1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a system and method for image capture and printing, especially to a system and method for television (TV) frame capture and printing.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Sometimes audiences may want to note down the content of TV programs displayed on the screen when watching TV. These contents may be recipes, maps, concert information, and profiles of ball-game players. However, these contents usually do not show on the TV screen for a long time, meaning that only in the cases of either having a good memory or having a pen and paper at hand can a viewer note down these information.
At present, technology of directly capturing TV frames has been proposed. With such technology, the viewer can store the desired TV frames instantly and can avoid the inconvenience of not having pens and paper at hand. But if the viewer wants to print the TV frames out, a storage media such as a memory card would be needed to transfer the stored image to a computer such that the printer connected to the computer can print the data out. However, these procedures are trivial and inconvenient for users.
It is therefore a primary objective of the claimed invention to provide a system and method for TV frame capture and printing, so as to utilize a TV apparatus to capture TV frames and control the printing of the TV frames.
According to an embodiment of the claimed invention, a system capable of capturing and printing a TV frame is disclosed. The system includes a tuner, a processor, a first memory, an image compression engine, a display unit, a first connecting interface, an interface controller, and a printer. The tuner is for receiving a TV signal. The processor coupled to the tuner is for processing the TV signal to generate the TV frame. The first memory coupled to the processor is for storing the TV frame. The image compression engine is coupled to the processor and the first memory. The processor controls the image compression engine to read a target frame from the first memory, and the image compression engine processes the target frame to generate an image file and stores the image file in the first memory. The display unit coupled to the processor is for displaying the TV frame and the image file. The interface controller coupled to the processor and the first connecting interface is for controlling the first connecting interface. The printer coupled to the first connecting interface is for communicating with the processor through an image transmission standard to receive and print the image file.
According to another embodiment of the claimed invention, a TV apparatus is disclosed. The TV apparatus comprises a tuner, a processor, a display unit, a Universal Serial Bus (USB) interface, and an interface controller. The tuner is for receiving a TV signal. The processor coupled to the tuner is for processing the TV signal to generate a TV frame. The display unit coupled to the processor is for displaying the TV frame. The USB interface supports the DC-001-2003 Digital Photo Solutions for Imaging Devices published by Camera and Imaging Products Association (CIPA). The interface controller coupled to the processor and the USB interface is for controlling the USB interface.
According to still another embodiment of the claimed invention, a method for capturing and printing a TV frame is disclosed. The method comprises: receiving a TV signal; processing the TV signal to generate the TV frame; storing the TV frame in a memory; processing a target frame read from the memory to generate an image file, and storing the image file in the memory; and transmitting the image file to a printer through an image transmission standard, so as to print the image file.
According to still another embodiment of the claimed invention, a control circuit of a TV capable of capturing and printing a TV frame is disclosed. The control circuit includes a processor, an image compression engine, and an interface controller. The processor is for processing a TV signal to generate the TV frame. The image compression engine is coupled to the processor, and the processor controls the image compression engine to transform the TV frame into an image file. The interface controller coupled to the processor is for transmitting the image file through a connecting interface supporting Digital Photo Solutions for Imaging Devices.
These and other objectives of the present invention will no doubt become obvious to those of ordinary skill in the art after reading the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment that is illustrated in the various figures and drawings.
Certain terms are used throughout the description and following claims to refer to particular components. As one skilled in the art will appreciate, electronic equipment manufacturers may refer to a component by different names. This document does not intend to distinguish between components that differ in name but not function. In the following description and in the claims, the terms “include” and “comprise” are used in an open-ended fashion, and thus should be interpreted to mean “include, but not limited to . . . ”. Also, the term “couple” is intended to mean either an indirect or direct electrical connection. Accordingly, if one device is coupled to another device, that connection may be through a direct electrical connection, or through an indirect electrical connection via other devices and connections.
The tuner 110 is for receiving an analog or digital TV signal, and the TV signal is then transmitted to the processor 130 after down-conversion and frequency selection. If the TV signal is in an analog format, the TV signal will be converted into a digital format before it is transmitted to the processor 130. The processor 130 processes the TV signal with scaling, interpolation, brightness adjustment and etc., to generate a TV frame. The processor 130 transmits the TV frame to both the display unit 120 and the memory 150. The display unit 120 coupled to the processor 130 is for displaying the TV frame, and the memory 150 coupled to the processor 130 is for storing the TV frame. In a preferred embodiment, the display unit 120 is a liquid crystal display (LCD) module, and the memory 150 is a dynamic random access memory (DRAM). The TV frames are stored by the processor 130 in the manner that the processor 130 stores the TV frames in order in the memory 150.
The manipulation of the TV 100, such as changing channels and adjusting volume, can be carried out via the remote controller 400. In this embodiment, a user can also capture TV frames via the remote controller 400. A control signal which is a request for capturing TV frames is transmitted from the remote controller 400 to the control signal receiver 160. After receiving the control signal from the control signal receiver 160, the processor 130 not only continues processing the TV signal transmitted to the processor 130 at this time to generate a new TV frame, but also reads the frame corresponding to the selected target TV frame from the memory 150. The display unit 120 then displays the target TV frame sent from the processor 130. In practical, the processor 130 can cease displaying the new TV frames on the display unit 120, and the display unit 120 will only display the target frame; alternatively, the processor 130 transmits the new TV frames and the target frame at the same time to the display unit 120, and the display unit 120 displays the new TV frames and the target frame simultaneously by means of picture-out-picture (POP) or picture-in-picture (PIP).
The two connecting interfaces 172 and 174 communicate with the processor 130 under the control of the interface controller 170. The connecting interface 172 is for connecting with the external memory 300. The external memory 300 can be memory cards made of flash memory, such as a compact flash (CF) card and a secure digital (SD) card. The other connecting interface 174 for connecting with the printer 200 can be a universal serial bus (USB) interface. The unedited image file or the edited output image file generated by the image compression engine 140 and stored in the memory 150 is then read by the processor 130 and sent to the connecting interface 172 through the interface controller 170, so as to be stored in the external memory 300. Alternatively, the unedited image file or the edited output image file can be transmitted to the connecting interface 174 and then printed out by the printer 200. The detailed description of the interaction between the TV 100 and the printer 200 is described as follows. The communication between the TV 100 and the printer 200 must comply with a specific image transmission standard. More specifically, the image transmission standard is the DC-001-2003 digital photo solutions for imaging devices published by camera and imaging products association (CIPA), which is generally referred to as “PictBridge”.
According to the “PictBridge” standard, the printer 200 becomes a host and the TV 100 becomes a device. More precisely, the TV 100 becomes both a client for printing and a server for data access, whereas the printer 200 becomes both a serve for printing and a client for data access. During the printing process, the client for printing (the TV 100) sends commands to the server for printing (the printer 200) to start printing, and then the client for data access (the printer 200) makes a request to the server for data access (the TV 100) for the image file or the output image file. Accordingly, the image file or the output image file is read by the processor 130 from the memory 150, and sent to the printer 200 via the interface controller 170 and the connecting interface 174. The user can start the printer 200 through the TV 100, and the printer 200 can also send information, such as the current printing status and error messages, back to the TV 100 to inform the user.
Next, processing the TV signal to generate a TV frame (S620). The process includes down-converting, decoding, analog-to-digital conversion in case of the TV signal in an analog format, and image processing such as scaling, interpolation, brightness adjustment, hue adjustment, and motion enhancement. Then, displaying the TV frame on a monitor and storing the TV frame in a memory (S630).
Then, capturing a target frame and displaying the target frame on the monitor (S640). When watching TV programs, the user can decide which TV frame to be captured, and subsequently the selected target TV frame is displayed on the monitor. Moreover, the monitor can show the target frame alone or show both the target frame and the new TV frames at the same time by means of picture-out-picture (POP) or picture-in-picture (PIP).
Next, processing the target frame to generate an image file (S65). If the user confirms that the target frame is the desired TV frame to be captured, then the target frame is processed by image processes such as coding, compression, and etc.
Then, storing the image file in the memory (S660). The image file is of common formats, like JPG, GIF, TIFF, JPEG, BMP, and etc., and the image file is in JPEG format according to a preferred embodiment.
Next, determining whether to edit the image file (i.e., the target frame) (S670). If the user decide to edit the image file (i.e., the target frame), and the edit function such as cutting, rotating, and scaling is performed (S672). Then, processing the edited target frame to generate an output image file (S674). Next, storing the output image file in the memory (S676).
Then, outputting the unedited image file or the edited output image file to print (S680). Whether the target frame is edited or not, the unedited image file or the edited output image file can be printed out by means of a printer through the image transmission standard called “PictBridge”.
Those skilled in the art will readily observe that numerous modifications and alterations of the device and method may be made while retaining the teachings of the invention. Accordingly, the above disclosure should be construed as limited only by the metes and bounds of the appended claims.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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095143880 | Nov 2006 | TW | national |