JPH0442367A - image file equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To improve the efficiency of retrieval and responsiveness by successively reading out a reduced picture data, which is stored corresponding to a keyword, corresponding to the keyword. CONSTITUTION:On an optical disk 12 as the storing medium of a picture file, a source picture data area 13 and a reduced picture data area 14 are provided. Corresponding to the keyword, the reduced picture data is successively stored in the reduced picture data area 14 corresponding to the keyword and in the case of keyword retrieval, the reduced picture data is successively read out from the reduced picture data area 14 corresponding to the keyword. Thus, the retrieving reduced picture data can be read out at high speed, the retrieved picture can be speedily displayed and the efficiency of retrieval and the responsiveness can be improved.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Field of Industrial Application The present invention relates to an image file facility most suitable for high-speed search for desired image information from a large amount of image information.

2. Description of the Related Art With recent advances in high-density recording technology, large-capacity magnetic disk devices or optical disk devices have been developed. In particular, optical disk devices have a large capacity.

Filing a large number of images, which was difficult in the past, has become possible with i5J. Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 61-264448 discloses means for searching for desired images from an image file system (equipment) in which such a large amount of image data is stored. The present invention has means for reducing the image information to be stored while leaving characteristic parts, etc., and means for reproducing and displaying the reduced image information, and when storing the image, the reduced image and the original image are stored. When searching, a large number of reduced images are read out and displayed at the same time, and a selection is made based on the displayed reduced images (8).

Problems to be solved by the invention This conventional lil! IIl#! In the file system, when searching for an image using a keyword that represents the characteristics of the image, the me data directory area containing the image name, keyword, address, etc. is searched, and the image corresponding to the specified keyword is reduced. The image data is accessed and reproduced one by one, and written to the display frame memory.

At this time, if the corresponding reduced image data is scattered on the recording medium, it is necessary to manage address information for each reduced image data, an address search operation is required for each reduced image data, and access time is reduced. , and it takes time to display the search screen. In particular, the access time for optical discs is about 1 second, even for a disc with a diameter of 20 ctn, so if you try to display a large number of reduced images at once to improve search efficiency, it will take a long time to display them, and the system's responsiveness will be affected. The problem was that it could make things worse.

The present invention is intended to solve the above problems, and aims to provide an image file facility with improved search efficiency and responsiveness.

Means for Solving the Problems In order to solve the above problems, the image file equipment of the present invention includes:
means for inputting original image data; means for forming reduced image data for search from the input original image data;
a storage medium comprising an original image data area for storing the original image data and a reduced image data area for search that is divided into a plurality of areas corresponding to keywords and sequentially stores the reduced image data corresponding to the keywords; Image management information of the original image data area and reduced il! a storage means for storing keyword management information of an image data area; a display means for displaying an image; and when recording an image, the original image data is stored in the original image data area of the storage medium based on the image management information of the storage means. The reduced image data is stored in the reduced image data chain of the storage medium at the address obtained by searching the keyword management information of the storage means using the input keyword. and means for displaying a plurality of reduced images simultaneously on the display means by sequentially reproducing the reduced image data of the reduced image data chain acid in the storage medium at the address obtained by searching the keyword management information of the means. .

Effect With the above configuration, when recording an image, the keyword of the image is input, the reduced image data is sequentially stored in the reduced image data area of the address corresponding to the keyword, the data between original images is stored in the original image data area, and when searching, , the reduced image data is sequentially read out from the reduced image data area at a predetermined address corresponding to the input keyword, and a plurality of reduced images are displayed simultaneously on the screen. In this way, by sequentially reading out the reduced image data stored in correspondence with the keywords in correspondence with the keywords, the search screen can be displayed quickly and responsiveness can be improved.

Example Hereinafter, one embodiment of the present invention will be described based on the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an image file facility in one embodiment of the present invention.

The host computer 1 executes internal programs and controls the operations of each section via the system bus 11. The DMA controller 3 controls image data transfer of each section independently of the operation of the host computer 1. The console 2 is used to input operation instructions, data, and the like. The image input controller 8 is a video camera or a video tape recorder (VTR).
) and other external input devices and digitizes the image data. The digitized image data is written into the frame memory 7. The image processor 6 performs processing such as sampling and thinning the image data taken into the frame memory 7 to generate reduced image f image data for search, and further performs band compression processing on the image data to be recorded. The recording and reproducing processor 5 modulates and demodulates image data according to the format of the optical disc, and transfers data between the four optical disc devices. FIG. 2 schematically shows an original image data area 13 and a reduced image data area 14 on an optical disk 12 which is a storage medium for image files. The original image data area 13 stores the image data taken into the frame memory 7, and the reduced image data area 14 stores the reduced image data for search that has been reduced by the image processor 6. The reduced image data area 14 is divided into keywords such as keyword "1" to keyword "N", and each area can store a predetermined number of reduced image data (m images). Figure 3 shows an example of image management information. This is an example of the content of image management information for the host computer 1.The host computer 1 always manages this content, and this management information is stored on the same storage medium or attached to the host computer 1 such as a fixed magnetic disk or floppy disk. The display controller 9 displays the data written in the frame memory 7 on the color monitor 10.

Image recording and retrieval operations with the above configuration will be explained.

When recording an image, input the image data to the image input controller 8.
From the console 2, input keywords representing the characteristics of the screen along with the image name. For example, if the keyword "2" is specified, the host computer] records the reduced image data in the reduced image data area of the keyword "2" by referring to the keyword management information shown in FIG. (Original image data is recorded in the original image data area based on the image management information shown in bl.

The reduced image data is successively stored in the direction of arrow A in FIG. 2 for each keyword.

When searching for images, keywords are input from the console 2. Then, the host computer 1 successively reads out the reduced image data area of the corresponding keyword from the first address, sequentially writes it into the frame memory 7, and displays it on the color monitor 10 via the display controller 9.

Figure 4 shows an example of the display, where n reduced images 15 are displayed at once.
Display.

If the number of corresponding reduced images 15 is more than n, the searcher instructs the next search image from the console 2, and then n images are sequentially read from the next address and the next search screen is displayed. In this way, the reduced image data area of the keyword is read out sequentially up to the last address where it is stored.

An image identification code 16 is displayed on the color monitor 10 so as to correspond to the displayed image 15.
Find the desired image 15 from the display of the figure, and
Enter the image identification code 16 from .

Then, the host computer 1 stores the original image data area 13.
The original screen data corresponding to the rlIii 19 identification code 16 is read into the frame memory 7 and displayed on the color monitor 10 via the display controller 9.

The image identification code 16 is assigned to the image on a one-to-one basis based on the keyword entry height, reduced image entry height, etc. that constitute the keyword management information shown in FIG. This is registered in the image management information.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, reduced image data is sequentially stored in the reduced image data area 13 corresponding to the keyword in accordance with the keyword, and when the keyword is searched, the reduced image data is stored in the reduced image data area 13 corresponding to the keyword. By reading out image data continuously, search reduced image data can be read out faster than conventional methods, and the search screen can be displayed quickly, improving search efficiency and responsiveness. can.

Effects of the Invention As described above, according to the image file facility of the present invention, when performing an image search using a keyword, reduced image data corresponding to the keyword can be read out at high speed, and the search screen can be displayed quickly. It is possible to provide an image file facility with good responsiveness and search efficiency.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

The drawings show an embodiment of the image file facility of the present invention, and FIG. 1 is a block diagram of the screen file facility, and FIG. 2 schematically shows each area on the optical disk that is the recording medium for the screen file. FIGS. 3(a) and 3(b) are diagrams showing an example of the structure of management information of an image file, and FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a search screen display. 1...Host computer, 2...Console, 3
...DMA controller, 4...optical disk device,
5... Recording/playback processor, 6... Image processor, 7... Frame memory, 8... Image input controller, 9... Display controller, 10...
Color monitor, 11... System bus, 12... Optical disk, 13... 5 tars data area, 14...
- Reduced image data area, 15...image, 16...image identification code.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A means for inputting original image data, a means for forming reduced image data for search from the inputted original image data, and an original image data area for storing the original image data and a plurality of original image data areas corresponding to keywords. A storage medium comprising a reduced image data area for search that sequentially stores the divided reduced image data corresponding to keywords, and stores image management information in the original image data area and keyword management information in the reduced image data area of the storage medium. a storage means for displaying an image; a display means for displaying an image; when recording an image, storing the original image data in an original image data area of the storage medium based on image management information of the storage means; Stored in the reduced image data area of the storage medium at an address obtained by searching the keyword management information of the storage means using the input keyword, and at the time of image search, the keyword management information obtained by searching the keyword management information of the storage means using the input keyword. An image file facility comprising means for sequentially reproducing reduced image data in a reduced image data area of the storage medium at an address and displaying a plurality of reduced images on the display means at the same time.