JP2010118887A - Image playback apparatus, image playback method and image playback program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To shorten the processing time required for displaying a listing of thumbnails. <P>SOLUTION: An image playback apparatus includes a thumbnail listing display means for displaying on a display section a listing of a plurality of thumbnail images on the basis of image data recorded in a recording section. The image playback apparatus further includes a listing display image recording means for recording in the recording section the displayed listing of the plurality of thumbnail images as one listing display image. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an image reproduction device, an image reproduction method, and an image reproduction program. More specifically, the present invention relates to an image reproduction apparatus, an image reproduction method, and an image reproduction program suitable for displaying thumbnail images.

  The function of displaying a reduced image (thumbnail image) to display a list of a large number of images is common in many digital cameras, personal computer (hereinafter, PC) application software, operation systems, etc. The user can select a desired image from the thumbnail images displayed in a list and display, edit, or the like.

  As a technique for accelerating the display of such thumbnail images, for example, in Patent Document 1, a plurality of thumbnails having different resolutions are created and recorded in a storage device, thereby satisfying the request of the browsing terminal. A technique for responding a corresponding thumbnail image is disclosed. In Patent Document 2, identification information for uniquely identifying a recording medium to be read is generated, and the identification information and a thumbnail image read from the recording medium are associated with each other and recorded and stored in a data recording apparatus. Thus, a technique for speeding up the thumbnail image list display is disclosed. Patent Document 3 discloses a technique for generating thumbnails displayed on a display screen and thumbnails of pages selectable on the display screen in advance and displaying the thumbnails at high speed.

JP 2006-108912 A JP 2006-285834 A JP 2006-203702 A

  A display of a list of thumbnail images (hereinafter also referred to as a thumbnail list) on an image playback device, for example, a digital camera, is stored in an internal nonvolatile memory (ROM) or a nonvolatile memory (memory card) such as an SD card. This is realized by sequentially reading out recorded images and expanding and arranging the images in a plain area for displaying a thumbnail list.

  For this reason, as many images as the number of thumbnails to be displayed must be read from the non-volatile memory. For example, in order to display a list of 100 thumbnail images, a process of reading the images and expanding them in the display plane area Has to be repeated 100 times, which requires a very long time.

  In particular, with the recent increase in size and definition of digital camera displays, it has become possible to display many thumbnail images at once, and the processing time required to display the thumbnail list is an important issue for usability. It has become.

  However, in an image playback apparatus such as a digital camera, even if thumbnail images with different resolutions are created as in the technique described in Patent Document 1, the thumbnail list display processing is not accelerated. In the technique described in Patent Document 2, when thumbnail images are displayed as a list, the processing speed is increased by reading the thumbnail images from the data recording device instead of the recording medium. Therefore, it is impossible to eliminate the necessity of executing the process of reading an image from the data recording apparatus. Also, with the technique described in Patent Document 3, it is not possible to increase the processing speed when displaying a thumbnail list for all image data.

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide an image playback device, an image playback method, and an image playback program that can shorten the processing time required for displaying a list of thumbnail images and improve usability.

  In order to achieve this object, the image reproduction apparatus according to claim 1 includes an image reproduction device having thumbnail list display means for displaying a plurality of thumbnail images in a list on the display unit based on the image data recorded in the recording unit. The apparatus includes list display image recording means for recording a plurality of thumbnail images displayed as a list in the recording unit as one list display image.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the image reproduction device according to the first aspect, the thumbnail list display means lists a plurality of thumbnail images in the display unit when the list display image is recorded in the recording unit. Instead of displaying, a list display image is displayed on the display unit.

  Further, the invention according to claim 3 is a list in the case where addition, deletion, or change occurs in the image data recorded in the recording unit in the image reproducing apparatus according to claim 1 or 2. It has a list display image recreating means for recreating the display image.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a thumbnail list display process for displaying a list of a plurality of thumbnail images on a display unit based on image data recorded in the recording unit, and a plurality of thumbnail images displayed as a list. A list display image recording process for recording in the recording unit as one list display image is performed.

  According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an image reproduction program that includes a thumbnail list display process for displaying a list of a plurality of thumbnail images on a display unit based on image data recorded in the recording unit, and a plurality of thumbnail images displayed as a list. The computer executes list display image recording processing for recording in the recording unit as one list display image.

  According to the present invention, when image data is sequentially read and a thumbnail list is created, it is recorded as a single thumbnail list display image, so that the next time it is displayed, the list display image is not read and created again. Since only reading is required, the time required for displaying the thumbnail list can be shortened and the usability can be improved.

  Hereinafter, the configuration of the present invention will be described in detail based on the embodiment shown in FIGS.

1. Configuration of Image Reproducing Device In the present embodiment, an imaging device (digital still camera, hereinafter also referred to as a digital camera or a camera) will be described as an example of an image reproducing device.

  FIG. 1 shows an external view of a digital camera, (a) shows a top view of the camera, (b) shows a front view of the camera, and (c) shows a rear view of the camera.

  As shown in FIG. 1A, the digital camera has a sub LCD 1, a release button 2 (SW1), and a mode dial 4 (SW2) on the upper surface.

  As shown in FIG. 1B, the digital camera has a strobe light emitting unit 3, a distance measuring unit 5, a remote control light receiving unit 6, a lens barrel unit 7, an optical viewfinder (front) 11 on the front. Have The memory card throttle 23 indicates a throttle for inserting the memory card 34 and is provided on the side of the camera.

  As shown in FIG. 1C, the digital camera has an AFLED (autofocus LED) 8, a strobe LED 9, an LCD monitor 10, an optical finder (back surface) 11, and a zoom button TELE12 (SW4) on the back surface. ), A power switch 13 (SW13), a zoom button WIDE14 (SW3), and a reproduction switch 15 (SW6).

  Further, a self-timer / delete switch 16 (SW5), a MENU / OK switch 17 (SW12), a left / image confirmation switch 18 (SW11), a down / macro switch 19 (SW10), and an up / strobe switch 20 ( SW7), right switch 21 (SW8), and display switch 22 (SW9) for displaying an image.

  FIG. 2 shows a block diagram of a control system of the digital camera. The system configuration inside the digital camera will be described below.

  The lens barrel unit 7 including the zoom lens 7a, the focus lens 7b, and the mechanical shutter 7c is driven by a motor driver 32. The motor driver 32 is controlled by a microcomputer (hereinafter referred to as CPU) 111 included in the signal processing IC 110.

  The CCD 101 is a solid-state imaging device for photoelectrically converting an optical image. The F / E (front end) -IC 100 performs sampling hold (correlated double sampling) on the CCD output electrical signal (analog image data), AGC 103 for adjusting the gain of the sampled data, and digital signal conversion. A vertical synchronization signal (hereinafter referred to as VD) and horizontal synchronization signal (hereinafter referred to as HD) are supplied from the A / D 104 and the CCD I / F unit 112, and drive timing signals for the CCD 101 and the F / E-IC 100 are generated. A TG (timing generator: control signal generator) 105 is included.

  An oscillator (not shown) supplies the system clock of the signal processing IC 110 including the CPU 111 and the clock to the TG 105. The TG 105 receives the clock of the oscillator and supplies a pixel clock for pixel synchronization to the CCD I / F unit 112 in the signal processing IC 110.

  A digital signal input from the F / E-IC 100 to the signal processing IC 110 is temporarily stored as RGB data (RAW-RGB) in the SDRAM 33 by the memory controller 115 via the CCD I / F unit 112.

  The signal processing IC 110 includes a CPU 111 that performs system control, a CCD I / F unit 112, a resizing processing unit 113, a memory controller 115, a display output control unit 116, a compression / expansion unit 117, a media I / F 118, a YUV conversion unit 119, and the like. ing.

  The CCD I / F unit 112 outputs a screen horizontal synchronization signal (HD) and a screen vertical synchronization signal (VD), takes in a digital (RGB) signal input from the A / D 104 in accordance with the synchronization signal, and stores the memory RGB data is written to the SDRAM 33 via the controller 115.

  The display output control unit 116 sends the display data written in the SDRAM 33 to the display unit, and displays the captured image. The display output control unit 116 can display on the LCD monitor 10 built in the digital camera, or output it as a TV video signal and display it on an external device.

  The display data here is OSD (on-screen display) data for displaying a natural image YCbCr, a shooting mode icon, etc., and the memory controller 115 reads and displays the data placed on the SDRAM 33. The data is sent to the output control unit 116, and the data synthesized by the display output control unit 116 is output as video data.

  The compression / decompression unit 117 compresses the YCbCr data written in the SDRAM 33 during recording and outputs JPEG-encoded data. During reproduction, the compression / decompression unit 117 decompresses the read JPEG-encoded data into YCbCr data and outputs the YCbCr data.

  The media I / F unit 118 reads data in the memory card 34 to the SDRAM 33 or writes data on the SDRAM 33 to the memory card 34 in accordance with an instruction from the CPU 111.

  The YUV conversion unit 119 converts the RGB data temporarily stored in the SDRAM 33 into luminance Y and color difference CbCr data (YUV data) based on the image development processing parameters set by the CPU 111, and writes back to the SDRAM 33.

  In addition, the CPU 111 which is a control unit that controls the overall operation loads a control program and control data for controlling the camera stored in the ROM 30 at the time of startup into, for example, the SDRAM 33, and performs the overall operation based on the program code. Control.

  The CPU 111 performs imaging operation control, setting of image development processing parameters, in accordance with an instruction by a button key of the operation unit 31, an external operation instruction from a remote controller (not shown), or a communication operation instruction by communication from an external terminal such as a personal computer. Performs memory control and display control.

  The operation unit 31 is for a photographer to instruct the operation of the digital camera. As shown in FIG. 1, the two-stage release button 2 for instructing photographing, and the zoom button 12 for setting the optical zoom and electronic zoom magnification. , 14, various button keys for performing other settings such as exposure mode selection from the outside.

  When the operation unit 31 detects that the power key of the digital camera is turned on, the CPU 111 performs a predetermined setting for each block. With this setting, an image received by the CCD 101 via the lens barrel unit 7 is converted into a digital video signal and input to the signal processing IC 110.

  The digital signal input to the signal processing IC 110 is input to the CCD I / F unit 112. The CCD I / F unit 112 performs processing such as black level adjustment on the analog signal that has been subjected to photoelectric conversion, and temporarily stores it in the SDRAM 33. The “RAW-RGB” image data stored in the SDRAM 33 is read by the YUV conversion unit 119 and subjected to gamma conversion processing, white balance processing, edge enhancement processing, and YUV conversion processing, and SDRAM 33 is obtained as “YUV” image data. Is written back to.

  The “YUV” image data is read by the display output control unit 116. For example, if the output destination is an NTSC system TV, the resizing processing unit 113 performs horizontal / vertical scaling processing according to the system, Output to TV. By performing this process for each VD, monitoring which is a display for confirmation before still photographing is performed.

2. Thumbnail List Display Processing FIG. 3 shows an example of a thumbnail list displayed on the display unit (LCD monitor 10). FIG. 3 shows an example in which 20 thumbnail images (reference numeral 40 in FIG. 3) are displayed on the display unit. Hereinafter, processing (thumbnail list display processing) in which the thumbnail list display unit displays a list of a plurality of thumbnail images on the display unit based on the image data recorded in the recording unit (ROM 30, memory card 34) will be described. The thumbnail list display means includes a CPU 111, an SDRAM 33, a resize processing unit 113, a display output control unit 116, and a compression / expansion unit 117.

  For example, in the case of a JPEG image compliant with Exif (Exchangeable Image File Format) standardized by JEIDA (Japan Electronics Industry Promotion Association), the thumbnail image is included in the image data of one recorded image as shown in FIG. An image recording area exists and is recorded in the data area.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the SDRAM 33 has an area for capturing a recorded image recorded in the recording unit (recorded image capturing area 41) and a thumbnail display plane 42 (for example, resolution 640 × 480, hereinafter also referred to as a display plane). ) Is assigned.

  The thumbnail list display process will be described below with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.

  First, a thumbnail image stored as a JPEG image in the recording unit is read (S10), the JPEG data is expanded by the compression / decompression unit 117, and is displayed on the recorded image capturing area 41 of the SDRAM 33 as displayable YUV format data. To do.

  Next, the developed thumbnail image is resized to an appropriate size by the resizing processing unit 113 and developed to a predetermined position of the display plane 42 (for example, the position corresponding to the upper left in the case of the first image) (S11 to S11). S12).

  The above processing (S10 to S12) is repeated for the number of sheets necessary for list display (20 sheets in this embodiment). That is, when all the necessary number of images are not expanded on the display plane 42 (S13: NO), the process returns to the process of S10, the next thumbnail image is read from the recording unit, and the same process is performed. Expand to the next position.

  On the other hand, when all the necessary number of images are expanded on the display plane 42 (S13: YES), the created thumbnail list is displayed on the display unit such as the LCD monitor 10 via the display output control unit 116 (S15). ). At this time, it may be displayed on an externally connected device (TV or the like) as described above.

  In the present embodiment, the display of the thumbnail list on the display unit is displayed after the required number of thumbnail images are expanded on the display plane 42. However, the present invention is not limited to this. Alternatively, the display plane 42 may be displayed on the display unit, and thumbnail images may be sequentially developed and displayed.

  The thumbnail list display process described above is a preferred example, and a known or new thumbnail list display process can be applied.

3. Thumbnail List Recording Process The present invention records the thumbnail list created by the above-described process as a single list display image (hereinafter also referred to as a thumbnail batch list image) in the recording unit, so that the time required for displaying the thumbnail list is displayed. It is characterized by shortening. Hereinafter, a process in which the thumbnail list display unit and the list display image recording unit record the thumbnail list in the recording unit (list display image recording process) will be described. The thumbnail list display means includes the CPU 111, the SDRAM 33, the display output control unit 116, the compression / decompression unit 117, and the media I / F 118.

  As shown in FIG. 7, the SDRAM 33 is assigned a thumbnail batch list image area 43 for developing a JPEG thumbnail list in addition to the recorded image capture area 41 and the thumbnail display plane 42 described above. .

  The list display image recording process will be described below with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.

  When displaying a thumbnail list, it is first determined whether or not a thumbnail list image exists in the recording unit (S20).

  When the thumbnail batch list image exists (S20: YES), the thumbnail batch list image is read from the recording unit to the display plane 42 area (S27), and the display unit such as the LCD monitor 10 is displayed via the display output control unit 116. Is displayed (S28).

  On the other hand, when the thumbnail batch list image does not exist (S20: NO), the processes of S21 to S25 are performed to display the thumbnail list. Note that the processing of S21 to S25 corresponds to the above-described thumbnail list display processing (S10 to S14), and a description thereof will be omitted.

  Further, when all the thumbnail list images are developed on the display plane 42, the thumbnail list is displayed (S25), and the thumbnail list is recorded in the recording unit as one list display image (thumbnail batch list image). (S26).

  If the thumbnail list image is in the YUV format, for example, the recording size can be reduced by using a JPEG image when recording. The thumbnail batch list image is converted into JPEG format by the compression / decompression unit 117 and recorded in a memory card 34 such as an SD card via the media I / F 118. At this time, the thumbnail batch list image is given a file name that can be distinguished from other images, or a thumbnail batch list image storage folder is created and stored in the folder.

  As described above, conventionally, an image recorded in the recording unit is read out. For example, in the case of an EXIF-compliant image, a thumbnail image is searched from the image and developed on a display plane in order. . On the other hand, in this embodiment, the image data is read out sequentially to create a thumbnail list, but when the creation is completed, the thumbnail list image is saved, so for example, the camera is turned off, Next, when reading thumbnail images, the thumbnail list can be displayed by reading the thumbnail list image data only once, greatly reducing the processing time required to display thumbnail images and increasing the processing speed. Usability (usability) can be improved.

4). List display image re-creation processing When the user deletes the image data recorded in the recording section from which the thumbnail list image was created, when a new image is added, or the image is edited. In the case of a change, a mismatch with the recorded thumbnail list image occurs. Therefore, the present invention preferably further includes list display image recreating means for recreating thumbnail batch list images. The thumbnail list display means includes the CPU 111, the SDRAM 33, the display output control unit 116, the compression / decompression unit 117, and the media I / F 118.

  FIG. 9 shows a flowchart of list display image re-creation processing executed by the thumbnail list display means, list display image recording means, and list display image re-creation means.

  First, it is determined whether or not a thumbnail batch list image exists in the recording unit (S30). If it does not exist (S30: NO), thumbnail batch list image creation (S33) is performed. The thumbnail batch list image creation (S33) corresponds to the processes of S21 to S26 shown in FIG.

  On the other hand, when the thumbnail batch list image exists (S30: YES), it is determined whether or not a new image is recorded, an existing image is deleted, or the like in the recording unit (S31). If it has not occurred (S31: NO), thumbnail list image creation (S33) is performed. On the other hand, if a change has occurred (S31: YES), the following processing is performed.

  FIG. 10 shows an example of a case where a change has occurred in the image data from which the thumbnail list image has been created. For example, assume that 40 images are recorded in the recording unit. The thumbnail list is displayed as a list of 20 images (see FIG. 3). In this case, two thumbnail lists of the 1st to 20th images and the 21st to 40th images are created.

  FIG. 10A shows a state in which a thumbnail list of the 21st to 40th images is displayed on the display device when a thumbnail list display request is made by a user operation.

  Here, for example, when the 33rd image is deleted by a user operation, a thumbnail list in which the 33rd image is deleted from the thumbnail list image must be displayed (FIG. 10B). For this reason, since the batch list image is stored as one image, it is necessary to delete this image and recreate the batch image again.

  Therefore, in the present embodiment, the thumbnail batch list image is deleted (S32), and the thumbnail batch list image creation (S33) is performed. Thereby, at the next display of the thumbnail list, the thumbnail list image as shown in FIG. 10B can be displayed.

  The thumbnail list image may be re-created when the thumbnail list display event occurs again after the image is deleted, or when the image is deleted or added. It is not particularly limited.

  In this way, when a new image is recorded or deleted in the image data recorded in the recording unit, by recreating the thumbnail batch list image, alignment with the image data can be achieved, and the displayed thumbnail batch The list image can always reflect the latest status of the image data.

  The thumbnail list display means, list display image recording means, and list display image recreating means can be configured by causing the image playback apparatus to execute software (an image playback program of the present invention) recorded in advance in the ROM 30 or the like. Data necessary for the execution is loaded into the SDRAM 33, for example.

  The above-described embodiment is a preferred embodiment of the present invention, but is not limited thereto, and various modifications can be made without departing from the gist of the present invention.

  For example, in the above-described embodiment, a digital camera is taken as an example of the image reproducing device. However, the image reproducing device includes an image input device, an image processing device, and a display device that include a hand scanner and a personal digital assistant (PDA). An image reproduction system may also be used. Further, the present invention can also be applied to a personal computer, a hard disk recorder, or the like as an image reproducing device that reproduces image data captured by a digital camera.

It is an example of the external view of the image reproduction apparatus (digital camera) which concerns on this invention, Comprising: (a) is a camera top view, (b) is a camera front view, (c) shows a camera back view. It is an example of the block diagram which shows the control system of a digital camera. It is a display example of a thumbnail image list. It is a figure which shows the recording area of the thumbnail image in image data. It is a schematic diagram for demonstrating allocation of the recording area in SDRAM. It is a flowchart which shows an example of a thumbnail list display process. It is a schematic diagram for demonstrating allocation of the recording area in SDRAM. It is a flowchart which shows an example of a list display image recording process. It is a flowchart which shows an example of a list display image recreation process. (A) Display example of list display image, (b) Display example of list display image after re-creation.

Explanation of symbols

10 LCD panel (display unit)
30 ROM (recording part)
33 SDRAM (Recording part)
34 Memory Card 40 Thumbnail Image 41 Recorded Image Capture Area 42 Thumbnail Display Plane 43 Thumbnail Batch List Image Area 111 CPU
113 Resize Processing Unit 116 Display Output Control Unit 117 Compression / Expansion Unit 118 Media I / F

Claims (5)

In an image reproduction apparatus having thumbnail list display means for displaying a list of a plurality of thumbnail images on a display unit based on image data recorded in a recording unit,
An image reproduction apparatus comprising: a list display image recording unit that records the plurality of thumbnail images displayed as a list in the recording unit as one list display image. The thumbnail list display means, when the list display image is recorded in the recording unit,
The image reproduction apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the list display image is displayed on the display unit instead of displaying the plurality of thumbnail images as a list on the display unit. The list display image re-creating means for re-creating the list display image when addition, deletion, or change occurs in the image data recorded in the recording unit. The image reproducing device according to any one of the above. A thumbnail list display process for displaying a list of a plurality of thumbnail images on the display unit based on the image data recorded in the recording unit;
And a list display image recording process for recording the plurality of thumbnail images displayed as a list in the recording unit as a single list display image. A thumbnail list display process for displaying a list of a plurality of thumbnail images on the display unit based on the image data recorded in the recording unit;
An image reproduction program that causes a computer to execute a list display image recording process in which the plurality of thumbnail images displayed as a list are recorded in the recording unit as a single list display image.

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