U.S. patent application number 11/584587 was filed with the patent office on 2007-02-15 for digital still camera and method of controlling operation of same.
Invention is credited to Atsushi Misawa.
Application Number | 20070035640 11/584587 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 26592847 |
Filed Date | 2007-02-15 |
United States Patent
Application |
20070035640 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Misawa; Atsushi |
February 15, 2007 |
Digital still camera and method of controlling operation of
same
Abstract
If a telop-character recording mode is selected, then, in
response to depression of a shutter-release button, the image of a
subject is sensed and voice enters from a microphone for a fixed
period of time so that data representing voice is obtained.
Character data for indicating the content of voice by characters is
generated from the data representing voice. Image data representing
the image of a subject, the voice data and the character data is
recorded on a memory card. When an image is reproduced, the
character data is combined with the image data and the characters
represented by the character data are combined with the image and
displayed together with the image. The content of voice can be
ascertained by telop characters even with a playback device that is
incapable of outputting voice.
Inventors: |
Misawa; Atsushi; (Asaka-shi,
JP) |
Correspondence
Address: |
BIRCH STEWART KOLASCH & BIRCH
PO BOX 747
FALLS CHURCH
VA
22040-0747
US
|
Family ID: |
26592847 |
Appl. No.: |
11/584587 |
Filed: |
October 23, 2006 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
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09865515 |
May 29, 2001 |
7136102 |
|
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11584587 |
Oct 23, 2006 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
348/239 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H04N 1/0044 20130101;
H04N 9/7921 20130101; H04N 1/32112 20130101; H04N 9/8063 20130101;
H04N 9/8227 20130101; H04N 1/00488 20130101; H04N 2201/3264
20130101; H04N 2201/3266 20130101; H04N 5/907 20130101; H04N
2201/3277 20130101; H04N 5/9206 20130101; H04N 2101/00 20130101;
H04N 5/772 20130101; H04N 5/9267 20130101; H04N 2201/3273 20130101;
H04N 2201/0084 20130101; H04N 1/00326 20130101; H04N 1/32128
20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
348/239 |
International
Class: |
H04N 5/262 20060101
H04N005/262 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
May 30, 2000 |
JP |
2000-159390 |
Mar 15, 2001 |
JP |
2001-73425 |
Claims
1. A digital still camera having an image sensing device for
sensing an image of a subject and outputting image data
representing the image of the subject, and an image recording
controller for recording image data output from the image sensing
device, on a recording medium, comprising: a mode selection unit
for selecting a voice recording mode or a character recording mode;
a voice input unit for inputting a voice and outputting voice data
representing the voice; a voice recording controller for recording
the voice data output from said voice input unit on the recording
medium in response to a selection of the voice recording mode by
said mode selection unit; a character data generating unit for
generating character data representing the voice data output from
said voice input unit; a character recording controller for
recording the character data generated by said character data
generating unit on the recording medium in response to a selection
of the character recording mode by said mode selection unit; a
determination unit for determining whether all of the image data,
the voice data, and the character data are recorded on the
recording medium in a form linked to each other, or only the image
data and the voice data are recorded on the recording medium in a
form linked to each other; a first control unit, in response to a
determination by said determination unit that all of the image
data, the voice data, and the character data are recorded on the
recording medium in a form linked to each other, for controlling a
voice output unit of the camera in such a manner that the voice
represented by the voice data is output, and for controlling a
display device in such a manner that the image represented by the
image data and characters represented by the character data are
output as a combined image; and a second control unit, in response
to a determination by said determination unit that only the image
data and the voice data are recorded on the recording medium in a
form linked to each other, for controlling the voice output unit of
the camera in such a manner that the voice represented by the voice
data is output, and for controlling the display device in such a
manner that the image represented by the image data is output.
2. A method for playing back data recording in a storage medium,
comprising: reading from the storage medium, wherein the storage
medium includes a structure to record image data, character data
related to the image data, and voice data related to the image data
and wherein the related character data is a visual representation
of text data corresponding to the related voice data, and
determining if the related voice data is recorded in the storage
medium; outputting the related voice data only if it is determined
that the related voice data is recorded in the storage medium; and
displaying only the image data or both the related character data
and the image data based on the result of the step of determining
if the related voice data is recorded in the storage medium.
3. The method of claim 2, wherein the step of displaying only the
image data or both the related character data and the image data
comprises: determining if the related character data is recorded in
the storage medium if it is determined that the related voice data
is recorded in the storage medium; displaying both the related
character data and the image data if it is determined that the
related character data is recorded in the storage medium; and
displaying only the image data if it is determined that the related
character data is not recorded in the storage medium.
4. The method of claim 3, wherein the step of displaying both the
related character data and the image data comprises: combining the
image data and the character data into combined image data; and
displaying the combined image data.
5. The method of claim 2, further comprising displaying only the
image data if it is determined that the related voice data is not
recorded in the storage medium.
6. The method of claim 2, wherein the image data and the related
character are stored as a combined image data in the storage
medium, and wherein the step of displaying both the related
character data and the image data comprises displaying the combined
image data.
7. The method of claim 2, further comprising: determining if a
voice erase command has been issued; and erasing the voice data if
it is determined that the voice erase command has been issued.
8. A digital still camera having an image sensing device for
sensing an image of a subject and outputting image data
representing the image of the subject, and an image recording
controller for recording image data output from the image sensing
device, on a recording medium, comprising: a voice input unit to
enable input of voice and to enable output of voice data
representing the voice; a voice recording controller to enable
recording the voice data output from said voice input unit on the
recording medium; a character data generating unit to enable
generating character data representing the voice data output from
said voice input unit; and a character recording controller to
enable recording the character data generated by said character
data generating unit on the recording medium; a determination unit
to enable determining whether all of the image data, the voice
data, and the character data are recorded on the recording medium
in a form linked to each other, or only the image data and the
voice data are recorded on the recording medium in a form linked to
each other; a first control unit, in response to a determination by
said determination unit that all of the image data, the voice data,
and the character data are recorded on the recording medium in a
form linked to each other, to enable controlling a voice output
unit of the camera in such a manner that the voice represented by
the voice data is output, and to enable controlling a display
device in such a manner that the image represented by the image
data and characters represented by the character data are output as
a combined image; and a second control unit, in response to a
determination by said determination unit that only the image data
and the voice data are recorded on the recording medium in a form
linked to each other, to enable controlling the voice output unit
of the camera in such a manner that the voice represented by the
voice data is output, and to enable controlling the display device
in such a manner that the image represented by the image data is
output.
9. The digital still camera of claim 1, wherein the character data
generated by the character data generating unit is a visual
representation of text data of the voice data output by the voice
input unit.
10. The digital still camera of claim 9, further comprising: an
image combining unit for combining the image data and the character
data into the combined image, wherein the first control unit
controls the display device to display the combined image from the
image combining unit.
11. The digital still camera of claim 9, wherein the image data and
the character data are recorded in the recording medium as the
combined image, and wherein the first control unit controls the
display device to display the combined image read from the
recording medium.
12. The digital still camera of claim 1, wherein the determination
unit is also for determining whether the voice data are not
recorded, the digital still camera further comprising: a third
control unit for controlling the display device in such a manner
that the image represented by the image data is output in response
to a determination by the determination unit that the voice data
are not recorded on the recording medium.
13. The digital still camera of claim 8, wherein the character data
generated by the character data generating unit is a visual
representation of text data of the voice data output by the voice
input unit.
14. The digital still camera of claim 13, further comprising: an
image combining unit for combining the image data and the character
data into the combined image, wherein the first control unit
controls the display device to display the combined image from the
image combining unit.
15. The digital still camera of claim 13, wherein the image data
and the character data are recorded in the recording medium as the
combined image, and wherein the first control unit controls the
display device to display the combined image read from the
recording medium.
16. The digital still camera of claim 8, wherein the determination
unit determines whether the voice data are not recorded, the
digital still camera further comprising: a third control unit for
controlling the display device in such a manner that the image
represented by the image data is output in response to a
determination by the determination unit that the voice data are not
recorded on the recording medium.
Description
[0001] This application is a Divisional of application Ser. No.
09/865,515 filed on May 29, 2001, allowed on Jul. 10, 2006 and for
which priority is claimed under 35 U.S.C. .sctn. 120; and this
application claims priority of Application No. 2000-159390 filed in
Japan on May 30, 2000 and Application No. 2000-073425 filed in
Japan on Mar. 15, 2001 under 35 U.S.C. .sctn. 119; the entire
contents of all are hereby incorporated by reference.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] 1. Field of the Invention
[0003] This invention relates to a digital still camera and to a
method of controlling the operation thereof.
[0004] 2. Description of the Related Art
[0005] Digital still cameras capable of recording voice data on a
recording medium are now well on their way to being realized. Such
digital still cameras are capable of sensing the image of a
subject, recording image data representing the image of the subject
on a memory card and recording voice data, which represents voice
contained in sensed image of the subject, on the memory card. By
reading the image data and voice data that has been recorded on the
memory card from the memory card, voice represented by the voice
data can be output while the image represented by the image data is
being displayed.
[0006] In order to output voice, however, the device that
reproduces the image must be equipped with a speaker or the like
for outputting voice. In the absence of a speaker, voice cannot be
output even if voice data has been recorded on the memory card.
DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION
[0007] Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to make
it possible to ascertain the content of voice represented by voice
data even if an image playback device does not having a function
for outputting voice.
[0008] According to the present invention, the foregoing object is
attained by providing a digital still camera having an image
sensing device for sensing the image of a subject and outputting
image data representing the image of the subject, and an image
recording controller for recording image data, which has been
output from the image sensing device, on a recording medium, the
camera comprising: a voice input unit for inputting voice and
outputting voice data representing voice; a voice recording
controller for recording voice data, which has been output from the
voice input unit, on the recording medium; a character data
generating unit for generating character data representing voice
represented by voice data output from the voice input unit; and a
character recording controller for recording character data, which
has been generated by the character data generating unit, on the
recording medium.
[0009] The present invention provides also an operation control
method suited to the camera described above. Specifically, the
invention provides a method of controlling operation of a digital
still camera having an image sensing device for sensing the image
of a subject and outputting image data representing the image of
the subject, and an image recording controller for recording image
data, which has been output from the image sensing device, on a
recording medium, the method comprising the steps of: inputting
voice and obtaining voice data representing voice; recording
obtained voice data on the recording medium; generating character
data representing voice represented by obtained voice data; and
recording generated character data on the recording medium.
[0010] In accordance with the present invention, the image of a
subject is sensed and image data representing the image of the
subject is recorded on a recording medium. Further, voice is input
and data representing voice is recorded on the recording medium.
Furthermore, character data (character codes) representing this
voice is generated. The generated character data also is recorded
on the recording medium.
[0011] When an image is reproduced, image data that has been
recorded on the recording medium is read from the medium and an
image represented by the read image data is displayed. Character
data also is read from the recording medium and characters
represented by the character data can be displayed on the image.
Thus, the content of voice can be ascertained even with an image
playback device that does not possess a function such as a voice
playback function. As a result, the atmosphere represented by voice
at the time the image was captured can be grasped even with an
image playback device that does not possess a function such as a
voice playback function.
[0012] Of course, in case of an image playback device having a
voice playback function, voice data would be read from the
recording medium and voice representing the read voice data would
be output.
[0013] The voice input unit may be one which inputs voice during
the sensing of the image of a subject by the image sensing device.
In this case, the camera would further comprise a first control
unit for controlling the image recording controller, the voice
recording controller and the character recording controller in such
a manner that at least two types of the data among the image data,
voice data and character data will be recorded on the recording
medium in a form linked to each other.
[0014] Thus, mutually linked data can be found immediately.
[0015] The camera may further comprise: a first reading unit for
reading image data and character data that has been recorded on the
recording medium; a first combining unit for combining the
characters, which are represented by the character data, with an
image displayed by the image data that has been read by the first
reading unit; and a first display unit for displaying the image
with which the characters have been combined by the first combining
unit.
[0016] Thus, characters represented by the voice data can be
displayed without providing an image playback device separate from
the digital still camera.
[0017] The camera may further comprise a second combining unit for
combining characters, which are represented by character data that
has been generated by the character data generating unit, with an
image output from the image sensing device; and a second control
unit for controlling the image recording controller and the
character recording controller in such a manner that image data
representing an image with which characters have been combined by
the second combining unit will be recorded on the recording
medium.
[0018] The camera may further comprise: a determination unit for
determining whether the digital still camera has a voice output
unit when playback is performed; a second control unit, responsive
to a determination by the determination unit to the effect that the
camera has a voice output unit, for outputting voice, which is
represented by the voice data, from the voice output unit and
halting display of characters represented by the character data;
and a third control unit, responsive to a determination by the
determination unit to the effect that the camera does not have a
voice output unit, for controlling a display unit so as to display
the characters represented by the character data.
[0019] Since characters are not displayed when voice can be output,
the characters will not be superimposed on an image.
[0020] The camera may further comprise a second reading unit for
reading character data that has been recorded on the recording
medium; a second display unit for displaying characters represented
by character data that has been read by the second reading unit;
and an erasure control unit responsive to an erase command for
erasing voice data, which corresponds to characters being displayed
on the second display unit, from the recording medium.
[0021] The content of voice corresponding to characters can be
ascertained by viewing the characters. Thus a user can decide
whether or not to erase voice data without listening to the
voice.
[0022] The image recording controller may record image data, which
has been output from the image sensing device, in response to input
of predetermined voice to the voice input unit.
[0023] Thus, a command for recording image data can be applied by
inputting predetermined voice.
[0024] Thus, image data representing an image with which characters
have been combined can be recorded on the recording medium. Even if
the image playback unit is not equipped with a circuit for
combining an image and characters, an image with which characters
have been combined can be displayed at the time of image
playback.
[0025] The camera may further comprise a third reading unit for
reading image data, which represents an image with which characters
have been combined, from the recording medium; and a second display
unit for displaying an image represented by image data that has
been read by the third reading unit.
[0026] Thus, an image with which characters have been combined can
be displayed without providing an image playback device separate
from the digital still camera.
[0027] Other features and advantages of the present invention will
be apparent from the following description taken in conjunction
with the accompanying drawings, in which like reference characters
designate the same or similar parts throughout the figures
thereof.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0028] FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the electrical
construction of a digital still camera according to an embodiment
of the present invention;
[0029] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the data structure of a memory
card according to this embodiment;
[0030] FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating processing executed at
the time of photography according to this embodiment;
[0031] FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating processing executed at
the time of playback according to this embodiment;
[0032] FIG. 5 shows an example of a reproduced image;
[0033] FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing the electrical
construction of a digital still camera according to another
embodiment of the present invention;
[0034] FIG. 7 is a diagram showing the data structure of a memory
card according to this embodiment;
[0035] FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating processing executed at
the time of photography according to this embodiment; and
[0036] FIGS. 9 and 10 are flowcharts illustrating processing
executed at the time of playback according to this embodiment.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
[0037] Preferred embodiments of the present invention will now be
described in detail with reference to the drawings.
[0038] FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the electrical
construction of a digital still camera according to an embodiment
of the present invention.
[0039] The overall operation of the digital still camera is
controlled by a control circuit 20.
[0040] The digital still camera includes a shutter-release button
21 which, when pressed, applies a signal indicative thereto to the
control circuit 20.
[0041] The digital still camera further includes a mode setting
switch 22. The latter makes it possible to set various modes, such
as an imaging mode, voice recording mode, telop (television opaque
projector) recording mode and playback mode. A signal representing
the set mode is input to the control circuit 20.
[0042] The digital still camera is further provided with a voice
erasure function the details of which will be described later. A
voice erase command from a voice erase switch 23 also is input to
the control circuit 20.
[0043] In the imaging mode, the image of a subject is sensed and
the shutter-release button 21 is pressed, whereby image data
representing the image of the subject is recorded on a memory card
30. The voice recording mode is for recording voice data, which
represents voice, on the memory card 30 together with image data.
In the telop recording mode, data representing characters
represented by the voice data is recorded on the memory card 30
together with the image data and voice data. The playback mode is
for reproducing an image represented by the image data that has
been recorded on the recording medium.
[0044] Voice is input by a microphone 1 and a voice signal
representing voice is output. The voice signal is input to a voice
recognition circuit 2 and voice signal processing circuit 5.
[0045] The voice recognition circuit 2 includes an analog/digital
converter for converting the input analog voice signal to digital
voice data. Characters representing voice input to the microphone 1
are recognized from the digital voice data obtained by the
conversion. Character codes (text code) representing the recognized
characters are generated in the voice recognition circuit 2. The
generated character codes are applied to a buffer memory 3, where
the codes are stored, temporarily.
[0046] The character codes are read out of the buffer memory 3 and
applied to an image conversion circuit 4. The latter subjects the
character codes to image-data conversion processing for expressing,
in the form of an image, the characters represented by the
character codes. Data representing characters expressed in image
form shall be referred to as character data.
[0047] Character data output from the image conversion circuit 4 is
applied to a recorded-data selection circuit 14 via a character
data input circuit 11 included in a recording controller 10.
[0048] The voice signal that has been input to the voice signal
processing circuit 5 is subjected to predetermined voice signal
processing such as noise removal processing. The voice signal
processing circuit 5 also includes an analog/digital converter for
converting the analog voice signal to digital voice data.
[0049] The digital voice data obtained by the conversion is applied
to the recorded-data selection circuit 14 via a voice data input
circuit 12.
[0050] The image of a subject is formed on the photoreceptor
surface of a CCD 7 by an imaging lens 6. A video signal
representing the image of the subject is output from the CCD 7 and
input to a video signal processing circuit 8. The latter subjects
the video signal to predetermined video signal processing such as
gamma correction processing, color-balance adjustment processing
and analog/digital signal conversion processing.
[0051] Digital image data representing the image of the subject
output from the video signal processing circuit 8 is input to the
recorded-data selection circuit 14 via an image data input circuit
13 included in the recording controller 10.
[0052] The recorded-data selection circuit 14 selects and outputs
the applied character data, voice data or image data. The data
output from the recorded-data selection circuit 14 is applied to a
file information setting circuit 15, where the data is subjected to
processing that generates link data for linking the voice data and
image data (e.g., as by using file names that are partially
identical). The data output from the file information setting
circuit 15 is then recorded on the memory card 30 under the control
of a memory control circuit 16.
[0053] FIG. 2 illustrates the data structure of the memory card
30.
[0054] The memory card 30 includes a header recording area for
recording management data, an image data recording area for
recording image data, a character data recording area for recording
character data and a voice data recording area for recording voice
data.
[0055] Image data obtained by imaging is recorded in the image data
recording area of the memory card 30 by the memory control circuit
16. Further, character data, which represents the content of voice
by characters obtained based upon voice recognition processing, is
recorded in the character data recording area. Furthermore, voice
data is recorded in the voice data recording area.
[0056] With reference again to FIG. 1, the playback mode is such
that image data that has been recorded on the memory card 30 is
applied to an image data processing circuit 31, character data that
has been recorded is applied to a character data processing circuit
32 and voice data that has been recorded is applied to a voice data
processing circuit 33.
[0057] The image data processing circuit 31 subjects the data that
has been read from the memory card 30 to predetermined image
processing such as format conversion processing that is suited to a
display unit 35. The character data processing circuit 32 subjects
the character data to predetermined character processing such as
format conversion processing suited to the display unit 35.
Further, the voice data processing circuit 33 subjects the voice
data to predetermined processing such as format conversion
processing suited to output from a speaker 36.
[0058] The image data output from the image data processing circuit
31 and the character data output from the character data processing
circuit 32 is applied to an image combining processing circuit 34.
The latter subjects the image data and character data to combining
processing in such a manner that characters represented by the
character data will be displayed on the image represented by the
image data. By applying the combined image data to the display unit
35, the image with which the characters have been combined will be
displayed on the display screen of the display unit 35.
[0059] Further, by applying the voice data output from the voice
data processing circuit 33 to the speaker 36, voice represented by
the voice data will be output.
[0060] FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating processing executed when
the digital still camera performs photography.
[0061] Whether or not the voice recording mode has been set by the
mode setting switch 22 is checked (step 41). If the voice recording
mode has not been set ("NO" at step 41), it is considered that the
camera has been set merely to the photography mode. If the
shutter-release button 21 is pressed, image data obtained as a
result of imaging a subject by the CCD 7 will be recorded in the
image data recording area of the memory card 30 (step 45). If the
voice recording mode has not been set, then voice data is not
recorded on the memory card 30.
[0062] If the voice recording mode has been set ("YES" at step 41),
then whether the telop recording mode has been set is checked (step
42). If the telop recording mode has been set ("YES" at step 42),
then, in response to depression of the shutter-release button 21,
the image of the subject is sensed by the CCD 7 and image data
representing the image of the subject is obtained and, moreover,
input of voice by the microphone 1 starts. Input of voice is
performed for a fixed period of time starting from depression of
the shutter-release button 21.
[0063] Voice data representing voice is obtained, in the manner set
forth above, from the voice signal output by the microphone 1. In
the telop recording mode, character data representing characters
which indicate the content of voice represented by the voice signal
also is generated.
[0064] Thus, in the telop recording mode, image data representing
the image of a subject, voice data representing voice and character
data for representing the content of voice by characters are
obtained. These items of image data, voice data and character data
are selected successively by the recorded-data selection circuit 14
and recorded on the memory card 30. The obtained items of image
data, voice data and character data are recorded in the image data
recording area, voice data recording area and character data
recording area, respectively, of the memory card 30 (step 44). It
goes without saying that data indicating the corresponding
relationship among the corresponding items of image data, voice
data and character data is recorded in the header area of the
memory card 30, as described above.
[0065] If the voice recording mode has been set but the telop
recording mode has not ("NO" at step 42), voice is input by the
microphone 1 but voice recognition processing by the voice
recognition circuit 2 is not executed. Accordingly, character data
representing characters indicative of the content of voice is not
obtained. Image data representing the image of the subject is
recorded in the image data recording area of memory card 30 and
voice data is recorded in the voice data recording area of memory
card 30 (step 43).
[0066] In the embodiment set forth above, image data or the like is
recorded on the memory card 30 in response to depression of the
shutter-release button 21. However, an arrangement may be adopted
in which image data or the like is recorded on the memory card 30
in response to input of predetermined voice to the microphone 1. In
this case, voice data representing voice that triggers recording of
image data would be stored in a prescribed memory beforehand and
image data would be recorded on the memory card 30 in response to a
match between voice data representing entered voice and the voice
data that has been stored.
[0067] FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating processing executed by
the digital still camera at the time of playback.
[0068] Image data is read out of the memory card 30 loaded in the
digital still camera, and is given to the display unit 35 via the
image data processing circuit 31 and image combining processing
circuit 34. The image represented by the image data that has been
read out is displayed on the display screen of the display unit 35.
While observing the image displayed on the display screen of the
display unit 35, the user selects an image to be reproduced [it
goes without saying that the digital still camera is provided with
a frame selection switch (not shown) or the like for selecting a
playback image] (step 51).
[0069] On the basis of the link data that has been recorded in the
header recording area of the memory card 30, it is determined
whether voice data corresponding to the image data representing the
selected image has been recorded in the voice data recording area
of the memory card 30 (step 52).
[0070] If voice data corresponding to the selected image data has
not been recorded on the memory card 30 ("NO" at step 52), then it
is construed that the selected image data was captured by the
simple image mode. The image represented by the selected image data
is displayed on the display screen of the display unit 35 (step 56)
without output of voice.
[0071] If voice data corresponding to the selected image data has
been recorded on the memory card 30 ("YES" at step 52), then it is
determined whether character data corresponding to the image data
has been recorded on the memory card 30 (step 53).
[0072] If both voice data and character data corresponding to the
image data has been recorded on the memory card 30 ("YES" at both
steps 52 and 53), then the voice data and character data
corresponding to the selected image data is read out of the memory
card 30. The items of image data, character data and voice data
that have been read out are applied to the image data processing
circuit 31, character data processing circuit 32 and voice data
processing circuit 33, respectively. As described above, various
processing is executed and the items of image data and voice data
are combined in the image combining processing circuit 34. The
image data with which the character data has been combined is
applied to the display unit 35. As a result, an image combined with
telop characters 37, which are represented by the character data,
is displayed on the display screen of the display unit 35, as shown
in FIG. 5. Further, voice data is applied to the speaker 36 in
conformity with the display of the image so that voice conforming
to the telop characters 37 is output (step 55).
[0073] If there is no character data corresponding to image data
("NO" at step 53), image data that has been read out of the memory
card 30 is applied to the display unit 35 so that the image is
displayed. Since there is no character data corresponding to the
read image data, telop characters are not displayed. Since there is
voice data corresponding to the read image data, voice represented
by this voice data is output from the speaker 36 (step 54).
[0074] Furthermore, it is determined whether a voice erase command
has been applied by the voice erase switch 23 (step 57). In a case
where telop characters are being displayed when a voice erase
command is applied ("YES" at step 57), voice data representing
voice corresponding to these telop characters is erased from the
memory card 30 (step 58). The content of voice can be checked by
observing the telop characters. Unnecessary voice can be erased
from the memory card 30 without listening to it.
[0075] In the embodiment described above, the digital still camera
is provided with the speaker 36 and therefore voice represented by
voice data is output. It goes without saying, however, that voice
will not be output if the speaker 36 has not been provided. Since
telop characters indicating the content of voice are displayed on
the image even if the playback device is not provided with a
speaker, it is still possible to ascertain the content of
voice.
[0076] Further, in the embodiment described above, character data
representing characters in the form of an image has been recorded
on the memory card 30. However, character codes may be recorded on
the memory card 30.
[0077] FIGS. 6 to 9 illustrate another embodiment of the present
invention. According to the above-described embodiment, character
data is combined with image data when an image is reproduced. With
the embodiment shown in FIGS. 6 to 9, however, image data is
combined with character data at the time of recording and the image
data with which the character data has been combined is recorded on
the memory card 30.
[0078] FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing the electrical
construction of the digital still camera according to this
embodiment. Components identical with those shown in FIG. 1 are
designated by like reference characters and need not be described
again. FIG. 7 illustrates the data structure of the memory card
30.
[0079] FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating processing executed when
photography is performed using the digital still camera performs
shown in FIG. 6, and FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating processing
executed when playback is performed using the digital still camera
shown in FIG. 6. Processing steps identical with those shown in
FIGS. 3 and 4 are designated by like step numbers and need not be
described again.
[0080] Items of image data, voice data and character data are
obtained in the telop recording mode ("YES" at step 42 in FIG. 8)
in a manner similar to that of the above-described embodiment.
These items of image data, voice data and character data are
applied to a data combining circuit 24. The latter combines the
character data with the image data, whereby there is obtained image
data representing an image with which telop characters have been
combined (step 46 in FIG. 8).
[0081] The memory card 30 has the header recording area, image data
recording area and voice data recording area.
[0082] Image data with which the character data has been combined
is recorded in the image data recording area of memory card 30.
Further, voice data is recorded in the voice data recording area
(step 47 in FIG. 8). Thus, voice data alone is not recorded on the
memory card 30.
[0083] Image data with which character data has thus been combined
is read out of the memory card 30 and applied to the display unit
35 via the character data processing circuit 32. At playback, the
image with which telop characters have been combined can be
displayed on the display screen of the display unit 35 (steps 55,
56A in FIG. 9) without executing processing for combining the
character data with the image data. Further, it goes without saying
that if voice data is present, then voice is output by applying the
voice data to the speaker 36 (step 55 in FIG. 9).
[0084] This embodiment is useful when a device exclusively for
playback does not have an image combining function. That is, when
the playback device does not have an image combining function,
telop characters cannot be combined with and displayed on an image.
In this embodiment, however, image data with which telop characters
have already been combined is produced in advance and recorded on
the memory card 30. At playback, image combining processing is
unnecessary. This means that image data with which telop characters
have been combined can be displayed even with a playback device not
having an image combining function.
[0085] Though each of the above-described circuits is implemented
by hardware, some or all of these circuits may be implemented by
software.
[0086] FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating processing executed when
playback is performed by this digital still camera.
[0087] In a manner similar to that described above, a playback
image is selected (step 61). It is then determined whether the
digital still camera has a speaker (step 62).
[0088] If the camera has a speaker ("YES" at step 62), voice is
output from the speaker and an image without telop characters is
displayed (step 63). If the camera does not have a speaker ("NO" at
step 62), voice output is halted and an image with telop characters
is displayed (step 64). When the camera has a speaker, telop
characters are not displayed. This means that telop characters will
not interfere with viewing of the image.
[0089] As many apparently widely different embodiments of the
present invention can be made without departing from the spirit and
scope thereof, it is to be understood that the invention is not
limited to the specific embodiments thereof except as defined in
the appended claims.
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