JP4503868B2 - Electronic camera - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an electronic camera that captures and records an electronic image of a subject.
[0002]
[Prior art]
In recent years, cameras have become highly electronic with the development of semiconductor technology, and various functions have been realized in setting shooting conditions, reproducing images after shooting, and the like. In the case of an electronic camera, since a captured image to be handled is electronic information, ISO sensitivity adjustment, white balance processing, and the like are performed electronically, and settable items are increased as compared with a silver halide camera. Furthermore, in an electronic camera, it is possible to reproduce and display the image after shooting from a liquid crystal display device provided in the camera body, etc., while deleting the unnecessary image while checking the shot image, or performing panorama synthesis You can also Various displays such as electronic zoom display and index display are also possible. In this way, the electronic camera is a combination of a programmable electronic device and an optical system, so there are inherently more functions than a silver halide camera, and new functions have been added in response to various technological advances. Is getting more and more.
[0003]
The electronic camera has a setup mode for the user to make various settings for the electronic camera, such as calendar settings and SQ settings. The SQ setting is, for example, a setting of the size and image quality of an image to be recorded. When a standard image quality (VGA or the like) is selected, more images can be recorded on the card. If high image quality (such as XGA) is selected, high-quality images can be recorded while suppressing noise peculiar to JPEG compression.
[0004]
In some electronic cameras, a setup mode is assigned to the mode dial of the electronic camera body. For example, as shown in FIG. 7, each position of the mode dial includes an operation mode 100 related to image recording, an operation mode 101 related to image reproduction, a power OFF 102, and a setup (SETUP) 103.
[0005]
After the user operates such a mode dial to switch to the setup (SETUP) 103 position, various operations in the setup mode can be performed via the menu screen displayed on the liquid crystal display device of the electronic camera body.
[0006]
However, since the mode dial can select only one position from a plurality of positions, the setup mode must be set after the operation mode related to image recording and the operation mode related to image reproduction are finished. There is a problem that it cannot be executed. Also, the item assignment to the mode dial is limited, and as described above, there is an increase in the addition of new functions, and the setup mode that is not frequently used is superficially excluded from the mode dial, and the operation means is excluded. There is a demand for simplification and simplification.
[0007]
There is also an electronic camera in which a function corresponding to the above-described setup mode is assigned to a hierarchical menu screen. However, in such an electronic camera, for example, as can be seen from FIG. 8, menu items relating to setup are inevitably arranged at a deep hierarchical position of the hierarchical menu. Even though the electronic camera is not frequently set up, there is a problem that a series of operations until the menu item is selected and executed is troublesome.
[0008]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and it is an object of the present invention to provide an electronic camera with good operability that can perform a setup operation quickly and easily regardless of which operation mode is set. Objective.
[0009]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to solve the above problems and achieve the object, the present invention is configured as follows.
[0010]
The electronic camera of the present invention can detect an operation mode selection means for selecting an operation mode of the electronic camera, a first operation on the same operation unit, and a second operation different from the first operation. When it is determined that the operation unit, the determination unit that determines the operation detected by the operation unit, the display unit that displays the operation items of the electronic camera as a menu, and the determination unit detects the first operation. Comprises a startup mode for starting a setup mode that enables setting of items by displaying menu items on the display unit that can be set corresponding to the operation mode selected by the operation mode selection unit. This is an electronic camera.
[0011]
By adopting such a configuration, according to the electronic camera of the present invention, the setup mode selection that is not frequently used is excluded from the operation mode selection unit, and the configuration of the selection unit is simplified and simplified. In addition, since the setup mode is activated by detecting the second operation given to the operation means, the operator can perform the setup operation quickly and easily.
[0012]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
First, the basic configuration of the electronic camera according to the present embodiment will be described. As shown in FIG. 9, the electronic camera according to the present embodiment includes an imaging unit 20, an image data processing unit 21, an image data recording / display unit 22, and a control unit 23.
The imaging unit 20 includes an imaging lens, a CCD imaging device, an imaging circuit, an A / D conversion circuit, a correction circuit that performs white balance and gamma correction, a frame memory, and the like, and is captured via an optical system including the imaging lens. A subject image is formed on a CCD image sensor, and the image data is converted into a digital signal by an A / D conversion circuit, and after white balance and gamma correction are performed by a correction circuit, it is stored in a frame memory. Store one image at a time.
[0013]
The image data processing unit 21 is a part that realizes an image compression function, an image expansion function, a frame memory control function, a recording medium access function, and the like by firmware and a CPU. The image data processing unit 21 compresses data corresponding to a plurality of images stored in the frame memory one by one and stores them in the recording buffer, or decompresses the image data stored in the recording buffer. It is sent to the FIFO memory of the image data recording / display unit, or a recording medium such as a small memory card is accessed.
[0014]
The image data recording / display unit 22 includes a backlight, an input / output I / F (interface) with a recording medium, a display FIFO memory, a video encoding circuit, a TFT driving circuit, a TFT liquid crystal panel, a video output circuit, a video output terminal, and the like. Consists of The image data recording / display unit 22 reads out the image data recorded in the recording buffer and records it on a recording medium, or reads out the image data recorded on the recording medium and sends it to the display system to display an image. It is a part to do. The image data sent to the display system is temporarily stored in the display FIFO memory. The image data read from the display FIFO memory is converted into a video signal by a video encoding circuit, and characters are added. On the one hand, the video signal to which the characters and the like are added is supplied to the TFT liquid crystal panel via the TFT drive circuit and displayed as a subject image. On the other hand, the video signal is output to the outside from the video output terminal via the video output circuit.
[0015]
The control unit 23 is a part that implements a system control function, a power remaining amount check function, and other various functions (for example, a compression rate changing function, a pixel number changing function, etc.) by firmware, a CPU, and the like. 20 is a part that comprehensively controls all the system components such as the image data processing unit 21 and the image data recording / displaying unit 22.
Needless to say, the basic configuration of such an electronic camera is well known, and the embodiment can be variously modified.
[0016]
The electronic camera of this embodiment realizes quick setup by simple button operation without adding a special operation unit to the main body.
[0017]
FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an external appearance of an electronic camera body according to the present embodiment. In the figure, 1 is an electronic camera body, 2 is a mode dial, 3 is a menu button, 4 is a display unit (liquid crystal monitor), 5 is a cross cursor, and 6 is an OK instruction button. The mode dial 2 can select only one position from a plurality of positions.
[0018]
FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration for realizing the mode operation in the electronic camera of the present embodiment. As can be seen from the figure, a control unit 10, an image recording (REC) mode processing unit 12, an image reproduction (PLAY) mode processing unit 14, a setup (SETUP) mode processing unit 16, and a memory unit 18 are provided.
[0019]
The control unit 10 processes operation signals output from the operation unit of the electronic camera such as the mode dial 2 and the menu button 3 and selectively activates the processing units 12, 14, 16, This is a part that provides necessary operation information to 14, 16, and is realized by firmware, a CPU, and the like. The memory unit 18 is a part that holds data relating to the setup processed by the setup mode processing unit 16, and is realized by, for example, a nonvolatile memory.
[0020]
FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an internal operation during the operation of the electronic camera according to the present embodiment, particularly an operation related to an operation on the menu button. This operation is realized by the control unit 10 shown in FIG.
[0021]
First, it is determined based on an output signal from the menu button 3 whether or not the user has normally operated the menu button 3 (step S1). The normal operation assigned in advance to the menu button 3 means, for example, a pressing operation (single click) of the menu button 3 only once. When normal operation is detected in step S1, the mode-specific menu processing in step S2 is activated. The mode-specific menu processing is executed by the image recording mode processing unit 12 or the image reproduction mode processing unit 14. Note that the normal operation during the execution of the mode-specific menu process (during menu display) is processed as an instruction to end the execution of the mode-specific menu process.
[0022]
The image recording (REC) menu provided by the image recording mode processing unit 12 is, for example, in each operation mode of A (Aperture) aperture priority, S (Shutter) shutter priority, M (Manual) manual, and P (Program) program. , White balance (automatic / natural light / fluorescent lamp / incandescent lamp), exposure correction (−2 to ± 0 to +2), etc. can be selected and instructed. The image playback (PLAY) menu provided by the image playback mode processing unit 14 selects, for example, intermittent automatic (interval) playback time (1 sec / 5 sec), index setting (4/9), etc. it can.
[0023]
If the operation on the menu button 3 is not a normal operation, it is determined in step S3 whether or not this is a special operation. Here, the special operation means that the menu button 3 is long-pressed (for example, long-pressed for 2 seconds) or double-clicked. When the special operation is detected, the setup mode processing unit 16 is activated as soon as possible as shown in step S4. Details of the setup mode processing will be described later. When the setup mode process is activated, the operation mode set at this time, that is, the image recording mode or the image reproduction mode is not ended. If necessary, the state of these operation modes is saved in the memory unit 18.
[0024]
Further, the special operation in step S3 is preferably configured to be detectable even when the electronic camera is turned off. When the power is turned off, the electronic camera body is energized by a standby power supply or a battery in order to execute such a detection operation.
[0025]
When the setup mode process in step S4 ends, the electronic camera of the present embodiment returns to the previous operation mode as shown in step S5. This is preferable because the user can resume the desired operation after the setup is completed.
[0026]
By continuously repeating the operation of FIG. 3 as described above, the electronic camera according to the present embodiment can start setup quickly and easily by the operation including the long press operation or the double click operation.
[0027]
The mode dial 2 of the electronic camera according to the present embodiment excludes the setup mode position as shown in FIG. Therefore, the external configuration of the electronic camera is simplified by reducing the number of mode positions, and erroneous operations and the like can be prevented beforehand. Alternatively, another mode position can be newly assigned to the finite mode dial 2. For example, in FIG. 4, the position indicating the image reproduction mode is only 101, but this can be extended to two positions, for example, still image reproduction and moving image reproduction.
[0028]
FIG. 5 is a flowchart for explaining the setup for each mode, and FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining an example of setup items.
[0029]
When the setup mode process is activated in step S4 of FIG. 3, the user is provided with a setup corresponding to the operation mode set at this time. That is, as can be seen from FIG. 5, the still image shooting setup, the still image playback setup, the movie shooting setup, and the movie for each mode including the still image shooting mode, the still image playback mode, the movie shooting mode, the movie playback mode, and the power-off mode. Playback setup and all item setup are activated, and items that can be set are displayed as menus on the display unit 4. Each of these modes is an internal mode and is related to the mode specified in the mode dial.
[0030]
Items that can be set in each of the still image shooting setup, the still image playback setup, the movie shooting setup, the movie playback setup, and the all item setup are indicated by circles in FIG.
[0031]
First, in the setup when the power is turned off, all target items can be set. Here, setting clear (factory setting), sharpness (sharpness; strong / medium / weak), SHQ setting (SHQ (Super (High Quality) compression / non-compression), SQ setting (image size (VGA / XGA) and image quality), beep sound (ON / OFF of warning sound, operation sound, etc.), REC view (recorded image after shooting) (Time); 5 seconds / 2 seconds), file name memory (file name index number; increment / initial value), LCD monitor brightness (brightness), date and time (calendar), length Consists of height units (feet / meter or inch / cm) and index settings.
[0032]
In the still image shooting setup, all the above items can be set except for the index setting specific to reproduction. In the still image playback setup, you can set beep sound, LCD monitor brightness, date and time setting, and index setting.
[0033]
In the moving image shooting setup, items that are meaningless or unnecessary in moving image shooting, that is, items excluding SHQ setting, SQ setting, index setting, and the like can be set from the items in the still image shooting setup. The same items as still image playback can be set in the video playback setup.
[0034]
The details of the setup items as described above are merely examples, and it goes without saying that they may be changed as appropriate. For example, instead of setting up according to the operation mode, all items may be set up by a special operation on the menu button 3.
[0035]
According to the electronic camera of the present embodiment described above, since a single menu button 3 can be used for both menu activation and setup activation, an electronic camera with good operability that allows quick and easy setup operation. Can be provided.
[0036]
The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and can be implemented with various modifications. For example, an embodiment has been described in which a special operation such as a long press / double click is assigned to a menu button in addition to a normal operation in order to realize a shared operation. An operation may be realized. Moreover, it is good also as a structure which detects not only one button but the simultaneous pressing to two different buttons, for example as said special operation.
[0037]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide an electronic camera with good operability that can perform a setup operation quickly and easily regardless of which operation mode is set.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an external appearance of an electronic camera body according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration for realizing mode operation in the electronic camera according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an internal operation during operation of the electronic camera according to the embodiment, in particular, an operation related to an operation on a menu button. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a position configuration in a mode dial of the electronic camera according to the embodiment. FIG. 5 is a flowchart for explaining mode-specific setup in the electronic camera according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining an example of setup items in the electronic camera according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a position configuration in a mode dial of an electronic camera according to a conventional example. FIG. 8 is a hierarchy in the electronic camera according to the conventional example. Figure 9 is a block diagram showing the schematic configuration of the electronic camera hardware showing a menu EXPLANATION OF REFERENCE NUMERALS
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Electronic camera body 2 ... Mode dial 3 ... Menu button 4 ... Display part (liquid crystal monitor)
5 ... Cross cursor 6 ... OK instruction button

Claims (4)

An operation mode selection means for selecting an operation mode of the electronic camera;
An operation means capable of detecting a first operation on the same operation unit and a second operation different from the first operation;
Determining means for determining an operation detected by the operating means;
Display means for displaying a menu of operation items of the electronic camera;
When the determination means determines that the first operation has been detected, a set-up setup item corresponding to the operation mode selected by the operation mode selection means is displayed on the display means as a menu. An activation means for activating the setup mode enabling the setting;
An electronic camera comprising:   The electronic camera according to claim 1, wherein the setup mode can be activated even when the operation mode is selected to be power off.   When it is determined that the determination unit has detected a second operation different from the first operation, the menu for each operation mode selected by the operation mode selection unit is activated or terminated. The electronic camera according to claim 1. The electronic camera according to claim 1, wherein the operation mode includes at least one of an operation mode related to image recording and an operation mode related to image reproduction.

Images