JPH10145719A - Display method and display device for digital electronic camera - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [PROBLEMS] To provide an apparatus capable of clearly displaying the distinction between thumbnail images before and after signal processing. In a display method of an electronic camera capable of selectively switching and recording a digital image signal after or before signal processing, a thumbnail of image data after signal processing is displayed in color, It is characterized in that the thumbnail of the image data before the signal processing is displayed differently from the thumbnail display of the image data after the signal processing, and after the signal processing, the same color display as the thumbnail after the signal processing is performed.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a display method and a display device for an electronic camera.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, an electronic camera for performing digital recording has been configured as shown in FIG.

In FIG. 4, an image obtained through an optical lens 401 is photographed by an image pickup device (CCD) 402 and subjected to processing such as CDS (color signal formation separation) and AGC (gamma correction) by a circuit 403. Preamp circuit (PreAM
In P) 404, it is amplified to a predetermined level. Then, A /
The data is temporarily recorded in the memory 406 via the D conversion circuit 405. Then, the signal is processed by the signal processing circuit 407 and recorded on the recording medium 408.

In the electronic camera having such a conventional configuration, it is difficult to obtain a high-resolution and high-quality image due to hardware restrictions for using the signal processing circuit 407 in the camera.

However, in recent years, with the improvement of computer performance, it has become possible to process signal processing of an image of about 1000 × 1000 (pixels) at high speed even by using computer software.

Therefore, a method of performing signal processing by software using a computer such as a personal computer (PC) when obtaining a high-resolution and high-quality image has been proposed and realized. Since image information is of a type that can be understood only by humans, a reduced image (thumbnail) is displayed as an index image at the time of reproduction instead of displaying the image itself, and the contents of the file can be checked in a short time. The specifications to be made are standard. In such a case, the image data before the signal processing and the image data after the signal processing are displayed with the same thumbnail. Displaying with the same thumbnail in this way causes the user to handle image data that has not been subjected to signal processing in the same manner, causing a problem of erroneous operation and a problem of being difficult for the user to understand.

[0007]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned disadvantages, and more specifically, to clearly distinguish image data after signal processing from image data before signal processing. Displaying a thumbnail image.

[0008] Furthermore, for image data that has been subjected to signal processing by software, the same thumbnail as that after signal processing is switched and displayed, and this operation is performed at high speed so that the user can use it comfortably. The task is to do so.

[0009]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, a digital image signal is recorded by selectively switching either after signal processing or before signal processing. In the display method of the electronic camera capable of
The thumbnails of the image data after the signal processing and the thumbnails of the image data before the signal processing are displayed in different modes.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided an electronic camera and a display device capable of selectively switching and recording a digital image signal after or before signal processing. The thumbnail of the image data and the thumbnail of the image data before the signal processing are displayed in different modes, and after the signal processing is completed, the display is performed in the same manner as the thumbnail after the signal processing. .

[0011]

FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of the present invention.

Reference numeral 101 denotes an optical system for forming an optical image of a subject to be photographed, and reference numeral 102 denotes a CCD (Charge Couple) for converting the formed optical image into an electric signal.
dDevice); 103, CDS and AGC for correcting the output from the CCD; 104, a preamplifier for amplifying the signal; 105, an AD converter for converting a video signal into a digital signal; 106, a writable electric memory;
107, a signal processing circuit for performing signal processing; 108, a data thinning circuit for constructing a thumbnail image (reduced image); 109, a thumbnail image produced by the data thinning circuit and the output of the signal processing circuit 107 are mixed A mixer 110 is a switch for switching between a thumbnail image and data before signal processing. This switch 1
By switching 10, any one of thumbnail image data and data before signal processing (referred to as CCD Raw data or raw data) is output. To the image data subjected to the signal processing, a flag subjected to the signal processing is added to the attribute information by the flag adding circuit 111. This flag makes it possible to distinguish between data after signal processing and CCD Raw data.

The output of the flag adding circuit 111 is recorded on a recording device 112 or taken out to an output terminal OUT.

Reference numeral 113 denotes an external PC (personal computer) for displaying the recorded content of the recording device 112 in the camera or for directly inputting the signal from the output terminal OUT to the input terminal IN. Apparatus 1
14 is displayed.

Reference numeral 115 denotes a control circuit including a CPU (central processing control unit), which controls each processing circuit in the camera.

The components 101 to 112 and 115
Are built in the electronic camera, and 113 and 1
Reference numeral 14 denotes an external PC-related element.

Next, the operation of the embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS.

FIG. 2 is for explaining the operation in the camera, and FIG. 3 is for explaining the operation on software by an external PC.

First, processing in the camera will be described with reference to FIG.

When the process starts (S301), it is determined whether or not the signal has been processed (S302). If the signal has been processed, the output of the signal processing circuit 107 and the output of the data thinning circuit 108 are mixed. The data (thumbnail image) is output via the mixer 109 and the switch 110 (S303). This output is output to the flag adding circuit 111.
And outputs a signal processing completed flag as an attribute (S305).

Step S30 for determining whether or not the signal processing is performed
If "NO" in 2, the data before processing (raw data) is output from the memory 106 by switching the switch 110 (S304).

Next, the operation of displaying data before and after processing and the processing of data before processing will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. This process is performed exclusively by the software of the external PC.

The processing of the PC starts (S201).
Then, it is determined whether or not there is a signal processing completed flag (S20).
2) If the flag is present, the transmitted thumbnail image is displayed in color (S203). PC without flag
Side creates a black and white thumbnail image (S204), and displays the thumbnail image in black and white (S205). The color display is performed using either the Y color difference method or the RGB method.

In this way, the user can easily determine whether or not the displayed thumbnail image is a processed image based on whether the image is a color display or a monochrome display.

Next, it is determined whether or not the thumbnail image requires signal processing. If necessary, it is determined whether or not a development processing start command in the PC has been issued (S206). The process moves to (S207). Here, the signal processing on the software in the PC is referred to as development processing. This development processing is based on the raw data (CCD Raw data) sent thereto, and performs black balance, white balance, and filtering. And a series of processes such as gamma correction.

It is determined whether or not the development processing has been completed (S208). When the development processing has been completed, processing for adding a signal processing completion flag as an attribute is performed (S208).
209).

The thumbnail image subjected to the signal processing in this manner returns to step S202, and returns to step S20.
2 is displayed in color (S203).

According to the above flow, the data that has not been subjected to the signal processing is subjected to the signal processing in the PC to be displayed in color.

(Other Embodiments) In the above embodiment,
Although it is assumed that the processed thumbnail image is created on the camera side, if this is performed on the PC side, a data thinning circuit and components for controlling the data thinning circuit can be omitted in the camera. There is an advantage that the size and structure of the device can be reduced.

Further, in the above embodiment, the case where the positive image from the CCD is processed has been described. However, a negative image may be handled.

When processing a negative image, steps S203 and S20 in the flowchart of FIG.
The procedure of step 4 may be changed as follows. That is, if the maximum value of the image is 8-bit data, the Y data from 255 is subtracted, and the color difference signal is inverted and the data is created and displayed in the same manner as the Y signal. In the case of RGB, the image data is temporarily converted into the Y color difference, and the same operation as described above is performed.

By displaying a negative thumbnail image in this way, more realistic CCD Raw data can be expressed.

[0033]

According to the present invention, it is possible to easily distinguish between image data before signal processing and image data after signal processing by the user at a glance of a thumbnail image, and reduce erroneous operations for display. It becomes possible.

Further, since no new thumbnail image is constructed after the signal processing, it is possible to switch the thumbnail image at high speed.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing handling of data before and after signal processing.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a display mode of a thumbnail image.

FIG. 4 is a configuration block diagram of a conventional electronic camera.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 101 optical system 102 CCD 106 memory 107 signal processing circuit 108 data thinning circuit 109 mixer 110 switch 111 flag adding circuit 112 recording device 113 external PC 114 display device

Claims (14)

[Claims] 1. A display method for an electronic camera capable of selectively switching and recording a digital image signal between after and before signal processing, wherein a thumbnail of image data after signal processing, A display method for an electronic camera, wherein a display is performed in a manner different from a thumbnail of previous image data. 2. A display method for an electronic camera capable of selectively switching and recording a digital image signal after signal processing or before signal processing, wherein a thumbnail of image data after signal processing, A display method for an electronic camera, wherein the display is performed in a manner different from that of the thumbnail of the previous image data, and after the end of the image data before the signal processing, the display is performed in the same manner as the thumbnail after the signal processing. . 3. A display device of an electronic camera capable of selectively switching and recording a digital image signal after signal processing or before signal processing, wherein a thumbnail of image data after signal processing, A display device for an electronic camera, comprising: means for displaying in a manner different from a thumbnail of previous image data. 4. A display device of an electronic camera capable of selectively switching and recording a digital image signal after signal processing or before signal processing, wherein a thumbnail of image data after signal processing, An electronic device comprising: means for displaying in a manner different from the thumbnail of previous image data; and means for displaying in a manner similar to that of the thumbnail after signal processing after the end of the image data before signal processing. Camera display device. 5. The display method for an electronic camera according to claim 1, wherein the image data before the signal processing is a black and white thumbnail, and the image data after the signal processing is displayed in color. 6. The display method for an electronic camera according to claim 1, wherein the image data before the signal processing is displayed as a negative thumbnail. 7. A thumbnail image is created by thinning means provided in a camera.
Or the display method of the electronic camera according to 2. 8. The electronic camera display method according to claim 1, wherein the thumbnail image is created by a device provided outside the camera. 9. The display method for an electronic camera according to claim 1, wherein an image before signal processing output from the camera is signal-processed by a device provided outside the camera. 10. The electronic camera display device according to claim 3, wherein the image data before the signal processing is a black and white thumbnail, and the image data after the signal processing is displayed in color. 11. The image data before signal processing is displayed as a negative thumbnail.
3. The display device of an electronic camera according to claim 1. 12. The electronic camera display device according to claim 3, wherein a thumbnail image is created by thinning means provided in the camera. 13. The electronic camera display device according to claim 3, wherein the thumbnail image is created by a device provided outside the camera. 14. The electronic camera display device according to claim 3, wherein an image before signal processing output from the camera is signal-processed by a device provided outside the camera.