JP2001285756A - Digital camera and image storage and provision system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To accurately retrieve images by more minutely and accurately inputting index information for retrieval on an image provided side in an image storage and provision system. SOLUTION: An image server 50 stores an indexed image file 21 of a prescribed form transmitted from a digital camera 20 into an image data base 55. Also, an image 31 other than the indexed image file is also converted to an indexed image file and stored into the image data base 55. When a request from a person 60 desiring perusal is submitted, index information attached to the individual image files is referred to and the target image is retrieved from the image data base 55. In the meantime, the value of the image is judged from the number of the perusal or the like and cash is paid back to the image provider corresponding to the value of the image. Also, a perusal fee is charged to the person 60 desiring the perusal.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a digital camera and an image storing and providing system, and more particularly to a digital camera for transmitting a photographed image together with index information to an image server, and a digital camera for storing the transmitted image. The present invention relates to an image storage and provision system that includes an image server that appropriately provides an image to a person who wants to browse.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there has been known an image providing service using the Internet that stores an image from an image provider on a server and, when there is a browsing request, displays or provides a desired image in response to the request. Have been.

In such an image providing service,
Generally, an image provider attaches heading information for search to an image captured by a digital camera or the like and transmits the image to an image server. That is, the image provider once transfers the photographed image to a personal computer (hereinafter, referred to as “PC”), and first attaches heading information on the PC. Then, when this attachment operation, that is, the operation of inputting heading information from a keyboard or the like into a search file different from the image file is completed, the image and the heading information are transmitted to the image server via the Internet. Was.

On the image server side, the transmitted image is registered in a database, and a desired image is searched for and provided based on heading information as appropriate in response to a search request from a browsing applicant.

[0005]

However, such a conventional image providing service has a problem that an image provider for image transfer has a large work load. That is, even if an image provider takes an image with a digital camera or the like, the image provider has to move the image to a PC once and then manually input the heading information from a keyboard or the like.

[0006] In order to facilitate the work of transferring image files, it is conceivable to omit, for example, the entry of heading information. This makes it difficult to obtain a desired image.

Further, as described above, the image transfer operation is performed by a PC.
Because it takes place on the server, it takes time from the time the image is captured to the time it is registered on the server. For example, even if a digital camera captures the scene of an accident, the scoop image cannot be immediately transferred to the image server The inconvenience has also occurred.

Further, generally, such an image is provided to the image server free of charge, and the input of the heading information for the image database is based on the good intention of the image provider. For this reason, there has been a tendency that it is difficult to incorporate sufficient information.

The present invention has been conceived in view of the above circumstances, and a first object of the present invention is to reduce the burden of transfer work such as input of index information by an image provider and to immediately convert a photographed image into an image. An object of the present invention is to provide a digital camera that can be transmitted to a server and has good operability, and an image accumulation providing system including the digital camera.

[0010] The second object is that the image provider
It is an object of the present invention to provide an image storage and provision system capable of accurately performing an image search by inputting more detailed and accurate heading information for search.

[0011]

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a digital camera comprising: an image pickup unit for picking up an image; and a digital camera for retrieving the image picked up by the image pickup unit. An acquisition unit for acquiring heading information;
From the captured image and the obtained heading information,
An image file creating unit for creating an image file in a predetermined format, and a transmitting unit for transmitting the created image file in a predetermined format are provided.

According to the present invention, an image file in a predetermined format is created from an image captured by the image capturing section and heading information necessary for searching obtained by the obtaining section. Then, the transmission unit transmits the image file in the predetermined format.

[0013] For this reason, the transfer operation is performed on the digital camera, and it is possible to directly transfer the photographed image from the digital camera to the image server. Therefore, it is possible to provide an easy-to-operate digital camera that can reduce the transfer work such as input of headline information by an image provider and can immediately transmit a captured image to an image server.

Preferably, the image file of the predetermined format is a composite file including a captured image and heading information.

If the image file in the predetermined format is a composite file including the image and the heading information, it is possible to easily search for the image based on the heading information.

[0016] Preferably, the heading information is one of a photographer ID, a photographing date and time, a photographing place, a thumbnail image, an image genre, a keyword, and audio data.
Including the above.

[0017] More preferably, a time-measuring unit for measuring a photographing date and time, a position specifying unit for specifying a photographing place, an input unit for inputting an image genre from a menu selection screen, and a voice input unit for inputting the keyword by voice Any one
The above is further provided.

According to these inventions, the heading information includes
Since any one or more of the photographer ID, the photographing date and time, the photographing place, the thumbnail image, the image genre, the keyword, and the audio data are included, it is possible to accurately search for a target image when searching for an image.

[0019] More preferably, the menu items on the menu selection screen match the menu items on a homepage search screen provided by the image server.

When the menu items on the selection screen match the menu items on the search screen, it is possible to more easily search for images.

According to another aspect of the present invention, an image storage and provision system includes: a digital camera according to any one of the above;
An image server, the image server receiving an image file in a predetermined format transmitted by the transmission unit, a storage unit storing the received image file in the predetermined format, and receiving a search request. A search request receiving unit,
The image processing apparatus includes a search unit that searches for a target image file from the storage unit by referring to the index information based on the received search request, and a transmission unit that transmits the searched image file.

According to the present invention, when the image server receives an image file of a predetermined format from the digital camera, it stores it in the storage unit. Then, in response to the search request, a necessary image file is searched from the storage unit by referring to the index information in the image file.

Therefore, an image storage and provision system capable of performing an image search accurately by inputting heading information for search from a digital camera or the like with good operability in more detail and accurately as heading information is provided. It becomes possible.

Preferably, when the image server receives an image file or an e-mail attached with an image other than a predetermined format, the image server converts the image file or the e-mail into an image file of a predetermined format. Furthermore, the image file of the predetermined format converted by the file conversion unit is stored in the storage unit.

According to this, even when an image file in a format other than the predetermined format or an e-mail attached with the image is received, the image file is converted into the image file in the predetermined format and stored in the storage unit. Many images can be provided to the viewer.

Preferably, the image server comprises: a value judging section for judging the value of the image in the stored image file; and a value payable to the image provider in accordance with the determined value of the image. And a price determination unit for determining.

According to this, the value of the provided image is determined by the value determining unit, and the value to be paid to the image provider is determined according to the value. By receiving an appropriate price, it is expected that a higher value image will be provided by the image provider.

Preferably, the value determining unit includes a unit price setting unit for setting a unit price of the image based on a predetermined criterion, and the price determining unit determines the price based on the set unit price of the image. It is characterized by the following.

According to this, the unit price of an image is set based on a predetermined criterion, and the price of the image is determined based on this. Therefore, the price of the image is appropriately determined.

Preferably, the image server further comprises a browsing fee determining unit for determining a browsing fee to be charged to a viewer of the image, and the determined browsing fee coincides with a set unit price of the image. It is characterized by the following.

According to this, the browsing fee to be charged to the viewer of the image is determined so as to match the unit price of the image set based on the predetermined criterion. Therefore, an appropriate viewing fee is charged to the viewer.

Preferably, the image server further includes a counting unit that counts the number of received search requests for each image file stored in the storage unit, and the unit price setting unit counts the counted number of times. It is characterized by setting based on.

Further, preferably, the unit price setting section comprises:
A feature is that the unit price of an image is set higher as the number of times counted is larger.

According to these, the number of search requests is counted for each image file, and the unit price of an image is set based on the number of search requests. For this reason, a more appropriate unit price of the image is set.

Preferably, the image server further includes a time limit setting unit for setting a time limit for a predetermined image, and the unit price setting unit is configured to set a time limit according to the number of times counted within the set time limit. A unit price of a predetermined image is set.

According to this, a unit price of a predetermined image such as an image having a high news characteristic is set according to the number of counts within the time limit. For this reason, a more appropriate unit price of the image is set.

Preferably, the heading information includes information on urgency, the image server further includes an urgency judging unit for judging the degree of urgency based on the information on urgency, and the unit price setting unit includes: A unit price of an image is set based on the determined degree of urgency.

According to this, the degree of urgency is determined based on the urgency information such as the image genre included in the heading information, and the unit price of the image is set based on the result. Therefore, the unit price of the image is set more appropriately according to the degree of urgency.

More preferably, the unit price setting unit sets the unit price of the image to be high when the urgency judging unit judges that the urgency is high, and when the urgency judging unit judges that the urgency is low. , The unit price of the image is set low.

According to this, the unit price of an image with high urgency is set high, and the unit price of an image with low urgency is set low. For this reason, an appropriate unit price of an image is set with more accurate consideration of the degree of urgency.

[0041]

Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an overall configuration of an image storage and provision system 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 1, in image storage and provision system 100, image provider 10, image server 50, and viewer (terminal) 60 are connected via Internet 70.

The image provider 10 includes a digital camera 20 having a communication function, a digital camera 30 connected to a portable terminal, a home PC 40, and the like. An image captured by the digital camera 20 is converted into an indexed image file 21 which is a format unique to the image server 50, and transmitted to the image server 50 via the Internet 70 (arrow (A)). Image server 50
Stores the transmitted indexed image file 21 in the image database 55.

Digital camera 30 connected to portable terminal
Images taken by the PC and images handled by the PC 40 are JP
EG (joint photographic experts group) and GI
An image file 31 for a PC such as F (graphics interchange format) is transmitted to the image server 50 via the Internet 70 (hereinafter, these are collectively referred to as “normal image files”) (arrow (B)). . Then, the image file is converted into an indexed image file of a predetermined format on the image server 50 and stored in the image database 55.

The terminal 60 such as a PC, which is a browsing applicant, downloads from a homepage serving as a window provided by the image server 50,
A search information for searching for a desired image, for example, date and time, place, genre (news, natural science, entertainment, etc.) and the like are input together with the browsing request (arrow (D)). Then, the image server 50 receives this and searches the image database 55 for a desired image of the viewer. At this time, the index information attached to each image file in the image database 55 is referred to. Then, the search result is provided to the terminal 60 that is the browsing applicant (arrow (D)).

The image server 50 determines the value of the image provided by the image provider 10 based on the genre of the image, the number of requests for browsing, and the like, and provides the image provider 10 with a cashback (C) based on the value of the image. ).

It should be noted that a viewing fee is charged to the viewing requester 60 according to the value of the image determined by the image server 50.

As described above, by providing the image provider 10 with a system for performing a cashback according to the value of the provided image, the image provider 10 is required to increase the number of browsing requests. It can be expected that accurate search information is input.

Also, when an image that may harm public order and public health is spilled into the image server 50,
It is possible to exclude based on these detailed search information.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram for explaining the details of the digital camera 20 as the image provider 10 in the image storage and provision system 100. Referring to FIG. 2, a digital camera 20 includes an optical system 2 including an optical lens and the like.
01, an imaging unit 203 represented by a CCD or the like, an image processing unit 205 for performing necessary conversion and correction such as A / D conversion and γ correction on an image captured by the imaging unit 203,
A file conversion unit 207 for converting the image data sent from the image processing unit 205 into a predetermined indexed image file, an automatic input unit 210 for automatically inputting index information (heading information) required for image search, It includes an input unit 217 for a user to manually input, and a data transmission unit 209 for transmitting an indexed image file to the image server 50.

The automatic input unit 210 has a ROM 211 in which a user ID is stored, a timekeeping unit 213 for measuring the shooting date, time, and a G for specifying the shooting location.
And a PS receiver 215.

When a release button (not shown) of the digital camera 20 is pressed, image data is generated, and at the same time, the user ID is automatically read from the ROM 211, the date and time is read from the timer 213, and the GPS The position information is received by the file conversion unit 207 from the reception unit 215.

On the other hand, the input unit 217 includes a display for displaying a menu, a switch, a microphone for voice recognition, and the like. From the input unit 217,
Image genre, keyword, etc. are input by the user,
The data is taken into the file conversion unit 207.

FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining details of the file conversion unit 207 of the digital camera 20 shown in FIG. Referring to FIG. 3, file conversion unit 207 determines the uniqueness of image server 50 based on search information input from automatic input unit 210 and input unit 217 and image data input from image processing unit 205. , An indexed image file 21 having the format is created.

The indexed image file 21 is He
ader Data Area23, Index DataArea25, Graphi
c Data Area 27. The Header Data Area 23 includes a file name, a file creation date and time, and other information similar to those included in a general computer file format.

The Index Data Area 25 contains index information necessary for image search. That is, the photographer ID, the photographing date and time, the photographing place, the image genre, the keyword, and the thumbnail image created from the photographed image, which are captured from the automatic input unit 210, are necessary for the image search. Index Da
It is included in ta Area25.

The Graphic Data Area 27 contains the data of the photographed image which has been converted and compressed in the JPEG format. Note that the JPEG format is an example, and image data compressed by a unique algorithm may be used.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a menu display on the display of the input unit 217. When a menu for sending an image to the image server 50 is called from the user, a menu screen is displayed on the display along with the image to be transferred, as shown in FIG. The user selects the genre of the image by using a switch or voice input.
Also, a free keyword may be input by voice recognition.
When the input of the genre or the like is completed, the transfer destination is selected from the menu, and the operation ends.

The menu displayed here matches the menu item for searching the homepage provided by the image server 50. Therefore, at the time of the search, the corresponding image is easily and accurately searched.

As described above, according to the digital camera 20, heading information for search can be input automatically or by a simple operation. Then, based on this, the file conversion unit 207 creates an indexed image file 21 in a format unique to the image server 50, and the created indexed image file 21
Is immediately transferred to the image server 50 by the data transmission unit 209.

Therefore, the burden on the transfer work of the image provider is greatly reduced, and the digital camera 20
Can be immediately transmitted to the image server 50.

Next, the image server 50 will be described.
FIG. 5 is a block diagram for explaining details of the image server 50 in the image storage and provision system 100. FIG.
, The image server 50 converts the normal image file into an indexed image file, and the file determination unit 51 that determines whether the transferred image file is a predetermined indexed image file. A file conversion unit 53, an image database 55 for storing indexed image files, and an image database 5
5 and a control unit 57 for searching for an image desired by the viewer 60.

(A) First, it is determined whether or not the image file transmitted from the digital camera 20 or the ordinary digital camera 30 to which the portable terminal is connected is an indexed file in a format unique to the image server 50. Is input to the file determination unit 51.

Since the image file transmitted from the digital camera 20 is a file with a predetermined index, it is directly sent to the image database 55 and registered as it is. On the other hand, since the image file transmitted from the normal digital camera 30 is not an indexed file, the file determination unit 51 sends the image file to the file conversion unit 5.
3 and converted into a predetermined indexed file format. Then, it is registered in the image database 55.

When an electronic mail attached with an image is transmitted from the home PC 40 or the like (B), the electronic mail is first transmitted to the file conversion section 53. Then, after being converted into a predetermined indexed image file, the image database 5
5 is registered.

When there is a browsing request (D) from the terminal 60 to the image server 50, the control unit 57 searches the image database 55 for a corresponding image based on the search information transmitted at the same time. I do. At this time, the index information in the Index DataArea 25 of the registered image file is referred to. Then, when the search is completed, the requested image is provided to the browsing applicant (E).

The control unit 57 has a function of counting the number of browsing of images registered in the image database 55, a function of judging the value of an image from the number of browsing, and the like. In order to determine the value of the image, such as a function to determine a billing value for charging the user who wishes to browse according to the number of views, a function to pay the image provider the price of the image determined by the number of browsing and the billing value, etc. It has necessary time functions and the like.

The value of the image is determined by the control unit 57,
When the billing value or the like is determined, the image viewing requester 60 pays the image server 50 a viewing fee corresponding to the value of the image. On the other hand, the image provider 50 is appropriately cashed back from the image server 50 (C). The cashback may be made in a currency such as a course transfer, or may be "saved" in the image server 50 as a point that can be used in an Internet shopping mall affiliated with or operated by the image server 50.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the flow of processing until an image file transmitted to the image server 50 is registered in the image database 55. Referring to this figure, when an image file is input to image server 50 (step S601), file determination unit 51 determines whether or not the file is a predetermined indexed image file (step S603). ).

If it is determined that the file is an indexed file (“Yes” in step S603), the file is sent directly to the image database 55 and registered (step S607). If it is determined that the file is not an indexed file (“No” in step S603), the file is sent to the file conversion unit 53, converted into a predetermined indexed file (step S605), and registered in the image database 55. (Step S607).

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the flow of processing until an attached image is registered in the image database 55 when an electronic mail with the image attached is transmitted to the image server 50. is there. Note that the e-mail referred to here is the one in which the heading information from the image provider is input in the body part.

Referring to the figure, when an e-mail in text format is input to image server 50 (step S70)
1) First, the attached image is restored (step S703). Subsequently, the file conversion unit 53
Is converted into a predetermined indexed image file (step S705), and registered in the image database 55 (step S707).

As described above, when an image file or an e-mail attached with an image is transmitted to the image server 50, it is appropriately converted into a predetermined indexed image file and registered in the image database. Will be.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing the flow of processing performed by the image server 50 until the image provider performs cashback in accordance with the price of the image. Note that the image / image genre acquisition process (step S803) and the process of determining whether or not to perform timed counting (step S805) in FIG. 6 are performed in parallel with the process until the image file is registered (saved) in FIG. Will be performed.

Referring to this figure, when an image file is input (step S801), the image server 50 first
The genre information of the target image is acquired from the index information therein (step S803).

Then, based on the acquired image genre, it is determined whether or not the image is an image for which time counting is to be performed (step S805). In other words, here, if the image is highly newsworthy from the image genre, it is determined that the image is to be subjected to timed counting. If the image is poorly newsed, the image is not to be subjected to timed counting. Judge that there is.

An image having a high news characteristic, such as a photograph of an accident site or a scoop photograph, is determined to be an image for which timed counting is performed ("Yes" in step S805), and a browsing counting process is performed (step S807). .

That is, after the image is registered in the database server 55 and becomes browsable, the timer is started, and at the same time, the browsing request count function of the control unit 57 starts counting the number of browsing requests.

Then, the process of counting the number of browsing requests is performed until the time limit elapses (step S80).
9) After the time limit has elapsed, the price of the image is determined (step S811). The method of determining the price at this time will be described with reference to FIG.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing the relationship between the number of viewings and the unit price of an image in order to explain a method of determining a price to be paid to an image provider when a time limit T1 is provided. As shown in the figure, when the time limit T1 is provided, the unit price of the image is determined according to the number of browses within the time limit T1.

Here, the unit price of the first image is Y0, and the number of browsing requests is N before the time limit T1 elapses.
This indicates a case where the unit price of the final image has increased to Y1 because the value of the unit price has become 1. The case where the number of browses increases within the time limit and the unit price of the image sharply increases may be, for example, a case where many newspapers determine that the image is highly newsworthy and download many images within a predetermined time. Can be

When the unit price Y1 of the image is determined in this way, the viewer is charged at the price Y1. Here, since the browsing stop time T2 is provided after the time limit T1, the browsing user (total N2) is charged until the browsing stop time T2 is reached. Therefore, the price of the provided image is determined as the product of the final unit price and the number of viewing users, that is, Y1 × N2.

In FIG. 8, when the price of the image is determined (step S811), a cash-back process is performed on the image provider (step S813). Thereafter, the image file is deleted (step S825).

On the other hand, if it is determined in step S805 that the image has low newsability and does not perform timed counting, such as a landscape photograph, a commercial photograph, or a sample photograph of a product (“No” in step S805), The browsing counting process is performed until the settlement deadline comes (steps S815 and S817). Then, when the settlement period has expired, image price determination processing is performed (step S).
819).

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing the relationship between the number of views and the unit price of an image in order to explain a method of determining a price to be paid to an image provider when no time limit is set. As shown in the figure, when the time limit is not provided, the unit price of the image is set to the fixed value Y0 regardless of the lapse of time from the state in which the image is registered in the image database 55 and can be browsed. ing.

Therefore, the viewer is informed of the unit price Y0 of the image.
Is charged, and the price paid to the image provider is determined by the product of the unit price Y0 of the image and the number of views.

When the price of the image is determined (step S8)
19) A cashback process is performed on the image provider (step S821). The above processing is repeated during the image storage period (steps S815 to S821). When the image storage period has passed (“Yes” in step S823), the image file is deleted (step S825).

As described above, by changing the method of determining the unit price of an image according to the type of the image such as whether or not the news property is high, the value of the image can be more appropriately determined. For this reason, the image provider can receive an appropriate price for the provided image, and as a result, a promotion effect on image provision can be expected.

Also, if there is a cashback in accordance with the number of browsing, the image provider wants to be browsed by more people, and thus inputs appropriate search information in detail. Therefore, the image storage and provision system is smoothly applied.

Although FIG. 8 shows a process when an image file is input, the same process is performed when a mail text is read.

<Modifications> Next, some modifications of the image storage and provision system according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described. In each of the modifications shown here, the method of determining the value of the image, that is, the method of determining the unit price of the image is different. Therefore, the configuration and the like of the image storage and provision system itself are the same as those shown in FIG.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing the relationship between the elapsed time and the unit price of an image for an image whose value decreases with the passage of time. The elapsed time shown here is, for example, the elapsed time after the unit price Y1 of the image is determined according to the number of views within the time limit. In the case of FIG. 9, it means a time starting from the time limit T1.

In FIG. 9, the unit price of the image is always constant at Y1 from the elapse of the time limit T1 to the stop of browsing. However, in this modification, as shown in FIG.
The unit price of an image gradually decreases as time passes. The unit price Y1 initially determined from the number of browses within the time limit or the like decreases to Y2 when the time T1 elapses, and further decreases to Y3 when the time T2 elapses.

Therefore, the initial unit price Y1 is charged to the browsing user until the time T1, and after the time T1 elapses,
For the browsing user until the time T2, the unit price Y2 is charged. Then, the unit price Y3 is charged to the browsing user after the elapse of the time T2. As described above, the method of decreasing the unit price of an image with the passage of time without fixing the unit price of the image at the initial unit price Y1 is effective for a highly current image in which the value of the image decreases with the passage of time. It is.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing the relationship between the elapsed time and the unit price of an image when the unit price of an image is set according to the necessity of urgency. Photos of the accident site and scoop photos
Judging from the image genre information, the image is judged to be a highly urgent image. In this case, the unit price of the image is set higher from the beginning than that of a non-urgent image such as a landscape photograph.

Therefore, as shown in the figure, the unit price of an image that does not require urgency is set to Y1,
For images requiring urgency, Y2 is set higher than Y1. Here, for images requiring urgency, the unit price of the images is set high, while the viewing time is limited, for example, to 5 hours. And
For images that do not require urgency, the unit price of the images is set low, but there is no limit on the viewing time. In addition,
Instead of setting a limit on the viewing time, the number of viewers may be limited and adjusted.

Regardless of the necessity of urgent images, the unit price of the images is constant, so that a prescribed amount is imposed on the viewer. Then, the product of the unit price of the image and the number of views is paid to the image provider as a price.

When the number of viewers of images requiring urgency has reached a predetermined number, the image server 50 excludes the images from searchable (browsable) targets and reduces the memory capacity of the image database 55 and the like. It may be used effectively.

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing the relationship between the elapsed time and the unit price of an image when the unit price of an image is set according to the necessity of urgency and the number of browsing requests within the time limit.
Here, as in the case shown in FIG. 12, the unit price of the initial image is smaller than the unit price Y of the image not requiring urgency.
The unit price Y0 of the image requiring urgency is set high. However, unlike the case of FIG. 12, for images that require urgency, the unit price of the images increases stepwise according to the number of browsing requests within the time limit.

FIG. 13 shows a case where four browsing requests are made within a time limit of 5 hours, for example. In this case, if there is a first browsing request after the initial image unit price Y0 is set, the image unit price increases to Y1. Then, when there is a second browsing request, the unit price of the image increases to Y2, and each time there is a third and fourth browsing request, the unit price of the image increases to Y3 and Y4. And the unit price of the image is Y
With the setting of 4, the time limit of 5 hours has elapsed.

Therefore, the initial image unit price Y0 is charged to the first browsing requester, and the image unit price Y1 is charged to the second browsing requester. And
The third and fourth browsing requesters are charged Y2 and Y3, respectively. In this case, for the image provider, the sum of the billing amounts ΣYi (i = 0 to
3) will be paid as consideration.

Although the case where the image unit price increases for each case has been described, the present invention is not limited to such a case. Therefore, for example, the unit price of an image may be set to increase for each of a plurality of cases such as 10 cases and 20 cases.

Also, in this case, similarly to the case shown in FIG. 12, the number of viewers may be limited, and when the number of viewers reaches the limit, the browsing may be stopped. Alternatively, a fixed threshold may be set so that the unit price of the image does not increase above the threshold. Therefore, the number of views increases,
If the unit price of the image reaches the threshold value within the time limit, the unit price of the subsequent images will be set to the threshold value regardless of the number of views. In this way, it is possible to prevent the unit price of the image from rising without limit.

It is to be noted that the image requiring urgency is not limited to the case shown in FIGS. 12 and 13, but the unit price of the initial image is set higher than that of the image not requiring urgency. As shown in FIG. 9, the unit price of an image may be increased according to the number of browses within the time limit. Then, the unit price of the finally determined image may be charged to the viewer.

Also, for images requiring urgency, as shown in FIG. 11, a time limit and a browsing stop time are separately provided, and the unit price of the image is set after the time limit elapses and before the browsing stop time is reached. May be lowered step by step.

The embodiment disclosed this time is an example in all respects, and should not be considered as limiting. The scope of the present invention is defined by the terms of the claims, rather than the description above, and is intended to include any modifications within the scope and meaning equivalent to the terms of the claims.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an overall configuration of an image storage and provision system 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram for explaining details of a digital camera 20 as an image provider 10 in the image storage and provision system 100.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating details of a file conversion unit 207 of the digital camera 20 shown in FIG.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a menu display on a display in an input unit 217.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram for explaining details of an image server 50 in the image storage and provision system 100.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a flow of processing until an image file transmitted to the image server 50 is registered in the image database 55.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a flow of processing until an attached image is registered in the image database 55 when an electronic mail with an attached image is transmitted to the image server 50.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing a flow of processing performed on the image server 50 side until an image provider performs a cashback according to an image price.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing the relationship between the number of views and the unit price of an image in order to explain a method of determining a consideration paid to an image provider when a time limit T1 is provided.

FIG. 10 is a diagram for explaining a method of determining a consideration to be paid to an image provider when a time limit is not provided;
FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating a relationship between the number of browses and a unit price of an image.

FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating a relationship between an elapsed time and a unit price of an image for an image whose value decreases with time.

FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating a relationship between an elapsed time and a unit price of an image when a unit price of an image is set according to necessity of urgency.

FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating a relationship between an elapsed time and an image unit price when an image unit price is set according to the necessity of urgency and the number of browsing requests within the time limit.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 image provider, 20 digital camera, 21 indexed image file, 50 image server, 51
File determination unit, 53 file conversion unit, 57 control unit,
55 image database, 60 viewers (terminal),
203 imaging unit, 207 file conversion unit, 209 data transmission unit, 210 automatic input unit, 211 ROM, 2
13 Clock section, 215 GPS receiving section, 217 input section.

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification symbol FI Theme coat ゛ (Reference) H04N 5/907 H04N 5/907 B 5C064 5/93 7/16 A 7/16 C 7/173 610A 7 / 173 610 640Z 640 101: 00 // H04N 101: 00 5/93 E (72) Inventor Hiroharu Katsuragi 2-3-13 Azuchicho, Chuo-ku, Osaka City Osaka International Building Minolta Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Yokota Satoshi 2-3-13 Azuchicho, Chuo-ku, Osaka City Osaka International Building Minolta Co., Ltd. F-term (reference) 2H054 AA01 5B075 ND08 NK02 NK04 NK13 NK25 NR02 PP07 PP22 PQ05 5C022 AA13 AC69 5C052 GA02 GA08 GB01 GB07 GB09 GB10 5C05 FA28 GB06 HA29 JA01 JA16 JA21 JA22 LA14 5C064 BA01 BA04 BB01 BB05 BB07 BC01 BC16 BC25 BD02 BD08 BD14

Claims (15)

[Claims] An image capturing unit that captures an image; an acquiring unit that acquires necessary heading information for searching for an image captured by the image capturing unit; A digital camera, comprising: image file creating means for creating an image file in a predetermined format; and transmitting means for transmitting the created image file in a predetermined format. 2. The digital camera according to claim 1, wherein the image file in the predetermined format is a composite file including the captured image and the index information. 3. The digital camera according to claim 1, wherein the heading information includes at least one of a photographer ID, a photographing date and time, a photographing place, a thumbnail image, an image genre, a keyword, and audio data. . 4. A time-measuring means for measuring the photographing date and time, a position specifying means for specifying the photographing place, an input means for inputting the image genre from a menu selection screen, and a voice input means for inputting the keyword by voice The digital camera according to claim 3, further comprising at least one of the following. 5. The digital camera according to claim 4, wherein menu items on the menu selection screen match menu items on a homepage search screen provided by the image server. 6. An image storage and provision system comprising the digital camera according to claim 1 and an image server, wherein the image server is an image file of a predetermined format transmitted by the transmission unit. Image file receiving means, receiving means for storing the received image file in a predetermined format, search request receiving means for receiving a search request, and referring to the index information based on the received search request. The image storage and provision system includes a search unit that searches for a target image file from the storage unit, and a transmission unit that transmits the searched image file. 7. When the image server receives an image file or an e-mail attached with an image other than the predetermined format, the image server converts the image file or the e-mail into an image file of the predetermined format. 7. The image storage and provision system according to claim 6, further comprising a conversion unit, wherein the image file of a predetermined format converted by the file conversion unit is stored in the storage unit. 8. The image server, comprising: a value determining unit configured to determine a value of an image in the stored image file; and a value to be paid to a provider of the image according to the determined value of the image. Comprising a price determination means for determining
The image storage and provision system according to claim 6. 9. The value determining unit includes a unit price setting unit that sets a unit price of an image based on a predetermined criterion, and the price determining unit determines a price based on the set unit price of the image. The image storage and provision system according to claim 8, wherein: 10. The image server further comprises a browsing fee determining means for determining a browsing fee to be charged to a viewer of the image, wherein the determined browsing fee matches a unit price of the set image. The image storage and provision system according to claim 9, wherein: 11. The image server further includes a count unit that counts the number of the received search requests for each image file stored in the storage unit, wherein the unit price setting unit determines the number of times of the search request. 11. The image storage and provision system according to claim 9, wherein the setting is performed based on the setting. 12. The image storage and provision system according to claim 11, wherein the unit price setting unit sets the unit price of the image higher as the number of times counted increases. 13. The image server further comprises a time limit setting means for setting a time limit for a predetermined image, wherein the unit price setting means responds to the counted number of times within the set time limit. And setting a unit price of the predetermined image.
3. The image storage and provision system according to 2. 14. The headline information includes urgency information, the image server further includes an urgency determination unit that determines a degree of urgency based on the urgency information, and the unit price setting unit includes: 14. The system according to claim 9, wherein a unit price of an image is set based on the determined degree of urgency. 15. The unit price setting unit sets an image unit price high when the urgency determining unit determines that the urgency is high, and when the urgency determining unit determines that the urgency is low. 15. The system according to claim 14, wherein the unit price of the image is set low.