IMAGE PROCESSING APPARATUS, IMAGE PROCESSING METHOD, AND STORAGE MEDIUM STORING IMAGE PROCESSING PROGRAM

• US 20110228109A1
• Filed: 12/07/2009
• Published: 09/22/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 12/12/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha (Canon Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha (Canon Inc.)
• Inventors: Miyagawa, Tomohiro
• Granted Patent: US 8,953,081 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 348/207.2
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0481 based on specific properties of the displayed interaction object or a metaphor-based environment, e.g. interaction with desktop elements like windows or icons, or assisted by a cursor's changing behaviour or appearance
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00204 with a digital computer or a digital computer system, e.g. an internet server programmed control between transmitter and receiver or between image input and image output device H04N1/32561
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00411 the display also being used for user input, e.g. touch screen
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00421 using drop-down menus
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00437 Intelligent menus, e.g. anticipating user selections
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/0044 for image preview or review, e.g. to help the user position a sheet
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00442 Simultaneous viewing of a plurality of images, e.g. using a mosaic display arrangement of thumbnails
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00453 arranged in a two dimensional array
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00458 Sequential viewing of a plurality of images, e.g. browsing or scrolling
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00461 marking or otherwise tagging one or more displayed image, e.g. for selective reproduction
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2201/0087 Image storage device
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/765 Interface circuits between an apparatus for recording and another apparatus
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/775 between a recording apparatus and a television receiver

Abstract

An image processing apparatus for displaying an image read from a recording medium has a mechanism capable of displaying an image for a desired page immediately after an instruction has been given by a user to change a page to be displayed.

The image processing apparatus includes a priority determination unit that determines the priorities of pages, and a page specifying unit for allowing a user to change a page to be displayed. In accordance with a result of the priority determination unit, the reading of image data from an image recording medium is started without waiting for the page specifying unit to be operated.

Claims

1. An image processing apparatus comprising:

a reading unit configured to read image data recorded on a recording medium;

a display unit configured to display one or more images corresponding to the image data read by the reading unit;

a number-of-images determination unit configured to determine the number of images that are displayable at the same time on the display unit to obtain the number of images per page;

a page allocation unit configured to allocate pages to be displayed to the image data recorded on the recording medium in accordance with the number of images obtained by the number-of-images determination unit;

a determination unit configured to determine priorities of the pages for which the image data is read by the reading unit; and

a page specifying unit configured to be operated by a user to specify a page to be displayed on the display unit,

wherein the determination unit determines the priorities of the pages based on information about a page that can be specified by the page specifying unit, and

wherein the reading unit starts to read image data for a desired page from the recording medium in accordance with a result obtained by the determination unit without waiting for the user to operate the page specifying unit.

2. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the determination unit determines a priority of a page for which image data has not yet been read among the image data recorded on the recording medium each time the page specifying unit is operated by the user to change a page to be displayed.

3. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the determination unit determines the priorities of the pages in accordance with the number of operations performed using the page specifying unit, the number of operations being counted from a page currently being displayed.

4. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising:

a totaling unit configured to total, for each of the pages, sizes of the image data recorded on the recording medium,

wherein the determination unit determines the priorities of the pages in accordance with a result obtained by the totaling unit.

5. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the page specifying unit includes a plurality of specifying units configured to specify different pages,

wherein the image processing apparatus further comprises a counting unit configured to count the number of consecutive operations that are performed by the user using each of the specifying units in the page specifying unit, and

a judgment unit configured to judge whether or not the number of consecutive operations counted by the counting unit is equal to or greater than a predetermined reference value, and

wherein when the judgment unit judges that the number of consecutive operations counted by the counting unit is greater than the reference value, the determination unit predicts that a specifying unit that is operated by the user next time is identical to a specifying unit that has been previously operated, and determines the priorities of the pages.

6. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the determination unit sets a high priority for a page that is displayable with a small number of operations performed using the page specifying unit from a page currently being displayed and that is a page having a large image data size.

7. A processing method for an image processing apparatus for reading image data recorded on a recording medium and displaying one or more images corresponding to the image data on a display unit, comprising:

a number-of-images determining step of determining the number of images that are displayable at the same time on the display unit to obtain the number of images per page;

a page allocating step of allocating pages to be displayed to the image data recorded on the recording medium in accordance with the number of images obtained in the number-of-images determining step;

a determining step of determining priorities of the pages for which the image data is read;

a reading step of reading the image data recorded on the recording medium;

a page specifying step of specifying a page to be displayed on the display unit by a user operation; and

a displaying step of displaying one or more images corresponding to image data read for each of the pages on the display unit,

wherein the determining step determines the priorities of the pages based on information about a page that can be specified in the page specifying step, and

wherein the reading step starts to read image data for a desired page from the recording medium in accordance with a result obtained in the determining step without waiting for a user operation in the page specifying step.

8. A computer-readable storage medium storing a program for causing an image processing apparatus including a display unit to execute reading image data recorded on a recording medium and displaying one or more images corresponding to the read image data on the display unit, the program comprising:

a number-of-images determining step of determining the number of images that are displayable at the same time on the display unit to obtain the number of images per page;

a page allocating step of allocating pages to be displayed to the image data recorded on the recording medium in accordance with the number of images obtained in the number-of-images determining step;

a determining step of determining priorities of the pages for which the image data is read;

a reading step of reading the image data recorded on the recording medium;

a page specifying step of specifying a page to be displayed on the display unit by a user operation; and

a displaying step of displaying one or more images corresponding to image data read for each of the pages on the display unit,

wherein the determining step determines the priorities of the pages based on information about a page that can be specified in the page specifying step, and

wherein the reading step starts to read image data for a desired page from the recording medium in accordance with a result obtained in the determining step without waiting for a user operation in the page specifying step.