JP4206772B2 - Electronic camera - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an electronic camera having a playback display function.
[0002]
[Prior art]
In an electronic camera, captured image data is recorded on a recording medium such as a memory card or ROM together with shooting information such as shooting conditions. Some of the photographing information is added after recording, such as protection setting information. An electronic camera having a display monitor is configured such that image data recorded on a recording medium can be reproduced and displayed on the display monitor. Examples of the playback display mode include a single frame playback display in which only one image is displayed, and a thumbnail display in which a plurality of reduced images are displayed simultaneously (see, for example, Patent Document 1).
[0003]
[Patent Document 1]
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-308490
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, in a conventional electronic camera, when an image is reproduced and displayed on a display monitor, only the image is displayed, or only predetermined specific information among a large number of pieces of information included in shooting information is displayed together with the image. It was common. In particular, in the case of thumbnail display, since the display area per image is small, only a mark for protection setting is displayed.
[0005]
An object of the present invention is to provide an electronic camera capable of arbitrarily selecting shooting information displayed together with an image.
[0006]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
(1) The invention of claim 1 is applied to an electronic camera that gives a plurality of pieces of shooting information to a shot image picked up by an image pickup device, divides a display area into a plurality of divided areas, and reduces each of the plurality of shot images. A display device that individually reproduces and displays images in different divided areas, a selection unit that selects arbitrary shooting information from a plurality of shooting information, and a selected image of a captured image corresponding to the reduced image together with the reduced image A display control means for displaying a display indicating information in the same divided area; and a changing means for changing the displayable number of reduced images by changing the number of divisions of the display area. The upper limit number of selectable items is reduced .
( 2 ) According to the invention of claim 2 , in the electronic camera according to claim 1 , the display indicating the shooting information includes an icon indicating the type of shooting information and a setting value of the shooting information.
( 3 ) According to the invention of claim 3 , in the electronic camera according to claim 2 , the photographing information is exposure correction data, an exposure correction mark is displayed as an icon, and an exposure correction value is displayed as a set value. It is a thing.
[0007]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. 1A and 1B are diagrams showing an embodiment of an electronic camera according to the present invention. FIG. 1A is a plan view of the electronic camera 1 viewed from above, and FIG. 1B is a rear view of the electronic camera 1 viewed from the rear. . As shown in FIG. 1A, a select dial 4, a release button 5, and a command dial 6 are provided on the upper surface of the electronic camera 1.
[0008]
The select dial 4 is an operation unit for selecting on / off of the power source of the camera 1 and mode setting. When set to “REC”, the power source is turned on and set to the shooting mode, and set to the playback mode set to “PLAY”. When the power is returned to “OFF”, the power is turned off. In the shooting mode, the shot image data is recorded together with shooting information on a recording medium (not shown) such as a memory card 10 described later. In the playback mode, a playback image based on the recorded image data is displayed on the display monitor 3 in FIG. The on / off operation of the display monitor 3 is performed by pushing the monitor button 8. When the monitor button 8 is pressed in the playback mode to turn on the display monitor 3, the image data recorded on the recording medium is read and the playback image is displayed on the display monitor 3. Further, when the display monitor 3 is turned on in the photographing mode, the subject image captured by the CCD image sensor is displayed on the display monitor in real time.
[0009]
The command dial 6 is used for changing the setting of the shutter speed and the number of exposure correction steps. In the present embodiment, the display monitor 3 is also used for switching the playback image display mode, that is, when selecting one of normal one-screen display, thumbnail-display four-screen display, and nine-screen display. When switching the screen display, the command dial 6 is rotated while pressing the thumbnail display button 7 in FIG. When the menu button 2 is pressed, a menu screen for performing various settings is displayed on the display monitor 3. Changes and determinations of items and functions on the menu screen are performed by operating the operation units 11a to 11d of the multi-selector 11.
[0010]
FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of the electronic camera 1. The electronic camera 1 includes an imaging unit 100 having a CCD imaging device 110, a digital circuit unit 200 centering on a system LSI 220, an image reproduction unit 400, an operation unit 500, and the like. The CCD image pickup device 110 is an area-type image pickup device in which a plurality of pixels are two-dimensionally arranged. A subject image is formed on the image pickup surface of the CCD image pickup device 110 by the photographing optical system 101. In this embodiment, a CCD type image sensor is described as an example of the image sensor, but a MOS type image sensor or the like may be used. The subject image is photoelectrically converted in the CCD image sensor 110, and an electrical signal corresponding to the subject image is input from the CCD image sensor 110 to the analog signal processing circuit 111.
[0011]
The analog signal processing circuit 111 includes an AGC (gain control circuit), a CDS (correlated double sampling circuit), and the like, and performs analog signal processing such as gain adjustment and noise removal on the input image signal. The image signal subjected to the analog signal processing is converted into a digital signal by the A / D conversion circuit 112 and input to the system LSI 220 of the digital circuit unit 200. A TG (timing generator) circuit 113 outputs an operation timing signal to each of the CCD image sensor 110, the analog signal processing circuit 111, and the A / D conversion circuit 112, and controls the operation timing therebetween.
[0012]
In the system LSI 220 of the digital circuit unit 200, digital signal processing such as image size change, white balance processing, gamma correction, and data compression processing are performed on the digital image data input from the A / D conversion circuit 112. A ROM 221 constituting the program memory stores a program relating to these processes and a control program for the entire camera. When the select dial 4 in FIG. 1A is set to “REC” or “PLAY”, the power of the camera is turned on, and the control program is executed by the system LSI 220. The RAM 222 constituting the image memory is used as a buffer memory for temporary storage of image data input from the imaging unit 100, various image processing, and image compression / decompression processing.
[0013]
The image reproducing unit 400 is provided with the above-described display monitor 3 and a monitor controller 441 that performs drive control of the display monitor 3. The operation unit 500 is provided with the menu button 2, the select dial 4, the release button 5, the command dial 6, the thumbnail display button 7, the monitor button 8, the multi selector 11, and the like described above.
[0014]
As described above, when the display monitor 3 is turned on by pressing the monitor button 8 in the playback mode, the image data recorded on the memory card 10 is read and the playback image is displayed on the display monitor 3. Normally, the last recorded image data is read, and the reproduced image A1 is displayed on the display monitor 3 as shown in FIG. Here, by rotating the command dial 6 while pressing the thumbnail display button 7 in FIG. 1B, the display form changes from the one-screen display of FIG. 3 to the four-screen display (FIG. 4) and nine-screen display using thumbnail images. The display can be switched (FIG. 5). At this time, according to the rotation operation of the command dial 6, the display mode is cyclically switched as follows: 1 screen display → 4 screen display → 9 screen display → 1 screen display → 4 screen display.
[0015]
In the four-screen display shown in FIG. 4, the display area of the display monitor 3 is divided into four divided areas 341, 342, 343, and 344. In each of the divided areas 341 to 344, thumbnail images SA1, SA2, SA3, and SB1 are displayed. The thumbnail image SA1 is a reduced image generated by thinning out the pixels of the captured image (main image). In the present embodiment, this reduced image is referred to as a thumbnail image. In the case of FIG. 4, the thumbnail image SA1 of the image displayed in the single screen display is displayed in the divided area 341, and the thumbnail images SA2, SA3, and SB1 are displayed in the divided areas 342, 343, and 344 in order of the shooting order. Is done. That is, when thumbnail images are written in the shooting order, SB1 → SA3 → SA2 → SA1. Note that the thumbnail images SA1, SA2, and SA3 are obtained by photographing the same subject 20 with different exposure correction values. In FIG. 3, the difference in exposure correction value is expressed depending on the presence or absence of hatching and the type of hatching.
[0016]
FIG. 5 shows nine-screen display, and the display area of the display monitor 3 is divided into nine divided areas 391 to 399. In the example shown in FIG. 5, since only eight image data are recorded in the memory card 10, eight thumbnail images SA1 to SA3 and SB1 to SB5 are displayed in the divided areas 391 to 398, and the divided area 399 is displayed. No image is displayed. The order in which the thumbnail images SA1 to SA3 and SB1 to SB5 are displayed is the same as in the case of the four-screen display, and the shooting order goes back from the divided area 391 to the divided area 398. That is, the pictures were taken in the order of SB5 → SB4 → SB3 → SB2 → SB1 → SA3 → SA2 → SA1. The thumbnail images SB1 to SB5 have been subjected to auto bracketing shooting with respect to exposure, and the same subject 21 is continuously shot with five types of exposure correction values. In this case as well, the difference in exposure correction value is represented by the presence or absence of hatching and the type of hatching.
[0017]
<About shooting information selection display>
As described above, various kinds of shooting information including exposure correction and auto bracketing are given to the image data, and are recorded on the memory card 10 together with the image data. In the present embodiment, some of these pieces of shooting information are arbitrarily selected by operating the operation unit 500 shown in FIG. 2, and a display representing the selected shooting information is displayed on the thumbnail image in a thumbnail display. Like that. In FIGS. 4 and 5, since no shooting information is selected, the display indicating the shooting information is not displayed.
[0018]
FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a procedure for setting shooting information to be displayed so as to overlap the thumbnail image. Here, the process starts from the one-screen display state of FIG.
(Step S10)
When the menu button 2 is pressed in the display state shown in FIG. 3, the menu screen as shown in FIG. The menu screen displayed at this time is the same as the menu screen that was displayed when the display of the menu screen was terminated last time. In the example shown in FIG. 7, since the shooting menu was displayed last time, when the menu button 2 is pressed, the shooting menu is displayed as a menu screen.
[0019]
Four icons 23 to 26 arranged vertically at the left end of the display monitor 3 indicate the types of menu screens. In FIG. 7, the icon 23 indicating the shooting menu is selected. Items are displayed vertically. When the operation unit 11a or 11b of the multi-selector 11 is pressed, the selection state of the icons 23 to 26 is moved up and down, and setting items included in the respective menus are displayed in the area 27. In the area 28, the setting status of each setting item is displayed. For example, “image quality mode setting” is set to normal (NORM).
[0020]
When the operation unit 11c of the multi-selector 11 is pressed after the shooting menu is displayed as shown in FIG. 7, the first setting item “image quality mode setting” is selected. The setting item selection state moves to the upper and lower setting items when the operation unit 11a or 11b of the multi-selector 11 is operated. When moving the selection state, the selection state moves up and down by one step each time the operation unit 11a or 11b is pressed once. When the operation unit 11a or 11b is continuously pressed, the selection state is automatically incremented by one step. Moving.
[0021]
(Step S20)
In the state of FIG. 7, the operation unit 11a or 11b of the multi-selector 11 is pressed to select the icon 24 indicating the custom menu, and the custom menu as shown in FIG. 8 is displayed. In the area 27, the setting items of the custom menu are displayed side by side, and in the area 28, the setting status of each setting item is displayed.
[0022]
(Step S30)
After pressing the operation unit 11c of the multi-selector 11 to select “custom switching”, the operation unit 11b is pressed to scroll the setting item, and the selection state is the 50th setting item “change of shooting data when displaying thumbnail”. Move to. In the display example shown in FIG. 8, only the 0th to 6th of the setting items are displayed. However, when the operation unit 11d is pressed to move the selection state to the 6th or more, the setting item scrolls to the 6th. The above setting items are displayed. FIG. 9 shows a state where the setting item “change of shooting data when displaying thumbnails” is selected.
[0023]
(Step S40)
When “change photographing data at thumbnail display” is selected, the operation unit 11c of the multi-selector 11 is pressed to display the display number setting screen shown in FIG. In the area 29 of the display number setting screen, a combination of the screen display number at the time of thumbnail display and the shooting information display number at that time is displayed. In the present embodiment, five types of combinations can be set, and (a) the item “4 frames 1” in the first row is one in which the number of displayable shooting information on each screen is 1 in 4-screen display. b) The item “4 frames 2” in the second row sets the number of shooting information displayable on each screen to 2 in the 4-screen display. (c) The item “4 frames 3” in the third row displays each in the 4-screen display. (D) 4th row item “9 frames 1” is set to 1 in 9 screen display, and (e) 5 rows. The item “9 frames 2” in the eye sets the number of shooting information displayable on each screen to 2 in 9 screen display. In the case of nine-screen display, the size per screen is smaller than that in the case of four-screen display. Therefore, the upper limit of the number of displayable photographic information can be set to 2 in consideration of easy viewing.
[0024]
Here, the case where the second stage “4 frames 2” is set will be described. However, in the electronic camera of the present embodiment, the case of 4-screen display and the case of 9-screen display can be set separately. . In the state where the display number setting screen shown in FIG. 10 is displayed, “4 frames 1” in the first stage is in the selected state. Therefore, the operation state 11a or 11b of the multi-selector 11 is operated to change the selection state to the second stage. Move to “4 frames 2” in the eyes. Then, the operation section 11c of the multi-selector 11 is pressed to determine the setting condition “4 frames 2”.
[0025]
(Step S50)
When the operation unit 11c is pressed and the setting condition is determined to be “4 frames 2”, the shooting information setting screen shown in FIG. 11 is displayed. When the shooting information setting screen is displayed, the first item “exposure mode” is selected as shown in FIG. Then, the operation state 11a or 11b of the multi-selector 11 is operated to move the selection state to a desired item. FIG. 12 shows the case where the fifth to eighth items are displayed, and FIG. 13 shows the case where the ninth to twelfth items are displayed.
[0026]
(Step S60)
For example, if there are two exposure information “exposure correction value” and “BKT exposure correction value (bracket exposure correction value)” to be displayed, first, the third “exposure correction value” shown in FIG. 11 is selected. And press the operation unit 11c of the multi-selector 11 to determine. Next, the operation unit 11b is pressed to move the selection state to “BKT exposure correction value”, and the operation unit 11c is pressed to determine.
[0027]
(Step S70)
Since the selection and determination of the shooting information has been completed through the processing up to step S60, the menu screen of FIG. 7 is displayed by pressing the menu button 2 of FIG. 1 or pressing the operation unit 11d of the multi selector 11 to return to the previous level. Is done.
[0028]
FIGS. 14 and 15 show image display examples when “exposure correction value” and “BKT exposure correction value” are selected, and the same thumbnail images as in FIGS. 4 and 5 are displayed. Note that the number of photographic information that can be displayed is 2 in both cases of 4-screen display and 9-screen display. The display examples of FIGS. 4 and 5 show a case where shooting information to be displayed is not set, and only thumbnail images are displayed. On the other hand, in FIGS. 14 and 15, a display M <b> 1 representing shooting information related to “exposure correction value” and a display M <b> 2 representing shooting information related to “BKT exposure correction value” are displayed on each divided screen so as to overlap the thumbnail images. .
[0029]
In the example shown in FIGS. 14 and 15, since the thumbnail images SA1 to SA3 were taken with different exposure correction values, only the shooting information display M1 related to “exposure correction value” is displayed. The display M1 includes an icon M11 representing exposure correction shooting and an exposure correction value M12. The exposure correction value of the image SA1 is −0.7 EV, and the exposure correction values of the images SA2 and SA3 are −0.5 EV and +0.5 EV, respectively.
[0030]
On the other hand, the thumbnail images SB1 to SB5 were taken by bracket exposure correction, and only the shooting information display M2 related to “BKT exposure correction value” is displayed. The display M2 includes an icon M21 indicating that BKT exposure correction photography has been performed, and an exposure correction value M22. The images SB1 to SB5 were taken continuously with five preset exposure correction values. The exposure correction value of the image SB1 is +1 EV, the exposure correction value of the image SB2 is +0.5 EV, and the exposure correction of the image SB3. The value is ± 0 EV, the exposure correction value of the image SB4 is −0.5 EV, and the exposure correction value of the image SB5 is −1 EV. 14 and 15, the display M1 and the display M2 are displayed in the same area in the screen, but may be displayed in different areas as shown in FIG.
[0031]
In this way, when the exposure correction values M12 and M22 are displayed together on an image shot with different exposure correction values, the change in the exposure correction value and the change in the brightness of the image can be easily understood, and the thumbnail display can be seen. Thus, the optimum exposure correction value can be easily recognized. 17 and 18 are diagrams showing other display examples. FIG. 17 shows a shooting information display M1 related to “exposure correction value”, a shooting information display M2 related to “BKT exposure correction value”, and a shooting information display M3 related to “photometry mode” in FIG. This is the case when it is selected to display.
[0032]
In FIG. 18, in addition to the above-described displays M1 to M3, a protect mark M4 indicating that image data is set to be prohibited from deletion (protection setting) is displayed. The protect mark M4 is set separately from the three displays M1 to M3 that can be displayed by the setting of “4 frames 3”.
[0033]
As described above, in the present embodiment, it is possible to select shooting information according to the shooting intention of the photographer and display it on the thumbnail display screen, so it is easy to check the necessary shooting information at the same time as checking the image. Can be done. For example, in addition to the display examples described above, when it is desired to check the shooting date and time of each image by thumbnail display, the shooting date and time may be selected as shooting information.
[0034]
On the other hand, in the conventional case, the shooting information is rarely displayed on the thumbnail display screen, and even if it can be displayed, it is limited to a predetermined protection mark such as the display 4. There was nothing that the photographer could choose freely. Therefore, when confirming the shooting information, it is necessary to operate the operation unit in the one-screen display as shown in FIG. 19A and display the shooting information of the image as shown in FIG. 19B. In order to display shooting information for a plurality of images, it is necessary to perform such an operation for each image, which is very troublesome compared to the present embodiment that can be confirmed on the thumbnail display screen. It was.
[0035]
14 to 18, the numerical displays M12 and M22 are performed together with the icon displays M11 and M21. However, when the area per screen is small, the numerical values are difficult to see, and only the icon display may be used. In the above-described embodiment, the shooting information display in the case of the thumbnail display has been described. However, the same display may be performed on the one-screen display.
[0036]
In the correspondence between the embodiment described above and the elements of the claims, the image reproduction unit 400 is a display device, the operation unit 500 is a selection unit, the system LSI 220 is a display control unit, and the thumbnail display button 7 is a change unit. Respectively. Note that the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment as long as the characteristics of the present invention are not impaired.
[0037]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to select the shooting information according to the shooting intention of the photographer and display it together with the reduced image. Therefore, it is easy to check the necessary shooting information simultaneously with the confirmation of the image. It can be carried out.
[Brief description of the drawings]
1A and 1B are diagrams showing an embodiment of an electronic camera according to the present invention, in which FIG. 1A is a plan view of the electronic camera 1 viewed from above, and FIG. 1B is a rear view of the electronic camera 1 viewed from the rear. is there.
2 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of the electronic camera 1. FIG.
FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a one-screen display.
FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a four-screen display.
FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a nine-screen display.
FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a procedure for setting shooting information.
FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a shooting menu.
FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a custom menu.
FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a selection state of “change of shooting data when displaying thumbnails” in the custom menu.
FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a display number setting screen.
FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a shooting information setting screen.
FIG. 12 is a diagram showing the eighth to eighth items displayed on the shooting information setting screen.
FIG. 13 is a diagram showing the ninth to twelfth items displayed on the shooting information setting screen.
FIG. 14 is a diagram showing a display example in four-screen display when “exposure correction value” and “BKT exposure correction value” are selected as shooting information.
FIG. 15 is a diagram showing a display example in nine-screen display when “exposure correction value” and “BKT exposure correction value” are selected as shooting information.
FIG. 16 is a diagram showing another display example when “exposure correction value” and “BKT exposure correction value” are selected as shooting information.
FIG. 17 is a diagram showing a display example when “exposure correction value”, “BKT exposure correction value”, and “photometry mode” are selected as shooting information.
FIG. 18 is a diagram illustrating a display example of a protect mark M4.
19A and 19B are diagrams showing a conventional display example, where FIG. 19A shows an image display, and FIG. 19B shows a shooting information display.
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Electronic camera 2 Menu button 3 Display monitor 4 Select dial 5 Release button 6 Command dial 7 Thumbnail display button 8 Monitor button 11 Multi selector 11a-11d Operation part 23-26 Icon 220 System LSI
341 to 344, 391 to 399 Division area 400 Image reproduction unit 500 Operation unit M1 to M4 Shooting information display M11, M21 Icon M12, M22 Exposure correction value SA1 to SA3, SB1 to SB5 Thumbnail image

Claims (3)

In an electronic camera that gives a plurality of shooting information to a captured image captured by an imaging device,
A display device that divides a display region into a plurality of divided regions and individually reproduces and displays reduced images of the plurality of captured images in different divided regions of the display region;
Selecting means for selecting arbitrary shooting information from the plurality of shooting information;
Display control means for displaying, together with the reduced image, a display indicating the selected shooting information of the shot image corresponding to the reduced image in the same divided area;
And a changing means for changing the displayable number of the reduced image by changing the number of divisions of the display area,
2. The electronic camera according to claim 1, wherein the upper limit number of the photographing information that can be selected by the selection unit is smaller as the displayable number is larger. The electronic camera according to claim 1 ,
The display showing the photographing information is composed of an icon indicating the type of the photographing information and a set value of the photographing information. The electronic camera according to claim 2 ,
The photographing information is exposure correction data, an exposure correction mark is displayed as the icon, and an exposure correction value is displayed as the set value.

Images