Nikon Corporation

Toshihisa Kuroiwa

Masahiro Suzuki

Akira Ohmura

Hideyasu Kuniba

Sadami Okada

Yoji Uchiyama

Fumio Hiraide

Hirotake Nozaki

Satoshi Ejima

Kiyoshige Shibazaki

Hideo Hoshuyama

Kazuya Umeyama

Tomoaki Kawamura

Toshiaki Kobayashi

Takumi Kawahara

Ichiro Shidate

An electronic camera is capable of recording image, voice, text, line-drawn information and the like. A release switch in the electronic camera is operated to photograph a subject image. When recording voice with the electronic camera, shutter sound effects are not output with the recorded voice. Further, the photographic operation can be indicated to the user by lighting a light-emitting diode in a finder when the release switch is operated.

Information input apparatus and method

An image file generation device includes: an image file generation unit that generates an image file having stored therein a plurality of sets of image data obtained in a batch via an image sensor; and an image recording unit that records the image file into a storage medium, wherein: if the image file generation unit determines that an image file-splitting condition has been satisfied while the batch of image data is being obtained via the image sensor, the image file generation unit ends image data storage into the current image file and starts image data storage into a new image file.

Image file generation device, camera and image file generation method

An electronic camera according to the present invention includes: an image pickup part for picking up a subject image to produce image data; a processing part for processing the image data outputted from the image pickup part to produce a quickview image for monitor display and also produce image data for record on a recording medium; and a monitor part for displaying the quickview image. The processing part commences displaying the quickview image on the monitor part prior to the production of the image data for record. This processing allows the display of the quickview image to be commenced without waiting for completion of the production of the image data for record. Therefore, it is possible to shorten the time lag occurring at displaying the quickview image, thereby improving the convenience of the electronic camera.

Electronic camera for producing quickview images

An image capturing apparatus can use a reading time from an image sensor efficiently. To achieve the object, the image capturing apparatus includes an image capturing unit which is configured to (i) capture image data (ii) separate the image data having a plurality of color components into a plurality of fields, and (iii) output each of the plurality of fields, the image-capturing unit being switchable between a first mode and a second mode, and a selecting unit which is configured to select two or more, but not all, of a plurality of fields, an image-generating unit which generates a low-resolution image based on image data of a field being selected by the selecting unit, and a controlling unit that is configured to cause the image-generating unit to generate the low-resolution image while the controlling unit outputs a field other than the field selected by the selecting unit.

Image capturing apparatus

An electronic camera includes: an image-capturing device that captures an image of a subject and generates image data; a first bus to which the image data generated by the image capturing device are output; an image memory that is connected to the first bus and temporarily stores the image data on the first bus; a plurality of image data conversion devices connected to the first bus that individually convert the image data on the first bus; a second bus through which conversion outputs from the plurality of image data conversion devices are provided to individual output destinations; and an adjustment device that performs timing adjustment or multiplexing of a plurality of conversion outputs to ensure that the plurality of conversion outputs do not collide on the second bus.

Electronic camera that reduces processing time by performing different processes in parallel

An electronic camera of the present invention includes: an imaging unit capturing a subject to generate an original image; a derivative image generating unit reducing resolution or color of the original image to generate a derivative image for transfer; a recording unit recording the original image and the derivative image thereon such that the original image and the derivative image get associated with each other; and a transfer unit transferring the derivative image recorded on the recording unit to an external transfer destination. In this configuration, the recording unit finds the derivative image (original image) by referring to the association with the original image (or derivative image), thereby collectively managing the original image and the derivative image. This makes it possible to prevent a user from being confused at image management due to the original image and the derivative image being the same image.

Electronic camera

A camera includes: an information creation device that creates association information for associating a plurality of image files created by the first image file creation device based on a plurality of image data acquired by the image device as a set of image data and recorded in the recording medium, with each other as a set of individual image files when the camera is set to a first photography mode in which data of a plurality of image files are combined to create one integrated image file; a second image file creation device that combines a plurality of the individual image files based on the association information in response to an instruction by a user to create one integrated image file; and a second recording control device that records the integrated image file created by the second image file creation device in a recording medium.

Camera

An image file processing method adopted in an image file processing apparatus, includes steps for: inputting from the outside an image file containing at least color information corresponding to each of pixels defined by a color space used in the image file, a color space identification tag indicating whether or not the color space used in the image file is a first color space and a color space information tag providing color space information related to the color space used in the image file; making a decision as to whether or not the color space used in the image file is the first color space based upon the color space identification tag; and referencing the color space information tag in the image file if the color space used in the image file is determined not to be in the first color space.

Image file processing method including color space conversion and corresponding image file processing apparatus

An electronic camera of the present invention includes an image pickup part performing 'still image pickup generating a still image signal' and 'control image pickup successively generating control image signals having higher frame rate' in time division; a still image processing part applying predetermined still image signal processing to the still image signal; a control image processing part applying predetermined control signal processing to the control image signals to extract control data; and a control part performing at least one control operation out of exposure control, focus control, and white balance control, based on the control data output from the control image processing part. Particularly, in the present invention, the control image processing part and the still image processing part are configured to operate independently. The control image processing part performs the signal processing on the control image signals successively generated, even when the still image signal is being signal-processed.

Electronic camera for displaying a preview image during still image capture

A frame memory device is employed in a digital camera, for example, to output raster-scanned digital color image signals at lower resolution than that of original image signals. The order of sequentially received original raster-scanned digital color image signals is rearranged, and the rearranged signals are sequentially stored in a memory having a two-dimensional address structure such that vertical addresses represent the order of entry of respective scan lines that constitute the image signals and horizontal addresses represent the order of entry of respective signals that belong to each of the scan lines. The stored rearranged signals are subsampled and read out while skipping horizontal and vertical addresses of the memory at regular intervals. The image signals may comprise YCCcolor signals having a sampling ratio of 4:2:2. Sequentially received C signals in the order of C&#x2192;C&#x2192;C&#x2192;C, for example, are rearranged in the order of C&#x2192;C&#x2192;C&#x2192;C. Scanning frequencies of image signals generated in the raster-scan scheme can be made equal to those of NTSC or PAL television signals for convenient display of image signals on a television monitor.

Frame memory device and method with subsampling and read-out of stored signals at lower resolution than that of received image signals

An electronic camera of the present invention comprises an image pickup part, a microprocessor, and a multi-port memory that has a first port and a second port through which data can be independently accessed. The microprocessor writes the image data to the multi-port memory through the first port. The digital signal processor reads the image data from the multi-port memory through the second port, performs the software signal processing on the image data, and writes the processed data to the multi-port memory through the second port. The microprocessor reads the image data on which the software signal processing has been performed from the multi-port memory through the first port and records the read image data from the multi-port memory on a recording medium that stores data.

Electronic camera and control integrated circuit for electronic camera

The invention provides a technique for compression processing according to JPEG 2000 or the like in an electronic camera that evaluates the quality of each of image data groups taken sequentially by an imaging section and records high-rank image data selectively, and in a related image processing program. The quality of an image is evaluated based on: an amount of data in a selection region of ROI coding; an amount of data to a predetermined position of a bit stream; a cutoff position of a bit stream; a signal level of a high-frequency-range sub-band component; or an amount of data of a predetermined tile. This quality evaluation makes it possible to achieve an image selection function that matches the compression processing of JPEG 2000 or the like very well.

Growing community of inventors

Miura, Japan

Toshihisa Kuroiwa