Image sensing and transfer apparatus and method
First Claim
1. An image input apparatus comprising:
- image signal generating means for sensing the image of a subject and generating an image signal indicative thereof;
data transfer means for transferring the image signal generated by said image signal generating means to an external device via a prescribed communications interface, said data transfer means having a first transfer mode in which there can be assured a fixed transfer rate but with no guarantee of data, and a second transfer mode in which data is guaranteed but transfer rate is not; and
control means for controlling said data transfer means so as to perform image transfer in the first transfer mode in a case where said image signal generating means generates a low-resolution image signal and in the second transfer mode in a case where said image signal generating means generates a high-resolution image signal.
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Abstract
Provided is an image input apparatus in which changeover between sensing and transfer of low-resolution images such as moving images and high-resolution images such as still images can be performed smoothly during image sensing and data transfer operations. The apparatus includes an image signal generating circuit for sensing the image of a subject and generating an image signal indicative thereof; a data transfer circuit for transferring the image signal generated by the image signal generating circuit to an external device via a prescribed communications interface, the data transfer means having a first transfer mode in which there can be assured a fixed transfer rate but with no guarantee of data, and a second transfer mode in which data is guaranteed but transfer rate is not; and a control circuit for controlling the data transfer circuit so as to perform image transfer in the first transfer mode in a case where the image signal generating circuit generates a low-resolution image signal and in the second transfer mode in a case where the image signal generating circuit generates a high-resolution image signal.
26 Citations
27 Claims
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1. An image input apparatus comprising:
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image signal generating means for sensing the image of a subject and generating an image signal indicative thereof;
data transfer means for transferring the image signal generated by said image signal generating means to an external device via a prescribed communications interface, said data transfer means having a first transfer mode in which there can be assured a fixed transfer rate but with no guarantee of data, and a second transfer mode in which data is guaranteed but transfer rate is not; and
control means for controlling said data transfer means so as to perform image transfer in the first transfer mode in a case where said image signal generating means generates a low-resolution image signal and in the second transfer mode in a case where said image signal generating means generates a high-resolution image signal. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4)
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5. An image input apparatus comprising:
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image signal generating means for sensing the image of a subject and generating an image signal indicative thereof;
data transfer means for transferring the image signal generated by said image signal generating means to an external device via a prescribed communications interface, said data transfer means having a first transfer mode in which there can be assured a fixed transfer rate but with no guarantee of data, and a second transfer mode in which data is guaranteed but transfer rate is not;
control means for controlling said data transfer means so as to perform mage transfer in the first transfer mode in a case where said image signal generating means generates a low-resolution image signal and in the second transfer mode in a case where said image signal generating means generates a high-resolution image signal; and
sensing means for sensing a high-resolution image input instruction from an operator;
wherein in a case where said sensing means senses the high-resolution image input instruction generated during low-resolution image data transfer by said data transfer means in the first transfer mode, said control means performs control so as to cause said image signal generating means to generate a high-resolution image and performs control so as to change over the transfer mode. - View Dependent Claims (6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. An image sending/receiving system having an image input apparatus capable of sensing at least a low-resolution image and a high-resolution image, and a host computer having communication means for communicating data, which includes at least image data, between said host computer and a remote apparatus through a communication line, said image input apparatus including:
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image signal generating means for sensing the image of a subject and generating an image signal indicative thereof;
data transfer means for transferring the image signal generated by said image signal generating means to an external device via a prescribed communications interface, said data transfer means having a first transfer mode in which there can be assured a fixed transfer rate but with no guarantee of data, and a second transfer mode in which data is guaranteed but transfer rate is not;
control means for controlling said data transfer means so as to perform image transfer in the first transfer mode in a case where said image signal generating means generates a low-resolution image signal and in the second transfer mode in a case where said image signal generating means generates a high-resolution image signal;
sensing means for sensing a high-resolution image input instruction from an operator; and
discrimination means for discriminating whether the host computer is communicating with the remote apparatus;
wherein in a case where said sensing means senses the high-resolution image input instruction generated during low-resolution image data transfer by said data transfer means in the first transfer mode, said control means performs control so as to cause said image signal generating means to generate a high-resolution image and performs control so as to change over the transfer mode. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14)
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15. An image output method for inputting an image and transferring the image to an external device, comprising:
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an image signal generating step of sensing the image of a subject and generating an image signal indicative thereof; and
an image transfer step of transferring the image signal generated at said image signal generating step to the external device via a prescribed communications interface, wherein said image transfer step performs image transfer in a first transfer mode, in which there can be assured a fixed transfer rate but with no guarantee of data, in a case where a low-resolution image signal is generated at said image signal generating step, and in a second transfer mode, in which data is guaranteed but transfer rate is not, in a case where a high-resolution image signal is generated at said image signal generating step. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18)
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19. An image output method for inputting an image and transferring the image to an external device, comprising:
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an image signal generating step of sensing the image of a subject and generating an image signal indicative thereof;
an image transfer step of transferring the image signal generated at said image signal generating step to the external device via a prescribed communications interface, wherein said image transfer step performs image transfer in a first transfer mode, in which there can be assured a fixed transfer rate but with no guarantee of data, in a case where a low-resolution image signal is generated at said image signal generating step, and in a second transfer mode, in which data is guaranteed but transfer rate is not, in a case where a high-resolution image signal is generated at said image signal generating step; and
a changeover step of generating a high-resolution image signal and changing over the transfer mode to the second transfer mode in a case where the operator issues a high-resolution image input instruction during low-resolution image data transfer in the first transfer mode. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22, 23)
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24. A storage medium storing a control program for inputting an image and transferring the image to an external device, which control program comprises:
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code of an image signal generating step of sensing the image of a subject and generating an image signal indicative thereof; and
code of an image transfer step of transferring the image signal generated at said image signal generating step to the external device via a prescribed communications interface, wherein said image transfer step performs image transfer in a first transfer mode, in which there can be assured a fixed transfer rate but with no guarantee of data, in a case where a low-resolution image signal is generated at said image signal generating step, and in a second transfer mode, in which data is guaranteed but transfer rate is not, in a case where a high-resolution image signal is generated at said image signal generating step. - View Dependent Claims (25)
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26. A storage medium storing a control program for inputting an image and transferring the image to an external device, which control program comprises:
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code of an image signal generating step of sensing the image of a subject and generating an image signal indicative thereof;
code of an image transfer step of transferring the image signal generated at said image signal generating step to the external device via a prescribed communications interface, wherein said image transfer step performs image transfer in a first transfer mode, in which there can be assured a fixed transfer rate but with no guarantee of data, in a case where a low-resolution image signal is generated at said image signal generating step, and in a second transfer mode, in which data is guaranteed but transfer rate is not, in a case where a high-resolution image signal is generated at said image signal generating step; and
code of a changeover step of generating a high-resolution image signal and changing over the transfer mode to the second transfer mode in a case where the operator issues a high-resolution image input instruction during low-resolution image data transfer in the first transfer mode. - View Dependent Claims (27)
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Specification