IMAGING DEVICE

• US 20110293244A1
• Filed: 04/25/2011
• Published: 12/01/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 05/25/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Nikon Corporation
• Original Assignee: Nikon Corporation
• Inventors: KURIYAMA, Takashi
• Granted Patent: US 8,422,868 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 386/248
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/667 Camera operation mode switching, e.g. between still and video, sport and normal or high- and low-resolution modes
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/2621 Cameras specially adapted for the electronic generation of special effects during image pickup, e.g. digital cameras, camcorders, video cameras having integrated special effects capability
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/772 the recording apparatus and the television camera being placed in the same enclosure
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/907 using static stores, e.g. storage tubes or semiconductor memories H04N5/91 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 9/79 Processing of colour television signals in connection with recording
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 9/8042 involving data reduction

Abstract

An imaging device includes a storage unit that sequentially stores a plurality of frame images based on an imaging signal from an imaging sensor that images light from a subject, a moving image data generation unit that generates slow motion moving image data that is to be played at a second frame rate lower than a first frame rate that represents the number of frame images stored per unit time in the storage unit, based on the plurality of frame images stored in the storage unit during a predetermined time period, a still image data generation unit that generates at least one piece of still image data based on at least one frame image of the plurality of frame images stored in the storage unit during the predetermined time period, and a record control unit that associates the slow motion moving image data generated by the moving image data generation unit and the still image data generated by the still image data generation unit and records the slow motion moving image data and the still image data in a recording medium.

Claims

1. An imaging device comprising:

a storage unit that sequentially stores a plurality of frame images based on an imaging signal from an imaging sensor that images light from a subject;

a moving image data generation unit that generates slow motion moving image data that is to be played at a second frame rate lower than a first frame rate that represents the number of the frame images stored per unit time in the storage unit, based on the plurality of frame images stored in the storage unit during a predetermined time;

a still image data generation unit that generates at least one piece of still image data based on at least one frame image of the plurality of frame images stored in the storage unit during the predetermined time; and

a record control unit that associates the slow motion moving image data generated by the moving image data generation unit with the still image data generated by the still image data generation unit and records the moving image data and the still image data in a recording medium.

2. The imaging device according to claim 1, further comprising:

an indicator that indicates to a user where a current time passes on between a beginning and an end of the predetermined time.

3. The imaging device according to claim 1, further comprising:

a detection unit that detects information regarding a positional change of the imaging device relative to the subject; and

a control unit that controls an ending time of the predetermined time based on the detection result of the detection unit.

4. The imaging device according to claim 3,

wherein the control unit sets a time when the information regarding the positional change detected by the detection unit exceeds a predetermined threshold value to the ending time.

5. The imaging device according to claim 1, further comprising:

a determination unit that determines whether or not a still image capturing instruction of instructing to generate the still image data is input while the storage unit sequentially stores the plurality of the frame images,

wherein the moving image data generation unit generates the slow motion moving image data based on the plurality of frame images stored in the storage unit until a beginning of a first predetermined time from when the determination unit determines that the still image capturing instruction is input, and based on the plurality of frame images stored in the storage unit until an end of a second predetermined time from when the determination unit determines that the still image capturing instruction is input, and

the still image data generation unit generates the still image data based on the frame image stored in the storage unit when the determination unit determines that the still image capturing instruction is input, or before or after the determination.

6. The imaging device according to claim 1, further comprising:

a determination unit that determines whether or not a still image capturing instruction of instructing to generate the still image data is input while the storage unit sequentially stores the plurality of the frame images; and

a control unit that sets a time when the determination unit determines that the still image capturing instruction is input to an ending time of the predetermined time.

7. The imaging device according to claim 1, further comprising:

an instructing unit that instructs to prepare generation of the still image data,

wherein the storage unit starts to store the plurality of frame images from when the instructing unit issues an instruction to prepare generation of the still image data.

8. The imaging device according to claim 1,

wherein the frame image stored in the storage unit is equal to or larger than the HDTV standard in number of pixels.

9. The imaging device according to claim 1,

wherein the still image data generated by the still image data generation unit is equal to or larger than the slow motion moving image data generated by the moving image data generation unit in number of pixels.

10. The imaging device according to claim 1,

wherein the second frame rate is 1/2.5 of the first frame rate.

11. The imaging device according to claim 1,

wherein the second frame rate is variable.

12. The imaging device according to claim 1, further comprising:

a selection unit that selects whether or not to record at least one of the slow motion moving image data and the still image data in the recording medium before recording in the recording medium start,

wherein the record control unit controls the recording of at least one of the slow motion moving image data and the still image data in the recording medium based on the selection result of the selection unit.

13. The imaging device according to claim 1,

wherein the moving image data generation unit adds information of instructing to play back the moving image data at the second frame rate to the moving image data generated based on the plurality of frame images, thereby generating the slow motion moving image data.

14. The imaging device according to claim 11, further comprising:

a display unit that can display a preview of a slow motion moving image corresponding to the slow motion moving image data before the slow motion moving image data is recorded in the recording medium,

wherein the display unit displays a preview of a slow motion moving image generated with a changed second frame rate when a control is performed to change the second frame rate after the preview of the slow motion moving image is displayed, and

the record control unit records, in the recording medium in association with the still image data, the slow motion moving image data which is instructed to be recorded in the recording medium after the preview is displayed on the display unit.