1. Field
One embodiment of the invention relates to a capturing apparatus for capturing a still image and a moving image.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, multi-functional digital apparatuses such as digital still cameras, digital video cameras, and the like have remarkably prevailed. Various proposals for improvement of the operability of such multi-functional digital apparatuses have been made. For example, Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI. Publication No. 2000-115707 proposes a technique associated with playback speed control by means of the rotation angle of a dial.
A general architecture that implements the various features of the invention will now be described with reference to the drawings. The drawings and the associated descriptions are provided to illustrate embodiments of the invention and not to limit the scope of the invention.
Various embodiments according to the invention will be described hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings. In general, according to one embodiment of the invention, a capturing apparatus comprises a capturing unit configured to capture a moving image video, a storage unit configured to store the moving image video captured by the capturing unit, an operation unit configured to include a plurality of keys used to instruct playback of the moving image video stored in the storage unit, a skip playback unit configured to play back the moving image video while skipping the moving image video at predetermined time intervals every time a predetermined operation is made on the operation unit, and a playback control unit configured to switch the time intervals skipped by the skip playback unit based on a total playback time period of the moving image video.
As shown in
Furthermore, the main body 1 comprises a storage unit 21, which can store the display unit 5. The display unit 5 is configured to be movable, and can be extracted from the storage unit 21 to adjust its display screen to an arbitrary angle. The display unit 5 comprises an LCD (liquid crystal display) 51 and loudspeaker 52.
As shown in
Furthermore, the circular arrow keys 8 are arranged inside the jog dial 7. The arrow keys 8 comprise an OK key 81 at the central position, an UP key 82 at the up position, a DOWN key 83 at the down position, a right key (direction key) 84 at the right position, and a left key (direction key) 85 at the left position.
As shown in
In response to the operation of the still image record button 4, the CCD 101 converts light (still image) obtained via the lens 2 into an electrical signal. Or in response to the operation of the moving image record button 6, the CCD 101 converts light (moving image) obtained via the lens 2 into an electrical signal. The signal processing circuit 102 converts the electrical signal output from the CCD 101 into a digital signal. The encoder 103 encodes the digital signal of the still image into an image signal compliant to JPEG. Or the encoder 103 encodes the digital signal of the moving image into an image signal compliant to MPEG. The HDD 105 stores an image signal provided via the memory 104. The detachable memory card 106 similarly stores an image signal provided via the memory 104. The decoder 107 decodes an image signal provided via the memory. The LCD driver 108 controls to drive the LCD 51 based on the decoded image signal, and outputs the image signal onto the LCD.
Upon playback of a recorded image, the decoder 107 decodes an image signal provided from the HDD 105 or memory card 106 via the memory 104. The LCD driver 108 controls to drive the LCD 51 based on the decoded image signal, and outputs the image signal onto the LCD 51.
When an image recorded in the HDD 105 or memory card 106 is to be transferred to an external apparatus (PC or the like) or an image is received from the external apparatus, such image is exchanged from the USB terminal 113 via the USB controller 111. Also, an encoded image can be directly exchanged with an image recording and playback apparatus (e.g., DVD recorder) without the intervention of the external apparatus (PC or the like).
In general, when an image is to be transferred to a DVD recorder, an encoded moving image is decoded on the transmission side (the video capturing apparatus side), and is output as an analog signal via a video terminal or S terminal. Then, the analog is re-encoded and saved on the reception side (the moving image recording and playback apparatus side). With this method, one hour is required to record an image which was recorded for one hour on a DVD or the like.
However, this video capturing device can transfer an encoded image as streaming data intact to the image recording and playback apparatus via the network, as described above. With this data transfer, a transfer time 1/10 or less of the real recording time can be achieved although it depends on the compression ratio upon encoding. In addition, high image quality can be maintained since the image is not re-encoded. For example, when only the transfer time about 1/10 of the real recording time is required, a moving image which was recorded for one hour can be recorded on another recording medium in about six minutes. When a LAN is assumed as the network, image data is exchanged using the LAN terminal 112 via the LAN controller 110. Note that data to be transferred can be audio data in addition to a moving image and still image.
The playback operation will be described below with reference to
Moving image playback includes the following modes, and these playback operations are as shown in
1. Normal playback (equal-speed playback)
2. Reverse Playback (equal-speed reverse playback)
3. High-speed playback faster than normal playback (fast-forwarding, one-touch skip, etc.)
4. High-speed reverse playback faster than reverse playback (fast-rewinding, one-touch replay, etc.)
5. Frame-by-frame advance playback
6. Frame-by-frame reverse playback
Note that the reverse playback, high-speed playback, high-speed reverse playback, frame-by-frame advance playback, and frame-by-frame reverse playback will be generically referred to as trick playback. Since the aforementioned video capturing apparatus reads out image data from a randomly accessible medium such as the HDD 105, memory card 106, or the like, an image that the user wants to watch can be easily and quickly retrieved.
The jog dial 7 outputs information of a rotation amount (rotation angle) and rotation direction to the CPU 114, which controls the entire system, in response to its rotation. For example, the jog dial 7 outputs pulses according to a predetermined rotation angle. For example, when the jog dial 7 is rotated through n°, it outputs one pulse. The CPU 114 counts the number of pulses per unit time, and calculates a rotation angle (rotation velocity) per unit time. In this way, the CPU 114 acquires the rotation information including the rotation amount (rotation angle), rotation direction, rotation velocity, and the like of the jog dial 7 during execution of the playback mode, and controls the playback operation based on this rotation information. The arrow keys 8 inform the CPU 114 of pressing of the OK key 81 at the central position, that of the UP key 82 at the up position, that of the DOWN key 83 at the down position, that of the right key 84 at the right position, and that of the left key 85 at the left position. The CPU 114 controls the playback operation based on pressing of each key of the arrow keys 8.
As can be seen from
Hence, the CPU 114 has the following two playback control modes.
Playback control 1: The CPU 114 controls fast-forwarding or fast-rewinding playback after it controls the forwarding or rewinding amount of a video (after it switches the skip interval of a moving image video) based on the rotation angle of the jog dial 7.
Playback control 2: The CPU 114 controls fast-forwarding or fast-rewinding playback after it controls the forwarding or rewinding amount of a video (after it switches the skip interval of a moving image video) based on pressing of the right key 84 or the left key 85 of the arrow keys 8 and the playback time period of a video to be played back. For example, the CPU 114 controls to forward or rewind a video by steps 1/n (n: a natural number) the playback time period of a video for one file.
With the latter playback control, when an image which was captured for a long period of time is to be played back, if a time period from an image that the user is currently watching until an image that the user wants to watch is long, the image that the user wants to watch can be found in a short period of time. Or when an image which was captured for a long period of time is to be played back, if a time period from an image that the user is currently watching until an image that the user wants to watch is short, the image that the user wants to watch can be found without missing.
The CPU 114 may variably control the high-speed playback speed of the jog dial 7 based on the playback time of a moving image file. For example, with the variable control of the high-speed playback speed by the CPU 114, the high-speed playback speed of a moving image file less than a predetermined time period (e.g., a moving image file as short as several ten seconds) is relatively low, and that of a moving image file equal to or longer than the predetermined time period is relatively high.
Note that this 1/20 skip is also effective for trick playback such as reverse playback, high-speed playback, high-speed reverse playback, frame-by-frame advance playback, frame-by-frame reverse playback, and the like. Furthermore, when the right key 84 or the left key 85 is kept pressed, forwarding or rewinding is continuously done by 1/20.
Another embodiment will be described below with reference to
With the above control, the following operation effects can be obtained.
In case of high-speed fast-forwarding or high-speed fast-rewinding (e.g., 15×-speed), a longer time period is required to reach a scene that the user wants to watch with increasing playback time period of a moving image. Likewise, in case of high-speed fast-forwarding or high-speed fast-rewinding (e.g., 15×-speed), the user is more likely to miss a scene that he or she wants to watch with decreasing playback time period of a moving image. According to the invention, fast-forwarding or fast-rewinding can be done at 1/n steps of the playback time period of the moving image irrespective of the playback time period of the moving image, and a time period required to reach a scene that the user wants to watch can be shortened. Furthermore, as for a short moving image, the high-speed playback speed by means of the jog dial 7 can be decreased. As a result, adequate high-speed playback with high visibility can be provided.
While certain embodiments of the inventions have been described, these embodiments have been presented by way of example only, and are not intended to limit the scope of the inventions. Indeed, the novel methods and systems described herein may be embodied in a variety of other forms; furthermore, various omissions, substitutions and changes in the form of the methods and systems described herein may be made without departing from the spirit of the inventions. The accompanying claims, and their equivalents are intended to cover such forms or modification as would fall within the scope and spirit of the inventions.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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2005-271084 | Sep 2005 | JP | national |
This application a divisional of co-pending U.S. application Ser. No. 11/514,967, filed Sep. 5, 2006, and to which priority is claimed under 35 U.S.C. §121. This application is based upon and claims the benefit of priority under 35 U.S.C. §119 from Japanese Patent Application No. 2005-271084, filed Sep. 16, 2005, the entire contents of both applications are incorporated herein by reference in their entireties.
Number | Name | Date | Kind |
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5140437 | Yonemitsu et al. | Aug 1992 | A |
5377051 | Lane et al. | Dec 1994 | A |
5703996 | Omura et al. | Dec 1997 | A |
20060029364 | Kosugi | Feb 2006 | A1 |
Number | Date | Country |
---|---|---|
11-213521 | Aug 1999 | JP |
2000-115707 | Apr 2000 | JP |
2002-034001 | Jan 2002 | JP |
2002-199345 | Jul 2002 | JP |
Entry |
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Instruction manual “DVD video recorder of product No. DMR-E500H” Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd., 2004, pp. 46-51. |
Number | Date | Country | |
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20110019979 A1 | Jan 2011 | US |
Number | Date | Country | |
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Parent | 11514967 | Sep 2006 | US |
Child | 12896109 | US |