KR20090077486A - Apparatus for processing digital image and method for controlling thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

A digital image processing apparatus and a control method thereof are provided to process an input image and compress the processed image to generate an image file and store the image file in a memory. It is determined whether input for displaying set photographing information exists(S310). Setting of an automatic photographing information display function is checked(S320). If the automatic photographing information display function is set, set photographing information is displayed(S330). Setting of the automatic photographing information display function is made by input by a menu operation or selection of a set abbreviated button.

Description

Apparatus for processing digital image and method for controlling Technical Field

The present invention relates to a digital image processing apparatus and a control method thereof, and more particularly, to a digital signal processor for processing an image received through an image pickup device and compressing the image to generate an image file, and to store the image file in a memory. The present invention relates to a digital image processing apparatus and a control method thereof.

Typically, the digital image processing apparatus includes all devices that process images such as a digital camera, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a phone camera, a PC camera, or use an image recognition sensor.

The digital image processing apparatus may image an image received through an image pickup device by a digital signal processor, compress the image, generate an image file, and store the image file in a memory.

In addition, the digital image processing apparatus may display and display an image of an image file received through an imaging device or stored in a storage medium on a display device such as a liquid crystal display (LCD).

In addition, various setting information may be set to respective setting values for capturing or optimizing a desired image. Such setting information may be various information including an operation mode, a scene mode, continuous shooting, a resolution, and the like.

Therefore, the image information of the captured image may be stored together in the image file of the captured image.

An object of the present invention is to provide a digital image processing apparatus and a control method thereof, which can show setting information currently set by a user input or occurrence of a preset event.

The present invention includes determining whether there is an input for displaying the set photographing information; Checking the setting of the shooting information automatic display function; And displaying the set photographing information when the photographing information automatic display function is set.

When one of the selection of the set shortcut button, the input of the shutter release button, the quick view after shooting, the playback, and the setting change of the shooting information are input, it is determined that there is an input for displaying the shooting information. Can be.

Another aspect of the invention, the user input unit for receiving a command of the display of the set shooting information; A storage unit in which the photographing information is stored; A display unit displaying the shooting information; And a controller configured to display the photographing information when the photographing information display command is input, when the photographing information automatic display function is set.

According to the digital image processing apparatus and the control method thereof according to the present invention, the user can easily check the currently set configuration information.

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a rear view of a digital camera 100, which is an embodiment of a control device of a digital image processing apparatus and a digital image processing apparatus to which the method is applied, according to the present invention.

Referring to the drawings, on the back of the digital camera 100, the direction button 21, the menu-OK button 22, the wide angle (Zoom) button (W), the telephoto (Zoom) ) Button T, the display panel 25 and the like.

The direction button 21 may include four buttons, an up button 21a, a down button 21b, a left button 21c, and a right button 21d. The direction button 21 and the menu-OK button 22 are keys for executing various menus relating to the operation of the digital image processing apparatus such as a digital camera.

The wide-angle zoom button W or the tele-zoom button T has a wider angle of view or a narrower angle of view depending on its input. In particular, it may be used to change the size of the selected exposure area. As the display panel 25, an image display device such as a liquid crystal display (LCD) may be used.

When the display panel 25 determines that the reference image and the captured image are not the same according to the present invention, the display panel 25 may be included in the display unit 450 of FIG. 4.

Meanwhile, a shutter release button 26, a flash (not shown), a power switch 28, and a lens unit (not shown) may be provided on the front or top surface of the digital camera 100. In addition, the front and rear of the digital camera 100 may be provided with an objective lens and an eyepiece of the viewfinder 27.

Through the direction button 21, the menu-OK button 22, the shutter release button 26, and the power switch 28, a user may input items to be manipulated from the outside.

The shutter release button 26 is opened and closed to expose the film or an image pickup device such as a charge coupled device (CCD) for a predetermined time. In addition, the shutter release button records an image on the image pickup device by properly exposing a subject in association with an aperture (not shown).

On the other hand, the shutter release button 26 can be pressed in two stages. When the shutter release button 26 is pressed in one end, the first signal S1 may be generated, and when the shutter release button 26 is pressed in one step, the second signal S2 may be generated. A photographing preparation operation may be performed by the first signal S1, and photographing may be performed by the second signal S2.

As an embodiment of a digital image processing apparatus to which the present invention can be applied, a digital camera, a control apparatus, and a control method thereof are disclosed in US Patent Application Publication No. 2004/0130650 (name: automatic using a secondary function of the camera). Method of automatically focusing using a quadratic function in camera.

Details of the digital camera disclosed in the US application, its control device, and its control method will be included in the present specification, the detailed description thereof will be omitted.

2 is a block diagram of a control device 200 of a digital image processing apparatus, which is a preferred embodiment of the present invention. The control device 200 of the digital image processing apparatus may be mounted in the digital camera 100 of FIG. 1.

Referring to the drawing, an optical system OPS including a lens unit and a filter unit optically processes light from a subject. The lens unit of the optical system OPS includes a zoom lens, a focus lens, and a compensation lens. When the user presses the wide-angle zoom button W or the tele-zoom button T included in the user input unit INP, a signal corresponding thereto is input to the microcontroller 212.

Accordingly, as the microcontroller 212 controls the lens driver 210, the zoom motor M _Z is driven to move the zoom lens. That is, when the wide-zoom button W is pressed, the focal length of the zoom lens is shortened to widen the angle of view, and when the tele-zoom button T is pressed, the focal length of the zoom lens becomes long and the angle of view is narrowed.

On the other hand, in the auto focusing mode, the main controller embedded in the digital signal processor 207 controls the lens driver 210 through the microcontroller 212, whereby the focus motor M _F is driven. do. That is, the focus lens is moved to a position where the sharpest picture is obtained by driving the focus motor M _F. The auto focus mode may be performed according to the first signal S1 generated by pressing the shutter release button input through the user input unit INP to one end.

The compensation lens compensates for the overall refractive index and is not driven separately. Reference numeral M _A denotes a motor for driving an aperture (not shown).

In the filter section of the optical system OPS, an optical low pass filter removes optical noise of high frequency components. Infra-Red cut filter cuts the infrared component of the incident light.

The photoelectric conversion unit OEC may include an imaging device such as a charge coupled device (CCD) or a complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS). The photoelectric conversion unit OEC converts light from the optical system OPS into an electrical analog signal.

The analog-to-digital converter may include a CDS-ADC (Correlation Double Sampler and Analog-to-Digital Converter) device 201. The analog-to-digital converter processes the analog signal from the photoelectric converter (OEC), removes the high frequency noise, adjusts the amplitude, and converts the analog signal into a digital signal. Here, the digital signal processor 207 controls the timing circuit 202 to control the operation of the photoelectric converter OEC and the analog-to-digital converter 201.

The optical system OPS, the photoelectric conversion unit OEC, the CDS-ADC device 201, and the like may be included in the image input unit 410 of FIG. 4.

The real time clock 203 provides time information to the digital signal processor 207. The digital signal processor 207 processes digital signals from the CDS-ADC element 201 to generate digital image signals classified into luminance (Y value) and chromaticity (R, G, B) signals.

The light emitting unit LAMP driven by the microcontroller 212 under the control of the main controller built in the digital signal processor 207 includes a self-timer lamp, an auto-focus lamp, a mode indicating lamp, a flash standby lamp, and the like. May be included.

The digital signal processor 207 and / or the microcontroller 212 may be included in the controller 420 of FIG. 4 in accordance with the present invention. In addition, a user's operation input through the direction button 21, the menu-OK button 22, the shutter release button 26, the power switch 28, and the like of FIG. 1 is transmitted through the user input unit INP. Inputs to processor 207 and / or microcontroller 212 may be processed, and operations may be performed accordingly.

The digital image signal from the digital signal processor 207 is temporarily stored in the DRAM (Dynamic Random Access Memory) 204. The EEPROM (Electrically Erasable and Programmable Read Only Memory) 205 stores algorithms and setting data such as a boot program and a key input program required for the operation of the digital signal processor 207. In the memory card interface 206, a user's memory card may be attached or detached.

The memory card recognized through the DRAM 204 or the memory card interface 206 may store various photographing information and may be included in the storage 440 of FIG. 4.

The digital image signal from the digital signal processor 207 is input to the display panel driver 214, whereby the image is displayed on the display panel 215.

The display panel 215 and the display panel driver 214 driving the display panel 215 may be included in the display unit 450 of FIG. 4 in which photographing information may be displayed according to the present invention.

On the other hand, the digital image signal from the digital signal processor 207 can be transmitted by serial communication via a universal serial bus (USB) connection portion 31a or an RS232C interface 208 and the connection portion 31b thereof, and a video filter ( 209 and through the video output unit 31c. Here, the digital signal processor 207 may incorporate a microcontroller therein.

The audio processor 213 outputs the audio signal from the microphone MIC to the digital signal processor 207 or the speaker SP, and outputs the audio signal from the digital signal processor 207 to the speaker SP.

3 is a flowchart of a control method (S300) of a digital image processing apparatus as a preferred embodiment according to the present invention.

The control method S300 of the digital image processing apparatus may be implemented in the control apparatus 200 of the digital image processing apparatus of FIG. 2 and / or the digital image processing apparatus 400 of FIG. 4. To this end, the control method S300 of the digital image processing apparatus according to the present invention may be a program or algorithm stored in the storage means of FIG. 2 or implemented in the form of a semiconductor chip such as firmware.

The control method (S300) of the digital image processing apparatus according to the present invention relates to automatic display of shooting information according to a user input. That is, the photographing information is automatically displayed for the specific operation of the user.

According to the present invention, it is possible to display the currently set shooting information by the user input or the occurrence of a preset event, it is possible for the user to easily check the current shooting information.

Control method (S300) of the digital image processing apparatus includes a photographing information display input determination step (S310); Photographing information automatic display setting check step (S320); And the photographing information automatic display step (S330).

In the shooting information display input determination step (S310), it is determined whether there is an input for displaying the set shooting information. In the shooting information automatic display setting check step (S320), the setting of the shooting information automatic display function is checked. In the shooting information automatic display step (S330), the shooting information set when the automatic shooting information display function is set is displayed.

In the shooting information display input determination step (S310), in order to display the set shooting information, it may be determined whether there is an automatic shooting information display input. In this case, the automatic input of the photographing information may be input by a user's direct input or an event generation according to another operation.

At this time, if any one of the selection of the set shortcut button, the input of the shutter release button, the quick view after shooting, the playback, and the setting change of the shooting information are input, there is an input for displaying the shooting information. You can judge.

In the shooting information automatic display setting check step (S320), it is possible to check whether the shooting information automatic display function is set. The setting of the shooting information automatic display function can be set to ON or OFF.

At this time, the setting of the shooting information automatic display function may be input by a menu operation. As another embodiment, a separate photographing information automatic display function setting button may be provided, and the selection may be switched on or off by the selection.

In the shooting information automatic display step (S330), when the shooting information automatic display function is set, the shooting information may be displayed on the screen. At this time, the shooting information is displayed in the operation mode, scene mode, continuous shooting, self timer, resolution, F number, digital zoom, shutter speed, exposure control, exposure compensation, sensitivity (ISO), strobe mode, sharpness, and image effects. It may include at least one or more.

The operation mode can be any one of various modes including automatic shooting, program shooting, scene shooting, picture playback, multimedia playback (MP3, PMP, text viewer).

The scene mode may be a mode used when shooting a scene. At this time, the scene mode is night shooting, portrait shooting, children shooting, landscape shooting, closeup, character shooting, dawn shooting, backlight shooting, fireworks shooting, beach shooting, snow scene shooting, cafe shooting, food shooting, self shot, etc. It can be any one of the modes.

The continuous shooting mode may be one of single shot, continuous shooting, auto exposure bracketing (AEB), and a wise shot.

The resolution can be any of a variety of modes including 7M (3072 * 2304 pixels), 5M (2592 * 1944 pixels), 3M (2048 * 1536 pixels), 1M (1024 * 768 pixels).

The automatic display of photographing information may be input by inputting a user directly or by generating an event according to another operation.

As an embodiment, a separate shooting information display button may be provided and displayed on the screen of the LCD display unit by selection. When the shooting information display button is pressed, a shooting information window may be opened on the screen, and various shooting information and its setting value may be displayed on the shooting information window. At this time, when the shooting information display button is pressed while being displayed on the screen, the shooting information display window may disappear from the screen.

As another embodiment, once the shutter release button (26 in FIG. 1) is input, a shooting information window in which various shooting information and its setting values are recorded is displayed on the screen, so that the user can check the shooting settings that are being taken. Can be.

On the other hand, the shutter release button 26 can be pressed in two stages. When the shutter release button 26 is pressed in one end, the first signal S1 may be generated, and when the shutter release button 26 is pressed in one step, the second signal S2 may be generated. A photographing preparation operation may be performed by the first signal S1, and photographing may be performed by the second signal S2.

That is, when the shutter release button 26 is pressed once, the first signal S1 is generated accordingly, and the shooting setting values set for the shooting according to the first signal S1 may be displayed on the screen. At this time, an auto shooting preparation operation such as auto focusing, auto white balance adjustment, or auto exposure is performed according to the first signal S1, and the shooting setting values according to the auto shooting preparation operation are displayed on the shooting information window. Can be.

In another embodiment, the photographing information corresponding to the image may be displayed together with the image photographed at the quick view. When the shutter release button 26 is pressed in two steps, a second signal S2 is generated accordingly, and photographing may be performed according to the second signal S2.

After shooting, the captured image may be displayed on the screen in Quick View. In this case, a shooting information window including shooting setting values set for shooting may be displayed on the quick view screen.

As another embodiment, while displaying the image stored in the reproduction operation on the screen, the shooting information at the time of capturing the image can be displayed together on the screen.

In another embodiment, when the setting of the shooting information is changed, the shooting information may be displayed on the screen so that the user may check the changed shooting information. In this case, only the shooting information whose setting value is changed may be displayed in the shooting information window. Alternatively, recently changed information and all unaltered information may be displayed together in the shooting information window.

According to the present invention, the currently set shooting information is displayed on the screen by the user input or the occurrence of a preset event, so that the user can easily check the currently set shooting information.

4 is a block diagram of a digital image processing apparatus 400 according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention. The digital image processing apparatus 400 may be controlled by the control method S300 of the digital image processing apparatus illustrated in FIG. 3.

Referring to the drawings, the digital image processing apparatus 400 includes an image input unit 410; Control unit 420; A user input unit 430; Storage unit 440; And a display unit 450. The digital image processing apparatus 400 is controlled by the control method S300 of the digital image processing apparatus illustrated in FIG. 3, and the same as in the description of FIG. 3 will be referred to.

The image input unit 710 receives an input image. The user input unit 430 receives a command of displaying the set shooting information. The storage unit 440 stores the photographing information.

The controller 720 controls the photographing information to be displayed on the display unit when the photographing information display command is set and the photographing information automatic display function is set. The display unit 450 displays photographing information.

The image input unit 710 receiving the input image may include the optical system OPS, the photoelectric conversion unit OEC, the CDS-ADC device 201, and the like of FIG. 2. The storage unit 440 may be a DRAM (204 of FIG. 2) or a memory card recognized through a cache memory or a flash memory or a memory card interface (206 of FIG. 2) for temporarily or non-volatilely storing photographing information. have.

The user's operation input through the direction button 21, the menu-OK button 22, the shutter release button 26, the power switch 28, and the like of FIG. 1 is controlled through the user input unit 430. The input is processed and processed according to, can be performed in the control unit 420.

The display unit 450 includes a display panel 215 of FIG. 2 and a display panel driver 214 of FIG. 2, and photographing information is displayed on the screen of the display panel 215 by a user's input or generation of a specific event. Can be.

The automatic display of photographing information may be input by inputting a user directly or by generating an event according to another operation. At this time, if any one of the selection of the set shortcut button, the input of the shutter release button, the quick view after shooting, the playback, and the setting change of the shooting information are input, there is an input for displaying the shooting information. You can judge.

On the other hand, the setting of the automatic display of the setting information function can be made by input by a menu operation or selection of a set shortcut button. In one embodiment, the setting of the photographing information automatic display function may be input by a menu operation. As another embodiment, a separate photographing information automatic display function setting button may be provided, and the selection may be switched on or off by the selection.

Shooting information includes at least one of operation mode, scene mode, continuous shooting, self-timer, resolution, F number, digital zoom, shutter speed, exposure control, exposure compensation, sensitivity (ISO), strobe mode, sharpness, and image effects. can do.

The automatic display of photographing information may be input by inputting a user directly or by generating an event according to another operation.

As an embodiment, a separate shooting information display button may be provided and displayed on the screen of the LCD display unit by selection. As another embodiment, once the shutter release button (26 in FIG. 1) is input, a shooting information window in which various shooting information and its setting values are recorded is displayed on the screen, so that the user can check the shooting settings that are being taken. Can be.

In another embodiment, the photographing information corresponding to the image may be displayed together with the image photographed at the quick view. As another embodiment, while displaying the image stored in the reproduction operation on the screen, the shooting information at the time of capturing the image can be displayed together on the screen. In another embodiment, when the setting of the shooting information is changed, the shooting information may be displayed on the screen so that the user may check the changed shooting information.

According to the present invention, the currently set shooting information is displayed on the screen by the user input or the occurrence of a preset event, so that the user can easily check the currently set shooting information.

Although the present invention has been described with reference to one embodiment shown in the accompanying drawings, it is merely an example, and those skilled in the art may realize various modifications and equivalent other embodiments therefrom. I can understand. Accordingly, the true scope of protection of the invention should be defined only by the appended claims.

1 is a diagram illustrating a rear surface of a digital camera as an embodiment of a digital image processing apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram schematically illustrating a control apparatus that may be included in the digital camera of FIG. 1.

3 is a flowchart schematically illustrating a control method of a digital image processing apparatus as a preferred embodiment according to the present invention.

4 is a block diagram schematically showing a digital image processing apparatus according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

Claims (8)

Determining whether there is an input for displaying the set photographing information; Checking the setting of the shooting information automatic display function; And And displaying the set photographing information when the photographing information automatic display function is set. The method of claim 1, If one of the selected shortcut button, input of the shutter release button, input of quick view after shooting, playback, and change of setting of shooting information is input, it is determined that there is an input for displaying the shooting information. Control method of digital image processing apparatus. The method of claim 1, And setting the automatic display of the setting information automatically by inputting a menu or selecting a set shortcut button. The method of claim 1, The shooting information is at least one of an operation mode, a scene mode, a continuous shutter, a self-timer, a resolution, an F number, a digital zoom, a shutter speed, an exposure control, an exposure compensation, a sensitivity (ISO), a strobe mode, a sharpness, an image effect A control method of a digital image processing apparatus comprising the above. A user input unit which receives a command of displaying the set shooting information; A storage unit in which the photographing information is stored; A display unit displaying the shooting information; And And a control unit for causing the shooting information to be displayed on the display unit when the shooting information automatic display function is set according to the input of the shooting information display command. The method of claim 5, And the command for displaying the shooting information is input by one of selecting a set shortcut button, inputting a shutter release button once, quick view after shooting, playback, and changing a setting of shooting information. The method of claim 5, And the setting of the automatic display of the setting information is performed by inputting a menu or selecting a set shortcut button. The method of claim 5, The shooting information includes at least one of an operation mode, a scene mode, a continuous shutter, a self-timer, a resolution, an F number, a digital zoom, a shutter speed, an exposure control, an exposure compensation, an ISO, a strobe mode, a sharpness, an image effect Digital image processing device.

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