JP4234192B2 - Communication device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a communication apparatus having a function of transmitting image data representing an image by attaching it to an electronic mail.

  Mobile phones that connect to the Internet through a telephone function are becoming popular. In such a portable phone, as with a personal computer, information can be downloaded via the Internet, and a file can be sent and received by attaching an e-mail. Many mobile phones have a relatively large display device and can display images, and can display images represented by downloaded image data or image data attached to received mail. A mobile phone is also provided with a camera, and a captured image can be displayed or the image data can be attached to an e-mail and transmitted.

  In recent years, image data representing left and right images with parallax has been provided via the Internet, and mobile phones that display not only planar two-dimensional images but also three-dimensional three-dimensional images have been proposed. (For example, JP 2001-251403 A). In such a portable phone, the setting of the display device can be switched between when a two-dimensional image is displayed and when a three-dimensional image is displayed.

  Furthermore, a technique for generating three-dimensional image data representing a three-dimensional image from two-dimensional image data representing an image photographed by a camera has been developed (for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2000-228778). The portable telephone is preferably small and light, and therefore, it is not practical to have two cameras and take images for the left eye and the right eye, so that two-dimensional image data is converted to three-dimensional image data. The technology for generating is suitable for a mobile phone.

  The image data is handled as a file, and the file is assigned a file name including a name for identifying the image and an extension indicating the type of image, that is, the format of the image data. Since image data has a large amount of data, the image data is usually compressed and decompressed, which is the reverse process of compression at the time of display, and returned to a form suitable for display. The compression is generally performed according to the JPEG method. In this case, the extension of the file name of the image data is “JPEG” or “JPG”. The file includes the image data and the size (number of pixels) of the image. Also, information relating to copyright such as the author's name is added to the image data file provided via the Internet.

  When displaying an image or attaching image data to an e-mail, the user can display a list of file names and select image data. However, simply displaying the file name is inconvenient because it is difficult to understand the contents of the image represented by the image data. Therefore, image data representing an image obtained by reducing the original image from each image data is created, and these images are displayed side by side. Such a reduced image is called a thumbnail image. The image data of the thumbnail image is created by extracting pixel data separated from the original image data, that is, by thinning out the image data. By displaying the thumbnail images side by side, the contents of the images represented by a large amount of image data can be immediately recognized, and the user can select them very easily.

JP 2001-251403 A JP 2000-228778 A

  As described above, it is possible to transmit image data attached to an e-mail. However, if all image data is allowed to be attached to an e-mail, copyright may be infringed on image data obtained from others. In order to avoid this, the user may determine for each image data whether or not to attach it to the e-mail with reference to the attached copyright information, but such a procedure is complicated. This places a heavy burden on the user. In view of this, there has been proposed a mobile phone that determines the presence or absence of copyright information and does not allow image data with copyright information to be attached to an e-mail.

  In such a mobile phone, the thumbnail image list displayed when selecting image data to be attached to an e-mail is not included in the thumbnail image of image data that cannot be attached. However, in this way, the mistake of attaching the image data that should not be attached to the e-mail can be surely prevented, but since the thumbnail image is not displayed, the user accidentally erases the image data. I have anxiety that it may have been lost. Also, there is a case where unnecessary image data is erased as if it has already been erased even though it has not been erased.

  In addition to image data to which copyright information is added, there is image data that should not be attached to an e-mail or that is not preferable to attach. For example, image data representing a three-dimensional image. Mobile phones that can display a three-dimensional image are still short from the proposal, and it is difficult to say that they are widely used. Even if image data representing a three-dimensional image is transmitted, It is not always available on the receiving side and is likely to be wasted.

  The present invention has been made in view of such problems, and provides a communication device that makes it easy for a user to understand the presence of image data and prevents image data that should not be attached from being attached to an e-mail. The purpose is to do.

  In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a communication device that transmits image data attached to an e-mail, and includes a display unit and an image selection unit that selects a reduced image of the image displayed on the display unit. And attaching the image data corresponding to the reduced image selected by the image selection means to the e-mail, wherein whether or not the image data can be attached to the e-mail is determined by management information relating to a copyright attribute of the image data When displaying the reduced image so that a user can select an image to be displayed on the display unit, the reduced image of the image represented by the image data regardless of whether it can be attached to an e-mail or not. When selecting image data to be attached to an e-mail by operating the operation unit, for the attachable image data, a reduced image of the image represented by the image data is displayed. For image data that cannot be attached, an image different from the reduced image of the image represented by the image data is displayed, and when selecting image data to be attached to an e-mail, the e-mail determined by the management information Only image data that can be attached is selectable.

  According to the present invention, it is not necessary for the user himself / herself to determine whether or not to attach to an e-mail, and the burden on the user is reduced. In addition, all existing image data is easily understood by the user, and image data that cannot be attached to an e-mail is also clarified.

  Hereinafter, a mobile phone according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. A schematic configuration of the mobile phone 1 according to the present embodiment is schematically shown in FIG. The mobile phone 1 includes a communication unit 11, a voice input unit 12, a voice output unit 13, an operation unit 14, an imaging unit 15, an external device interface (I / F) 16, a display unit 17, and a control unit 10.

  The communication unit 11 carries a signal to be transmitted on a carrier wave and transmits it from the antenna 11a, and extracts a signal from the carrier wave received by the antenna 11a. The voice input unit 12 acquires the voice to be transmitted, and the voice output unit 13 outputs the received voice. The operation unit 14 includes numbers, characters, or some keys associated with a predetermined function, and is operated by a user for inputting a telephone number or a character string and instructing an operation. The keys of the operation unit 14 include four cursor keys for moving the cursor (pointer) displayed on the display unit 17 up, down, left and right.

  The imaging unit 15 includes a CCD area sensor and a camera including a lens that forms an image of light on the CCD area sensor, and captures an image. The external device interface 16 can be attached with a communication cable, and communicates with other devices such as a personal computer via the cable. The display unit 17 includes a liquid crystal display device and displays characters and images. An image captured by the imaging unit 15 is displayed on the display unit 17.

  The control unit 10 controls the overall operation of the mobile phone 1 and processes voice and image data to be transmitted and received. The control unit 10 includes a CPU 10a, and control and various processes are mainly performed by the CPU 10a.

  The mobile phone 1 has a function of connecting to the Internet and downloading information from a web page and a function of sending and receiving electronic mail. A variety of files can be attached to mails to be sent and received, and these files include those with image data. The downloaded information includes image data. The image represented by the downloaded image data or the image data attached to the received mail can be displayed on the display unit 17 like the image captured by the imaging unit 15.

  The mobile phone 1 includes a display memory 18, a work memory 19, a storage memory 20, a program memory 21, and a parameter memory 22 in addition to the above-described units. The display memory 18 temporarily stores image data representing an image to be displayed on the display unit 17. The work memory 19 temporarily stores information necessary for the control and image data processing by the CPU 10a of the control unit 10. The storage memory 20 stores and stores image data. The storage memory 20 is composed of a flash memory, is rewritable, and does not lose stored contents even when it is not supplied with power.

  The program memory 21 stores a program describing operations performed by the CPU 10a, and the parameter memory 22 stores parameters used by the CPU 10a for control and image data processing. These memories 21 and 22 are composed of ROM, and the stored contents are not lost even when power is not supplied.

  The mobile phone 1 has a function of displaying a planar two-dimensional image based on a single image data, and a three-dimensional three-dimensional image based on two types of image data representing left and right images with parallax. It has a function to display an image. The principle of displaying these images is shown in FIG.

  The liquid crystal display device of the display unit 17 is a transmissive type, includes a filter that selectively transmits red (R) light, a group of pixels (referred to as R pixels) that display an R component of an image, and green (G) light. A pixel (referred to as a G pixel) that selectively transmits and displays a G component of an image and a filter that selectively transmits blue (B) light, and that displays a B component of the image (referred to as a B pixel) Have a group. As shown in FIG. 2A, these three types of pixel groups are arranged in rows in the vertical direction, and are alternately arranged in the horizontal direction in this order. Three pixels (R pixel, G pixel, and B pixel) arranged in the horizontal direction represent one point of the image.

  When displaying a two-dimensional image, each point of the image is continuously displayed in the horizontal direction and the vertical direction. Light from all pixels is directed to both the left and right eyes of the user. On the other hand, when representing a three-dimensional image, as shown in FIG. 2B, in the horizontal direction, an image for the left eye and an image for the right eye are alternately displayed for each pixel. With respect to the vertical direction, both the image for the left eye and the image for the right eye are displayed in succession at each point of the image. The light of the image for the left eye is guided only to the left eye, and the image for the right eye is guided only to the right eye.

  FIG. 3 schematically shows a configuration for selectively guiding the light of the left-eye image and the light of the right-eye image to the left eye and the right eye when providing a three-dimensional image. The display unit 17 includes two transmissive liquid crystal panels 17a and 17b, a light guide plate 17c, and a light source 17d. The light source 17d emits white light and causes the emitted light to enter the light guide plate 17c from its end face. The light guide plate 17c has fine unevenness (not shown) on the upper surface or the lower surface, and the light incident from the end surface is totally reflected on both the upper and lower surfaces and guided toward the other end surface, and is emitted from the upper surface by the unevenness. Let

  The liquid crystal panel 17a is for displaying an image, and includes the aforementioned R pixel group, G pixel group, and B pixel group. Light from the light guide plate 17c is modulated by the liquid crystal panel 17a to become light representing an image. In addition, although the polarizing plate is provided facing the upper surface and lower surface of the liquid crystal panel 17a, it is not illustrated here.

  The liquid crystal panel 17b has a transparent electrode (not shown) extending in a vertical direction (a direction perpendicular to the paper surface of FIG. 3), and as shown by hatching, a stripe-shaped light shielding portion is provided when a voltage is applied. Appear. The liquid crystal panel 17b is arranged such that each light-shielding portion faces between the pixels of the liquid crystal panel 17a. Of the pixels arranged in the horizontal direction of the liquid crystal panel 17a, the light from the odd-numbered pixels is blocked by the light-shielding portion of the liquid crystal panel 17b, does not reach the right eye, reaches only the left eye, and conversely, The light from the pixel is blocked by the light shielding unit and does not reach the left eye, but only reaches the right eye. By displaying the left-eye image and the right-eye image alternately for each pixel, a three-dimensional image is provided to the user.

  When displaying a two-dimensional image, no voltage is applied to the liquid crystal panel 17b, and the light-shielding portion does not appear. In this case, light from all pixels of the liquid crystal panel 17a reaches both the left eye and the right eye. A state in which a two-dimensional image is displayed with this setting is called a 2D mode, and a state in which a three-dimensional image is displayed with the setting shown in FIG. 3 is called a 3D mode.

  Image data to be downloaded via the Internet and image data attached to received mails include those representing a two-dimensional image and those representing a three-dimensional image. FIG. 4 schematically shows a data array of image data representing a three-dimensional image. The image data for the left eye and the image data for the right eye are each half the size of the image data representing a two-dimensional image, and the image data for the left eye and the right eye are displayed for each horizontal column of the image. Image data is arranged side by side. In each image data, a set of R pixel data, G pixel data, and B pixel data (referred to as R pixel data, G pixel data, and B pixel data, respectively) representing one point of the image is arranged in the horizontal direction. ing.

  When an image is displayed as it is based on this image data, the image for the left eye and the image for the right eye are displayed separately on the left and right as shown in FIG. Therefore, the image data of FIG. 4 is not used as it is, but the arrangement in the horizontal direction is changed, and the image data for the left eye and the image data for the right eye are alternately arranged for each pixel data. When the image data after this arrangement change is displayed, the left-eye image and the right-eye image are merged and displayed as shown in FIG. By displaying this image in the 3D mode, a stereoscopic image is provided to the user.

  The mobile phone 1 has a function of generating image data representing a three-dimensional image from image data representing a two-dimensional image. This is by extracting (thinning out) every other set of R pixel data, G pixel data, and B pixel data from two-dimensional image data to obtain image data for the left eye. Each set of R pixel data, G pixel data, and B pixel data included in the image data is shifted so that the closer to the end, the larger the shift amount, according to the position in the left-right direction, and the right eye image data and To do. With this function, image data representing a three-dimensional image can be obtained from two-dimensional image data acquired via the Internet or image data representing an image captured by the imaging unit 15, and a three-dimensional image can be provided. Is possible.

  In this embodiment, when distinguishing left and right, as described above, the left is the main and the right is the subordinate, but either may be mainly used. “Left” and “right” in the description can be read interchangeably.

  The mobile phone 1 stores a large number of image data as individual files in the storage memory 20. For image data files downloaded via the Internet and image data files attached to received emails, the file names originally attached are given, and image data files representing images taken by the imaging unit 15 are Assign a predetermined file name. These file names can be arbitrarily changed by the user.

  When displaying an image represented by stored image data on the display unit 17 and when sending the recorded image data attached to an e-mail, the user displays a list of file names on the display unit 17. The desired one can be selected. The mobile phone 1 also has a function of displaying a list of thumbnail images for easier selection by the user. Image data representing a thumbnail image is created from image data acquired via the Internet or image data representing an image photographed by the imaging unit 15, and stored in the image data file together with the original image data. deep.

  The thumbnail image can be a two-dimensional image or a three-dimensional image. Display examples of thumbnail images are shown in FIGS. 6 (a) to 6 (e). In these figures, a thumbnail image represented by a triangle means that the original image data represents a two-dimensional image, and a thumbnail image represented by a circle or an ellipse represents a three-dimensional image from which the original image data is represented. It means to represent. The thumbnail image is displayed in a flat manner in the 2D mode or in a three-dimensional manner in the 3D mode.

  FIGS. 6A to 6D are display examples of thumbnail images in the 2D mode, and FIG. 6E is an example of thumbnail images in the 3D mode. In any example, a thumbnail image created from image data representing a two-dimensional image and a thumbnail image created from three-dimensional image data are mixed.

  Image data representing thumbnail images is created by extracting (thinning out) one set of R pixel data, G pixel data, and B pixel data from a plurality of sets from the original image data. There are three methods for creating image data of a two-dimensional thumbnail image when the original image data represents a three-dimensional image. First, as shown in FIG. 6A, it can be generated from the entire data array of FIG. Further, as shown in FIG. 6B, it can be generated only from the image data for the left eye in the data array of FIG. Further, as shown in FIG. 6C, it is also possible to generate the image by halving the thinning rate in the horizontal direction only from the image data for the left eye.

  When creating image data of a thumbnail image only from image data for the left eye, it is difficult for the user to know whether the original image data represents a two-dimensional image or a three-dimensional image. Accordingly, it is preferable to display the dimension of the image represented by the original image data with each thumbnail image as a symbol. FIG. 6D is obtained by adding the symbols “2D” and “3D” to the display of FIG.

  When the original image data represents a three-dimensional image, the image data representing the three-dimensional image is created by using the data array in FIG. 4 as described above, the pixel data for the left eye and the pixel data for the right eye. Are converted into a format in which the images are alternately arranged, and the converted image data is used. In addition, when the original image data represents a two-dimensional image, image data representing a three-dimensional image is created by creating image data for the left eye by extracting data from the original image data. Image data for the right eye is generated from this image data, and further converted into a format in which pixel data for the left eye and pixel data for the right eye are alternately arranged, and the converted image data is used.

  Further, when the original image data represents a two-dimensional image, image data for the left eye is created by extracting data from the original image data, and the image data for the left eye is copied as it is for the right eye. Image data may be converted into a format in which pixel data for the left eye and pixel data for the right eye are alternately arranged, and the converted image data may be used. In this way, an image without parallax between the left and right eyes, that is, a two-dimensional image is provided by display in the 3D mode.

  The size of the thumbnail image is constant, and therefore the size (number of pixels) of the image data is also constant. On the other hand, although the size of the image captured by the imaging unit 15 is constant, the size of the image acquired via the Internet varies depending on the provider. For this reason, the size of the original image is taken into consideration when creating image data representing a thumbnail image. Specifically, the image data of the thumbnail image is created as follows.

  First, the ratio of the horizontal size (number of pixels) of the original image to the horizontal size (number of pixels) of the thumbnail image, and the vertical size of the original image to the vertical size of the thumbnail image The ratio is calculated. Then, pixel data is extracted from the original image data in accordance with the smaller ratio to generate intermediate image data. The intermediate image data has a size that matches the thumbnail image in the direction in which the ratio is small. Next, in the direction in which the ratio is large, the portion of the intermediate image data that exceeds the size of the thumbnail image is deleted. Thus, image data representing a thumbnail image having a certain size can be obtained regardless of the size of the original image data.

  FIG. 7 shows an outline of the processing flow of the mobile phone 1 when acquiring image data. First, image data is acquired by downloading from the Internet, receiving an e-mail, or shooting by the imaging unit 15 (step # 10), and the acquired image data is stored in the storage memory 20 as a file (# 11). Next, the acquired image data and the file name of the image data and information added to the file are analyzed to obtain information on the type (format) of the image data, the dimension of the image, copyright, etc. (# 12) These are stored in the image data file as attributes of the image data (# 13). Further, image data representing a thumbnail image is created from the acquired image data (# 14), and the image data is stored in the original image data file (# 15). Finally, the image represented by the acquired image data is displayed on the display unit 17 in the 2D mode or the 3D mode according to the dimension (# 16).

  In the processing of steps # 12 and # 13, the work memory 19 is used. Structures of storage contents in the work memory 19 and the storage memory 20 are schematically shown in FIGS. 8A and 8B, respectively. As shown in FIG. 8B, a file for each image data is stored in the storage memory 20, and a series of numbers is assigned to all the files. Here, an example is shown in which the file with the number 1 is deleted and no longer exists.

  Each file in the storage memory 20 includes management information, thumbnail image data, and image data. The management information includes image type (format), image dimension attribute, copyright attribute, file name, and image size (number of pixels in the horizontal and vertical directions of the image data). The thumbnail image data is compressed and stored, and information regarding the compression processing is added. Further, the image data is compressed at the time of acquisition, and is stored as it is together with information related to the compression process. As described above, image data includes a two-dimensional image and a three-dimensional image.

  The work memory 19 stores management information of all image data files in the storage memory 20 and the number of the first image data. Further, the number of the next image data is stored for each management information of each image data. In the example of FIG. 8A, the number of the first image data (image number) is “2”, and the number of the next image data after the second image data is “3”. In the management information of the last image data, “0” is stored as the number of the next image data (not shown). Further, when image data is acquired via the Internet, information indicating the type (format) of the image added to the image data and information regarding copyright are stored in a predetermined area of the work memory 19. (Not shown).

  The control unit 10 reads out management information of all image data from the storage memory 20 and stores it in the work memory 19 at the start of power supply. Thereafter, each file in the storage memory 20 is managed with reference to the work memory 19. The number of image data is used for management. When a file is deleted from the storage memory 20, the corresponding management information is deleted from the work memory 19, and the number of the next image data in the work memory 19 is changed as appropriate. When new image data is stored in the storage memory 20, the management information is stored in the work memory 19, and the number of the next image data in the work memory 19 is changed as appropriate.

  In general, image data provided via the Internet is compressed according to the JPEG method, and image data representing an image taken by the imaging unit 15 is also compressed according to the JPEG method. However, the file name extension of JPEG image data provided via the Internet is “JPEG” or “JPG” when representing a two-dimensional image, and “STJ” when representing a three-dimensional image. Has been. In accordance with this, the mobile phone 1 also uses a file name extension “JPEG” or “JPG” for image data representing a captured two-dimensional image, and represents a three-dimensional image generated from the image data. For image data, the extension of the file name is “STJ”.

  The mobile phone 1 has a function of generating, from two or more image data representing moving images, image data representing some intermediate images between those images, and displaying a smooth moving image. . Such an image is called an E animation. There are two types of E-animation, a two-dimensional image and a three-dimensional image. The image data of E animation is provided via the Internet. The provided E-animation image data is also compressed according to the JPEG method. However, the file name extension of the E-animation image data is “NVA” regardless of whether it represents a two-dimensional image or a three-dimensional image. Similarly, in the cellular phone 1, the file name extension is set to “NVA” for all E-animation image data.

  Of the processes at the time of image data acquisition shown in FIG. 7, the processes in steps # 12 to # 15 are shown in more detail in FIG. First, image data is read from the storage memory 20 (step # 102). At the time of reading, decompression is performed using the compression processing information attached to the image data. Then, the type of image is determined with reference to the predetermined area of the working memory 19 (# 104). When image data is acquired by photographing with the imaging unit 15, nothing is stored in a predetermined area of the work memory 19, but at this time, the image type is “JPEG”.

  Next, the image data is analyzed to determine whether the image is an E animation image (# 106). If it is not an E animation, the file name is checked to determine whether the extension is “STJ” (# 108). If the extension is “STJ”, the 2D / 3D attribute is set to “3D” (# 114). Otherwise, the 2D / 3D attribute is set to “2D” (# 116). The 2D / 3D attribute is stored in a predetermined area of the work memory (# 118). If it is E-animation image data, the image data is analyzed to determine whether it is two-dimensional image data or three-dimensional image data (# 110). For 3D image data, the 2D / 3D attribute is set to “3D” (# 114). For 2D image data, the 2D / 3D attribute is set to “2D” (# 116).

  Then, the presence / absence of copyright information is determined by referring to the predetermined area of the work memory 19 (# 120). If there is a copyright attribute, “Yes” is set (# 122). If not, the copyright attribute is set. “None” is set (# 124). Also, image data of a thumbnail image is created (# 126), and the created image data is compressed (# 128).

  Next, the image number N assigned to the image data in the storage memory 20 is set to 1 (# 130). Then, it is checked whether or not the management information of the image number N is stored in the work memory 19 (# 132). If it is stored, 1 is added to the image number N (# 134), and the process proceeds to step # 132. Return. If the image number N is not stored, the image data of the compressed thumbnail image, the image type attribute, the 2D / 3D attribute, the image data file stored in step # 11 of FIG. The copyright attribute is stored and stored (# 136). At this time, the number of the file (image data) is N. The work memory 19 stores image type attributes, 2D / 3D attributes, and copyright attributes as management information (# 138), and the management information number is N.

  Further, the next image number to be added to the management information stored in the work memory 19 is the first image number at that time (# 140), and the first image number is N (# 142).

  The compression of the thumbnail image data in step # 128 is performed according to the JPEG method, and when the image data is stored in step # 136, the parameters used for the compression processing are also stored in order to enable later decompression. . Here, since the image data of the thumbnail image is used only by the portable telephone 1, it is possible to make some parameters constant and to make them common to all the image data. If such common parameters are stored for each image data of thumbnail images, the storage capacity of the storage memory 20 is wasted. Therefore, common parameters that require a large storage capacity are not stored for each image data, but are stored in the parameter memory 22 (see FIG. 1).

  FIG. 10 shows parameters used in the JPEG compression process. The compression is performed in two stages of Huffman coding and subsequent quantization, and the Huffman table and the quantization table are used as parameters, respectively. In the mobile phone 1, the Huffman table (symbol DHT) is common to the image data of all thumbnail images, and is excluded from the parameters stored by adding to the image data of the thumbnail images. Since the Huffman table size is about 400 bytes, for example, it corresponds to about 45% of the image data of a 48 × 48 dot thumbnail image using standard compression and the size of all parameters (about 900 bytes). By not storing the Huffman table, the storage capacity of the storage memory 20 can be greatly saved. Since the quantization table (symbol DQT) depends on the image data after Huffman coding, it is necessary to store it separately for each image data.

  When displaying the thumbnail image, the compressed image data is inversely quantized using a quantization table stored together with the image data, and further the inverse code is used using a Huffman table stored in the parameter memory 22. (Decode).

  For the acquired image data, all parameters including the Huffman table are stored. This is because image data provided via the Internet does not share a Huffman table. However, for image data acquired by imaging by the imaging unit 15, a common Huffman table may be stored in the parameter memory 22 and encoded using the same so that the Huffman table is not stored. . This further saves the storage capacity of the storage memory 20.

  When the Huffman table is not stored together with the image data, information indicating that the Huffman table is not stored may be added to the image data and stored. This makes it clear that a common Huffman table should be added when the image data is attached to an e-mail and transmitted. In addition, when image data that does not store the Huffman table is not allowed to be attached to an e-mail, a message indicating that attachment to an e-mail is not possible is displayed together with a thumbnail image, as will be described later. it can. Information indicating that the Huffman table is not stored is preferably included in the management information in the same manner as the 2D / 3D attribute and the copyright attribute described above. It is possible to quickly determine whether or not there is a Huffman table.

  You may make it permit image data which did not memorize | store a Huffman table to be provided to another apparatus as it is. In this case, information indicating that the Huffman table is omitted is added to the image data. A device that has acquired such image data knows that the Huffman table is omitted by the added information, and can take appropriate measures.

  For example, when the mobile phone 1 acquires such image data from another mobile phone having the same function, the image represented by the acquired image data is obtained by decoding using a common Huffman table. It is possible to display. When decoding cannot be performed using a common Huffman table, characters such as “x” and “not displayable” can be displayed instead of images to indicate that they cannot be displayed. Providing image data by omitting the Huffman table leads to a reduction in the amount of communication and shortens the time required for downloading and sending / receiving e-mails.

  FIG. 11 shows an outline of the processing flow when creating and sending an e-mail. First, an e-mail is created in accordance with a user input operation (step # 20). At this time, the destination mail address is also set. Next, it is determined whether or not it is instructed to attach image data to the created electronic mail (# 21). When attachment of image data is not instructed, an e-mail is transmitted as it is (# 25).

  When an instruction to attach image data is given, a list of thumbnail images is displayed (# 22). At this time, the thumbnail image is displayed regardless of whether the original image data represents a two-dimensional image or a three-dimensional image. Then, the image data designated by the user is selected (# 23). At this time, image data that can be attached to an e-mail is determined in advance based on the dimension of the image, copyright, etc., and only the image data that can be attached can be selected. Finally, the image data is attached to the e-mail (# 24) and transmitted (# 25).

  The processing in steps # 22 and # 23 is shown in more detail in FIG. First, the maximum number M0 of thumbnail images that can be displayed on the display unit 17 is set, and the display position M of the thumbnail images is set to 1 (step # 202). For example, when three images are displayed horizontally and three images are displayed vertically, M0 is 9, and the display position M at the center of the right end in this case is 6. Next, the top image number N is read from the work memory 19 (# 204).

  Then, it is determined whether or not the image number N is 0 (# 206). If it is not 0, it is determined whether or not the display position M is equal to or less than the maximum number M0 (# 208). When the display position M is less than or equal to the maximum number M0, the thumbnail image data of the image number N is read from the storage memory 20 (# 210), decompressed (# 212), and the decompressed image data is stored in the display memory 18. Is stored in an area corresponding to the display position M (# 214).

  Next, the Nth management information in the working memory 19 is referred to (# 216), and the 2D / 3D attribute is determined (# 218). When the 2D / 3D attribute is “2D”, the Nth management information in the working memory 19 is referred to (# 220), and the copyright attribute is determined (# 222). When the copyright information is “None”, the Nth image data is selectable (may be attached to the mail), and that effect is stored in a predetermined area of the work memory 19 (# 224).

  If the 2D / 3D attribute is “3D” in the determination in step # 218, or if the copyright attribute is “Yes” in the determination in step # 222, the selection is disabled (# 226). Further, in order to clearly indicate that the selection is not possible, the image data in the display memory 18 is modified and data representing diagonal lines is added (# 228).

  Following these processes, all the data in the display memory 18 is displayed on the display unit 17 (# 230). As a result, the number of thumbnail images equal to the number of times of performing the process of step # 214 is displayed. Next, the next image number N is read from the work memory 19 (# 232), the display position M is incremented by 1 (# 234), and the process returns to step # 206.

  When the image number N is 0 in the determination of step # 206, that is, when the display of the thumbnail images of all the image data is completed, or when the display position M exceeds the maximum number M0 in the determination of step # 208, that is, When there is no more room for the thumbnail image display position, it is determined whether or not the operation unit 14 has been operated to instruct display scrolling (# 236). When there is a scroll instruction, the display position M is updated accordingly (# 238), and the image number N is also updated (# 240). For example, when the thumbnail images are displayed side by side in the horizontal direction, the display position M is increased or decreased by 3. Then, the process returns to step # 206.

  If there is no scrolling instruction, it is determined whether or not a decision is instructed (# 242). This instruction is given by the user operating a predetermined key of the operation unit 14. Further, before giving this instruction, the user operates the cursor key of the operation unit 14 to position the cursor of the display unit 17 on the thumbnail image to be selected. If there is no instruction for determination, the process returns to step # 236.

  When there is an instruction for determination, the information stored in step # 224 or # 226 is read from the work memory 19 for the image number corresponding to the display position where the cursor is present, and is selectable or not selectable? Is determined (# 244). When the selection is impossible, the process returns to step # 236. When the selection is possible, the image data of the image number is read from the storage memory 20 (# 246), and the file name is read from the work memory 19 (# 248). Thereafter, in step # 24 of FIG. 11, the read image data is attached with the read file name to the e-mail.

  An example of the thumbnail image represented by the image data modified in step # 228 is shown in FIG. FIG. 13A shows the thumbnail image of FIG. 6C described above with hatching, and FIG. 13B shows the thumbnail image of FIG. 6E added with hatching. By attaching a diagonal line in this way, it is possible to clarify image data that is not permitted to be attached to an electronic mail. It may be made clear that attachment is not permitted by adding other indications such as “impossible” characters in place of hatching. In addition, it may be made clear that attachment is not permitted by making a monochrome image without color. Note that when displaying a list of thumbnail images not for attachment to an e-mail but for display of images, as shown in FIGS. 6 (a) to 6 (e), attachment is not permitted. The hatched lines shown are not displayed.

  An example of a criterion for determining whether or not to attach to an e-mail is shown in FIG. Of the image data created by the JPEG method, information that is two-dimensional and obtained via the Internet is usually attached with information on copyright, and cannot be attached based on the copyright attribute. The two-dimensional image data acquired by photographing with the imaging unit 15 determines whether it can be attached based on the copyright attribute and the 2D / 3D attribute, but can be attached from the 2D / 3D attribute. Attachment is also possible from attributes. However, the mobile phone 1 also has a function of adding information about copyright to image data representing an image taken by the imaging unit 15, and when the user adds information about copyright, Cannot be attached.

  Of the image data created by the JPEG method, the three-dimensional image data obtained via the Internet is usually attached with information on copyright, and cannot be attached based on the copyright attribute. Moreover, even if the information regarding the copyright is not added and it is permitted from the copyright attribute, it is not permitted from the 2D / 3D attribute. In addition, image data (file name extension is STJ) created from two-dimensional image data by the three-dimensional conversion function is disabled from the 2D / 3D attribute. This is because portable telephones that can display a three-dimensional image are not so widespread and there is a high possibility that even if three-dimensional image data is transmitted, it will be wasted.

  Regardless of whether the E-animation image data (file name extension is NVA) represents a two-dimensional image or a three-dimensional image, the copyright attribute or image type (image type) ) Cannot be attached. Even if the copyright attribute permits, the image type is always NVA, and the image data of E animation cannot always be attached.

  The mobile phone 1 stores several pieces of E-animation image data having a blank in the central portion, that is, only in the peripheral portion, in the storage memory 20, and these image data and images captured by the imaging unit 15 are stored. It has a function of combining the image data and displaying it as an image in which the peripheral portion corresponding to the frame moves smoothly. There are two-dimensional and three-dimensional image data of these E-animations, but any image data cannot be attached to mail based on the image type (NVA). Mobile phones that can display E-animation images are not yet widespread, like mobile phones that can display three-dimensional images, and it is useless to send E-animation image data. It is because it is easy to become.

  As described above, the mobile phone 1 can communicate with other devices such as a personal computer via a cable connected to the external device interface 16 (see FIG. 1). Information that can be transmitted to other devices by this communication includes image data. In this case as well, whether or not image data can be transmitted is determined in the same manner as whether or not it can be attached to an e-mail. As a result, the copyright of the image data creator is reliably protected, and unnecessary transmission can be avoided.

  The present invention can also be expressed as follows. That is, the present invention is a mobile phone that transmits image data attached to an e-mail, displays a reduced image of the image represented by the image data, and corresponds to the reduced image designated by the user Is attached to an e-mail, and whether or not image data can be attached to an e-mail is determined according to a predetermined standard, and a reduced image of the image represented by all image data is displayed regardless of whether or not the image data can be attached to an e-mail. The display format is made different between the reduced image of the image represented by the attachable image data and the reduced image of the image represented by the unattachable image data.

  This portable telephone does not allow attachment of predetermined image data to an e-mail. However, the list of thumbnail images displayed when selecting image data to be attached to an e-mail includes both image data that can be attached and image data that cannot be attached. Further, the thumbnail image of the attachable image data and the thumbnail image of the attachable image data are displayed in different formats. As a result, all the existing image data is known to the user, and the image data that cannot be attached to the e-mail is also clarified. The criteria for determining whether or not to attach to an e-mail is, for example, the presence or absence of copyright information, and the dimension of the image represented by the image data.

  Specifically, the display format is made different depending on whether or not it can be attached to an e-mail by specifically displaying a predetermined image superimposed on a reduced image of an image represented by image data that cannot be attached. It can also be performed by displaying a reduced image of an image represented by image data that cannot be attached as an image having no color.

1 is a block diagram schematically showing a schematic configuration of a mobile phone according to an embodiment of the present invention. The figure which shows the principle of a display of the two-dimensional image in the said portable telephone, and a three-dimensional image. The figure which shows typically the structure of the said mobile telephone for selectively guide | inducing the light of the image for left eyes, and the light of the image for right eyes to the left eye and the right eye, respectively, at the time of provision of a three-dimensional image. The figure which shows typically the general data arrangement | sequence of the image data showing a three-dimensional image. The figure which shows typically the example of the image displayed based on the image data showing a three-dimensional image. The figure which shows the example of a display of the thumbnail image in the said mobile telephone typically. The flowchart which shows the outline of the flow of the process at the time of the image data acquisition in the said portable telephone. The figure which shows typically the structure of the memory content in the working memory of the said portable telephone, and a preservation | save memory. The flowchart which shows in detail the process in step # 12-# 15 among the processes at the time of image data acquisition shown in FIG. The figure which shows the parameter used by the compression process by a JPEG system. The flowchart which shows the outline of the flow of the process at the time of creating and transmitting the electronic mail in the said portable telephone. The flowchart which shows the process in step # 22 and # 23 in detail among the processes regarding the email shown in FIG. The figure which shows the example of the thumbnail image displayed when selecting the image data attached to an e-mail in the said portable telephone. The figure which shows the judgment standard of the possibility of attachment of the image data to the email in the said mobile telephone.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Portable telephone 10 Control part 10a CPU
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11 Communication part 11a Antenna 12 Audio | voice input part 13 Audio | voice output part 14 Operation part 15 Image pick-up part 16 External apparatus interface 17 Display part 17a Liquid crystal panel for image display 17b Light-shielding liquid crystal panel 17c Light guide plate 17d Light source 18 Display memory 19 Work memory 20 Memory for storage 21 Program memory 22 Parameter memory

Claims (1)

A communication device for transmitting image data as an attachment to an e-mail, comprising: a display unit; and an image selection unit that selects a reduced image of the image displayed on the display unit, and selected by the image selection unit In attaching image data corresponding to the reduced image to an email,
A control unit that determines whether or not image data can be attached to an e-mail according to management information related to a copyright attribute of the image data;
When displaying the reduced image for the user to select an image to be displayed on the display unit, a reduced image of the image represented by the image data is displayed regardless of whether or not the image can be attached to an e-mail;
When selecting image data to be attached to an e-mail by operating the operation unit, the image data that can be attached is displayed as a reduced image of the image represented by the image data, and the image data that cannot be attached is represented by the image data. Display a different image from the reduced image,
When selecting image data to be attached to an e-mail, only the image data that can be attached to an e-mail, which is determined by the management information, can be selected.

Images