adjustment, and shooting settings such as the number of pixels of an image and exposure are performed. It can be carried out. In addition, the operation key 7 forcibly emits light from the flash unit 2, the non-light emission mode forcibly prohibiting light emission, and the automatic light emission mode for determining whether to automatically emit light based on the results of AE and AF. Can be switched.

  On the right side with respect to the shooting direction of the digital camera 1 is a memory card 10 for recording captured still image and moving image data, and a connector for housing this memory card 10 and electrically connecting it to the circuit inside the camera. And a memory card slot 9 having. The memory card 10 is a medium such as an SD memory card or a compact flash (registered trademark) used for a digital camera for general purposes.

  In addition, a speaker hole 13 is provided in a slit shape on the exterior of the operation key 7 so that when a moving image is reproduced in the reproduction mode, the sound recorded from the speaker provided therein can be reproduced and output. It has become. Similar to the microphone hole 11, a rectangular second touch panel 14 is disposed on the exterior surface so as to surround the periphery of the speaker hole 13, and when the operator's fingers touch the speaker hole 13. The contact area can be detected. As will be described later, an audio signal output to the speaker can be amplified in accordance with the contact area.

  Next, the configuration and function of the digital camera 1 will be described. As shown in FIG. 3, a photographing lens 3 is arranged on the front surface of the digital camera 1 as is well known. The photographing lens 3 is moved in the optical axis direction by a lens driving unit 20 including a motor, a motor driver, a driving mechanism, and the like. The lens driving unit 20 is driven by an instruction signal from the operation control unit 26 based on an input from the operation key 7 or the like. A mechanical shutter 21 that opens and closes the photographing optical path is disposed behind the photographing lens 3 in the optical axis direction. When the operation control unit 26 detects that the release switch 5 is pressed, it opens and closes the mechanical shutter 21 at an appropriate timing.

  A CCD 22 is disposed behind the mechanical shutter 21 in the optical axis direction as an image sensor. The CCD 22 converts the subject light that has passed through the photographic lens 3 and formed on the light receiving surface into an electrical image signal, and based on the transfer pulse supplied from the drive circuit 24, CDS (correlated double sampling). Output to the circuit 23. Note that a CMOS sensor may be used as the image sensor instead of the CCD 22.

  The CDS circuit 23 is driven based on the drive pulse output from the drive circuit 24, reduces the noise of the imaging signal output from the CCD 22, and outputs it to the A / D conversion circuit 25. The drive pulse of the drive circuit 24 is synchronized with the pulse signal from the operation control unit 26. The A / D conversion circuit 25 converts the input analog imaging signal into digital image data and outputs the digital image data to the operation control unit 26. The image data is subjected to various image processing and output to the compression / decompression unit 28. The compression / decompression unit 28 compresses the input image data and converts it into a data format such as JPEG or MPEG, and the operation control unit 26 reads out the compressed image data and records it as an image file on the memory card 10. . The memory card 10 is an external memory for storing image files, and is electrically connected to the operation control unit 26 via a connector (not shown). In the reproduction mode, the operation control unit 26 reads out the image data recorded on the memory card 10 and reproduces and displays it on the LCD 8.

  The mode change switch 6 is a switch for switching the operation mode, and the operation control unit 26 controls the operation of the entire camera according to the operation mode. The operation key 7 is used to perform various setting operations of the digital camera 1, and outputs a signal corresponding to the operation to the operation control unit 26, and the operation control unit 26 that has received the signal outputs the signal to the lens driving unit 20. A drive instruction signal is output, and appropriate processing such as menu display and setting on the LCD 8 is executed.

  The LCD 8 outputs various images from the operation control unit 26 via the LCD drive circuit 27. For example, a through image is output in the still image and moving image shooting mode, the selected still image and moving image are displayed in the playback mode, and a menu for setting is displayed in the operation setting. When the first or second touch panel 12 or 14 detects contact in the entire area around the microphone hole 11 or the speaker hole 13, the LCD 8 displays a warning to the operator according to an instruction from the operation control unit 26.

  The microphone 15 and the speaker 16 are connected to the operation control unit 26 via an audio signal processing unit 29 composed of a plurality of functional blocks. The microphone 15 is provided for recording during moving image shooting. The electrical audio signal output from the microphone 15 is amplified by an amplifier unit (AMP) 33 in the audio signal processing unit 29, and then an audio level higher than a predetermined level is output by an automatic level control unit (ALC) 32. Processing for correcting to the predetermined level is performed. Further, the size of the audio signal is adjusted based on the gain set in the electronic volume (EVR) 31 on the input side. As will be described later, the gain is determined at any time according to the contact area detected by the first touch panel 12 by the operation control unit 26 and set in the electronic volume 31. The audio signal output from the electronic volume 31 is converted into digital audio data by an analog / digital conversion unit (ADC) 30 and input to the operation control unit 26. The operation control unit 26 converts the audio data together with the captured image data into an MPEG file or the like by the compression / decompression unit 28 and then records the data as a moving image file on the memory card 10.

  The speaker 16 is for outputting sound when a moving image file is reproduced in the reproduction mode. When a moving image file to be reproduced on the LCD 8 is selected by the operation key 7, the operation control unit 26 reads the file from the memory card 10 and then releases the compression by the compression / decompression unit 28. Then, the operation control unit 26 separates the data of the file into image data and audio data, and outputs the image data to the LCD driving circuit 27 to display the image on the LCD 8 at any time, while synchronizing with this. The sound data is output from the speaker 16 via the audio signal processing unit 29 as an electrical sound signal. The audio data input to the audio signal processing unit 29 is converted into an analog audio signal by a digital / analog signal conversion unit (DAC) 34 of the audio signal processing unit 29. Further, the size of the audio signal is adjusted based on the gain in the electronic volume (EVR) 35 on the output side. As will be described later, the gain is determined at any time according to the contact area detected by the second touch panel 14 by the operation control unit 26 and set in the electronic volume 35. The audio signal output from the electronic volume 35 is amplified by an amplifier unit (AMP) 36 and output to the speaker 16.

  The first touch panel 12 is provided as contact area detection means for detecting the contact area when the operator's finger is placed in the microphone hole 11. The first touch panel 12 detects presence / absence of contact in each of six regions (see “region a” to “region f” in FIG. 4) obtained by dividing the region around the microphone hole 11 vertically and horizontally as shown in FIG. Can do. Specifically, the operation control unit 26 recognizes the combination of the areas a to f included in the contact area 43 with the finger 40 of the first touch panel, and applies appropriate appropriate data from the data stored in the data search memory 37 in advance. After searching for an appropriate gain ratio, the electronic volume 31 is set. This data can be configured as shown in the following table, for example.

  Based on this table, in the case of FIG. 4A, the contact area 43 is composed of the areas d, e, and f, so the gain ratio is 2.5. In the case of FIG. 4B, the contact area 43 is composed of the areas a, b, c, and f, so the gain ratio is 3. This table roughly identifies the size (shielding degree) of the shielding part 41 of the microphone hole 11 shielded by the finger 40 based on the presence or absence of contact in the areas a to f, and is optimal according to this size. The gain ratio is determined. Here, the size of the shielding portion 41 is a line connecting a part of the outer peripheral line of the microphone hole 11 that is in contact with the contact region 43 and a part of the end points of the outer peripheral line (see “◯” in FIG. 4). And a region surrounded by (see the hatched portion on the lower left in FIG. 4). Moreover, since the size of the shielding part 41 depends on the combination of the adjacent areas a to f included in the contact area 43, the pattern of values is limited, and this is searched as data as in the above table. Thus, the optimum gain can be determined efficiently without imposing a burden on the camera system. The data search memory 37 for storing this data is composed of a non-volatile memory such as SRAM (Static Random Access Memory).

  Thus, by amplifying the level of the audio signal to be recorded according to the contact area 43, that is, the degree of shielding of the microphone hole 11, recording can be performed at a sufficient volume even if the finger is placed on the microphone hole 11. . The determination of the gain is not limited to the above method. For example, if the control is performed in an optimum method according to the design, for example, the size of the contact area 43 and the level of the audio signal are controlled to have a proportional relationship. Good.

  Further, when the entire periphery of the microphone hole 11 is covered with the finger 40, that is, when the contact region 43 includes all the regions a to f, increasing the gain has no effect. In response to an instruction from the operation control unit 26, for example, a message 42 is displayed on the LCD 8 as shown in FIG. As a result, the user can be alerted to move the finger 40 away from the microphone hole 11. Note that the warning notifying means is not limited to the LCD 8, and for example, it may be displayed in a finder window, or may be provided with a separate LED to emit light for warning.

  The second touch panel 14 is provided as contact area detection means for detecting the contact area when the operator's fingers are hooked on the speaker holes 13. The operation control unit 26 controls the gain of the electronic volume 35 in the same manner as described above with reference to FIG. 4 and amplifies the audio signal output to the speaker 16. At this time, data for determining an optimum gain ratio to be set in the electronic volume 35 of the speaker 16 from the contact area is stored in advance in the data search memory 37 as in the above table. Thereby, even if a finger is put on the speaker hole 13, reproduction can be performed with a sufficient volume. Further, when all of the speaker holes 13 are covered with fingers, a message is displayed on the LCD 8 in the same way as in FIG. 5 to give a warning to the operator and alert the user.

  The operation control unit 26 performs overall control of a series of flows in each process performed by the camera system. The operation control unit 26 sequentially performs appropriate output processing for each unit or input processing from each unit while appropriately performing determination processing. is there. The operation control unit 26 controls the lens driving unit 20 based on the input from the operation key 7 in the still image and moving image shooting mode, and outputs a through image to the LCD 8. Further, the operation control unit 26 detects the half-press of the release switch 5 and performs AE and AF processes, and then detects the full-press of the release switch 5 and controls the mechanical shutter 21 to perform the photographing process.

  Further, after the image is captured, the operation control unit 26 outputs the image data input from the A / D conversion circuit 25 to the compression / decompression unit 28 to compress and record it on the memory card 10. In the moving image shooting mode, an audio signal is also taken from the microphone 15 via the audio signal processing unit 29, compressed together with the image data, and recorded in the memory card 10. At this time, the gain is determined based on the contact area 43 of the finger 40 detected by the first touch panel 12 and set in the electronic volume 31 as needed.

  On the other hand, in the playback mode, the operation control unit 26 reads image data from the memory card 10, outputs it to the compression / decompression unit 28, decompresses it, and outputs it to the LCD 8. When reproducing moving image data, the audio data is simultaneously read from the memory card 10 and decompressed, and then output to the speaker 16 via the audio signal processing unit 29. At this time, the gain is determined based on the contact area of the finger 40 detected by the second touch panel 14 and set in the electronic volume 35 as needed.

  Next, functions and effects of the digital camera 1 will be described. As shown in FIG. 6, in the moving image shooting mode, the operation control unit 26 starts moving image shooting when detecting that the release button 5 is pressed (st1). If there is a reaction on the first touch panel 12 during shooting (st2), the presence or absence of contact is detected for each of the areas a to f included in the first touch panel 12 (st3). Here, when contact is detected in all the areas a to f (st4), it is determined that the entire periphery of the hole is shielded, and a warning message 42 is displayed on the LCD 8 (st8). Data is not recorded. Otherwise, the optimum gain is retrieved from the data retrieval memory 37 based on the region included in the contact region 43 among the regions a to f and set in the electronic volume 31 (st5), and audio data is captured from the microphone 15. Recording is performed on the memory card 10 (st6). On the other hand, if there is no response to the first touch panel 12 (st2), the audio data is recorded without adjusting the gain (st6). This is repeated until the recording ends or is interrupted (st7).

  Also, as shown in FIG. 7, in the playback mode, the operation control unit 26 starts a playback operation when an instruction for playback of the moving image file selected by the operation key 7 is input (st11). If there is a reaction on the second touch panel 14 during reproduction (st12), the presence or absence of contact is detected for each of the areas a to f included in the second touch panel 14 (st13). Here, when contact is detected in all the areas a to f (st14), it is determined that the entire periphery of the hole is shielded, and a warning message is displayed on the LCD 8 (st18). Data is not played back. Otherwise, the optimum gain is retrieved from the data retrieval memory 37 based on the region included in the contact region among the regions a to f and set in the electronic volume 31 (st15), and the audio data read from the memory card 10 is obtained. The data is output to the speaker 16 and reproduced (st16). On the other hand, if there is no response on the second touch panel 14 (st12), the audio data is reproduced without adjusting the gain (st16). This is repeated until the reproduction ends or is interrupted (st17).

  With the digital camera 1 of such an embodiment, it is possible to record normally even when the operator accidentally puts a finger on the microphone hole 11 during moving image shooting, and the operator mistakenly inserts the speaker hole 13 during moving image reproduction. Normal reproduction is possible even with the finger placed on the finger. Note that the shapes of the microphone hole 11, the speaker hole 13, and the first and second touch panels 12 and 14 are not limited to the present embodiment, and may be other shapes such as a circle.

  In the present embodiment, a touch panel is used as the contact area detection unit, but a photo sensor may be used instead. In this case, as shown in FIG. 8, a plurality of photosensors 46 are provided so as to surround the microphone hole 11, and the surface thereof is integrally covered with the cover plate 45, and the presence or absence of light reception is detected for each photosensor 46. The contact of the finger 40 is detected. Or you may detect the contact of the finger | toe 40 by detecting the reflected light of the light which the photosensor emitted using the reflection type photosensor.

  In this embodiment, the shielding part 47 of the microphone hole 11 is located at both ends of the photosensors 46 that have detected the light shielding as shown in FIG. 8A (see the photosensors g and h in FIG. 8A). ) And the outer peripheral line of the microphone hole 11, and can be distinguished from the region on the side where the photosensor 46 that detects contact is present. Here, since the photosensor 46 is in a predetermined position, the size (shielding degree) of the shielding portion 47 is determined by the combination of the photosensors 46 at both ends. Therefore, as in the embodiment using the touch panel described above, if the combination of the two photosensors 46 and the data of the gain ratio are recorded in advance in the SRAM or the like, the operation control unit 26 can efficiently set the gain. Can do.

  In the case shown in FIG. 8B, even if the finger 40 is actually placed on the microphone hole 11, the photosensors 46 that detect contact are located at both ends (the photosensors shown in FIG. 8B). The lines connecting i and j) and the outer circumference of the microphone hole 11 do not intersect with each other, so that it is considered that the shielding part 47 of the microphone hole 11 is not present. Since the size of the part covered with is very small, there is no practical problem. Therefore, also in this embodiment, the same effect as that of the above-described embodiment can be obtained.

  Even if the photo sensor 46 in this embodiment is replaced with a small piece of a touch panel, the same effect can be obtained. In the above embodiment, a digital camera is used as an example, but the present invention can also be applied to a portable recording / playback device such as an IC recorder, an electronic device such as a video camera, and a camera-equipped mobile phone.

1 is a front perspective view of a digital camera as a recording / reproducing apparatus according to the present invention. It is a back side perspective view of the digital camera as a recording / reproducing apparatus based on this invention. It is an electrical configuration of a digital camera. It is a conceptual diagram of the shielding part when a finger hook occurs in a microphone hole (when using a touch panel). It is a warning display screen when all the microphone holes are covered. It is a recording operation flow. It is a flow of reproduction | regeneration operation | movement. It is a conceptual diagram of the shielding part when a finger hook occurs in a microphone hole (when using a photo sensor).

Explanation of symbols

1 Digital Camera 5 Release Switch 6 Mode Switch 7 Operation Key 8 LCD
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Memory card 11 Microphone hole 12 1st touch panel 13 Speaker hole 14 2nd touch panel 15 Microphone 16 Speaker 29 Audio signal processing part 31, 35 Electronic volume 37 Data search memory 40 Finger 41, 47 Shielding part 46 Photo sensor

Claims (6)

In a recording / playback apparatus including a microphone that collects sound through a microphone hole provided in the exterior and outputs the sound signal, and a recording unit that records the sound signal,
Contact area detection means for detecting a contact area, provided on the surface of the exterior so as to surround the periphery of the microphone hole,
An electronic volume for adjusting the magnitude of the audio signal based on the set gain;
Electronic volume control for amplifying the audio signal by identifying the shielding degree of the microphone hole based on the contact area detected by the contact area detecting means and setting the gain of the electronic volume according to the shielding degree And a recording / reproducing apparatus.   2. The recording / reproducing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising warning notifying means for giving a warning when the contact area detected by the contact area detecting means is the entire periphery of the microphone hole. In a recording / reproducing apparatus including a speaker that outputs sound through a speaker hole provided in an exterior based on an audio signal reproduced from a recording means,
Contact area detection means for detecting a contact area, provided on the surface of the exterior so as to surround the speaker hole in the vicinity thereof,
An electronic volume for adjusting the magnitude of the audio signal based on the set gain;
Electronic volume control for amplifying the audio signal by identifying the degree of shielding of the speaker hole based on the contact area detected by the contact area detecting means and setting the gain of the electronic volume according to the degree of shielding. And a recording / reproducing apparatus.   4. The recording / reproducing apparatus according to claim 3, further comprising warning notifying means for giving a warning when the contact area detected by the contact area detecting means is the entire periphery of the speaker hole.   5. The recording / reproducing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the contact area detecting means is a touch panel.   5. The recording / reproducing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the contact area detecting means is a photo sensor.

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