JP3032000B2 - Electronic still camera with spare memory - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an electronic still camera that stores photographed image data as digital signals in an external image memory such as an IC card.
More specifically, even when an IC card or the like is not inserted or insufficiently inserted at the time of shooting, or when the capacity of the IC card becomes full, a predetermined number of still images can be stored so that a shutter chance is missed. The present invention relates to an electronic still camera having a spare memory in which there is no memory.

(Prior Art) An electronic still camera that stores a digital image signal in an external image memory such as an IC card has been put to practical use.

In these electronic still cameras, the captured images are
A device that informs the photographer when the storage capacity of the image data memory becomes full and cannot be stored anymore, as a device that notifies the photographer when the state cannot be stored in the IC card, etc., and warns the photographer of this condition. (JP-A-1-185080,
A circuit that detects when a contact failure has occurred in a still video camera (hereinafter, referred to as "the former") or an IC card (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 1-140387, IC card contact failure detection circuit, hereinafter,
"The middle man" has been proposed.

In addition, a camera having a built-in memory capable of temporarily storing an image taken inside the camera (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 64-1078).
4, electronic still camera, hereafter referred to as “the latter”).

This latter camera has three memories including a built-in memory capable of temporarily storing a captured image therein, and issues a warning when the storage capacity of the memory card and the built-in memory is full. One of the above three memories is used for band compression, and in the built-in memory, image data must be written at high speed, especially during continuous shooting. Power saving is achieved by using an EPROM that does not require a storage holding current for storing storage data.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) Each of the above proposals has the following problems.

First, for the former and the middleman, the photographer can recognize that the captured image cannot be stored because the storage capacity of the external memory is full or the IC card or the like is in poor contact, There is a risk that a photographer may miss a photo opportunity while preparing a new IC card.

In the latter case, when the storage capacity of the memory card is full, the image data is stored in the built-in memory, and a warning is issued when the capacity of the built-in memory is full. Even if you notice at that point, you miss a photo opportunity for the same reason as the former, and there is no consideration when the memory card has poor contact.

An object of the present invention is to provide a spare memory capable of holding the storage capacity for at least a predetermined time after the power is turned off, and to make the storage capacity of the removable external image memory full or to make sure that the external image memory is not connected properly. In the case of an electronic still camera, a warning is issued and the captured image data is temporarily stored in a spare memory so that a still image can be stored without missing a photo opportunity.

(Means for Solving the Problems) In order to achieve the above object, an electronic still camera having a spare memory according to the present invention photoelectrically converts an optical image formed by a photographing lens with an image sensor, and converts the electric signal into an A signal. /
After the D conversion, the digital signal can be stored and erased in a digital electronic still camera of a format in which the digital signal is written to a video RAM at a high speed and temporarily stored, and the temporarily held digital signal is written to a detachable external image memory. An internal spare memory that retains the stored contents afterwards, an external image memory connection detecting unit that detects whether the external image memory is not inserted or a connection failure, and informs a photographer that image data captured in the external image memory cannot be stored. The write-disable warning means for notifying and comparing the remaining capacity of the external image memory with the image data amount photographed to determine whether or not the external image memory can be stored, as a result, when it is determined that storage is not possible, When a connection failure or the like is detected by the external image memory connection detection means, a warning is issued by the write disable warning means. When the captured image data written to the video RAM is transferred and stored in the internal spare memory, and the external image memory is replaced and newly mounted or remounted, and can be stored in the external image memory, A control means is provided for reading out the image data of the internal spare memory, writing the image data in the external image memory which has been exchanged, and erasing the contents of the internal spare memory which has been read out.

(Example) Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a circuit block diagram showing an embodiment of an electronic still camera having a spare memory according to the present invention.

Light from a subject (not shown) is condensed by the photographing lens 1, passes through the diaphragm 2, and forms an image on the solid-state image pickup device 3. The fixed image sensor 3 is driven by a driver 5 controlled by the CPU 11 and transfers an electric signal. The image electric signal output from the solid-state imaging device 3 is converted into a digital signal by the A / D converter 4 and then sent to the video RAM 6. The image data sent from the A / D converter 4 is written into the video RAM 6 at a high speed and temporarily stored. The video RAM 6 is provided for adjusting the writing speed to the IC card 15 because the writing speed of the IC card 15 as the external image memory is low while the image data from the optical system and the fixed imaging device 3 can be taken in at high speed. Things. The image data temporarily stored in the video RAM 6 is converted into an analog image signal by the D / A converter 7 and displayed on the liquid crystal display panel 10 of the electronic finder 8.

 The above operation is performed under the control of the CPU 11.

When the photographer wants to photograph a subject that can be confirmed by the electronic viewfinder 8, the photographer presses the relays switch 14.

When the release switch 14 is pressed, the CPU 11 writes the image data stored in the video RAM 6 to the IC card 15 via the A / D converter 4 when the instruction is received from the release switch 14.

In the case of continuous shooting, the speed of writing to the video RAM 6 is IC
Since the writing speed to the card 15 is low, a plurality of image data are stored in the video RAM 6.

The spare memory 12 is connected between the video RAM 6 and the IC card 15, and under the control of the CPU 11, writing and reading of image data and erasing are performed. The spare memory 12 is a storage element that can hold data for a certain period of time even when the power is turned off. In this example, an EEPROM that does not require a storage holding current is used.

A connection detection circuit 13 serving as an external image memory connection detection means is connected to an insertion portion of an IC card 15 (not shown).
The information of 15 non-insertion or connection failure is sent to the CPU 11.

The warning lamp 9 of the electronic finder 8 is a display unit for issuing a warning to the photographer when the storage capacity of the IC card 15 is full or when the connection detection circuit 13 detects a connection failure or the like.

Next, the operation of the camera according to the present invention and the accompanying operation will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

First, the main switch (not shown in FIG. 1)
Is turned on (step 1), an image of the subject is displayed on the liquid crystal display panel 10 as described above. Next, the lighting of the warning lamp is confirmed (step 2), and if it is off, the release switch 14 is turned on to photograph a desired subject (step 3). After the subject image is subjected to A / D conversion according to the above operation, it is stored in the video RAM 6 (step 5). The CPU 11 checks whether or not the IC card 15 is inserted (not inserted, connection failure) based on information from the connection detection circuit 13 (step 6). The data amount is counted (step 7). Then, the remaining capacity of the IC card 15 is compared with the data amount of the photographed image to determine whether or not the image data can be stored in the IC card 15 (step 8).
(Step 9).

If it is determined in step 6 or 8 that the connection of the IC card is insufficient or the capacity is insufficient, the spare memory 12 is used.
The image data temporarily stored in the video RAM 6 is written into the memory (step 10), and the warning lamp is turned on (step 1).
1).

When the warning lamp 9 is turned on, the photographer replaces the IC card 15 or checks the inserted state.

And, for example, after the IC card 15 is correctly inserted again,
When the insertion of the IC card 15 is confirmed (Step 12), it is determined whether or not the release switch 14 is turned on (Step 12).
13).

When the release switch 14 is turned on, the image data written in the spare memory 12 is transferred to and stored in the video RAM 6 (steps 14 and 15). Then, the contents of the spare memory 12 are erased. When all the contents are erased, the warning lamp 9 is turned off and the process returns to the step 6 (steps 16 and 17).

If an error indicating that the spare memory is not read or its contents are not erased is detected in step 14 or 16, the process returns to step 13 and the release switch 13 is pressed again.

If the release switch 14 is turned on (step 18) in the state where the insertion or the connection failure is detected even though the insertion of the IC card 15 is confirmed again in step 12, the following processing is performed.

The image data taken from the solid-state image sensor 3 is A / D
It is converted and temporarily stored in the video RAM 6 (steps 19 and 2).
0). The stored image data is further stored in a spare memory 12.
Is transferred and stored (step 21). Then, after the warning lamp 9 is turned on again (step 22), the process returns to step 6.

As described above, this embodiment shows an example in which the image data is stored in the spare memory, and then the stored image data is transferred to the IC card without being confirmed on a display or the like and stored. It is also possible to provide a function of displaying image data on a liquid crystal display panel or the like, and to delete the unnecessary image if the image data is confirmed on the liquid crystal display panel or the like.

This saves memory capacity because unnecessary images need not be stored on the IC card.

In addition, an operation for reading image data from the spare memory, transferring the image data to the IC card, and storing the image data with the release switch is performed, but a new or reinserted IC is used.
It is also possible to detect the insertion of the card and automatically transfer the image data in the spare memory to the IC data.

Further, an example in which a lamp is used as the write disable warning means has been described, but a warning can be issued by sound or the like.

(Effect of the Invention) Since the present invention is configured as described above, the following various advantages can be obtained.

Even when the external image memory is not inserted, insufficiently inserted, or has a poor contact at the time of shooting, or even when the remaining memory capacity is insufficient, a still image can be shot without missing a photo opportunity.

When image data can be digitally stored and image data is compressed and stored in recent years, it is not possible to determine whether the image can be stored in the remaining capacity of the memory due to the compression state at the time of shooting. Still images can be reliably stored without missing a photo opportunity even when the capacity is full during storage.

Even when the photographer does not have the remaining storage capacity of the external image memory or the connection of the external image memory is poor, the photographer can further take a picture after knowing that.

Since the internal spare memory retains its stored contents for at least a predetermined time even if the power is turned off and the holding current is lost,
Even if the power is turned off before the image data in the internal spare memory is transferred to the external image memory, the image data does not disappear at least for a predetermined time. In the embodiment of the present invention, since the EEPROM is used, the image data does not disappear unless it is erased.

For example, if a reproduction image display device capable of displaying an image stored in the spare memory is provided, it is possible to determine whether the image data stored in the spare memory is necessary, and it is not necessary to store unnecessary images. This saves memory space.

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide an electronic still camera that can reliably capture a shutter opportunity that has been missed due to the limitation on the number of images that can be shot in the external image memory.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a circuit block diagram showing an embodiment of an electronic still camera having a spare memory according to the present invention. FIG. 2 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of FIG. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Photography lens 2 ... Aperture 3 ... Solid-state image sensor 4 ... A / D converter 5 ... Driver 6 ... Video RAM 7 ... D / A converter 8 ... Electronic finder 9 ... Warning lamp (Write disable warning means) 10 LCD panel 11 CPU (control means) 12 Spare memory 13 Connection detection circuit (connection detection means) 14 Release switch 15 IC card (external image memory )

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (58) Field surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) H04N 5/91-5/956 H04N 5/781 H04N 5/907

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] An optical image formed by a photographing lens is photoelectrically converted by an image pickup device, and the electric signal is A / D converted.
In a digital electronic still camera of a format in which the digital signal is written to a video RAM at a high speed and temporarily held, and the temporarily held digital signal is written to a detachable external image memory, the digital signal can be stored and erased, and the stored contents can be stored even after power is turned off. An internal spare memory to be held; an external image memory connection detecting means for detecting whether the external image memory is not inserted or a connection failure; and a write-disable warning means for notifying a photographer that image data captured in the external image memory cannot be stored. And comparing the remaining capacity of the external image memory with the amount of captured image data to determine whether or not the image data can be stored in the external image memory. When a connection failure or the like is detected by the means, a warning is issued by the write disable warning means. When the captured image data written to the video RAM is transferred and stored in the internal spare memory, and the external image memory is replaced and newly mounted or remounted, and can be stored in the external image memory, Control means for reading out the image data of the internal spare memory, writing the read out image data in the exchanged external image memory, and erasing the contents of the read-out internal spare memory. Electronic still camera.