JP2000293971A - Picture recording and reproducing device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a picture recording and reproducing device in which the picture degradation of reproduced pictures is not present and the time needed for displaying the pictures in a list is short. SOLUTION: A first directory and a second directory are prepared below the root directory of a write-once recordable recording medium and the picture data recorded on a recording medium different from the recording medium are recored on the first directory and the picture data of reduced pictures of pictures corresponding to the picture data recorded on the first directory are recorded on the second directory. Thus, original picture data are preserved on the write-once recordable recording medium while the quality of the pictures is not impaired and, moreover, since the preserving of the picture data to the first directory can be performed by only copying the picture data of another recording medium, the processing time needed for preserving the picture data also becomes short.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image recording / reproducing apparatus, and more particularly, to recording image data recorded on a plurality of recording media on a large-capacity recording medium capable of additionally recording and reproducing the recorded image. The present invention relates to an image recording / reproducing device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as this kind of image recording / reproducing apparatus, a user brings a recording medium in which image data recorded by a photographing apparatus such as a digital camera is recorded to a shop and pays a fee. A so-called coin vender type is generally known in which a unique CDROM containing desired image data is created, or a necessary color image is printed out from image data recorded on the recording medium brought in. The CDROM is created by selecting image data recorded on a recording medium such as a memory card called a smart media or a compact flash, a floppy disk, or another recording medium on a monitor screen, and adding a necessary image to a CD-ROM. This is done by recording in R. The image recorded on the CDROM created by the image recording / reproducing apparatus can be freely displayed on a display or printed out by a personal computer owned by the user.

[0003] In a digital camera, in order to record as many images as possible on a recording medium, image data of a photographed image is generally compressed and recorded on a recording medium by a method called JPEG method. When the image data thus compressed and recorded on the recording medium is additionally recorded and stored on the CD-R, the image data is decompressed, and the
It is recorded in a format called an “ash Pix format”.

FIG. 9 shows a directory structure employed in the conventional image recording / reproducing apparatus when the decompressed image data is additionally recorded on a CD-R. FIG. 10 shows the structure of the Flash Pix format.

As shown in FIG. 9, a directory IMAG for recording image data is located immediately below a root directory.
ES is created, and the image data is stored in the directory IMAGES with the file name 980302001. FPX, 9
80302002. FPX, ..., 980302020.
FPX is added and recorded in order. These file names consist of a prefix of 8 characters and a suffix of 3 characters (FP
X).

The above eight prefixes are as follows: The first two characters are the last two years of the year in which the CD-R was written.
The digit is marked, ・ The next one character is written in hexadecimal notation, ・ The next two characters are written in decimal notation, ・ The next three characters are written in the image file. It is a turn.

In the Flash Pix format shown in FIG. 10, RES0 has the same size in the vertical and horizontal pixels as the original image.
A plurality of sizes of image data in which the number of pixels in the vertical and horizontal directions is １ ／, such as RES2 in which the number of pixels in the vertical and horizontal directions is 1/4, respectively, is created.

[0008]

In the conventional image recording / reproducing apparatus, when the image data recorded on the recording medium of the digital camera is additionally recorded on the CD-R, the directory structure described with reference to FIG. Since it is adopted, the file name and directory structure when written on the media of the digital camera are completely lost. For this reason, there is a problem that it is difficult to search the contents of the CD-R on a personal computer owned by the user.

Further, a recording medium such as a memory card for recording image data taken by a digital camera is generally expensive, and once written to a CD-R and backed up, the contents of the memory card are erased and the digital camera is re-exposed. Normally, new image data captured by the camera is written. However, even if the image data written on the CD-R is copied to the memory card in order to check the image data once written on the CD-R using a monitor attached to the digital camera, the file name or the directory is not changed. Not only the structure but the file format is Flash P
Since the data is converted to ix, it cannot be reproduced and displayed on the monitor of the digital camera.

Further, in the Flash Pix format, image data is selected according to the required image size according to the use, such as RES0 at the time of printout, RES3 at the time of index display, and RES2 at the time of index print. I have. However, the image size recorded by a digital camera varies depending on the model. If an index display (list display) or index print (list print) is to be performed at a fixed image size, the vertical and horizontal pixels specified in the Flash Pix format are used. It is necessary to further scale and convert the image of the image size of each half,
There was a problem that processing took time. Furthermore,
Since the Flash Pix format image data is recompressed after decompressing the original image, there is also a problem that the image quality is deteriorated as compared to the original image.

An object of the present invention is to provide an image recording / reproducing apparatus in which a reproduced image has no image deterioration.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an image recording / reproducing apparatus in which the time required for displaying a list is short.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide an image recording / reproducing apparatus in which image data can be easily searched.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide an image recording / reproducing apparatus which can copy backed-up image data to an original recording medium and monitor its contents.

[0015]

In order to achieve the above object, according to the first aspect of the present invention, a first directory and a second directory are created under a root directory of a recordable recording medium. In a first directory, image data recorded on a recording medium different from the recording medium is recorded, and in a second directory, a reduced image of an image corresponding to the image data recorded in the first directory is recorded. Is recorded.

In the first directory of the recordable recording medium, original image data of the another recording medium is stored as it is in a file structure under a root directory. As a result, the image data that can be additionally recorded is stored without deteriorating the quality of the original image data.
Then, saving the image data in the first directory simply involves copying the image data on the other recording medium, and therefore the processing time required for saving the image data is also shortened.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the image recording / reproducing apparatus according to the first aspect, a third directory including a recording date in a directory name is created immediately below the root directory, and the third directory is created. The first directory and the second directory are created under the directory.

The third directory contains information on the recording date in the directory name. When you select the date displayed on the monitor screen, based on the information on the recording date,
The image in the directory of the index image can be displayed.

Further, the invention according to claim 3 is based on claim 1.
Or in the image recording / reproducing apparatus according to item 2,
And the directory name of the second directory has a common identification part.

The common identification portion makes it possible to establish a correspondence between the image data recorded in the first directory and the image data recorded in the second directory.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the image recording / reproducing apparatus according to any one of the first to third aspects, the image data of the reduced image recorded in the second directory is not compressed. It is an image file.

Since the image data recorded in the second directory is recorded in a size suitable for display in an uncompressed state, the processing time for recording and reproducing the image data is shortened.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the image recording / reproducing apparatus according to the first aspect, at the time of reproduction, the uncompressed image files recorded in the second directory are reproduced and displayed in a list. It is characterized by the following.

Since the image data recorded in the second directory is an uncompressed file, the time required for decompression is unnecessary when displaying a list of the image data recorded in the second directory. As a result, a list can be displayed in a short time.

[0025]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of an image recording / reproducing apparatus according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

In the following, a user inserts a recording medium called a smart media or a compact flash in which an image photographed by a digital camera is recorded, checks a photographed image by charging a fee, and prints a necessary image. One embodiment in which the present invention is applied to an image recording / reproducing apparatus of a coin vender system which outputs a large amount of image data or stores a large amount of image data on a CD-R which is one of large-capacity recording media. The description will be made separately in terms of (overall configuration), (circuit block configuration) and (control flow).

(Overall Configuration of Image Recording / Reproducing Apparatus) As shown in FIG. 1, an image recording / reproducing apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment mounts a recording medium (media) 2 on which an image photographed by a digital camera (not shown) is recorded. Recording medium insertion openings 3a, 3
b, CD capable of additionally recording a large amount of image data
A printer 13 (see FIG. 2) having a display 4 and a print outlet 5 for giving a monitor image and an operation instruction; Into the recording medium insertion ports 3a and 3b, a medium 2 for recording an image of a digital camera such as a smart medium or a compact flash as described above can be inserted. Also, the above CD
The -R loading section 3c is of a tray type, and a tray for loading a CD-R can be loaded and unloaded by an instruction from the touch panel 6 mounted on the display 4.

The touch panel 6 has a function of a switch for performing various instructions and selections. When the surface of the touch panel 6 is pressed according to an input instruction displayed on a monitor screen displayed on the display 4, the touch panel 6 is pressed. Detects the position information of the part that was touched. As a method of detecting the pressed position of the touch panel 6, a resistive film method of detecting the position from a change in the resistance value of the pressed portion of the touch panel 6 or a portion that blocks light when the touch panel is pressed, Can be adopted. FIG. 7 shows an example of a monitor screen displayed on the display 4 and switches for performing various instructions formed by the touch panel 6.

(Circuit Block Configuration) FIG. 2 shows a circuit block configuration of the image recording / reproducing apparatus 1 of FIG. The image recording / reproducing apparatus 1 includes a personal computer (hereinafter, referred to as a personal computer) 11, a media drive device 12a, 12b into which an image recording medium 2 of a digital camera is inserted from the recording medium insertion ports 3a, 3b, and a CD. An R drive device 12c, a hard disk 12d, a printer 13, and a coin discriminator 14 to which a fee is inserted from a fee slot 7 (see FIG. 1) are provided, and the display 4 and the touch panel 6 already described are provided. When the medium 2 is loaded into the drive device 12a, for example, the image data recorded on the medium 2 is transferred to the personal computer 11a.
Is read out by the drive device 12a under the control of, and transferred to the hard disk 12d for storage. The personal computer 11 displays the image data transferred to the hard disk 12d on the display 4,
The printer 13 is controlled by receiving an instruction from the touch panel 6 operated by the user. Touch panel 6
Is a personal computer 11 using serial communication means such as RS232C.
Communicate with

As shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, the touch panel 6 cooperates with an image displayed on the monitor screen 21 of the display 4 to save the total number of switches 22, the individual storage switch 23, the previous page designation switch. 24a, next page designation switch 24b, total print switch 25,
An individual print switch 26, an OK switch 27, a stop switch 28, and a recording date / time designation switch 29 are formed.

(Control Flow) Next, the control flow (FIG. 3) for displaying a list of contents of the medium 2 on which image data captured by a digital camera is recorded by the image recording / reproducing apparatus 1 having the above-described configuration. A control flow (FIG. 4) for additionally storing image data on a CD-R and printing out necessary images will be described.

The control flow shown in FIG. 3 is started, and the image recording / reproducing apparatus 1, for example, the media drive 12
When the medium 2 is loaded on the medium a (step S1), the image data recorded on the medium 2 is collectively transferred and stored on the hard disk 12d of the personal computer 11.
When all the image data recorded on the medium 2 has been transferred, the medium 2 can be taken out of the image recording / reproducing apparatus 1 (step S2).

Thereafter, the image data stored in the hard disk 12d is sequentially decompressed (step S).
3) Then, an index display image reduction processing routine (step S4) is executed. When the index display image reduction processing routine is completed, the state of the stop switch 28 on the monitor screen 21 shown in FIG. 7 is determined, and it is determined whether or not an instruction to stop the index display has been issued (step S5). At this time, if it is determined that the stop of the index display has been instructed (Yes in step S5),
Menu selection of the control flow shown in FIG. 4 (step S1
The process proceeds to 1), and if it is determined that the stop of the index display has not been instructed (No in step S5), the index display is performed (step S6). As a result, the monitor 2 is displayed on the monitor screen 21 as shown in FIG.
Is started, the image data recorded on the medium 2 is sequentially displayed (a loop of steps S3 to S7), and when the display of all the image data is completed, FIG. The process proceeds to menu selection of the control flow shown (step S11).

When the list display is interrupted halfway, all the image data in the medium 2 is decompressed and recorded on the hard disk 12d. The decompressed image data is stored after being reduced to an index display and a required image size. Further, the number of images that can be displayed on the monitor screen 21 at one time is 20. When the number of images to be index-displayed exceeds 20, the pages are switched and displayed. When the page changeover switches 24a and 24b in FIG. 7 are pressed, the image displayed on the monitor screen 21 is switched to the image of the previous page and the image of the next page.

In the menu selection of the control flow shown in FIG. 4 (step S11), the image shown in FIG. In this state, what is recorded on the printout or on the CD-R by the touch panel 6 is as follows.
It is determined whether the total number of images transferred to and stored on the hard disk 12d, only the images individually selected in the next step, or abort (step S1).
2). In the case of suspension, step S1 of the control flow of FIG.
Return to

That is, if the all-save switch 22 or the all-prints switch 25 is pressed on the monitor screen 21 of FIG. 7, it is determined whether the operation is save, print, or stop (step S14). Returns to step S12. Further, when the individual save switch 23 or the individual print switch 26 is pressed on the monitor screen 21 in FIG. 7, after instructing the user to select an image (step S13), it is determined whether to save, print, or cancel. Is determined (step S1
4). At this time, when the individual print or the individual save is selected, the user is required to enter the index image 24
A desired image inside can be selected by pressing it with a finger.
In the selected image, the color of the frame of the image changes so that it can be determined that the image is selected.

If it is determined in step S14 that all or all prints are instructed,
The personal computer 11 calculates the fee from the number of images to be printed out and displays the fee on the display 4 (step S1).
5). The user confirms the displayed fee, and monitors the monitor screen 2
When the user presses the OK button 27 of step 1 (step S16) and inserts a charge through the charge slot 7 shown in FIG. 1, the coin discriminator 14 checks the amount of the inserted money and transmits the information of the inserted amount to the personal computer 11. The personal computer 11 determines whether the input amount information is correct (step S17). If the input amount is correct, printing is started, and the images specified above are sequentially printed out (step S18). Also,
When the total print is designated, the entire print is printed out (step S18).

On the other hand, if it is determined in step S14 that saving of all copies or individual saving is instructed, the personal computer 11 calculates a fee and displays it on the monitor (step S19). The user confirms the displayed fee and presses an OK button 27 on the monitor screen 21 (step S20),
When the fee is inserted, the coin discriminating machine 14 confirms the inserted amount and transmits the inserted amount information to the personal computer 11. The personal computer 11 determines whether the input amount information is correct (step S21). If the input amount is correct,
The user pulls out the tray of the -R drive device 12c and instructs the monitor screen 21 to insert a CD-R into the tray (step S22). When it is detected that the CD-R has been put in the tray (step S23), a writing routine (step S24) is started, and the images specified above are sequentially written on the CD-R. Also, when writing all the data is designated, all the image data is written. When the writing to the CD-R is completed, the tray is ejected and the user can read the CD on which the desired image data is recorded.
-R can be taken out.

Next, the data format written to the CD-R in the CD-R writing routine (step S24) of FIG. 4 will be described. In a digital camera, image data is recorded in a directory structure as shown in FIG. 5 on a medium 2 used for recording photographed image data. In this example, it is assumed that the image data is recorded in the EXIF standard which is a typical image file standard of a digital camera. In the EXIF standard,
Immediately below the root directory, a directory name of eight characters whose first two characters start with IM is to be attached. The next two characters following IM are directory numbers,
They are to be numbered sequentially. The remaining four characters that follow can be freely named.

By changing the above four characters that can be freely named according to the shooting conditions and recording them in different directories, it is possible to easily search after the shooting. The four characters are unique to each digital camera manufacturer, and the camera can be specified by a directory name.

The image file name recorded under the directory name is recorded with eight characters, and the first four characters can be freely determined. The remaining four characters are file numbers and are to be numbered consecutively.

In the example of FIG. 5, two directories IM01ABCD and IM02DEFG are created immediately below the root directory of the medium 2. Then, a JPEG image having a file name given in the recording order is stored in the directory IM01ABCD as DSCA0001. JP
G, DSCA0002. JPG, and so on. In the directory IM02DEFG, A
ABCD000 instead of file name starting with BCD
1. JPG, ABCD0002. JPG, and so on.

On the other hand, when recording image data,
On the R side, as shown in FIG. 6, a directory corresponding to the date written on the CD-R, such as CD980302 and CD980310, is created immediately below the root directory. Lower six digits 98 of CD980302
0302 represents “year”, “month”, and “day” by two digits.
Immediately below, for each medium 2 written on that day, a directory MLT for storing images of the corresponding medium 2
IM001, a directory IXDDP001 for storing images for index display, and a directory IXDPL001 for storing images for index print are created. The directory name to save the image of media 2 is ML
Start with the five characters of TIM, followed by a serial number starting from 001. The directory name for storing the image data for which index display is required is IX
It starts with five characters of DDP, and is followed by a serial number starting from 001. The name of the directory for storing the index print-required image data that requires index print starts with five characters of IXDPL, followed by 0.
Assign a sequential number starting from 01.

As described above, when the medium 2 is loaded into the media drive 2a or 2b and, for example, all the image data is stored in the CD-R, the personal computer 11 checks the directory of the CD-R. At this time,
If there is no directory corresponding to the date of the day immediately below the root directory, a new directory is created, for example, CD980302, and a directory MLTIM00 for saving the image of the medium 2 immediately below the directory.
1. Directory I for storing images for index display
A directory IXDPL001 for storing images for XDDP001 and index print is newly created.

With such a data storage structure, FIG.
As shown in FIG. 5, under the directory MLTIM001, the original image data is stored as it is in the file structure under the root directory in FIG. 5, so that the original image data is not damaged at all. Further, since the image data is simply copied, the processing time required for storing the image data is also reduced.

On the other hand, in the directory IXDDP001, an index display image obtained by decompressing and reducing the image of the medium 2 is recorded in the same location as the directory of the medium 2. The image size of the index image is a fixed size suitable for display regardless of the original image size. Further, the index display image is stored in a non-compressed format, for example, as a BMP file. Therefore, when the image data stored on the CD-R is index-displayed,
Decompression processing of the stored image data becomes unnecessary, and the time for index display is reduced.

After the user has created a CD-R on which image data has been recorded according to the directory structure as described above, the user can display the image data recorded on the CD-R on the monitor screen 2.
1 to confirm the recorded contents of the image data. FIG. 8 shows an index image 24 displayed on the monitor screen 21 when confirming the recorded contents of the image data. In FIG. 8, when the user selects a date with the recording date / time designation switch 29 displayed on the monitor screen 21, an image of a directory below the directory defined by the date is displayed. At this time, since the image data is recorded in a size suitable for display in an uncompressed state, it can be displayed in a short time. For example, when the user selects the displayed AA980302, IX
An image in the DPL001 is displayed as an index.

In this embodiment, the large-capacity recording medium is C
Although the description has been given of the case using the DR, an MO (magneto-optical disk), a ZIP, a PD (optical disk), etc. may be used instead of the CD-R.

[0049]

As described in detail above, according to the present invention,
In the first directory of the recordable recording medium, the original image data of the recording medium different from the recordable recordable medium in the file structure under the root directory is directly stored. In addition, the original image data can be stored without deteriorating the quality, and not only can the image quality of the reproduced image be prevented from deteriorating, but also the image data can be stored in the first directory by storing the image data in the another recording medium. Since the data is simply copied, the processing time required for storing the image data can be reduced.

Further, according to the present invention, since the third directory includes the information on the recording date in the directory name,
By selecting the date displayed on the monitor screen, it becomes possible to display the image of the directory of the index image based on the information of the recording date, and the search of the image data becomes easy.

Further, according to the present invention, the directory name of the first directory and the directory name of the second directory have a common identification part,
The image data recorded in the first directory and the second
Can be associated with the image data recorded in the directory, and necessary images can be saved and printed out efficiently based on the index display.

Further, according to the present invention, the image data of the reduced image recorded in the second directory is made an uncompressed image file, so that the image data recorded in the second directory is suitable for display. Since the image data is recorded in an uncompressed state at a reduced size, the processing time for recording and reproducing the image data is shortened, and an image recording / reproducing apparatus excellent in usability can be realized.

Further, when the image data stored in the recordable recording medium is reproduced, the non-compressed image files recorded in the second directory are reproduced and displayed in a list. When displaying a list of image data recorded in a list, the time required for decompression is not required, and the list can be displayed in a short time.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an overall appearance of an embodiment of an image recording / reproducing apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a circuit block diagram showing a configuration of the image recording / reproducing apparatus of FIG.

FIG. 3 is one control flow of the image recording / reproducing apparatus of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a control flow following the control flow of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing a directory structure of a recording medium of the digital camera.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing a directory structure of a CD-R in one embodiment of the image recording / reproducing apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a monitor screen displayed on a display when the image recording / reproducing apparatus of FIG. 1 prints out and saves image data.

FIG. 8 is a monitor screen displayed on a display when reproducing image data recorded on a CD-R.

FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram showing a structure of a directory of a medium of a conventional image recording / reproducing apparatus.

FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram showing a directory structure of a backup medium of a conventional image recording apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Image recording / reproducing apparatus 2 Recording media (media) 3a, 3b Recording medium insertion opening 3c CD-R loading part 4 Display 5 Print ejection opening 6 Touch panel 11 Personal computer 12a, 12b Media drive device 12c CD-R drive device 12d Hard disk 13 Printer 21 Monitor screen 22 Total save switch 23 Individual save switch 24 Index image 24a Previous page designation switch 24b Next page designation switch 25 All print switch 26 Individual print switch 27 OK switch 28 Cancel switch 29 Recording date / time designation switch

 ────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of front page (72) Inventor Hiroshi Otsuka 2-3-1-13 Azuchicho, Chuo-ku, Osaka-shi, Osaka F-term in Osaka International Building Minolta Co., Ltd. 5D110 AA16 CA43 DA01 DA17 EA08 FA02 FA09

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A first directory and a second directory are created under a root directory of a recordable recording medium, and an image recorded on a recording medium different from the recording medium is created in the first directory. Record the data and
An image recording / reproducing apparatus characterized in that image data of a reduced image of an image corresponding to the image data recorded in the first directory is recorded in the directory (1). 2. A third directory including a recording date in a directory name is created immediately below the root directory,
2. The image recording / reproducing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the first directory and the second directory are created under the third directory. 3. The image recording / reproducing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a directory name of the first directory and a directory name of the second directory have a common identification part. . 4. The image recording / reproducing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image data of the reduced image recorded in the second directory is an uncompressed image file. 5. The image recording / reproducing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein at the time of reproduction, the uncompressed image files recorded in the second directory are reproduced and displayed in a list.