The objects and advantages of the present invention will be better understood from the following description, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:
The present invention is described below with reference to the embodiments shown in the drawings.
After the power supply of a digital camera is turned on, a DSP 130 prepares to take a picture by reading program and configuration information from a flash memory 150. The flash memory 150 is embedded in the digital camera and stores a program and a user's configuration data. The flash memory 150 comprises a non-volatile rewritable memory for example. A photography subject from a lens 110 is encoded to a digital signal by a CCD/AFE 120 and stored in a RAM 140 as image data. A LCD 160 displays the shooting information and the image data stored in the RAM 140.
The photographing process is described below. After a release switch 180 is operated, a capture process S210 is executed, in which the photography subject is input from the lens 110 into the CCD/AFE 120. The CCD/AFE 120 encodes the photography subject to the image data, and the image data is then stored in the RAM140. The DSP 130 processes the image data in step S220, and compresses it in step S230 by using JPEG compression for example. In step S240, the image data is stored in an external media 170. A detach-sensing switch 175 is positioned in the insert slot in which the external media 170 is inserted.
The storing process is described below with reference to
In step S330, the DSP 130 monitors whether storage of the image data is successful or not. A successful storage is confirmed by the DSP 130 with a signal which indicates the completion of the storing process, that is sent from the external media 170 or an element which controls the external media 170 (not shown in
In step S360, it is determined whether the failure of the storing process confirmed in step S330 was caused by the removal of the external media 170. IF the failure of the storage is caused by removal of the external media 170, the power supply of the digital camera is cut off in step S370. If the failure of the storage is not caused by removal of the external media 170, this process ends without cutting off the power.
It is determined whether the external media 170 is removed by using a detach-sensing switch 175 (refer to
The storage of the image data may fail when either insufficient capacity exists in the external media 170, or the external media 170 is detached during the storing process. In step S330, the DSP 130 determined if a storage failure occurs based on whether or not it receives a signal that indicates completion of storage. Then, in step S340 the DSP 130 stores the image data and state information into the flash memory 150. In step S360, the DSP 130 determines whether or not the external media is detached, and if it not the process ends without cutting off the power.
Therefore, even if the image data is not stored in the external media 170, the image data is stored in the flash memory 150 without being lost.
After the storing process, the power supply of the digital camera is cut off and the external media 170 is replaced by a recordable external media when an unrecordable external media 170 is inserted into the digital camera. The unrecordable media has insufficient capacity or is a broken media. The recordable external media is inserted when the external media 170 is detached from the digital camera. As a result, the preparations for turning on the power supply of the digital camera are complete.
The initializing process of the digital camera is described below with reference to
The initializing process is executed when the power supply of the digital camera is turned on by operating a power switch 181. The initializing process is comprised of the first and second initializing processes. The first initializing process is executed in step S410. In the first initializing process, the aperture of the digital camera is opened, the initial image is displayed on the LCD 160, the user-configured data is read from the flash memory 150, and the memory device is mounted to the DSP 130. In step S420, state information is read from the flash memory 150. In step S430, it is determined whether state information is stored in the flash memory 150. The second initializing process is executed in step S480 when state information is not stored; however, when state information is stored, the image data stored in the flash memory 150 is copied to the RAM 140 in step S440.
In step S450, the image data copied to the RAM 140 is displayed on the LCD 160. In step S460, the LCD 160 displays the image data along with a message requesting user confirmation as to whether the image data is to be stored in the external media, as depicted in the sample display 465. Next step in S470, after the image restoration process is executed according to the user's response to the confirmation message, the second initializing process is executed.
In the second initializing process, the photography subject provided by the CCD/AFE 120 is displayed directly on the LCD 160, and the switch mask disabling operation is released to enable the switch to be operated. At this point, all initializing processes are complete, and the digital camera is prepared for photographing.
The image restoration process is described below with reference to
According to the confirmation message displayed in step S460 of
Note that, when the image data is stored in the flash memory 150, the power supply of the digital camera need not be turned off in step S370 of
Note that the detach-sensing switch may be substituted by an open-sensing switch. The open-sensing switch 175 (refer to
Note that the external media may be the storage medium of memory cards, i.e. SD cards, hard disks, or solid state memory.
Although the embodiment of the present invention has been described herein with reference to the accompanying drawings, obviously many modifications and changes may be made by those skilled in this art without departing from the scope of the invention.
The present disclosure relates to subject matter contained in Japanese Patent Application No. 2006-127610 (filed on May 1, 2006), which is expressly incorporated herein, by reference, in its entirety.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
2006-127610 | May 2006 | JP | national |