JP2568908B2 - Digital image storage and playback device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial Application Field] The present invention is configured so that digital image data stored in a memory means can be read and reproduced as a still image on a display or copied to another memory means. More particularly, the present invention relates to an image signal processing technique suitable for use in managing image data shot by a digital electronic still camera.

[Prior Art] In recent years, various proposals have been made for digital electronic still cameras. For example, JP-A-59-183592 discloses that a memory means is detachably mounted on a camera body having an imaging optical system and a solid-state imaging device (an image sensor such as a CCD), and a still image photographed by the solid-state imaging device is stored. A digital electronic still camera configured to convert a video signal to be represented into a digital signal and store the digital signal in the memory means is disclosed.

When reproducing the digital image data stored in the memory means, the memory means is detached from the digital electronic still camera, mounted on a digital image storage / reproduction device, and visualized by a display device or printed out and reproduced.

On the other hand, there has been developed a digital image storage / playback apparatus having a function of copying image data stored by a digital electronic still camera to another memory means, in other words, a function of dubbing. With such a function, digital image data can be copied (dubbed) from one memory means to a plurality of memory means,
Moreover, since the image data is digitized, there is no deterioration in image quality, which is very convenient.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, the copy function increases the possibility that digital image data is copied regardless of the photographer's intention and spreads among unspecified large numbers, and its management becomes important. It has become. Furthermore, the copy function has caused a new problem of copyright infringement.

That is, digital image data that is a still image is subject to copyright, and if it is used after being copied, copyright infringement may occur depending on the form of use.

Therefore, it became necessary to take control of image data and take measures to prevent infringement.If you want to make the right holder aware of it, if you want to make valuable data uncopyable,
Further, it is necessary to cope with various conditions such as keeping the data of the copy distribution destination and the number of copies in the original memory means.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to manage the image data by writing copy information and copy-protection protection information to an original memory unit storing the image data. The present invention provides a digital image storage / playback apparatus configured as described above.

[Problem to be Solved by the Invention] In order to achieve such an object, the present invention relates to an original memory means in which digital image data is stored.
Write the name and name of the copy destination, the address, the number of copies, the number of copies, the total number of copies, the name of the photographer or the copyright holder, etc. as copy information, and copy the digital image data to the memory means of the copy destination. In this case, a copy information writing / reading circuit for storing the copy information together and updating the copy information in the original memory means is provided.

Further, a protection information discrimination circuit for discriminating copy protection information written as copy information and prohibiting undesired copying of image data is provided.

[Operation] In the present invention having such a configuration, the name of the photographer or copyright holder written in the original memory means when the image data is copied is written in the copy destination memory means. At the same time, the data of the copy distribution destination and the like are written in the original memory means, and the copy information is updated, so that the management of the image data becomes easy. Furthermore, since copy protection can be performed by determining the protection information, it is possible to prevent copying of particularly important image data.

Embodiment An embodiment of a digital image storage / playback apparatus will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a digital image storage / playback apparatus, FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating circuit operation, and FIG. 3 is a memory map of a memory cartridge.

 First, the overall circuit configuration will be described with reference to FIG.

The memory cartridges 10 and 12 can be loaded in a digital electronic still camera, and have connectors 14 and 12, respectively.
It is detachably connected to 16. In this embodiment, image data captured by a digital electronic still camera is stored in the memory cartridge 10, and the image data is copied to the memory cartridge 12, which is the copy destination memory, using the memory cartridge 10 as an original memory. Things.

The memory cartridge 10 is a cartridge in which a rewritable digital storage device such as an SRAM semiconductor memory is mounted, and may be another type such as an IC (semiconductor integrated circuit) card. In this specification, the term [module] is used in a meaning that encompasses those listed forms.

The memory cartridge 10 stores, for example, an image of one frame
In terms of 1.5 Mbits of data, an SRAM having a storage capacity of 16 Mbits per chip will realize a storage device of taking 32 to 21 frames each with two chips.

The data input / output lines of the memory cartridge 10
14 to an image data bus 18, and its address, read / write enable, chip select,
Control lines including strobe and clock are connected to connector 14
Is connected to the address / control line 20 via

On the other hand, the input / output lines of the memory cartridge 12 are connected to the connector 16
The control line is connected to the address / control line 22 via the connector 16.

In this embodiment, a memory card 10 in which image data is stored by a digital electronic still camera, for example, is connected to the connector 14 on the reading side for reading the data.

A memory cartridge 12 for storing, for example, image data read from the memory cartridge 10 in the present apparatus is connected to the other, that is, the connector 16 on the writing side.

The memory cartridge 12 may also take the form of another module such as an IC card, and in this embodiment, for example, an SRAM
However, a ROM such as an EPROM or an EEPROM may be used.

Image data bus 18, address / control line 20 and
22 is connected to a control circuit 24 as shown.

A keyboard 26 is connected to the control circuit 24.
From 26, various instructions and input data of the operator to this apparatus are input.

In this embodiment, the control circuit 24 is a control function unit that is constituted by a micro processing system and controls the entire apparatus in response to an instruction from the keyboard 26.

Meanwhile, the memory cartridges 10 and 12 have a function of generating a memory identification code for specifying a memory characteristic such as a type and a storage capacity, or a type of a memory element included therein. For example, it is realized by connecting the pins of the cartridge 10 or 16 mounted on the connector 14 or 16 so as to output a specific logical state.

That is, if the identification of a ROM or a RAM is taken as an example, one or two terminals are sufficient. Further, the identification code may be semi-fixedly written in a specific storage area of a memory element included in each of the memory cartridges 10 and 12.

The output line of the identification code is connected to a signal line 50 via the connector 14 for the memory cartridge 10 and a signal line via the connector 16 for the memory cartridge 12.
Connected to 52.

The power supply lines 72 and 74 of the memory cartridges 10 and 12 are connected to the power supply unit 60 of the device via the connectors 14 and 16, respectively.

The power supply unit 60 includes a power supply of a type that can supply power to various types of memory cartridges that can be connected to the connectors 14 and 16, and selectively supplies power to the power supply lines 72 and 74 under the control of the control line 70 of the control circuit 24. Supplied to

The image data bus 18 is also connected to a memory image memory 26. For this, a file storage device such as an optical disk device or a floppy disk device may be connected.

The image memory 28 is a RAM having a storage capacity for temporarily storing at least one frame, that is, one field or one frame of image signal data in the present embodiment, and stores video signal data read from the memory cartridge 10 therein. Is done. Control signals including the address, read / write enable, strobe, clock, and the like are received from the control circuit 24 through an address / control line 36.

The image signal data output 42 of the image memory 28 is
It is connected to an analog conversion circuit (DAC) 44. The conversion circuit 44 is a signal conversion circuit that converts image signal data read from the memory 28 into a corresponding analog signal and outputs the analog signal to an output terminal 46 thereof.

An output terminal 46 is a device output of the present apparatus, and a utilization device such as a video monitor device 48 for visualizing a video signal of the output 46 and a video printer is connected to the output terminal 46.

The image data bus 18 is further connected to a band companding circuit 100. The band companding circuit 100 is connected to the image data bus 18.
Is a signal conversion circuit for band-compressing the uncompressed image data supplied from the bus 18 by a predetermined method and outputting the result to the bus 18. The band compression and band expansion methods and compression ratios may be fixed in the apparatus, but in this embodiment, the control circuit 24
It is configured to be variably settable through 102.

The band companding circuit 100 may be included in a processing system constituting the control circuit 24. Further, as the band companding method, for example, a compression coding method such as DPCM and Hadamard transform method suitable for companding image signal data is advantageously applied.
The control circuit 24 controls the connector 14 and
Assuming that image data has already been stored in the memory cartridges 10 and 12 connected to the memory cartridge 16 respectively, a function of reading and identifying data indicating the band compression mode, that is, the presence or absence of band compression, the band compression method and the compression ratio. Having.

Further, when writing the image data compressed by the low-frequency companding circuit 100 to the writing-side memory cartridge 12, it also has a function of writing the band compression form to a specific storage area.

The copy information writing / reading circuit 104 has a function of writing copy information to the memory cartridge 10, reading the copy information when reading image data and copying (dubbing) the image data to the memory cartridge 12, and writing the copy information to the memory cartridge 12. Have.

The copy information includes the name of the copy destination, the address, the number of copies, the copy date and time, the total number of copies, the owner of the image data, and the like. When copying, the copy information is read and the memory cartridge of the copy destination is read. 12 and at the same time, data such as the copy distribution destination is written to the memory card 10 to update the copy information.

The protection information determination circuit 106
The presence / absence of the protection information stored in 0 is determined, and reading of the image data from the protected memory cartridge is prohibited to make copying impossible.

As shown in FIG. 3, the memory cartridge 10 stores an image data storage area A, a copy information storage area B for storing the copy information including protection information, and system information such as a shooting date, a shooting location, and a photographer name. A storage area C and the like are formed.

When copying image data, the presence / absence of protect information is determined prior to the copy. If the protection is not applied, the copy is performed by the following circuit operation. As the protection information, protection information of "1" or "0" may be written in the header part P of the copy information area B, and may be written in each header part of the image data storage area A so that the individual image data is written. May be determined whether copying is permitted or not.

Next, a circuit operation when no protection information is written will be described with reference to FIG.

For example, the memory cartridge 10 storing image data captured by a digital electronic still camera is connected to the connector 14.

If the image stored in the memory cartridge 10 is not copied but only played back by the video monitor device 48, the connector
Connect if you want to copy and store without connecting a memory cartridge to 16.

The user operates the keyboard 26 to instruct the memory cartridge 10 to read image data. At this time, the number of the frame to be read may be specified.

In response to the key operation, the control circuit 24 confirms the connection of the memory cartridge 10 on the reading side as shown in step 81, and reads the memory identification code from the signal line 50. Also,
When the memory cartridge 12 on the writing side is connected, the memory identification code is read from the signal line 52.

The control circuit 24 determines the types of the memory cartridges 10 and 12 on the read side and the write side, that is, identification and storage capacity, as shown in step 82, based on the read memory identification code.

The control circuit 24 determines the operating voltage and reading speed of the memory cartridges 10 and 12 according to the determined memory type, and determines the addressing method according to the storage capacity.

The control circuit 24 sets the operating conditions of the present apparatus as shown in step 83 according to the memory characteristics such as the operating voltage, the read speed, and the address method determined in this way.

More specifically, the control circuit 24 is connected to the power supply
60, and the memory cartridges 10 and 12
Set the type of power to be supplied to the.

For example, if the memory cartridge 10 is an SRAM, a 5V power supply would be selected.

In this apparatus, the video signal data read from the memory cartridge 10 is temporarily stored in the image memory 28. In this case, the control circuit 24 sends a read address and a timing signal of image signal data of a specific frame to the memory cartridge 10 from the address / control line 20. An address method such as a specifiable address space is determined based on a storage capacity defined by a memory identification code. These control signals are generated according to the above-mentioned determined writing speed and addressing method.

Therefore, the control circuit 24 accesses a specific storage area of the memory cartridge 10 and reads out the data indicating the band compression mode stored in the specific storage area.If nothing is stored in this area, or the band compression If the form data indicates no compression, the control circuit 24 proceeds to step 84.
As shown in (1), it is determined that the image data stored in the cartridge 10 has not been band-compressed, and the process proceeds to an operation mode for reading out uncompressed image signal data, that is, steps 85 to 87.

From the copy information storage area B of the memory cartridge 10,
The copy information is read by the copy information writing / reading circuit 104, and then the protection information determination circuit 106
Is determined to be unprotected. In this case, information indicating that no protection is provided is transmitted to the control circuit 24 via the control bus 108, thereby enabling reproduction.

Then, from the addressed image data storage area A, the image signal data of the frame is read out to the image data bus 18, and the copy information and the image data of the bus 18 are stored in a step.
As shown at 85, the image data is temporarily stored in the image memory 28.

The image data stored in the image memory 28 is repeatedly read from the read data line 42 to the digital-to-analog conversion circuit 44 at the revision signal rate, converted into a corresponding analog signal, and output from the device output 46.

In this case, a video based on the image data is visualized by, for example, a video monitor device 48 connected to the device output 46.

Memory cartridge 12 on writing side from keyboard 26
When the control circuit 24 instructs the storage in the cartridge 12, the writing operation to the cartridge 12 is performed as shown in step 86 in accordance with the condition on the writing side.

More specifically, the control circuit 24 determines the type and storage capacity from the memory identification code of the memory cartridge 12 on the writing side. Then, the operating voltage and the writing speed of the memory cartridge 12 are determined based on the determined memory type, and the address method is determined based on the storage capacity. The control circuit 24 sets the operating conditions of the device according to the memory characteristics determined in this way.

The control circuit 24 controls the power supply unit 60 by a control line 70,
The type of the power supply 62 supplied from the power supply unit 60 to the memory cartridge 12 is set. For example, if memory cartridge 12 is EPRO
If it is M, the power supply voltage is set to the power supply voltage corresponding to the operation standard power supply of the ROM.

The control circuit 24 also controls the band companding circuit 1 by a control line 102.
00, and specifies the band compression mode. As a result, the band companding circuit 100 is set to the band compression operation, the band compression method, and the compression ratio. Note that these compression methods and compression ratios may be fixed to the device, that is, a single type.

Therefore, the control circuit 24 reads the temporarily stored image signal from the image memory 28 through the address / control line 36,
This is transferred to the band companding circuit 100 via the image data bus 18. At that time, the control circuit 24 may perform image processing such as gradation correction or editing on the image data.

The band companding circuit 100 band-compresses and encodes the image data from the bus 18 according to the set band compression mode, and transmits the image data to the bus 18 again. The compressed image signal data is transferred to the writing-side memory cartridge 12 through the bus 18.
Is forwarded to

The control circuit 24 sends a control signal including the write address and a timing signal to the write-side memory cartridge 12 via the address / control line 22.

An address method such as a specifiable address space is determined based on a storage capacity defined by a memory identification code.

These control signals are generated according to the write speed and the addressing method determined above.

Thereby, in the writing side memory cartridge 12,
Step to the specified write position, that is, address.
Image data is written as shown at 86, and copy information is also written.

The control circuit 24 writes the code indicating the band compression mode at that time in a specific storage area of the memory cartridge 12 on the writing side together with the writing of the compressed image signal data. This is written to the storage area of the memory cartridge 12 through the image data bus 18 by a normal route as shown in step 87.

Similarly, for other frames stored in the read-side memory cartridge 10, image signal data is read out to the image memory 28 and output to the image monitor 48,
While performing band compression by the band companding circuit 100, the data is stored in the next storage area of the writing-side memory cartridge 12.

Thus, the image data stored in the memory cartridge 10 on the reading side can be transferred to the memory cartridge 12 on the writing side in a band-compressed form and stored.

When writing to the memory cartridge 12 is completed,
The copy information is written into the memory cartridge 10 with respect to the distribution destination, the number of copies, and the like, in other words, the copy information is updated, and the owner of the image data manages the image data based on the updated copy information. Can be.

Further, since the band-compressed data can represent the information amount before compression with a small data amount, the image data of more frames than the number of frames stored in one memory cartridge 10 can be stored in the other memory cartridge 12. Can be stored.

The other memory cartridge 12 has an EPROM or an EEPROM.
Is used, the memory can be held more fixedly.

In step 84, the data indicating the band compression mode stored in the specific storage area of the memory cartridge 10 is read out, and if this is to indicate the specific band compression mode or the presence of band compression, the control circuit 24 It is determined that the stored image signal data has been band-compressed.

Therefore, for example, when the reproduction output mode for reproducing an image on the video monitor device 48 is designated from the keyboard 26 (step 90), the operation shifts to an operation of reading compressed image signal data, that is, steps 91 to 92.

The form of band compression is as described above.
For example, the pins of the cartridge 10 engaged with the connector 14 may be connected so as to output a specific logical state without taking the form of the data stored in the specific storage area.

The control circuit 24 sets the band compression method and the compression ratio in the band companding circuit 100 by the control line 102 in accordance with the data indicating the band compression form obtained from the memory cartridge 10, and sets the band compression method and the compression ratio in the circuit 100 as shown in step 91. Specify band expansion operation. As a result, the control circuit 24 sequentially reads out image signal data from the memory cartridge 10 in the same manner as described above. The read image signal data is transferred to the image data bus 18.
The image signal data is band-expanded according to the band compression method and the compression ratio, and output to the image data bus 18, and the image
Transferred to 28 and stored. The operation of reading out the decompressed image signal data stored in the image memory 28 and outputting it to the device output 46 is as described above.

Next, the case where protection is applied will be described.

As described above, when the copy information is read and the protection information determination circuit 102 determines that protection is present, the determination is transmitted via the control bus 108.

In this case, for example, the control circuit 24 stops the circuit operation described in step 86 and subsequent steps, and inhibits the writing operation to the memory cartridge 12, that is, the copying. Therefore,
Unwanted copying of image data can be completely prevented.

In this embodiment, the control circuit 24 sends the band companding circuit 10
Although the band compression method and the compression ratio can be selectively set to 0, it is not always necessary to configure the band compression method and the compression ratio as described above. It may be fixedly set to 100.

Further, in the above embodiment, a memory cartridge is applied as the memory means, but the recording medium is not limited to the above, and an optical disk or a floppy disk may be applied.

Furthermore, the copy information writing / reading circuit 104 and the protection information determining circuit 106 described above may be constituted by a device having an arithmetic function such as a microprocessor.

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, according to the digital image storage / playback apparatus of the present invention, when copying the image data stored in the first memory means to the second memory means, The copy information written in the memory means, such as the copy distribution destination name and the number of copies, is also copied, and at the same time, the copy information in the first memory means is updated to manage the image data. The data right holder is the first
And for which purpose a copy has been distributed from the memory means. Further, when the copy information is protected, the image data is not copied against the intention of the right holder of the image data, and the image data can be protected completely.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a circuit diagram of a digital image storage / reproducing apparatus showing one embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating circuit operation; FIG. 3 is a memory map of a memory cartridge. Reference numerals 10 and 12 in the figure; memory cartridges 20, 22; address / control lines 24; control circuit 28; image memory 60; power supply unit 100; band companding circuit 104; copy information writing / reading circuit 106; protect information discriminating circuit .

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] 1. A digital image storage / reproducing apparatus configured to read and reproduce digital image data stored in a first memory means, and to copy the read digital image data to a second memory means. In the above, the management information for managing the digital image data stored in the first memory means also includes copy information, and the copy information is arbitrarily and selectively written in a desired storage area of the first memory means, and In the reproduction mode, copy information writing / reading is performed to arbitrarily and selectively write in a desired storage area of the second memory means and arbitrarily and selectively update copy information stored in the first memory means. Providing a readout circuit, and the copy information includes a name or name of a copy distribution destination,
A digital image storage / reproducing apparatus, which is arbitrarily and selectively written from among an address, the number of copies, a copy date and time, a number of copies that can be made, a total number of copies, a photographer's name, and an author's name. 2. The digital image storage / playback apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said copy information includes protection information for inhibiting reading of digital image data stored in said first memory means. 3. A protection information judging circuit for judging protection information included in the copy information and prohibiting at least copying of digital image data from the first memory means to the second memory means. 1) The digital image-storage / playback apparatus according to the above.