JPH11122581A - Electronic still camera - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] An electronic device capable of encrypting and printing information accompanying an image and converting the encrypted image information on the print into original binary accompanying information. Provide a still camera. An image pickup apparatus for capturing an image of a subject and outputting image data, a control circuit for recording the image data and various kinds of photographing data when the subject is photographed on a recording medium,
A conversion circuit 35 for converting the photographed data into dot-shaped encrypted image data; an inverse conversion circuit 36 for inversely converting the read encrypted dot-shaped image data into various original photographing data; A selection circuit 23 for selecting one of a scanner mode for operating the camera 36 and a photographing mode for photographing a subject. When the scanner mode is selected, the image data output from the imaging device 12 is processed in the monochrome mode. When the shooting mode is selected, the image data is processed in the color mode.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to an electronic still camera for recording a subject as electronic image data.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art There has been known an electronic still camera which performs signal processing on image data obtained by electronically capturing an image of a subject using a CCD image pickup device or the like, compresses the data, and records the compressed data on a recording medium such as a flash memory. In such an electronic still camera, apart from image data, accompanying information such as shooting date and time, file name, analog processing content, digital processing content, shooting camera ID number, shooting conditions (shooting distance, aperture, shutter speed, etc.) Is recorded.

[0003] These accompanying information can be taken out and displayed arbitrarily when the image data is reproduced on a personal computer, and the image data can be organized and searched by using the accompanying information. Can be referred to when performing various processing. On the other hand, when printing image data, these accompanying information are not printed. Therefore, it is not possible to know the accompanying information from the print photograph attached to the album. If the accompanying information is printed out as it is, there is a problem in terms of privacy and disclosure of shooting techniques.

An object of the present invention is to provide an electronic still camera capable of encrypting and printing information accompanying an image. Another object of the present invention is to provide an electronic still camera capable of converting encrypted image information on a print into original binary-coded accompanying information.

[0005]

FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of the present invention.
The present invention will be described with reference to FIG. (1) The invention according to claim 1 includes an imaging device 12 for imaging a subject and outputting image data, a control circuit 34 for recording the image data and various photographing data when photographing the subject on a recording medium 33, The above-described object is achieved by providing a conversion circuit 35 that converts shooting data into coded image data. (2) According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the electronic still camera according to the first aspect, the electronic still camera further includes a synthesizing circuit 32 for synthesizing the converted image data and the image data output from the imaging device. (3) According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the electronic still camera according to the second aspect, a combined image output from the combining circuit 32 is recorded on a recording medium 33. (4) In the electronic still camera according to the first aspect, when image data of a subject is externally output from the recording medium 33, the photographing data stored in the recording medium 33 is encoded. The image data is converted into image data. (5) According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the electronic still camera according to the first aspect, the electronic still camera further includes an inverse conversion circuit 36 for inversely converting the coded image data read by the imaging device into various original shooting data. I do. (6) In the electronic still camera according to the sixth aspect, in the electronic still camera according to the fifth aspect, the selection circuit 23 for selecting one of a scanner mode for operating the inverse conversion circuit 36 and a photographing mode for capturing an image of the subject, and the scanner mode is selected. And a signal processing circuit 24 for processing image data output from the imaging device 12 in the black-and-white mode when the image processing is performed, and processing the image data in the color mode when the shooting mode is selected. . (7) According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in the electronic still camera according to the sixth aspect, when the scanner mode is selected, the image data read by the imaging device 12 has the maximum number of captured pixels and sharpness. It is characterized in that signal processing is performed with a minimum and a maximum contrast. (8) In the electronic still camera according to the eighth aspect, in the electronic still camera according to the fifth aspect, the selection circuit 23 for selecting one of a scanner mode for operating the inverse conversion circuit 36 and a photographing mode for imaging a subject, and the scanner mode is selected. And a lens setting device for setting the optical system at the macro shooting position or the widest angle shooting position. (9) According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, in the electronic still camera of the first to eighth aspects, the photographing data is image data encrypted in a dot shape.

[0006] In the section of the means for solving the above-mentioned problems, which explains the configuration of the present invention, the drawings of the embodiments are used to make the present invention easier to understand. However, the present invention is not limited to this.

[0007]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of an electronic still camera according to the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, the electronic still camera according to the present invention has an imaging unit 10 and a camera body 20, and the imaging unit 10 includes a photographic lens 11 and a CCD imaging device 12. The taking lens 11 is a zoom lens that can be set at a macro position. The camera body 20 has a shutter speed,
An input unit 21 for inputting an aperture, a use mode of an electronic flash device, an exposure correction value, etc., a release switch unit 22 including a half-press switch and a full-press switch, a photographing mode for photographing a subject, and a scanner for reading dot information to be described later. And a selection unit 23 for selecting a mode.

When the user operates the release switch unit 22 after setting photographing conditions such as an exposure value on the input unit 21, a light beam from the subject is guided to the image pickup device 12 through the photographing lens 11, and the subject image is formed on the light receiving surface. An image is formed, and signal charges corresponding to the brightness of the subject image are accumulated in the image sensor 12. In addition,
The CCD image pickup device 12 is of a so-called “all-pixel readout type”, and does not require a mechanical shutter unlike the “interline type”.

The signal charges accumulated in the CCD 12 are subjected to analog processing such as gain control by an analog signal processing circuit 24, and then to an A / D conversion circuit 25.
Is converted into a digital signal. The digitally converted signal is guided to an image processing circuit 26, where it is subjected to image processing such as white balance adjustment, contour compensation, gamma correction and the like, formatted, and temporarily stored in a frame memory 28 through a frame memory controller 27. Is stored.

The image data stored in the frame memory 28 is processed by the display image creation circuit 29 into image data for display, and is displayed as an imaging result on an external monitor 30 such as an LCD. The image data stored in the frame memory 28 is subjected to data compression by a compression circuit 31 at a predetermined ratio by a method such as JPEG. When the compression processing is performed, the data is finally recorded in a camera memory (recording medium) 33 such as a flash memory via a synthesizing circuit 32. FIG.
Describes the configuration of image data stored in the in-camera memory 33. The area A10 stores image data, and the area A20 stores binary accompanying information relating to shooting. The area A20 is called a header, and information recorded therein is called header information. A control circuit 34 controls the processes of photographing, image processing, and recording, and controls a focus detection circuit and an automatic exposure circuit (not shown).

The accompanying information relating to shooting includes shooting date and time, file name, type and parameter of analog processing, type and parameter of digital processing, model of camera and its ID number, shooting conditions (shooting distance, aperture, Shutter speed), shooting location (GPS information), and the like. Further, information such as "characters" and "sounds" input from the outside can be used as accompanying information.

The above is the processing at the time of normal photographing. next,
The characteristic configuration of the present invention will be described. In FIG. 1, a dot processing circuit 35 converts the above-mentioned binary accompanying information into encrypted dot-shaped image data when a shooting mode is selected. For example, one bit of information can be assigned to one dot, and the amount of information that can be printed is proportional to the dot code printing area. For example, 300d
In the case of a pi printer, it is theoretically possible to print about 8.7 kbytes of information in an area of 1 cm long and 5 cm wide. Naturally, the amount of information that can be recorded by the amount of control information such as a header, the data compression method, the error detection method, and the like increases or decreases. On the other hand, the inverse conversion circuit 36 reversely converts the above-mentioned dot-shaped image data read by the CCD imaging device 12 into binary accompanying information when the scanner mode is selected. The combining circuit 32 combines the dot-shaped image data created by the dot processing circuit 35 with the image data output from the compression circuit 31 and records the combined data in the memory 33.

The operation of the electronic still camera configured as described above will be described. During normal shooting, the mode selection unit 2
3. The photographing mode is selected with 3. As a result, as described above, the image data output from the CCD image sensor 12 is once shaped by various circuits 24 to 26 so as to conform to a predetermined format standard, and the frame memory 28
And displayed on the external monitor 30. Input unit 21
The image data in the frame memory 28 is compressed by the compression circuit 31 based on the recording start command from the CPU and input to the synthesis circuit 32. On the other hand, the incidental information on the above-described shooting is sequentially input from the control circuit 34 to the dot processing circuit 35,
It is converted into encrypted dot-shaped image data, for example, dot code data. The converted encrypted dot code data is combined with the image data by the combining circuit 32. For example, as shown in FIG. 2, an area A10 allocated to one image data in the camera memory 33 includes an original image data area A11 and a data area A12 for storing image data of encrypted accompanying information. Are assigned in advance. Therefore, the accompanying information is recorded in the data area A12.

When an electronic still camera is used as a scanner, a mode selecting section 23 selects a scanner photographing mode. For example, a case where the printout is performed as shown in FIG. 3 will be described. In FIG. 3, image data of a subject is printed out in an area P11 of the print output PI, and encrypted dot-shaped image data (dot code) is printed out in an area P12. The electronic still camera is switched to the scanner mode, and the CCD image pickup device 12 is operated while operating the release switch unit 22.
When the area P12 is traced, as in the shooting mode,
The image data output from the CCD 12 is temporarily stored in the frame memory 28. Based on a recording start command from the input unit 21, the image data in the frame memory 28 is taken into the inverse conversion circuit 36, and the encrypted dot code is converted into binary data and input to the control circuit 34. The binary data can be displayed on the external monitor 30 or displayed on a monitor connected to the personal computer when the image is reproduced on the personal computer.

FIG. 4 is an example of a flowchart for executing the operation described above. When the half-press switch is operated, the execution starts, and in step S1, the CCD image sensor 1
2. Read the signal from 2. If it is determined in step S2 that the mode is the shooting mode, signal processing is performed on the image signal output from the CCD image sensor 12 in step S3. This signal processing is processing suitable for normal photographing. Next, step S4
In, image data formatted by various signal processing is temporarily stored in the frame memory and displayed on the monitor 30. In step S5, when it is instructed to store the image data in the recording medium 33, the image data is compressed in step S6, and the binary accompanying information is converted into dot code data in step S7. Then, in step S8, the two image data are combined, and in step S8
At 9 the data is recorded in the memory 33.

On the other hand, if it is determined in step S2 that the mode is the scanner mode, signal processing suitable for the scanner mode is performed in step S11, and the image data subjected to the signal processing is temporarily stored in the frame memory 28 in step S12.

In step S13, it is determined whether or not the inverse conversion is performed on the read image data. If the determination is affirmative, the process proceeds to step S14, where the image data is read from the frame memory 28 and inversely converted to obtain binary accompanying information. If it is determined in step S15 that the inverted data is to be reproduced, the accompanying information is displayed on the monitor 30 in step S16. If steps S5, S13, S15 in FIG. 4 are denied, this process is stopped.

As described above, in the electronic still camera of this embodiment, binary accompanying information is converted into dot code data, combined with image data of a subject, and recorded in the memory 33. Compared to importing the accompanying information to a computer and converting it to dot code data and printing it out with the subject image, there is no need to use dedicated software or work on a personal computer each time. Can be easily encrypted.

Further, as shown in FIG. 3, since the accompanying information is printed as a dot code in the area P12, it is not possible to read the accompanying information just by looking at the printed picture, and the privacy is protected. In addition, the photographing technique such as the aperture value, the shutter speed, and the exposure correction value is not known to others.

Further, if the electronic still camera is set to the scanner mode and the print output area P12 is traced by the photographing lens 10 of the electronic still camera, the dot code is converted into binary accompanying information. The data can also be displayed on the monitor 30. Therefore,
Compared with the case where the code information is read by the scanner and then decoded by the dedicated software, the present embodiment eliminates the need for the dedicated software and the scanner.

However, if the decryption key such as a password is not set when performing the above-described data reverse conversion, anyone who owns the same electronic still camera can print the dot code Can be read. Therefore, it is preferable to allow the reverse conversion only when the passwords registered in advance match. In this case, a password is input before photographing, and the password is stored as a dot code together with the accompanying information to be encrypted. If the password is input before reading the dot code in the scanner mode, the reverse conversion of the accompanying information is permitted only when the read and reverse-converted password matches the input password. Good.

FIG. 5 is a flow chart for performing such processing, and corresponds to step S1 in the flow chart of FIG.
Step S13A is inserted between Step 3 and Step S14. In step S13A, it is determined whether the passwords match, and only when it is determined that the passwords match, the inverse conversion is performed.

(Modification 1) In the above description, when recording the accompanying information, as shown in FIG. 2, a recording area A12 for the accompanying information is provided in a part of the image area A10 previously allocated to the memory 33, and The image data and the dot code of the accompanying information are combined and recorded in the memory 33. However, as shown in FIG. 6, an area A12 for recording the dot code of the accompanying information is provided separately from the image data area A10 of the memory 33, and when the information is reproduced by a personal computer,
Alternatively, at the time of printing, the image data recorded in the area A10 of the memory 33 and the accompanying information recorded in the area A12 may be combined and output. The image data may be output from the area A11, and the accompanying information may be output from the area A12, and may be combined on the personal computer side or the printer side.

(Modification 2) Also, when the accompanying information is not dot-coded in advance and recorded in the memory 33, but is reproduced or printed by a personal computer, the area A of the memory 33 is used.
It is also possible to convert the binary accompanying information recorded in 20 into a dot code, output it to a printer together with image data, and print it as shown in FIG. The conversion of the binary accompanying information may be performed on the personal computer side or the printer side. An electronic still camera may be provided with an interface circuit to directly send image data to a printer and print the image data.

(Modification 3) Various photographing conditions and image processing methods can be automatically changed as follows, for example, in accordance with the case where the photographing mode is selected by the mode selecting section 23 and the case where the scanner mode is selected. Good. (1) In the scanner mode, it is preferable to set the taking lens 10 at the macro position or at the widest angle position. As a result, the focal length is automatically shortened in the scanner mode, and the dot code can be reliably read. (2) When the scanner mode is selected, the processing may be performed in the black-and-white mode, and when the shooting mode is selected, the processing may be performed in the color mode in which the color interpolation processing is performed. Here, the black-and-white mode is processing in which color signals are discarded (to make the code easier to read) and an image is processed, and the color mode is image processing in which color information is not discarded in the black-and-white mode. Normally, the dot code is black and white, and there is no need to perform color interpolation processing.
This is because a monochrome image can be read clearly in the monochrome mode. (3) When the scanner mode is selected, the CCD
It is preferable to perform signal processing on the image data read by the imaging element 12 by maximizing the number of captured pixels (resolution), minimizing sharpness, and maximizing contrast. For the same reason as described above.

In the above description, the accompanying information is encrypted in the form of dots. However, the method is not limited to the dot form as long as it is encoded so that it cannot be read by others.

In the above embodiment, the CCD image pickup device 1
2 is an imaging device, a dot processing circuit 35 is a conversion circuit,
The in-camera memory 33 constitutes a recording medium.

[0028]

According to the present invention, as described in detail above, the following effects can be obtained. (1) According to the present invention, various photographing data obtained when a subject is photographed are converted into coded image data. Therefore, it is possible to encrypt the accompanying information without using another device or software. it can. (2) According to the second aspect of the present invention, since a circuit for synthesizing the coded image data and the image data output from the imaging device is provided on the camera side, the accompanying information is also provided in a standardized image format. Information stored in a storage medium and encoded by a general-purpose printer can be printed. (3) According to the third aspect of the present invention, an image obtained by synthesizing the accompanying information and the subject image is recorded on the recording medium. Therefore, the second aspect of the present invention is based on the image data output from the storage medium. In the same manner as described above, it is possible to print information encoded by a general-purpose printer. (4) According to the fourth aspect of the invention, when image data of a subject is externally output from a recording medium, the accompanying information is converted into coded image data and output.
There is no need to allocate an area for recording the coded image data of the accompanying information on the storage medium, and the recording capacity can be used effectively. (5) According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, since the electronic still camera itself has the inverse conversion circuit for inversely converting the coded image data into the original photographing data, the electronic still camera can be used as a scanner. Associated information that has been coded. (6) According to the sixth aspect of the invention, the image data is processed in the monochrome mode when the scanner mode is selected, and in the color mode when the shooting mode is selected. Can be reliably read. (7) According to the seventh aspect of the present invention, when the scanner mode is selected, the read image data is signaled by maximizing the number of captured pixels, minimizing sharpness, and maximizing contrast. Since the processing is performed, it is possible to reliably read, for example, dot-like accompanying information. (8) According to the invention of claim 8, when the scanner mode is selected, the optical system is set to the macro shooting position or the widest angle shooting position, so that, for example, dot-like accompanying information is reliably read. be able to.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an embodiment of an electronic still camera according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 illustrates a recording area of a storage medium.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a print output example.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an example of a processing procedure of the electronic still camera according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a modified example.

FIG. 6 is a view for explaining another example of the recording area of the storage medium.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 10 imaging unit 20 camera main unit 21 input unit 22 release switch unit 23 selection unit 26 signal processing circuit 28 frame memory 32 synthesizing circuit 33 camera memory 34 control circuit 35 dot conversion processing circuit 36 inverse conversion circuit

Claims (9)

[Claims] An image pickup device for picking up an image of a subject and outputting image data; a control circuit for recording the image data and various kinds of photographing data when the subject is photographed on a recording medium; An electronic still camera, comprising: a conversion circuit for converting image data into converted image data. 2. The electronic still camera according to claim 1, further comprising a synthesizing circuit for synthesizing the converted image data and image data output from the imaging device. 3. The electronic still camera according to claim 2, wherein the control circuit records a composite image output from the composition circuit on the recording medium. 4. The electronic still camera according to claim 1, wherein the conversion circuit codes shooting data stored in the recording medium when outputting image data of the subject from the recording medium to the outside. An electronic still camera, characterized in that the electronic still camera converts the image data into coded image data. 5. The electronic still camera according to claim 1, further comprising an inverse conversion circuit for inversely converting coded image data read by the imaging device into original various photographing data. 6. The electronic still camera according to claim 5, wherein a selection circuit for selecting one of a scanner mode for operating the inverse conversion circuit and a photographing mode for capturing an image of a subject, and when the scanner mode is selected. An electronic still camera, comprising: a signal processing circuit that processes image data output from the imaging device in a black-and-white mode and processes the image data in a color mode when the photographing mode is selected. 7. The electronic still camera according to claim 6, wherein, when the scanner mode is selected, the signal processing circuit maximizes the number of captured pixels with respect to image data read by the imaging device. Minimize sharpness,
An electronic still camera characterized by performing signal processing while maximizing contrast. 8. The electronic still camera according to claim 5, wherein a selection circuit for selecting one of a scanner mode for operating the inverse conversion circuit and a photographing mode for capturing an image of a subject, and when the scanner mode is selected. An electronic still camera comprising: a lens setting device that sets an optical system at a macro shooting position or a widest angle shooting position. 9. The electronic still camera according to claim 1, wherein said coded image data is encrypted dot-shaped image data.