Digital camera for recording a still image while shooting a moving image
View Patent ↗In a digital camera, when snapshot shooting is instructed during recording of a moving image, a shot still image is temporarily pushed aside in a memory area for use in pushing aside ( 7 a ) in a frame buffer ( 7 ). A currently shooting motion image and a still image are displayed in parallel on a display ( 9 ), so that a user can confirm a content of a snapshot. The moving image continues to be recorded even during a push-aside operation. After a moving image processing is completed, the still image is processed by an image correcting circuit ( 4 ). The frame buffer ( 7 ) comprises a plurality of frame recording areas, and is shared on the occasions of a moving image processing and a still image processing. In a normal moving image processing, these areas are utilized in a cyclic manner, and when the still image is shot, any of areas will be utilized. Thereafter, the rest of areas are utilized in the cyclic manner for the moving images. The recording function for the moving image and still image is improved at low cost, it becomes easy to take a snapshot, and the merchandise size is not increased.
1. A digital camera comprising:
a frame buffer, which sequentially stores input image data of moving images on a frame by frame basis during a shooting of the moving images;
an image correcting unit including a finite impulse response (FIR) filter which convolves with a coefficient the input image data read from the frame buffer and outputs a filtered image data;
a still image encoder, which codes the filtered image data as a still image on a frame by frame basis;
a moving image encoder for coding the filtered image data as a moving image comprised of a plurality of frames;
a display control unit, which generates an image signal by which the input image data stored in said frame buffer is displayed on a display; and
a control unit, which controls the image correcting unit, still image encoder, and moving image encoder,
wherein, in response to a still image shooting instruction signal in a time period during which a moving image based on the input image data in the frame buffer is displayed on the display, image data for one frame before it is inputted to the image correction unit is temporarily set aside and stored in an reserved area of said frame buffer, and image data of moving images being currently shot continues to be sequentially stored in said frame buffer, skipping the reserved area thereof, and
wherein in said image correction unit in which a filter coefficient for the still image encoder is set when the filtered image data is outputted to the still image encoder or another filter coefficient for the moving image encoder is set when the filtered image data is outputted to the moving image encoder, one filtering process performed by the filter on the input image data for said still image encoder is made different from that performed on the input image data for said moving image encoder, and while the input image data stored in said frame buffer is displayed on the display as a moving image, said control unit instructs said display control unit to display on the display a still image based on the image data for the one frame temporarily set aside and stored in the reserved area of said frame buffer, at a timing responsive to the still image shooting instruction signal.
2. A digital camera as recited in claim 1 , wherein said image correction unit includes a storage unit which stores coefficients that determine a filtering function of the filter.
3. A digital camera as recited in claim 1 , wherein said control unit controls said display control unit in a manner that the still image based on the image data for the one frame in the reserved area of the frame buffer is displayed in substitution for the moving image based on the input image data in the frame buffer.
4. A digital camera as recited in claim 1 , wherein said control unit controls said display control unit to set the still image based on the image data for the one frame in the reserved area of the frame buffer to a main picture of the display and to display, in parallel, that still image and the moving image based on the input image data in the frame buffer.
5. A digital camera as recited in claim 1 , wherein said control unit controls said display control unit to set the moving image based on the input image data in the frame buffer to a main picture of the display and to display, in parallel, that moving image and the still image based on the image data for the one frame in the reserved area of the frame buffer.
6. A digital camera as recited in claim 1 , wherein said control unit controls said display control unit to set either the still image based on the image data for the one frame in the reserved area of the frame buffer or the moving image based on the input image data in the frame buffer to a main picture of the display and to display those still image and moving image in parallel.
7. A digital camera as recited in claim 1 , wherein said control unit controls said display control unit in a manner such that the still image based on the image data for the one frame in the reserved area of the frame buffer is displayed for a predetermined period of time.
8. A digital camera as recited in claim 1 , wherein said control unit sets said display control unit in a manner that permission/denial of display of the still image based on the image data for the one frame in the reserved area of the frame buffer is switchable.
9. A digital camera as recited in claim 1 , wherein said control unit controls said display control unit in a manner that the still image based on the image data for the one frame in the reserved area of the frame buffer is displayed for a time duration according to a user's instruction.
10. An image processing apparatus as recited in claim 1 , wherein after a coding processing by said moving image encoder has been completed, said control unit sends out the image data stored in the reserved area to said still image encoder so as to be recorded in a recording unit.
11. A digital camera as recited in claim 1 , wherein a coding unit in said still image encoder and that in said moving image encoder are shared in common.